Citizens' Environmental Commission

MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB CITIZENS’ ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION February 6, 2020 The Citizens’ Environmental Commission (CEC) held a regular business meeting on February 6, 2020, in the Executive Conference Room at the DeKalb Municipal Building, 200 South Fourth Street, DeKalb, Illinois, 60115. Chair Clare Kron called the meeting to order at 4:02 p.m. A. ROLL CALL Roll call was recorded by Management Analyst Jason Blumenthal and the following members of the CEC were present: Chair Clare Kron, Rachel Farrell, Steve Honeywell, Dan Kenney, Ken Koch, William Oleckno, Sharon Skala, and Virginia Wilcox. Also present were Ex-Officio Member Amy Doll, Ex-Officio Member Mike Holland, Sarah Fox, Management Analyst Jason Blumenthal and City Manager Bill Nicklas. B. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Kron asked for a motion to approve the agenda. MOTION Ms. Skala moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Mr. Honeywell. VOTE Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote of those present. C. PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Kron asked for public comment. Dave Davis with 350Kishwuakee spoke about working on green house gas inventory for the City. Some data points are missing, and he will reach out to get more information. Management Analyst Blumenthal stated he would facilitate the conversation to get what fleet information is available. Manager Nicklas spoke and gave an update about how there are about four or five houses that are being retrofitted as opposed to demolished and rebuilt. A solar farm was approved and will be coming to the area. In addition, the City will be doing an RFP for the electric charging stations and should have a better update on this, this summer. D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Kron asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Monthly Meeting held on January 2, 2020. MOTION Mr. Oleckno moved to approve the monthly minutes with minor changes; seconded by Ms. Skala. VOTE Motion carried by a unanimous voice vote of those present. E. COMMISSION REPORTS 1. DeKalb County Health Department- Management Analyst Blumenthal is talking with the Health Department to see this position filled. 2. DeKalb Park District- Amy Doll: Christmas tree pickup will be open until February 8th at Hopkins Park. Nature trail restoration is currently underway. The Park District is currently doing an RFP for both waste and recycling pick up. They would like to see if they can get one company to handle both pickups instead of two separate companies. Finally, the Park District will be hosting workdays and a message will be sent out. 3. Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District- Mike Holland: The Kishwaukee Reclamation District and DeKalb Park District are partnering up to rehab native habitats throughout the City. Mr. Holland asked if this is a discussion that should be had with the City. Everyone agreed it was a good idea and Mr. Kenney stated the Protano’s Property should be discussed. 4. Northern Illinois University- Sarah Fox: Chair Kron welcomed Sarah Fox to the Commission and said it will be formalized at Monday’s City Council meeting. 5. City Staff Liaison: Jason Blumenthal: Management Analyst Blumenthal talked about the Commission’s Logo and how we have one City Logo and we will continue to use it. He also stated that he doesn’t have the sustainability plan or the bee keeping ordinance complete. He hopes to have them both for the next meeting. Management Analyst Blumenthal went on saying the LED light changeover has been completed in the City street lights. The bicycle friendly community is being delayed a bit until the fall submission deadline, as the information needed hasn’t been released yet. And finally, that a new manufacturing plant is moments away from being announced for the City, which will have long term impacts. Ms. Farrell asked about Monarch City and Management Analyst Blumenthal indicated he has not had time to get to this but will have an update next month. F. NEW BUSINESS 1. Elect Vice-Chair Ms. Kron asked for nominations for Vice-Chair of the Citizens’ Environmental Commission. MOTION Mr. Kenney nominated Mr. Honeywell; seconded by Mr. Oleckno. Mr. Honeywell accepted the nomination. No other individuals were nominated. VOTE Motion carried by unanimous voice vote of the Commission and Mr. Honeywell will serve as Vice- Chair of the Commission. 2. Becoming a member of the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability Chair Kron stated this is a group discussing sustainability. Mr. Davis indicated the City already has a membership that 350Kishwaukee pays for. Chair Kron indicated nothing further was needed to be done. G. OLD BUSINESS 1. Sustainability Plan Updates Management Analyst Blumenthal stated that there is no update at this time. He will continue to work on it and get it into a workable format. 2. PRIDE Awards Discussion started out with not doing awards this past year. Mr. Oleckno suggested that due to the late date, we suspend awards for 2019. P.R.I.D.E. awards do not have to be offered every year. The Commission came to a consensus and agreed. Chair Kron will update the pride awards to make the deadline October 15th for this year. 3. End of year report Chair Kron will be getting the end of the year report finalized to present to the City Council. She will finalize it and Management Analyst Blumenthal will ask to put it on the City Council agenda. 4. Plastic bag ban update Chair Kron stated that she talked with the City of Evanston and they give incentives to companies to give out paper bags. Management Analyst Blumenthal indicated that would not be an option. Chair Kron will bring more information for further discussion. 5. Goals for 2020 Chair Kron asked if anything should be added to the goal’s lists. Commission members said we should add light pollution to the list. Chair Kron asked for a motion to approve the goals. MOTION Motion was made by Mr. Kenney; seconded by Mr. Oleckno. VOTE Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.  6. Presentation for 2020 A commission member brought up the idea of partnering with a wildlife group to give information to the community. 7. Other updates on previously discussed items No other updates occurred at this time. H. ANNOUCEMENTS 1. New announcements. Mr. Honeywell stated that he talked with the Daily Chronicle and they would be receptive to a once a month column on the environment with a local slant. 2. Next Meeting: March 5, 4:00 pm. I. ADJOURMENT Chair Kron called for a motion to adjourn. MOTION Mr. Kenney moved to adjourn; seconded by Mr. Koch. VOTE Motion was approved by unanimous voice vote. Chair Kron adjourned the meeting at 6:07 PM. Respectfully Submitted: Jason Blumenthal, Management Analyst.