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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CITY OF OSHKOSH SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD Minutes May 7,2018 PRESENT: Margy Davey, Michelle Bogden Muetzel, Lurton Blassingame,Jason Kalmbach, Pat Dwyer Hallquist,Vic Oliver EXCUSED: Robert Turner, Adam Maslowski, Tom Pech Jr. ABSENT: None STAFF AND OTHERS: Steven Wiley, Scott Williams (Oshkosh Media), Tom Ekvall,Mark Rohloff, John Ferris, Steve Cummings, Lori Palmeri, Steve Herman, Matt Mugeraur, Misty McPhee, Lynnsey Erickson, UWO Environmental Studies Seniors I. Call to Order Chair Margy Davey called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm and a quorum was declared present. II. Public Comment Chair Davey asked if there were any public comments. No one in the audience had any therefore no comments occurred. III. Approval of Minutes, March 5,2018 Chair Davey asked if any Board members had any revisions to the March meeting minutes. No board members had any comments so the board approved the minutes as written (Blassingame/Bogden- Muetzel). IV.UW-Oshkosh Environmental Studies Senior Seminar: Student Presentations to Common Council, SAB, City Staff and other Interested Parties Professor Misty McPhee asked Mr. Wiley to introduce her students. Wiley provided a short introduction for the class and the students then presented the work they had conducted during the semester. The class was divided into 4 groups: • Landscaping-Explained Oshkosh soil types, potential landscaping alternatives for parking areas, current regulations and proposed recommendations. The recommendations consisted of revisions to some of the current point allocations to the current Landscaping chapter of the Zoning Ordinance. The group presented case studies, costs and barriers that they thought were pertinent to the project. • Shorelines-Group explained their recommendation of vegetative buffer zones for all shoreline properties. They recommended buffer zones for city and residential properties. The group mentioned stakeholders they interviewed, case studies,barriers, costs and grants available. • Permeable Pavement-Explained their recommendation of requiring permeable pavement for a percentage of parking surface area. They explained some of the stakeholders they interviewed, costs and barriers. • Parking Lot Design-The group followed the same format that the other groups did by explaining the design changes and ordinance revisions they came up with based on their research. They explained their stakeholder interviews, the case studies they examined,barriers, costs and benefits. At the conclusion the students provided a short summary of their work,recommendations and the significance for sustainability in Oshkosh. They then asked for questions from the audience. SAB and Council members asked questions to the students and engaged in dialogue. The students clarified some of their methods and terminology for the audience. Councilor Palmeri asked students about whether they looked at total roof area in Oshkosh and mentioned that a good exercise would be to look at the success rate of Oshkosh's current permeable pavements. Councilor Mugeraur asked students if they were looking to completely redo the Landscaping chapter of the Zoning Ordinance. Students explained that the idea was to reallocate some possible points within the ordinance. Mayor Cummings asked students if they looked at any communities with similar bodies of water to Oshkosh. Students explained that some of the communities they looked at had large bodies of water and would be detailed in the final report. Mr. Kalmbach asked the students where they felt they could have the biggest impact and they stated that currently landscaping was the area they could impact sustainable efforts the greatest. V. Revisions to Urban Chickenkeeping and Beekeeping Ordinances-Discussion/Action Chair Davey asked Mr. Wiley to explain staff's recommended amendments to the chicken and beekeeping ordinances. Mr. Wiley explained that staff wanted to make the two ordinances consistent with one another. Instead of requiring interested property owners to obtain consent from adjacent property owners before raising chickens, the City would require notification similar to the beekeeping requirements. Wiley explained that currently the ordinance has no appeals provision if an abutting property owner fails to provide consent. Mr. Blassingame explained that he could understand the consent requirement and noise concerns with raising chickens. He stated that chickens raise more noise concerns than bees. Ms. Bogden Muetzel asked what issues staff was encountering when property owners approached to obtain chicken permits. Mr. Wiley explained that a property owner approached staff wanting to raise chickens but unable to obtain consent from one abutting property owner who held up the whole process. The property owner unwilling to provide consent feared his dogs would see the chickens. Chair Davey explained that the noise concerns with chickens were no greater than they were with dogs. Ms. Bogden Muetzel supported notification over consent requirements. After short additional discussion the board approved staff's recommended changes to the chicken ordinance 6-0 (Blassingame/Oliver). Mr. Wiley explained for the beekeeping ordinance a small text revision clarifying the distance between the hive entrance and flyway barrier. He also mentioned adjusting the flyway barrier diagram to ensure the distances on the diagram are consistent with the text of the ordinance. Mr. Wiley stated that staff was also considering changing the permitting period from January 1-December 31 to April - March 31. A property owner that stopped into planning had asked staff to consider the change because he was not sure if his bees would survive the remainder of the winter if he renewed his permit in January. Ms. Bogden Muetzel stated that she could see potential challenges for staff if the beekeeping permitting period was the only period separate from the normal January 1-December 31 period. Mr. Wiley explained that he had spoken with Planning Director Darryn Burich who did not see any issues from a staff standpoint. After short additional discussion,the board voted 6-0 to recommend adoption of the proposed changes to the ordinance (Bogden Muetzel/Kalmbach). 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 potential goals on the Scoresheet for 2018. Mr. Blassingame explained that the board should continue doing the plan update first and the plan update could reflect in the Scoresheet and vice versa. Ms. Bogden Muetzel concurred on prioritizing the plan update. Mr. Kalmbach also stated that the SAB should work on the plan update first and that he could help Mr. Wiley review the Scoresheet and find additional initiatives that are not currently marked on the Scoresheet. VII. Environmental Leadership Award-Update/Action Mr. Wiley explained that the SAB had worked with City Forester and Rotary Environmental Committee member Bill Sturm and Environmental Committee member Ken Friedman in March on refining the Environmental Leadership award draft. Mr. Wiley explained that minor changes were made and that the Rotary was looking for SAB to review and approve the draft. Chair Davey and Ms. Bogden Muetzel both asked about shifting the timeline down a month because SAB did not meet in April to review the draft. After discussion, the board decided that maintaining July 31S1 as the deadline for award nominations would still provide adequate time for submission of nominations. The board voted 6-0 to approve the draft and timeline as written (Blassingame/Oliver). VIII. Terrace Tree Proposal-Update/Action Mr. Wiley explained that he and City Forester Bill Sturm had worked on a draft of a terrace tree policy for the city for new street reconstructions. Mr. Wiley asked the board for comments. Mr. Kalmbach asked if the proposed draft memo was a formal request for city staff to provide a formal plan for a terrace tree policy. Mr. Wiley stated that it was. After discussion the board voted 6-0 to recommend the terrace tree policy recommendation(Blassingame/Bogden Muetzel). IX. 2018 Oshkosh Farmers Market Mr. Wiley explained that SAB had received their four Farmers Market dates for the summer. Chair Davey asked board members to volunteer and contact Mr. Wiley. X. Menominee Shoreland Restoration-Update Ms. Bogden Muetzel explained that this year they would skip the Growing Oshkosh Plant Sale but host an additional fundraising event Monday,June 251h, at Benvenudo's. Ms. Oliver explained that she told employees at Target and Target would help provide volunteers on May 261h to restore wood chips and maintain native grasses. Ms. Bogden Muetzel stated that on June 2nd the first full site trim would occur. XI.Agenda Items for Future Meeting Future items would include the Vehicle Idling proposal per Ms. Oliver's request, Mr. Blassingame's Economic Development and Land Use Sustainability Plan Chapters, Terrace Tree follow up and the environmental leadership award progress/action. XII. Next Meeting, Monday,April 2,2018 Chair Davey reminded everyone that the next SAB meeting would occur Monday,June 4,2018 at 6 pm. XIII.Adjourn The board voted 6-0 to adjourn at 7:55 pm (Blassingame/Dwyer Hallquist). Recorded by: Steven Wiley,Assistant Planner