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Green Committee Minutes 2008 08-25-08 APMED United City of Yorkville Green Committee Meeting a a?-Dg Tenth Meeting-August 25, 2008 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. Present: Marta Keane, Temporary Chair Anne Engelhardt, Member Tony Graff, Member Mariann Manthei, Member Richard Scheffrahn, Member Cheryl Lee, Member (arrived at 8:15) Bart Olson, Assistant City Administrator Glory Spies, Community Relations Officer Stephanie Boettcher, City of Yorkville, liaison Valerie Burd, Mayor City of Yorkville Jennifer Willis, guest Erika Wurst, Beacon News Committee Members Absent: Green, Roberts, Stuepfert, Schoeny Citizens: Earl Bushnell Presenters: Bill Morrisett representing Northeast Illinois cool Challenge Steve Holland, President of Holland Financial &Savings Call to Order: Marta Keane called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. Welcome Members and Guests: Approval of Minutes: Tabled until a quorum was established later in the meeting at about 8:15 p.m. Lee motioned to approve the minutes as presented, and with one spelling correction. Manthei seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved Committee Reports: 1. Education Committee: a. Homeowner Association Mailing List -- Boettcher had turned in a list at the July meeting. She will provide an updated list as an e-mail attachment to the Education Committee. Keane explained some of the potential uses for such a list. b. City Website Updates - Spies explained the City of Yorkville website link to the Green Committee. She asked out committee for articles for the web site. Procedure: As events are planned, articles of information are to be generated from the subcommittee, then given to the Green Committee chair, who will then submit it to the Mayor for approval, who will give it to Glory to add to the website. c. Green Committee Member Recruitment Brochure - Spies handed out draft copies to the committee and asked that members check it over and contact her if any corrections need to be made. After it is proofread by the Green Committee members, it will be printed in bulk on recycled paper. The copies remaining from the Rolling on the River event will be used until the next batch is printed. Old Business: 1. Rolling on the River - event on Aug 16, at the Kendall County Fairgrounds. The Green Committee had a booth from 10 am - 4 p.m. Anne Engelhardt, Cheryl Lee, Al Green, and Marta Keane staffed the booth in 3 hour shifts. Approximately 3 boxes of CFL's (150 bulbs) were handed out to attendees. A signup sheet was used to recruit local volunteers for the Green Committee future events. A new vinyl banner for the Green Group was used at the event. It will be stored in the office of Glory Spies. 2. E-Scrap Site and Grant Status - Bart Olson explained that the City's Grant Writer is working on the Illinois DCCO Recycling Grant, which is due Dec. 22. He and others in the city office will attend a workshop on Oct. 8 to learn about the grant application. A couple of possible sites for an E-Scrap Drop-Off location have been identified. He has learned that there will be no extra cost for insurance for this operation. Olson is also attempting to work with Kendall County Department of Solid Waste on this facility. The grant will focus on logistics and funding. He is hopeful it will be approved in spring of 2009; the earliest it will be made operational will be fall of 2009. 3. Water Conservation a. Progress on Recommendation to the City Council - Keane requested Olson to e-mail her an update from the Public Works Committee on the progress of this recommendation. b. Creation of a subcommittee for water conservation. No action was taken. 4. Outcome of Well request on City Council Agenda for Aug. 12 — The action taken on August 12 by members of the City Council rejected the idea of a private well being created at a residential home with water service. Olson stated that the city is now considering language to make all new, private wells illegal in the City of Yorkville. Graff suggested that some business may want to have the option of digging its own private well and the City may want to limit the law to residential homes. Keane acknowledged that the Committee has neither researched nor commented on the issue as it may relate to commercial development. 5. Tree Survey Recommendation - Stephanie Boettcher gave a report from Alderman Plocher, and City Parks Designer, Laura Haake, who have conversed with Yorkville H.S. Science Teachers, Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Robbins. The teachers will include the tree survey as part of the botany curriculum over a two-year time frame. Keane commented that with the involvement of the high school staff and students, the City will save money and students will become educated on trees while performing a valuable job. 6. Green Committee Membership and Voting Structure — tabled initially. After a quorum was reached later in the meeting, Engelhardt motioned to approve the "Yorkville Green Committee Membership and Voting Structure, the Green Committee Guidelines, the (Voting) Membership List, the Elected Officials List and Important contacts„ The subcommittee Structure, Job Descriptions, and Green Committee Recommendation Procedure. Lee seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 7. Report from Veolia on Residential Recycling Rate - Boettcher handed out a report with data from May 2007 - April 2008. Through discussion, Green Committee members learned that Veolia may take yard waste to the Hammen's Composting facility, off of Rt. 71 to the south, but makes efforts to utilize Green Organics, NW corner off East Beecher Road. The Veolia Report showed a participation percent based on the number of residents participating; that is, the number of households that put our recycling at least one time per month. The Green Committee asked for information from Veolia: 1. Yard waste conversion and white goods conversion to pounds. 2. Comparison (percentage) of pounds (tons) of refuse diverted from landfills. This number will include the recycling, white goods, and yard waste compared with the garbage dumped into landfills. Spies reminded the committee that any articles related to recycling may be turned in to her office by Sept. 5 for the next City newsletter. A question came up. To what extent are the Yorkville students learning about the reduce-reuse- recycle-rethink process of dealing with waste? Engelhardt volunteered to talk to officials in the Yorkville School District and to the two private schools to see what initiatives are being done in this regard. Graff suggested that Veolia representatives be invited to speak to the Green Committee at a future meeting. He asked that Yorkville's refuse and recycling be compared with other neighboring communities. Also, Graff suggested that the City work with Veolia on a challenge to residents to increase the recycling by a targeted amount with an incentive of a donation by Veolia back to the City, such as a park. This suggestion will need to be brought to the Public Works Committee. New Business: 1. Cutting CO2 presentation by Bill Morrisett representing Northeast Illinois Cool-challenge - The Cool Challenge organization wants to work at the grass roots level to network and encourage participation in the reduction of CO2 gasses and emission. Morrisett explained the program (see attachment) and the levels of participation. The first step is to use the on-line calculator to get a base-line, approximate number to indicate one's carbon footprint. The next step is to sign an on-line, informal agreement to reduce one's personal CO2 output and set a goal, which can be entered in the web-based program. The final step is to participate in an informal climate action plan, using web links, a work book , or other known recommendations, to select action steps aimed at reducing one's carbon footprint. At this time there is no specific measurement of changes; however, the team members can use the calculator at a later time to get a new, updated calculation of their carbon foot print and make a comparison. The Cool -Challenge encourages individuals, families, school classes, and organizations, to form "teams" to do network, support each other in goals that are local and specific. . Low Carbon Diet by David Gershon of the Empowerment Institute can be ordered on-line through Amazon and can be purchased in bulk orders (less than $10.00 per book including the shipping charge). Morrisett also stated that there are training programs for volunteers to learn out do outreach into their communities or groups. The "Global Warming Cafe" program has warm-up activities, slides, videos, and other useful materials that can be customized to one's needs. A volunteer from the Cool-Challenge would be able to conduct a local training. The web site is www.empowennentinstitue.net . The email address is info a empowennentinstitue.net Graff asked how this organization is funded. Morrisett answered that Cool-challenge is made up of all volunteers. All the related software will be "open source" and will have freely distributable materials. Morrisett, or another volunteer would also be able to do a community presentation/workshop to introduce Cool -Challenge to the public and/or to leaders in the public. The current goal is to bring awareness and education to large numbers of people and to get pledges (commitments) to make changes. Engelhardt stated that this program seems to be a community outreach effort for a call to action with a goad to get individuals and teams to sign up to do the cool-challenge. Graff motioned that the Yorkville Green Committee participate in the Northeast Illinois Cool Challenge. Anne seconded the motion. The motion passed. The goal of the members of the Green Committee is to individually use the calculator on the web site prior to the next meeting in September. Morrisett will add a link on the web site for the Green Committee to use. After the Green Committee members participate in the plan, they will evaluate the program to determine whether or not this program should be brought to the Yorkville Community later in the year. 2. Plans for Special Events a. Yorkville Recycling Day. - Sat. Nov. 15, National Recycling Day, was been tentatively selected as the date for this event. The subcommittee members are Keane, Engelhardt, and Lee. Discussion centered on possible locations, keeping in mind that weather may be a factor. Both for the volunteer workers and the residents who will participate, it was suggested that the event be held indoors. Possible locations include Kendall County Fairgrounds, Smith Building, Forest Preserve at Hoover, Highway Department on Route 47, Public Works in the Industrial Park (if acquisition is approved by the City tomorrow.) Lee motioned that the Green Committee will offer a recycling day in the fall of 2008. Graff seconded the motion. The motion carried. The motion was stated without a specific date due to the pending location, which will have bearing on the date. b. Environment Seminar to include Water Conservation in April or May - Tabled due to lateness of meeting. c. Waubonsee Community College Informational Booth Invitation — Tabled due to lateness of meeting. 3. Multi-Family Recycling & Commercial Recycling - Tabled due to lateness of meeting. 4. Construction Recycling - Tabled due to lateness of meeting. 5. Plastic Bag Bin - Earlier in the meeting, a citizen made some comments about the issue of plastic bags. Keane asked for a volunteer to research the impact of plastic bags on the environment. Manthei agreed to do this research and also stated that she would contact the citizen with the information she finds. Additional Business: Steve Holland, a member of Batavia's Environmental Committee and business owner, presented information to the Green Committee about a recycling receptacle for public areas, such as parks. The Green Committee suggested that his offer be taken directly to the City. Olsen stated that they would set up a meeting to further discuss these recycling bins. Holland addressed the Green Committee on the topic of wind farms. He stated that Yorkville could be powered by 15 wind turbines, each generating 1.5 Megawatts and requiring 8 acres of open land. . Each turbine would be roughly the height of the Yorkville water towers. Each turbine would generate $500.00 per month as income to the land owner, where the turbine is located. The land where the turbines are located would receive a 30-year protection to remain as is. Farmers may welcome this situation. Holland's purpose in speaking on this topic was to see if there may be some citizen support, beginning with the Green Committee. Olsen suggested that he speak directly to Lynn Dubajic, Executive Director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m. The next meeting of the Yorkville Green Committee is Monday, September 22, in the Yorkville Public Library, large meeting room.