Grant aims to help cities become more efficient

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has won a 200-thousand dollarnational grant to help five Iowa communities. D-N-R spokeswoman Monica Stonesays the grant will pay for a community co-ordinator for Cedar Falls,Des Moines, Harlan, LeMars and Pella to encourage sustainable development.Stone says the co-ordinator will help the communities focus their efforts.She says energy efficiency is one of the key areas where cities can oftenimprove.Stone says the program is expected to save the communities over 15-milliondollars annually. Iowa’s proposal was one of 41 chosen from across thecountry by the E-P-A out of 600 applications.