Citizens' Environmental Commission

MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB CITIZENS’ ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION August 10, 2017 The Citizens’ Environmental Commission held a regular business meeting on August 10, 2017, in Council Chambers at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115. Chairman Kenney called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. A. ROLL CALL The following members of the Citizens' Environmental Commission were present (indicated by x): _ Mark Hein X Dan Kenney (Chair) X Ken Koch X Clare Kron X Michael Lundgren X Bill Oleckno X Sharon Skala X Ann Shult The following ex-officio members were present (indicated by x): __ Melissa Burlingame, Northern Illinois University X Amy Doll, DeKalb Park District _ Michelle Gibson, DeKalb County Health Department X Mike Holland, Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District B. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA – ADDITIONS / DELETIONS MOTION - To approve the agenda. Ms. Kron moved to approve the motion, seconded by Ms. Shult. Agenda was approved unanimously by voice vote. C. PUBLIC COMMENT Ron Cress addressed the Commission. He lives at 3060 Wedgewood Drive in DeKalb. He has been cited for not complying with the City’s weed ordinance; Chapter 12, Section 12.01 Nuisances Declared, Paragraph 22. Weeds and Chapter 24 – Building Code, Section 302.4 Weeds. Mr. Cress indicated he submitted a draft plan to the City on July 14 and on July 19 the City Attorney sent back a letter requesting a scaled drawing of his native plantings and that Mr. Cress have a five foot border around the plantings. Mr. Cress asked for the Commission to consider encouraging native plantings and avoid singling out residents that want native plantings. Citizen Environmental Commission August 10, 2017 Page 2 of 5 D. APPROVAL of MINUTES from July 6, 2017 MOTION Ms. Skala moved to approve, seconded by Ms. Kron. Minor edits were discussed. Amended minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote. E. NEW BUSINESS: Presentation by Vaughn Kuerschner, Representative of Waste Management Mr. Kuerschner made a presentation on the At Your Door Program. A discussion followed and the following points were made: The program could be offered by the City. If it were offered, it would be for the entire City population. The cost would be about $15/year. The recyclables are recycled in the US and that material which cannot be recycled is placed in EPA-approved disposal sites. The monthly fee is approximately $1.25. Apartment buildings would not be included in the program without modifications. Current Waste Management contract expires in August 2018. This is a program exclusive to Waste Management. It would lessen the burden on the DeKalb County landfill. The DeKalb Composting Pilot Program is going well. 80 homes in the program. Collection is occurring weekly and the contamination rate is low. Presentation by Jim Kleinwachter of the Conservation Foundation Jim’s presentation was on Conservation @ Home. The following is a summary of the discussion that followed the presentation. Naperville ordinance requires a 5 foot setback from property lines. In general, the Naperville ordinance is very lenient, allowing a “jungle” of native plantings. Jim indicated you probably don’t want to go that far. There are certain plants you want to restrict. Jim characterized the Warrenville ordinance as orderly but permissive. Brush piles are not allowed in the front yard but they do have a function, as do rain barrels and composting. The Conservation Foundation is funded by donations. Jim would be available to make a presentation to City Council. Jim gives 50 to 60 presentations per year and he can tailor the presentation to meet specific interests or needs. He often works with municipalities. He indicated his willingness to help the City and the Commission. F. OLD BUSINESS 1. Updates on the CEC Logo and Webpages Mr. Lundgren will be reaching out to Marc Thorson, City of DeKalb IT Director, to discuss web site content next week. Mr. Oleckno expressed concerns regarding the turnaround time for changes to the CEC web page. Chair Kenney recommended a “hot topics” link. 2 Citizen Environmental Commission August 10, 2017 Page 3 of 5 Mr. Lundgren indicated the retention ponds, especially the one near Wal-Mart has a lot of trash around it. Mr. Holdeman will follow up with Crime Free Housing to see what can be done. 2. Update on Progress on the City Sustainability Plan No Report 3. Update on the Share-A-Bag Program Ms. Kron indicated the program is doing very well. The placement of a bin at Barb City Manor was a success. They are very excited to have it there. Colonial House and Book World are doing well also. She is working to get a bin at Oak Crest. There are a total of 11 bins out now. Ms. Kron bought recyclable bags at Jewel and donated them; 10 bags for $1.00. Mr. Oleckno asked how many more bags are needed. Ms. Kron indicated none are needed at this time. 4. Update on adjustments to Municipal Code Chapter 12; 22 Weeds Mr. Oleckno derived the following statistics from the public comments received pertaining to the “weed” ordinance. Approximately 60% of comments were in favor of native plantings, approximately 24% were against, with 16% non-committed. 54 comments were received. Ms. Kron noted that one major concern is that residents don’t want a mess – something that will lower property values. Chair Kenney added that he had concerns regarding the City’s legal action against Mr. Cress. Mr. Oleckno asked the group to consider if they really wanted to endorse a permitting process for native plantings. He suggested coming up with elements of an ordinance that the group could support. Ms. Skala mentioned a native planting handbook that is available on line from Wildones.Org. It describes how to grow naturals without upsetting your neighbors. Mr. Cress expressed concern that the City Attorney was making up the rules as he went along. Mr. Koch indicated he believes that some subdivisions have certain restrictions. He likes the idea of encouraging native plantings and thought maybe front yards should be distinguished from backyards. He also would like to consider borders around the planting. Ms. Kron’s moved to have the Chairman of the CEC draft a letter to the Mayor, City Manager, City Attorney, and Community Development Director asking for suspension of legal proceedings regarding native planting on private property until the CEC has had time to review and propose revisions to the existing ordinance in order to encourage native plantings. The motion was seconded by Mr. Lundgren and a voice vote was unanimous in favor. Chair Kenney suggested holding a workshop to develop a draft ordinance, similar to what was done in developing the Sustainability Plan. The workshop would be in addition to the regularly September meeting. Mr. Oleckno suggested the September meeting should be dedicated to discussion of native plantings. The group was polled and it was decided that the workshop could be held on Wednesday, August 30 at 4 p.m. 3 Citizen Environmental Commission August 10, 2017 Page 4 of 5 G. COMMISSION REPORTS 1. DeKalb County Health Department: Michelle Gibson The Solid Waste Program (SWP) is planning a restaurant survey to gauge the number of establishments participating in voluntary recycling service. The Health Department held its annual Shoe Share distribution on Aug 3. They gave away close to 200 pairs of shoes to students in our county. The SWP will be collecting compost at Cornfest on Aug 26. They are still in need of volunteers to help direct traffic to the compost bins between 10am and 3pm. 1-2 hour shifts will be available. Please contact Michelle at mgibson@dekalbcounty.org or call 815-748-2408 On September 30 and October 28 there will be a free electronics recycling event at the DeKalb Airport from 9-1. 2. DeKalb Park District: Amy Doll The Nature Trail Restoration Plan should be completed by the end of the week. It will be posted on the Park District web site. Link to the website news brief about the Draft Restoration Plan: http://www.dekalbparkdistrict.com/district-news/NatureTrail-plan-draft Link to the flipdoc: https://view.flipdocs.com/?ID=10005893_601721 There will be another Clean the Kish clean-up day on September 30. 3. Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District: Michael Holland The Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District will be beginning construction next week for our Phase 1B Improvements project. The Hollister Ave. homes have already been demolished but next week will start site clearing and grading with excavation soon to follow. This project will ultimately provide better treatment of the water discharged to the Kishwaukee River and will give the District the ability to produce electricity from the treated sewage. In September KWRD will be working with Encap to begin applying herbicide to clear turf grass from about 3 acres of our site for conversion to a pollinator native planting seed mixture. Seeding will be done in November with the Dekalb County Soil & Water Conservation District. 4. NIU: Melissa Burlingame No Report 5. City Staff Liaison: Tim Holdeman The resurfacing of IL 23 is underway. City street maintenance projects are underway. Water main construction began in August. Construction on the Kishwaukee-Kiwanis Multi-Use Path will be starting soon. 6. Communications Subcommittee: Clare Kron Ms. Kron would like to see more information on the CEC website. The information doesn’t have to be new, we can use existing information. Ms. Kron mentioned the Back to School Bash will be August 10. 4 Citizen Environmental Commission August 10, 2017 Page 5 of 5 H. GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Mr. Cress expressed his gratitude for the group’s efforts. A general discussion followed regarding various areas around town where there are native plantings. I. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Shult moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Koch. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Chair Kenney declared the meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.m. NEXT REGULAR MEETING: SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 AT 4:00 P.M. Respectfully Submitted: Tim Holdeman, Public Works Director Minutes Approved September 7, 2017 5