Making Rapid City a more sustainable city isn't going to happen overnight.

It isn't going happen in a year, either, Aldermen Aaron Costello and Karen Gundersen Olson told the Rapid City Council during a special meeting Monday.

"It's not going to be an engineer's dream of everything happening linearly," Costello said. "It's going to be a web at times."

At the meeting, the council received a report on the recent Green Cities Conference and Expo and strategies for building a community-wide plan for sustainable living.

In April, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Growth Management Director Marcia Elkins and council members Costello, Olson and Patti Martinson attended the expo in Portland, Ore.

Bryan Vulcan of FourFront Design, Mike Stanley of Dream Design International and Dave Muck of Ferber Engineering also attended, representing Rapid City's private sector.

Sustainable development comes down to three things, Stanley said - the economy, society and the environment.

By becoming more sustainable, cities can save money, provide economic benefits to residents, reduce energy cost risks, improve on federal clean air and water standards and provide a more livable environment for everyone, Stanley said.

Possible actions include developing land policies that take into consideration the economy, environment and society, encouraging alternative types of transportation such as walking and bicycling and local production and reducing useless waste.

In Portland, for example, multiuse developments combine commercial and residential space and cut down on the need for long commutes, Stanley said.

"You can live, purchase and play all within the same area," Stanley said.

The first step in Rapid City will be forming a broad-based Green City Task Force to start plotting a road map for the process, Olson said. She hopes to present a formal proposal for the task force by the middle of July.

Ultimately, the group would pare down ideas to four or five achievable goals.

"This is a multiyear kind of activity in order to be successful," Olson said. "I think the Green City Task Force can start the process and keep green and sustainable development in the forefront."

Costello said the process will only work if the city can get the community involved through symposiums, public meetings and focus groups.

"In the end, the public will tell government what they want and the government will make it happen," he said.

Vulcan said he sees sustainability as a matter of returning to the city's Western roots.

"They looked after each other, they produced their own goods and services," Vulcan said. "It's really getting back to what made these cities in the West - Rapid City being one of them - a great place to live."

Contact Emilie Rusch at 394-8453 or emilie.rusch@rapidcityjournal.com.