ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE 2020/06/10 MinutesENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING 1
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2020 – 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; Dan Martin, 10
Superintendent of Public Works; Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks, Forestry 11
and Special Facilities; Jim Lockefeer, Management Analyst; Joe Gabanski, 12
Assistant Director of IT; Michael Thomas, Director of Public Works and Layla 13
Werner, Administrative Intern. 14
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Also in attendance was Marcus Norman, Consultant and Mike Stopka, 16
Consultant. 17
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There were approximately 35 members of the public that attended the meeting 19
remotely. 20
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WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS 22
Chairman Melanie Rummel welcomed everyone to the inaugural meeting of the 23
Environmental Sustainability Committee meeting. She thanked everyone who 24
was in attendance, and stated the commitment that Lake Forest has to 25
environmental sustainability. Alderman Morris and Alderman Preschlack 26
introduced themselves to the Committee. 27
Chairman Rummel gave a brief overview, explaining how Committee meetings 28
would be structured, and discussed the agenda. 29
ACTION ITEMS 30
I. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF COMMITTEE CHARTER 31
Chairman Rummel stated that there were areas of the Charter that were 32
still under review by the Committee and offered time for the Committee 33
to discuss any adjustments. 34
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The Committee discussed that the first three paragraphs of the charter 36
were redundant and the language could be shortened. Also they 37
discussed adding goals, tasking Mike Strong with presenting the revisions 38
at the next meeting. 39
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Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong stated that he had received 41
comments from Committee members and that those suggestions would 42
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be incorporated into the document and brought back to the Committee 43
at a later date. 44
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 46
the public. 47
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Grant Huebner offered his comments to the Committee in regards to the 49
charter document being edited. 50
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The Committee recommended sending the Charter back for revisions and 52
approving the document at the next Committee meeting. 53
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 54
I. UPDATE ON CITY’S SUSTAINABILITY PLAN – CHUCK MYERS & JIM LOCKEFEER 55
Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong introduced Chuck Meyers and Jim 56
Lockefeer to give a brief overview of the City’s Sustainability Plan. 57
Superintendent of Parks, Forestry and Special Projects, Chuck Myers 58
provided background on the adoption of the Sustainability Plan stating 59
that input from multiple parties was taken into consideration before being 60
recommended to the Plan Commission by the Lake Forest Collaborative 61
for Environmental Leadership (LFCEL), and then eventually being sent to 62
City Council, which was adopted with an ordinance. He stated that the 63
approvals were completed and that the plan was adopted. 64
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Management Analyst, Jim Lockefeer provided a brief overview of the five 66
major plan components and the implementation plan. He stated that the 67
group developed an implementation schedule in order to track 68
accomplishments and milestones that would be reached. Mr. Lockefeer 69
added that these action steps were developed at community 70
engagement forums conducted by the City. He also discussed the annual 71
report submitted to Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) that tracks municipal 72
environmental impacts. 73
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 75
the committee members. 76
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The Committee had discussion on the Sustainability Plan and members 78
stated their appreciation for the plan and for the accomplishments made 79
so far. 80
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 82
the public. 83
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Casey Murray offered his comments to the Committee in regards to 85
stormwater quality and the usage of salt on the roads. 86
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Director of Public Works, Michael Thomas stated that the City is required to 88
submit a plan as part of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 89
(NPDES) for projects that impact water quality and its impacts on creeks 90
and ravines. He added that there are standards that need to be met in 91
order to be permitted for this type of work. He also discussed the usage of 92
Beet Heat instead of traditional road salt as well as the fact that only 93
major roadways and intersections are salted after the winter holidays. 94
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Resident Schabacker-Koppel offered her comments to the Committee in 96
regards to revisions to the City’s Sustainability Plan. 97
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II. PRESENTATION ON RECYCLING PROGRAM, COSTS AND MARKETING 99
CAMPAIGN – DAN MARTIN & MARCUS NORMAN 100
Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong introduced Superintendent of Public 101
Works, Dan Martin and consultant, Marcus Norman. Superintendent Martin 102
provided a brief update on the curbside recycling program and how it 103
has evolved since its creation. He also provided a brief update, showing 104
the new sticker that outlined what can and cannot be picked up for 105
curbside recycling. He explained the various refuse disposal and recycling 106
processing costs and revenues due to having to filter and clean items that 107
cannot be recycled. He stated that the City still receives some recycling 108
revenue, from Recycling material, scrap metal and electronics. 109
Superintendent Martin explained that 25% of recyclables were 110
contaminated which increases the cost of processing for the City. 111
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Marcus Norman, Consultant, was recognized by Chairman Rummel. Mr. 113
Norman gave a brief introduction about himself, prior to his presentation. 114
He began his presentation to the Committee by providing background on 115
the Recycling Education Campaign and its relationship with the Lake 116
Forest Garden Club. Marcus went over the goals of the educational 117
campaign and stated how the goals established would be achieved. 118
Marcus shared a brief video of Bart the Cart and how the campaign is 119
communicating the four guidelines for recycling. 120
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions on this agenda item 122
from the Committee members. 123
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The Committee had discussion on enrolling the school system in promoting 125
this educational campaign. Marcus Norman stated that there have been 126
discussions on how to involve the school in promoting this educational 127
tool. There was additional discussion on promoting reducing and reusing. 128
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Marcus stated that they want to keep the current messaging clear and 129
concise to avoid having an excess of messaging, but discussed 130
highlighting those concepts in the future. 131
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 133
the public. 134
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Lisa Burton Radsley offered her comments and concerns about using the 136
term curbside recycling because there are other specific items that can 137
be recycled, just not for curbside pickup. 138
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III. UPDATE ON COMMUNITY SOLAR OPPORTUNITIES – MIKE STRONG 140
Mike Strong, Assistant City Manager presented an update on the 141
community solar initiative. He gave an overview on what community solar 142
is and how it relates to the strategic plan, sustainability plan, and how the 143
City has taken advantage of this renewable energy initiative. Mr. Strong 144
stated that Lake Forest was able to subscribe to one of the first community 145
solar projects to enroll municipal accounts, launched in Elgin, Illinois. He 146
outlined the potential cost savings that the City could see from this type of 147
program and how residents may be able to benefit in the future. 148
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions on this agenda item. 150
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The Committee discussed their interest in this agreement and seeing how 152
this renewable energy project would progress for residential use. 153
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 155
the public. 156
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Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 158
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IV. COMMITTEE WORK PLANNING WITH MIST ENVIRONMENTAL – MIKE STOPKA 160
Mike Strong, Assistant City Manager introduced Mike Stopka from MIST 161
Environmental. Mike Stopka provided the Committee with a brief 162
overview of MIST and the upcoming efforts they would be undertaking 163
with the City. Mr. Stopka gave a brief presentation explaining the steps 164
they will take to understand Lake Forest and how to move forward with 165
sustainability projects in the community including a sustainability 166
assessment, framework development for decision-making, and 167
prioritization process to help the Committee prioritize future goals and 168
initiatives. 169
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions on this agenda item. 171
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The Committee had discussion on the timeline of the three steps and the 173
evaluation criteria on an economic scale. Mike Stopka stated that the 174
timeline goal is three months for the entire process. He stated that this 175
specific project has a small scope, so there is no cost benefit analysis 176
included. 177
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Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 179
the public. 180
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John Roesenhiem suggested the City work to involve corporations and 182
other organizations within the community. 183
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REVIEW OF FUTURE AGENDA TOPICS 185
Chairman Rummel asked the committee for their feedback on the initiatives that 186
have been presented as future agenda items. 187
The Committee had discussion on how they would like to move forward with 188
these initiatives and decided to work with MIST prior to exploring future initiatives 189
to ensure they aligned with the Committee’s goals. Chairman Rummel asked the 190
Committee if such discussion on the following items should be delayed until after 191
they begin their engagement with MIST. There was no objection from the 192
Committee. 193
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from the 194
public. 195
Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 196
PUBLIC COMMENT 197
Chairman Rummel asked if there were any public comments on any non-198
agenda items. 199
Elizabeth Guscott-Mueller offered her comments to the Committee on the 200
stormwater and wastewater evaluation grading system. 201
Laurie Ross, President of the League of Women Voters, offered comments to the 202
Committee expressing support to the Committee and the goals they are working 203
to achieve, noting they aligned with the League’s goals. She also offered her 204
comments about including youth interns to gain younger support for the 205
Committee. 206
Schaback-Kopple offered her comments to the Committee about accelerated 207
solar partnerships that residents could take advantage of. 208
NEXT MEETING DATE(S) – JULY AND AUGUST 209
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There was concurrence among the Committee members to set the next meeting 210
date to Tuesday, July 7 at 6:30 p.m. via remote session. 211
ADJOURNMENT 212
Alderman Morris moved to adjourn the meeting of the Environmental 213
Sustainability Committee at 8:48 P.M. Alderman Preschlack seconded the 214
motion, which carried unanimously. 215
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Respectfully Submitted, 217
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Layla Werner 219
Administrative Intern 220
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Reviewed by, 223
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Mike Strong 225
Assistant City Manager 226
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