Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission

Memorandum TO: Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commissioners FROM: _______________________________________________________________________ Andrew D. DeCanniere, Commissioner, Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission DATE: January 7, 2025 SUBJECT: December 17, 2024 Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission (SEAC) Meeting Minutes Meeting was called to order at 7:12 PM in Conference Room D/E at Skokie Village Hall Present: Chairperson Jennifer Grossman, Vice Chair Jim McNelis, Commissioners Christopher Buccola, Andrew DeCanniere, Lisa Gotkin, Olivia Mahoney, Rick Moskovitz, Emily Okallau, Robert Render, Charles Saxe, Assistant to the Director of Public Works / Staff Liaison Elizabeth Zimmerman Absent: Commissioners Michael Gershbein and Alma Likic I. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Render to approve the minutes from the October 22, 2024 meeting of the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission, seconded by Commissioner Saxe. The minutes were unanimously approved as amended. II. Old Business a. Identifying food establishments for food recovery program Staff Liaison Zimmerman said Commissioners can consider approaching businesses regarding the program themselves, or may bring suggestions for potential participants in the program to her and Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher. Discussion ensued. III. New Business a. EV’s and Charging Stations Staff Liaison Zimmerman informed Commissioners that the Village is adding five electric vehicles (EV’s) in Q4. However, they are not on the road as of yet, as they are still being outfitted. These include a Police Chevrolet Blazer, a Police Ford Mach-E, and three Teslas. Page 1 of 4 In addition, there is the goal of completing the following charging station projects by the end of the year: 2 DCFC (fast chargers) at the Police Department, three Level 2 EV chargers at the Police Department, two Level 2 EV chargers at Fire Station 16, two Level 2 chargers at the Public Works Department, and two Level 2 EV chargers at Village Hall. b. Biodiesel Usage in Fleet Vehicles Staff Liaison Zimmerman informed Commissioners that Public Works has been testing B20 biodiesel, although they may need to go to a lower blend as temperatures get colder. If everything goes well, they hope to use B20 for about eight months a year, weather permitting. The goal is to increase the use of B20 biodiesel as the Village ages out the oldest diesel vehicles (providing the vehicles respond well to the fuel). They will be reaching out to other fleet programs that use B20 and operate in very cold temperatures for additional information. Discussion ensued. c. Stretch Code Presentation Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that, on November 6th, there was a presentation to the Stretch Code Committee. Village will be researching it further, along with what other communities are doing, and what Skokie can do. Vice Chair McNelis noted that the Stretch Code can affect a whole bunch of items on the Sustainability Plan, and how we move forward with those items. d. Compost RFP Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that the Village has released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for new drop-off and curbside compost services. Three good proposals were received. These include Collective Resource, Waste Not, and Urban Canopy. These proposals will be reviewed. The RFP was written to be able to enter into Franchise Agreements with one or more companies. Discussion ensued. Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that they looked at a number of factors when they considered the proposals, including the user-friendliness of the potential service providers’ websites, the material the potential service providers accept, and their environmental sustainability (e.g. what does their vehicle fleet look like?), among other considerations. e. Recycle Coach Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that the State of Illinois entered into a contract with Recycle Coach. Users can look up individual products and see information regarding that product’s recyclability. It is tailored to our region, and will remind people of Page 2 of 4 holidays or other days on which there is no pick-up. One of the positive aspects is that everyone would be using the same app. On the other hand, some nuances of some collection programs may be overlooked. Discussion ensued. f. Community-Wide Tree Planting Commissioner Saxe said that the tree planting took part in November. Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that plantings took place at a mosque in the community, at East Prairie School, and at a condominium building. Commissioner Saxe mentioned that the Community-wide Tree Planting took place at the old VFW site, and that it seemed as though there was a good representation of Village officials and staff. There was a demonstration of how to plant a tree. People seemed receptive, and it was good to have a breadth of people participating in the event. Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that there was a 15% increase in tree plantings in the community. g. Green Alleys Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that there were three additional green alleys installed in 2024. These include the following locations: an alley between Suffield Court and Greenwood Street (Laramie Avenue to Gross Point Road), an alley between Lavergne and Bronx Avenues (Gross Point Road to Grove Street), and an alley between Kenton and Kolmar Avenues (north of Lyons Street). h. ICLEI Membership & ClearPath GHG Data Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that one benefit of membership is that Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher gets access to tools and models to be able to do the next Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory. There will be a choice between the past standard GHG Inventory or to use the new model (where methane is more emphasized). They are now trying to determine which of these models would be the best model to use and how to proceed. Page 3 of 4 IV. Other Business Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) sent an email regarding a new opportunity for 2025. Hefty ReNew is a program which allows residents to purchase orange Hefty ReNew bags at retail stores in the community. They can then put materials that could not otherwise be recycled into those bags. When the bag is full, they put it into their recycling toter, and those orange bags are removed at the recycling facility. The Village is looking for feedback to bring back to the Village Manager’s Office. Discussion ensued. V. Public Comment No public comments were received. VI. Next Meeting Based upon the expected availability of Commissioners, the next meeting of the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission will take place on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. VII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM with a motion from Chairperson Grossman, seconded by Commissioner Okallau. Page 4 of 4