Sustainability Advisory Commission Meeting

APPROVED August 2, 2022 CITY OF URBANA, ILLINOIS SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY COMMISSION Council Chambers, Urbana City Building and Zoom Meeting Tuesday, March 1, 2022 Commissioners Present: Stacy Gloss, Jessica Lehmkuhl, Andrew Stumpf, Morgan White, Grace Wilken Commissioners Absent: Tomas Delgado Staff Present: Scott Tess Call to Order, Roll Call, and Declaration of Quorum Chair Gloss called the meeting to order, a roll was called and a quorum was present. Approval of Minutes Commission Member White motioned to approve the minutes from the February 2021 meeting. Commission Member Wilken seconded the motion. Roll call vote to approve motion, Commission unanimously approved. Additions to Agenda Chair Gloss passed the chair to Commission Member Stumpf to propose and addition to the agenda. Chair Gloss proposed to add a discussion Illinois American Water’s proposed rate hikes as a way to introduce the issue to the Commission. Commission Member White motioned to approve the addition. Commission Member Wilken seconded the motion. Roll call vote to approve motion, Commission unanimously approved. Commission Member White moved to add a discussion on Youth Member to the Commission. Commission Member Wilken seconded the motion. Roll call vote to approve motion, Commission unanimously approved. Public Input Representatives from the Environmental Leadership Program with the Institute of Sustainability, Energy and Environment at the University of Illinois, shared their program goal of the members of the program to prevent resource-intensive valuable food from entering the landfill, reduce landfill tipping fees for local suppliers, and provide assistance to food-insecure citizens in the area. Commission Member Wilken and Chair Gloss encouraged the representatives to prepare discussion materials for a presentation on a future meeting. Staff Report Geothermal Urbana-Champaign The group geothermal purchase program has begun Geothermal Power Hours. They are posted at http://geothermaluc.org and https://www.facebook.com/GeothermalUC. 1  APPROVED August 2, 2022 Landscape Recycling Center The City has accepted a grant and will amend the budget February 28 to receive funds to build a concrete bin for a food scrap composting pilot program. A vendor has been selected to build the concrete bin and will begin construction when weather permits. Public Engagement Staff spoke to the undergraduate Environmental Leadership Program at the University of Illinois about their projects on food waste and sustainability funding. U-Cycle The U-Cycle invitation to bid for curbside leaf collection services received no bids. Staff will discuss in-sourcing this service again with Public Works staff. Next Sustainability Advisory Commission Meeting April 5 at 7:00 pm in Council Chambers at the Urbana City Building or by zoom depending on conditions. Unfinished Business Urbana City Council and Mayor Strategic Goals Commission Member Wilken gave an update on the Strategic Goals from the latest Study Session. Discussion ensued. Discussion about Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Chair Gloss opened up the discussion on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion goals to finalize planning and approaches. New Business Discussion on Illinois American Water’s proposed rate hike. Chair Gloss opened the discussion on this topic by sharing the Rate Review Process Fact Sheet from Illinois American Water. Discussion ensued. Discussion on Open Youth Position Chair Gloss opened the discussion about the vacancy for the Youth Representative on the Sustainability Advisory Commission, vacated by Maddy Garbazs, who has aged out. The Commission members publicly thanked Ms. Garbazs for her contributions during her 4 year tenure. Discussion ensued on finding a replacement. Additionally, Chair Gloss reminded the Commission about the additional vacancy for a Commission seat. Announcements No announcements at this time. Adjournment With no further discussion, the meeting was adjourned. This meeting was recorded. 2