The Savage City Council approved applying for the Minnesota GreenCorps Program on March 6.
Assistant City Administrator Casey Casella explained GreenCorps is an 11-month AmeriCorps program coordinated by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
“The Minnesota GreenCorps Program is designed to preserve and protect Minnesota’s environment while training a new generation of environmental professionals,” Casella told the council. “The program places AmeriCorps members with host organizations around the state to help communities increase resilience to climate change.”
Casella noted the program is a competitive application process, and applicants aren’t guaranteed to be accepted.
“This is just our initial step into it,” Casella said
If approved to be part of the program, Casella recommended the city take part in the Partners in Energy program through Xcel Energy.
“PIE is a citywide initiative to engage residents, businesses and city staff to assess energy usage and plan for reductions and efficiencies,” Casella said.
Casella said Xcel provides the tools and resources to develop and implement an energy action plan and helps communities stay informed on the energy reduction plan and goals.
Some concerns
As part of the PIE program, it is recommended that a community steering committee is created to provide input.
“I could see (the GreenCorps representative) being empowered to lead the steering committee,” Casella said.
Councilmember Christine Kelly said she was concerned with having someone from outside the city being in charge of coming up with the plan.
“I want input from our residents,” Kelly said.
City Administrator Brad Larson said the developed plan would only be recommendations and the city council can decide if it wants to to move forward with any of the recommendations.
As part of the agreement, the city would be required to provide about four hours of staff supervision per week.
Kelly said she is concerned with staff needing to spend their time supervising the GreenCorps representative, taking away from their normal duties.
Larson noted the time requirement will be dependent on how much experience the individual has.
If approved, the program will be effective from September 2023 through August 2024.
