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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CITY OF OSHKOSH SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD Minutes March 5,2018 PRESENT: Michelle Bogden Muetzel, Lurton Blassingame, Adam Maslowski,Jason Kalmbach, Robert Turner, Pat Dwyer Hallquist,Vic Oliver EXCUSED: Margy Davey, Tom Pech Jr. ABSENT: None STAFF AND OTHERS: Steven Wiley, Scott Williams (Oshkosh Media), Bill Sturm, Ken Friedman, Alicia Alsberg, Tom Ekvall I. Call to Order Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm and a quorum was declared present. II. Public Comment Ms. Alsberg asked the board if any of the members were familiar with Green and Healthy Schools. Ms. Dwyer Hallquist had heard of the initiative. Ms. Alsberg stated that the initiative measures energy and water use and progress. She stated that Traeger was one school engaged in the initiative and Smith was also enrolled in Green and Healthy Schools. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel and Mr. Blassingame asked who was in charge of the Green and Healthy Schools initiative and stated that it might benefit the SAB to bring whomever is in charge in to speak to the board. III. Approval of Minutes,December 4,2017, and February 5,2018 Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel asked the board if any members had any comments on the minutes from December 4th, 2017. No board members had any comments or revisions so she asked for a motion to approve the December 4th, 2017 minutes. Motion carried 7-0 (Blassingame/Turner). Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel then asked if board members had any comments or revisions for the February 51h, 2018 minutes. No board members had any comments on the February 5th, 2018 minutes so Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel asked for a motion to approve these minutes. Motion carried 7-0 (Turner/Oliver). IV. UW-Oshkosh Environmental Studies Senior Seminar: Final Reports from Fall, Green Infrastructure Audit for Spring-Discussion/Action Mr. Wiley mentioned that City Forester Sturm was in attendance to discuss his view of the Terrace Tree proposal the students completed in the Fall. Vice Chair Bodgen Muetzel asked Mr. Sturm to share his view of this proposal. Mr. Sturm stated that the student proposal addresses the planting of new terrace trees as streets are reconstructed. Mr. Blassingame asked if trees removed during street reconstruction processes are replaced with the same trees. Mr. Sturm stated that no they are not necessarily and that it is more of a judgement call that he makes as to the types of trees planted. Mr. Sturm explained that the students examined funding ideas and that tree costs are a nominal amount compared to the overall project costs. Mr. Sturm explained that the North Main Street Bungalow District was an example of good project aesthetics. Mr. Sturm explained that project or neighborhood specific assessments were easier to implement for project funding rather than spreading the costs for terrace tree projects city wide. Ms. Dwyer Hallquist asked if the cost per tree was$50 to$100. Mr. Sturm stated that if the costs were spread throughout the neighborhood they were even more nominal. Mr. Sturm stated that the tree costs might be .5% of the overall project costs. Mr. Blassingame asked if the city was factoring in the costs of trees for the new roads proposed near the proposed Oshkosh Corporation headquarters. Mr. Sturm stated that he believed so. Mr. Kalmbach asked if residents could opt out if they did not want trees. Mr. Sturm stated that he notified residents in advance and that yes residents could opt out from receiving trees in front of their properties. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel asked if the terrace tree proposal would make more sense as a policy rather than an ordinance. Mr. Sturm stated that at this point it could consist of a policy. Mr. Sturm stated that the policy would be through the Capital Improvements program. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel and Mr. Blassingame asked what Mr. Sturm needed from the board. Mr. Sturm asked for a recommendation from the SAB. He then stated that he and Mr. Wiley could reference the study the students did work together to draft a memo or proposal for the next SAB meeting. The board unanimously voted to advance the Terrace Tree proposal. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel then asked about the Bike Friendly Community proposal. Mr. Wiley explained that he had talked to the staff liaison for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and that the Bike/Ped Committee was prioritizing the Pedestrian and Bicycle Circulation Plan Update at the present time and saw the Bike Friendly status as a longer term goal. Mr. Wiley stated that this would still be one of the easier student proposals to implement. Ms. Oliver then mentioned that she liked the vehicle idling proposal but that she was not sure if the board should focus on it. Mr. Kalmbach proposed baby steps of starting with schools and educating to discourage idling there. Ms. Dwyer Hallquist asked if there were data on school bus and car idling on school property. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel proposed the idea of an educational piece for the school district. She and Ms. Oliver agreed that it would be beneficial to contact the school district. Mr. Wiley then briefly explained the Green Infrastructure Audit and that the Spring semester class was working on this with him. V.January 91h,2018 SAB Workshop and 2018 Goal Setting-Update and Action Mr. Wiley asked the board for a decision on whether to renew the city's ICLEI membership for 2018. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel reiterated that the board would have to invest significant time and effort to pursue Milestone 3 of ICLEL She stated that in her view perhaps renewing ICLEI for the current year might not be the best option. Mr. Turner stated that he felt many of the SAB goals already worked towards Milestone 3 of ICLEI anyway. The board voted 7-0 to table the city's ICLEI membership until a future date when the board could pick the ICLEI milestones back up and pursue them (Oliver/Blassingame). The board then looked at the other goals on the 2018 goal sheet and discussed doing a potential rain barrel workshop with the board's resources. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel asked Mr. Wiley to send out a doodle poll to potential volunteers on the board to determine their availability to participate in a workshop. For the Recycling/Clean Up goal, Mr. Turner stated that the board should contact the Farmers Market. He stated that recently the organizers had been resistant to hosting blue recycling bins. Ms. Alsberg stated that the organizers informed her that volunteers had spent much time sorting the recycling at the market. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel asked about adding more recycling bins in the city and Ms. Oliver stated that yes the Farmers Market could help achieve this by serving as an initial educational venue. Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel stated that the Recycling/Clean Up goal should go into the Sustainability Plan as part of the plan update. Mr. Turner mentioned the possibility of Main Street businesses sponsoring the bins. He and Ms. Oliver asked Mr. Wiley to find out the cost the City would charge for having a bin. VI. WI Green Tier Scoresheet-Action Mr. Wiley explained the Green Tier Scoresheet and that it had come before the board in 2017 after Oshkosh joined the Green Tier Legacy Communities but that the board had not established goals for 2018. Mr. Wiley asked the board to consider goals for 2018. Board members examined the Scoresheet and explained a few initiatives on the sheet that could be updated since the City had recently started to do them. Mr. Wiley stated that he would update the Scoresheet and that it really allows the board to establish a baseline and track the city's progress on sustainable initiatives. VII. 2018 Oshkosh Farmers Market-Update Mr. Wiley explained that he had completed the renewal form for the SAB booth at the Farmers Market and submitted the paperwork. He stated that the organizers had confirmed receipt of the paperwork but that he had not yet received confirmation of the dates. He stated that he would update the SAB once the organizers had confirmed the booth location and dates. VIII. Menominee Shoreland Restoration-Update Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel explained that she was planning to have a meeting to coordinate for the Menominee Shoreland Restoration project. She explained that the meeting was to occur on Thursday, March 151h at 6:30 pm at 783 Pearl Avenue. She asked anyone interested in attending to RSVP or send her an email. IX.Environmental Leadership Award-Potential Update/Discussion Mr. Wiley explained that the working committee of SAB members, Mr. Friedman, and Mr. Sturm had worked on the award before the meeting. Mr. Wiley stated that to follow up he would send out the updated award proposal to the SAB. X. Live Green Update Mr. Wiley explained that the organizers at Silver Star were planning to postpone the Live Green event to 2019 due to time constraints trying to organize for 2018. He stated that their goal was to get more of their employees to the event and more people from the public there also. The organizers had wanted more time to plan the event rather than rush through with it. XI.Agenda Items for Future Meeting Future items would include the Vehicle Idling proposal per Ms. Oliver's request, SAB goals, Terrace Tree follow up, and the environmental leadership award progress/action. XII. Next Meeting, Monday,April 2,2018 Vice Chair Bogden Muetzel reminded everyone of the upcoming next SAB meeting for April 2, 2018. XIII.Adjourn The board voted 7-0 to adjourn at 7:13 pm (Blassingame/Turner). Recorded by: Steven Wiley,Assistant Planner