Sustainable BC Committee

City of Battle Creek Sustainable BC Committee 10 N. Division Street . Room 302A Battle Creek, MI Monday, May 14, 2018 1:00 p.m. Members Present : Comm. Baldwin at 1:12 p.m., Comm. Simmons, Susan Anderson, Kathy Antaya at 1:05 p.m., Andy Helmboldt at 1:03 p.m., Tiffany Welsh, and Kurt Tribbett. Members Absent : Comm. Flores, Comm. Sofia, Sarah Kelly, Mike Myszka, and Lindsey Johnson. Others : Elizabeth (Liz) Paul, Environmental Program Coordinator; Eric Feldt, Planning; Jacob Schacht, Asst. to City Manager at 1:31 p.m.; and Michelle Coats, Clerk’s Office. Guests: None. Call to Order : Mr. Helmboldt called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m., noting a quorum was not present. Approval of Minutes : The minutes will be addressed later in the meeting when a quorum is present. Additions or Deletions to the Agenda : None. Old Business: Line 5: This topic was discussed briefly at the last meeting. Does this body want to recommend to the City Commission passage of a supporting resolution for shutting down Line 5 under the straits as proposed by Oil and Water Don’t Mix? Ms. Antaya reviewed the website and found large organizations, such as the Michigan Sierra Club, are supporters. She supports taking action with a resolution. Ms. Welsh noted that their site does not cite sources or provide links to resources such as the State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Comm. Baldwin arrived at 1:12 p.m. Sue Anderson shared a list of other municipalities that have passed supporting resolutions. She briefly explained the plan proposed by Oil and Water Don’t Mix to shut down Line 5 and utilize alternative delivery methods (other lines and/or trucks). Governmental entities near us who have adopted the resolution are City of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo County. The sample resolution is located at https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/municipal_resolutions. The list of supporting organizations includes the governmental bodies who adopted resolutions and is located at this link https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/supporters Discussion on modifying the resolution to reflect the Battle Creek experience. Before the next meeting, a few members could draft a resolution specific to Battle Creek and distribute among other members prior to meeting. Discussion temporarily paused to address minutes. Approval of Minutes: A motion made by Comm. Simmons, supported by Kurt Tribbett to approve the minutes from April 23, 2018. All approved, none opposed. Minutes approved. Comm. Simmons left at 1:33 p.m. to attend another meeting. 1 Return to discussion about modifying resolution wording to reflect Battle Creek’s experience with the oil spill on the river. Susan Anderson, Comm. Baldwin, Tiffany Welsh, and Liz Paul will work on drafting a new resolution. Review Draft Sustainability Plan: Mr. Helmboldt understands that the City Manager approved moving forward with the department/division head meetings. Eric Feldt distributed the plan, is already receiving feedback, and indicates meetings will be scheduled soon. Ann Erhardt from MSU has been contacted and a tele-conference is being arranged. Comm. Baldwin provided a list of city-involved events to Eric Feldt for inclusion in the plan. A few examples of items include the roads asset management plan, bike rental program, and wellhead protection program. New Business : None. Member Updates/Reports: City Energy Efficiency Activities: Kurt Tribbett provided updates to the Committee. They are asking the Commission for approval to proceed with the compost project. The CNC Landfill is very interested in the project and may partner with the city in the future. If the proposal receives Commission approval tomorrow, they will try to start in July and run a six-month trial. The blowers for the Secondary Project at WWTP will be tested on June 19. West side aeration should be hooked up shortly afterwards. At that point, we will start to see the cost savings. Green roof on the Police Department update – started rolling roof mats on Sunday and expect to ship it tomorrow. Environmental Program Update: Tiffany Welsh shared updates:  Liz shared that the Water Festival was held last Friday: 40 schools attended, approximately 1,200 people. Tiffany complimented Lizzie on the wonderful job she did on the festival.  We still have half of the Police Department green roof remaining. New York Parks Department is only taking half of it.  Canoe the Kazoo is the next environmental event and is coming up in August.  Sarah Kelly sent out some dates for household hazardous waste collections. Planning Updates : Eric Feldt provided updates:  The City started taking applications for urban hens today and received five applications so far.  The Commission will decide on whether to approve a proposed Neighborhood Enterprise Zone for the block between Michigan Ave., Jackson, Capital, and McCamly Street. This would allow residential properties, like in the Heritage Tower, to receive a property tax break for up to 12 years for a primary residence.  The Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance to allow a developer to put in micro-units – 400 sq. ft. compared to standard 700-800 sq. ft. unit.  The Planning Department is drafting an expanded C-7 mixed-use district. It will rezone industrial property to mixed-use that will allow residential and commercial mix. Another proposed district is neighborhood mixed density that would allow low-density multi-family along with low intensity commercial development. The neighborhood mixed density will be presented at NPCs in the fall. City Commission Updates : None. Member Comment/Announcements:  Sue suggested some things the committee could work on while waiting for the draft sustainability plan to return to the committee such as broadening and encouraging internal recycling in all city facilities and improvements in lighting for energy efficiency. She would like to recommend that the 2  Committee recommend the City take an inventory of all the city buildings. Discussion on how these suggestions will emerge from the draft plan review and implementation.  Michelle shared that she will be leaving employment with the City in June. Another person from the Clerk’s office will be taking the Committee minutes.  Tiffany shared her plan to have a presentation for the Committee on environmental efficiency and climate change specific to Battle Creek. This would be a 30-45 minute presentation. She will extend an invitation for the July meeting. Public Comment : None. Next Meeting : The next meeting of the Sustainable BC Committee will be June 25, 2018, 1:00-2:30 p.m. at City Hall, Conference Room 302B. Adjournment: Mr. Helmboldt adjourned the meeting at 3:01 p.m. 3