Happy Spring, neighbors! Flowers blooming, some sun high in the sky and longer days welcoming us all outside into the neighborhood. Count me as a YAY!
Our March meeting featured an interesting presentation from the Metro Climate Action Team about their efforts to turn Portlanders towards more sustainable methods of cooking our food, and heating our homes and water. We learned about the benefits of installing heat pumps and induction cooktops – such as greatly improved in-home air quality, the potential for reduced utility bills and knowing that we are doing our part to reach our community’s climate goals. The federal government, through the Inflation Reduction Act, is offering tax credits and rebates for the purchase of heat pumps, energy efficient windows and induction stoves. Efforts are also proceeding to ensure that all new construction doesn’t utilize gas hookups. There’s going to be a lot of new construction in and around Portland over the next decade, and I’m hoping that we can use this opportunity to improve the environment rather than locking in new neighbors to dirty, unhealthy energy. To learn more about the Metro Climate Action Team visit www.olcv.org/metro-climate-action-team. The IRS has an FAQ page up about the available credits and rebates at
www.irs.gov/pub/taxpros/fs-2022-40.pdf.
The April board meeting will be a busy one! We will be discussing the new committee charter that the Land Use and Transportation Committee has been working on as well as planning our May elections. With that in mind, I am taking this space to officially announce that our elections will be held at our May 11th meeting at 7 p.m. You will be able to participate in-person or on-line, but you must be at the meeting to vote! We have four board seats on the ballot this year and officers will be elected by the board over the summer. If you are interested in learning more about being a member of the SNA board or any of the officer positions, please reach out to us at [email protected]. Any of us would be happy to discuss the roles and our experiences working for the community.
If we don’t see you in April, then I look forward to seeing many of you in May and around the neighborhood in between! If you have anything that you would like the SNA to tackle, please reach out to us at any time.