City Council Meeting Date: November 5, 2019
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Beth Kallestad, Program Coordinator
Title
Consider Adopting the Climate Action Plan.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council considers a Motion to adopt the attached Climate Action Plan.
Summary Report:
Please note this item was planned to on the consent agenda but was requested by a City Councilor to be placed on the regular agenda for separate vote. We will not be taking public comment for this item as we accepted comments at the last meeting when this was discussed. Comments can be submitted electronically through our online public comment meeting function before 12:00 noon on Tuesday located here: <https://northfield.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=26012&GUID=58AF0250-197E-42B2-9446-A97830FCD184&Mode=MainBody>
In the 2018-2020 Strategic Plan, the City of Northfield listed Climate Change Action as one of the six Strategic Priorities with one of the desired outcomes being the creation of a Climate Action Plan (CAP). As a result of this, a group of residents were appointed to serve as the Climate Action Plan Advisory Board (CAPAB) in February 2018. The CAPAB was charge with development of the CAP and presenting it to City Council by the end of 2019. Great Plains Institute was hired to serve as a consultant for the project. The CAPAB, GPI and city staff worked on gathering data to determine city greenhouse gas emissions, reviewing other plans, recommending actions and priorities, soliciting public input and finally developing a Climate Action Plan.
A presentation on the CAP was presented to City Council on October 15, 2019. It lays out goals for the next twenty years to help the City of Northfield, its residents and businesses work toward a carbon free future.
Alternative Options:
Not applicable.
Financial Impacts:
The entire financial cost of the plan is not known. A request has been made to include $20,000 in the City budget for 2020 to begin some implementation actions. Individual project budgets will be developed as they arise. Many of the actions in this plan rely on residents and businesses taking actions which may include financial contributions.
Tentative Timelines:
Implementation of the plan will begin immediately after adoption.