December 01, 2009
As 2009 comes to a close, Omaha’s efforts to create a more sustainable city are coming together.
Last November, city officials and Omaha by Design launched Environment Omaha, a policy development initiative that is creating an environmental component for the city’s master plan. Environment Omaha is addressing five major content areas – the natural environment, urban form and transportation, building construction, resource conservation and community health.
Drafts for the natural environment and urban form & transportation components have been completed, and work on the building construction component is under way. The 28-member Building Construction Advisory Committee is chaired by Jay Noddle, Noddle Companies, and facilitated by Joe Lang, RDG Planning and Design.
The building construction effort kicked off Sept. 10. Since that time, four subgoals have been identified:
- Non-residential, renovation
- Non-residential, new construction
- Residential, renovation/new construction
- Building sites
The Building Construction Advisory Committee will present its recommendations to the Environment Omaha Core Committee and members of all five Environment Omaha Advisory Committees Monday, Dec. 21, from 1:00 to 2:00pm at The Thompson Center at UNO. The final draft document for the building construction component will be posted to www.environmentomaha.com in early 2010 for public comment.
Also in early 2010, work on the resource conservation component will kick off with a public meeting Wednesday, Jan. 20, from 6:30 to 8:00pm at the Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St. The guest speaker is Amy Malick, Midwest regional director for ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. ICLEI provides technical consulting, training and information services to build capacity, share knowledge and support local government in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level. More information about the Jan. 20 meeting will be provided as the event nears.
Funding for Environment Omaha, which is receiving significant city staff and resource support, is provided by grants from the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency and the City of Omaha’s Stormwater Management Plan Program Grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. Omaha by Design is the project manager. For more information, call 402.554.4010 or email info@omahabydesign.org.
More than 120 local volunteers representing a diversity of professions and perspectives are donating their time and talents to the development of Environment Omaha. The initiative has five advisory committees – one for each of the five content areas (the natural environment, urban form and transportation, building construction, resource conservation and community health), a core committee and a working group. Committee membership is posted on www.environmentomaha.com.