Environmental Commission

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION MINUTES August 19, 2025 Board or Environmental Date: August 19, 2025 Commission: Meeting: Regular Called to 7:10 p.m. Order: Quorum: Yes Adjourned: 8:59 p.m. MEMBER ATTENDANCE: Present/Absent Christy Truitt Chair Present Jeff Abeln Commissioner Absent Jacquelyn Casazza Commissioner Present John Day Commissioner Absent Chris English Commissioner Present Mark Frigo Commissioner Present Barbara Kwiatkowsky Commissioner Present Monica Miller Commissioner Present Maggie Frigo Student Commissioner Present Also Present: Max Brown Public Works Forestry Superintendent Sonia Desai Bhagwakar Trustee Liaison PUBLIC Jill Paulus I. CALL TO ORDER The August 19, 2025 regular meeting of the Environmental Commission was called to order by Chair Truitt at 7:10 PM at Glen Ellyn Civic Center. II. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – Jill Paulus, resident of school district and park district, lives right behind Hadley. Comments are in regard to the upcoming project at Glenbard West. Unaware of the referendum and project on the school. Upon realization there would be a large  Environmental Commission 2 August 19, 2025 addition, she attended the May and June Plan Commission meetings as well as additional public meetings related to the project. Proceeds to reference comments of note from those meetings. From the May 22 meeting, she references a statement made by Plan commissioners Dawson, Wyand, and Loftus, that “there would be no hardship”. During the 2nd meeting in June, Loftus stated “it is up to the Village to do what the people want and is the rationale for passing it to the Board.” On July 14, there was an overflow meeting of residents opposed to the project at West. On page 8, architect Kelly from Wold “we best identified how to limit impact to the hill, especially to the mature vegetation…the intent would be for students to be able to interact with the vegetation even more.” Paulus states she discussed with 36 neighbors and only 5 were aware of the referendum/project. The project is proposed to be 4 stories which is as high as the McChesney property. Plan commission was asked if the EC was asked and the answer was that the EC was informed of the project. The architect said that the EC gave approval to remove the trees and that the EC said there is no formal process. Chair Truitt clarified that the EC has not been consulted in any formal capacity on this project. There is no formal requirement for this to be brought to the Environmental Commission; however, no one on the environmental commission was consulted regarding the trees. Rob Aubrey, who is a citizen volunteer and possibly involved with the tree inventory, was in attendance at a public meeting. During this meeting, they explained which trees would be lost and additional trees would be impacted as a result of the construction. EC has not been consulted on trees / ribbons tied on trees are not as a result of any input from the EC. While EC has not been asked, EC will be giving a list of formal recommendations. Commissioner Mark Frigo lists two failures. A massive construction project in this town went to the Village without bringing this to the EC. The second failure was that the district hired architects who found out there was no requirement to bring anything to EC and therefore didn’t. Trustee Liaison Bhagwakar stated that the architects followed the steps to complete the project and didn’t have to consult with the EC. Commissioner Miller adds that the high school should recognize that they want to be a good neighbor to the rest of the village. Chair Truitt states that 3 recommendations will be submitted to be included with the permit: how to care for the property during construction; considerations for the building (i.e. bird friendly glass); and post-construction care for the area. III. ANNOUNCEMENTS • None. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES • None, June Minutes to be reviewed and approved in September V. TRUSTEE LIAISON REPORT –  Environmental Commission 3 August 19, 2025 • Strategic Plan will be reviewed for the next 5 years in order to provide clarity on the Village’s role. VI. STAFF LIAISON REPORT – • Working on fall plantings, getting trees planted and placed for this coming fall, additional plants to be planted at volunteer park. Wanted to celebrate volunteer park as a sustainable park, arbor day celebration in “oaktober.” A number of little trees were lost last year than normal due to cicadas. 123 trees planned for fall and targeting another 80. VII. PARK DISTRICT LIAISON’S REPORT – • Conservation Dogs Cooperative assisted staff in locating potential bumblebee nests at Maryknoll Park. This launches the second phase of our pollinator monitoring program. The first phase was butterfly monitoring, which is in its second year. • The popular Nature Camps have concluded for the summer. These summer camps provided children of various ages the opportunity to learn about and explore park district natural areas. • The District utilized an amphibious harvester to manually remove algae from Lake Ellyn ahead of the 4th of the July festivities. • Grant-funded buckthorn removal and cattail treatment is near completion at Churchill Park. • The Native Tree and Shrub sale is now live at https://glen-ellyn-park- district.square.site/. Pre-orders can be submitted until September 14th. Pickup is September 27th from 9-11 a.m. at the Frank Johnson Center. VIII. CHAIR REPORT • Recycling mini recap from Commissioner Kwiatkowsky - 185 cars in 2 hours; great success; November 8 for the next mini is already scheduled; 9-11am at COD. Feedback on previous mini was there was more reuse than recycling, which was impactful and different. Discussion of vendors for next mini- Junk luggers, textile collection, perhaps styrofoam recycling, paint recycling? Not SCARCE unless they can collect their own items. Discussion on whether to invite earth paint or flatcan. Kwiatkowsky will check with vendors and revert back for the September meeting. English and Mark Frigo can volunteer. Truitt and Miller are TBD. Casazza is unavailable. • Upcoming recognition of the EC for our 50th year at a Board meeting. Ted Redmond will be presenting at the Board workshop. Dates TBD and Christy will advise. • Staff Liaison Change - John Hubsky will be the Commission’s staff liaison for the next few months. • Thank you to The Conservation Foundation for including two Glen Ellyn properties on their July 19th Conservation@Home DuPage Garden Showcase. These inspiring homes highlighted both vegetable gardens and native pollinator gardens along with native trees. • Thank you to Commissioner Jacquelyn Casazza for coordinating the July 26th Compost Giveback at Village Green - a terrific opportunity to make compost  Environmental Commission 4 August 19, 2025 accessible to our community. Thank you to the Glen Ellyn Park District for making the site available! • Thank you to Commissioner Barbara Kwiatkowsky for her tireless efforts to coordinate and lead the July 26th Recycling Mini - overcoming many odds to enable four vendor stations (textiles, furniture, electronics, and books) at COD Parking Lot #6, all of which were overflowing after the brief but successful 2-hour event! We look forward to hearing from her on Tuesday night with a recap and any recommendations for future mini recycling events. Thank you to community volunteers, along with Commissioners Mark Frigo and Chris English and Chair Truitt, for volunteering at the event. • Thank you to Glen Ellyn Garden Club volunteers, along with Trustee Bhagwakar, Commissioner Kwiatkowsky, and Chair Truitt, for working on July 31 to transplant native plants into the Fire Station Prairie Garden, the Volunteer Park Butterfly Gardens, and the Civic Center Pollinator Gardens. These gardens continue to grow more beautiful and full of life with both birds and pollinators! • Thank you to the Public Works Forestry team for their ongoing support of these gardens, watering this season to establish the new plants. • Thank you to two Glen Ellyn residents and professional landscape designers for volunteering their time to design and shepherd the ongoing development of Glen Ellyn sustainable municipal gardens: o Former Commissioner Jennifer Umlauf, Civic Center Pollinator Gardens o Glen Ellyn Garden Club member Mary Colby of Grandview Green, Volunteer Park Butterfly Gardens o Both Jennifer and Mary continue to volunteer to design for upcoming projects. • Thank you to Forestry Superintendent Max Brown for envisioning current and future opportunities for sustainable municipal gardens in Glen Ellyn. One opportunity has led to others, and the ripple effect continues to expand to beautify our village. IX. OLD BUSINESS TOPICS • Tree ordinance - Trustee Christiansen will be taking this forward. Additional content will be added in from the Wilmette tree ordinance. Truitt will connect with Commissioner English on the tree ordinance. • Strategic Planning Priorities Glenbard West Recommendations Draft of Recommendations for Glenbard West Expansion Project o Tree Preservation During Construction - for trees marked for preservation ○ Fencing to drip line ○ Pre-construction soil treatment to hibernate Oak trees ○ Restriction of soil changes near drip line for Oak trees ○ Restriction of addition of soil near Oak trees post-construction ○ Post-construction soil treatments for Oak trees (multi-step process) ○ Plan for post-construction mulching (no volcano mulching) or native plants within the drip line o Post Construction Environment Restoration  Environmental Commission 5 August 19, 2025 ○ Tree replacement recommendations for type, quantity, and location - to rebuild total DBH of trees removed and to prioritize oak grove restoration ○ Ongoing budget for tree care with soil treatments and pruning ○ Arboretum Campus certification ○ Partnership with The Conservation Foundation for Conservation@School collaboration and certification of landscape plans o Sustainability in Building Design and Maintenance ○ Bird-safe glass applications (see Feather Friendly as example from Chicago's McCormick Place Lakeside Center) ○ Dark sky-compliant exterior building and path lighting ○ Dark sky-compliant exterior visibility of interior nighttime lighting ○ Light warmth of 2700 or 3000 for interior and exterior lighting ○ Occupancy timers for lighting and use of daylight for lighting where possible ○ Transition to safe cleaners such as steam cleaning solutions ○ Organic landscape care to avoid sending pollutants into Lake Ellyn and the DuPage River ○ Concrete vs asphalt surfaces for cool surfaces and to avoid polluting water systems ○ Permeable walkways where possible Commissioner Frigo asked about the enforcement for the tree preservation during construction. Typically, this is community development. Concerns about mulching and volcano mulching. Truitt and Frigo measured the DBH of trees to be removed and are cataloging what will be lost versus what will be maintained. Wilmette’s recommendation is greater than 1:1 DBH and increases proportionally depending on the size of the trees. There would be recommendations made on where to put the trees given there will not be enough space at West to replace the trees. Commissioner English asks if it is possible to make it more preferable for the school to choose these recommendations. Commissioner Frigo points out that it would behoove Glenbard West to review and adopt recommendations made by the EC given the feedback from the community about the addition. Commissioner Casazza asks to add something related to no rubberized walkways or synthetic turf added in certain areas, referencing an example that a section of synthetic turf was recently installed at Lincoln Elementary without notification to the community. Commissioner English motions to submit our recommendations to Glenbard west as presented today and including amendments added during the meeting. Frigo seconds. Motion carries unanimously. X. NEW BUSINESS TOPICS • Review Sustainability Assessment priorities  Environmental Commission 6 August 19, 2025 o GE 1: Increase tree cover, particularly in the priority neighborhoods, over the existing tree canopy coverage Draft goal: 5% by 2035 and 7.5% by 2040 (equal to an increase of 1.9% and 2.8% of Village wide land area respectively). o GE 2: Increase pollinator supportiveness of lawns by replacing turf with native grasses and wildflowers Draft goal: achieve a 7% turf replacement (approximately 8 acres annually) o GE 3: Reduce heat island effect through “dark” impervious surface coverage reduction, particularly in neighborhoods identified with higher heat island impacts Draft goal: 5% annually (approximately 4.5 acres annually). o GE 4: Reduce invasive species and increase climate resilience and biodiversity of the Village’s tree canopy, parks and greenspaces. Priorities to review each meeting - health and safety (done in June), greenspace (Sept), waste management (Oct), water (Nov), transportation, buildings (Jan/Feb), Commissioner Truitt has specific recommendations for each area. Discussion ensued; commissioners to send any feedback on greenspace by September 9 in bcc for each other to review, and come prepared to discuss and vote at the next meeting in Sept. Discussion of upcoming stroll articles; suggestion to do write up on any federal or state sustainable incentives for homeowners which are ending soon. Commissioner Mark Frigo agrees to write this article. XI. Next Meeting & Adjournment A. The next EC meeting – September 16, 2025 B. Commissioner Frigo motions and Commissioner English seconds the motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:59 pm. Submitted by Jacquelyn Casazza, Commissioner Reviewed by Staff Liaison Hubsky

Agenda Village of Glen Ellyn Environmental Commission Meeting Tuesday, August 19, 2025 7:00 PM Glen Ellyn Civic Center, Room 306 Members of the public are welcome to speak to any item not specifically listed on tonight's Agenda. For those items which are on tonight's Agenda, the public will have the opportunity to comment at the time the item is discussed. Individuals wishing to address the Commission shall exercise proper decorum and respect for the proceedings and the business of the Environmental Commission, and shall refrain from abusive demeanor and language. Commissioners are not obligated to respond to questions. A. Call to Order B. Public Comment C. Approval of Minutes D. Reports 1) Park District Liaison Report 2) Trustee Liaison Report 3) Staff Liaison Report 4) Chair Report E. Old Business 1) Strategic Planning Priorities F. New Business G. Adjourn 1) Next meeting September 6, 2025 Village of Glen Ellyn