z - Retired - Environmental Improvement Commission

. Meeting - Environmental Improvement Commission August 7, 2017, 6:00 PM Westmont Public Library, 428 N Cass Ave, Westmont, IL 60559 Meeting Minutes 1. Call To Order Kim Lombardozzi called the meeting to order at 6:12 pm. 2. Roll Call In attendance: Glenn Gabryel, Mary Gabryel, Erin Kennedy (arrived at 6:17), Kim Lombardozzi, Mary McAuliffe, Tyler Tieche and Bob Van Hyfte Absent: Kate Johnson and Brittany Smith Staff in attendance: Jon Yeater (Liaison). 3. Pledge of Allegiance Led by Kim Lombardozzi 4. Consent Agenda Kim Lombardozzi addressed the commission on this agenda item: a. 6/5 regular meeting minutes b. 6/12, 6/26, 7/10. 7/24 special meeting minutes c. EIC 2017 Westmont Red White and Blue BBQ Report d. 2017/18 Budget Update Motion was made by Mary Gabryel to approve the consent agenda. The motion was second by Bob Van Hyfte unanimously approved by voice vote (excluding Erin Kennedy not in attendance at the time of the vote) 5. Reports a. Climate Action Plan (CAP) -.Next meeting August 14th - Draft will be presented at the September - Discussion about report format 1 b. Green Speaker Series Update for June Speakers -6/19 What’s the Buzz sponsored by Friends of the Library had 36 attendees. Potential Future Speakers - Com Ed Energy savings program Jon USGBC IL Chapter (US Green Business Council) - Tesla - Solar Program – IL Solar association. Erin Kennedy to coordinate - Beth Botts – Morton Arboretum - Kim White - Monarch Butterflies Westmont Village IT has in the budget to tape 4 presentations c. Richmond Education Gardens and Apiary Project and Fundraisers - Awarded a grant from ComEd/Openlands for $10,000. This is the second grant from ComEd/Openlands - No fundraisers are scheduled at this time - New cost estimate will increase to approximately $280,000 d. Rain Barrel Decorating Contest - No update at this time e. Conservation Foundation Tree and Shrub Sale – October 14th 8am-noon -Location for event 39 East Burlington, the Westmont Water Department - Trees will include local burr oak seedlings grown from seed collected that dates back to a burr oak forest that was in the area before settlement. -Conservation Foundation will be coordinating orders and payment. Conservation Foundation will donation a portion of the funds to Richmond Education Garden -Volunteers needed the day before and the day of event f. Pumpkin Composting Event - Saturday November 4 - Mary Gabryel contacted Richmond Education Garden Committee about scheduling this event. Jon Yeater noted road closures maybe needed. - Pumpkin Smashing and the annual Trick or Treat Trail is October 21st. Will need volunteers to distribute flyers. - 10/1 The Last Straw Fall Event at the Gregg House Museum 12-4pm. Will include meet a bee keeper and pumpkin decorating (sponsored by Chamber of Commerce). 2  Action Items: - Mary Gabryel to contact Larry Forssberg about distribution of flyers on 10/1 - Jon to contact Waste Management about obtaining a dumpster for pumpkin composting 6. Old Business a. Conservation in Our Community Program – The Conservation Foundation - Jon Yeater provided an update on 3 projects including Deer Creek - Interest from the Park District for Conservation at Work b. Chamber of Commerce Banner - Find Green in Westmont Westmont.il.gov/green c. VOW Monarch Resolution Subcommittee - Mary Gabryel volunteered to work on this subcommittee d. EIC Succession Planning - Mary Gabryel announced that she not seeking to extend her term on the commission when it expires in 1/18. - Erin Kennedy tendered her resignation as a result of moving out of Westmont. - Bob Van Hyfte advised that he will be resigning at the end of the year due to a pending move - Meeting materials included an overview of the responsibilities of the chairperson and secretary roles -Suggestion was made to include a high school student to the commission e. Facebook Page / Newsletters - No updates at this time on Facebook or newsletter Action Item: Kim Lombardozzi to create a flyer to highlight Pumpkin Composting and Holiday lighting for distribution at Halloween events. f. Green Building Recommendation - Mary Gabryel reported at the 7/20 Public Works meeting during the discussion of the new public works facility, Mike Ramsey, Acting Director of Public Works indicated the analysis would include in the costs of building to LEED Certification. 3 7. New Business a. Budget Expenditures i. Banners for Pumpkin Composting Motion: The EIC recommends an expenditure not to exceed $100 to purchase a banner to promote Pumpkin Composting on the first Saturday in November. The above motion was made by Mary Gabryel and second by Tyler Tieche and unanimously approved by voice vote. ii. Conservation Foundation – Beyond the Basics Field Tour Glenn Gabryel volunteered to attend. Motion: The EIC recommends an expenditure not to exceed $75 to attend the Conservation Foundation – Beyond the Basics Stormwater Management Field Tour. The above motion was made by Mary Gabryel and second by Mary McAuliffe and unanimously approved by voice vote. b. Mayors for 100% Clean Energy - Based on discussion the EIC will not recommend at this time c. Recycle Coach - Based on review by Glenn Gabryel and Kim Lombardozzi the EIC does not recommend at this time. d. Scarce Earth Flag Program - EIC has interest in working with the village to obtain an Earth Flag. Kim Lombardozzi volunteered to take the lead. e. Starry Skies / Light Pollution Suggest bringing this to the attention of Jim Jactes Building Facility Manager and Jill Ziegler, Community Development Director. See Exhibit of materials distributed on light pollution impacts on the community. 8. Misc. / Action Plan a. Holiday Light Recycling – Has the village contacted the vendor? 2 locations? Mary to check with Julia about the location b. Maercker School asked to give a short presentation on Environmental Accomplishments and a Village Board Meeting 4  c. Glenn Gabryel updated the commission on the following: 1) Mike Ramsey confirmed that recent pavement seal coating operations at the Metra lot and adjacent Village Hall parking spaces were performed using asphalt based compound. 2) Manager Steve May advised that there were 3 vehicles recently added thru joint purchasing (as opposed to our own bidding). Two are diesel and B20 compatible. Westmont already runs B20 with the entire diesel fleet. There are some gumming issues with the older trucks in the coldest winters requiring a to switch to B10 in Jan/Feb (previously confined to B5 in winter). Either way, the diesel fleet has been off premium D2 awhile. One lighter truck is E85 compatible. However the Public Works fueling station is not currently equipped for E85 (or CNG). Staff keeps those options open while (currently) discussing the fuel center rebuild. Westmont does have a fueling agreement with DGPW for E85, but it is extremely impractical to take vehicles (and staff) out of service for that length of time just to re-fuel. We anticipate incorporating E85 pumps with any new facility. d. 9/8 Volunteer Village appreciation dinner at 6pm Papa Passero e. Reminder about Open Meetings Act f. Jon Yeater reporting on beautification projects are planned for all entrances to Westmont including the S curve on Cass by the Hilton and Route 83 and Ogden S curve by Hilton median trip g. Glenn Gabryel volunteered to chair the November 6th meeting 9. Adjourn Motion to adjourn was made by Mary McAuliffe and second by Tyler Tieche and unanimously approved by voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm. 5 EIC 2017 Westmont Red White and Blue BBQ Report Prepared by Bob VanHyfte Overview Our goal was to set up a recycling monitor system to assist & educate event attendees about how to recycle properly. The main premise was that although most people want to recycle, they do not know how to properly separate used products. By having a monitor available at each recycle/waste container, they could explain to attendees what items are recyclable, & what needs to go into the trash, and more importantly, why.. Hopefully the attendees would bring this information home & create a better recycling environment in their own households. The biggest challenge of past efforts has been the contamination of the recycled material by having unclean, wet materials mixed with them. The monitoring system should greatly reduce this situation. Projected Needs Since the WRWB was a 3 day event, we needed approx 130 hours of volunteer participation. We contacted the ecology/environmental clubs at approx 15 local schools, as well as many churches & other civic organizations. The volunteer reservation was very simple done at Signup.com. Results We achieved about 20% of the volunteer hours needed so we had to condense those to Friday only & canceled our involvement for Sat & Sun. Friday’s plans were canceled due to inclement weather. So basically, our program did not happen at all. Learning/Recommendations 1. Plan early, maybe 2 months. Approvals, etc take far longer than anticipated. 2. Don’t assume that an idea is important to the community because it is important to us 3. Be cognizant of the approval process. We were blindsided by the beauracratic culture/protocol that we were unfamiliar with & lost approx 10 days of promotion. 4. Don’t count on help from other organizations. They have their own agendas that may conflict, timewise, with our event. 5. Start small. Perhaps a 1 day event would have been a wiser undertaking. 6. Consider having a high school & jr hi students on our commission to help build interest in future efforts among their peers. Westmont Environmental Improvement 2017-18 Budget Report As of 7.25.17 Budget Actual Motion $ Motion Notes Advertising 250 Banners / Signage 100 6/5/17 Chamber of Commerce Banner 500 Banners / Signage Richmond Education Gardens Printing and Binding 250 Promotional Materials Training 250 Guest Speakers Conferences 250 Seminars/Education/Conferences Misc. Services 750 Special Recycling Events 500 Programs/Contests Not approved Richmond Education Garden Fundraising 500 SCARCE 500 500 6/5/17 check issued 1,000 Conservation Foundation 1000 1,000 6/5/17 check issued 4,250 TOTAL BUDGET 1,500 1,600 1,600 Committed/Expended 2,650 Uncommitted