Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Sustainable BC Committee 150 N. Kendall St. Room 214 Battle Creek, MI Wednesday, December 6, 2017 4:00 p.m. Members Present: Comm. Flores, Susan Anderson, Kathy Antaya, Sarah Kelly, and Kurt Tribbett. Members Absent: Tiffany Welsh, Comm. Faris, Andy Helmboldt, Erin Augustine, Olivia Jayakar, Lindsey Johnson and Michael Myszka. Others: Eric Feldt, Planning; Jacob Schacht, Asst. to City Manager and Alicia Sackett, Deputy City Clerk. Guests: None. Call to Order: Comm. Flores called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m., noting a quorum was not present. Approval of Minutes: A quorum was not present; the minutes from November 1, 2017 will be addressed at a future meeting. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Member Updates/Reports: City Energy Efficiency Activities: Kurt Tribbett shared updates on city activities:  The city has propane fueling four buses and four mowers; Steve Siemen is working on grant funding to convert an additional 20 vehicles by the end of next summer. This effort has an estimated savings of $1 per gallon of fuel.  The Secondary Project is moving forward, some underground water and construction issues that have been addressed and they are anticipating being finished the end of next year.  The Water Plant is lights with LED’s for additional energy savings.  Shared a graph showing the booster pumps monthly kWh usage demonstrating a reduction in energy use. Environmental Program Update: Comm. Flores and Jacob Schacht shared updates on city activities:  The 2018 Clean Water Calendar is set to arrive tomorrow (12/6). We will be working with the City of Springfield as well as our staff to get them distributed throughout the community.  The City will be holding a Styrofoam collection in collaboration with the County on January 13th at DPW from 9AM until Noon.  The 2018 Children's Water Festival will be held on May 11, 2018. Outreach to local schools to save the date will be completed before Christmas break.  The Stormwater Advisory Group meets for the third time in January; the group is making progress towards the stormwater asset management plan and discussing future infrastructure needs and goals.  The draft integrated audit report conducted by DEQ for the DPW location has been received. Staff is reviewing the DEQ's comments and will send the report to the group when it is finalized. The Fire Department report has not been received at this time.  Posting for the Environmental Programs Coordinator position is up, and has been advertised externally. We hope to fill this position in early 2018.  Yard waste pick up was extended until December 8 because of warm fall weather. 1   Fresh Christmas tree curbside pick up for city residents will begin December 26 and go through January 12. The tree can be placed at the curb on your regular trash day with all lights and decorations removed.  Jacob Schacht submitted a recycling bin grant through Keeping America Beautiful, if we are awarded the grant the sites being considered are Bailey Park, Binder Park Golf Course and Full Blast.  Mr. Schacht stated the Styrofoam cups will no longer be used at city commission meetings. City Commission Update: None Planning Updates: Comm. Flores stated there are no additional updates on the Master Plan, adding it would go to commission and then the time line for official public review would begin. Kathy Antaya stated at her NPC meeting they were told the review period for the public has been extended to December 8th. Comm. Flores stated she has been in email contact with the transit manager to see if this committee could be of any help with transit master planning process. Comm. Flores requested that everyone complete the public survey that will be coming out soon. Eric Feldt arrived at 4:28pm Susan Anderson asked if copies of the Master Plan were handed out at the NPC meetings. Eric Feldt responded they handed out the goals of the Master Plan and had a few full copies for review, noting the plan is also available on line. Mr. Feldt further stated the Master Plan will be introduced by the City Commission at the December 19th meeting and will take approximately 2 months before it is adopted due to state mandates. Comm. Flores questioned if this was an actual introduction. Mr. Feldt stated he does not believe the commission will be approving anything at that meeting, only moving the process forward, paving the way for the state mandated public noticing period of 63 days. Old Business: Comm. Flores stated everyone should be continuing to review the Sustainability Plan. New Business: Endorsement considerations: Susan Anderson would like this group to take action on the issue of pipelines running under the Straits of Mackinac. There is a movement, oilandwaterdontmix.com, centered in Traverse City pushing to run that line through Canada, noting it does not benefit Michigan. Ms. Anderson shared a list of cities that are supportive of this movement and potential resolution language. The Committee discussed the movement. Comm. Flores stated the commission have a history of being conservative around advocacy issues. Comm. Flores further stated she personally supports this issue, noting we would need a quorum to vote for movement and we do not have one today. Comm. Flores stated she would likely abstain from any commission vote on this. Kathy Antaya is supportive of having this group support this effort as well. Ms. Anderson additionally stated she would like the committee to connect with a group that deals with climate change matters, such as ICLEI. Comm. Flores stated there are several other organizations who work on climate change as well. Sara Kelly has previously shared information from the DEQ and different national programs that offer resources. New member application: Comm. Flores shared an application received from Kristen Blood. 2  The Committee discussed future membership. Kathy Antaya will put together a matrix to assist with defining membership. 2018 meeting schedule: Comm. Flores shared Comm. Faris would like to continue with this group in order for her to do that the meeting would have to change to an earlier time. Comm. Flores will check will all members on future meeting days and times. Old Business: Sustainability planning: The Committee discussed the purposed draft and potential changes or improvements. Comm. Flores will get with Tiffany to review the draft and clean up, noting she is not sure if we are at the stage to present the plan. Mr. Feldt would recommend taking it to the department heads for comments. Comm. Flores believes one more round of clean up needs to happen before it’s taken to department heads. Ms. Kelly suggested working on an implementation process. Mr. Schacht requested any implementation efforts be presented to Rebecca Fleury. Mr. Feldt stated we should have an implementation chapter to offer direction. Comm. Flores will have a conversation with Tiffany and Rebecca stating we will need staff and capacity to move this along. Ms. Antaya stated we should not tell departments how to implement maybe we could suggest but not direct. Member Comment/Announcements: None. Public Comment: None. Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable BC Committee will be determined and posted accordingly. Adjournment: Comm. Flores adjourned the meeting at 5:50p.m. 3