Environmental Sustainability Council

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL (ESC) Thursday, May 21, 2020, Virtual Meeting via Skype for Business, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. APPROVED MINUTES 1. Attendees: ESC Members: Andy Young (Chair), Jon Ward, Andy Sakallaris, Stacey Evers, Sarah Bayldon, Mike Trauberman, Joy Page, Jennifer Tabola, Andy Crawford. Student reps: Niharika Sinhvi, Charlie Adams, Colter Adams. City Council: n/a. City Staff: Kate Walker (ESC Liaison), Lonnie Marquetti (Solid Waste Program Manager, DPW), Zak Bradley (Senior Engineer, Transportation, DPW). Planning Commission Liaison: Tim Stevens. Public: Names not required /not volunteered. This meeting was held via electronic communications using ‘Skype for Business.’ This meeting was held pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2- 3708.2 and state and local legislation adopted to allow for continued government operation during the COVID-19 declared emergency. 2. Solid Waste and Recycling: Guest speaker Lonnie Marquetti (City Staff) presented an overview of the current working version of the FY21 Solid Waste budget (http://www.fallschurchva.gov/DocumentCenter/View/12608/ESC-SWM-Budget-Presentation-2020-05-20). This included cutting 1% (and a contingency plan for cutting 3%) from the $936k budget. She said these scenarios would preclude or severely restrict the scope of the October 2020 Recycling Extravaganza. Also, the concurrent Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) event will not occur without an increase above the $936k baseline. The ESC favored funding the HHW event from the Stormwater Fund, as had been done in past years. The ESC agreed to recruit volunteers to work the events to reduce staff overtime costs; suggested seeking corporate sponsor for the HHW event; and suggested asking for donations from those dropping off waste. The ESC voted (9-0) to submit a letter for City Council’s May 26 meeting, advocating full funding for the HHW event and offering to recruit volunteers. o ACTION ITEM 1: [Jon] Draft the HHW advocacy letter and submit to Andy Young for full ESC review and submittal. (Completed May 21) DPW is considering gating and limiting access hours to the Recycling Center to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon-Sat to allow observation by DPW staff in hopes of reducing illegal dumping, which typically happens at night. This is an expensive and time-consuming problem to clean up. Hauling costs $145 per container. While April volumes were twice the norm, likely due to residents cleaning while quarantining, typically glass is hauled 2x/wk, cardboard 2-3x, mixed paper once, and mixed plastics once. The metals bin sees a lot of illegal dumping. The full revision of the Solid Waste Management Plan is due in 2024, so work on that will likely start in 2022. The third 5-year update to the 2004 Plan is complete and will be publicly available after confirmation of receipt and approval by DEQ. 3. LED Streetlighting: Zak Bradley reported that the City’s selection of LED street fixtures and lights to be provided by Dominion Energy was still underway and was to comply with streetscape guidance where feasible. The City makes monthly maintenance and usage payments for the roughly 1000 lights throughout the City. He believes Dominion’s prices for replacement ($150/ea for Basic styles and $450/ea for Premium styles) are valid until about late 2022. He reported an expected City- wide payback period of about 3.4 years based on the expected savings. An analysis performed for the City by an NVRC consultant estimated that full changeover would reduce CO2 emissions by about 200 tons/yr. $180k is being requested in the FY21 budget, some of which is an NVTA grant. Sarah and Stacey asked about ‘dark-sky’ compliant styles, which eliminate upward rays that scatter and obscure stars’ visibility. Zak thought few if any were offered by Dominion. The ESC decided not to comment yet to City Council on LED investments; further discussion may be directed to the Energy Transition Subcommittee, which has long been advocating for LED changeover. 4. Subcommittee Reports: o Energy Transition Subcommittee (ETS): A virtual meeting is being considered for June 4. o Education Task Group (ETG): N/A o Habitat Restoration Team (HRT): Stacey Evers said she would send an e-mail to the ESC about a proposal for some ‘urban agriculture’ initiatives, and whether it should be sitting with the Urban Forestry Commission or through the ESC as an ad hoc subcommittee. She said Ross Litkenhous (City Council) wanted to push initiative(s) in this area. 5. February 2020 ESC Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve by Stacey E., seconded by Andy S. Approved unanimously (9-0) 6. Next Meeting  Thursday, June 18, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m., likely virtual via Skype for Business Abbreviations / Terminology:  DEQ: Virginia Department of Environmental Quality  DPW: Fall Church Department of Public Works  NVRC: Northern Virginia Regional Commission  NVTA: Northern Virginia Transportation Authority