Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Environmental Policy Study Committee 10 N. Division St. Conference Room 302A Battle Creek, MI November 2, 2011 4:00 p.m. Members Present: Randall Champlin, Christine Kosmowski, Kathy Antaya, Sue Anderson, Mike Myszka and Tiffany Eichorst Members Absent: Comm. Walters, Comm. Morris, Ken Kohs and Vice Mayor Simmons Call to Order: Vice chairperson Antaya called the meeting to order at 4:05 PM. Public Comment: None present. Approval of Minutes: None presented. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: No Agenda. Discussion: Vice Chairperson Antaya stated that the purpose of this meeting is to dive into the three agreements the City has committed to (15 x 15, Climate Protection Agreement and the Sustainability Covenant). We would like to get a baseline of where the City is at environmentally and what we might want to measure for the City as far as energy use etc. We would like to give possible new Commissioners (election to be held on November 8, 2011) as well as returning Commissioners an orientation on where the City is at in regards to environmental activities and projects. Mike Myszka has provided a rough draft of the presentation that the Policy Committee would like to work on to present to Commissioners. Presentation Discussion: Mike Myszka said that who we are as a community, history of community, every action we take has an environmental impact, safety impact etc. Chris Kosmowski stated that Ken Kohs made a comment that he wanted to share with the group even though he could not be at the meeting. He stated that the city may have passed resolutions and agreements but if there is no budget line items attached to these resolutions and agreements, there are no financial resources to enact them. Mike Myszka replied that the City has a good environmental history; if the City wants to do other projects they can do them if they choose to. Let’s take credit for what the City has done so far. Discussion took place regarding purchasing procedures. Tiffany Eichorst mentioned that maybe we could emphasize on the savings that implementing environmental products and services might give the city considering the reduction in funding that local county governments are receiving. 1 Chris Kosmowski shared that it is important to teach new commissioners about wastewater, storm water and the water plant. Chris would like to take commissioners on a “green infrastructure” tour (green roof, rain gardens, State Street project etc). Mike Myszka said he sees the presentation becoming cliff notes to the City’s environmental programs. The group discussed training the Commissioners through orientation and Tiffany Eichorst mentioned that last time we discussed getting on the City Commission agenda to do the presentation. Randall Champlin mentioned having a special workshop before the Commission meeting if we have too much material for a City Commission meeting. Kathy Antaya shared the idea of getting a special program on Access Vision. General Comments/Revisions on Myszka’s (draft) Presentation  Define sustainability  Switch pages 6 & 7  Committee likes general concepts  How environmental programs relate to quality of life, balance and sustainability  Figure out best time to present to commission  Measuring- CO2 emissions, need to get a baseline & where we are today.  Biomass, how much money/energy has been saved?  What does an environmentally friendly city looks like, give examples (Grand Rapids).  What does the future look like?  Keep presentation around 20 pages. Edits: Page 1: add 15 x15, congrats you are doing a good job, hope you consider this when making decisions in your new role. Page 2: Define Sustainability Page 3: Make timeline, history of federal center, Battle Creek Historical Society (Mary Butler), food safety, good and bad news. i.e. Bad news Enbridge and Thomas Solvents. Page 4: More Heritage- Add Woodland Park, Hart’s Lake, Goguac Lake, Battle Creek Parks & Recreation, show pictures and list. Page 5: Chris Kosmowski add City Environmental programs, other ideas include recycling programs, wastewater, different departments and how they affect the environmental quality of life, Honeywell, LED lighting, energy conservation and green roof. Page 6: “Environmental Resolutions” instead of “previous Environmental commitments,” add footnotes for with dates that the resolutions passed. Page 7: Pick out one or two examples and say what savings/environmental impact they have had. Page 8: Sue Anderson and Kathy Antaya will work on this. Page 9: What does sustainability look like? Add examples of cities that are sustainable. General: Hope you think about environmental policies as the City Commission makes decisions. 2 Chris Kosmoski stated that we should look for partnership opportunities. For example working, with other cities to purchase things like environmentally friendly office supplies; recycled paper etc. Mike Myszka shared that history has shown that with balanced and sustainable practices, this provides economic, personal and social benefits to all. This presentation is supposed to share information, background, things we are trying to achieve. This is meant to be an education tool, which we hope to be the first piece of a series to educate the Commissioners on environmental activities/topics. The Committee’s goal would be to have a completed presentation by January 2012. Measuring Discussion Kathy Antaya stated that we need to discuss how we are going to measure, what we are going to measure, what we need to measure, what are these resolutions asking us to measure. Mike Myszka said that we need to understand what we need that the City has and doesn’t have. We may need to talk to the City’s purchasing department to clarify if we are talking about natural gas, propane, fuel/diesel or electricity measurements. We need to make it as simple as possible. Do we know what we are tracking now and are we able to go back four years when the 15 x15 was adopted? Randall Champlin inquired whether it was a good idea to focus on reducing CO2 emissions. Chris Kosmoski stated that we need to focus on energy efficiency as it relates to the 15 X 15. Mike Myszka stated we really don’t know where we are currently at as far as energy use to be able to reach the 15% renewable energy reduction goal as stated in the 15 x15. We need to get the information for the baseline from 2007. We currently don’t have the facts to make good judgments. If the City can reduce CO2 and save money all at the same time this will be the best of both words. Sue Anderson shared with the group that she spoke with Manhattan Beach, California’s Environmental Programs coordinator. This City won an award from an organization that was developed from the Mayor’s Agreement for being proactive in environmental programs. Manhattan Beach has a population that is similar to Battle Creek, which is why she decided to get more information from them. Manhattan Beach has used Climate Action software (CAC) to help establish a baseline to achieve goals. The City could also join International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), for a fee. Climate registry can find other cities nearby that are similar in size for comparison purposes. Mike Myszka shared that the City may be able to sell energy credits from the biomass system. But he noted, if you try to do everything you may lose focus. The City should work on developing its environmental identity; however the City of Battle Creek has a good environmental identity. Marketable and has value. Kathy Antaya said that the “15 x15 resolution” quantifies an actual goal, but the other resolutions (Mayors Protection Agreement, Regional Sustainability Covenant) do not. Mike Myszka recommended that we need to look at other cities to see what has been done, so that we don’t recreate the wheel. Chris Kosmowski shared that she had reviewed the resolution that the City Commission passed to establish the Environmental Policy Committee. The resolution stated that the purpose of the 3 Environmental Policy Committee was to increase efforts to incorporate environmentally responsible policies in the management of the City’s facilities and services and references the climate protection act policy adopted in August of 2006 and the renewable energy policy adopted in March 2007. The resolutions stated that the Environmental Policy Committee will review & recommend environmental conservation policy and include recommendations for action to city commission. The Committee is also expected to make an annual report either in verbal or written form on their activities to the City Commission. Mike Myszka said that we would like to provide training and education to city leaders. Perhaps we could make a recommendation that we create a timeline to do a baseline assessment. New Business: Reviewing policies, does the Environmental Policy Committee need direction? Where do we go from here? Public Comment: No public comment. Next meeting: January 4, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall, Conference Room 302A Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 5:41p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Tiffany Eichorst 4