|
| | | | Please join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/318509077
You can also dial in using your phone.
(For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.)
United States: +1 (872) 240-3212
- One-touch: tel:+18722403212,,318509077#
Access Code: 318-509-077
Join from a video-conferencing room or system.
Dial in or type: 67.217.95.2 or inroomlink.goto.com
Meeting ID: 318 509 077
Or dial directly: 318509077@67.217.95.2 or 67.217.95.2##318509077
| | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 1. | | Roll call.
Minutes note: Meeting convened: 2:37 PM.
Members present: Janet Meissner Pritchard, Linda Frank, Erick Shambarger, Pam Fendt, Ted, Kraig, Julie Kerksick, Nik Kovac, Supreme Moore Omokunde (arrived at 3:40 P.M.), Pam Ritger (arrived at 4:00 PM)
Members excused: Marcellia Nicholson, Freida Webb, Rafael Smith | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 2. | | Review and approval of the minutes of September 1, 2021.
Minutes note: Ms. Fendt moved for approval. There were no objections. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 3. | | Updates from the work groups and add/remove members.
Minutes note: Jobs and Equity - Mr. Shambarger said the last meeting was reviewing the $2.7 million clean energy package and it is ready to be presented for the Common Council. A PowerPoint was created to be presented at a Finance and Personnel Committee meeting. Ms. Kerksick would like to have it added to the file. It might be presented on October 15th. Ald. Kovac will sign on to get that before the Committee.
Education and Outreach - Jennifer Evans said they are planning community events, including a Green Jobs part 2 and staffing at community events. Different work groups have been at different events; they have talked to over 100 people and collected 68 surveys.
Green Buildings - Mr. Shambarger said the group met this morning and looked at energy efficiency for gut rehab projects as well as the Green and Healthy Homes project roll-out. They also have a proposal for commercial building benchmarking; they have held off with this until they get through the ARPA work. They also discussed energy efficiency for in-rem properties (tax-foreclosed properties). Ms. Fendt likes the idea of looking at both lead and energy efficiency needs of in-rem properties, but those are typically vacant and they still want to respond to occupied homes with young children. Ald. Kovac feels that any house the city sells should be up to code. There will be two separate funds - one for occupied homes and one for in-rem properties. Modular homes was passed at the Public Works Committee. Ms. Ritger moved to add Freida Webb to the work group. There were no objections.
Finance - Janet Meissner Pritchard wants to map all the ARPA funds available (city/county/state/federal) and the status of the decision-making process for county and state funds. The mapping will be created over the month of October. She will be reaching out to several other chairs to how they envision their big ideas being funded. They also want to look at green bonds, which could fund across various parts of the plan as well as various fees. They would also like to explore launching a capital campaign. Mr. Wiggins suggested also mapping MPS funds, which will be included as well. Mr. Kraig said MPS is getting federal funds, which have different criteria and the state did zero out state funding as they received the federal funds. $197 million will be allocated by the city, but double that amount will be coming in the future, so a case can be made a year from now if some programs aren't funded.
Transportation and Mobility - Ted Kraig said that they want to ensure the fees aren't regressive and how a dedicated fee needs to be structured. One group is very active in suing, stating that a fee is a tax, not a fee.
Waste and Sustainability - Ms. Janet Meissner Pritchard is resigning as co-chair, as well as from the work group due to her job workload. Mr. Bruce Wiggins would like a co-chair; someone who is from the Task Force.
Mr. Wiggins is grateful Samantha Longshore is part of this group as she is very valuable; the heart of their big idea is going to be cutting down on food waste and feeding people. They will also make secondary recommendations. Mr. Shambarger volunteered to be the co-chair. Mr. Wiggins moved to add Mr. Shambarger as co-chair. There were no objections.
Land Use - Ms. Frank said one table event was done, one is going on now and one will be done next week. They got 45 completed surveys. Ms. Frank moved to change the work group name to "Nature in the City". There were no objections. The work group is interested in having involvement from the county parks. Jim Tarantino is happy to assist, as well as direct work group members to specialists in the parks department. Mr. Tarantino noted a number of trees have been lost, so more trees will be planted beginning next year and resources are being allocated for this. The county has its own nursery. Ms. Meissner Pritchard said there is also a need to manage and support trees on private property, particularly in poor areas as trees are expensive to both plant and maintain. She hopes to model "Branch out" in the Sherman Park area with the initial focus being on tree maintenance. A goal is to also address commercial parking lots with no landscaping. The Nature in the City work group strongly supported green lots with commercial parking lots and also supporting the tree canopy and trees on private land. Funding has always been a challenge, Ms. Frank noted, and the recent storm damage shows the lack of funding. The county did a coast line study; the coast line now falls under the jurisdiction of the county, rather than the state for any trees removed along the coast line.
Adaptation and Climate Resilience - Ms. Ritger said the work group is finalizing the recommendation language, as well as the Green Buildings work group.
Greening the Grid - no updates.
| | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 4. | | Discussion on Infrastructure Bill and ARPA funding.
Minutes note: Ald. Kovac said city amendments are due on Friday and the hearing will be October 15th. He encouraged members to contact their local aldermen/alderwomen. Members listed specific items that could specifically be mentioned to their local reps. that they wished to be funded. Everything proposed by the mayor will get a hearing, but it may not pass. Mr. Knapp wrote a memo on the Infrastructure Bill, which is in file 191923. Ms. Kerksick said the content of the Infrastructure Bill isn't being debated, but the debate is about the amount of money. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 5. | | Discussion on creation of a tariff for renewable energy.
Minutes note: WE Energies did create a tariff in 2018, but it was quite complicated and put a large burden on the customer. The goal was to have new renewable energy, rather than renewable energy, that was going to be built anyway and the energy credits be applied to the city as well as local jobs benefits. The goal was to be simple, be fair to tax payers and rate payers, as well as shorter-term agreements (1-5 years) and progressive policies that had been tried elsewhere. The community energy model developed by the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), out of New York, includes buying energy from a large-scale solar energy farm and this has been done in other parts of the country. A private developer builds the project and the utility owns it; the city would be buying power from the large solar farm. The solar farm might be in the 7-county area, not the city itself and then a decision needs to be made as to what "local" jobs are. WE Energies had originally said it would go before the PSC this year, but now it wants to hold off until its rate case is heard next year, which might drag out a year or more. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 6. | | Discussion on climate plans with WE Energies.
Minutes note: There is no update beyond that being discussed under item #5. Currently WE Energies doesn't have a direct stake in improving energy efficiency under the current rules. Ms. Meissner Pritchard asked if there has been outreach to other institutional customers of WE Energies. Ms. Ritger would like to broaden the discussion out to include electric vehicles and put together a broader platform addressing creating a broader energy infrastructure. | | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 7. | | Discussion on electric vehicles.
Minutes note: There is an electric vehicle bill going through the state, but it required the energy go through an energy company, rather than solar power and also chargers at rest stops. Ms. Ritger noted that private chargers require that a person have a garage and more support should be provided for public chargers.
| | | |
|
Not available
|
|
| | 8. | | Next steps to draft plan documents.
Minutes note: Ms. Frank said she attended a conference on the Green Amendments movement - a constitutional amendment that adds on state bill of rights protections that include the right to clean air, clean water, a stable climate, a healthy environment and sometimes, a right to the preservation of the natural scenic and aesthetic values of the environment. Two states have passed this and New York will be considering this in November. Ms. Frank will provide Mr. Knapp with documents and this will be on next month's agenda.
Adjourned: 4:29 P.M.
Linda M. Elmer
Staff Assistant
| | | |
|
Not available
|
|
191923
| 0 | | Communication | Communication relating to the final report and activities of the City-County Task Force on Climate and Economic Equity. | | | |
Action details
|
Not available
|
|