Pa. Municipal League launches best practices campaign and recognizes Lancaster

Lancaster is the “gold standard” in sustainable local government, according to the Pennsylvania Municipal League.

The organization announced Lancaster as its first certified Sustainable Pennsylvania Community Wednesday, in addition to 31 other communities.

PML just launched the program, which tracks 131 policies and practices in more than two dozen policy areas.

The goal is to educate municipalities about saving money, conserving resources and creating vibrant communities – and recognize those already working to do so, according to a statement released by PML Wednesday.

PML’s program site includes a library linking to certified communities’ initiatives.

The scoring system determining the level of recognition – gold, silver, bronze, associate – is weighted so results get the most credit. 

Lancaster, for example, scored a point each for simply having curbside recycling and recycling education programs, but got four points for maintaining a recycling tonnage at 5 percent above the state-mandated 35 percent. 

Lancaster’s strongest categories were recycling, affordable housing, water and energy conservation, wellness, green infrastructure and multi-modal transportation policies and programs.

Others include municipal finance and operations, public safety, economy, community engagement and green architecture.