Mayor says State of St. Cloud is Solid, Proposes Going Carbon Neutral by 2038

(KNSI) – St. Cloud is looking at going completely carbon neutral by 2038, honored four young people with a new award, is working to revitalize downtown and wants voters to approve bonding to make park improvements. On Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Dave Kleis made the announcement during the 17th State of the City Address.

“The State of the City of St Cloud is solid based on a foundation of people that have been doing things in this community for 100 and some years. The future of St Cloud is is solid because of the young people who are engaged and willing to make this a better community.”

Kleis presented the first St. Cloud Youth Building Award winners. They went to Fahmo Abdi and Fyzeen Ahmad, Tech High School Seniors, Apollo graduate Sam Brewer and Claire Sia Su from Cathedral High School. The award was given to the students who showed a commitment to the community. Sam Brewer was honored for starting the Young People’s Collective group.

“We’ve done park cleanups. We’ve done coat drives. We’ve done other work. We visited the state capitol. We’ve talked to our elected officials and it’s just awesome having this sort of mix of civil engagement, political service and community service. It’s just really fulfilling.”

He says when you see something that needs changing, go change it.

“Don’t complain that the park is full of litter when you could go clean up the park yourself. Most of us just have a great time. We do all this stuff together. That’s how the memories get made. That’s how friendships get made.”

Abdi and Ahamd were honored for their work with senior citizens and Sia Su for her leadership and mentoring of other students.

Kleis announced a goal of all public and private buildings in St. Cloud going completely carbon neutral by 2038. The city’s public buildings already get all their power from renewable energy sources. Public Works Director Tracy Hodel says the changes will be done in phases, with the first goal to be done by 2028.

“We’re going be looking community wide. Not just city operation wide. And we want to be carbon neutral when it comes to communities so, we are developing some strategies to meet that and we’ll collaborate with our community partners, our stakeholders, our utility providers to really look at innovative clean technologies.”

The next phase will look at going carbon neutral with transportation.

“And then in 2038, we’re looking to bring on that transportation piece and be carbon neutral, including emissions from vehicles. And that will include different strategies.”

Hodel says infrastructure improvements will include adding electric vehicle charging stations. She says that it will also include a hydrogen plant built at the wastewater treatment plant. St. Cloud is working with a German company to see if it makes sense to build.

St. Cloud is also looking at ways to attract more people to live here because people can work anywhere. The city will be doing a housing study starting next month.

“We’re going to look at walkability where we can increase the housing stock with market forces especially in some of our core neighborhoods, without adding large complexes. We are looking at a way to do that and still help the environment.”

The study will also look at the city’s core.

“Downtowns are changing. COVID has changed the way people operate and work. They’re studying St. Cloud and how we can better serve our downtown, housing and jobs. These are all things that we need to do. We’re taking advantage of partnerships, collaboration, and working together to solve these issues. We’re not just going to keep identifying the problem. We’re going to solve the problem.”

The mayor also announced St. Cloud would be looking at ways to improve the quality of life in the area to keep workers.

He will ask the city council put on the ballot a referendum for a bond that we can fund St. Cloud’s neighborhood parks with repairs and maintenance that otherwise the city wouldn’t have funding for. He says St. Cloud can pay the bonds over the next 20 years and do the work in five years. Kleis says the upgrades will enhance the city’s livability, so people take jobs or stay in the area. Look for more information coming later this year.

The mayor also announced the 2022 Legacy Award Winner, Hedy Tripp. He also plans to hold a walking town hall around Lake George this summer.

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