Loading...
Green Committee Packet 2010 01-25-10 .. �o ctry � United City of Yorkville EST. , 1836 800 Game Farm Road .�� Yorkville, Illinois 60560 o� al o�' Telephone: 630-553-4350 Fax: 630-553-7575 <<E AGENDA YORKVILLE GREEN COMMITTEE January 25, 2010 7:00 P.M. Yorkville Public Library First Floor Meeting Room 902 Game Farm Road Mission Statement. To advise the City Council of the United City of Yorkville, Illinois on ways to enhance the community environment and ways to equip and encourage citizens and businesses to participate in sustainable ecological practices. Call to Order: Welcome Members and Guests: Approval of Minutes: November 23, 2009 New Business: 1. No Presentations Scheduled 2. Earth Hour 2010 3. Yorkville School Green Efforts Update 4. Building Code Update Committee Member Request 5. Bags for Dog Owners in Parks Committee Reports: 1. Environmental Fair Committee —Update, Discussion and Volunteer Sign-Up 2. Water Conservation Committee—Recommendations Progress Report 3. Plastic Bag Reduction 4. Chamber Green Committee Recommendation Progress Reports: 1. Tree Survey Recommendation 2. Tree City Recommendation 3. Electronic Recycling Perm Program progress 4. Franchise Agreement Recommendation 5. Recycling in Parks, Athletic Fields, etc 6. Budget Line Items—Deposits, Expenses Old Business: 1. Clean Air Counts 2. Zoning Ordinance Committee Update 3. Kendall County Solid Waste Committee 4. Wind Turbine Ordinance Progress 5. Cool City Challenge Action Plan 6. Rain Garden—City Rain Garden Progress Additional Business: 1. Report from Jackie Dearborn, Green Committee Staff Liaison Adjournment: 2010 Meeting Schedule Jan 25 March 22 May 24 July 26 Sept 27 Nov 22 Feb 22 April 26 June 28 Aug 23 Oct 25 No Dec Meeting MINUTES DRAFT YORKVILLE GREEN COMMITTEE November 23, 2009 7:00 P.M. -Yorkville City Hall Mission Statement. To advise the City Council of the United City of Yorkville, Illinois on ways to enhance the community environment and ways to equip and encourage citizens and businesses to participate in sustainable ecological practices. Call to Order: Marta Keane 7:10 Welcome Members and Guests: Members: Marta Keane, Anne Engelhardt, Mariann Manthei, Al Green, Richard Scheffrahn, Cheryl Lee; City staff liaison: Jackie Dearborn. Approval of Minutes: Scheffrahn made a correction to the September 28, 2009 minutes under section called "Recycling natural Christmas trees", 8th paragraph, to revise the wording: delete "dumping site" and add"collection site". Scheffrahn motioned to approve the minutes for September 28, 2009 and the October 26, 2009 meeting notes. Manthei seconded. Motion passed. New Business: 1. No Presentations Scheduled. Error in the printed agenda. Com 2 will not be giving a presentation; a representative came to the October meeting. Jackie registered with Illinois for E-waste. Signed up with Ill EPA that we are collectors, which is a legal requirement to do by the end of December. There will be no charge to recycle electronic waste after January 1, 2010. Keane suggested that City request a letter from Com2 stating that they will continue to collect E-waste at the Yorkville drop off site for no charge to the City and citizens using the drop off facility. Engelhardt asked Dearborn if Com 2 has responded to her request for signs, laminated list of E-waste accepted, and a complete list of their waste stream. Com 2 has not answered any of these requests. Dearborn will call and request again for this information before the January meeting. 2. Yorkville School Green Efforts Update Keane spoke to the YIS contact, who will attempt to give a report bi-monthly to the Yorkville Green Committee. Lee is working with the Cross Lutheran School and Church to start a Green Group to include students and adults. Lee has requested to Harry Wolf at YHS to invite someone from the Yorkville Green Committee to go to the SAFE club to help them get motivated and perhaps have an exhibit at the Environmental Fair. Committee Reports: 1. Share & Care Recycling Event Committee—Revenue Report Dearborn has requested to Susan Mika have the proceeds to go into the Green Committee's line item of the budget. 2. Environmental Fair Committee—Update, Discussion and Volunteer Sign-Up. Lee needs to find out from the City about the liability issue, especially in regard to the requirement for the newly started businesses that might not have insurance. Scheffrahn suggested checking with the insurance company for the Chamber to add a one-day-event umbrella coverage and to include this cost in the fee for the exhibitors. Lee would like to encourage kids to be involved, with such as an environmentally based science project. Engelhardt suggested an art-related project, such as recycled materials for lower grades. Lee would like to have a sub-committee to help with the students activities. Keane brought up names of possible committee volunteers. Dearborn has met with Sue Swithin to get specifics about the usage of the Rec Center. Lee wanted thoughts on the length of time for the speakers. The recommendation based on last year's feedback is to have fewer speakers, 5 per each of the two rooms, to start on the hour, with 30 minutes for presentation, 15 minutes for Q and A, and 15 minutes for changing over to the next speaker. Lee thought to set the speakers time slots to be in '/2 hour segments and the speakers can choose to have one or two half hour slots. Last year all the presentations were emailed to Stephanie, who put them all on the computer in the order of the agenda. Dearborn will check to see if the committee will be able to get into the Rec Center to put paper on the floor and set up the tables on Friday, the night before the event. Track titles "Greening your Home" and "Greening the Environment"were suggested. The key thing is to find topics that the citizens will be interested in for their own homes and yards as well as their community. Give topics to the citizens that will educate them on current issues. Need buy-in from schools; get a couple of science teachers to write up the project objectives. Dearborn will talk to the principal at one of the schools and begin to get a conversation going to work with teachers for the kids projects. Lee asked for feedback on the layout. Comments to this: there is room to add a few more tables. Exhibitors can have a reduced fee for bringing their own table for their display. Lee needs an accurate measurement of the gym floor. Swithin said that there will be more electricity availability. Lee will also request to have a second access point to the gym and to re-position the food stand. Lee requested from the Green Committee to suggest topics for speakers and exhibitors and to find a person or business name to email the names to Lee by the end of December. To help pay for reusable bags, Dearborn will ask Veolia and Com 2 to make a monetary donation. Another option is to invite 5 members of the Yorkville Chamber of Commerce to sponsor the event for $100 each and get their names printed on the bags. Lee asked about our Green Committee getting a T-shirt, a hat, or some other item that gives identity to the group. Engelhardt volunteered to check on prices for hats and bags with three different printing businesses in Yorkville. Keane suggested having a pledge card to be filled out at the information table by fair attendees Costs per exhibitor space: Ask everyone to have a table cover or will be charged for a table cloth. Keep costs as down; increase only the amount needed to cover insurance costs. 3. Water Conservation Committee—Recommendations progress report 4. Plastic Bag Reduction 5. Chamber Green Committee Lee made a motion to accept the committee reports as written. Manthei seconded. Green wants the Green Committee to watch two things. He handed out the "Building Code Update Discussion." Resolution at Works Committee- do we want to support the position for the joint COGS (Council of Governments) water supply planning group. "We do not have to take a position on this; the report is for our information and for tracking this issue. At Target, customers who bring in their reusable shopping bags will get five cents off of their bill per bag used. Vote: motion passed. Recommendation Progress Reports: 1. Tree Survey Recommendation 2. Tree City Recommendation 3. Electronic Recycling Perm Program progress 4. Franchise Agreement Recommendation 5. Recycling in Parks, Athletic Fields, etc 6. Budget Line Items—Deposits, Expenses Engelhardt moved to accept the progress reports as written. Scheffrahn seconded. Keane talked about the Commercial Franchise Agreement in the Beacon news. Vote: motion passed. Old Business: 1. Clean Air Counts 2. Zoning Ordinance Committee Update Amendment by Green: Zoning ordinance—next meeting Jan 27th not the 28th as typed. 3. Kendall County Solid Waste Committee Scheffrahn gave update. The Public Hearing on Transfer Stations is scheduled for January. 4. Wind Turbine Ordinance Progress Green would like to know the status of the ordinance for the "small" systems. 5. Cool City Challenge Action Plan 6. Rain Garden—City Rain Garden Progress Additional Business: 1. Report from Jackie Dearborn, Green Committee Staff Liaison Dearborn showed the group the proposal for the grant for recycling containers in the city parks. 2. Manthei suggested to Lee that the Environmental Fair have a speaker about native plants and that attendees get see packets for native plants. 3. Engelhardt reported that she has made contact with Jeff Wilkins, County Administrator,to find out about a speaker about the bus transportation program that came from the Government. She will try to line this up for the January meeting. 4. DART opened up in Aurora. They take#6 Styrofoam products. Keane is trying to get more information on what products they will take. Green moved to approve the meeting dates for 2010. Lee seconded. Vote: motion passed. Adjournment: Keane adjourned the meeting at 10:05. 2010 Tentative Meeting Schedule Jan 25 March 22 May 24 July 26 Sept 27 Nov 22 Feb 22 April 26 June 28 Aug 23 Oct 25 No Dec Meeting REPORT SUMMARY YORKVILLE GREEN COMMITTEE January 25, 2010 Meeting Mission Statement: To advise the City Council of the United City of Yorkville, Illinois on ways to enhance the community environment and ways to equip and encourage citizens and businesses to participate in sustainable ecological practices. New Business: Earth Hour—submitted by Marta Keane from GreenRightNow.com World Wildlife Fund announced Earth Hour 2010 will take place on Saturday, March 27, from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., with many of the nation's most iconic landmarks dimming their lights for one hour in what is expected to be the largest call for action on climate change in history. WWF said the initial list of U.S. landmarks taking part in the event includes Mount Rushmore, Empire State Building, the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign, Harrah's Caesar Palace and the MGM Mirage on the Las Vegas Strip and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. New Earth Hour participants in 2010 will include Montezuma Castle National Monument in Arizona and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. Other local landmarks taking part include Atlanta's Bank of America building and the Pike Place Market sign in Seattle. School News—submitted by Mrs. Kristi Kunkel, Fifth Grade Teacher, Yorkville Intermediate School YIS Fifth Grade Green Team Report: December 2009—February 2010 December • We met on December 2 and discussed how to "go green" during the holiday season. Then, we continued by making ornaments out of reused materials. Students had the option to make one out of old holiday cards, or make a wreath ornament out of old plastic bags. They turned out great! January • We met on January 6. At this meeting students came up with their own"go green"New Year resolution. These have been saved so that students can check to see if they are keeping up with their resolutions each time we meet. • We also discussed a poster contest through Nicor called Energy by Design (www.energybydesign.org). Students have the option to create a poster with facts about how to save energy. These need to be postmarked by February 5. Prior to that date, we will most likely have a "work day" for students who are working on this contest. February • Our next official meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 3. Building Code Update Committee Request—submitted by Jackie Dearborn One member from the Green Committee is needed for this Committee. It is anticipated that the Committee would meet monthly beginning in February/March and work to prepare recommendations regarding appropriate amendments to the 2009 IBC for EDC/City Council consideration as the 2009 IBC is considered for adoption. A timeline for the Committee's work should be discussed by the EDC and expectations established prior to convening the Committee. Staff suggests at minimum of 3 Committee meetings to formulate the recommendations. The Committee framework below was discussed and formulated by the EDC at the January 5, 2010 meeting. Mayor Burd recommends the member appointments be approved as follows: Building Code Update Committee Member Affiliation Alderman Rose Spears City Council representative ? City Council representative Billy McCue Residential Builder ? Architect Jeremy Canavan Fire District Representative Lynn Dubajic Economic Development Corporation board mtg 1121110 Chamber of Commerce representative mtg 1125110 Green Committee representative Stan Free Banker/Financial Bags for Dog Owners in Parks—submitted by Jackie Dearborn The City is considering offering bags to dog owners using public parks with their pets. A question has been raised about the type and availability of bags. Committee Reports: Environmental Fair—submitted by Cheryl Lee On Saturday, March 6, 2010, the Green Committee for the City of Yorkville and the Green Committee of the Yorkville Chamber of Commerce is hosting it's second annual Environmental Fair at the Yorkville Parks and Rec building. The Exhibit hall will open at l lam and close at 4pm. The Mayor will offer a warm welcome and present awards for Art and Science Exhibits. Speakers, Exhibitors and children activity leaders are being sought. There are three formal educational tracks established from 12:30-3pm: 1. Green Your Home(we will start the day with a panel on green home construction-new&remodeling) 2. Green Your Environment(topics such as Recycling, Climate Change) 3. Environmental Activities (Children& families) Volunteers are needed to set-up, assist throughout the event and to clean-up at the end of the event. Please contact Cheryl directly at cldesignbuildkaol.com. Water Conservation Committee—Recommendations progress report-submitted by Al Green Several recommendations were forwarded onto Mayor Burd. 1. Update Yorkville Building Code to 2009 IBC—Cheryl Lee attended the Dec 1 EDC meeting, which was dominated by the fire sprinkler issue. On Jan 5, the EDC recommended that a special committee be formed to advise the EDC and City Council on the Code update, and suggested that one member come from the Green Committee. The City Council may consider the EDC recommendation at the Jan 26 meeting. 2. The revisions to the Park Development Standards related to sod were approved by the Park Board on July 23; by the Public Works Committee on Sept 15 and approved by the City Council on Sept 22, 2009 reducing sod requirements from 100 ft to 50 ft when seed would be difficult to establish 3. Public Works Committee passed a resolution to support the Joint COGS Water Supply Planning Group. Plastic Bag Reduction—submitted by Mariann Manthei &Marta Keane No Report this month Chamber Green Committee—submitted by Cheryl Lee Although the new chamber website is not up yet, the Green Committee is rolling out the Green Business Designation anyway. The YACC annual dinner is Feb. 5, 2010 at Whitetail Ridge and we plan to recognize the businesses that have earned the Green Business Designation thus far. The chamber Green Committee has looked into purchasing khaki colored resuable bags imprinted with good sized logos for both of the City Green Committee and YACC Green Committee. The YACC Green Committee has a promotional company member who has done the research. The cost is $795.00 not including tax and shipping,but it does include the $50 one-time setup charge. Without printing the Go Green Env. Fair event or the date, we can resuse these at Share & Care Recycling or other events like Rolling on the River,but most importantly, save money. We are looking at ordering 500. We will distribute 1 per family at the Go Green Env. Fair and see how far that goes. "No cost" advertising for the Go Green Env. Fair through the YACC will take place on the current and upcoming website, e-blasts,Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. To date there are at least 4 volunteers to work at the Go Green Env. Fair but more are needed. Here are the chamber account numbers from last years Go Green Env. Fair: a. Total revenue: $965.00 b. Total paying exhibitors: 27 single and 2 double booth, 6 paid extra for electrical(did not charge non-profits), 3 paid for table colths/skirts, and we had an overpayment of$5.00. c. Total Fair expenses: $603.40 (This included the resuable banner for the Go Green Env. Fair) 1. Action Graphix Banner: $254.01 2. Grand Rental: $166.40 3. Cheryl Lee: reimbursement for rosin paper/tape$48.33 (we ran out that day) 4. Kendall County Record ad: $134.56 d. Total non-paying exhibitors (Non-Profits/Speakers): 18 in Main Gym, 5 additional in Small Gym. e. Miscellaneous: Paid$160.00 for YACC Green Committee logo development. f. Balance in account: $201.60 Recommendation Progress Reports: Tree Survey Recommendation—submitted by Jackie Dearborn Travis Miller attended a meeting with the CMAP (Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning) staff who are impressed with our tree survey and the uniqueness of the project. They want to use this in their Full Circle project and as a model throughout Chicago. They will be presenting this project to CMAP probably in January, 2010. Tree City Recommendation—submitted by Jackie Dearborn The Mayor would like us to work on putting together a tree board. Both a professional forester or arborist and an advisory board are recommended. The City does not have a professional staff member to serve but one would be required to determine if a tree is eligible for a heritage designation. I will need to discuss further with the Mayor the idea of hiring a consultant. To pay for the consultant, the ordinance would require a permit or application fee from anyone seeking to have their tree designated as a heritage tree. Electronic Recycling Perm Program progress—submitted by Marta Keane &Jackie Dearborn Currently the City of Yorkville is registered as a collector per the IEPA Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2010. We no longer have to pay to recycle TVs and monitors as this is now the responsibility of the manufacturers. This information was included in the newspaper and on City e-mail blasts. I have requested information from Com2 regarding the total amount of electronics recycled in 2009. The April thru August 8th total was 5,591 lbs. The October Share & Care total was 13,325 lbs. Com2 has agreed to pay for the cost of a sign around $35. We must include their name on the sign and submit quotes for their approval. Signage was discussed at previous YGC meetings, including a list of items accepted. This sign would be at the entrance to the street where the Drop-Off is located to direct participants. Franchise Agreement Recommendation—submitted by Jackie Dearborn This recommendation was put on the Public Works Committee agenda for discussion at the December 15th meeting at 6:30pm. Recycling in Parks,Athletic Fields, etc—submitted by Jackie Dearborn The DCEO grant application for containers was sent in prior to the deadline on November 13th, 2009. The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity did confirm that the grant application was received but awards have not been determined yet. It is hoped the City will learn if the grant will be awarded by April 2010. Budget Line Item- A total of$44.20 was collected from the metal recycling at the Share& Care Event. This money went to cover the expenses from that day's event and the cost of mailing the grant application to Springfield for the recycling containers in the parks. No contributions have been made to this line item for the upcoming Environmental Fair. The current balance is negative($45.51). Old Business Reports: Clean Air Counts—submitted by Travis Miller&Jackie Dearborn It is suggested that the Green Committee make a recommendation to the Mayor that the City Council be requested to endorse the Clean Air Counts Campaign and whatever specific actions that the Green Committee recommends (link on the City webpage, e-mail blast with alerts to subscribers, etc.) It would also be a good way to remind everyone of the Compact and demonstrate that the City is still following the recommendations of the Compact. A pair of volunteers are needed to guide this on-going project. Zoning Ordinance Commission Update—submitted by Al Green The Commission will meet on January 27 to review and discuss a complete draft of the revised Ordinance. The next step will be a public hearing to solicit additional input. Kendall County Solid Waste Committee—submitted by Richard Scheffrahn A draft update is expected to be released for public comment sometime this year. Wind Turbine Ordinance Progress—submitted by Al Green The Wind Turbine Ordinance for Rooftop systems was approved at the August 11 City Council Meeting. The Economic Development Committee considered a draft of the revision to include Small systems (up to 100Kw) on Sept 1. It had it's first City Council reading on Sept 8, and it's second reading on Sept 22. It was redrafted as a separate Ordinance, and re-presented on Oct 13. It was passed. Cool City Challenge Action Plan—submitted by Anne Englehardt&Marta Keane The Green Committee should move forward with a plan to engage the residents and businesses of Yorkville in methods to reduce their carbon pollution. The proposed Action Plan requires at least two volunteers to co-chair a subcommittee on this subject. A step-by-step handout is available. On a related note, there is a community education program that has been teaching residents to reduce their energy use in Canada. GLOBE— Green Light on a Better Environment offers a training program called The Community Champion Program. This program is designed to train a resident community champion on how to engage other residents on how to change their habits around energy use in their homes. There are over 30 communities in the Toronto area participating in the program. Training materials are developed into modules covering recycling, green office,water conservation among others. Rain Garden—submitted by Marta Keane There are two Rain Gardens, one at the City Hall and another at the Rec Center. Efforts should be made to highlight this great method of slowing stormwater in residential and commercial areas. Staff Liaison Report—submitted by Jackie Dearborn The Mayor added a Green/Environmental Update to the Mayor's Report to keep City Council informed. Any updates will be presented at the City Council Meeting either on the 2nd or 4th Tuesday of the month. I will be giving an update at the next City Council Meeting on Tuesday, January 26th. The Public Works Department will be performing tree trimming of the parkway trees. They need to be trimmed to a certain height to allow large vehicles to pass along the roadways without damage. The trimming will be done according to instructions, which will make the trees healthier in the long run. Excerpt from the January 8 United City of Yorkville E-Mail Blast NEW! Televisions and Monitors Recycled for Free Effective as of Jan. 1, 2010, Yorkville residents will no longer be required to pay a fee to recycle televisions and monitors. The new Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act(95-0959)require manufacturers to be responsible for the cost of recycling residential electronic waste. As a result, the city's recycling contractor, Com2, will now be collecting televisions and monitors for free. Electronic items can be dropped off at the city's Public Works facility, 610 Tower Lane during the hours of 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. NEW! Styrofoam Recycling Drop-off Location The first and only Styrofoam recycling center in Illinois has recently opened in North Aurora and is operated by the Dart Container Corporation. The outside drop-off center is located at 310 Evergreen Drive in North Aurora and accepts items 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For additional information call Dart Container at 630.896.4631 or visit their Web site at www.dartcontainer.com.