HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutesPRESENT: Virtually: Pat Dwyer Hallquist, Michelle Bogden Muetzel, Bradley Spanbauer, Bob Poeschl, Vic Oliver, Eric DeGroot, Margy Davey EXCUSED: Ken Osmond ABSENT: None STAFF
AND OTHERS: Brandon Nielsen, Jake Timm (Oshkosh Media), Tony Neumann (IT), Misty McPhee (UWO), UWO Students I. Call to Order Chair Margy Davey called the meeting to begin and a quorum
was declared present. II. Approval of Minutes, November 2nd, 2020 Chair Davey asked if anyone on the board would like to make a motion to accept the minutes as written and Vic Oliver
motioned to accept. Bob Poeschl seconded the motioned. The board approved the November 2nd minutes 7-0 (Oliver/Poeschl). III. UWO Student Presentation Professor Misty McPhee introduced
her students and they began their presentation on the Sustainable Oshkosh webpage, outlining ways to update and improve the page. They explained their goal is to have an updated webpage
that provides accurate and helpful information for the residents of Oshkosh, which should subsequently help increase the public’s sustainability awareness. The students outlined a number
of different ways to accomplish their goal and would like to see the webpage become more accessible in the future. After the student presentation the floor was open for questions and
there was a good deal of discussion back and forth between the board members and students about different ideas on how to make the webpage more efficient and useful. The students will
provide a final report on this project, which will include written examples with summaries and appendices for each section that is needing to be addressed. IV. Duck Ordinance Ms. Davey
asked Mr. Nielsen if there was anything specific to point out with the new draft of the duck ordinance and he explained that he needed to discuss the primary and accessory structure
setback requirement with the Inspections Department to see if they would be okay with allowing duck enclosures be located within those setbacks. Ms. Davey mentioned that this allowment
is being asked because duck enclosures do not require any fire creating material within them and therefore should be allowed to be closer to other structures. Mr. Poeschl asked
about the quantity allowed and Ms. Davey said that currently no more than 4 (four) chickens and/or ducks are permitted per property. Multiple board members voiced their want to see the
number of allowed ducks and chickens be increased to 6 (six) when enough square footage is available. Mr. Poeschl asked Mr. Nielsen how many properties have chicken permits currently
and explained that one barrier of these ordinances is the language that talks about not allowing the birds inside the homes. Mr. Poeschl explained that when an owner gets chickens or
ducks they are typically chicks, and need to be cared for indoors, so he would like to see the ordinances be edited so that an incubation period of time would allow ducks and chickens
to be indoors during that timeframe. Mr. Nielsen will provide the chicken permit numbers from 2020 and look into getting some of the ordinance language altered. Ms. Oliver requested
that Page 1 Section B (3) be changed from “his or her” to “their” and that Page 2 (5) have language added to describe the minimum amount of water required per duck. V. Fossil Fuel Divestment Mr.
Poeschl explained that he looked into the path of where this resolution could go and that the Long Range Finance Committee is currently working on an investment policy for the common
council to review, so he wanted some language added to the resolution so that the LRFC could potentially include it as an agenda item for one of their next meetings and then the SAB
could get some feedback from them. Ms. Davey suggested to amend the resolution to include the following language, “LET IT BE FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Sustainability Advisory Board
of the City of Oshkosh suggests this document be shared with the Long Range Finance Committee for use in creating or affecting any investment policy the City may consider.” Mr. Poeschl
motioned to accept the amendment and Mr. Spanbauer second. 7-0 vote passes. Mr. Poeschl motioned to pass resolution 13-01, as amended, and Ms. Muetzel second. 7-0 vote passes. VI.
Energy Innovation Grant Mr. Spanbauer informed the board that UW Oshkosh is planning on submitting an application for this grant and that the questionnaire timeframe has been extended.
January 22nd is the deadline to submit an application for this grant. Mr. Nielsen stated he would look into the possibility of the city submitting an application for this grant and report
back to the group on what he finds. VII. Social Media Ms. Oliver stated that she would like to see some statistical data from the Facebook page to evaluate how the new process is
working, or not. Ms. Oliver suggested making the SAB meetings as events on Facebook. Mr. Nielsen will get the Facebook stats to Ms. Oliver for her to review.
VIII. Agenda Items for Future Meeting Ms. Davey reminded everyone that in January the board will be revaluating the goals sheet. Mr. Poeschl said the Citizens Climate Lobby would
like to give a presentation at one of the next SAB meetings to bring attention to the carbon cash back bill that is currently in congress. Mr. Nielsen shared that he has been working
with students from MIT on an urban modeling project and they would like to present their work once it is completed, but that might not be in January. Mr. Spanbauer would like to have
a conversation next month about a virtual purchase power agreement and what it entails. Mr. Spanbauer and Mr. Nielsen will set up a meeting to discuss further the VPPA in greater detail.
IX. Next Meeting, Monday January 4th – Virtual via WebEx
X. The board voted 7-0 to adjourn (Oliver/Poeschl)
Recorded by: Brandon Nielsen, Assistant Planner