ICMA had a professional development day (somewhat like a work field trip) to Rockville, Maryland the other day, which is about a 40 minute ride from DC via the redline Metro. As a side note, Rockville, a Council-Manager form of government, is an ICMA member city and Barbara Matthews, the City Manager, has been a member for over 25 years. I must say that it was valuable as an ICMA employee to visit a place where our work has make an impact on their work.  I had never been to Rockville and I was pleasantly surprised to learn about the many sustainability initiatives they are undertaking.  

VisArts, located in the heart of the city square, is a “nonprofit arts center dedicated to engaging the community in the arts” by providing studio space for art classes and local artisans as well as a gallery. This is where ICMA gathered and had the opportunity to hear from several of the Rockville City staff. Each one came up and introduced themselves, explained their responsibilities, and shared why they enjoy working in local government. During these speeches, I picked on several sustainability efforts going on within the municipality.

First off, the room overlooked the city square, which proudly showcases their fairly new mixed-used development that replaced a parking lot and a rundown strip mall. Now there is space for commercial/residential storefronts on the street level and owner occupied condominium and rental apartment housing located above the businesses.  There is an abundance of restaurants and bars, boutiques, a public library, a business incubator and a grocery store.  Everything residents need is within walking distance including assess to public transportation, and the streets are lined with sidewalks making it walker-friendly.  Susan Swift, Community Planning and Development Services Director, spoke about future plans of Rockville and visions for Rockville Pike long-term plan. She emphasized that Rockville City’s Long Range Planning Division wants to ensure that new infrastructure reflects the growing demand for bike paths, walkability, and mixed-use development, while also meeting the needs to all ages.

Rockville's lively center square

 

Director of Thomas Farm Community Center shows geothermal pumps.

                                            
Lastly, we went to the City’s maintenance facility and checked out the City’s fleet maintenance shop, salt barn and fleet vehicles. Something I found very interesting here is that the City mixes the salt used to melt ice with beet juice when it is loaded into the trucks! It has been found that adding beet juice to salt brine more effectively melts snow at very low temperature (below 15 degrees Fahrenheit). It also reduces corrosion and is 100% organic and therefore does not harm the local environment.