Green audit on hold

The CSU council of representatives has voted to postpone all motions concerning the Sustainable Concordia initiative until the finance subcommittee once again reviews the project’s budget.

The decision, which will delay the completion of the project into the middle of next semester, was made late in the night on Sept. 11 at that week’s council meeting.

“I’ve seen this proposal five times, and I still have no idea [what it will accomplish],” said councillor Trish MacIntosh.

The debate was over whether enough was known of the project, a major piece of the CSU executive’s platform in last year’s election, to merit an allocation of $10,000.

The motion, brought to council by the CSU executive, was presented by project co-ordinators Melissa Garcia Lamorca, a Concordia graduate student in community economic development, and Rob Maguire, a fourth year political science undergraduate student.

The Sustainable Concordia project, also known as the ‘green audit,’ will consist of an in depth analysis of ten areas of interaction on campus, including both environmental and social concerns.

The project was rebuffed by the financial committee during the summer because it did not outline the long-term plans for the project.

$10,000 was eventually received from the office of the vice-rector services, over half of which has already been spent. The proposal asked council to match the administration’s donation. The funds were meant to continue paying Lamorca’s salary as the auditor and to pay for research and printing costs. Councillors felt an insufficient amount of information was provided to warrant a significant budget.

“We’re just going to keep pushing. The momentum on this project is so great right now, there’s no way it’s not going to happen,” said Lamorca. But she was also disappointed with Council’s reaction, saying they had been invited to attend a planning meeting where all questions would have been answered.

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