Duluth Calls Upon Citizens to Help City Go Greener

Denver and Seattle are some of the most environmentally friendly cities in the United States, according to Duluth Councilwoman Marsha Anderson Bomar. And, with the help of its citizens, Duluth is looking to make its own mark -- a green mark.

Led by Bomar, the city is creating external and internal task forces to develop recommendations on how the city can become more environmentally friendly. "The task forces are designed to put a deliberate focus on the environment," said Bomar.

The internal task force will be compromised of city department heads like the directors of parks and recreation and planning, among others. For the external task force, Bomar will engage residents who are environmental experts and who are interested in the subject matter. 

 "The structure allows for many participants from a diverse range of backgrounds -- property owners and renters, residents and business people, students, school representatives, young and old."  She is hopeful that the task force will mirror the city and represent many ethnicities and races.

"It's a six-meeting commitment," said Bomar. Members will participate in educational sessions and discussions, can volunteer to be on a subcommittee and may conduct optional independent research.  Members will also draft recommendations for the staff and city council to consider for implementation.

Several months ago, Bomar, who is senior principal at Stantec, a transportation engineering consulting firm, became deeply familiar with LEED building requirements through her business. In addition, she was also inspired by improvements incorporated at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and the City of Olympia, Wash.

She decided to apply this knowledge in her role as a council member and proposed creating the environmental sustainability task forces at a city council work session. The council gave her the go-ahead.

"I want Duluth to be as a desirable city as possible," said Bomar.  "We want citizens to be able to age in place, for parents to grow old here, and children to live here."

Internally, Duluth Planning and Development Director Glenn Coyne is very involved in the project. While Coyne's only been with the city for several months, he'll draw upon his 20 years experience in city planning and private consulting to contribute.  City planners, he said, have been working in this arena for years.  "The issue of sustainability has been at the forefront of planning, but it has more to do with ensuring our projects are built in a way that they can  funded, maintained and relevant in the future. We don't want to build something that has to be replaced in two years." Coyne has also served on several corporate task forces addressing environmental issues.

The task force will be examining an array of issues. "It's a huge, green world out there that goes well beyond recycling and low-flow toilets with good potential for revenue generation," Bomar said. She expressed interest in issues like education on recyclable goods, rain barrel technology, drought-resistant plantings, bio-retention swales, eco-friendly road building and pedestrian-friendly improvements.

Coyne sees a lot of opportunity to improve sustainability in the area of storm water management. The city currently has a consulting conducting a study on ways to fund repairs and replacements of pipes and structures in the city's aging stormwater system.

 Coyne and Bomar will post the task force application on-line at www.duluthga.net soon.  They've set late February or early March to initiate meetings of the task forces.