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| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 2:33 P.M.
Members present: Linda Frank, Sup. Marcelia Nicholson, Erick Shambarger, Nik Kovac, Erick Shambarger, Pam Ritger, Janet Meissner Pritchard, Pam Fendt, Ted Kraig and Rafael Smith
Members excused: Julie Kerksick, Supreme Moore Omokunde and Freida Webb | | | |
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| | 2. | | Review and approval of the minutes of July 7th.
Minutes note: Ms. Frank moved to correct by adding the "R" to DRER under item #7. Linda Frank moved to accept. There were no objections. | | | |
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| | 3. | | Decision on future meetings format (in-person, virtual or hybrid)
Minutes note: Members wished to continue virtual at this time due to the Delta variant. | | | |
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| | 4. | | Update from work groups and add/remove members.
Minutes note: Jobs and Equity - Mr. Shambarger said the mayor had his proposal for a $2.7 million clean energy jobs package, which includes recruitment and outreach, paid apprenticeships, phase 2 planning for green jobs in manufacturing and working with training providers.
Ald. Kovac would like to have lead abatement in homes for which energy efficiencies are being done as well as combine that with an employment/jobs training element. Mr. Shambarger said he has been talking with the Health Dept. to have a program similar to Green and Healthy Homes (https://www.greenandhealthyhomes.org/home-and-health/) and a $10,000 contract will be issued.
One public concern is that absentee, wealthy landlords receive upgraded properties at public expense, but it does make a safer and healthier environment for everyone. Mr. Smith agreed that subsidizing is better than leaving a public hazard. Ms. Ritger said having a contractor with Green and Healthy Homes will allow them to access their expertise in integrating lead abatement and environmental efficiency.
Sup. Nicholson said that the county has created a task force to make recommendations for the use of ARPA money. She can work on getting Task Force priorities brought to the attention of the Task Force and encourages members to attend the public meetings relating to ARPA funds.
Ald. Kovac noted the city and county need to commit to funding of the work itself, not just training. Ms Fendt said that it's a definite benefit to be able to pay someone during training and there is a need to ensure that jobs created through ARPA funds will be retained post-ARPA funds by private companies. Ms. Fendt said that where people live is not just a private decision; it has public health ramifications. She thinks there are employers who are looking for contractors certified for lead abatement work.
Ald. Kovac said only half of the ARPA funds can be spent the first year, so it's at a minimum a two-year project. The earliest for Council review would be Sept. 1 or during September. Members of the task force are welcome to e-mail him funding suggestions.
Mr. Shambarger is concerned that some of the suggestions from the work groups that are still forthcoming may not be advanced just due to timing.
Ald. Kovac noted that there is no standard process for this unique ARPA situation and the funding.
Education and Outreach - Jennifer Evans moved to remove Stephanie Mercado. There were no objections.
Green Buildings - Ms. Ritger said good progress is being made within the three sub-groups. They are talking about mandatory commercial benchmarking for buildings of a certain size of their energy use and then required reduction in energy use, net new housing proposal and related suppliers and related components is moving ahead and Mr. Shambarger is working with UW-M on research grants to support this. They are also researching residential retrofits and how to reach more households and better connect households with available resources.
Ald. Kovac saw the need to educate tenants on health issues; Mr. Shambarger noted there are a lot of city resources for owners, but not nearly as many for tenants. Mr. Kraig noted that landlords aren't usually interested in energy efficiency upgrades as tenants pay energy costs; a possibility might be creation of a split incentive between the landlord and the tenant. Ms. Evans said the Education and Outreach Work Group is exploring having a panel discussion involving landlords and one landlord who does do energy efficiency work at his units.
Ald. Kovac noted many tenants are reluctant to report their landlords to the city.
Greening the Grid - Mr. Shambarger said the clean energy proposal was presented to WE Energies - an alternative to the DRER, with a term of 1-5 years; no response yet.
Finance - Ms. Pritchard said no real update as taking a pause over the summer and will work more closely with the other work groups in the fall.
Transportation and Mobility - Mr. Kraig moved to remove Dan Basil and Nate Holt and add Megan Severson. There were no objections. There were 4 subgroups and they compiled all the proposals and everything is very interconnected and will be going through the proposals in detail.
Waste and Sustainable Consumption - Mr. Wiggins said they're working on their public meeting next month (probably at the Fondy Food Market) and their big initiative is to reduce food waste, feed people and increase composting. They need some help with calculating cost.
Land Use - Ms. Frank said this group is not meeting this summer; they have 2 volunteers. She supports the tree planting proposal and workforce development proposals.
The Accountability Work Group hasn't met as it was supposed to be in the background, but maybe it should be with all the ARPA funds. Mr. George Martin would like to be added to this work group. There were no objections.
Adaptation and Climate Resilience - Ms. Ritger said they have been talking in more detail about the Resiliency Ambassador and developed questions for community feedback. Mr. Shambarger is meeting with the EPA about a recently received $200,000 grant.
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| | 5. | | Discussion on other tools for outreach.
Minutes note: Ms. Jennifer Evans provided a PowerPoint (contained in file 191923) about the plan to approach education and outreach. They already have the online survey and have done e-mail blasts and now on the stage to do small events. They had read research on how to reach different audiences and they arrived at a multi-channel marketing campaign. They are trying to offer a variety of events and will have tables at other events. Seven volunteers from work groups are helping. Social Pinpoint is a web site that allows for community input and engagement; it can host meetings and do surveys. The intern is only working 10 hours a week so that's a concern. Ms. Evans's understanding is that each work group would have its own survey questions. Mr. Shambarger hadn't envisioned 9 pages on Social Pinpoint, but one page. Mr. Shambarger would like to see data on how many people support climate action to use that number to show support for spending ARPA funds on these initiatives. The Environmental Collaboration Office is very short-staffed right now with losing one full-time person and the intern's term will be ending soon as well. Ms. Evans already created 9 pages - one for each work group.
Ms. Fendt asked if public officials may not hear constituent concerns if it's coming through a centralized portal, rather than directly from the constituent. There is no option to e-mail all Council members at once, but there is for the County Board. Ald. Dimitrijevic is already working on this.
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| | 6. | | Analysis of other potential grant or funding sources for the goals and 10 big ideas.
Minutes note: Mr. Shambarger said the Dept. of Public Works has submitted a CAMQ grant for $4.7 million to replace the entire city fleet with bolts. There is also the EDA grant for modular housing, which was mentioned under item #4. | | | |
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| | 7. | | The 10 big ideas and progress on their creation.
Minutes note: This was covered under item #4. | | | |
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| | 8. | | Review and approval of the Employment Equity Metric.
Minutes note: Ald. Kovac read the Metric created by the Jobs and Equity Work Group. Mr. Wiggins noted that thought needs to be put into how to collect all this data. Ms. Ritger spoke to Kate Pawasarat in the Office of Equity and Inclusion about how to track these data points. Ms. Fendt noted some of the data is collected by the census bureau and Employ Milwaukee also tracks some of the other data. Mr. Martin noted that identifying what "green jobs" are will be important; Mr. Wiggins pointed out that members of this group may not even agree on what "green jobs" are. Mr. Shambarger noted he has been working with Employ Milwaukee and the Dept. of Labor does define "green jobs" and efforts have been taken to narrow that down. Is making a certain type of screws or ripping up moldy carpet a "green job"? When does the definition become too broad?
Mr. Wiggins suggested adding a definition of "green jobs" as part of the Metric. Mr. Shambarger didn't think there was a perfect definition of "green jobs" but thought it was more important if jobs are being created while working on environmental goals. Ms. Fendt feels driving a bus is a green job and Ms. Pritchard felt there is a need to clarify the impact of the investments made. Ms. Pritchard said it needs to be clear what we are reporting on and that would narrow down what "green jobs" are. Ms. Fendt noted that this work will not make any noticeable change in household income, except possibly over a 10-year span. Ms. Fendt thinks there will be market forces also making changes as well as private industry, such as WE Energies. Ms. Pritchard asked what the Task Force will be reporting on and measuring.
Ms. Fendt noted that not all jobs will pay $40,000 and have an upward trajectory, but the goal is to provide economic opportunities and prosperity pathways, hopefully focusing on the hardest-hit areas. There will be both maco and micro results and will marry the two to figure out what the effects were.
Ms.Frank moved to approve. There were no objections.
Meeting adjourned: 4:43 P.M.
Linda M. Elmer
Staff Assistant
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191923
| 0 | | Communication | Communication relating to the final report and activities of the City-County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity. | | | |
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