Story County solicits public input on operations climate action plan focusing on resilience and emissions

Story County hosted a public meeting to gather input on an Operations Climate Action Plan aimed at keeping county services running during worsening weather and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from county government operations. The session, led by consultants from EA Engineering and county planning staff, described the hazards the county will analyze, summarized a government-operations greenhouse-gas inventory, and invited residents to complete an online survey.

The plan focuses on operations under the Board of Supervisors’ 2022 Climate Resilience Leadership Strategy and will examine county-owned buildings, fleets and employee commutes rather than community-wide emissions. "The Story County government wants your perspective on actions that can be taken to improve the resilience of the County government operations," said Chris Anderson, a consultant with EA Engineering. Leanne Harder, Story County planning and development staff, said the Go Green team — originally started in 2008 and reactivated in 2022 — asked for the plan after the county directed staff in 2024 to issue a request for proposals and engage a consultant to prepare an operations-focused climate action plan.

Why it matters: County officials said the plan is meant to identify priority actions and costs to reduce service interruptions (for example, closed roads, inaccessible facilities or delayed emergency response) and lower the county’s contribution to greenhouse-gas buildup. The consultants emphasized that the plan will document where county operations are vulnerable to weather and provide the Board of Supervisors with options ranging from low-cost operational changes to capital investments.

What presenters outlined

Hazards and operational…