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ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE 2021/05/20 MinutesENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING 1 Thursday, May 20, 2021 – 7:00 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 Jim Preschlack and Eileen Weber were present. 8 9 Staff in attendance included Mike Strong, Assistant City Manager; Cathy 10 Czerniak, Director of Community Development; and Layla Werner, Management 11 Analyst 12 13 There were approximately 3 members of the public that attended the meeting 14 remotely. 15 16 Chairman Rummel made the following statement as required by the Open 17 Meetings Act. In accordance with state statute, Chairman Rummel has made a 18 determination that it was not practical or prudent to schedule an in-person 19 Committee meeting because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is why this May 20 20, 2021 Environmental Sustainability Committee meeting is being held remotely. 21 22 Chairman Rummel welcomed Alderman Weber, who is a new additional to the 23 Environmental Sustainability Committee. 24 25 INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 26 27 I. NORTH BRANCH WATERSHED WORKGROUP ANNUAL MEETING RECAP 28 – Presented by Layla Werner, Management Analyst 29 30 Layla Werner, Management Analyst, gave a brief presentation 31 summarizing the North Branch Watershed Workgroup annual 32 meeting, where the group presented the 2018-2019 water quality 33 assessment report. She discussed the multiple areas of impact that 34 the watersheds are facing, and identified sampling locations 35 specific to Lake Forest. Ms. Werner further explained the elevated 36 rate of heavy metals and sediment PAH levels and how other 37 sampling sites are impacted. 38 39 The Committee asked clarifying questions regarding the source of 40 the heavy metals, and the impact to Lake Forest watersheds. 41 42 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional comments 43 from the Committee. 44 45 Seeing none, Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional 46 questions or comments from the public. 47 48 Environmental Sustainability Committee Minutes Thursday, May 20, 2021 Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 49 50 ACTION ITEMS 51 52 I. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 17, 2021 MEETING MINUTES 53 Alderman Preschlack moved to approve the February 17, 2021 54 Environmental Sustainability Committee meeting minutes. 55 Alderman Weber seconded the motion. The following voted “Aye”: 56 Chairman Rummel, Aldermen Preschlack and Weber. The following 57 voted “Nay”: None. 3-Ayes, 0 Nays, motion carried. 58 59 II. COMMITTEE WORK PLANNING DISCUSSION – Introduced by Mike 60 Strong, Assistant City Manager 61 62 Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong, presented an update to the 63 Committee work planning discussion, and gave brief background 64 including the work the Committee did with the consultant MIST 65 Environment. He further explained and laid out a sustainability 66 planning process. This included assessing the issues, strategizing, 67 planning, evaluating priorities, and promoting and marketing 68 progress. Mr. Strong displayed work that has been completed to 69 date by the Committee in conjunction with MIST Environment. 70 Completing the planning process, and working towards 71 prioritization, a survey was developed to help outline next steps by 72 grasping further feedback from the City Council. 73 74 The Committee had lengthy discussion regarding the survey 75 created to be presented to the City Council. 76 77 There was additional discussion regarding the prioritization of 78 initiatives. 79 80 Mr. Strong further explained how these processes would further be 81 tied in to the budget, or future marketing strategies. 82 83 Following further discussion, Mr. Strong provided a brief timeline 84 and next steps regarding the survey process. 85 86 Chairman Rummel asked the Committee if there was any further 87 feedback regarding specific areas of the survey. 88 89 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments 90 from the public. 91 92 Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 93 94 95 ADDITIONAL ITEMS 96 Environmental Sustainability Committee Minutes Thursday, May 20, 2021 97 98 I. UPDATE ON COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROGRAM – 99 Presented by Mike Strong, Assistant City Manager 100 101 Assistant City Manager, Mike Strong updated the Committee 102 regarding community choice aggregation. He explained the 103 recent update to the plan of governance in February, which allows 104 the City to procure solar energy credits for municipal accounts. He 105 further explained the RFP process to engage in a contract, offering 106 an energy rate at or better than ComEd, potentially resulting in a 107 net savings. 108 109 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any additional questions or 110 comments from the Committee. 111 112 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any questions or comments 113 from the public. 114 115 Seeing none, she moved to the next agenda item. 116 117 I. FUTURE COMMITTEE MEETING SCHEDULE DISCUSSION 118 119 The Committee discussed potential future meeting dates, and 120 setting a regular meeting time and date. 121 122 PUBLIC COMMENT 123 124 Chairman Rummel asked if there were any public comments on any non-125 agenda items. 126 127 Seeing none, Chairman Rummel moved to the next agenda item. 128 129 NEXT MEETING DATE(S) 130 131 132 ADJOURNMENT 133 134 Alderman Weber moved to adjourn the meeting of the Environmental 135 Sustainability Committee at 8:13 P.M. seconded by Preschlack. The motion 136 carried unanimously by voice vote. 137 138 Respectfully Submitted, 139 140 Layla Werner 141 Management Analyst 142 143 144 Environmental Sustainability Committee Minutes Thursday, May 20, 2021 Reviewed by, 145 146 Mike Strong 147 Assistant City Manager 148