STAR Communities Leadership ProgramMasterpiece on the Mississippi
Dubuque
band
AI- America City
1
2007 • 2012 • 2013
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Application to Participate in Leadership STAR Communities Program
DATE: October 28, 2013
Sustainable Community Coordinator Cori Burbach recommends City Council approval
to submit an application to join the STAR Communities Leadership program.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
Cori Burbach, Sustainable Community Coordinator
Masterpiece on the Mississippi
Dubuque
band
AI- America City
1
2007 • 2012 • 2013
TO: Michael Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Cori Burbach, Sustainable Community Coordinator
SUBJECT: Application to Participate in Leadership STAR Communities Program
DATE: October 28, 2013
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this memo is to request City Council approval for Dubuque to submit an
application to join the STAR Communities Leadership program.
BACKGROUND
In 2006, the City Council adopted the goal of becoming a more sustainable city as a
Top Priority. Part of this goal included applying to become certified through some
national program that would allow us to track our progress, benchmark ourselves
against best practices, and compare ourselves to other communities. The STAR
(Sustainability Tools for Assessing & Rating Communities) Communities program was
created through a process lead by US Green Building Council, ICLEI — Local
Governments for Sustainability, and National League of Cities, funded by several
national foundations, and supported by local government staff from across the country.
It is designed to be a national framework for local communities to measure meaningful
sustainability progress. Several years in the making, the first group of pilot communities
officially launched the framework in April 2012. Assistant City Manager Cindy
Steinhauser, myself, and Greater Dubuque Development Corporation Director of
Sustainable Innovation Casey Muhm (in his former role with EDA) were all part of the
technical advisory teams that helped form the objectives and performance measures.
In 2012, the City and its Sustainable Dubuque partners collaborated with the University
of Iowa Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) to issue the first Sustainable
Dubuque Indicators report, an attempt to measure Dubuque's progress towards its
sustainability goals. The IISC students reviewed over 1,100 indicators from over 40
frameworks, including STAR's draft measures, in order to create a 61- indicator report.
The goal at that time was to create a set of measures that could feed into the STAR
framework should Dubuque decide to join this national program, but that would also
allow us to measure progress on aspects and programs unique to Dubuque.
DISCUSSION
Modeled after the original STAR Pilot Program, the Leadership STAR Community
Program supports a cohort of cities as they get organized around the Rating System
then collect and report their data in order to receive a certified STAR Community Rating.
Leadership STAR Communities will have extensive access to STAR Communities staff
and technical assistance. Communities achieving a certified STAR Community Rating
will be recognized as national leaders in sustainability and gain a deep understanding of
their community's strengths and needs to support current and future generations.
Through this one -year program, Leadership STAR Communities will gain tools to
measure progress towards a common set of sustainability metrics; access to STAR's
online platform to track the community's sustainability data; opportunities to learn best
practice from other communities; and assistance in sustainability messaging and
storytelling. It is expected that communities would begin the process around January 1,
2014 and would apply for STAR certification by the end of the program on December
31, 2014.
As part of the application, communities are able to submit a "scholarship request" to
waive the application fee or request funds to support an intern to assist in the collection
of the data. Dubuque's application seeks a scholarship in the amount of $5,000 to
cover the application fee.
A core team would be responsible for leading the City through this process. While this
list may change, initial team members identified include the following:
City Staff Members:
Cori Burbach, Sustainable Community Coordinator
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Nikki Breitsprecker, GIS Coordinator
Laura Carstens, Planning Director
Rich Russell, Building Services Director
Mary Rose Corrigan, Health Services Director
Sustainable Dubuque Collaboration Partners:
Casey Muhm, Director of Sustainable Innovation, Greater Dubuque Development
Corporation
Eric Dregne, VP of Programs, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque
Kelsey McElroy, Economic Development & Sustainability Coordinator, East Central
Intergovernmental Association
Raki Giannakouros, Vice President, Green Dubuque
BUDGET IMPACT
Should the City receive the requested scholarship, there will be no cost to participate.
Match listed in the attached application is in -kind staff time. Should the City not receive
the scholarship, I will identify savings in the Sustainability budget to cover the $5,000
application fee.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
I respectfully request City Council approval of the attached application to join the
Leadership STAR Communities program.
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Section 4: Program Application
Name of Jurisdiction: City of Dubuque IA Population of Jurisdiction: 58,155
Highest Ranking Elected Official (name and official title): Roy D. Buol, Mayor
Name and Title of Primary Contact for Application: Cori Burbach, Sustainable Community Coordinator
Email: cburbach@cityofdubuque.org Work Phone:
563.690.6038
Mailing Address: 50 W 13th St Dubuque IA 52001
Website: www.sustainabledubuque.org, www.cityofdubuque.org
Please respond to the following evaluation questions. adhering to the instructions in Section 2.
1) Assembling a strong team to support your STAR submission and gather the verification data is critical for
success in the Leadership STAR Community Program. Please list the agencies, departments, community
organizations and /or external stakeholders that will form your core STAR team.
1. Cori Burbach, Sustainable Community Coordinator, City of Dubuque. Cori has been the Sustainable
Community Coordinator since 2009. She is a member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network
(current co -chair of Sustainability Indicators working group) and the ICMA Sustainability Committee. She
will be the team lead.
2.Cindy Stein hauser, Assistant City Manager, City of Dubuque.
3. Nikki Breitsprecker, GIS Coordinator, City of Dubuque.
4. Laura Carstens, Planning Director, City of Dubuque.
5. Rich Russell, Building Services Director, City of Dubuque
6. Mary Rose Corrigan, Health Services Director, City of Dubuque
7. Casey Muhm, Director of Sustainable Innovation, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation. Casey's
position was created in 2013 to provide sustainability support to Dubuque area businesses. Casey is also
responsible for data analytics for GDDC.
8. Eric Dregne, VP of Programs, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. In addition to partnering with
the City of Dubuque to administer the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, the CFGD facilitates the Every
Child 1 Every Promise and Inclusive Dubuque initiatives and is a key leader of non - profits in Dubuque.
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www. S T ARc ommunitie s. org
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9. Kelsey McElroy, Economic Development & Sustainability Coordinator, East Central Intergovernmental
Association. Kelsey manages the Petal Project, Dubuque's green business certification program.
Representing the local council of government, Kelsey has access to regional data and planning efforts.
10. Raki Giannakouros, Vice President, Green Dubuque. As an intern, Raki completed the City's first
greenhouse gas inventory in 2007. In 2012, he managed the development of Dubuque's Community Climate
Action & Resiliency Plan.
In addition to the team above, who will meet on a regular basis, two groups will play a significant role in
ensuring that Dubuque is successful in its STAR goals. The Sustainable Dubuque Collaboration was created
in 2011 to carry on the work of the original community -led Sustainable Dubuque Task Force. Comprised of a
Core and Investor Network, the Collaboration is structured in a way that requires commitments to action
from its members and invites all Dubuque residents, businesses and organizations to participate,
implementing a collective impact strategy. The core goal of the Collaboration is to develop and launch an
independent, collaborative, well - funded, community- supported organization, with broad demographic
participation, in order to:
• gain acceptance of the Sustainable Dubuque Vision and principles;
• increase community education and partnerships around sustainability;
• develop and track data through measurements that show progress and /or gaps; and,
• engage citizens and organizations so that we change individual, collective and institutional behaviors and
culture resulting in successful outcomes that benefit everyone.
The monthly Collaboration meetings and regular correspondence lay the groundwork for a rich collection
and analysis of data and performance measurement.
The City of Dubuque Green Team is comprised of representatives from each City department. This team
meets as a whole on a bi- annual basis and also divides up the work of "greening" City operations into
several subcommittees. This team will be the most able to collect data regarding municipal operations
du ring this process.
2) Describe how the team will work together to collect and submit the sustainability data required for STAR
certification and who will lead the day -to -day project management.
Identifying and collecting data on sustainability performance measures has been identified as a City Council
priority. This ensures that the City members above will commit significant time and resources to work
towards STAR certification. Cori Burbach will lead the day -to -day activity with the support of a
sustainability intern. This centralized leadership with support from an intern dedicated to this project as
well as clerical staff shared with the City Manager's Office will ensure data is collected, stored, and
submitted in a timely way. The non -City core team members are all members of the Sustainable Dubuque
Collaboration, which meets on a monthly basis. In addition to this regular interaction, project- specific
meetings will be scheduled monthly, or more often if needed, to ensure adequate progress. Since 2011, all
team members have been responsible for submitting monthly written reports in the City Council
Sustainability Report and participating in quarterly City Council worksessions focused on sustainability
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www. S T ARc ommunitie s. org
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updates. These two check -ins, in addition to established and tracked STAR milestones, will ensure that the
team works successfully together to complete the STAR certification process.
3) Describe your jurisdiction's experience with or interest in public reporting on sustainability metrics.
In 2011, the City of Dubuque partnered with the University of Iowa Iowa Initiative for Sustainable
Communities to complete the first Sustainable Dubuque Indicators report. Cori Burbach worked with a
team of six Masters in Urban Planning students over one academic year to review best practices in
performance measures, identify indicators that would tell Dubuque's sustainability story, and release the
first progress report. After reviewing over 1,200 indicators from 40+ global indicator systems and
conducting local research and public input meetings, the team released a 61- indicator report. The
indicators were chosen based on their relevance to the Sustainable Dubuque model, ability to be measured
(data collected regularly and accessible) and connection to national standards, such as EPA Air Quality
standards. At that time, STAR objectives were reviewed with the intentions that the Indicators report could
fit into this national framework in the future. The Sustainability Office is currently in the process of
releasing an update to that report.
4) List at least three STAR Objectives in which you expect to score well at this point. Describe why.
1. Historic Preservation. The City of Dubuque has a strong commitment to identifying and conserving its
cultural resources. We recognize that the historic, architectural and archeological resources of Dubuque are a
key to our economic prosperity and quality of life. Dubuque's historic preservation regulations, design review
process, and design guidelines are a resource to guide property owners, contractors, and design professionals
with preserving and enhancing the historic characteristics of a building, in turn fostering neighborhood
stability and community vitality. We have documented the historical and architectural significance of nearly
5,000 buildings in Dubuque. From 2006 to 2011, the nuber of buildings and structures on the National
Register of Historic Places increased from 667 to 732.
2. Business Retention & Development. Existing businesses are the backbone of a regional economy, and
Dubuque understands their important role in fueling growth. The Greater Dubuque Development
Corporation's award - winning InfoAction program delivers the services these businesses need, conducting over
270 interviews each year to proactively identify and address issues that impact them. As an illustration of
Dubuque's dedication to strengthening existing businesses, these 270 interviews account for nearly 20% of the
1,373 interviews held statewide through similar business retention programs, despite the region only
containing 3% of Iowa's population.
3. Public Spaces. Based on the 2012 Sustainable Dubuque Indicators report, 78% of Dubuque households are
within .25 miles of public open space. In addition 97.8% of residents are within .5 miles of public open space.
Dubuque has 68 acres of open space per 1000 residents, which far exceeds the National Recreation and Park
Association benchmark of 10 acres per 1000 residents.
5) List at least three STAR Objectives that you believe will be a challenge for your community. Describe why.
1. Outdoor Air Quality. Like many other communities, Dubuque is currently working to be proactive in its
efforts to improve outdoor air quality while the EPA considers changes to air quality targets. Over the last
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www. S T ARc ommunitie s. org
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six years, the air quality in Dubuque has mostly been within the Good category. However, all monitored
days showed high levels of PM 2.5. Additionally, the nearest monitoring station is in Potosi, WI-- upriver
from Dubuque. This geographical barrier must be further studied to determine true air quality and causes
in Dubuque.
2. Social & Cultural Diversity. As Dubuque's population grows and diversifies, we continue to develop
partnerships to ensure that Dubuque is a welcoming, inclusive place. The Inclusive Dubuque initiative was
recently lanuched to ensure that all individuals feel welcome, that everyone has access to resources and can
enjoy a sense of wellbeing and belonging, that we are able to attract and retain global talent, that we have
a culturally competent education system, and that we build a community focused on open communication
and community engagement. Building processes and identifying data to track our progress will be key to
our success.
3. Greening the Energy Supply. The City of Dubuque has a strong history of partnership with local utility
providers Alliant Energy (electricity) and Black Hills (natural gas). Because Dubuque is considered a leader in
sustainability initiatives in Iowa, we often find ourselves blazing a trail in terms of public policy related to
renewable energy. We continue to work with the Iowa Utility Board, renewable energy providers, Alliant
and Black Hills to identify strengths, opportunities, and challenges.
6) Describe the local funding available to support your community's participation in the Leadership program.
The Sustainability Office, which will lead this application, is supported by General Funds. The Sustainable
Community Coordinator position (1 FTE) and funding for a Sustainability Intern (1 FTE) are approved,
recurring expenses. Additionally, support of relevant techology and software, such as our GIS systems and
PermitsPlus permit management system, are General Fund and Enterprise Fund - supported items.
7) Please provide any other relevant information towards your application.
When the City Council and Mayor defined becoming a more sustainable community as a Top Priority in
2006, they included in that goal the important of achieving some type of "green community certification."
As we have watched STAR progress, we created the Sustainable Dubuque Indicators report with the
assistance of the University of Iowa to be able to track our own progress. That system was created with the
hopes that it would feed Dubuque's future participation in STAR. We recognize that while we will continue
to track some measures that are Dubuque - specific, we also want to be able to use standardized measures to
relate our progress to the rest of the country.
From the beginning of our sustainability journey, we have also strived to create a replicable model for
communities under 200,00 in population. We hope that by participating in the STAR process, we can share
our experience with other small to medium -sized communities and work together to address barriers
including but not limited to national policy hurdles and lack of staff time to collect and track data. We look
forward to the jou rney!
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www. S T ARc ommunitie s. org
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Section 5: Financial Assistance & Local Philanthropic Support (optional)
In partnership with The Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN), STAR
Communities will offer financial assistance to a limited number of communities that demonstrate need and
the ability to leverage local philanthropic support for their participation in the Leadership STAR Community
Program. The purpose of this funding is to catalyze partnerships between local governments and local, place -
based foundations that will institutionalize the ongoing use of community -wide sustainability performance
metrics and the STAR Community Rating System. Ideally, this partnership will lead to future collaborations on
projects that advance local sustainability or address community needs identified through STAR.
Financial assistance is available either as a scholarship to offset the 2014 Leadership STAR Community
program fee or as capacity support to ensure sufficient staffing resources, such as dedicated staff time,
interns, or consultants, to perform the data collection and analysis necessary to complete the community's
submission for STAR certification within the program year. Capacity support needs will vary, but most
communities in STAR's Pilot Program hired at least one intern to assist with data collection and analysis.
Financial assistance is limited and will be awarded on a competitive basis. The selection committee will
prioritize applications based on demonstrated need by the jurisdiction; the amount of funding requested from
TFN /STAR Communities relative to leveraged local resources (financial or in- kind); and evidence of
commitment or intent by one or more local foundations to support the community's participation in the
program.
Application for Financial Assistance
1) Category of support (scholarship or implementation assistance): Scholarship
2) Amount of funding requested from TFN /STAR Communities: $5,000
3) Explain the community's need for financial assistance to participate in the Program.
The application fee is an unbudgeted expense in P12014. Dubuque, like many other small to mid -sized
communities, looks forward to this opportunity and believes that being able to track data will help us to
better tell the story of the dollar value of sustainability in the future.
4) Describe how the requested funding would be used to support the community's participation.
Removing the application fee barrier will allow the Sustainable Community Coordinator to approach
potential partners, asking them to commit staff time and data to this project, and not have to ask for
financial assistance.
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www. S T ARc ommunitie s. org
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5) Provide the name(s) of local, place -based foundation(s) that have committed or intend to support the
community's participation in the Leadership program. Include a point of contact and contact information.
Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, Nancy Van Milligen, President & CEO. 563.588.2700,
nancyvanm@dbgfou ndation.org
6) Have the local government and foundation(s) partnered together in the past to support community
development and /or sustainability? If so, in what capacity?
Yes. The City and CFGD have a successful history of addressing important community issues together. In
2009, the CFGD and Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce facilitated Dubuque 2.0, an initiative to engage
the community in the sustainability conversation. The Sustainable Community Coordinator served on that
steering committee, and staff worked together on a daily basis. Today, various City staff and CFGD are
working together to implement the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, funded through the Local
Sustainability Matching Fund.
7) Describe the commitment or intent by the foundation(s) to support the community's participation in the
Leadership program. Note that local financial support does not need to be secured by the time of application
for the Leadership STAR Community Program. Attach letter(s) of commitment or intent to commit if available.
The CFGD will provide support to Dubuque's participation in the Leadership program through in -kind staff
support. Eric Dregne currently is a member of the Sustainable Dubuque Collaboration Core Network and
regularly attends these meetings. He has been a key player in the development of the Sustainable Dubuque
Indicators report. The Community Foundation plays a lead role in the collection of data for a variety of
community initiatives, including Every Child 1 Ever Promise, the 3rd grade reading initiative, Inclusive
Dubuque, and Green & Healthy Homes. Staff will share data with City staff as needed and collaborate to
identify areas where data collection for these various initiatives can be streamlined to maximize efficiency
and effectiveness of partner staff time and software.
8) Describe other financial and /or in -kind resources that will be committed to support the community's
participation in the Leadership program (e.g. local government, nonprofit, private sector).
East Central Intergovernmental Association and Greater Dubuque Development Corporation will both
commit staff time to this project. In addition to providing staff support, these organizations have a history
of sharing data collected through their own software and programs with the City. Sharing data for the STAR
Leadership program will not be an exception. For example, GDDC collects data on business development
through 270 one -on -one business meetings through its InfoAction program each year. This data will be
especially helpful in the Economy & Jobs goals, but will be used throughout the process.
9) How will you proceed if your community does not receive financial assistance from STAR Communities
and /or the identified local philanthropic organization?
The City of Dubuque and its partners are committed to participating in STAR so that we are better able to
track our own progress towards our sustainability goals and compare ourselves to best practices in other
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www. S T ARc ommunitie s. org
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communities nationally. We are currently preparing the FY2015 budget and anticipate that our
membership would be paid for with savings in the current year budget or allocated in the FY2015 process.
10) Project Budget: Please provide a project budget that includes the total request to TFN/ STAR Communities
and the total amount of in -kind and financial resources leveraged at the local level.
Total requested funding from TFN/ STAR Communities: $5000
Scholarship or enhancement funding
Contribution by local government: $25024
Include financial and in -kind
Contribution by philanthropic organization: $1n-kind time, TBD
Proposed, committed, or secured
TOTAL LEVERAGED SUPPORT: $25024
TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET: $31024
Section 6: Signature
By my electronic signature below, I hereby attest to the best of my knowledge that the information submitted
in this application is correct and that my community is committed to participate in the 2014 Leadership STAR
Community Program, if selected, and will pay the full program fee by December 15, 2013 or make payment
arrangements with STAR Communities.
Electronic Signature: Cori Burbach
Date: 10.13.13
STAR Communities • c/o District Department of Environment
1200 First Street NE, 5th floor • Washington, DC 20002
www.STARcommunities.org