A two-year effort to inject financial life into Douglas County development and preservation efforts is teetering on life support, and its supporters are clamoring for a personnel transfusion.

The ECO2 committee  a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce effort to help develop industrial parks and preserve open space  met Tuesday morning for the first time since conducting five public meetings regarding plans for seeking a 0.25 percent sales tax to support its efforts.

After reviewing the comments and concerns voiced by people in Lawrence, Lecompton, Baldwin and Eudora, committee members reluctantly agreed Monday that shooting for a sales-tax question on the Nov. 5 ballot would be a futile effort, given the Legislature’s recent decision to boost statewide sales taxes by 0.4 percent.

“If we pick the right time  November is obviously out of the question  I think the public can be convinced that it’s a good thing,” said Kelly Kindscher, a committee member who works for the Kansas Biological Survey.

But even pushing for an April election might not work, unless the committee gets a fresh shot of adrenaline from community members committed to keeping the collaborative effort going.

“We need an injection of energy,” said Charles Jones, a Douglas County commissioner who had pushed for a question on the November ballot. “I think we’re just worn out.”

Kelvin Heck, the committee’s co-chair and chamber’s president, said he no longer was interested in leading the ECO2 charge. He told committee members that someone else would have to carry the load, which is intended to create jobs through economic development and boost the area’s quality of life through protecting environmentally sensitive areas.

“I want to see if anybody else out there cares enough to keep things moving,” Heck said.

The ECO2 committee has proposed asking voters to approve a countywide, 1/4-cent sales tax increase that would generate an estimated $22.6 million, over 10 years, to build an inventory of job-creating industrial development while also preserving farms, prairies and other natural areas as open space.

The committee is scheduled to discuss future options at 7:30 a.m. June 25 at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, 734 Vt.