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Solar Hot Water ~ Green Business ~ SEE Water ~ TRAC

SEA Action Goal: "Fifty percent of Sarasota County buildings have solar hot water heaters in five years."

Status: The  Solar  Hot  Water  Heater  group  completed a study and were asked to continue their mission as a Sarasota County Task Force.  Four members of the SEA committee were on the Sarasota County Solar Hot Water Heater Task Force. The mission of the task force was to maximize the number of solar hot water heating systems in Sarasota County in the next five years, resulting in more renewable energy and more green jobs. On April 14th, the Task Force presented their reccommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. Read more about their presentation here and watch the video of the meeting here.

Documents:
Report presented to the Board of County Commissioners on April 14th, 2009
Report from the 6/30/2008 Summit Implementation Committees Meeting (Revised July 16th, 2008)

SEA Action Goal: "Attract sustainable/green manufacturing to the local area."

Status: This committee is working on getting high-quality energy audits done on two houses to determine the return on investment for a variety of green retrofits.

SEA Action Goal: "Develop rainwater, stormwater, greywater and reuse as alternate water sources."
SEA Action Goal: "Require low impact development techniques for new development and incentives to retrofit existing development."

Status: The Alternative Water Sources and Low Impact Development groups merged due to their similar goals. This group is currently active as the See Water Committee and members are working in three areas:

1. Data Collection: Gathering data from various homes and businesses that use & reuse water. The primary project here is the Pelican Cove well meters. Read a FAQ on Pelican Cove.
   
   
2. Individual Actions: Promoting water efficient technologies - specifically the bathroom faucet water aerator, the "water equivalent of the energy efficient light bulb." See Co-chair Suzanne Dameron discuss this on ABC 7. Read Suzanne's October 27, 2009 guest editorial in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
   
   
3. Policy: Making policy reccomendations about how to streamline water reuse in one's home or business. Read Co-chair Tim Rumage's November 3, 2009 guest editorial in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

The group has a website, www.connectthedrops.org. To contact group members, email [email protected]. You can also 'friend' the group on Facebook to stay updated on their activities.

SEA Action Goal: "Redesign transit system in conjunction with targeted mixed-use redevelopment zones - Great Transit connecting Great Communities."

Status: The committee held their Community Forum on May 1. The forum invited public opinion on transit oriented development possibilities as related to the case study of Bee Ridge Road. On July 22nd, the committee presented their findings to the Board of County Commissioners. You can watch them present here (jump to Agenda Item 11 in the video).

Documents:

• A Vision for Bee Ridge: Guiding Principles and Recommendations for Tranportation and Redevelopment - TRAC's final report. It was presented to the Board of County Commissioners on July 22nd.
  
• Background Information Citizen's Guide - Created by a New College of Florida Sociology Class in partnership with the TOD Committee.