Bismarck City Commissioner Mike Seminary outlined more information about Bismarck's first Sustainability Series meeting.

It's tentatively set from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Exhibition Hall of Bismarck Civic Center. He made his announcement at Tuesday's commission meeting.

"The first three speakers deal with how to plan neighborhoods more efficiently, how to plan subdivisions and communities more efficiently," he said.

The first session's keynote speaker will Rick Harrison of Minneapolis, who is known as a specialist in sustainable neighborhoods and software technology.

He is a regular keynote speaker and designer for Sustainable Land Development International.

Also scheduled to be speaking will be Mathew Dalbey, a senior policy analyst with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Development, Community and Environment Division. The division collaborates with a network of environmental, land use, transportation, design and community-based organizations on best growth practices. Formerly, he taught urban and regional planning at Jackson State University in Mississippi.

A third scheduled speaker will be John Frece, who is an associate director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education. He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland. He has been a spokesman, policy adviser and writer on Maryland's Smart Growth Initiatives.

"Sustainability is making sure we are not using future resources to develop what we are developing today," Seminary said following the commission meeting.

The event will be open to the general public.

"We are making invitations to a host of different entities - the park board, the school board, the county commission and a whole host of groups. It's an extensive list," he said.

(Reach reporter LeAnn Eckroth at 250-8264 or leann.eckroth@bismarcktribune.com.)