I've been thinking on a couple of ideas that may be considered as a couple of first steps on the way to us being greener and more environmentally friendy. What are your thoughts?

First: would it be possible to amend the county building code to require at least 1 solar panel for hot water heating for every new residence? The plusses are many and fit in nicely with both our own Democratic principles and also Governor Crist’s new enviro-friendly statements. Additionally, we could also be on the leading edge for retro-fitting existing homes with some sort of joint county/state/federal rebate program that would reduce the cost for existing homeowners to about 10% of the estimated $5300 appliance. The retro installations would, of course, be optional, but the new construction installations would not. The logical starting point would be investigation by a county task force on the specifics, costs and impact.

Second (and more involved): The Marion County Land Preservation Act (new) - a program whereby a 2% transfer fee is imposed on every deed transfer based on the dollar amount of the sale (in addition to existing fees). This fee would not kick in until the home value was above $200K or the land value was above $50K. For example: A home sells for $275,000. 2% of $75,000 is $1500. This money would go into a separate fund specifically intended for purchasing tracts, or the development rights, of environmentally sensitive or naturally significant land. The fund would be managed by a board of governors with representation from the county commissioners, environmental groups and concerned citizens. Combining this fund with the resources of other groups (Nature Conservancy, etc.) would enable us to be more proactive in protecting our most precious natural resources that are constantly under development pressure. An expiration date could be attached whereby after, say, 4 years, voters could elect to continue the program or not based on its success.