Politics & Government

Newtown Borough: Cool in More Ways Than One

Newtown Borough signs on to the "Cool Cities" campaign to reduce its carbon footprint as voting for Budget Travel's "Coolest Small Towns" wraps up.

Newtown is now cool in more ways than one.

In addition to being a top contender for Budget Travel Magazine’s “Coolest Small Town” competition, borough officials have vowed to become part of the nationwide “Cool Cities” campaign to fight global warming.

The Newtown Borough Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to sign on to the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement and be part of the Cool Cities campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Council President Julia Woldorf said the borough previously voted to sign up for the campaign but for some reason is not listed on the Web site as a participant. She asked the council, which is made up of some new members since the prior approval, to again ratify the borough’s intentions to be a Cool City.

The Cool Cities program, founded in 2005 by the Sierra Club, is nationwide network of communities who have made a commitment to curb global warming, according to the organization’s Web site.

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By signing on to the campaign, the borough joins more than 1,000 other cities across the country in a pledge to implement measures to reduce its carbon footprint. Woldorf said the borough’s Environmental Advisory Committee is currently working on specific recommendations that accomplish the environmentally-friendly goals of the Cool Cities program.

Council Member Gerard O’Malley pointed out prior to the vote that the “Cool Cities” campaign is entirely separate from the “Coolest Small Town” competition.

In December, Budget Travel Magazine picked Newtown Borough as a finalist in its  quest to find the top 10 coolest small towns in the nation. Newtown, which was nominated by area residents, was selected as one of the 20 finalists.

Now the only thing standing between the borough and nationwide recognition is enough online votes to make it a leading contender.  The top 10 towns determined by popular vote will be featured in the September 2011 issue of Budget Travel magazine. Cast your vote by clicking here.

Voting is permitted every five hours and ends Feb. 11. As of Feb. 8 at 9:30 p.m., Newtown had 13,739 votes and was in 6th place, just behind Eureka Springs, Ark.

In other business Tuesday, the council approved a new Traditional Neighborhood Development ordinance that permits mixed-use development within the borough.


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