Blue Star Program

Congratulations to our newest Blue Star Community: Lake Elmo! The City has has completed their registration, taken the Blue Star Assessment, and won the Blue Star Award!

Lake Elmo earns special recognition as the only community in Minnesota to score in the top 5 in each of the three Blue Start Assessment categories. Lake Elmo also checks in as the third highest scoring community in Minnesota.

Congratulations to our friends in Lake Elmo for their extraordinary efforts to protect our state’s waters through excellence in community stormwater management.

Star Award Program Coordinator Trevor Russell formally presented the City of Independence with their well-deserved Blue Star Award on Tuesday, May 24th 2011.

Independence Mayor Marvin Johnson formally accepted the award, along with city council members and City Administrator Toni Hirsch. Congrats once again to Independence, MN – the highest scoring Blue Star City in Minnesota!

For a link to the local news coverage of the Blue Star Award Presentation, visit PressNews.com. The Blue Star Award article is about half way down the page.

Minnesota welcomes our newest Blue Star City! Edina has completed their registration, taken the Blue Star Assessment, and won the Blue Star Award!

Thanks to City of Edina Utility Engineer Jesse Struve for taking the lead on Edina’s Blue Star Assessment. And congratulations to Edina for cracking Minnesota’s top-10 highest scoring cities!

Blue Star Award Program Coordinator Trevor Russell formally presented the City of Cottage Grove with their well-deserved Blue Star Award on Wednesday, March 16th, 2011.

Cottage Grove Mayor Myron Bailey, along with the Cottage Grove City Council and City Engineer Jennifer Levitt, were on hand to accept the award. On behalf of our program partners and the people of Minnesota who value their clean water, congratulations to Cottage Grove!

Minnesotans have a lifelong love for our water. From our iconic big rivers to our fishing lakes to the Boundary Waters and our many wilderness areas – water is a fundamental part of our way of life.

For cities and townships that love our lakes, streams and wetlands – celebrate Valentine's Day with the best present you can give to our water: earn the Blue Star Award! The Blue Star Award is fast, simple, easy to understand, and a perfect way to tell show your community how much water means to you. Registration is free and easy, and you could be a Blue Star Community is a little more than an hour!

Register now!

Minnesota welcomes our newest Blue Star Community! Independence, Minnesota has completed their registration, taken the Blue Star Assessment, and won the Blue Star Award!

Independence earns special recognition as the highest scoring community in the state! Congratulations to our friends in Independence for their extraordinary efforts to protect our state’s waters through excellence in community stormwater management.

Blue Star Award Program Coordinator Trevor Russell formally presented the City of Victoria with their well-deserved Blue Star Award on Monday, November 22nd, 2010.

Victoria Mayor Mary Hershberger Thun and Victoria Community Development Director Holly Kreft were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the City. Congrats again to Victoria!

Minnesota welcomes our newest Blue Star City! Lino Lakes has completed their registration, taken the Blue Star Assessment, and won the Blue Star Award!

Lino Lakes earns special recognition as the only community so far to score in the top 5 in all three sections of the assessment so far

A special thanks to Lino Lakes Community Development Director Michael Grochala and Environmental Coordinator Marty Asleson, who were also instrumental in helping Blue Star Award Program refine the Blue Star Assessment. By working with us to “test drive” the Blue Star Assessment this spring, Mike & marty were invaluable in helping us improve the program for all Minnesota Communities.

Blue Star Award Program Coordinator Trevor Russell formally presented the City of Stillwater with their well-deserved Blue Star Award on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010.

Stillwater Mayor Ken Harycki and Public Works Director/City Engineer Shawn Sanders were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the City. Congrats again to Stillwater. Look for a photo of the award presentation ceremony here soon.

Blue Star Award Program Coordinator Trevor Russell formally presented the City of Plymouth with their well-deserved Blue Star Award on Tuesday, October 12th 2010.

Plymouth Mayor Kelli Slavik was on hand to accept the award on behalf of the City. Congrats again to Plymouth. Video of the Award presentation (including a humorous camera-malfunction snafu) is available online.

Minnesota welcomes four more Blue Star Cities! Plymouth, Woodbury, Victoria and Stillwater have completed their registrations, taken the Blue Star Assessment, and won the Blue Star Award!

These four communities have proven their commitment to Minnesota’s water resources by taking a leadership role in keeping our lakes, rivers, wetlands and streams free from stormwater pollution. On behalf of all of Minnesotans, thank you to our four newest Blue Star communities for your commitment to clean water!

Blue Star Award Program Coordinator Trevor Russell will be formally presenting the City of Blaine with their well-deserved Blue Star Award on September 16th, 2010.

Residents of Blaine, your are encouraged to come by City Hall for that night’s City Council meeting to thank your leaders for their commitment to clean water! We look forward to seeing you there!

Hopkins, Grand Rapids, Blaine and St. Paul have completed their registrations, taken the Blue Star Assessment, and won the Blue Star Award! These four communities have proven their commitment to Minnesota’s water resources by taking a leadership role in keeping our lakes, rivers, wetlands and streams free from stormwater pollution.

Those four cities will soon be highlighted as Blue Star Cities on our “Participating Communities” Page, and will receive their official Blue Star Awards in the mail next week!

A special thanks to the first 12 communities that have registered on the Blue Star Award website and begun their self-assessments.

While not all communities that take the self-assessment will earn the Blue Star Award at first, simply taking the assessment is a great step toward improving stormwater runoff management in these communities.

For any community that doesn’t score high enough to win the Award, the ‘next steps’ pages on your community dashboard will point you toward resources and partners you can work with to improve your score.

The Blue Star Program will open to community assessments on July 19th 2010. Minnesota MS4 communities should receive their invitation letters to participate in the program on July 19th & 20th.

We look forward to awarding the first Minnesota Blue Star Awards very soon!