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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE 2020/06/10 MinutesENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING 1 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2020 – 6:30 P.M. 2 REMOTE ACCESS MEETING 3 4 ROLL CALL/CALL TO ORDER 5 6 Chairman Melanie Rummel called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. Aldermen 7 Jed Morris and Jim Preschlack were present. 8 9 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 15 Also in attendance was Marcus Norman, Consultant and Mike Stopka, 16 Consultant. 17 18 There were approximately 35 members of the public that attended the meeting 19 remotely. 20 21 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 35 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 40 Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong stated that he had received 41 comments from Committee members and that those suggestions would 42 Environmental Sustainability Committee Meeting Minutes June 10, 2020 2 be incorporated into the document and brought back to the Committee 43 at a later date. 44 45 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 46 the public. 47 48 Grant Huebner offered his comments to the Committee in regards to the 49 charter document being edited. 50 51 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 65 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 74 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 75 the committee members. 76 77 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 81 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 82 the public. 83 84 Environmental Sustainability Committee Meeting Minutes June 10, 2020 3 Casey Murray offered his comments to the Committee in regards to 85 stormwater quality and the usage of salt on the roads. 86 87 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 95 Resident Schabacker-Koppel offered her comments to the Committee in 96 regards to revisions to the City’s Sustainability Plan. 97 98 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. 111 112 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. 120 121 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions on this agenda item 122 from the Committee members. 123 124 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 Environmental Sustainability Committee Meeting Minutes June 10, 2020 4 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. 131 132 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 133 the public. 134 135 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. 138 139 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. 148 149 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions on this agenda item. 150 151 The Committee discussed their interest in this agreement and seeing how 152 this renewable energy project would progress for residential use. 153 154 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 155 the public. 156 157 Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 158 159 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. 169 170 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions on this agenda item. 171 172 Environmental Sustainability Committee Meeting Minutes June 10, 2020 5 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. 177 178 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments from 179 the public. 180 181 John Roesenhiem suggested the City work to involve corporations and 182 other organizations within the community. 183 184 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 Environmental Sustainability Committee Meeting Minutes June 10, 2020 6 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. 215 216 Respectfully Submitted, 217 218 Layla Werner 219 Administrative Intern 220 221 222 Reviewed by, 223 224 Mike Strong 225 Assistant City Manager 226 227