Olmsted County commissioners to review climate change action plan - Rochester Post Bulletin

Olmsted County commissioners to review climate change action plan - Post Bulletin | Rochester Minnesota news, weather, sports

Olmsted County commissioners to review climate change action plan

Plan outlines variety of steps county is taking and plans to take to address and mitigate the impact of climate change.

ROCHESTER — A climate-change action plan outlining several activities Olmsted County will take to mitigate and adapt to impacts is up for review Tuesday, Jan. 2.

Work on the plan started in 2021 when county staff identified more than 450 current or planned sustainability activities.

A staff task force has narrowed the climate focus to 32 key activities to address as part of the county’s action plan that will be presented to Olmsted County commissioners during their first meeting of 2024, which will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in board chambers of the city-county Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE.

The action plan places the activities being addressed into five categories — natural resources, waste and materials, building and energy, transportation and people.

Proposed work around natural resources includes continuing to adopt nature-based stormwater management practices, establishing more sustainable and native plantings in county parks and creating natural prairie areas in underutilized building spaces.

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When it comes to waste and materials, the county is seeking to expand its recycling program in county buildings and eventually implement programs to divert food waste and demolition debris from traditional waste streams.

Increased monitoring of energy use in county buildings and upgrading to energy-efficient and renewable energy systems are also targeted in the plan, along with investing in electric vehicles and reducing plastic and paper waste related to county business.

The plan points out that some of the work is already underway, while county departments continue to look for ways to show whether the effort is meeting climate and sustainability goals.

“Departments are identifying key baseline metrics related to climate efforts to measure their climate-related actions' progress, impacts or success,” the 21-page plan states. “Some examples of data include (the) percentage of time PCs are powered on, energy usage per building, or miles driven by gas versus electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles. Each department will also have budgetary considerations as they consider ways to implement recommendations and as needed will incorporate budget requests into the annual county budgeting cycle, including the capital improvement plan.”

The plan also notes that work will continue to evolve in an effort to make the county’s climate response a priority in its overall strategic plan. Added work will also continue in an effort to seek grants and other funding to support the related work.

The release of the plan is slated to coincide with the launch of a climate change page on the Olmsted County website at olmstedcounty.gov.

The site seeks to outline the county’s goals related to climate change, while also providing information on the action plan. In addition to outlining what county staff is doing to address concerns, the webpage is expected to offer ways that residents can help address climate change and mitigate its potential impact.

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Upcoming meetings

Meetings scheduled to be held during the week of Jan. 1 include:

Rochester

• Park Board, 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in room 104 of City Hall, 201 Fourth St. SE.

Olmsted County

• Physical Development Committee, 8 a.m. Tuesday in conference room 1 of the Government Center, 151 Fourth St. SE.

• Health, Housing and Human Services Committee, 9 a.m. Tuesday in conference room 2 for the Government Center.

• Board of County Commissioners, 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the board chambers of the Government Center.

• Administrative Committee, 1 p.m. Tuesday in conference room 1 of the city-county Government Center,

• Parks Commission, 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Public Works, 2122 Campus Drive SE in Rochester.

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