City of Lawrence                                         

Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB)

August 13, 2008 (5:30 PM) Meeting Minutes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Chris Cobb, Paul Dietz, Dickie Heckler, Sarah Hill-Nelson, Matt Lehrman, Daniel Poull, Laura Routh, Simran Sethi, Brian Sifton

 

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Cindy Strecker

STAFF PRESENT:

Tammy Bennett, Kathy Richardson

 

GUESTS PRESENT:

 

PUBLIC PRESENT:

 

 

 

Call Meeting to Order (Daniel Poull, Chairperson)

Take Roll Call to Determine Quorum of Members

 

Approval of meeting Minutes

 

Motion and second to approve the July 9, 2008 minutes (Heckler/Routh).

Vote: Motion was passed unanimously.

 

Discuss Presentation of Recycling Survey to City

 

Board members received the latest version of the Recycling/Pay as You Throw memo which Laura Routh emailed out yesterday. There was discussion about including a stronger recommendation of waste reduction through focused outreach and education. There were also discussions on the timing of this memo/presentation to the City Commission, the economics of the recommendations, and the possibility of focusing only on Pay as You Throw. In addition, Board members summarized the roundtable meeting discussions for SAB members who were absent at that meeting.

 

Tammy Bennett commented that it would benefit the Board to define what the goal is. SAB discussed and agreed to define their goal as 50 by 15 (50% recycling rate by 2015).

 

Action: Laura Routh will re-write the Recycling/Pay as You Throw memo to include: waste reduction as a priority, a clear definition of the goal, a highlight of the recycling survey results and SAB’s recommendations to the City Commission. This memo will serve as a supporting document for SAB’s presentation to the City Commission.

 

Action: Brian Sifton will draft and deliver the presentation for the City Commission meeting on Tuesday, September 16th. Brian will e-mail a draft of the presentation to all Board members by September 1st.

 

Motion and second to approve the edited Recycling/Pay as You Throw memo and City Commission presentation via e-mail (Sethi/Lehrman).

Vote: Motion was passed unanimously.

 

 

Lawrence Electronic Recycling Event

 

Kathy Richardson reported that the Lawrence Electronic Recycling Event will be on Saturday, September 13th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. The new location for this event is the Free State High School parking lot. Electronic recycling will be provided by Asset LifeCycle.

 

Paul Dietz and Brian Sifton signed up to volunteer at this event. Brian will also ask KU Environs members if they would like to volunteer.

 

Discuss Upcoming Goals Setting Session

 

All SAB members agreed to fill out the following questions prior to the Goals Setting Session:

 

Survey Questions:

Why did you want to join the SAB Board?

What do you hope Lawrence will be like in 10 years?

What is your worst fear for the future?

What should the main strategic goals be for this board?

What values do we share?

What can we accomplish in the next 12 to 24 months?

What is your personal definition of sustainability and how do you feel sustainability should be addressed by the SAB?

 

Action: SAB members will answer survey questions and submit electronically to Kathy Richardson by September 1st. Kathy will e-mail survey answers to SAB prior to the Goals Setting Session.

 

SAB members also agreed to invite Stakeholders to submit comments on sustainability to the Board prior to the Goals Setting Session on September 10th via sab@ci.lawrence.ks.us.

 

Action: Simran Sethi will draft the e-mail inviting Stakeholders to comment on sustainability. Kathy Richardson will send out the email and will keep track of all comments as they come in. Kathy will email Stakeholder comments to SAB prior to the Goals Setting Session.

 

Action: Kathy Richardson will draft the Press Release to invite Stakeholder comments on sustainability. The City’s Communication Office will send out the Press Release.

 

Lawrence Energy Conservation Fair

 

Minutes from the Lawrence Energy Conservation Fair team meetings have been e-mailed to SAB per SAB’s request. Kathy Richardson reported that staff updated the event information on the City’s website, created a new online registration form for exhibitors and sponsors, finalized the event logo which Pilgrim Page designed, and updated the contacts on the Energy Fair database. Staff is working on finalizing the Save the Date postcards.

 

It was suggested that there be a keynote speaker the week prior to the Energy Fair. Keynote speakers suggestions were Lt. Governor Mark Parkinson, Nancy Jackson from the Climate and Energy Project, and/or Bob Berkebile. SAB asked if there was a budget for speakers. Kathy informed SAB that advertising and any event expenses are paid by exhibitor fees and sponsorship dollars. Kathy tried contacting the local Wal-Mart store manager regarding sponsorship levels. The store manager said he would need to check with the home office. Kathy also reported that she contacted Cathy Lewis from the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce regarding sponsorship levels. Sarah Hill-Nelson said she would follow up with the Chamber of Commerce.

 

Peak Oil Presentation

 

Daniel Poull reported that the Peak Oil Presentation to the City Commission went well. One of the presenters commented that Peak Oil is not an environmental issue it’s an economic issue. Daniel announced that the Mayor requested to schedule a meeting (TBA) to continue the discussion of Peak Oil with SAB members, the Lawrence Sustainability Action Network and the City Manager. Daniel is committed to attend the meeting but requested that others from SAB attend. Paul Dietz, Chris Cobb, Brian Sifton, Matt Lehrman and Simran Sethi all volunteered to attend this meeting.

 

Action on the “T”

 

What happened to The T memo which Paul Dietz drafted on behalf of the Board? SAB discussed the missed opportunity to have a voice on The T issue. The final memo was not sent to the City Commission. SAB debated whether they should submit a new memo to the City Commission. SAB recognized that they need to be better at following through with action items from meetings and at responding quickly to timely issues. This is something that the board will discuss at the Goals Setting Session. A suggestion discussed for future meetings is to spend the first ten minutes talking about the hot topics or “emergency” topics.

 

2007 Annual Recycling Report and Waste Reduction & Recycling Report

 

SAB received a copy of the 2007 Annual Recycling Report (attached). Kathy Richardson emailed the WRR Report to SAB last night (attached).

 

Climate Protection Task Force Update

 

Simran Sethi reported that the Climate Protection Task Force (CPTF) has established timelines/deadlines. CPTF will present the proposed plan to the City Commissioners in March 2009. The document will be approximately 10 pages long. Each workgroup will submit two pages for their topic area and there will be introduction and conclusion page.

 

Guest comments and miscellaneous

 

Daniel Poull reported that he received a call from a Lawrence Journal World reporter who informed him that there is now a new Green Section on LJWorld.com.

 

Laura Routh announced that the TIF-TDD is on the City Commission Agenda.

 

 

Meeting adjourned 7:50 p.m.

 

Next meeting: October 8, 2008 at 5:30 pm

 

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