Council may approve GreenStep Cities Taskforce

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, July 16, 2011

Austin residents interested in making their community more eco-friendly may have a reason to celebrate Monday night.

City Council members are scheduled to approve the forming of a GreenStep Cities Task Force at a Monday night meeting.

Council members discussed the GreenStep Cities program at a recent work session, with every member in attendance voting to officially approve the task force at the upcoming July 18 meeting. Once the task force is approved as a city group, Mayor Tom Stiehm and City Council members will appoint members.

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The city’s involvement in the program is a step toward fulfilling one of City Council’s 2011 priorities: to begin making Austin a more sustainable city.

The GreenStep Cities program is focused on giving city officials throughout Minnesota a list of ideas and practices for reducing cities’ carbon footprints and making towns throughout the state better places to live.

Some of the best practices include reusing existing buildings before building new, constructing new buildings that meet a green building standard, improving the efficiency of lighting and signals and encouraging higher housing density.

Forming a task force is one of the first steps to becoming a GreenStep City, according to city intern Samantha Barthels. The next step is to take inventory of what best practices have already been completed or are close to completion, then council members can come up with a plan for which best practices to begin next.

Barthels said the program is a long-term goal that could take years to complete.

Council members will vote on Monday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in Council Chambers. Council members will meet for a work session immediately following the meeting.

City Council

When: Monday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m.
Where: The meeting will take place in Council Chambers.
•Council members will meet for a work session immediately following the meeting.

City Council When: Monday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. Where: The meeting will take place in Council Chambers. •Council members will meet for a work session immediately following the meeting.