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| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Members present: Barbara Richards, Ted Kraig, Janet Meissner Pritchard, Supreme Moore Omokunde, Gorge Martin, Erick Shambarger, Nik Kovac, Pam Fendt and Julie Kersick (arrived at 3:10 P.M.)
Members excused: Pamela Ritger, Rafael Smith, Ayanna Lee and August Ball | | | |
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| | 2. | | Review and approval of the minutes of the December 10th meeting.
Minutes note: Ms. Richards moved for approval of the minutes. There were no objections. | | | |
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| | 3. | | Presentation by the Dept. of Public Works on its Resource Recovery and Recycling Efforts.
Minutes note: Ms. Samantha Longshore, Resource Recovery and Program Manager, said the city offers a materials recovery facility (MRF) with conjunction with Waukesha County. The site is on city property and the equipment at the site is co-owned. Under state law, every municpality in Wisconsin is required to operate a recycling progam. Currently the city diverts 25.7% of materials from the waste stream with a goal of 40% and has created a recycling program for small businesses as well as a pilot program for organics recycling with the intention of going city-wide. Currently homeowners must pay $12 per month to be part of the organics recycling pilot program for the city. Ms. Kersick said people are also now dumping yard waste in her neighborhood of 32nd and Juneau. The automation as the MRF facility sorts through the different items in the recycling stream. The revenue is down from recyclables as there are fewer markets for recyclables and there is a processing fee for recyclables. Ms. Meissner Pritchard asked if the city/county could grow a demand for its compost-rich dirt rather than paying a tipping fee for compost. Ms. Longshore said it needs to be convenient and easy for people to recycle, part of which is to provide more containers and on a standard schedule. There are also different levels of compost - compost to be used for growing food or to be used for landfill. Sites might be an issue for processing recyclables or compost. Mr. Shambarger didn't think there was a lot of support for ticketing folks who are putting recyclables in the garbage while Ald. Kovac thought going after businesses might be seen as anti-business although a scorecard could be set up for the use of plastic bags or if a business recycles. The Health Department is willing to pass out brochures on the Lake-Friendly Pledge for businesses not using plastic bags, styrofoam containers and the other environmentally friendly practices. Ms. Longshore thinks having the big businesses taking environmentally friendly practices and customer demand does make a difference.
Ms. Kersick said that the majority of renters don't recycle and it's way down on their list of priorities. Mr. Martin said the city and county have purchasing power to buy recycled products. Children may be the ones who are looking more at recycling and the future. There is one machine that can remove organic materials from the recycling materials, which isn't owned by the city. Mr. Kraig said the city may need to create incentives, such as "pay as you throw" to encourage recycling. Other Council members feel that charging for "pay as you throw" will lead to more dumping. Ms. Meissner Pritchard said that recycling makes people more reflective about their waste and hopes that will lead to decreased packaging and purchasing by consumers.
Ms. Fendt excused from the rest of the meeting at 4:00 P.M.
The Dept. of Public Works does have its education efforts and reaches out to new landlords.
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| | 4. | | Updates from existing work groups and possible formation of new work groups.
Minutes note: Mr. Shambarger said his two work groups will finalize some details for his work groups prior to the next meeting. For Finance and Funding Work Group, Mr. Kraig will create a potential funding document for the city to review to see what is possible under state law.
Mr. Martin asked to be adding to the following work groups: Jobs and Equity, Education and Outreach to the Community, Finance and Funding and Transportation when it is created.
The reports from the work groups need to be done by the end of February.
Mr. Martin is concerned as stakeholders, such as local corporations or universities, are not involved with the work groups. He would like to include who can be invited to the table, including WEEnergies. The plans of each work group can include a listing of who should be reached out to.
Jobs and Equity scheduled a Thursday meeting, but the agenda hasn't yet been received by the staff assistant for posting and E-Notify.
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| | 5. | | Creation of a core set of tasks and timetable to complete each task relating to the preliminary report.
Minutes note: Steering and Rules did approve a new resolution relating to the preliminary report within four months of the first meeting of the task force.
Mr. Kraig said he would like to each work group to have a report including these four items: 1. Findings (an assessment of what could be done and what other municipalities are doing and how to pay for these recommendations); 2. Planning recommendations (what the process looks like and who is involved); 3. Accountability and monitoring and engaging the public and community; and 4. Immediate projects, prior to adoption of the final report. The Task Force seemed supportive of this template for reports by the work groups.
Mr. Shambarger said a lot of work has been done by the city. Ms. Kersick suggested filling in the work group reports from the presentations from the Task Force. Ms. Meisnner Pritchard said this Task Force could provide a role in accountability and monitoring and raise the profile of what is happening and what needs to happen. The Task Force could ask, "Why isn't this happening?" and be more in the political arena.
Ms. Richards said the MMSD Resilience Plan has 3 visions with action points under each and on page 27 there are the top 6 risks facing the area. Ms. Richards feels her document would be a working template for reports by both the work groups and the task force. Her document lists all of the existing plans to use as bases for the work groups. The national NAACP plan would be useful for all work groups, per Ms. Richards.
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| | 6, | | Public Comment.
Minutes note: Bruce Wiggins - retired city planner. He sent a proposed plan to members that he knows. We need to know how we're making progress in order to achieve accountability. He would like to be a member of the Green House Gas Inventory work group.
Mr. Martin said that on the 20th there will be a program to honor youth climate activists, among others.
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| | 7. | | Set next meeting date and time.
Minutes note: The staff assistant will poll availability of members for the last week in 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. | | | |
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