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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.05.25 MinutesCITY OF OSHKOSH SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD Minutes May 5th, 2025 SAB PRESENT: Margy Davey, Lisa Moore, Jacob Klaameyer, Alyssa Reinke, Brad Spanbauer, Jaden Zurn, Paul Treder EXCUSED: Vic Oliver 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. James Ponzer; 402 Baldwin Ave, said that he came to speak to the board a few months ago regarding his concerns with retention pond management. He shared that he has not seen any fires or chemical spraying, and him and his neighbors are happy about it. He expressed thanks to the board for their work on this topic. III. Approval of Minutes, April 7th, 2025 Mr. Treder motioned to approve the minutes. Mr. Spanbauer seconded the motion. The board approved the April 7th minutes 7-0 (Treder/Spanbauer). IV. Sustainable Activities and Events Mr. Klaameyer shared a number of events with the board. On May 10th the Oshkosh Seed Savers is hosting a Plant Swap. On May 11th the Paine Art Center has free admission for Mother’s Day, and also on May 11th, there will be a Vintage Flea Market at the Mall of Antiques. On May 16th Bike to Work Day will be held at Opera House Square. On May 17th the Oshkosh North High Schools Communities students are hosting BikeOsh, and the Oshkosh Garden Club will be hosting a plant sale at the Oshkosh Public Museum. On May 20th there will be a slow roll bike event that is meeting at Becket’s. On May 22nd John Stewart will be doing a presentation on Climate Reality at the Oshkosh Public Library. Ms. Moore shared that John Stewart will also be attending the Oshkosh Kiwanis Club meeting at The Bar on May 20th, and on May 27th, WDNR Urban Forestry is also coming to the Oshkosh Kiwanis Club meeting at The Bar. Mr. Klaameyer gave a brief update on last month’s events. He shared that the Seed Savers seed swap and soil blocking party got several plants started, the bikepacking event also had a great turn out, and he saw a lot of people outside enjoying Earth Day. Mr. Spanbauer shared his Colligan Lecture went well and was very well attended. Mr. Klaameyer shared that the Urban Ecology Bio Blitz and Foraging Event had a great turn out and they participated in the city nature challenge which is a worldwide biodiversity survey. He also shared that the Repair Café had 80 people attend and roughly two thirds of the items were fixed. Ms. Reinke shared that the Fox Wolf Watershed Clean Up went well and they had over 1,850 people register across the basin picking up trash. Ms. Davey shared that she listened to a program at the Cogland Center about neonicotinoids. V. Agenda Topic Reminder Ms. Dziengeleski reminded the board that if they would like to add something to the agenda, that they get her that information at least a week prior to the agenda going out. She further explained that that would allow staff to discuss the proposed topic internally, and then that topic would potentially be added to the agenda topics for future meetings for the board to then decide if they would like to pursue and discuss at a future meeting. She also added that the Attorney’s office created a series of videos on the rules for Boards and Commissions and she will send that out to the group to review if interested. Mr. Spanbauer asked for clarification on the timeframe. Ms. Dziengeleski said two weeks prior to the formal meeting, or about a week before the agenda goes out. VI. Summer Farmers Market Ms. Dziengeleski shared the best dates for everyone from the Doodle Poll results. There was some discussion amongst the board one what dates they would prefer. Ms. Davey added that doing themes was discussed in the past, and she was wondering if the board wanted to do that again this year. The consensus of the board was to try for June 21st, August 9th or August 16th, and October 11th for the best dates. VII. Composting Ms. Moore shared that she had a conversation with the Dane County Waste and Renewable Program about the Composting Program they have started for residential communities within Dane County. She further explained that the Purple Cow Composting site is open and has stations where the communities can bring food waste, but also their local waste service picks up and brings it to the Purple Cow site. She said that they currently have the space to take on more composting, so she is wondering if the board would like to start the conversation to see if collaboration is possible for Oshkosh, Winnebago County, other surrounding communities, and potentially Dane County. Mr. Zurn asked if there was any data from community use of the biodigester. Mr. Spanbauer responded with the biodigester was not primarily receiving food waste from the residents. He said they were mostly taking material from farmers, food canning companies, and a few commercial scale sources. Mr. Treder asked what the capacity of the biodigester is? Mr. Spanbauer said that when it was running at maximum capacity, it was processing about 10,000 tons of organic material annually. Ms. Davey shared that unlike Oshkosh; a lot of communities contract out their waste services. Therefore, she said that maybe resident would be willing to pay more for composting services. Mr. Spanbauer asked if the idea was to create a pilot program for residential pick up that is then transported to the Dane County site. Ms. Moore said that yes, that is the starting point as she is not aware of any locations in Winnebago County that is taking composting currently. Mr. Spanbauer said that this may an opportunity to see if this could be done locally as well. Ms. Moore said that she sees a working group doing research and going through the documents provided by Dane County will be a helpful first step. She then followed up with getting guidance from the city if this is something SAB and the city can take on, or if this is something that would need to be done separate of SAB. Ms. Reinke shared that from a stormwater point of view, getting a composting permit from the DNR is a large task, regardless of the scale of composting that is occurring. Ms. Davey mentioned having Winnebago County Solid Waste speak at a future meeting. She also shared that she believes there is a drop off spot in Appleton. Mr. Spanbauer asked if Winnebago County residents can bring their waste to the Outagamie County Facility. Ms. Davey responded that she believes so, based on the Tri-County partnership. Mr. Zurn and Ms. Reinke would like to see what the demand is for Winnebago County. Ms. Moore asked if this is a question that can be asked on the public survey for the Sustainability Plan. Mr. Zurn asked if this is something that they could poll at a Farmers Market. Mr. Spanbauer asked if the city has requirements or policies on how data or surveys are collected. Ms. Dziengeleski said she would look into it and get back to the board with that information. Mr. Klaameyer brought up why they are just focusing on residential composting. Ms. Moore said that this can be open to anyone to bring in their food scraps. Mr. Klaameyer said that this is a problem that the community is facing even though we do not have composting services right now as the amount of food scraps add up over time. The issue is creating more waste in the landfill, and if it is not properly being disposed of, it can create methane gas which is a huge greenhouse gas emitter. He shared that when taken care of properly, it can help reduce carbon emissions and create a great fertilizer. He would like this handled locally and not sent out elsewhere to be someone else’s issue. Ms. Moore reiterated that she brought the idea of a pilot program up as Purple Cow does have availability currently. Mr. Spanbauer said that he feels this is a great topic to explore more, and sees this as an opportunity to provide information for homeowners explaining the right and the wrong way to go about composting. Ms. Reinke shared that last year Winnebago County held and event where residents could buy composting bins. She is curious if there is any data on the interest from that event. Ms. Dziengeleski said she would reach out to Kelly Reyer from Winnebago County to see if she would be available to speak at the June meeting. VIII. Bulk Pick Up Ms. Reinke said that she wanted to see what the options are for bulk waste within the City of Oshkosh. She said she understands you can do bulk pick up at your house for a fee, or you could pay a fee for bulk drop off. Ms. Dziengeleski shared that some of the recognized Neighborhood Associations do use their funding to coordinate dumpster days to allow neighbors to get rid of their bulk waste. She shared that a lot of times neighborhood creation comes from residents who have a similar issue or idea they want to address, so if anyone in the board would like to go that direction, that is an option. Ms. Reinke said she wants to acknowledge that there are options for Neighborhood Associations, but she would like to look into resources for bulk waste community wide. Mr. Zurn asked if there is an issue with the disposal of bulk items. Ms. Moore said that she sees the issue around the city especially if residents do not have a truck or trailer to properly dispose of these items. She would like to explore the cost and resources to see if this can be possible for all residents. Mr. Spanbauer said he thinks this is another topic that may require some survey work to figure see what the demand is, what services people know about, et. cetera. Ms. Davey said that this is another topic that is going to require some research prior to recommending any sort of option. She asked if this is something the board wanted to take on at the same as composting. Ms. Moore said she feels the research will be similar between the two topics. IX. Sustainability Related Plans Update Ms. Dziengeleski said that staff has been working with the Sustainability Plan consultant, GRAEF, at finding some dates at the end of May to hold public engagement sessions. She also shared that the Comprehensive Energy Plan consultant, paleBLUEdot, is still gathering water usage/wastewater data. Ms. Davey asked if the public engagement sessions for the Sustainability Plan will be in person. Ms. Dziengeleski responded yes, and said that they are currently looking at hosting a late morning, afternoon, and evening session. X. Agenda Items for Future Meeting Ms. Dziengeleski said she is hopeful in providing the board with some WLGCC updates soon, she just has not had the chance to compile all that information yet. Ms. Davey added that having Winnebago County Solid Waste do a presentation composting and bulk waste would be ideal. Ms. Reinke would like to see looking into potential survey options and also figuring out themes for the Farmers Market. Mr. Klaameyer said he would like to share seasonal species or seasonal sustainability spotlights. Ms. Moore said she liked the idea of seasonal spotlights and has seen other communities include different educational components in their meetings. XI. Next Meeting is Monday, June 2nd, 2025 XII. Adjourn The board voted 7-0 to adjourn (Reinke/Spanbauer) Recorded by: Emma Dziengeleski, Assistant Planner