Sustainability Advisory Commission Meeting

APPROVED CITY OF URBANA, ILLINOIS SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY COMMISSION Council Chambers, Urbana City Building Tuesday, August 7, 2018 Commissioners Present: Chairperson Stacy Gloss, Dustin Allred, Claire Johnson, Todd Rusk, Andrew Stumpf, Tesfaye Wolde-Medhin, Maddy Garbacz Commissioners Absent: Morgan White Staff Present: Scott Tess, Amanda Flores Call to Order, Roll Call, and Declaration of Quorum Chairperson Stacy Gloss called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Amanda Flores called the roll and a quorum was present. Welcome of Youth Representative Chairperson Stacy Gloss welcomed new Youth Representative, Maddy Garbacz, a freshman at Urbana High School, to the Commission. Changes to the Agenda There were no changes to the agenda Approval of Minutes Motion was made by Mr. Stumpf, second by Mr. Wolde-Medhin, to approve the minutes from the June 5, 2018 meeting. Motion carried. Clarification Ms. Gloss wanted to bring a clarification regarding format of the new Agenda format. New format has no category for New Business, and would only list New Business as their own numbered items. Public Input There was no Public Input. Communications Staff Report Scott Tess gave the monthly Staff Report which included benchmarks reached for the Solar Urbana- Champaign 3.0 triggering a 1% discount to all participants past and future. Next benchmark of 150kw is the new target to trigger another 1% discount, and the Water Management Plan, with the City partnering with MidWest Pesticide Center for the MidWest Grows Green program’s upcoming events. Mr. Tess also reported that an organization called Illinois Climate Table, a working group of non- government organizations, research organizations, advocacy organizations such as energy, climate and sustainability organizations, has a downstate caucus that’s focused on issues of interest to downstate communities. They are working on a public engagement process called Listen, Lead, Share, which are 1  APPROVED an hour to an hour and a half sessions open to the public all over the state. The group is interested in holding a session in Urbana-Champaign in September or October 2018. Chairperson Stacy Gloss gave an update on her project relating to mentoring rising High School students who are developing the first Champaign-Urbana Youth Sustainability Summit. This event, a day-long event for students in the 8th through 12th grades, is scheduled for October 13th and is tentatively set to take place at the Siebel Center at the University of Illinois. The students are working on creating a poster and a website. The event is sponsored by the City of Urbana and the Sustainability Advisory Commission, in cooperation with the Champaign County Sustainability Network and youth organization, iMatter. The students are have come up with the agenda. They hope to learn about the global effects of climate change, as well as what our local sustainability efforts are. The goal is for the summit to conclude with a statement that they can present to the Sustainability Advisory Commission and the City Council with regards to what they want to see in their community and a vision of sustainability for the future. Access is now available to view the new Illinois EPA Water Quality Testing data. Data shows no difference on designated use from previous years. Discussion ensued about water quality and atmospheric deposition of mercury in the air. Mr. Tess reported that there are a number of public engagement opportunities including radio spots and articles mostly about Solar Urbana campaign. Mr. Tess presented data from the two (2) electronic recycling events. It’s been noted that the number of events have stayed the same from last year but there has been an increase in the number of CRT (tube) TVs that are being collected at these events. Mr. Tess informed the Commission that Recycling Coordinator, Courtney Kwong, won a Memorial Travel scholarship grant to attend a Resource Recycling Conference in St. Louis. The Report stated September 4, 2018 as the next meeting date to be held at the 2 nd Floor Executive Conference Room due to the City Council meeting at the same time. Climate Action Plan Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategies Scott Tess reported staff was asked, in lieu of pursuing a new tax to fund energy and climate activities, to look at what would be the highest impact gas reduction strategies to pursue. Mr. Tess reported that impact and feasibility are context-sensitive based on which area. Presentation and discussion of significantly impactful strategies ensued with a conclusion that in order to get more involvement in initiatives would be to present data with Quality of Life language instead of Metrics to appeal to a broader audience. Timeline for next Commission planning effort Mr. Tess presented the schedule for the Greenhouse Gas inventories done every other year on two opposing years. Ms. Gloss declared that it would be best to have the latest data available with very 2  APPROVED minimal gaps in the data. Further discussion included possibility of doing both inventories simultaneously with planning for community engagement to occur in late 2019. Two frameworks to choose from would be (1) to create a planned public document procedure presented to the Commission with an eye towards Energy and Climate and see if it generates community interest or (2) do some public engagement first to draw out the community’s values and priorities connecting back to Quality of Life language and the greenhouse gas reduction strategies. Mr. Tess informed the commission that in the past, there Climate Action Plan and a Water Management Plan were created separately. The question was posed on whether an all-encompassing Sustainable Plan would be better suited for the group. Mr. Rusk suggested that a possible hybrid might bring in more stakeholders. Mr. Allred interjected that a broader Sustainability Plan may actually attract more involvement. Chairperson Stacy Gloss recommended that this topic be picked up at the next Commission meeting as continuing business, and the body agreed. Chairperson Gloss proposed creating an ad hoc committee that would streamline ideas before presenting to the group. Mr. Rusk and Mr. Stumpf agreed to add this to the ad hoc outreach subcommittee. New Business There was no new business. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. This meeting was recorded. Respectfully submitted, Amanda Flores Recording Secretary 3