Environmental Sustainability Board

CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BOARD City Operations Assembly Room | 305 Williams St. | Hendersonville, NC 28792 Thursday, September 19, 2024 – 3:30 PM MINUTES 1. CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order at 3:33pm; Everyone present either in person or via Zoom APPROVAL OF AGENDA Changes: City Council update moved to right after community garden update, Hendo Earth Fest update moved to end of Old Business; addition of waste reduction committee added Gina motioned to approve first followed by Jill Carter PUBLIC COMMENT No public comments APPROVAL OF MINUTES Jane Edgar motioned to approve followed by Jill Carter NEW BUSINESS 4. Brooklyn Community Garden update: Jane Grossman - 10 minutes Currently there are 35 people on a waitlist to join Bountiful Harvest Community Garden, making it clear that community gardens are in demand. Tae Brown also presented and shared goals of the garden: turn into non-profit, create a youth group, and have a grand opening spring 2025 OLD BUSINESS 5. Sustainability Demonstration Station update, Virginia Tegel, Chair - 5 minutes Bike rack was recently installed; Caitlyn is buying permeable pavers; Omar Zafra is joining Jane Edgar to volunteer at the farmers market this weekend at the sustainability demonstration station; no update on water bottle filling station 6. Market & Cafe and Sustainability Demonstration Station: Virginia Tegel, Chair - 5 minutes Caitlyn is waiting to hear back from Gracie Erwin on status of water bottle station at the S.D.S. The board will vote at the following meeting on a water bottle station at the Ecusta Market and Café. Concerns were raised of how the board could do this equitably and the board is going to table a decision on this topic to the following meeting ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BOARD – September 19, 2024 Page | 1  7. Hendo Earth Fest: Frank Stewart and June Shelp, Vice-Chair and Member - 10 minutes Frank Stewart and June Shelp are working on application approvals and plan on having a late October kickoff 8. Symbolic Monarch Migration: Jill Carter, Member - 5 minutes There has been great engagement at the farmers market days and the symbolic monarch migration activity was completed and Jill Carter is coordinating with Kim Bailey for sending the butterflies 9. Community Wildlife Habitat Certification: Jill Carter, Chair - 5 minutes The board considered they could do education around the topic and have a longer term goal instead of going fully into the program; Caitlyn raised concern of there being too many certifications on similar topics since the City is already a Bee City, Tree City, and Caregivers of Mother Earth City 10. Green Business Partnership: Jane Edgar, Member - 15 minutes Ideas for program: ask businesses for support; volunteer help; could have some sort of sustainability scorecard; next steps: Omar Zafra offered to help Jane Edgar explore further on the idea. Gina offered to make the connection with Kimberly Clark 11. Tree Board collaboration: Virginia Tegel, Chair - 5 minutes Joint meeting will likely take place spring 2025 12. Native Plant Sale: Virginia Tegel, Chair - 5 minutes This could be a smaller non-competitive plant sale; Jill Carter suggested bringing this to Henderson County 13. Vote on amending bylaws to include student board member: Virginia Tegel, Member (3 minutes) Jill Carter motioned to approve followed by Tanya Guzman; All were in favor 14. Safe Routes to School program: June Shelp, Member (5 minutes) June Shelp will reach out to Lyndsey Simpson to see if a presentation to City Council can be made SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER UPDATE 15. Caitlyn Gendusa: Staff liaison, 5 minutes Members were in favor of having a retreat, potentially in November and tentatively agreed on November 21 from 3:30-5:30pm ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BOARD – September 19, 2024 Page | 2  16. Lyndsey Simpson, Mayor Pro Temp. - 5 minutes Parks and Greenspace Master Plan approved in June; Work is still being done on the native plant policy; Lyndsey would like to see a focus more on invasive species removal; A joint Tree Board and E.S.B. meeting with tentatively be planned for spring 2025 ADJOURNMENT Omar Zafra motioned to adjourn first followed by Tanya Guzman The City of Hendersonville is committed to providing accessible facilities, programs and services for all people in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Should you need assistance or an accommodation for this meeting please contact the City Clerk no later than 24 hours prior to the meeting at 697-3005. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY BOARD – September 19, 2024 Page | 3