On Feb. 28, the Platteville Common Council held a special meeting to discuss creating a Building Platteville Green program.

On April 23, the Common Council decided against creating a Building Platteville Green program.

The Rentschler Co. proposed the Building Platteville Green program as a local iteration of the national Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program. The proposal would have had the city certify new and renovated buildings on a voluntary basis, and Rentschler would have received a royalty for each certified building based on the city’s charge for a building inspection.

Community Planning and Development Director Joe Carroll said that while there were “no serious legal issues” with city codes, area developers “didn’t seem to see the incentive, or what did the developer get out of it. One of the developers reported those guidelines are becoming common practice anyway.”

Carroll said the program was intended mostly for new commercial, retail and multifamily residential buidlings.
“To me, the only potential for something like this is for the sake of marketing,” said District 3 Ald. Barb Daus. “I don’t think this is prepared to the point that the city council should consider it.”

“When you have a voluntary program in place, it’s real easy to make them mandatory down the line, and I don’t want to see that,” said at-large Ald. Mike Denn.

“It should be a win–win, not just a feel-good,” said at-large Ald. Patrice Steiner.