Fayetteville officials seek public input for becoming more energy-efficient, sustainable city

The City of Fayetteville is asking for community input on how it can be more sustainable and energy efficient. The city said it's ready to take its Sustainability Action Plan to the next level -- by getting residents to weigh in on what should come next.

"One of the main things we want to know for people is how are they doing their energy consumption? You know, what are their ideas about sustainability?" said Christopher Williams, a City of Fayetteville analyst. "You know, we're trying to get a gauge of what they know, what they don't know, what the gaps are, so that way later on, we can go back and educate the community on what those may be."

That includes people like Anne Schrader.

"Like so many people, thousands of people I've been impacted by not one, but two environmental disasters, including Hurricane Matthew," Schrader said. "My family's company was flooded waist-high."

She urged others to take part in the city's new survey on its website to tell officials how Fayetteville can become more energy-efficient and sustainable. Otherwise, she said the personal consequences can be dire.

"We were able to recover, but many people in our community were not," she said.

Schrader and other environmentally conscious Sandhills residents pointed out the area's most pressing environmental issues that make following up on sustainability so important.

"We're seeing a lot more increase in frequency of severe storms, hurricanes, tropical storms and the subsequent not only the destruction of these storms to include the flooding," Schrader said.

Wayne Rider, executive director of Sustainable Sandhills. noted that the Fayetteville area needs closer monitoring of its air quality. But he said regardless of the feedback from the community, he urges Fayetteville city officials to take action.

"We're at ground zero of water contamination with Chemours in our backyard," Rider said. "A plan is nothing more than a paperweight if there's no action behind it."