Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 12

111 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11 we wanted to be a leader in that effort to show other municipalities in our region, and anywhere, that these things can be done,” Bresee says. “Council decided that we would be aggressive in our emission reduction targets. We’d rather aim extremely high and try to achieve that, than to aim low and definitely achieve it.” The township has been working with community groups, the school board, and the Loyalty Leadership Council to find ways to reduce community emissions. “Community partners are doing things like planting trees, rewilding areas, providing pollinator gardens,” says MJ Merritt, Loyalist Township’s Economic Growth and Community Development Manager. “There’s a lot of community work that is happening behind the scenes in order to meet a lot of these initiatives in our climate action plan.” Work is also being done to help make the community more walkable and bikeable, and therefore reduce the reliance on motor vehicles. Merritt explains, “We are currently in the process of undertaking an infrastructure master plan and a large focus of that, and something we are working very hard on right now, is defining opportunities for interconnectivity of our various communities and improvements to our sidewalk and bike lane networks to diversify our right of ways to allow safe use by people choosing active modes of transportation.” As Loyalist Township moves into the future, their focus is on making the community the best it can possibly be for years to come. Mayor Bresee shares, “I would say the biggest dream and goal for me is improving our commercial amenities and building our retail businesses, so we have the local shops and restaurants that people want. That will have more people walking and biking around the community. I think overall, that provides for a much more complete community.” Locally owned and operated for over 50 years Limestone Quarry & Heavy Equipment Rentals Residential • Commercial • Municipal Septic Systems: Designs & Installation, Driveway Installations and Basement Excavation 1768 County Rd 5, Napanee, ON K7R 3K9, Canada 613-378-2554 LOYAL I ST TOWNSHI P , ONTAR IO