Green Tier Legacy Community Committee

1 2 AD HOC GREEN TIER LEGACY COMMUNITY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES 3 Wednesday, February 19 2025 4 (Approved Version) 5 6 Agenda Item No. 1. The February 19, 2025 meeting of the Green Tier Legacy Community 7 Committee was called to order by Chairperson Kurt Harff at 10:30 A.M. 8 9 Present: Kurt Harff, Lisa O’Hearn, Paula Anschutz and Lilly Orozco. Sarah White was absent. 10 Mary Smythe was excused. 11 12 Staff: Village Clerk Heidi Teich 13 14 Others: Laurel Harff 15 16 Agenda Item No. 2. Approval of the Agenda 17 A motion was made by Orozco, seconded by O’Hearn that the Agenda for the February 19, 2025 meeting 18 of the Ad Hoc Green Tier Legacy Community Committee be approved as presented. Motion carried – All 19 ayes. 20 21 Agenda Item No. 3. Approval of the Minutes 22 A motion was made by O’Hearn, seconded by Orozco that the minutes of the January 16, 2025 meeting of 23 the Ad Hoc Green Tier Legacy Community Committee be approved as presented. Motion carried – All 24 ayes. 25 26 Agenda Item No. 4. Comments, correspondence, and concerns from the public 27 28 At the start of the meeting, Teich forwarded an email from the state GTLC which contained a 29 sample scoresheet report submitted by the Village of Ephraim. In the email, the state GTLC 30 representative noted that this sample is complete and correct according to what they are 31 looking for when applying for grants. No other correspondence was received. Harff asked if 32 anyone would like to share a comment, and none were offered. 33 34 Agenda Item No. 5. Discussion/Action Items: 35 36 a) Discussion on Annual GTLC Report due March 31, 2025 37 38 Green Tier requires that communities report annually on their progress towards sustainability 39 issues identified as areas of interest and concern within the municipality. Included in the 40 meeting packet was the report submitted by the Sister Bay GTLC in 2023 for reference. Also 41 included were descriptions of the various metrics to be used when evaluating actions and 42 reporting progress. 43 44 Teich noted that the first few pages of the report will be unchanged, except for changing the 45 date, and asked the committee to identify those activities they would like to see included in the 46 report of 2024 achievements. In addition, she asked that the committee identify areas of 47 success, areas they found challenging, and a target goal for the future.  Minutes of the February 19, 2025 Meeting of the Green Tier Legacy Community Committee - approved 1 2 O’Hearn asked if Schmelzer would be available to review the report before submission this year 3 as there are many areas that the committee has little knowledge or experience with, such as 4 zoning and development. In her review of the prior year’s report, O’Hearn noted that there 5 were several items that needed updating and offered to email Teich a copy of her notes to use in 6 the report preparation. 7 8 The committee identified a challenge in trying to maintain awareness of all the metrics included 9 on the sustainability strategies scoresheet, as they are not using the scoresheet to guide their 10 committee discussions. Instead, they are working independently of the scoresheet and 11 pursuing other interest areas. Teich stated that in the limited time they have to create a report 12 by the March 31st deadline, that she will focus on those three areas – challenges, successes, and 13 future goals – to report on the DNR website and see what transpires from there. 14 15 Orozco identified a challenge in trying to pass a ban on plastic bags in the community and 16 learning that there is a state prohibition on such an ordinance. Sister Bay will instead need to 17 focus their efforts on plastic reduction if they cannot have an all-out ban. 18 19 Orozco asked if the accomplishments they have seen the past year needed to be unique to the 20 Green Tier Committee or the village as a whole, specifically the work being done in the 21 community on trails connecting to neighboring communities. It was agreed that the committee 22 should report on all community activities as well. 23 24 The committee identified some areas of achievement in purchasing a new shuttle bus (more 25 energy-efficient) and installing bike racks, and bike repair stations near the beach. The village 26 will also have its street lights converted to LED’s in the coming year, which should also be 27 mentioned in the annual report. A question arose on whether wheelchair accessible picnic 28 tables were installed, and Teich said she would inquire. She will also follow up on the use of 29 recycled rubber at the playground versus mulch, which can smell bad and be toxic. 30 31 Orozco felt that it would be worth noting the on-going conservation efforts the village has 32 undertaken with the acquisition of the Pebble Beach property and recent improvements clear 33 walking trails and improve a small parking lot on the site. The addition of restrooms had been 34 discussed but no action has taken place yet. 35 36 Harff shared the work of the Utilities Department to explore a sludge-drying facility in the 37 village that would result in the creation of milorganite which can then be used for fertilizer. 38 39 The committee agreed that one of their primary goals for 2025 and beyond is plastic reduction, 40 and ways in which to educate the community to reduce their plastic usage in all areas. 41 42 b) Discussion on Budget Allocations 43 44 At the previous meeting, the committee discussed ways in which to expend the money 45 budgeted for this committee to further their sustainability initiatives. Having already 46 determined that a portion of the budget will go towards the purchase of reusable shopping bags 47 for distribution, the only other expenditure noted at this time will be for trees to distribute  Minutes of the February 19, 2025 Meeting of the Green Tier Legacy Community Committee - approved 1 during the Big Plant 2025. An estimate of that cost has not yet been provided. 2 3 c) Scheduling of Joint Meeting with Parks, Property & Streets Committee 4 5 The Sister Bay Parks, Property & Streets Committee is interested in hosting a Volunteer Day in 6 Sister Bay. As this could be related to the work of the Green Tier Legacy Community 7 Committee, it was suggested that the two groups meet jointly to discuss options after GTLC 8 develops a list of potential projects for which to volunteer. The committee members suggested 9 that they appear at the meeting of the Parks Committee on April 7, 2025. 10 11 Orozco also suggested that the GTLC Committee meet with the Sister Bay Advancement 12 Association (SBAA) to see if there are ways the SBAA can support their efforts to spread the 13 word in Sister Bay about their sustainability efforts. Anschutz added that she has asked to be 14 added to the SBAA meeting agendas on a regular basis to provide GTLC updates. 15 16 d) Earth Day Events Update 17 18 Earth Day is April 22, 2025. O’Hearn began the design of a poster to encourage earth-friendly 19 events, which was distributed to the members prior to this meeting. What remains is to 20 determine the locations of the bag distribution site and tree pick-up. Firm dates on when those 21 activities will take place have yet to be determined. The bags will not be ready for distribution 22 by Earth Day but can instead be scheduled for later in the summer, possibly September. 23 24 Anschutz reported that she has received a commitment from a local artist for the design of the 25 bag the committee would like to have printed and available for distribution. The bags will be 26 offered for sale at a small fee, or sponsors will be sought to help offset the production costs. The 27 approximate cost of each bag, including set-up fees, is $1.30. The material is recycled water 28 bottles, not paper, which will be durable and easy to wipe clean. The shape closely resembles 29 that of a paper bag with a flat bottom. 30 31 The committee discussed sizes and agreed that a size roughly 13” x 15” x 7” is preferred. The 32 bag will be printed with the GTLC logo and other sponsor logos as space permits. O’Hearn 33 offered to share a letter that she had created for another organization that can be revised and 34 used to seek sponsorships for the bag project. The Piggly Wiggly will be given free sponsorship 35 in exchange for use of their store lobby when the bags are ready to be distributed. 36 37 The committee will continue to work on creating educational materials to distribute to the 38 public. 39 40 Anschutz will check in with Jeff Lutsey about picking up trees so that they can be distributed, 41 with a desired distribution date of April 26, 2025. 42 43 A motion was made by Anschutz, seconded by O’Hearn to purchase 3000 reusable shopping bags as 44 discussed, at a cost not to exceed $3.00/bag, including all costs of materials, production, and 45 shipping/handling charges. Motion carried – all ayes. 46 47  Minutes of the February 19, 2025 Meeting of the Green Tier Legacy Community Committee - approved 1 Agenda Item No. 6. Matters to be placed on a future agenda or referred to a committee, 2 official, or employee 3 4 It was the consensus of the committee that the following topics be discussed at a future meeting: 5 • Review of the 2024 annual report 6 • Update on reusable bag project 7 • Update on tree availability 8 9 The next meeting of the Sister Bay GTLC Committee will take place Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at 10:30 10 A.M. via ZOOM. 11 12 Adjournment: A motion was made by Orozco, seconded by O’Hearn to adjourn the February 19, 2025 13 meeting of the Green Tier Legacy Community Committee at 11:53 A.M. Motion carried – all ayes. 14 15 Respectfully submitted, 16 17 Heidi Teich, 18 Village Clerk