Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission

Village ofSkokie Susfainable Environmental Advisory Commission AGENDA November 28, 2023 7:00 pm Village Hall Room D/E Public Comments: sustainability@skokic.org I. Approval of minutes II. Old Business a. Pumpkin composting recap b. REO Grant update III. New Business a. Q3 update (attached) and Green Business update from Lisa Sanzenbacher, Sustainability Coordinator b. Field visit to LRS C&D facility from Max Slankard, Public Works Director c. Household Hazardous Waste event summer of 2024 d. Community Solar postcards and Citizen's Utility Board (CUB) Solar and Decarbonization event e. Sub-Committee sector report next meeting IV. Other business V. Public Comment VI. Next meeting - January 23 VII. Adj oumment Document Number: 511765  ^ .1 n '1 ^ S) f\\ ^ j-1 \v/ lCtf :>(° ^y^l^ of 0 ^^ ^11^ (§J Q3 Update Community GHG Reductions Wedge Diagram Environmental Sustainability ^ 2020 Plan Third Quarter 2023 726,365 Metric Tons C026 Accomplishments Remaining Emissions Following Reductions The 2022 - 2030 Skokie Environmental 2030 469.381 Sustainability Plan has aggressive, yet Metric Tons C02e attainable goals to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 257,000 MTC02e by 2030 and to create a more sustainable, equitable and resilient community. It has been nearly one year since the Village Board approved the Plan, and the Estimated Village-wicie GHG reductions Included in the Plan Sustainability Action Team has made tremendous progress implementing many of the action items. The team is working towards achieving goals in almost every strategy, mostly focusing on the prescribed action items from the Plan. However, as noted in the Plan, these are simply a menu of options, and some action items are being modified to increase effectiveness. This quarter, actions were assessed for prioritization through the lens of the community-wide goals for sustainability, resilience, and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. This report highlights the accomplishments and great progress made towards our Sustainability Plan goals in Quarter 3 of 2023, which includes progress made in July, August, and September. A_ Village Rfnl of SKOKIE Continue seeking funding for a new Transportation Plan. Staff identified additional sources for transportation planning assistance thorough the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for bicycle and pedestrian planning. This will help inform what to include in future edits of the transportation chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. Promote the Safe Routes To Schools (SRTS) Implementation Plan to school districts to expand and implement for all schools. Village of Skokie SRTS Guidance draft document is complete and will be circulated internally for comment. Once implemented, Improving these routes will help make these routes safer, create a more sustainable environment, and encourage a healthier transportation option. Conduct a Sidewalk and Bike Path Quality Assessment and Master Plan. Skokie's Engineering Division annually assess existing sidewalks within a rotating sixth of the Village area such that the department cycles through the Village every six years. The bike path quality assessment is complete. Promote public transportation options to Village employees, and implement a pre-tax transit benefit program for Village employees. This action item has been completed. The Commuter Benefits program launched providing Village employees a tax incentive on public transportation and is presented during new employee orientation. Achieve designation of "EV Ready Community" through the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. The EV Readiness application was finalized and is under review with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and will be announced by end of 2023. Earning the designation will denote that Skokie is committed to EV Readiness and is making it faster, easier, and more affordable for our residents and businesses to install EV charging stations and transition to clean electric transportation. Establish new and promote existing incentives and/or grants for EV charger installation and EV vehicles. Skokie was awarded the Powering Safe Communities grant to support the purchase and installation of a new EV charging station near multi-family housing and downtown businesses to be installed in the coming years. Explore an incentive program to convert fuel-burning lawn equipment to electric. The team identified a funding source for 50 electric leaf blower rebates at $50 each to incentivize Skokie residents to purchase an electric leaf blower to replace their gas-powered blowers which not only emit greenhouse gas emissions, but also air pollutants like benzene, butadiene, formaldehyde and fine particulates. Conduct a Municipal Fleet Inventory and EV Transition Implementation Plan. Village Staff created fleet inventory and EV transition plan and will phase in EV's as applicable. The current fleet has 4 Electric Vehicles and 14 hybrid vehicles. Update Village Operations anti-idling policy and include an "Eco Driving Guide' to be distributed to all employees and in new employee training. This action has been completed. An anti-idling policy was created for the Village fleet. Also, an Eco-Driving Guide manual was created for Village employees and communicated during new employee orientation.  Land Use & Housing LH 1 Increase average population per developed acre by 10% by 2030. LH 1-1 Assess the community's affordable housing needs and determine how housing for low and moderate income households can become sustainable. The Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is under review which can encourage and require new developments to have an affordable component. LH 2 Reduce share of population living in high energy poverty from 15.4% to 10% by 2030. LH 2-3 Allow low-income and fixed-income residents to participate in energy efficiency and weatherization program(s) at little to no cost. The Illinois Power Agency's Illinois Solar for All program and Nicor's Weatherization program has been identified for income-eligible home and building owners. Other funding sources have also been identified to incentivize these Skokie residents to participate in these free programs. LH 3 Update community plans, zoning, and design standards to increase housing and community resilience to the impacts of climate change. LH 3-1 Study ability to construct Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's) and increase rental and home ownership opportunities. The Housing sub-committee of the Plan commission is studying Housing during the update of the Housing chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. IDD a lcmF ol laai a|  Buildings & Energy BE 1 Improve total community-wide residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial building energy efficiency by 15% by 2030. BE 1-3 Create a residential energy efficiency challenge promoting and expanding residential and multi-family energy efficiency audit and upgrade program. SEAC created the "Skokie Residential Sustainability Award Nomination Form' including categories in heating and cooling, lighting, renewable energy, water and innovation to be promoted during Q1 of 2024. BE 4 Increase on-site renewable energy from 0.12% to 2% of residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional electric use by 2030. BE 4-1 Promote existing local programs that offer group purchasing to lower the cost of solar installations. Cook County's Sun and Save program and Illinois Solar for All program listed on Skokie's Solar Energy webpage. BE 4-3 Achieve SolSmart Gold Level Status requirements. At the end of Q3, the Village of Skokie received a Gold designation from the national SolSmart program for encouraging the growth of clean, affordable solar energy at the local level. To achieve SolSmart Gold designation, Skokie has demonstrated a turnaround time for residential solar permits of three days or less and codified its zoning language to ensure there are no unnecessary barriers to solar energy use. In Q3 alone, Skokie issued 41 solar permits, which puts the total number of permits issued at 537 from 2017 through September 2023! mm BE 6 Increase resilience of community-wide building stock to the impacts of climate change BE 6-1 Streamline approval process of "green roofs" by Village Appearance Commission. Village staff completed the draft of the Appeamce Commission Application to include the option for a green roof. Once finalized, residents and building owners with a green roof application will be first on the Appearance Commission agenda. BE 7 Improve total municipal building energy efficiency by 15% by 2030. BE 7-1 Conduct a Village Facilities Energy Audit on all Village buildings. The Village participated in the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program that facilitated the identification and implementation of cost-effective energy-efficiency improvements. LED lighting and networked lighting controls were installed in the Village Hall, Public Works building, the Police Station and all of the Fire Stations. These simple lighting retrofits reduce lighting-related energy use by 338,968 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which equates to an reduction of 165 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. Not only is this program environmentally beneficial, there is also a financial benefit After all the upgrades were complete and total instant incentives and bonuses from ComEd were applied, the Village paid just pennies to complete this project. BE 8 Achieve 15% municipal building thermal "fuel switching" from on- site fossil fuel combustion to electrification by 2030. BE 8-1 Establish a policy requiring all new municipally owned buildings to be 100% electric. Village staff created a draft policy to require all newly constructed municipal buildings to use electricity as the primary source of power for space heating (including heating of all indoor and outdoor spaces of the building), water heating, cooking appliances, and clothes drying appliances.  0 c^itiY'^ ^:~9 ^:Y^' J^L 0 ^ -^ WliVil 1 D©c[f'©a^ Baii-idfBIIB w&jir£© by !]©% by ^030 (foir ViUBag® G@EiR©e%©d §@lGd ]^:® @1? siriiaH©"fe]mBE]v h^u§@he)§€;]§ yp ft® 4"I?lo]£^]. ^^ Educate residents, businesses, and institutions on waste reduction, proper recycling, and organics options Over the summer of 2023, the Public Works intern educated residents about proper recycling through a flyer attached to recycling toters. The recycling rate for Q3 was just over 19%. Reduce solid waste collection frequency to once weekly for single family households. There has been a 23% decrease in diesel fuel usage from Skokie's refuse trucks in Q3 this year when compared to Q3 of last year. There is a direct correlation of the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. Incentivize businesses to phase out single-use products. Village staff began discussions with the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center and the Illinois Green Business Association to provide businesses with high quality technical assistance and assessments that drive environmental and economic savings that include waste management strategies like eliminating single-use plastics, among others. WVti 3 Griieff'©^i@© o^g^nies (^Jv^^Bon ?i^© '«©&' @mgti©1 •tf^jmJBy h©y^oh^')fld^ iui|p %cc-) 4!.°te^ torn ^.4% ©f ^©^^fl ^oFlksi W?^S^;Q Eh)€'m<d]B©d ^@ 8% by ^©30, WiiVJ 3" 1 Conduct outreach to grocers, restaurants, and food pantries to understand current practices in handling expiring perishable items. "Current Practices in Handling Food Waste" survey sent to 335 Skokie Grocery Stores and Restaurants that inquired about the establishments' disposal methods, daily food waste weight, and main source of waste. By Q3, Village staff received 22 responses. 3-4 Increase residential participation in Village's food scrap compost collection. By the end of Q3, a total of 345 Skokie residents have signed up for the curbside food scrap collection program, a 4.5-fold increase since the program began. Combined with the free drop-off sites (Action Item WM 3- 5), Skokie sent 62.5 tons of food scraps to be composted, just in Q3 alone! Compared to the 25.5 tons of food scraps collected in Q3 of the previous year, it is clear that composting not only is effective in keeping food waste out of landfills, but also is a popular program for the residents of Skokie. 3U£3 Increase availability of composting options for residents and businesses such as... free municipal drop-off locations. In Q3, Public Works added another free Food Scrap Compost Drop-Off Site for a total of 9 sites, which are all listed and mapped on Skokie's composting webpage. Due to the accessibility of the free drop-off sites and the popularity of the residential food scrap collection program, the Village is on track to compost nearly 200 tons by year end, a 150% increase in composting compared to 2022. 4 \\nwmA^@ Bvoel^lBB cHv©r§3^n o^' r©cycSabR© rifiiaS^r^^fis 110% by ^030 whall® ^©Girc:x^i!rx^ c@im'xiirn§'n€'i%iiori Qff irleey^Bli(ig G^BB©e^j©n©. 4-2 Require that Village-hosted events and users of certain Village facilities use reusable food/ beverage packaging, recycle and compost, and minimize landfill trash generation (AKA "Zero Waste"). Incentivize businesses to do the same. Several Village-hosted events have been Zero Waste through the help of Collective Resources Zero Waste event staffing which includes composting and recycling.  Promote increased water conservation community-wide with a targeted reduction of 7.5% by 2030. W 1-1 Facilitate reduction of water use by top 20 customers through an opt-in program and offer free technical resources. One additional customer identified as being a "top 25 water user" replied to request for technical assistance and received free water assessment in Q3, bringing the total to two. W 1-3 Develop and implement water conservation education and outreach programs in residential, commercial, and institutional sectors. In order to reduce water leaks for users of the new water meter, a info sheet of "How to Read the Neptune E-CODER® Register" has been posted on the Water Billing page of the Skokie website. [LEF l increase aw§BabiSl^y ^ne'l r©s§lll©ne© ot BoealiBy-pif'odue^d fo©d, LF 1-1 Conduct a study to identify properties for urban farms or community garden plots. All vacant properties have been listed and is being refined to include only areas that are applicable to host gardens. jjj.' r[|^ Collaborate with schools and park district to establish a "Grow Skokie" program increasing community garden plots and establishing a "market garden" concept. Skokie Park District provides 133 garden plots for the community with 3 public locations, donating excess to Niles Township Food Pantry. Grow Skokie program part of checklist developed for Skokie Schools. U:? 1-3 Create a publicly available GIS map database to locate community garden locations. The maps have been created, and will be posted once properties are refined to include only applicable garden sites. LF 3-2 Continue to provide enrollment assistance for participation in the the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, & Children (wic) and other food assistance programs HHS assisted 58 households in the SNAP program by end of Q3, as well as the following programs: Bags of Food; Farmers Market Food Donation; Food, Toiletries, Clothing Drive; Grocery and Department Gift Card Donation; Farmers' Market Nutrition. LF 3-5 Work regionally to support food donation programs that reduce the amount of healthy, safe food that goes to waste and redirects it to those in need. The Commission on Family Services and St. Paul Lutheran Church has collected 6330 pounds of donated produce from vendors at the Skokie Farmers Market in 2023. Over 700 pounds of non-perishable food has been collected during monthly donation drives. All donations go to the Niles i?v!\^ Township Food Pantry. N^T7 \' I !i'_/  (§^(s)© On]^ ^(cil©© ^ T[r©(] r^ ,- i .—. ^ (? rp(^f^}^ 7^J ;S II Elri€;[fl(D€*]^© Sir©@ ©©¥©&', poiii'^SeyB^rHy in Sh© p&loif'iSy n^nghb©rh©@d^, ^@m mM% So 2B% by ^D3Q and 31% by 2©4<0. ?S U"1 Continue to use a diverse selection of native tree species in new plantings. Within the Tree Preservation Checklist for Plan Reviewers document, there is list of approved species for parkway and private property tree planting that highlights the species that are native to northern Illinois. By the end of Q3, Public Works has planted a total of 422 public trees of 18 different species, and 58.5% were listed as native. Promote the Village's free parkway tree program and the MWRD oak saplings. Village staff created the trees(5)skokie.org email address for residents to use for questions regarding tree planting. Skokienews consistently promotes the free parkway tree planting program. Establish a tree planting plan. Prioritize tree replacement programming in neighborhoods based on factors outlined in the Village's Ground Cover study The Village of Skokie has been awarded a $327,000 grant through the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program to increase tree planting in disadvantaged areas of Skokie. The Village will plant 450 free trees on non- Village-owned properties over the next five years. For every tree planted on private property through the program, the Village will plant at least one additional tree on a Village parkway or Village-owned right-of-way in a "Climate Priority" area, with the goal of planting 1,065 trees overall. GS 2 Replace 8% of turf community-wide with alternative natives or other plants or reduce maintenance cycles that benefit pollinators and increase stormwater benefits by 2030. GS 2-2 Train staff on how to identify common native plants. Increase the use of native plants in landscaping at Village-owned and park district-owned properties. The Village hosted another native planting event near the multi-use path at Terminal and Carol Avenues. Along with Village staff, volunteers planted nearly 1000 native plant plugs. GS 2-4 Continue to implement a strong, integrated pest management program, raise mowing height to 3.5-4" on Village-maintained turf. Use compost in beds. Electrify landscape equipment. The entire Village landscape equipment is all electric, reducing noise and air pollution. GS 2-5 Invite the Beautification and Improvement Commission to develop a recognition program for properties that incorporate a significant amount of natives or sustainable landscaping. This action item has been completed. The Beautification and Improvement Commission updated the awards program to support proven sustainable practices that will help make our community a better place to live. Awarded top 5 of "Skokje's Best" to homes that employ a significant amount of native plantings. GS 4 Increase climate, flooding, and extreme heat resilience and biodiversity supportiveness of community's parks and open spaces. GS 4-3 Promote strategies that support biodiversity and ecosystem health such as "No-Mow-May" and "Leaf-them-alone-November". The Village promoted "Leaf-them-alone-November" in enews: Rake a few inches of leaves into your landscape beds. mulch leaves into your lawn using a mulching lawnmower, or add leaves to your backyard compost bin.  HS 1 Assist the community's populations who are vulnerable to listed climate risks in preparing for and mitigating climate change impacts. HS 1-2 Make emergency communications available in multiple languages and platforms. Skokie.org utilizes Google Translate for website users. Smart 911 sends alerts to residents' computers or smart phones that have registered and created an account. HS 2 Educate, engage, and empower the public on health and safety risks of climate change impacts. HS 2-1 Provide education and resources about climate risks to the public to potential impacts of high-heat and extreme weather. Include an Emergency Response Toolkit. The Emergency Preparedness webpage of the Village of Skokie website has been updated to include links to FEMA guidance and resources that are available in multiple languages via the Google Translate function. HS 4 Strengthen community response capacity and social support networks for populations who are vulnerable to air quality, extreme temperature, flooding, and power/infrastructure failure impacts. HS 4-2 Review and evaluate community networks for those who require assistance during extreme weather events. Village staff has access to the Niles Township Social Worker contact list which is updated annually. HS 4-3 promote equity in hazard mitigation, emergency response, and recovery activities. The Cook County Annual Hazard Mitigation Report was updated to include %) sustainability goals including specifying certain populations listed in the Skokie Climate Vulnerability Assessment.  Economy EC 1 Develop the economic potential related to sustainability and climate action. EC 1-1 Consider the current Economic Development Commission (EDC), SEAC and/or establishing a Green Economy Task Force with business, environmental organizations, and Village staff Village staff began discussions with the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center and the Illinois Green Business Association to provide businesses with high quality technical assistance and assessments that drive environmental and economic savings that include waste management strategies like energy efficiency upgrades and cost savings, pollution prevention, solid waste reduction, and water effiencies. EC 4 Promote sustainable businesses who are Green America or B Corp certified. EC 4-1 Establish a Green Leadership Awards program to promote Skokie as an environmentally-friendly destination 'Skokie Sustainable" Certification/Green Leadership Award criteria incorporated into "Business of the Year" expanded award process. The Illinois Green Business Association program also recognizes "green" businesses through the certification program and publicly available map of green businesses nation-wide. r^t