Sustainable Lakeville

What Is Sustainable Lakeville?

In November 2017, the Lakeville City Council set the City on a path to incorporate environmental sustainability into its community values and strategic priorities, by participating in the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Minnesota GreenStep Cities program. Through this program, the Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Committee and Public Works are working to address sustainability through reduced energy consumption, efficient use and conservation of natural resources, improvements to transportation infrastructure, sustainable purchasing and efficient City growth.

Sustainability Accomplishments

Lakeville Is a GreenStep City
This program by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Department of Commerce and Minnesota’s Clean Energy Resources Teams recognizes cities for their efforts to incorporate sustainable practices and processes in public and private settings. The City has also achieved Step 3 in the program in June 2021 due to adopting the Sustainable Infrastructure Process with Planning and Community Design as well as the Sustainable Purchasing Policy in July 2020.  Visit the Minnesota GreenStep Cities website for additional information on the program and specific information on how Lakeville is improving sustainability and quality of life in our community.

You can find more details on the City of Lakeville's GreenStep accomplishments on the Minnesota GreenStep Cities website.

GreenStep Awards

• Step 1: June 2018
• Step 2: June 2020
• Step 3: June 2021

Organics Drop-off
The City of Lakeville partnered with Dakota County to establish an organics drop-off point in Lakeville. The materials collected are used in compost. The drop-off point is located on the west side of the Lakeville Water Treatment Facility at 18400 Ipava Avenue. Access to the drop-off requires registration with Dakota County. Visit Dakota County’s website for more information.

Using data gathered in August 2020:

• There are 866 households registered for and participating in the Lakeville organics drop-off.
• The Lakeville site is bringing in approximately 2,428 pounds of organics per week.
• If all households are participating, this results in an average of 3.3 pounds of organics per household per week being dropped off.

Galaxie Liquor Store and City Hall LED Lighting Retrofit
The City of Lakeville completed a lighting retrofit of the Galaxie Liquor Store at 16000 Galaxie Avenue, replacing interior fluorescent bulbs, fixtures and exterior and parking lot lights, and City Hall exterior and parking lot lights with new LED technology.  As LED lighting has improved over the last decade, they have gained a track record for reducing energy use and operations and maintenance costs. The expected annual energy and maintenance savings from both projects is estimated to be approximately $8,200 annually.

2040 Comprehensive Plan Adoption
The Lakeville City Council adopted the 2040 Comprehensive Plan in October 2019. The plan details the goals and strategies to achieve the community’s long-term vision. From a sustainability perspective, the plan guides how the community will grow and develop to ensure high quality development projects, efficient transportation and utilities infrastructure upgrades, expansion of parks and trails, and conservation of green infrastructure, all of which contributes to a more sustainable city. Visit our 2040 Comprehensive Plan webpage for more information.