Kenney wants City Council to use energy-efficient lightbulbs
City Council would save at least $11,000 simply by using energy-efficient lightbulbs in Council chambers, Councilman James F. Kenney said yesterday, so why not use them throughout city buildings?
City Council would save at least $11,000 simply by using energy-efficient lightbulbs in Council chambers, Councilman James F. Kenney said yesterday, so why not use them throughout city buildings?
Kenney yesterday called for his Committee on the Environment to hold hearings on that question. Council chambers alone have more than 350 lightbulbs, and for an up-front investment in the more expensive bulbs, Kenney said, the city would save an average of $30 apiece on bulbs that last 10 times longer than conventional ones.
With fewer bulb changes, the city would also save on labor costs, Kenney said.
"It's changing people's minds about slightly increased up-front costs vs. savings over the life of the product," Kenney said.
Under a similar philosophy, Kenney introduced a bill that would mandate big-box retailers to build "green" roofs on their buildings. With soil, grass and plants atop a conventional roof, a green roof insulates a building while also absorbing heat and reducing stormwater.
In a bill that could affect the environment on city blocks, Kenney called for a 30-day limit on parking for boats, motor homes, truck campers or vending carts on streets. Kenney wants to prevent people from using a parking space as a permanent home or place of business.
In other business, Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco called for hearings to investigate the presence of pharmaceuticals in the city's drinking water. A recent Associated Press story detailed how trace amounts of the drugs show up in drinking supplies because of their presence in human wastewater.
According to the report, Philadelphia reported 56 pharmaceuticals or by-products in treated drinking water.
"The public didn't know it, the Water Department didn't disclose it," Tasco said after the meeting. "I think we can have a public discussion about it."
Tasco said that she didn't believe the water was necessarily unsafe, but that she wanted to know why this information had not been made available earlier.
Council also gave final, unanimous approval to Councilman W. Wilson Goode Jr.'s requirement that the administration rank its departments in terms of minority contracting. "This is a tool we expect to be used by the administration as well as the City Council and stakeholders," Goode said.
Yesterday turned into musical appreciation day in chambers, as Council honored Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the founders of Philadelphia International Records, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday.
"We've received a lot of awards all over the world, but the hometown is the special one," said Huff, a Camden native. Gamble, who has become a developer and activist in Philadelphia, said the duo's next target was winning an Oscar.
Bob Cerulli might not be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he is a member of the South Philadelphia High School Alumni Association's Cultural Hall of Fame. Cerulli, a master of the string bass, was recognized for a long career in symphonies across the East Coast and for backing up artists including Elvis Presley, Lou Rawls and Henry Mancini. He composed more than 300 orchestral arrangements for Warner Bros. Music.
Also honored was Philadelphia native Quiara Alegria Hudes, whose Broadway musical,
In the Heights
, opened on Sunday. Hudes is the niece of Councilwoman Maria Quiñones Sanchez.
