Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Sustainable BC Committee 10 N. Division Street. Room 302A Battle Creek, MI Monday, February 26, 2018 1:00 p.m. Members Present: Comm. Flores, Comm. Baldwin, Comm. Simmons, Susan Anderson, Kathy Antaya, Erin Augustine, Andy Helmboldt. Members Absent: Comm. Sofia, Michael Myszka, Sarah Kelly, Kurt Tribbett, Tiffany Welsh, Lindsey Johnson Others: Eric Feldt, Planning; Jacob Schacht, Asst. to City Manager; and Michelle Coats, Clerk’s Office. Guests: None. Call to Order: Comm. Flores called the meeting to order at 1:06 p.m., noting a quorum was present. Approval of Minutes: A motion made by Comm. Baldwin, supported by Sue Anderson to approve the minutes from November 1, 2017 and December 6, 2017. All yes, none opposed. Minutes approved. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: None Susan Anderson developed and distributed a summary of the work Sustainable BC Committee, 2009-2018. Although not complete, the summary lists major topics of concern and actions taken over the years 2009-2018. Nothing for discussion. Ms. Antaya proposed allowing public comment when the committee is discussing an agenda item appearing under old or new business, but not during the reports time. She would like to allow the public to have input which may be beneficial to the Committee when discussing or deliberating an item of substance. Discussion on the proposal included City Commission’s establishment of meeting guidelines, consulting with the City Attorney, and recent modifications made at the Blue Ribbon Committee. Comm. Baldwin noted that the Chair has the flexibility and discretion to open items for public comment and to allow greater time. Committee discussed using the chair discretion to open for public comment rather than establish a policy, potential disadvantages it may cause, and the ability of members to request the Chair to recognize public for comments. Acknowledgment of the procedure/policy at the start of the meeting will help the public know the process. Member Updates/Reports: City Energy Efficiency Activities: None. Environmental Program Update: None. Planning Updates: Eric Feldt provided updates on planning activities:  The Master Plan goes to the Planning Commission in mid-March. He will email Comm. Flores the date and time of their meeting. The Planning Commission is the governmental body that approves the Master Plan. Although not required, the plan will go to the City Commission to allow for additional public education and comment. By the end of April, the new Master Plan will be an active document in use by the City and the public. The City has received a lot of public comment.  The Bicycle Advisory Committee is discussing the non-motorized transportation plan. The current plan is 10 years old. The process to update the plan will start this year. Sustainable BC will receive updates as the process moves forward.  The Transit Department is updating the Transit Plan with the assistance of a consultant. Rich Werner and Larry Bowron will come to the March meeting to provide the Committee information regarding this update process. 1 City Commission Update:  Comm. Flores and Ms. Anderson are both on the Transportation Committee. They have an upcoming meeting on March 13 where they will receive recommendations from the consultant on the Transit master plan. Comm. Baldwin mentioned the City recently purchased some used busses from Grand Rapids at a significant savings.  Comm. Flores stated that the Stormwater Advisory Committee’s last meeting was in January. City has aging storm water infrastructure that will need replacement. The Committee will be discussing and evaluating asset management and the funding of system maintenance. Mr. Feldt shared that there is discussion about a State bill that would allow possibly a new utility fee or a tax-based funding source. There are pros and cons on both sides.  Economic Development Planning – Comm. Flores will be contacting them.  Comm. Flores shared that the City received funding to produce a 3D computer model based on the Master plan and vision for the core and corridors to provide a visual model. The City expects to receive a draft in March. She would like to have them attend a meeting. Old Business: Review Draft Sustainability Plan: Comm. Flores provided an overview of the background and development of the Sustainability plan for new committee members noting the tension that exists between internal/external action items and plan focus (internal City or community-wide). During the last few months, the City planning team and Ms. Welsh worked together to refine the draft. Mr. Feldt stated in January that the Planning Dept., Comm. Flores, Ms. Welch, and Ms. Anderson met to consider how to move forward with the rough draft of the plan. He and Tiffany organized the identified action items into a plan by tying items to themes, adding background information and a purpose section, and forming chapters with clearly defined goals. The items in yellow highlight need further clarification and development from the Committee. Externally focused items are in the appendix, as the overall plan focus is internal. The plan’s goal is to build some pillars for a future community- wide sustainability plan. Mr. Feldt reviewed the draft document with the Committee, noting that he and Tiffany worked separately on chapters so there are some slight differences in how each laid out their sections. Mr. Helmboldt suggested adding a transition that explains the “why” behind the goals between the context paragraphs and the goals themselves. Committee discussed possibly adding a purpose statement or transitional wording that ties into the guiding principles. Comm. Flores indicated that once a solid draft is ready, the plan could be distributed to department heads for feedback and comments. The Committee paused the Draft Sustainability Plan review to address an item of new business prior to Comm. Simmons leaving the meeting. New Business: 2018 Meeting Schedule: Motion by Comm. Owens, support Comm. Simmons to approve the 2018 meeting schedule. All yes, none opposed. Motion carried. The schedule includes an earlier May meeting date and no December meeting due to holidays. Comm. Simmons left at 2:15 pm Draft Sustainability Plan discussion resumed. Use of the word “policies” discussed; maybe replace with “action, strategies, and policies.” Mr. Feldt explained how the objectives for each term (short, mid, and long) are linked to a target date. The items listed under “policies” are systematic actions that lead to the achievement of the objectives. Some of the individual steps could be combined together. Some long-term objectives are intentionally set high. Members will work on their document individually and give to Eric in two weeks (by March 12). Eric and Tiffany will combine everything into one document. 2 Mr. Schacht left at 2:20 pm Membership: Ms. Antaya and Ms. Anderson met and considered committee membership. They shared from their discussion that the committee needs to be a workable size, so it cannot be too large. According to the bylaws, we can have 19 members. In order to incorporate more points of view and add diversity (age, income level, race), Committee members should intentionally seek out people as potential members and not just wait for people to apply. Ms. Antaya would like to have a document that explain this committee to others. They suggested developing an “elevator speech” to use when inquiring if someone is interested in serving on the committee and go to specific organizations throughout the city to attract/recruit potential members. Ms. Antaya will contact Jessica Vanderkolk about posting the meeting schedule online on all of the “NextDoor” Neighborhood sites. There is also a Sustainable BC Facebook page. New Business: 2018 Meeting Schedule: Addressed earlier in meeting. Member Comment/Announcements: Ms. Anderson inquired on when the budgeting process begins and expressed the need for staff and appropriate structures to implement this sustainability plan. Comm. Owens explained that staff is currently working on the budget and Commission will likely start work on it in April. Brief discussion on the variety of ways to fund and staff sustainability efforts and recognition that it will not be part of this budget cycle. Public Comment: None. Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable BC Committee will be March 26, 2018, 1:00-2:30 p.m. at City Hall, Conference Room 302B. Adjournment: Comm. Flores adjourned the meeting at 2:47 p.m. 3