To that end, the council on Tuesday voted 4-1 to require that new city construction qualify for "Silver" status, as defined by the nationally recognized "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System."
LEED awards Certified, Silver, Gold or Platinum certifications based on how many credits a new building earns in such areas as materials selection, lighting, temperature control, recycling and water management.
The one negative vote was cast by Councilwoman Tami Pyfer who worries that meeting LEED standards will create costly redundancies in the Justice Center addition.
For example, the requirement to build a shower to accommodate employees who bicycle to work doesn't make sense, she said, because the current Justice Center will be attached and already is equipped with this amenity.
"I don't think we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars when we get into doing things just to get the piece of paper," Pyfer said.
Logan City will respond immediately to the new ordinance by investing an additional $200,000 in a $4.1 million, 24,000-square-foot addition to the Logan Justice Center.
"Will it be more expensive? Yes," Mayor Randy Watts said. "We hope there will be a return, but I can tell you there isn't a guarantee. The right thing is that we lead out as a city . . . More and more we need to be considerate of the energies we use and make sure we're more and more efficient."
When the addition is finished, the Logan Police Department will move out of the Justice Building at 290 N. 100 West and city offices will move in, freeing up more space in the current city building at 255 N. Main St. for the crowded Logan City Library.
