ESC_2025_05_14 MINUTESENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 – 7:30 A.M.
Lake Forest City Hall – 220 E Deerpath
I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Chairman Novit called the meeting to order at 7:33 A.M. Aldermen Alice
LeVert and Nick Bothfeld were present.
Staff in attendance included Keri Kaup, Assistant to the City Manager. One
member of the public was present.
II. ACTION ITEMS
a. APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 11, 2025, MEETING MINUTES
Alderman LeVert moved to approve the February 11, 2025, meeting
minutes. Alderman Bothfeld seconded the motion. The motion carried
unanimously by voice vote.
b. AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF A BOTTLE-FILL STATION UTILIZING FUNDING
FROM ELECTRIC AGGREGATION CONTRIBUTIONS
Assistant to the City Manager Kaup presented a quote from Most
Dependable Fountains to replace the drinking fountain near the tennis
courts at South Park with a bottle-fill station/drinking fountain combination.
The unit costs $4,350 and could be installed by Public Works staff. Alderman
LeVert made a motion to authorize the purchase of the bottle-fill station in
the amount of $4,350 utilizing funding from the electric aggregation
contributions. Alderman Bothfeld seconded the motion. The following
voted “Aye”: Chairman Novit, Alderman LeVert, Alderman Bothfeld. The
following voted “Nay”: none. 3-Ayes, 0-Nays, motion carried.
The committee asked for staff to identify additional public locations where
bottle-fill stations could replace water fountains so the committee can
prioritize future replacements.
III. DISCUSSION ITEMS
a. PROGRAM UPDATES
i. LAKE FOREST EVENTS
Assistant to the City Manager Kaup updated the committee on Lake
Forest events that occurred during Earth Month. The shred event
hosted by Public Works on April 19 had 185 cars come through and
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Wednesday, May 14, 2025
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6,500 lbs. of paper were collected. On Arbor Day, Chairman Novit
planted a swamp white oak tree at the Municipal Services Building
with the Forestry Crew.
ii. SWALCO UPDATE
Assistant to the City Manager Kaup provided a progress report for
various SWALCO partnership initiatives. The City was approved to add
a textile recycling bin at the Recreation Center. The bin will be
dropped off within the next several weeks and Public Works will pour
a concrete pad for it to sit on. Once it is installed, staff will work with
the Communications Department to promote this new recycling
option.
The City has been approved for a Household Chemical Waste event
on September 20, 2025. Advertising to the public cannot occur until
45 days prior to the event. Alderman Bothfeld asked if the City can
promote the SWALCO Household Chemical Waste events that are
occurring in other communities until we are within the 45-day window.
The City’s waste and recycling information has been added to the
Recycle Coach platform on the SWALCO website. The platform gives
residents hyper-local information about waste management
programs, including garbage, recycling, and composting.
iii. COMPOST PROGRAM UPDATE
Assistant to the City Manager Kaup reviewed the WasteNot Compost
program status. WasteNot has 235 residential customers from Lake
Forest as well as 7 commercial customers. The City plans to add the
Recreation Center and Dickinson Hall as participating City buildings
during FY26. Assistant to the City Manager Kaup also notified the
committee that staff is currently working on an extended agreement
with WasteNot for either a 3- or 5-year agreement.
b. ELECTRIC AGGREGATION CONSORTIUM
Assistant to the City Manager Kaup provided the committee with the history
of the North Shore Electricity Aggregation Consortium, including the various
versions of the program over the past 10 years. Additionally, Assistant to the
City Manager Kaup reviewed the civic contributions the City has received
over the past three years through Aggregation 2.0. The consortium is
meeting on May 15th to discuss the next steps as the current contract expires
in October 2025.
c. RESEARCH UPDATE – LANDSCAPING NOISE ORDINANCE HOURS
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Wednesday, May 14, 2025
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Assistant to the City Manager Kaup reviewed the current landscaping noise
ordinance hours both on weekdays and weekends. She also showed the
committee the landscaping noise hours from surrounding communities as
comparison. The committee had discussion about reasonable changes
they could recommend to the Council to shorten the landscaping hours
while being fair to the landscaping businesses who need to complete their
work. The committee agreed that they would like to see a draft ordinance
at the next meeting that would eliminate commercial landscaping on
Sundays and holidays, and shorten the hours on Saturdays and weekdays.
The committee also agreed they would like to provide landscape
companies ample notice of any change, so target implementation should
be 2026. Assistant to the City Manager Kaup stated she would work with
the City Attorney to draft an ordinance for the committee’s review at the
next meeting.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT
One member of the public was present and thanked the committee for
allowing her to participate.
V. NEXT MEETING DATE(S)
The Committee set the next meeting for Monday, July 21 at 7:30am.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
Alderman LeVert moved to adjourn the meeting of the Environmental
Sustainability Committee at 8:36 A.M. seconded by Alderman Bothfeld. The
motion carried unanimously by voice vote.
Respectfully Submitted,
Keri Kaup
Assistant to the City Manager