Loading...
Green Committee Minutes 2008 11-24-08 APPROVED Yorkville Green Committee November 24, 2008 Marta Keane—Member, Acting Chairperson Anne Engelhardt—Member, Temporary Secretary Al Green - Member Phil Stuepfert - Member Richard Scheffrahn - Member Cheryl Lee—Member Chuck Roberts - Member Bob Allen - Alderman, Ward 1 Deb Ness - Non-Voting Member Valerie Burd—Mayor of Yorkville Stephanie Boettcher—City of Yorkville, Senior Planner Glory Spies —City of Yorkville, Community Relations Officer Voting Members absent: Graff, Manthei, Shoeny. Call to Order: Meeting was called to order by Marta Keane at 7:02. Welcome Members and Guests: Attendance was taken; listed above Keane welcomed Mayor Burd and Alderman Allen. Approval of Minutes: Green motioned to approve the minutes from the October 27, 2008, with the following corrections: Correct spelling of ASHRE; Green will be attending the conference in January and reporting to the Green Committee in February. Lee seconded the motion. All aye; the minutes were approved. Burd asked what "recommendations" were referred to in minutes. Keane answered that the minutes referred to the water recommendations. Burd explained that once recommendations go to city council, the Green Committee as a whole will not be able to become involved in the progress. Burd asked Allen to follow up on the recommendations at the council level. Committee Reports: Education Committee: Engelhardt recommended that each person on the Green Committee volunteer to research a topic of their interest/expertise and sign up for a date to contribute the information. Each person can choose an environmental topic and write something to be used in a column in the local paper as well as the web site. The information can be given as an outline or bullet-pointed list of main ideas, a rough draft, or complete article. Include the supporting sources of the information (web site, article, etc). Engelhardt also suggested that we aim for twice a month January—June 2009. Procedure: Submit the information to Keane, who will review it and send it to Glory Spies. Spies will revise or edit if needed and submit to the Record and include in the web site. Old Business: 1. Plastic Bag Use Reduction Update No specific report. 2. Special Events: a. First Yorkville Share and Care Day: Keane reported that the event was very successful with nearly 300 vehicles dropping off items for recycling. Although Veolia did not come on the day of the event, the City made two trips to get the scrap metal. Follow-up in the Record included a news article, a letter to editor from Green Committee and an editorial, etc. Engelhardt commented that she would like to see a recycling event be a regular Yorkville occurrence, once or twice a year, so that citizens become accustomed to recycling opportunities and will develop habits that are supportive to the environment. Keane thanked Engelhardt for the work she put into the Share and Care Recycling Day. 11. Electronics Recycling Permanent Program—progress report Last month, Allen made a presentation in behalf of the Green Committee to the City council to generally encourage the city to support recycling efforts. Keane and Allen both attended the recent meeting of the Yorkville Public Works Committee and reported what is happening with the recommendation for a permanent recycling site, which came to them in April from the Green Committee. Recently the Public Works Committee listened to a presentation by a company from DuPage County, named Com2, which stated that they could do all the electronics recycling free of charge to the City and residents. Allen added that this recycler can also pick up large household electrical items, such as refrigerators and stoves. The company will expect that the City monitor large metal kiosks, indoors. Bob Allen also reported that Eric Dhuse is supportive of this approach to E-waste recycling. The Public Works committee is considering this company to try to do an event and see if it will work short term. Burd commented that this might be better than going for a grant. Keane asked Boettcher for an update from Bart Olsen. Boettcher read a memo from Olsen stating that his office recommended to not apply for the DECO grant due to the monetary commitment from the City. Engelhardt expressed the following questions and concerns. She asked to know the end of the waste stream of the new company; where do their parts go after their pick up. Is the company environmentally responsible all the way through the entire process? Also, Engelhardt questioned how they could run this operation for"free", considering that there is expense in hauling, the steel market is down right now, and other local companies have had to add charges for televisions and monitors. Another thing to consider is that, if the operation is indoors and that it is being monitored on the regular work hours of the employees, citizens will not have access to drop off their recyclable items. Most people who are employed by day will need to have a Saturday or evening time slot for drop off. The City will need to collect a target amount of E- Scrap in order for it to be financially successful. Keane explained the situation for E-Scrap recycling in Will County where she works. She stated that Will County wants to make sure that the contracted company works well with townships, with the community. Keane, who see advantages in going for the grant, stated that if the city gets the grant they will have more control over the location, containers, times, and other details. Now is the opportunity for possibly getting an Illinois grant, which may not be available next year under a new budget. Because it is a "matching grant", the city will have to match the amount of money it is requesting; the money spent by the city may include time spent by employees working on the process before and after the grant is awarded. She explained that it is not difficult to account for the money that would be spent by the city for the recycling operation. Mayor Burd stated that she was not at the Public Works Committee meeting; she questioned to whom is Bart making this recommendation? Boettcher stated, from the memo, that Oswego is charged by Vintage Tech at seven cents per pound and over the past two years they have paid $15,000 to the hauler, plus the cost of employees comp time, two mornings per month while the E-Scrap site is open to the public. Boettcher further stated that Olsen said that the presentation by Com2 went well; he investigated other communities who are using this company and seem satisfied. Alderwoman Robyn Sutcliff, a member of the Public Works Committee, stated that the City should go ahead with the grant application. Mayor Burd commented that there seems to be some miscommunication and will follow up the possibility of the grant. Keane summarized that the overall goal and recommendation from the Green Committee is to get a permanent E-Scrap recycling program for the City of Yorkville. 8. Report on Nov 8 Hoffman Estates/Schaumburg Environmental Fair (Stephanie) Boettcher reported that some of the topics were about rain gardens and birds of prey; the event included speakers, a professor who talked about the state of the great lakes, climate change, and rescue greyhounds. Also, various environmental groups had booths, including Sierra Club and DNR. They provided lunch for the presenters. 2b. Spring Environmental Fair (Lee and Stuepfert co-chairs) Lee recommended a March date. Boettcher asked that the committee use a special events procedure form, drafted by Spies. The Green Committee is instructed to select 2—3 dates and fill in the form and turn in to Spies. Spies procedure is a guideline to prevent overlap of major events in the City. The only City event currently on the calendar to work around is a Polar Plunge, March 8, Noon—2 p.m. March 21 or 28 are both good possibilities. Earth Day is April 22. Discussion brought up points about March being a month that is usually slower for City and other community events. In March, people are not yet doing spring yard work and spring sports will not have started. The possible venues will also be a factor in setting the date. The location, size and layout of a building, and fees (or free) will be considered. The venue needs to provide a place for speakers as well as adjacent but separate space for exhibitors' booths/displays. Discussion ensued regarding possible locations, with the expectation to double last year's attendance of approximately 100. The Library's large meeting room, which worked well last year, was at capacity. An observation about the recent Environmental Fair at Waubonsee College was that because it was held in the gym, the volume of the speakers overpowered the people attempting to have conversations at the exhibits. The Beecher Building's large room might work, but it is currently set up for senior citizen activities. The public and private schools might work well, but there will likely be a charge. Local churches, such as St. Pat's, Cross Lutheran, and Yorkville Congregational might work, depending on the fee structure. Since the Green Committee is a non-profit committee of citizen volunteers, it is hoped that the charges will be reduced or waived. The Yorkville Rec Center would be conducive to having speakers in the large gym/track area and smaller rooms for exhibits, and the use of the lobby. Attendance at the Rec Center is lowest on Sundays. Discussion narrowed the possible dates to (1) Saturday, March 21 at one of the local churches, or (2) Sunday, March 22 at the Yorkville Rec Center. Lee will complete the event form for the City and will follow-up to secure a venue and date for the Environmental Fair. Spies suggested that the Green Committee do a small event closer to Earth Day. Lee asked Green Committee members to email her suggestions for speakers, environmental topics, and exhibits. For example, she is familiar with a local company that sells LED lights, manufactured in Elk Grove Village. Mayor Burd mentioned that the City is applying for a grant for LED lights to be used in the City. Engelhardt suggested that Lee and Stuepfert contact Danielle Ebersole, from the Kendall County Forest Preserve, who chaired the first and only Kendall County Environmental Fair in April 2006. She will be able to give a list of speakers, businesses and exhibitors that participated. Lee stated that vendors of green building products or other green products would be willing to pay a small fee to exhibit their wares and use this event as advertisement. These fees could off- set the costs of rental, advertisements, and refreshments. Boettcher will provide the list of vendors and speakers from the 2007 Water Conservation Forum to Lee and Stuepfert for use in planning the 2008 Environmental Fair. 3. Cutting CO2 - Committee Report on individual progress. Keane asked all to keep working on this over the next two months. [Note: to begin with the carbon calculator, go to www.emuowenuentinstitute.com . Then use the workbook, Low Carbon Diet, which was distributed at the October meeting.] 4. Water Conservation a. Creation of a Committee to review current ordinances and recommend any changes that would result in a reduction in water usage. Green and Scheffrahn volunteered. The city ordinances are on the City web site. 5. Tree Survey Recommendation (Cheryl) There was no progress to report. Mayor Burd asked for an update on this project. Boettcher and Lee explained the reasons for working with the Yorkville High School botany class. Lee said that the high school teacher, who was contacted by Alderman Plocher, indicated interest in working with the City on a tree survey, but the school has not gotten back to the City. No action has happened in the past three months. Mayor Burd volunteered to talk to Superintendent Engler to see if they can get moving on this initiative. 6. Building Code Change—ASHRAE to include LEED standards (Al). Green will be attending the ASHRAE conference in January and will report to the Green Committee in February. 7. Commercial Recycling (Business, Multi-Family, School District a. City Council's response to Green Committee's call for more commercial recycling. (Alderman Allen) Allen was not able to report; left meeting early. Burd stated that this issue needs to go to the Public Works Committee for consideration. Boettcher gave the Green Committee the requested maps indicating the Apartments/ Condos, Townhomes, and Commercial units in the City. This information will be helpful to the Public Works Committee. Yorkville Immediate School did get recycling the cafeteria. Citizen Krista Sampson, a non- voting member of the Green Committee, will be a liaison between the Green Committee and the School District regarding their recycling programs. Sampson, not able to attend this meeting, had suggested to Keane that the Green Committee invite the school kids' recycling groups to get involved with the Green Committee. 8. Report on Nov 8 Hoffman Estates/ Schaumburg Environmental Fair (Stephanie) [Note: This topic was addressed earlier in the meeting. See above.] 9. Zoning Ordinance Committee Update (Phil) Sheffrahn stated that the ordinances will be reviewed in the next 6 months. 10. Kendall County Solid Waste Committee Keane asked all committee members to write their ideas for Travis Miller, city representative, to take to the up-coming meetings. The ideas will be organized into a list at the January meeting of the Yorkville Green Committee and then passed along to Miller. 11. Electronics Recycling Permanent Program—progress report (Marta, Stephanie, Alderman Robert Allen) [This topic was addressed earlier in the meeting. See above.] New Business: 1. Kendall County Planning Consortium Goes Green held Nov. 201h (Richard) Keane asked the Green committee if there is interest or opinion on taking a position on landfills in the County. Yorkville is updating its ordinance on position on landfill. Keane explained that landfills create revenue for the County because the host fees are generated from the landfill. Much of Kendall County's waste previously was sent to Kane County, which has no more landfill space. Sheffrahn stated that solid waste in county has become less; therefore, there is less local need for a landfill. He added that he believes that if a landfill is granted it must include increased setbacks and double fees. Keane reported that Will County passed their solid waste plan last week. Will has active landfills, but the one owned by the County only accepts waste generated in Will County. McHenry County's Solid Waste Plan takes a "no landfill" position. DuPage County has no space to site a landfill. Kane County has ceased allowing landfills in their county. Burd said that Green Committee can take a position on this issue. Engelhardt prefers not to invite large landfills to the county, but also does not support NIMBY. Because the county has consumers who create waste, a landfill will probably be necessary until alternatives to disposal and recycling operations are in place. If the County decides to have a landfill, it should be large enough to use for the County's own waste. Engelhardt suggested that each member think about what should be in a position statement from the Committee and that this be discussed and articulated as a group at the January meeting. Keane agreed. 2. Meeting Dates for 2009. After discussion, all agreed that the fourth Monday of the month was the most preferred meeting date. The meetings in 2009 will remain on the 4`h Monday of the month. The next meeting will be January 26, 7 p.m. at the Yorkville Public Library. 3. Tree City (Richard) Scheffrahn reported. [Refer to document "The Four Standards of Tree City USA] 1. Tree Board. Yorkville will need to create a Tree Board and include an arborist on the board. 2. Tree Care Ordinance. Many of these items appear in Yorkville's landscape ordinances. 3. Budget. $2.00 per capita can be figured in the current salaries of city workers, who currently do purchasing, pruning and tree removal, leaf and brush pick up, surveys, inventories, and so on. The city probably spends nearly half of this estimated amount already. Scheffrahn asked Boettcher to check on the expenditures that are already being paid. 4. Arbor Day Observation and Proclamation. Keane asked Scheffrahn to write a recommendation that Yorkville become a Tree City. She suggested to he use the current City budge that is posted on the web site to acquire the expenditure data needed in the recommendation. Scheffrahn motioned that that the City of Yorkville become a Tree City community and volunteered to write up the recommendation. Lee seconded. All yes. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Budget for the 2009- 10 Fiscal Year. Anne suggested that the Green Committee write a list of expenditures to present the city council so that they are made aware of the costs of programs and events. She added that if the City Council desires to make Yorkville a City leading in the efforts to be committed to green living, they will need to financially support green initiatives. Keane said this will be an agenda item in January. Additional Business: Waubonsee requested the Green committee to participate in the 3rd Annual Renewable Energy Fair. There is no cost for non-profit groups to participate if they complete the registration form before Dec. 15, 2008. After discussion, it was agreed that the Green Committee send in the registration for a booth for fall 2009. Adjournment: Keane adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m.