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| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 2:04 P.M.
Members present: Ald. Nik Kovac, Sup. Supreme Moore Omokunde, Pam Fendt, Barbara Richards, Erick Shambarger, Rafael Smith, Pamela Ritger and Ted Kraig,
Members excused: August Ball, Janet Meissner Pritchard, Julie Kersick, George Martin and Ayanna Lee, | | | |
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| | 2. | | Review and approval of the minutes of the November 26th meeting.
Minutes note: Ms. Richards moved for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. | | | |
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| | 3. | | Presentation by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District on its Resilience Plan.
Minutes note: Nadyia Vogt present for MMSD. She said that Resilience Plan was adopted in July by MMSD and was created over a two-year period. MMSD serves 28 municipalities over 411 square miles and focuses on water reclamation (cleaning dirty water) and managing flooding. Due to climate changes, there is more rainfall in spring and fall and the warmer winters mean more rain and less snow. Elected officials, nonprofits and businesses worked together to create the plan. MMSD already detailed actions that need to be addressed in the report organized into three vision areas (improve public participation, job creates and access to equal opportunities and adapting infrastructure). The plan is an attachment in file 191039.
Ald. Kovac would like the work group to look at MMSD, the city and the county's resident preference participation goals and see where they differ. Ms. Vogt thought the city's and MMSD's goals were very similar. Ms Vogt would like the task force to review the different actions and move into implementation of some of those.
Supervisor Moore Omokunde excused from the rest of the meeting at 3:05 P.M. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Updates from existing work groups and possible formation of new work groups.
Minutes note: Mr. Shambarger said that the Emissions Assessment and Inventory Work Group had a good discussion. The city has money to bring, but the county has not yet committed funding. They will be looking at scope 1 and 2 emissions - scope 1 is confined to one geographic area and scope 2 is where the emissions are being generated. They are recommending hiring a contractor using an existing City contract with AECOM so that a new RFP does not need to be generated, in order to complete the inventory in a more timely manner. We will look at community GHG emissions for the geographic boundary of the City of Milwaukee, including County and City facilities. If they County identifies funding, we can look at the geographic boundaries of Milwaukee County as an add-on. Ms. Linda Frank said there will be further discussion about follow-up tracking and a baseline inventory will be created and figure out how to track emissions in the future so it is calculated in the same manner year after year.
No other work groups have met yet. One is scheduled to meet on the 17th.
Ms. Richards would like to create a Vulnerability Work Group that would like at risk assessment and how risk is dealt with. Mr. Shambarger said that the city recently updated its document on risk assessment. Pamela Ritger also agreed to serve on this work group.
Solid waste and transportation might be work groups for the future; Rick Meyers could also present in the future - he was the recycling coordinator. The staff assistant will contact him to see when he is available.
Ms. Ritger thought having a transportation work group made sense. Mr. Smith agreed and that will be discussed at the next meeting.
Mr. Shambarger said the Wisconsin legislature is considering eliminating a residential PACE financing program for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and lead pipe replacement. The city isn't using this program, but that does eliminate that option. There is also new climate legislation proposed, which he is currently reviewing. He thinks this task force should be aware of the rapidly moving policy changes.
Ald. Kovac provided members with a map of owner-occupied housing, which will be added to the file. Ms. Ritger said that there is also federal data from 2015 on the financial burden to residents of energy costs. Ms. Ritger will e-mail this data to Mr. Knapp and Mr. Osterman will map this data.
Mr. Shambarger said there are a lot of programs out there for energy efficiency programs for residential customers but most are not at the scale needed. He said other city housing programs are more focused on helping homes meet code requirements, not energy efficiency, but there’s opportunity for more coordination.
There is also new climate legislation proposed, which he is currently reviewing. He thinks this task force should be aware of the rapidly moving policy changes.
Ald. Kovac provided members with a map of owner-occupied housing, which will be added to the file. Ms. Ritger said that there is also federal data from 2015 on the financial burden to residents of energy costs. Ms. Ritger will e-mail this data to Mr. Knapp and Mr. Osterman will map this data.
Mr. Shambarger said there are a lot of programs out there for energy efficiency programs for residential customers and questioned to what extent is energy-efficiency being prioritized or is it merely a matter of meeting code requirements?
[Ms. Ariana Hones, an organizer with Wisconsin Conservation Voters (an environmental advocacy and policy non profit) and a member of Milwaukee Equity and Climate Alliance, asked via Ms. Elmer to be added to both the Education and Outreach and the Jobs and Equity work groups. Both chairs agreed to her addition.]
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| | 5. | | Discussion relating to declaring a climate emergency by the county and the city.
Minutes note: Ms. Linda Frank, Milwaukee Equity and Climate Alliance, said that it's important for this task force to declare a climate emergency in order to accomplish the goals of this task force. There is further information on how to mobilize and a local government resolution template in the file (file 191039). She thought the main emphasis should be on the call for mobilization in the resolution and a10-year action plan. Ald. Kovac thought that organizing future activities around the crisis could become the top recommendation of the task force. The Education and Outreach to the Community Work Group can work on crafting an emergency declaration resolution as well as resolutions from other cities. She suggested creating a 10-year mobilization plan and someone in the city to have the responsibility to monitor the plan, which Mr. Shambarger feels is under the purview of the Environmental Collaboration Office. Ms. Ritger sees no downside to declaring an emergency, as did Mr. Smith. | | | |
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| | 6. | | Discussion of possible timeline.
Minutes note: This item was taken up first on the agenda due to Pres. Hamilton's schedule. Pres. Hamilton said that this body should keep the political terms in mind as right now there is support for this body, but that may change in the future with the upcoming elections next year. He asked if it were possible to submit a preliminary report in early March with the understanding that a final report will be forthcoming, but no deadline set. Ms. Richards concurred, as did Ms. Ritger. President Hamilton said he saw this task force as a means to fill a void in leadership as well as leading to institutional change.
The task force will present a preliminary report in March with no set deadline for ending.
There will be a presentation by Mr. Shambarger on a report detailing how green cities already are. | | | |
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| | 7. | | Visioning for the Task Force.
Minutes note: Ms. Richards asked how this plan is brought before the community so that people want to be a part of it. What city and society will be created as a result of this task force? She would suppport having this be part of the Education and Outreach to the Community Work Group. Ms. Richards recommended members read Climate: a New Story by Charles Eisenstein (published in 2018). | | | |
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| | 8. | | Public comment.
Minutes note: Michael Cummings - he thinks the mayor needs to announce a climate crisis. The areas of major food production are in the center of continents, not near the oceans, so that is good. He feels we'll be dying from starvation, not heat or cold. He also thinks we are not prepared for the upcoming catastrophes relating to climate changes. He also thinks this task force needs to have an actual scientist as a member of this body.
Eric Hanson - author and activist - in the Pacific Northwest there is the Safe Energy Leadership Alliance composed of 150 government officials and their reports/experiences might be of use to this body. He thinks we should organize even beyond the county boundaries.
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| | 9. | | Set next meeting date and time.
Minutes note: The next meeting will be at 3:00 in early January. | | | |
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191039
| 0 | | Communication | Communication relating to the preliminary report and activities of the City-County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity. | | | |
Action details
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