Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission

Memorandum TO: Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commissioners FROM: _______________________________________________________________________ Andrew D. DeCanniere, Commissioner, Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission DATE: July 2, 2025 SUBJECT: June 24, 2025 Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission (SEAC) Meeting Minutes Meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM in Conference Room D/E at Skokie Village Hall Present: Vice Chair Jim McNelis, Commissioners Christopher Buccola, Andrew DeCanniere, Michael Gershbein, Lisa Gotkin, Rick Moskovitz, Emily Okallau, Robert Render, Charles Saxe, Assistant to the Public Works Director / Staff Liaison Elizabeth Zimmerman Also Present: Rachel VanHoose, Skokie resident Absent: Chairperson Jennifer Grossman, Commissioners Alma Likic, Olivia Mahoney I. Approval of Minutes Minutes from the May 27, 2025 meeting of the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission were unanimously approved as presented. II. Old Business a. Budget Approved Staff Liaison Zimmerman informed Commissioners that the Village passed a budget for FY26, which includes numerous environmental sustainability projects among the scheduled capital improvement projects. General discussion ensued. b. Hefty ReNew Giveaway Program Staff Liaison Zimmerman noted that residents have been really engaged and that there has been a lot of interest in the Hefty ReNew program within the community. More specific statistics about the program are forthcoming. Page 1 of 3 III. New Business a. Residential Sustainability Awards Subcommittee has been working on promoting awards. A couple of nominations have been received. Staff Liaison Zimmerman noted that the Residential Sustainability Awards were promoted in the Village’s electronic newsletter, The Scoop, on both May 20th and June 3rd. General discussion ensued. b. Additional Community Solar Program Staff Liaison Zimmerman noted that there will be lots of community solar capacity coming soon, in addition to MC Squared Energy Services. The Village will be promoting this additional capacity once it is on the grid. More information will be forthcoming. c. Sidewalk Locations It was noted that sidewalks will be installed at various locations along Fargo, Frontage, Karlov, Linder, Lockwood, Long, and Madison. Discussion ensued. d. Village Hall EV Charging Update Staff Liaison Zimmerman informed Commissioners that there are three new chargers at Village Hall. Installation is nearly complete. The stations will be for Village vehicles only. This will bring the total number of new chargers at Village Hall to 13. She also mentioned that they are awaiting pricing for 11 new EV pool cars, which are vehicles that are shared between departments. The Village also received its first EV Chevrolet Blazer police vehicle. They are currently out to bid for five EV chargers at the Police Department, which would bring the total number of chargers there to 10. Public Works will have two new EV pickup trucks. e. At-home Household Hazardous Waste Collection Staff Liaison Zimmerman spoke about the new Household Hazardous Waste collection program, which is being offered by the Village of Skokie, the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) and Clean Harbors. The Village covers most of the fee of disposal, with residents paying $75 per pick-up. Next collection date is July 15th. f. Skokie Green Business Recognition Program Update An event recognizing the businesses that participated in the program and completed the checklist will take place in the third quarter of 2025. Intent is to begin recruiting new Page 2 of 3  businesses to participate in the second cohort at that same event. This new group would likely start working through their checklists by the first quarter of 2026. IV. Other Business Commissioner Gotkin commented on Aldi’s ongoing environmental sustainability efforts. General discussion ensued. V. Public Comment Rachel VanHoose spoke to the Commission about local food and agriculture. VI. Next Meeting The next meeting of the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission will take place on Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Update: On July 2, 2025, Commissioners were informed that the next meeting has been rescheduled and will take place one week early, on Tuesday, July 15, 2025. VII. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:16 PM with a motion from Commissioner Okallau, seconded by Commissioner Buccola. Page 3 of 3