Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Environmental Policy Study Committee 10 N. Division St. Conference Room 302A Battle Creek, MI Wednesday, August 3, 2011 4:00 p.m. Members Present: Ken Kohs, Vice Mayor Simmons, Randall Champlin, Christine Kosmowski, Comm. Morris, Kathy Antaya, and Tiffany Eichorst Members Absent: Michael Myszka, Susan Anderson, and Comm. Walters Others: Comm. Yankama, Susan Bedsole, and Mike McKenzie Call to Order: Vice Mayor Simmons called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM. Public Comment: Comm. Yankama thanked Vice Mayor Simmons for inviting the City Commission to the meeting. Approval of Minutes: Vice Mayor Simmons asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes. Kathy Antaya asked that the reference to Vice Mayor Simmons regarding policy updates be stricken since he was not at the meeting. A motion was made by Comm. Morris, supported by Randall Champlin, to approve the minutes of the June 1, 2011, meeting, as amended. All yes. Motion carried. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: There was none. New Business: 1. Update on oil spill Mark Ducharme, MDEQ, provided an update on the Kalamazoo River oil spill cleanup efforts. Comm. Morris asked how the City should handle complaints it receives. Mr. Ducharme responded complaints should be forwarded to the MDEQ. He further stated they are aware of the issues and agrees there are areas where oil still exists. However, cleanup is still ongoing and the river is closed currently. Comm. Morris followed up asking if the Ceresco Dam water levels were still going to be raised. Comm. Morris also asked if any sparging was going on. Mr. Ducharme stated the recent rains raised the level naturally. Additionally, there is ongoing activity similar to sparging, but not the conventional sparging. Kathy Antaya asked what were the specific questions asked at the City Commission meeting. 1 Vice Mayor Simmons responded John Bolenbaugh expressed concerns about the river being reopened since there was still submerged oil. He further asked who has authority to close the river. Mr. Ducharme indicated the reopening of the river will be a carefully deliberated decision. He further stated the Calhoun County Health Department ultimately had the authority to reopen the river. Vice Mayor stated the City Commission had concerns about the reopening and asked to whom those concerns should be addressed. Mr. Ducharme responded the City should contact the Calhoun County Health Department. Randall Champlin asked where the half mile stretch was the MDEQ wanted to have in compliance. Mr. Ducharme stated it was from the point the oil entered Talmage Creek to Division Street. This is the area upon which they are focusing and are developing a fully comprehensive plan for that area. Mr. Champlin asked what “fully in compliance” meant. Mr. Ducharme responded instead of doing interim actions only in this area, they are looking at residual impacts as well. In other words, they are looking to completely bring the area into compliance instead of having to return to it later. Vice Mayor Simmons asked if there were any further questions and thanked Mr. Ducharme for attending the meeting. The committee viewed a video from the EPA regarding the oil spill. Vice Mayor Simmons welcomed Mike McKenzie, Battle Creek Emergency Services Coordinator, and asked if he had an update. Mr. McKenzie responded emergency response is normally the first 72 hours, obviously this went on a little longer. However, at this point, the experts are handling the situation. Chris Kosmowski added the structure of incident command was much broader at the beginning, now it only includes the Enbridge, the EPA, and the DEQ. The MAC group is now more advisory. Old Business: 1. Subcommittee Report Ms. Antaya provided information regarding the subcommittees and asked if anyone was interested in serving on a subcommittee to contact her. Specifically she stated the three subcommittees were based on information from the 2006 Climate Protection Policy, the 2007 Renewable Energy Policy, and the 2009 Mayor’s Sustainability Covenant. Ms. Antaya further stated she would send out an e-mail asking for volunteers for each of the subcommittees. Mr. Champlin asked what was encompassed under each of the committees. 2 Ms. Antaya indicated they looked at each of the three documents and found many unanswered questions and wanted the subcommittees to address them. Vice Mayor Simmons asked who would be the chairman of each subcommittee. Ms. Antaya responded Mike Myszka would chair the Energy Use subcommittee, based on his background with Denso. She would chair the Codes and Policies subcommittee and Sue Anderson would chair the Community Sustainability subcommittee. Vice Mayor Simmons suggested the subcommittees could meet in the off months when the regular committee does not meet. Member Comments/Announcements: Ken Kohs updated the committee on two environmental assessment grants. A hazardous material grant for $200,000 and another $200,000 grant for petroleum related contamination in Brownfield sites. Mr. Kohs also indicated there were several other grants for which the City would be applying. Some of these grants are up to $1M for environmental assessments. The City will be applying to the EPA for one of the $1M grants, in partnership with the City of Marshall and Calhoun County. Vice Mayor Simmons asked it would be helpful if the Environmental Committee made a recommendation to the City Commission regarding the grant. Mr. Kohs responded that would be helpful and proper protocol to make a recommendation. Comm. Morris asked what types of assessments would be conducted. Mr. Kohs responded the money cannot be used where there is a responsible party. Comm. Morris asked if the money could be used for BA’s. Mr. Kohs indicated it would be possible if there was not a responsible party. He also noted this was for assessments only, not for cleanup. Ms. Antaya asked who did the testing under these grants. Mr. Kohs answered those types of tests would be covered under the grant. Tiffany Eichorst stated the County used petroleum grant funds to remove underground tanks so that testing could be done underneath; however they would not pay for any more cleanup. Mr. Champlin asked who funded the grants. Mr. Kohs indicated they were federal funds from the EPA. Ms. Kosmowski provided information regarding the Global Citizens River Conservation Day. Vice Mayor Simmons asked if the Environmental Policy Committee could be involved in the Hexalateral Conference. 3 Mr. Kohs provided the conference schedule. Ms. Antaya provided information about Good Food Battle Creek, a group in the community interested in locally grown food. Vice Mayor Simmons asked if the group was associated with Sprout Urban Gardens. Ms. Antaya responded they are. Vice Mayor Simmons explained the public comment process and allowed a second public comment. Public Comment: John Bolenbaugh played a video regarding the oil spill. Hunter Phares stated the video is proof Enbridge is trying to cover up things. Tyler Phares played a video regarding the oil spill. Vice Mayor Simmons indicated they could forward the links to the committee. Next meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for October 5, 2011, at 4:00 PM. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:14p.m. SEB 4