ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE 2021/05/20 PacketENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday, May 20 – 7:00 P.M.
REMOTE ACCESS MEETING
AGENDA
Please be advised that all of the Environmental Sustainability Committee members will be
remotely attending this Committee meeting by electronic means, in compliance with Governor’s
Executive Order 2020-39, issued on May 29, 2020, that extended the suspension of certain Open
Meetings Act provisions relating to in-person attendance by members of a public body.
Specifically, the Governor’s Order: (1) suspends the requirement in Section 2.01 that “members of
a public body must be physically present;” and (2) suspends the limitations in Section 7 on when
remote participation is allowed. This Executive Order is effective the duration of the current
Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation. The City will be providing members of the public with
various opportunities to watch or attend this meeting, as well as provide public comment at the
meeting.
Public audience link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81376648019?pwd=Z05oc0pvL0hWdDZMVXNFQ3pHZ2JkUT09
Or dial by phone at: 312-626-6799
Webinar ID: 813 7664 8019
Passcode: 1861
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
_____ Ald. Melanie Rummel, Chairman
_____ Ald. Jim Preschlack
_____ Ald. Eileen Weber
II. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
a. NORTH BRANCH WATERSHED WORKGROUP ANNUAL MEETING RECAP –
Presented by Layla Werner, Management Analyst
III. ACTION ITEMS
a. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 17, 2021 MEETING MINUTES
b. COMMITTEE WORK PLANNING DISCUSSION – Introduced by Mike Strong,
Assistant City Manager
IV. ADDITIONAL ITEMS
a. UPDATE ON COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROGRAM – Presented
by Mike Strong, Assistant City Manager
b. FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE DISCUSSION
V. PUBLIC COMMENT
VI. NEXT MEETING DATE(S)
VII. ADJOURNMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING 1
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 – 6:30 P.M. 2
REMOTE ACCESS MEETING 3
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ROLL CALL/CALL TO ORDER 5
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Chairman Melanie Rummel called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. Aldermen 7
Jed Morris and Jim Preschlack were present. 8
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Staff in attendance included Mike Strong, Assistant City Manager; Michael 10
Thomas, Director of Public Works; Dan Martin, Superintendent of Public Works; 11
Cathy Czerniak, Director of Community Development; Chuck Myers, 12
Superintendent of Parks, Forestry and Special Facilities; Robert Ells, 13
Superintendent of Engineering; Jim Lockefeer, Management Analyst and Layla 14
Werner, Administrative Intern. 15
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There were approximately 16 members of the public that attended the meeting 17
remotely. 18
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Chairman Rummel made the following statement as required by the Open 20
Meetings Act. In accordance with state statute, Chairman Rummel has made a 21
determination that it was not practical or prudent to schedule an in-person 22
Committee meeting because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why this 23
February 17, 2021 Environmental Sustainability Committee meeting is being held 24
remotely. 25
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ACTION ITEMS 27
28
I. APPROVAL OF December 17, 2020 MEETING MINUTES 29
Alderman Morris moved to approve the December 17, 2020 30
Environmental Sustainability Committee meeting minutes. 31
Alderman Preschlack seconded the motion. The following voted 32
“Aye”: Chairman Rummel, Aldermen Morris and Preschlack. The 33
following voted “Nay”: None. 3-Ayes, 0 Nays, motion carried. 34
35
II. APPROACHES TO REGULATE THE USE OF COAL TAR-BASED 36
SEALANTS – Presented by Layla Werner 37
38
Layla Werner, Administrative intern gave a brief presentation 39
displaying potential options addressing the usage of coal tar-based 40
sealants in the community. She gave background on the current 41
educational materials available to community members, the 42
regulations in neighboring communities, and current practices in 43
Lake Forest. The Committee was presented with three strategies to 44
manage the use of coal tar-based sealants. 45
46
The Committee had lengthy discussion regarding the potential 47
opportunities identified by staff. 48
Environmental Sustainability Committee Minutes
February, 17 2021
49
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments 50
from the public. 51
52
Laurie Rose offered comments to the Committee on behalf of the 53
League of Women Voters. 54
55
Mary Mathews offered comments to the Committee. 56
57
Elizabeth Joy Guscott-Muller offered comments to the Committee. 58
59
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional questions or 60
comments from the public. 61
62
Seeing none, Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional 63
comments from the Committee. 64
65
The Committee had discussion regarding additional information 66
requested to be brought back to the Committee at a later date. 67
68
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional comments 69
from the Committee. 70
71
Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 72
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ADDITIONAL ITEMS 74
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I. PREVIEW OF SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTS INCLUDED IN FY2022 77
BUDGET RECOMMENDATION – Introduced by Mike Strong, Assistant 78
City Manager 79
80
Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong gave a brief overview of the 81
budgeting process specific to sustainability initiatives. He further 82
broke down the specific projects, and the MIST assessment scores 83
to justify the funding allocation for each initiative. Assistance City 84
Manager Strong introduced Superintendent of Parks, Forestry and 85
Special Facilities, Chuck Myers to further explain the impact to the 86
parks, forestry and cemetery operating budget. He discussed the 87
initial assessment understanding invasive species, seeding, and 88
other information needed, to determine additional funding for 89
these ongoing programs. Superintendent Myers explained the 90
partnership the City will have with Lake Forest Open Lands to 91
complete some of the work discussed. 92
93
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional questions or 94
comments from the Committee. 95
Environmental Sustainability Committee Minutes
February, 17 2021
The Committee had discussion regarding grass areas being 96
converted to include native plants. 97
98
Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong introduced Management 99
Analyst, Jim Lockefeer to give a brief overview of the ravine 100
inventory and evaluation initiative. He explained how this initiative 101
is the preliminary step in the City’s ravine management program. 102
The City will work with a college intern, majoring in engineering, to 103
take the inventory and evaluate the entire Lake Forest ravine 104
system. This will be the third time the City has conducted this 105
evaluation. 106
107
The Committee had discussion regarding the challenges 108
discovered during this evaluation process. 109
110
Superintendent of Public Works, Dan Martin gave a brief update to 111
the Committee regarding the City’s recycling program. He 112
explained the impact to recycling trends due to COVID-19 stating 113
that volumes significantly increased including the cardboard from 114
shipping and delivery services. Superintendent Martin further 115
explained the volatility of the average annual monthly recycling 116
costs versus disposal costs and the history of the revenue and 117
recycling processing fees. He updated the Committee on the 118
current state of the recycling campaign, stating that due to 119
COVID -19 they were unable to do audits as frequently as 120
expected. Moreover, he explained future program initiatives, which 121
will begin to take place over the summer. 122
123
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional questions or 124
comments from the Committee. 125
126
The Committee discussed the excellent work conducted by the 127
department, during a challenging time. 128
129
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments 130
from the public. 131
132
Mike Strong read a public comment regarding the social media 133
reach of the Rethink Recycling campaign. 134
135
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional questions or 136
comments from the public. 137
138
Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 139
140
II. UPDATE ON BEACH CLEANUP EVENT – Presented by Layla Werner, 141
Administrative Intern 142
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Environmental Sustainability Committee Minutes
February, 17 2021
Administrative Intern, Layla Werner gave a brief update to the 144
Committee regarding the organization if the Earth Day beach 145
clean-up event. 146
147
The Committee discussed the educational opportunities this event 148
would bring for the Rethink Recycling campaign. 149
150
PUBLIC COMMENT 151
152
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any public comments on any non-153
agenda items. 154
155
Seeing none, Chairman Rummel moved to the next agenda item. 156
157
NEXT MEETING DATE(S) 158
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ADJOURNMENT 161
162
Alderman Morris moved to adjourn the meeting of the Environmental 163
Sustainability Committee at 8:10 P.M. seconded by Preschlack. The motion 164
carried unanimously by voice vote. 165
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Respectfully Submitted, 167
168
Layla Werner 169
Administrative Intern 170
171
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Reviewed by, 173
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Mike Strong 175
Assistant City Manager 176