CITY-COUNTY ADVISORY BOARD ON CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY

200 E. Wells Street City of Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 Meeting Minutes CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY Ald. Nik Kovac and Sup. Marcelia Nicholson, Co-Chairs Pam Fendt, Linda Frank, Julie Kerksick, Ted Kraig, Janet Meissner Pritchard, Supreme Moore Omokunde, Pamela Ritger, Erick Shambarger, Rafael Smith, and Freida Webb Staff Assistant: Linda Elmer, lelmer@milwaukee.gov, 414-286-2231 Legislative Liason: Luke Knapp, luke.knapp@milwaukee.gov, 414-286-8637 Google documents for this body can be found at : http://bit.ly/CCTFCEE Wednesday, February 2, 2022 2:30 PM Virtual Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/275483653 You can also dial in using your phone. (For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.) United States: +1 (872) 240-3212 - One-touch: tel:+18722403212,,275483653# Access Code: 275-483-653 1. Roll call. Meeting convened: 2:35 P.M. Members present: Nik Kovac, Linda Frank, Marcelia Nicholson, Pam Fendt, Rafael Smith, Janet Meissner Pritchard, Ted Kraig, Erick Shambarger, Pam Ritger, Freida Webb, Julie Kerksick and Supreme Moore Omokunde. Sup. Nicholson announced she is leaving this body and appointing Sup. Priscilla Coggs-Jones in her place. 2. Updates from work groups and add/remove members. Ms. Evans moved to add 4 members to Education and OUtreach: Ted Kraig, Megan Severson, Bridget Brown and Tyler Beamon. They are unable to contact Akira Maven so moved to remove her as a member. There were no objections. 3. Review and approval of the minutes of January 19th. Ms Frank - Item 3 - scorecard ratings should be in every UPDATE report, not City of Milwaukee Page 1 CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON Meeting Minutes February 2, 2022 CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY ANNUAL report. Ms. Frank moved to approve as amended. There were no objections. 4. Discussion and possible vote on the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) 2021 City Clean Energy Scorecard. Mr. Shambarger distributed the actual scorecard and he noted areas the city could have earned points. He thinks it should be part of the mix, but it's not the only metric that should be in the plan; other things shouldn't be excluded. He highlighted areas in which he felt the city should have been scored higher. The scorecard, with highlights, is in file 191923. Mr. Kraig also supports that this is a measure, not the only measure and something that the Accountability work group looks at. The city has a 20% energy reduction goal for city buildings. Ms. Frank would like to have the consultant look at this metric and how to use it as a benchmark. Ms. Frank moved to use this as one of our official metrics in the report. There were no objections. 5. Report and possible approval of the Green Buildings work group report. Mr. Bruce Wiggins asked if there would be a time limit for each report. Mr. Kraig would like to have the time needed spent for each report. Ms. Ritger said there were 3 sub-groups (new housing, residential retrofits and commercial buildings). Ms. Ritger said that the Better Buildings challenge exists for commercial buildings and many building owners are participating. Their suggestion is that this benchmark be mandatory, codified with a city ordinance, rather than optional. Owners of buildings that are high-performing would be recognized and owners of lower-performing buildings would be worked with. The intention is to have standards become more strict over time. The city of Madison did try to create a similar ordinance, but was unsuccessful. There will also be a focus on updating the state building codes to make them more stringent. Upgrading of buildings would result in increased job opportunities and training opportunities. Mr. Kraig would like goals and goal amounts to reduce emissions by specific dates and more detail on the number of buildings affected. Ms. Ritger would look at adding more goal amounts. Mr. Shambarger would prefer that the consultant put together this type of quantitative analysis rather than volunteer help. Ms. Frank also asked about more emphasis on electric heat rather than gas heat as a renewable. Ms. Pritchard also agreed with hiring consultants to fill in the gaps, rather than work group members, and they don't want to lock in prescriptive strategies that become out-dated, so goals but not highly detailed requirements on how to attain them. Mr. Kraig asked if the building scores would be required to be shared publicly - that is the goal. Mr. Shambarger asked if multi-family buildings are targeted vs. commercial buildings or both so it's fair and equitable. Ms. Meissner Pritchard also wanted more details on the types of jobs and number of jobs created to be included by the consultant. Ms. Kerksick moved for approval. There were no objections. Mr. Kraig added the caveat that the plans include the scale of how to meet our targets and what those specific targets are. Residential retro-fits: Ms. Ritger said a concern is the fact that African American and Latinx households tend to spend a higher percentage of their income on heat and electricity (10-19% vs. the typical 3% with a goal of 6% and these households also correspond to having high lead paint levels). The goal is to align both of these efforts by creating a Healthy Homes Fund which will provide flexibility to fix other needed repairs so the lead paint abatement and weatherization work can continue. Doing this work will result in more City of Milwaukee Page 2 CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON Meeting Minutes February 2, 2022 CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY job opportunities which will hopefully be union jobs with a higher salary and benefits that can be carried between contractors and contracts. The city has already allocated $26.8 million for lead paint abatement and $2 million for Health Homes as well as other funds for other programs. It is envisioned having one streamlined application for all programs rather than an application for each program. One might also be eligible based solely upon where he or she lives and expanded income guidelines as well as changing the savings-to-investment ratio. Ms. Meissner Pritchard mentioned the same need for targets for this section as well. She also asked what other tools might be used to spur higher energy efficiency outside of the target group? Mr. Shambarger mentioned that the green mortgages and continuation of ME2 are city-wide tools and there is a ton of work involved in working with willing partners, let alone unwilling partners. On-bill financing would be with an unwilling partner. Mr. Kraig doesn't think residential would really move the needle, like commercial would, with only doing energy efficiency improvements on 850 homes and there isn't even enough money for that, so it seems like this section is only a pilot project. Mr. Kraig thinks on-bill financing is crucial as there aren't enough funds to have the needed work done. Ms. Fendt thinks this chapter is really important and she appreciates the inclusion of union contractors. Ms. Fendt moved for approval. There were no objections. Sup. Coggs-Jones introduced herself and she will begin serving as co-chair from this meeting on. New housing: Milwaukee has older housing stock which is facing a number of issues. There is a high demand for affordable housing and the solution is Advanced Building Construction, which is building housing components in a factory and assembling on-site. This would permit year-round building of housing components and also have appliances be electric, rather than gas. A factory setting reduces waste as well; whole modules can be constructed or solely walls for more customization. They have been working with local and national partners as well as city departments and the US Dept. of Energy. The strategy was to build 100+ units a year for vacant lots. A possible location for the factory might be Century City. There is also a financing component with banks being involved. Ms. Ritger moved for approval. There were no objections. 6. Report and possible approval of the Waste and Sustainability work group report. Rob Zimmerman and James Jedibudiah present for this work group. Mr. Zimmerman said food waste is something people deal with every day, so it's front and center for many people. This item will be moved to the Feb. 9th agenda. 7. Report and possible approval of the Nature in the City work group report. This item will be moved to the Feb. 9th agenda. 8. Report and possible approval of the Education and Outreach work group report. Ms. Jennifer Evans reviewed the Education and Outreach responsibilities described in the Project Charter. E/O will continue through 2022 and then hand it off. But the work of engaging the public needs to continue. The goal of their proposal is to mobilize citizens for positive action and be informed, connected, and inspired to promote the plan and its implementation. City of Milwaukee Page 3 CITY-COUNTY TASK FORCE ON Meeting Minutes February 2, 2022 CLIMATE AND ECONOMIC EQUITY There are three components to the proposal: Marketing, Outreach, and Action. A Marketing and Communications campaign about climate change and equity will provide consistent messaging that is personally relevant and appeals to community values. The campaign will support each of the proposals of the work groups and showcase implementations of these strategies. A diverse audience will be engaged and it will be multi-platformed. Outreach will include community engagement through trusted leaders and organizations. Actions and events will support the first two components. According to the Yale Program for Climate Communication, Black and Hispanic people are more concerned about climate change and more willing to take action. Public events are just one way that a wider, and more diverse segment of the community can be engaged and informed. The Lead Agency for outreach will be a nonprofit organization that can act as a central information hub, coordinate activities, manage finances, and pursue continuation funding. Costs are estimated in the range of $60,000-$90,000 per year. Potential funding sources include foundations, philanthropies, government grants and individual donors. Ms.Fendt asked why wouldn’t the authority rest with the city? Outreach will be important and need to continue. Ms. Evans noted that the city has limited resources, and the purpose of outreach is to engage the community and advocate for change. Mr. Shambarger noted the city will continue to make presentations, but he is reticent to have city staff do basic education, so there is a role for nonprofits. Mr. Kraig indicated his support for the proposal and asked if public hearings were discussed. The plan is to have some this year. Shambarger said Fuse Fellows will be providing a full-time person in April for a second round of public outreach. Ms. Fendt was concerned that if the city lost control that there would be no accountability in following the wage requirements or the goals of the Task Force. She questioned where is the accountability if it is turned over to another group? How can we ensure the integrity of the entire plan? Evans responded that the lead agency will collaborate with ECO Ald. Kovac questioned why we need to create a new non-profit. He does not see the need. Mr. Martin asked if the lead agency needed to be a new agency, rather than a coalition or an association, particularly involving minority community organizations. Evans gave an example of an existing coalition. and referenced the value of having a designated staff person coordinate coalition activities. Ms. Fendt understands that we are not recommending creating a new non-profit, but finds it confusing to refer to a lead agency. Webb supports the public sector, rather than a private entity. Mr. Kraig suggested re-examining this and seeing what other cities have done. Ms. Fendt moved to hold. There were no objections. Meeting adjourned: 4:53 P.M. Linda M. Elmer Staff Assistant 191923 Communication relating to the final report and activities of the City-County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity. Sponsors: THE CHAIR City of Milwaukee Page 4