Sustainability Advisory Commission Meeting

APPROVED CITY OF URBANA, ILLINOIS SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY COMMISSION Council Chambers, Urbana City Building Tuesday, June 2, 2020 Commissioners Present: Stacy Gloss, Dustin Allred, Tomas Delgado, Andrew Stumpf, Morgan White, Maddy Garbacz Commissioners Absent: Grace Wilken, Megan McGinty Staff Present: Scott Tess Call to Order, Roll Call, and Declaration of Quorum Stacy Gloss called the meeting to order, a roll was called and a quorum was present. Approval of Minutes Andrew Stumpf motioned to approve the minutes for the May 5, 2020 meeting. Tomas Delgado seconded the motion. Dustin Allred, Tomas Delgado, Maddy Garbacz, Andrew Stumpf and Stacy Gloss voted yes to approve the minutes. The motion passed. Changes to the Agenda There were no changes to the Agenda. Public Input There was no public input Staff Report Scott Tess gave an update on the maintenance and management of the closed landfill with a bidding opened to vendors, but did not receive any bids for it. A second bid has been republished. A second leachate pump is also being repaired. The current aggregation contract expires in December. The City’s consultant will be getting prices for a new contract this summer. Staff will prepare a resolution to authorize the Mayor to execute an aggregation contract. Chair Gloss asked if the resolution is an act of City Council or if the commission is involved in the process of crafting the resolution. Scott Tess responded that the resolution is quite simple, however, the Plan of Operations in Government that includes Municipal Electric Aggregation would be of more interest to the Commission. This is a document on how the City manages such a program. Chairman Gloss asked the Commission members if they support the continuation of purchasing Renewable Energy Credits. Dustin Allred, Tomas Delgado, Maddy Garbacz and Andrew Stumpf voiced their support for this. Andrew Stumpf asked if the City Council would have the authority not to continue the purchase of credits, Scott Tess shared that they have the authority to minimize. Stacy Gloss wanted to note that the Commission is in support of this continuation. Solar Power Hours have commenced on Zoom. Information is available at solarurbanachampaign.com 1  APPROVED Youth Climate Forum Jasmin O’Connor, volunteer from the Youth Climate Forum, is working with the group on the Podcast and web design. There is no date yet, but WRFU has been working with the youth members in broadcasting every other week at 5pm on their station. The podcasts are also available on the Youth Climate Forum website, www.youthclimateforum.wixsite.com. There are about 10 youth members that are working on this project. Chelsea from the Urbana Park District commended the youth for their work on getting out two episodes of the podcast in six weeks. Prairie Rivers Network and Salt and Light are on the list of next interviews for the group. Tree Commission Presentation Carol Augspurger, Chair of the Tree Commission, presented that the City’s Tree Commission’s bylaws including consulting with the City Arborist in issues, such as the planting of 47 trees which is the point of discussion in relation to the MCORE project. The replacement list includes 8 genres of trees, some of which are not native. Ms. Augspurger shared that there is a struggle to find nurseries that carry native trees and the City has had to go to southern states to find acceptable replacement trees. The City has hired a consultant and an inventory of the 15,000 trees are currently in Urbana. The Tree Commission has received grant money from the Rotary to purchase these trees. Morgan White asked if an analysis could be done regarding cost of maintenance of trees for Tree Deserts within the City. Ms. Augspurger noted that community involvement would be beneficial to this initiative. She also shared that due to diseases that have affected a large quantity of trees, there is a deficit in the tree inventory, and the City’s arbor crew has been focusing on the removal of the dead trees, and would like to eventually have to be replaced. Stacy Gloss asked about other diseases that affect trees. Ms. Augspurger shared that there is now a bacteria that is targeting some oak species. It may not be as huge of a problem as the Emerald Ash Bore problem, but it is a problem, nonetheless. Scott Tess shared that the City of Urbana and the Urbana Park District share the same public-facing website: www.urbana.mytreekeeper.com Tomas Delgado opened a discussion on the eco-benefit of specific trees. Carol Augspurger asked the Commission what the individual Commissions roles are and how they can work together with the City’s Administration. Both the Tree Commission and Sustainability Advisory Commission were unaware of the tree removals, and both sides agreed that because it took several years from the onset of the MCORE planning, it would have been good to have more input from such Commissions. A discussion about Commission involvement and awareness would be beneficial for all. Unfinished Business There was no Unfinished Business to discuss. 2  APPROVED Announcements Thomas Delgado shared that thru an intergovernmental agreement, the vacant lot adjacent to the library has been farmed by the Cunningham Township and is being used as a mini park. Cunningham Township has also started create a community-based agricultural system in which produce can be brought to the hands of underserved community. In partnership with the Library and a long list of other organizations and agencies, and initiative has been started to sync up folks to volunteer their gardens to plant produce. A Bucket Brigade has been started, including providing PPE’s to individuals who are sheltered in place. This provides the framework that the produce segment can use, as well. Scott Tess wanted to recognize Dustin Allred for his work with the Sustainability Advisory Commission, this being his last meeting as a commission member. The next Sustainability Advisory Commission meeting is scheduled for July 7, 2020. With no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 8:23 p.m. This meeting was recorded. 3