Minnesota State Wire

We’re stepping it up in Coon Rapids! The City is proud to announce it has achieved Step 5 in the Minnesota GreenStep Cities program. This is the top recognition available for taking more than 95 sustainable actions to reduce energy, cut costs and support conservation.

The Coon Rapids City Council accepted the award during a regular council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

The voluntary program helps cities achieve sustainability and quality of life goals. Coon Rapids first enrolled in the program in 2014, and joins 147 participating cities and tribal nations. Step 5 is the highest level of achievement and recognizes not only the implementation of sustainable actions, but also the tracking of performance metrics and improvement year over year.

“This award represents the City’s continuing commitment to sustainability, including all of the hard work that staff has put in over the past 8 years,” shared Olivia Dorow Hovland, Sustainability Planner and GreenStep program lead with the City of Coon Rapids.

In all, Coon Rapids completed over 95 sustainable actions ranging from the installation of LED street lights and electric vehicle charging stations to improved recycling processes and additional pedestrian trail connections. Actions taken within the program focus on cost savings, energy use reduction, resource conservation, climate change and the encouragement of civic innovation.

Notable performance metrics this year include:

• 100% of Coon Rapids housing is within one mile of a bike route.

• Coon Rapids decreased the energy used to treat and distribute drinking water:
  • Decreasing from 1,368 MWh in 2019 to 933 MWh in 2021.
  • Decreasing from 57,047 Therms in 2019 to 45,997 Therms in 2021.
• Coon Rapids increased the number of City-owned and private renewable energy generation sites:
  • Increasing from 13 (101.8 kW) in 2019 to 46 (1952.2 kW) in 2021.

View actions Coon Rapids took to achieve Steps 1-5 here. | Read press release here.

The City Council accepted the Minnesota GreenStep Cities Steps 4 and 5 at the regular council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 4.

Pictured left to right: Councilmember Brad Greskowiak, Councilmember Kari Rehrauer, Councilmember Pablo Hernandez, Jr., Mayor Jerry Koch, Diana McKeown from the Great Plains Institute, Councilmember Jennifer Geisler, Councilmember Brad Johnson and Councilmember Pat Carlson.  

Original source can be found here.