Green Team

Morgantown Municipal Green Team Monday, March 4, 2019 5:30–7:00pm Minutes Present: Jim Kotcon, Pam Cubberly, Vanessa Reaves, Mark Brazaitis (City Council), Bill Kawecki (Mayor), Karen Kalafat, Dan Pan, and Kevin Apreku (Energy Intern) Updates: 1. RecycleRight Community Education and Outreach grant proposal  Vanessa, Pam, and Jim reviewed their recent meeting with Emily Muzzarelli, Andrew Stacy, and Robyn Hess on the grant proposal PowerPoint. Vanessa, Pam, and Jim then discussed next steps, including a separate meeting with Paul Brake on March 15 to obtain go-ahead to present the anti-contamination campaign to John McGoran of Republic Services. Vanessa will arrange a meeting of the RRR working group before the meeting with Paul.  Pam reported on responses from City schools on “next step” activities in 2020 in recycling programs and education. She has received two expressions of interest and will contact school superintendent assistant to boost responses from other schools.  Vanessa reported on the progress of the Off-Campus Housing Pilot, now called “RecycleRight” (also adopted for overall 2020 grant proposal) in two WVU student apartment buildings. Team members were welcome to assist the OCH pilot in sorting recyclables and trash for measurement the following Wednesday.  As no central large recycling compactor for downtown businesses seems feasible, Vanessa will explore matching each curbside smaller-sized solar-powered trash compactor downtown with a recycling bin/compactor.  Pam asked and received team approval to request a short proposal/description for a professional Composting Feasibility Study by Downstream Strategies to include in the grant proposal.  Some next steps in grant proposal development include:  Detailed Google Docs outline as a reference for Robyn Hess in proposal writing (Pam and Vanessa)  Assistance from the WVU Communications Studies Department (pre- and post- grant resident surveys) and WVU Reed College of Media (designing publicity/media campaign) (Pam)  Identifying WVU resources on upgrading the City Recycling webpage without a fee-based Recycle Coach option (Vanessa). 2. New Republic Services 5-page website recycling document  Pam has been reviewing the proposed web document for accuracy, clearness, and internal consistency and asked John to clarify a number of points. After review by  team members, she sent a marked up PDF to John to forward to the Republic marketing department that created the document, asking for a second proof.  This document is very likely to change in 2020 in terms of what materials Republic will accept; however, for now, the list of items remains the same.  The discussion broadened to improvement to the current text-heavy City trash and recycling webpages, which could be much more accessible and informative. Vanessa noted that Republic actually has many resources on its website; the City could use links to this information assuming information would be updated by Republic. Vanessa is looking into WVU computer science programs for possible internship support to the grant or even this Fall. 3. CAP and Energy Committee  Jim and intern Kevin Apreku continue to reach out to City (especially engineering) staff to obtain the vehicle inventory, electric bills, streetlight surveys and other data. It may take more time as the City just hired new engineering staff. Jim will also attend Council meetings on the budget for 2019.  The City Council did pass the resolution supporting power purchasing agreements (PPAs) in West Virginia, which was sent to the State legislature; however, the PPA bill did not make it to a vote this year.  Jim noted that, in discussion with Alex Davis, several issues were found with the figures in the 2017 report, particularly concerning Woodburn School. Her corrections to the report increased the overall City investment needed but mean a faster return and a greater annual savings over the long term. 4. New Business  Pam will reschedule FODC Executive Director Sarah Cayton for April 1 GT meeting.  International Composting Awareness Week takes place May 5–11 this year. Jim asked if the team wants to take advantage of this event. He has also circulated the announcement among various student groups.  Jim agreed to participate in a conference call on March 18 and press event on March 20, involving a group called Synergistic Endeavors, on enhancing automobile fuel standards, which the Administration is hoping to freeze and roll back. Evan Hansen will also probably speak at the event. 5. After approving dates for Green Team monthly meetings through the summer, the meeting adjourned at 7:00pm.