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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.03.25 MinutesCITY OF OSHKOSH SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD Minutes February 3rd, 2025 SAB PRESENT: Margy Davey, Jacob Klaameyer, Alyssa Reinke, Brad Spanbauer, Jaden Zurn EXCUSED: Lisa Moore, Vic Oliver, Joe Stephenson ABSENT: STAFF AND OTHERS: Emma Dziengeleski (Planning Staff), Staff (Oshkosh Media) I. Call to Order Chair Margy Davey called the meeting to order at 6:00pm and a quorum was declared present. II. Public Comment Ms. Davey asked if there were public comments. No public comments occurred. III. Approval of Minutes, January 6th, 2025 Mr. Klaameyer motioned to approve the minutes. Mr. Spanbauer seconded the motion. The board approved the January 6th minutes 5-0 (Klaameyer/Spanbauer). IV. Presentation from UW Extension Winnebago County – Jacob Kluza Ms. Davey introduced Mr. Kluza and he began his presentation. Mr. Kluza explained what climate change is and how it is affecting the planet. He touched on extreme weather events, plant hardiness zones, precipitation changes, impacts on landscaping, adaptive strategies, and ways to reduce your carbon footprint. He also provided recommendations to the City’s Zoning Ordinance’s landscaping requirements, specifically the list of commonly used plant species. Mr. Kluza further explained that he had added a resilience weight to the current list, and also generated a list of recommended species to be add to the ordinance. He suggested incentivizing the plants that have high resilience weights by associating more points to them. The board members asked a couple questions regarding the two lists, and also asked staff how these additional species could get added to the ordinance. Mr. Klaameyer asked if there is any benefit to keeping non-native species in the list as well as any ways to incentivize diversity of species within a development. Mr. Kluza responded with yes, about 75% of your plantings should be native and about 25% of your plantings should be non-native. He continued with stating that non-natives tend to be disease resistant whereas natives are not as resistant to viruses and other non-weather issues. He shared that a possibility may be to include plant categories to choose from in the ordinance. He suggested the board do research on how to best incentivize diversity versus the number of plantings. V. Low Mow Spring / Summer Ms. Davey introduced the Low Mow Spring / Summer Discussion and offered Mr. Kluza to stay as the board would like to hear his input on this topic. Mr. Kluza stated that a lot of people are not aware of the benefits of reducing their mowing, and how to properly manage their lawns for pollinators in the early months of spring and summer. He further explained that UW Extension has gone away from “No Mow May” and has shifted to “Mow High May, June, and July”. There was discussion amongst the board on potential ideas for an educational campaign and the next steps for the transition of “No Mow” to “Low Mow”. Mr. Zurn asked if there was any reason why this could not be a full year endeavor. Mr. Kluza shared that the reason that this is mostly done in May, June, and July is because that timeframe is when pollinators are most active and are looking for necessary resources. Mr. Spanbauer shared that it would be nice to offer residents monthly behaviors that they could practice to better care for their lawns. VI. Sustainability Related Plans Update Ms. Dziengeleski stated that the kick off meeting for the Comprehensive Energy Plan occurred last month and they are just working through the preliminary items now. She then shared that staff has been meeting with the consultant on the Sustainability Plan Update every other week, and that staff is currently working on filling out a data request. Ms. Dziengleski also stated that mandatory staff sustainability training will be taking place in March, and that the consultant will be holding a number of sessions over the course of two days. Mr. Spanbauer asked who would be doing the training. Ms. Dziengeleski responded with Evolution Marketing and shared that they do trainings like this all across the state for different municipalities and businesses. VII. Utility Bill Stuffers Update Ms. Dziengeleski shared that for about a year, utility bill stuffers have not been going out. She said that if the board would still be interested in including information in utility bills, that staff would have to look into it as there will most likely be a cost associated to it. Ms. Davey asked if they stopped this because more residents are getting their bills online and that she is curious if there is a way to include something with the electronic bills. Ms. Dziengeleski said she could see if that is a possibility. She also reminded the board that that information can be put out on social media and that staff could work with Oshkosh Media on doing a media blast or press release as well. The board discussed gathering more information to start posting on the Sustainability Advisory Board’s Facebook page. X. Agenda Items for Future Meeting Detention Pond Treatments, Bird Flu Resources, Municipal Codes Pertaining to Trees and other Plantings, Low Mow Spring and Summer, Review 2025 SAB Goals XI. Next Meeting is Monday, March 3rd, 2025 XII. Adjourn The board voted 5-0 to adjourn (Spanbauer/Reinke) Recorded by: Emma Dziengeleski, Assistant Planner