Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Sustainable BC Committee 150 N. Kendall St . Room 214 Battle Creek, MI Wednesday, March 1, 2017 4:00 p.m. Members Present : Commissioners Flores, Faris, and Helmboldt, Tiffany Welsh, Kurt Tribbett, Susan Anderson, Michael Myszka, Kathy Antaya, Sarah Kelly and Olivia Jayakar Members Absent : Christine Kosmowski Others : Alicia Sackett, Deputy City Clerk; Jacob Schacht, Asst. to the City Manager Guests: OHM-Advisors; Heather Seyfarth, Jeannette Patterson and Erin Quetell Call to Order : Comm. Flores called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm, noting a quorum was present. Approval of Minutes : A motion was made by Comm. Faris, supported by Susan Anderson to approve the minutes from February 1, 2017. All yes, none opposed. Minutes approved. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda : There were none. Member Updates/Reports: Presentation-STAR Communities-OHM: Tiffany Welsh introduced representatives from OHM who provided a presentation on the STAR Communities program. The STAR Communities program is a sustainability ratings system that was created by communities for communities and covers a community from top to bottom. This program started in 2012 and now has 51 certified communities across the country. There are ten (10) areas identified and evaluated with the community setting the metrics that make up each category. The program is very time intense with the data gathering due to it being so comprehensive; this data helps set a base line. Fees and requirements were reviewed, with different levels of membership. The annual Subscription would allow basic access for data gathering and access to webinars. If you choose to go for certification, the rating will be good for 3 years. OHM would work with the City to obtain funding through grants available to assist communities in completing this work. Two options for grants are The Joyce Foundation and Partners For Places. The Joyce Foundation will have its first annual quarterly board meeting in April; this would be the best time to approach them for financial support. OHM would like to note they are not here to sell STAR, they have researched many programs and believe this is the most comprehensive one available. The Committee members introduced themselves to the OHM group, sharing why they are part of this Committee. Ms. Seyfarth of OHM asked what the Committees goal is? Ms. Welsh stated that as part of the City Manager’s goals, we are working on a “Sustainability Plan” and forward progression has been a struggle. Finding out about the STAR program has helped frame this a little better and that is why Ms. Welsh invited OHM to speak on it. Ms. Welsh stated that the Green Communities Challenge has helped, however the STAR program seems to be much more comprehensive. 1 Comm. Flores would like to know if this could take the place of a “Sustainability Plan”, allowing us to have goals and objectives. Kurt Tribbett mentioned that another challenge we have is that we have no budget. Ms. Patterson realizes this needs to be a zero budget project and there are many funds available for sustainability work. OHM would like to determine if we are interested in applying for a grant to start moving forward and planning. Mike Myszka would like to know once we do the certification with an initial score, how often does the score change. With continuous information input, could you run a new report to show the changes and improvements? How do we keep our unique perspective with this framework? Mr. Myszka concluded that if we choose to use the STAR rating system then ultimately our “Sustainability Plan” would become the rating system. Ms. Seyfarth stated that with the dashboard you can see immediate make changes however, you would not get a new score until the next 3-year cycle. Mr. Myszka asked with us suppling the information how do you avoid “green washing” or skewing the data. Ms. Seyfarth believes this program is flexible and you could make your necessary changes to keep it unique. The number of metrics used should keep you from “green washing”, ensuring that there is substance behind the data. Mr. Myszka would like to know how much of a collaboration is there after the data is submitted. What is OHM’s role once the certification is done? Jeanette Patterson stated OHM could offer different levels of services depending on what type of role the City wants them to take. The grant would fund OHM’s work due to it being so intensive. OHM would help by working with people throughout the community. Noting they have the ability to create a sustainability plan as well. Ms. Welsh asked if the grant could be written to include the writing of the “Sustainability Plan”. Ms. Seyfarth will check to see if the grant would include the writing of the “Sustainability Plan”. Comm. Flores would like to know if the $30,000 in cost would be included in the grant. Ms. Patterson stated that is part of what they would be applying for with the grant and noted additionally a $3,000.00 onetime fee for certification and a $1,000.00 annual subscription fee. Ms. Welsh stated we want to get the biggest bang for our buck, investing our time in things that will make a difference and not necessarily working to achieve points, making the best decisions financially and environmentally for the community. Mr. Myszka voiced concerned with focusing on points instead of wanting the most out of our environmental stewardship. Comm. Flores asked if the dashboard an internal or external and could the community can look at. Ms. Seyfarth stated that it is available for the community to look at online. Comm. Flores would like to know why certain communities have looked at this program but have not moved forward with it. 2 Ms. Patterson stated that Ann Arbor was concerned with the amount work and what their return would be, note that they did not have a grant to do the work and did not work a consultant to assist with the process. Ms. Welsh is wondering how this works into community engagement through this program. Ms. Seyfarth believes community engagement is housed in varies categories, in almost all of them there is some form of community education or outreach. Comm. Flores would like to know if we need to make a decision before April. Comm. Helmboldt asked what would happen if we missed the April deadline. Ms. Seyfarth stated The Joyce Foundation has their first quarterly meeting in April at which they tend to review most applications and have the most funds available; however, they do have meetings each quarter. In addition, local corporation partners are helpful in the application process. The Committee discussed how the process would work if they wanted to continue with the grant application process and OHM. Mr. Myszka stated that we must stay focused; certification has a lot of value but requires a lot of maintenance. He suggested that someone call 2-3 of the involved cities to see how this has worked for them. Comm. Flores expressed that she is not so interested in the rating rather wanting something to organize our work and goals. Comm. Helmboldt stated we need to do a lot of labor-intensive work to begin to measure our progress. We need to determine where we are and where we want to go. Susan Anderson expressed concern over how OHM will generate their own funds through grants. Kathy Antaya stated Western has a great sustainability program, where students are utilized to do a lot of this work. Ms. Welsh believes this program would help us move forward. Olivia Jayacar inquired if other groups or persons could help write our plan since we are not concerned about the certification. Comm. Faris suggested we get in touch with Holland and see why they have not moved forward with this program Ms. Welsh noted we have worked with them (OHM) on other projects as well. Comm. Faris stated we need to look at getting more involved with interns and educational institutes. Ms. Welsh will call Evanston and Holland to get their opinions on the STAR program. Comm. Helmboldt would be happy to talk to Rebecca if we are concerned with timelines. Comm. Faris reminded everyone that this is a City manager goal and it is a priority. The Committee decided to have Ms. Welsh take a couple weeks to check with other communities and gather information. City Energy Efficiency Activities-Kurt Tribbett: There were no updates at this time. Environmental Prog ram Update : Tiffany Welsh : There were no updates at this time. 3 City Commission Update: There were no updates at this time. New Business: There was none. Member Comment/Announcements : There was none. Public Comment : There were none. Next Meeting : The next meeting of the Sustainable BC Committee will be on April 5, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. at the Department of Public Works in Room 204. Adjournment: Comm. Flores adjourned the meeting at 5:40PM. 4