Citizens' Environmental Commission

MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB CITIZENS’ ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION December 7, 2017 The Citizens’ Environmental Commission held a regular business meeting on December 7, 2017, in Council Chambers at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115. Chairman Kenney called the meeting to order at 4:01 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 _ Michael Lundgren X Bill Oleckno X Sharon Skala X Ann Shult The following ex-officio members were present (indicated by x): X Amy Doll, DeKalb Park District X Mike Holland, Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District X Melissa Burlingame X Michelle Gibson B. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 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 Linda Chesser of DeKalb spoke positively about Waste Management's compost program. She would like to keep Waste Management as the contractor for the City. Chair Kenney said the Commission can only makes recommendations. It is not a decision-making body. D. APPROVAL of MINUTES from October 5, 2017, October 19, 2017, & November 2, 2017 Ms. Skala moved to approve the minutes of October 5th, seconded by Mr. Oleckno. Ms. Kron noted a couple of changes, which Linda will make and send to Mr. Holdeman. Minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote. Ms. Shult moved to approve the minutes of October 19th (Special Session), seconded by Ms. Kron. Citizen Environmental Commission December 7, 2017 Page 2 of 4 Mr. Oleckno noted a change, which Linda will make the change and send to Mr. Holdeman. Minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote. Ms. Skala moved to approve the minutes of November 2nd, seconded by Ms. Kron. Minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote. E. Special Presentation by DC Trash Dan Christianson, President of DC Trash, and Josh Connel of Lakeshore Recycling Systems with which DC Trash has recently partnered, presented a slide show of their services. DC Trash is locally operated out of Cortland. They have waste and recycling services and serve all types of customers. In addition, they provide street sweeping services and services for commercial and industrial clients. In 2017, they provided waste services for DeKalb Corn Fest, including composting services. They also sponsor local electronic recycling events and just renewed a contract with the DeKalb County Housing Authority. Josh Connel showed a video on Lakeshore Recycling Systems, which started in 1999. They have six processing facilities in the Chicago area, and their main office is in Morton Grove, IL. They also provide portable restrooms and service about 100,000 homes. They provide tours to interested parties. They process over a million tons of waste a year and began a mulching operation about a year ago. They built an aerobic digester that digests about 15 tons of food scrap daily. One of their company goals is to not have to use a landfill. They have over 400 vehicles on the street. In their Smart Cities Program drivers have an app on their phone that can be used to identify potholes on the streets and other issues that can benefit the communities served at no additional cost to the communities. They went from 400 employees to 700 employees in just a few years. Ms. Kron asked about pollution issues associated with the aerobic composting service. Josh said it creates steam as an end product. The compost is used as a fertilizer for farmers. Chair Kenney asked about them donating some of the compost to DeKalb County Community Gardens. They said they could do that. F. COMMISSION REPORTS 1. DeKalb County Health Department: Michelle Gibson Ms. Gibson reported on the holiday lights program. It has been going well and will run through the first week of February to the last week of March. Comments on the electronics program are available from Michelle. She would like to see the program continue and not be charged to the County. There will be a meeting in February, 2018, to discuss this. The County Health Department will be restricted in its solid waste programming since its budget was cut by $75,000. 2. DeKalb Park District: Amy Doll The nature trail restoration was approved in November, 2017. Now the Park District has to figure out how to pay for it. They are working on park maintenance and looking at the pros and cons of pond maintenance. This will be a discussion item at the December 21st board meeting. Please contact Amy if you have information to discuss on that topic. They are looking for more natural 2 Citizen Environmental Commission December 7, 2017 Page 3 of 4 ways to do pond maintenance versus using chemicals. 3. Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District: Michael Holland The past month they have worked with the Soil and Water Conservation District and planted pollinator seeds on 3.5 acres of their site. They are also trying to beautify the wastewater plant. They are progressing well. 4. NIU: Melissa Burlingame The Green Team met yesterday. Moxey gave a solar presentation. Training could be happening with upcoming solar installers. The Bike Share Program is hopefully going to be running by this summer. The sustainability program is also moving along. Information will be put together for the February meeting. They get student input through Student Association and other groups on campus. One goal is to be a more bike friendly campus. 5. City Staff Liaison: Tim Holdeman City budget issues are going on. Monday will be the second reading for the budget. It looks like there will be a $ million dollars in cuts from the general fund. The Public Works budget is being significantly cut. Tim is working on a presentation for the City Council. The Committee of the Whole will start to discuss the rubbish and recycling contract process. The "managed landscape ordinance" has been put on hold due to budget issues. Tim will have a more comprehensive report at the next meeting. The City of DeKalb is moving forward on consolidating the Huskie bus line with the community bus line. A transit manager is being hired to help consolidate the systems. G. NEW BUSINESS 1. PRIDE Award nominations discussion and vote Chair Kenney announced in the interest of time we would discuss nominations as a group unless a member had objections. Mr. Koch made a motion to approve the nominations. Mr. Oleckno said we can only provide four awards this year according to our charter, and there are five nominees. He suggested that if all nominees are approved, we make four awards for 2017 and one for 2018. Ms. Kron thought this was acceptable. All nominees were briefly discussed as a group and voted on in the affirmative with a unanimous voice vote. It was suggested that Sun Dog & Chuck Shepard receive 2018 awards. Mr. Koch made a motion to roll Sun Dog & Chuck Shepard into 2018. Ms. Kron seconded that motion. Approved unanimously by voice vote. Mr. Oleckno will work with Mr. Holdeman on the preparing the awards because of his past experience on this. 2. Election of Co-Chair Chair Kenney said Ms. Kron would take this position if offered. Mr. Oleckno made a motion to accept Ms. Kron as the Co-Chair, and Ms. Skala seconded the motion. Approved unanimously by voice vote. H. OLD BUSINESS 1. City Sustainability Plan Updates 3 Citizen Environmental Commission December 7, 2017 Page 4 of 4 Ms. Kron reported on the Share A Bag program. The program is doing very well at the Huskie Food Pantry. She would like to talk to representatives at the Sycamore Library and the Waterman Library. A bin costs $50 and bags are around $1.25 each. Bins with steel bottoms are about $65 each. Chair Kenney said someone should do a press release announcing the bin location changes. Ms. Kron will do that. Chair Kenney feels the commission should do more to educate the public. He wants everyone to think about doing public education on the waste hauling program, composting, and so on. Speakers could do a public forum. We need more educational programs during the year. Ms. Kron said she couldn’t move forward with the "Friends of the CEC" since money is needed to do this. She is getting information from the City attorney. Elementary schools are starting a STEAM program. DeKalb County was doing a compost program in the elementary schools but that will not continue due to budget cuts. Ms. Kron thought the Commission could present a panel discussion on composting issues. Ms. Kron is writing a recommendation on universal composting for the City Council. There is a good program in Austin, TX. I. ANNOUNCEMENTS Mr. Oleckno mentioned the “Illinois Gardner’s Guide” as a good reference for native plantings. It may be appropriate to use it when referencing native plantings in the revised "managed landscape ordinance." Ms. Shult mentioned she had contacted First Student regarding school bus idling. The Illinois School Board of Education has a policy; however, Ms. Shult wondered if it was enough. A discussion followed about providing additional signage in areas where parents park to pick up their children. Chair Kenney indicated that would be a good addition to the Public Education portion of the Sustainability Plan. Mr. Oleckno and Chair Kenney were interviewed about the Commission's functions and achievements by a reporter from the DeKalb Daily Chronicle for an online newsletter. Next Meeting: January 4, 2018, 4:00pm J. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Kron moved to adjourn the meeting, and Mr. Oleckno seconded. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Chair Kenney declared the meeting adjourned at 5:41 p.m. Respectfully Submitted: Linda Odom, Recording Secretary (Edited on January 2, 2018, by Bill Oleckno, Commission member) Approved January 4, 2018 4