City of Lawrence

Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB)

November 14, 2012 minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:	Boog Highberger, Sarah Hill-Nelson, Matt Lehrman, Chad Luce, Dale Nimz, Kathleen Nuckolls, Megan Poindexter, Andrea Repinsky, Ian Spomer, Scott White
MEMBERS ABSENT:
STAFF PRESENT:	Tammy Bennett, Eileen Horn, Kathy Richardson
PUBLIC PRESENT:

Call Meeting to Order (Chad Luce, Chair person)

Take roll call to determine quorum of members.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

Motion and second to approve the October 10, 2012 minutes (White/Poindexter).

Vote: Motion was passed unanimously.

Staff Reports

Kathy Richardson discussed program updates included in the Waste Reduction and Recycling Division report and highlighted the recent electronic recycling event success. She also mentioned staff will be at the Lawrence Public Library tomorrow distributing recycling brochures and fun giveaways in celebration of America Recycles Day. In addition, an update on the Request for Proposals (RFP) for a city-wide, single-stream residential curbside collection service was shared with SAB. Proposals were due October 26^th. The RFP Selection Committee includes Commissioner Aron Cromwell, Dave Corliss, the City Manager, Ed Mullins, the City’s Finance Director, and two members who served on the Solid Waste Task Force, Joe Harkins and Daniel Poull. Proposal interviews will be held on December 4^th.

Tammy Bennett gave an update on the trash cart implementation program. All trash carts were delivered by the City’s vendor. The Solid Waste Division is now working on approximately 1,000 work orders (delivering carts to addresses that did not receive one, switching carts for customers who requested a smaller or larger cart, etc.). Yard waste carts are now available to residents for purchase ($60 each). The order form and additional information are available online at http://lawrenceks.org/wrr/yardwastecarts.

Eileen Horn addressed all items on the Sustainability Coordinator report and discussed the Green Business Leaders Program which was developed by the City of Lawrence, Westar Energy, the Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Lawrence to help downtown Lawrence businesses save energy and money. The pilot program will launch in 2013. The application form and additional program information are available online at http://www.lawrenceks.org/green-business-leaders.

SAB Upcoming Vacancies

Chad Luce, Sarah Hill-Nelson, Megan Poindexter, and Andrea Repinsky will be off the board after December 2012. Dale Nimz and Ian Spomer would like to be re-appointed another term starting January 2013.

The SAB discussed possible candidates for the board to fill the upcoming vacancies. Sarah Hill-Nelson will reach out to Scott Trettel and Jason Dremsa to see if they are interested in serving on SAB and she also mentioned Laura Routh, a previous SAB member, is interested in serving again. Dale Nimz will contact Michael Morley. Boog Highberger mentioned Adam Richie is interested and completed the online volunteer form. Matt Lehrman will contact Daniel Poull to see if he is interested in serving again and if not maybe he could recommend a citizen who served on the Douglas County Local Food Policy Council.

Miscellaneous Announcements and/or Public Comments

Sarah Hill-Nelson encouraged SAB to submit a letter to the City Commission proposing sustainability features for the design/construction of the proposed new recreation center in northwest Lawrence. SAB members agreed and discussed elements including Gold level LEED certification, stormwater management plans (permeable surface for parking lot), and geothermal heat-pump system.

Motion and second for Megan Poindexter to write the SAB letter to the City Commission proposing sustainability elements in the design/construction of the proposed new recreation center and for Chad Luce to approve and send the letter to the Commissioners (Luce/Spomer).

Vote: Motion was passed unanimously.

Dale Nimz informed SAB he attended the Sustainability Conference hosted by Kansas State University which had great attendance (approximately 60 participants). He added that he would like SAB to consider hosting an event that shows films (Carbon Nation, The Greenest Building, and Simran Sethi’s “Why and how do we engage?” TED talk) possibly at Liberty Hall. A partner for this event may be KU Sustainability Center. Dale Nimz will contact Jeff Severin with KU and follow up with SAB. Sarah Hill-Nelson mentioned Bowersock would be interested in partnering.

Sarah Hill-Nelson informed SAB she attended the Governor’s Conference on the Future of Water in Kansas. Discussion focused on the state’s highest priority water resource challenges including conserving and extending the Ogallala Aquifer and securing and restoring storage in the water supply reservoirs.

Sarah Hill-Nelson also mentioned there will be a public open house of the new Bowersock building sometime in December and she will keep SAB posted.

Tammy Bennett asked if SAB would like to coordinate a potluck for the December board meeting. Board members agreed to have a potluck at the next meeting.

SAB members discussed nominations for 2013 SAB officers as follows: Scott White for Chair, Dale Nimz for Vice-Chair, and Ian Spomer for Secretary. At the next board meeting, SAB will elect the 2013 SAB officers.