The steering committee of the Small Cities Council held its annual
summer meeting recently in Rexburg, Idaho, home of its chair, Mayor
Shawn Larsen.
The committee's packed agenda included a session reviewing
NLC's City Practice Resources, Economic Development Administration
grants and other funding opportunities for small cities, business
development in small cities, research done by Idaho National Laboratory
on tackling the high gas prices and roundtable discussions.
NLC's City Practices Online Database has been a great asset to
its members over the years. While many city officials have been
utilizing this resource, some NLC members are not aware of this powerful
tool. The goal of the Small Cities Council is to re-introduce NLC's
database to NLC members, especially to small cities. The idea is to
collect best practices from small communities to be a part of the
database.
Small cities responded to a call for examples of programs from
their cities. These programs were reviewed by the steering committee and
will be made part of NLC's database.
Mayor Larsen invited Ted Hendricks, manager of economic and
community development at the East Central Idaho Planning and Development
Association Inc., to show the Small Cities Council how Rexburg and other
Idaho cities and counties have been able to receive grants and funding
for economic development.
Coincidentally, the building in which the meeting was held, the
Business Development and Education Center, is a recent accomplishment
stemming from these efforts. The facility houses new business startups
in the community and classes for the Certified Nursing program offered
by Eastern Idaho Technical College.
John Smart of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) spoke to the
group about how INL is tackling one of the nation's greatest
dilemmas the high price of gasoline. INL is at the forefront of
developing and testing the next generation of hybrid and electric
vehicle batteries and other technologies. Its goal is to develop and
test technologies that can lead to emission- and petroleum-free cars and
light trucks. All the research being conducted has the common goal of
reducing the consumption of imported foreign oil.
The final session involved roundtable discussions on many issues,
including sustainability; civic engagement; small business and
entrepreneurship; and transportation funding.
Steering committee members discussed the way their communities are
coping with those issues. Some cities have eliminated the sales tax on
solar installations and have given back rebates to homeowners. Others
talked about their community using landfills to produce methane gas,
which is used to generate energy.
Members of the council are very concerned about citizens' lack
of engagement in government. They discussed ways in which city officials
can bring back interest in government to its citizens. Some suggestions
included recognizing citizens of the month, having an extra meeting
every month so citizens can talk about issues of interest and
encouraging the formation of youth councils.
The next meeting of the steering committee and the full committee
will be held .in Orlando, Fla., during the Congress of Cities in
November. For information about joining the Small Cities Council,
contact Lesley-Ann Rennie at rennie@nlc.org or (202) 626-3134.
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