Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Sustainable BC Committee 150 N. Kendall St. Room 214 Battle Creek, MI Wednesday, November 1, 2017 2:00 p.m. Members Present: Comm. Flores, Comm. Helmboldt, Kurt Tribbett, Michael Myszka, Olivia Jayakar, Erin Augustine (arrived at 2:12 p.m.), Sarah Kelly (arrived at 2:18 p.m.). Members Absent: Susan Anderson, Comm. Faris, Tiffany Welsh, Lindsey Johnson, Kathy Antaya. Others: Eric Feldt, Planning; Jacob Schacht, Asst. to City Manager; Michelle Coats, Clerk’s Office. Guests: None. Call to Order: Comm. Flores called the meeting to order at 2:07 p.m., noting a quorum was not present. Approval of Minutes: will address later in meeting after a quorum is present. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Member Updates/Reports: Erin Augustine arrived at 2:12 p.m. City Energy Efficiency Activities: Kurt Tribbett shared briefly on the status of the WWTP efficiency project, the water plant project which is starting, and that they are seeking a model for efficiencies and adjustments to the system. The WWTP maintenance folks are involved in the water system maintenance, as the water department does not have their own maintenance personnel. Planning Updates: Eric Feldt stated that the NPC master plan presentation series wraps up on November 13. A short time after that it will go to the City Commission to establish the start of the State required sixty-day review process. In early spring, the Planning Commission and City Commission will take an official vote on the plan, then City and citizens can begin using the new master plan. The downtown master plan is under review. John Hart and Ted Dearing are managing the process; city planners are also involved. This plan has a shorter timeframe to accomplish the established goals so it functions like a strategic plan. The actual master plan has a 20-year timeframe. The medical marijuana survey is available online and is open until end of the day on Friday. He encourages everyone to complete it. Planning hopes to present the survey data in December. Sarah Kelly arrived at 2:18 p.m. Environmental Program Update: None City Commission Update: Comm. Flores reminded everyone that the City General Election is next week. Approval of Minutes: A motion made by Mike Myszka, supported Comm. Helmboldt to approve the minutes from October 4, 2017. All yes, none opposed. Minutes approved. Old Business: Sustainability planning: 1 Comm. Flores gave a brief recap of the timeframes for short, mid, and long-term. Last meeting, the committee identified four goals under the energy category. After a brief discussion, this is determined to be sufficient and noted there may be some additions or refinements later. Systems is the next category to discuss – starting on page 8. Currently listed under short-term are:  establish green purchasing policy  establish green building policy  recommend staffing increases to broaden the goals of city’s environmental services department  draft & recommend adoption of City sustainability plan by City Commission Ms. Anderson emailed suggestions for this section. Discussion on the process of how City Commission adopts a policy and whether that policy establishes definitive requirements/expectations or serves as a guideline to follow. Policies can be established by the City Manager or at a departmental level and, dependent on the scope, may not require Commission action. Discussion on the level of detail and specificity necessary for the Sustainability plan regarding these policy items. The plan provides a direction, indicating the need for a policy that takes into consideration certain items (key principles), then leaves the details to the relevant department. The plan could potentially indicate departmental responsibility for items, but that can be developed and added later.  Year 1 – Prepare a draft of a green purchasing policy for the City of Battle Creek.  Year 2 - Adopt and begin implementing green purchasing policy.  Year 1 – Prepare a draft green building policy for all new or reconstructed city building projects.  Year 2 – Adopt & begin implementing building policy. Recommend staffing increases is also under short-term. The plan itself impacts staffing needs (roles and responsibilities, as well as capacity) in order to accomplish the goals. Discussion of whether the Systems section is the appropriate place within the plan. Consensus that the plan should include another section (recommendation section) at the beginning of the plan “to be able to implement this plan, these are other recommendations.”  Staffing Capacity - should be a recommendation statement in the front part of plan: Recommend increased staffing capacity and greater clarity of roles and responsibilities to develop and implement a sustainability plan or community sustainability plan. Back to Systems:  Year 2 - Draft and recommend adoption of a Comprehensive Community-wide Sustainability Plan by City Commission.  Year 2 - Draft and recommend adoption of a Climate Action Plan by City Commission.  Year 2 -Develop an internal sustainability recognition program to recognize departments or individuals that have contributed to sustainability efforts.  Remove - research property assessed clean energy (PACE) and determine if adoption of this program would benefit the city.  Remove - consider establishing revolving loan fund to be used at Brownfield sites or other sustainable building and improvements. Add to Recommendation Section in front:  Ensure in our economic development work we are seeking, offering, and using programs, incentives, and tools to encourage and integrate environmental sustainability.  How this plan gets used and progress reported: o Reviewed and updated regularly by the Sustainable BC Committee. o Progress reported on annually at a City Commission meeting. Initially utilize the Green Communities tool for this along with the addition of some narrative. o Best practice is that the reporting needs to be on the City website. Comm. Helmboldt left at 3:20 p.m.; committee no longer has a quorum. Olivia Jayakar will be leaving at 4:15 p.m. and even if Comm. Helmboldt is able to return later, the committee will not have quorum at that point either. The sustainability planning discussion is moving to a sub-committee to continue work on the plan. 2 New Business: None. Member Comment/Announcements: Ms. Augustine mentioned the postponed endorsement considerations (Paris Climate Agreement; Line 5 Shutdown) proposed by Sue Anderson. She would like to have the discussion at the next meeting and make a decision regarding endorsement. Public Comment: None. Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable BC Committee will be on December 6, 2017 4:00 p.m. at DPW. Adjournment: Comm. Flores adjourned the meeting at 3:21 p.m. 3