AACOG Board Chairman Jay P. Millikin received the Wilbur R. Dunk Regional Leadership Award from the Texas Association of Regional Councils (TARC) at their recent annual conference.  He received the award for his work as a clean air advocate—serving  as Chairman of the Air Improvement Resources Committee, giving air quality presentations to private and public audiences, and advocating for funding and program support for the near non-attainment area.
 

At the Board Meeting on September 30, 2009, the AACOG Board of Directors welcomed three new members from the City of San Antonio Council:

• The Honorable David Medina, Councilman, District 5 (Mayor's Designee)

• The Honorable Jennifer V. Ramos, Councilwoman, District 3

• The Honorable Ray Lopez, Councilman, District 6

The Alamo Area Council of Governments, in collaboration with Humana are presenting the program “A Matter of Balance”, in Seguin on Monday, October 19, 2009. The program will be co-taught by Dan Goetz of AACOG and Barbara Effenberger of Seguin; and will run for 7 consecutive Wednesday and Monday mornings from 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. The program will be taught at the Silver Center. The center is located at 510 E. Court Street.

The program is designed to teach seniors that falls are controllable and need not limit an individual to doing less outside of the home. During the classes, participants will learn how falls are controllable; how to set goals for increasing activity; provide recommendations on how changes can be made in the home to reduce falls; and perform light exercises that can increase strength and balance. By the end of the class, participants should be well underway toward greater confidence and safer experiences walking in their home and community.

Do you have a friend, a neighbor or family member who could benefit? Why not call them and then bring that person to the class? They will be thankful you did!

The class is free of charge, but participants should plan on being able to attend at least 5 of the 8 classes. All participants who can walk are welcomed, even if a cane or walker is required for assistance. For more information, or to register, please call A’Lisa Seleen at the Silver Center, at (830) 303-6612.

Alamo Aging MOB Web Page | Bexar Aging MOB Web Page

Homeowners are invited to attend a free Foreclosure Prevention Workshop on Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The workshop will be held at the El Progresso Hall, 1306 Guadalupe Street, San Antonio, TX 78207.   The workshop is presented by AACOG, the City of San Antonio, the Department of Community Initiatives, and the Avenida Guadalupe Association.

The workshop will be a valuable opportunity for homeowners to meet privately with representatives from area banks, mortgage companies, lenders, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development officials, and certified housing counselors to discuss and learn about mortgage assistance and options available to homeowners to prevent foreclosure. Besides mortgage lenders and certified housing counselors, homeowners will also have the opportunity to visit with non-profit housing counseling agencies.

Free parking and refreshments will be available. Seating is limited so for more information or to reserve your seat call (210) 207-5910. 

The Alamo Area Clean Cities Coalition held its annual Advancing the Choice event on September 22, 2009 in San Antonio, Texas.  The conference was co-sponsored by the City of San Antonio and was located at their slow fill Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station.

This year’s event was titled A Compelling Case for Alternative Fuels and focused on how alternative fuels can benefit the fleets that use them and benefit the Alamo region. The keynote presentation was delivered by Bexar Commissioner Tommy Adkission, and focused on the importance of energy in our region and why we must produce it clean and domestically. 

Presenters at the event represented experts in the alternative fuel industry. They presented on alternative fuel technologies, cost benefits, tax and rebate incentives, and fleet conversions associated with CNG, Propane Lawnmowers, Anti-idling police vehicle technologies, and Electric Vehicles (EV).  To view the presentations given at the event, click here.

The event also featured ride and drives of the following alternative fuel vehicles: 

• Propane Lawnmowers provided by Ferris and Dietz Tractor Co

• Electric Vehicles provided by EV Auto Texas

• CNG Vehicles provided by Clean Fuel Conversions

• Propane Truck provided by Clean Fuel USA

• Anti-idling police vehicles provided by Energy Xtreme and the Travis County Sheriff and Austin Police Departments

• Hybrid Vehicle by SANTEX Trucks

Approximately 70 people representing governments, educational institutions, fleet managers, police, landscapers, and private industry attended the event.  The event was successful in creating a networking opportunity for all of those that attended, and in educating the general public on the use of alternative fuels.

This event would not have been possible without the following sponsors: Central Texas Clean Cities, the United Soybean Board, EV Autos Texas, The Propane Council of Texas, Clean Energy, SANTEX Truck Centers, Energy Xtreme, Clean Fuel Conversions, and ANGI Energy.

 For additional information on the event, click here or read the new Clean Cities Newsletter. If you would like additional information about the Alamo Area Clean Cities coalition and future events, please contact Chris Ashcraft at (210) 362-5228 or cashcraft@aacog.com.

The national Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) was created in 1974 within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).  The purpose of the national WAP is to provide for the free installation of energy conservation measures in homes to reduce utility consumption and the cost of utility bills for families in need and at the same time improve their health and safety.  Since 1981, AACOG has participated in the national WAP, providing millions of dollars in free weatherization services to more than 5,000 low-income residents within its 12-county region, and successfully reducing the utility consumption and the cost of utility bills for our regional citizens by as much as 45%.  since 1981, the AACOG WAP has afforded numerous economic opportunities to a variety of contractors, including homebuilders and weatherization companies, suppliers and manufacturers, and other businesses through the creation and provision of jobs and overall business development establishing and further enhancing the weatherization industry and quality energy-friendly homes.

October is nationally recognized by DOE as Weatherization Month in an effort to promote the national weatherization program.   For the last five years, AACOG has set aside a day in October as part of this national recognition effort.  Consequently, on September 30, the AACOG Board of Directors approved a resolution recognizing “October 20, 2009 as AACOG Weatherization Day”.  As part of this effort, AACOG will be sponsoring and conducting a series of events on October 20, including outreach for the citizens of Floresville, La Vernia and Stockdale, and a small business gathering for the AACOG contractors only.  For more information, please contact the Housing & Weatherization Department at (210) 362-5245 or (210) 362-5211.

On September 28, 2009, AACOG welcomed the Hydrogen 101 Workshop, hosted by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), to the Alamo Region. Those attending learned about the latest in hydrogen technology including fuel cells, standards and codes, and applications such fuel cell cars and buses.

If you were unable to attend the AACOG workshop, you can attend the Houston workshop on Wednesday, October 14, 2009.  The workshop is part of the 2009 Clean Air Through Energy Efficiency Technology (CATEE) Conference, October 14-16, 2009.  The CATEE conference brings together Texas leaders from across the state to hear about progress in clean air and energy.  For information on the Hydrogen 101 Workshop, and the Combined Heat & Power Workshop conducted by HARC as well as all the other conference opportunities, visit http://catee.tamu.edu.  If you want to know more details, contact David Hitchcock at HARC, dhitchcock@harc.edu.