City council has deferred its plan to turn off the Centennial Fountain in Little Lake for part of this season.

Instead, city staff will examine the fountain's energy consumption and see if there are ways to decrease its carbon footprint while keeping it open from May to October.

One solution could be reducing the daily running time, said Coun. Kim Zippel: the fountain currently runs 14 hours daily.

Zippel had moved during budget talks earlier this month to operate the fountain from the Canada Day to Labour Day weekends, rather than from the Victoria Day to Thanksgiving Day weekends.

The idea is to save electricity in a time when city council has declared a climate emergency - and during budget talks, councillors gave the idea preliminary approval.

But then the public spoke up, and many people said they didn't want to see the fountain's season shortened because it's a beloved city symbol and a heritage feature.

An online petition started by Wolf 101.5 radio host Steve Kearns on Change.org called on council to keep the fountain open all summer - and it attracted more than 2,200 signatures.

Grant Kent, the owner of Liftlock Cruises, told council Monday that he represents "tens of thousands of tourists" that have gone past the fountain over the years.

"People strain to get close to the fountain - people want to take pictures of it," Kent told council.

At a council meeting Thursday night, Zippel said she's learned a lot about the fountain and wants "to work toward a more collaborative solution" to reducing the carbon footprint of the fountain.

She noted at a meeting earlier this month that the fountain consumes the same amount of energy yearly as the aging Northcrest Arena.

But Coun. Dean Pappas said he was happy for the deferral; if Zippel hadn't moved it, he would have done so.

"We don't want to lose our heritage," he said.

Pappas said he understands the intent of the original motion, but it was hasty.

"You have to be careful with idealism and political expediency," he said, because it can come at the expense of democracy.

He also said he doesn't think politicians should try to push forward with hasty plans in the name of environmental sustainability.

"We can't use the words 'climate change' to leverage our arguments," he said.

But Coun. Kemi Akapo said that although she supported the deferral, she doesn't want council to stall in its efforts to curb climate change.

"We declared a climate emergency, and in times of (an emergency) you follow different processes," she said.

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joelle.kovach

@peterboroughdaily.com