Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Sustainable BC Committee 10 N. Division Street. Room 302A Battle Creek, MI Monday, April 23, 2018 1:00 p.m. Members Present: Comm. Flores at 1:03 p.m., Comm. Baldwin, Susan Anderson, Sarah Kelly at 1:03 p.m., Kathy Antaya at 1:22 p.m., Michael Myszka, Andy Helmboldt, Tiffany Welsh, and Kurt Tribbett. Members Absent: Comm. Sofia, Comm. Simmons, Erin Augustine, and Lindsey Johnson. Others: Elizabeth (Liz) Paul, Environmental Program Coordinator; Jacob Schacht, Asst. to City Manager; and Michelle Coats, Clerk’s Office. Guests: None. Call to Order: Mr. Helmboldt called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m., noting a quorum was present. Approval of Minutes: A motion made by Comm. Baldwin, supported by Susan Anderson to approve the minutes from March 26, 2018. All yes, none opposed. Minutes approved. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda: Add Oil & Water Don’t Mix under New Business to discuss possible endorsement. Move reports to beginning of agenda. Member Updates/Reports: City Energy Efficiency Activities: Kurt Tribbett shared the latest pictures of the WWTP project. Last Thursday the City received bids for the Verona pumping station improvements; they are currently under review at the engineering firm. This is for the water distribution yard update/reorganization project. Big energy savings will come with the new variable drive pump. May 4 is another meeting on the composting project. Carl Fedders attended DEQ meeting on composting and discovered DEQ staff are divided on this topic with one group in favor, the other against. Michigan does not allow Class A topsoil to be produced in State; this is a hurdle. Battle Creek is the first in state to pilot this type of composting project. We hope to change the mind of DEQ to allow Class A topsoil production in-state. Brief discussion on PFAS changes and increased testing requirements. Liz explained that PFAS is a manmade, water resistant chemical that does not breakdown when it seeps into groundwater. Testing already started; it takes six weeks to receive results. The DEQ is developing a new set of regulations for WWTP’s. Environmental Program Update: Tiffany Welsh shared updates:  The green roof at the Police Department has a new home. The roof will be going to the New York City Parks. They will be taking all of it in mid-May.  Spring clean-up for residents will be held May 7-11. Residents can put out up to 10 cubic yards of waste curbside.  Liz provided updates: Water festival- have all volunteers needed. The earth day linear path cleanup was successful, but the turnout was not great. County Updates: Sarah Kelly provided updates on activities:  Recyclerama – increased participation with 200 more vehicles, appliances increased from 8,000 lbs. to 11, 000 lbs. She is still waiting on recorded volumes for household hazardous waste and electronics.  Scrap tire collection dates coming out this week 1 City Commission Updates Comm. Flores shared updates:  The urban livestock ordinance focuses on hens and has a limit of 20 licenses. It was introduced at the last meeting and will be up for adoption at the May 1 meeting. New Business: Oil and Water Don’t Mix: Sue Anderson shared that Oil and Water Don’t Mix (website: www.oilandwaterdontmix.org) is an organization opposed to an Enbridge pipeline that is located under the Straits of Mackinac. The pipeline is very old, has some problems, and is a large volume line. This organization is seeking support and endorsement in an effort to shut down the line. Ms. Anderson shared a list of supporting municipalities as well as a draft resolution. She believes Sustainable BC should encourage the City Commission to endorse the resolution and suggests the Committee review and discuss it later. Ms. Antaya arrived at 1:22 p.m. . Brief discussion on whether the Commission would be open to consideration of an endorsement. Comm. Baldwin recommends developing more background information, including how this affects the City or the residents, before submitting any recommendation to Commission. Mr. Myszka offered to find DEQ information to provide to committee members. Ms. Anderson will research other background information. Mr. Helmboldt will put this endorsement discussion on the May 14 agenda. Old Business: Review Draft Sustainability Plan: Tiffany Welsh updated the status of the draft plan review with the department heads. Staff are waiting on a response from the City Manager with further guidance before commencing these meetings to gather input and change recommendations from the city departments. Comm. Flores is meeting with the City Manager next week and will check with her on that status. Comm. Baldwin noted there are many more activities going on in the city that could be included in the appendices. This information can be gathered from the departments. Mr. Helmboldt will also ask Mr. Feldt to send out a cleaned up copy of the most updated document. Susan Anderson shared that Ann Erhardt, Michigan State University Sustainability Department, is willing to help providing comments on the sustainability plan and suggesting resources. She has provided similar service to other communities along the capital corridor. Brief discussion on utilizing her expertise after incorporating city department recommendations into the draft plan. Liz Paul is including within each chapter the pillar(s) of sustainability that is impacted (people, environment, profit). Discussion on how to incorporate the community engagement pieces into the plan. Member Comment/Announcements:  Mike shared that Army Corp of Engineers looking for unexploded munitions on Fort Custer Grounds.  Sue would like to thank Jacob for notice of the May 11 sustainability meeting sponsored by the Battle Creek Community Foundation.  Kathy is working hard to recruit people for the committee. One of the challenges is the meeting time.  Comm. Flores commented that Erin Augustine is moving to Rockford. Has not officially resigned from the committee. Lindsey Monday is hard for her. Chris & Sherry can only do Mondays.  Tiffany said that the Green Communities Challenge submission is due in May. She and Liz are working on it. Public Comment: None. Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable BC Committee will be May 14, 2018, 1:00-2:30 p.m. at City Hall, Conference Room 302B. Adjournment: Mr. Helmboldt adjourned the meeting at 2:14 p.m. 2