City staff said the city has submitted a preliminary application for LEED for Cities certification through the U.S. Green Building Council and expects initial feedback in early October. The application documents multiple sustainability credits across water, energy, transportation and social services, but staff said some credits were not submitted because the city lacks required policies or authority.

Alex, a city staff member, told the committee the city applied on Aug. 22 and anticipates feedback in about a month; staff will have an opportunity to provide additional documentation before a final application in early November. "Hopefully by January we'll know where we stand," Alex said.

Why it matters: LEED for Cities (referred to in the meeting as "lead for cities") is a national benchmarking framework that covers a wide range of municipal sustainability measures. Staff said the city may score well in areas such as water efficiency and social services partnerships but lacks adopted policies in areas like a municipal green-building requirement and certain grid-harmonization credits because the city does not own the utility.

Staff highlighted partners and existing programs submitted as credits, including a greenhouse-gas inventory, water-use reporting, participation by nonprofit partners (the Dallas College Food Bank and MetroCrest were cited), and a recently adopted sustainability plan. Staff said the city is currently on the threshold of the gold designation and could land at gold or silver depending on final scoring.

Committee members asked whether missing policy language (for example a municipal green-building policy) was a "low-hanging fruit" for improving the score; staff replied that some credits require a formal policy or an adopted incentive program and that raising scores may guide future budget and project priorities.

Ending: Staff said the LEED for Cities score will help prioritize longer-term sustainability work and inform committee focus for future years. No formal action was taken during the meeting.