11 17 08 City Council Proceedings Official_Special
CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
OFFICIAL
The Dubuque City Council met in special session at 5:00 p.m. on November 17,
2008, in the Historic Federal Building.
Present: Mayor Buol, Council Members Braig, Connors, Jones, Lynch, Resnick,
Voetberg, City Manager Van Milligen, City Attorney Lindahl
Mayor Buol read the call and stated that this was a special meeting of the City
Council called for the purpose of discussing the Sustainable Dubuque Initiative.
Assistant City Manager Cindy Steinhauser introduced project consultants from the
Durrant Group, Chris Wand, Kevin Eipperle, Gary Bechtel, and Gordy Mills. A slide
presentation was presented and discussed.
Initiatives: Since the City Council indentified Sustainability and Green City
Designation as a top priority in 2006, the following City initiatives have been completed
or are in process:
1. Growing Sustainable Communities
2. Sustainable Dubuque: Viable, Livable, Equitable
3. Green Sites Examples
4. Are you ready to pledge green?
5. Created a Sustainable Community Coordinator position
6. Highlighted sustainable initiatives implemented by city departments on the
Sustainable Dubuque Website
a. ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability
b. Climate Communities
c. Carbon Disclosure Project
d. AIA Communities by Design
e. National Trust for Historic Preservation; Preservation Green Lab
7. Created a Sustainable Dubuque Task force
8. Hired Durrant Group to assist Task Force in achieving their mission to gather
public input and develop a vision statement and strategic document.
Community involvement: Over 19 presentations in July/August 2008; 150 participants
in stakeholder meetings; approximately 860 surveys completed
Draft Vision Statement: Dubuque is a viable, livable, and equitable community. We
embrace economic prosperity, social/cultural vibrancy and environmental integrity to
create a sustainable legacy for generations to come.
Durrant Group representative Chris Wand reviewed the 11 Sustainable Principles
providing goals and Dubuque examples for each:
Economic Prosperity
1. Regional Economy
2. Smart Energy Use
3. Resource Management
4. Community Design
Social/Cultural Vibrancy
5. Green Buildings
6. Healthy Local Food
7. Community Knowledge
8. Reasonable Mobility
Environmental Integrity
9. Healthy Air
10. Clean Water
11. Native Plants & Animals
Steinhauser then reviewed the next steps:
Submit to City Council a revised document consistent with any direction provided by
the City Council that will include the approved vision statement, principles, a draft of
goals, key concepts and action steps for consideration. A marketing plan to increase
community understanding will be a part of the submittal;
Connect the principles and goals with the AIA SDAT Report;
Connect the principles and goals to the City of Dubuque Comprehensive Plan; and
Organizations or groups of individuals in the community will be encouraged to
champion certain principles and goals, as it is well understood the City does not have
the capacity or capability to be responsible for all of these initiatives as was done with
the Envision 2010 process.
City Council discussed the initiative and congratulated the committee on the
thoroughness of their work and the report they provided. It was also commented that
Dubuque was definitely “ahead of the curve” on this issue.
There being no further business, upon motion the City Council adjourned at 5:48 p.m.
/s/Jeanne F. Schneider, CMC
City Clerk
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