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Green Committee Minutes 2008 02-25-08 APPROVED United City of Yorkville Green Committee Meeting Fifth Meeting— February 25, 2008 The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm. Present: Jill Fleishman, Chair Anne Engelhardt, Member Marta Keane, Secretary Mariann Manthei, Member Alan Green, Member Ralph Pfister, Member Robyn Sutcliff, Alderman Eric Schoeny, resident (City of Aurora Engineering Dept) Stephanie Boettcher, City of Yorkville liaison Absent Chuck Roberts, Debbie Horaz, Phil Stuephert, Tony Graff Approval of Minutes—Approved as presented. Old Business: WATER CONSERVATION SEMINAR Jill Fleishman presented information on the upcoming water conservation seminar on April 28th: Nancy Wagner from the Environmental Law & Policy Center and others will speak on ground water and water saving actions. The program is being paid for utilizing funds from the Donnelly Foundation, The Giving Tree Band, an environmental acoustic band may also be invited to play. Eric Fink, a resident that attended one of the Green Committee meetings, is involved in the band. The presentation will be at the library and can seat up to 100 people, There will be exhibitors. The rain barrel presentation from the Conservation Foundation may be set to one side for people to visit, rather than as part of the formal presentation. Ms. Keane asked about inviting the City of Plano and Mr. Green suggested that advertising "open to the public" will probably draw residents from surrounding communities. Our goals for the program include lawn maintenance without chemicals and less watering. Developing a rain garden, utilizing rain barrels, status of the ground water and recharging of our aquifer. Mr. Pfister suggested that Jeff Freeman, an engineer, give a presentation on the City's use of water. Ms. Boettcher requested that Nancy Wagner provide a more detailed outline of the event or attend our March meeting, Could she tell us what we can do to assist her in making the seminar a success? The drought and lack of aquifer recharging in Atlanta was discussed and it was expressed that this seminar is very timely. Ms. Manthei asked that we concentrate on everyday actions people can take to reduce the amount of water they waste. Ms. Fleishman agreed that she will discuss the committee's input with the Environmental Law and Policy Center. BUILDING CODES Ms. Fleishman stated that Phil Stuephert became a member of the committee at the last meeting and she spoke to him today about his involvement in green building. He is planning on coming to our next meeting with a draft statement for us to bring to the City of Yorkville to encourage green building. Mr. Green questioned the development of the code verses LEED certification, which gives a system of points but is not the same a code. The Chicago Standard system was explained by Ms. Boettcher where they are utilizing the LEED system without requiring the certification and avoiding the certification expense. Ms. Fleishman believes that the Chicago Standard seems to be a starting point. She stated that two of the City of Yorkville's building inspectors are scheduled to be LEED certified. Mr. Green said that heating and air conditioning professionals are working on standard building code language to assist with LEED building (ASHRAE 189). Ms. Engelhardt asked if our ultimate goal to have all buildings in Yorkville be built to LEED standards or are we simply encouraging builders to incorporate some of these ideas? We discussed the committee's previous action towards the Countryside development where we requested the builder to go achieve LEED Gold Certification. The Chicago Standard should not simply be adopted but should be reviewed and considered. Ms. Boettcher suggested that Mr. Stuephert present a memo to the committee encouraging the City to approve developments with LEED standards. Mr. Schoeny stated that Kendall is looking at stormwater management ordinances and encouraged the committee to communicate with them on this topic. He also said that Kendall may,join the collar counties which could make their county stormwater ordinances enforceable in the cities, ATTENDING CITY COUNCIL, MEETINGS The City of Yorkville meets the 2"d & 4`h Tuesday of the month. They have expressed interest in receiving a verbal report once a month from our committee. Ms. Fleishman asked if a member of the committee could attend and read a statement. The first meeting we will attend will be March 11, 2008 at 7pm. Ms, Fleishman will get more details from the Law & Environmental Policy Center so that can be the main focus of the address. Mr. Green agreed to speak at the March 11'l' meeting and he will pull together information from the draft minutes, Ms. Fleishman will e-mail everyone asking members to sign up for a monthly presentation to the City Council so we take turns and it doesn't add much to our busy schedules. TREE ORDINANCE. Ms. Fleishman e-mailed a survey for each of us to complete before the presentation at the next meeting. Please complete the survey and return it. RAIN GARDEN GRANT Ms, Boettcher stated that grant requests were still being submitted so no award date has been established. She will report more on this topic at the next meeting. CFL DISTRIBUTION BY CITY Ms. Boettcher will gather more information on the number of bulbs that will be distributed, the avenues of distribution and if the City will agree to dispose of returned bulbs. Ms, Keane said that she received a quote from Air Cycle for a pre-paid box that would contain 90 CFL bulbs for $75. She also suggested the City contact Vieola Environmental Services, the City's hauler, asking them for a quote for CFL recycling service. New Business: MEMBERSHIP Tonight's meeting had lower than usual attendance and it was discussed that we create a two-tier membership — voting members and non-voting members. It may be useful to have a builder on the committee to encourage acceptance of the building community. Several people were mentioned including commercial builder, Mr'. Ratos, EARTH HOUR March 29°i from 8pm to 9pm get as many people and businesses to turn off their lights and look at the stars. It encourages energy conservation, reduction of light pollution for migrating birds and for astrological observation.. NEXT MEETING: Monday, March 26, 2008 Monday, April 28d'—Water Conservation Seminar Monday, May 19°i—regular meeting early due to Memorial Day Monday, June 23`d Monday, ,July 28°i Monday, August 25d' Monday, September 22"a Monday, October 27d' Monday, November 24°i Items to be discussed at the next meeting: Encourage the removal of the sod requirements in subdivisions Encourage the adoption of the Algonquin Plan Meeting Adjourned 8:55pm