Located just southeast of St. Paul, between the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, the City of Woodbury, a Metro CERT Affiliate since January of 2010, has a track record of positioning itself as a leader in sustainability.
Background
Woodbury’s history with sustainability goes all the way back to 1986, when the City Council formed the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) to oversee recycling initiatives. Over the past 26 years, the committee has gained new powers, increased its size, changed names twice, and most importantly, kept its focus. The former SWAC is now called the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC). It has nine citizen members and two staff liaisons, including Jennifer McLoughlin, a Sustainability Specialist who has been with the city since 2006.
SolarWorks!
Among many projects that Woodbury has completed recently, Metro CERT assisted the city with putting on a “SolarWorks!” Workshop in March of 2012, which drew over 100 people, some of whom were turned away at the door because the room was over capacity.
“That workshop was beyond our wildest dreams,” remarked Steve Kernik, Environmental Planner for the city and fellow staff liaison to the EAC. While the city had completed a number of projects on environmental education, it led him and McLoughlin to realize that there were new topics and projects that the public was interested in.
GreenStep Cities
One of those untapped resources might be GreenStep Cities, a free challenge, recognition, and assistance program for Minnesota cities pursuing sustainability, of which CERTs is a founding partner.
Even though Woodbury has had a formal resolution declaring its sustainability goals since 2006 (one of the many accomplishments of the EAC), McLoughlin and Kernik see the GreenStep program as a framework for directing and tracking the city’s and the EAC’s efforts.
Both EAC liaisons have been working to gather information for the City Council’s pending decision to join the program, which will be discussed soon at a hearing and, if all goes well, followed by another meeting to vote.
While the EAC has been quite successful in the past, its biggest challenge may be to identify future projects and track progress in an effective way. That’s why McLoughlin and Kernik hope the GreenStep Cities program can help with guidance towards implementing new and innovative projects, such as the Regional Indicators Initiative, a project to measure city-wide energy, water, waste, and travel metrics for 20 Metro-area cities, Woodbury included.
Looking Forward
McLoughlin and Kernik admit that among cities, there’s a pressure to lead, but it’s difficult be the first to implement something and take on the risk of failure. For example, Woodbury was one of the first cities to install solar panels at a public building, following closely behind Oakdale and Maplewood.
In the future though, there will be much opportunity for Woodbury to shine. If the City Council chooses to join GreenStep Cities, it is likely that Woodbury could start at a Step 3 rating — the highest possible right now (Step 4 is still being developed).
In addition to guidance from GreenStep Cities, McLoughlin will be paying attention to ideas and projects covered at the CERTs Conference in 2013. “I think the conference is one of the most helpful things,” she said, adding, “I wish it could be every year.”
With a long history of civic engagement around sustainability, and an impressive list of completed projects, Woodbury is working to stay competitive as a sustainable city moving forward. Looking back over so many projects, Kernik remarked that despite huge successes, “There’s still work to be done.”
For more information, check out the City of Woodbury’s sustainability website at http://www.ci.woodbury.mn.us/environment/sustainability.
