HomeMy WebLinkAboutSCMinutes_2012_04_23Sustainability Council
April 23, 2012
A meeting of the Sustainability Council was held at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 26, 2012 at Brookings
City Hall with the following members present: Arika Sanders, Jane Hegland, Norma Nusz Chandler,
Donna Hess, Brooke Sydow, Bob McGrath and Justin Fjeldos. Absent: Ryan Carda and Laura Hennen.
Justin Hyde, Shari Thornes and Laurie Carruthers were also present.
Sanders called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.
A motion was made by McGrath, seconded by Sydow, to approve the agenda. All present voted yes;
motion carried. A motion was made by Hess, seconded by McGrath, to approve the March 26, 2012
minutes. All present voted yes; motion carried.
The May meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 28, 2012 at 5:00 p.m., however, this is a city holiday.
The Council discussed rescheduling the May meeting to May 14 or 21. Either date will work for all the
members. Carruthers will verify a chairperson will be present and sent out a new appointment.
New Business
Compressed natural gas conversion.
Justin Hyde from DairyNet, Inc. presented on compressed natural gas (CNG) and renewable energy
centers. Biogas is comprised of 50-70% methane and 30% carbon dioxide gas, which is collected from an
anaerobic digester. Biogas can be made from manure, food waste, whey, ethanol waste, garbage, etc.
Vehicles can be converted to accept either gas or CNG. Vehicles powered by CNG emit steam instead of
hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. CNG rates per gge (equivalent to price per gallon)
are lower than gasoline, currently $2.16 for CNG, compared to $3.86 for gasoline. The CNG gge rate can
be locked into for an extended period of time. At the moment, there are no CNG filling stations in or
near Brookings. DairyNet is looking into developing one pursuant to market demands. Hyde is asking
the City to convert vehicles in its fleet to CNG to support a filling station. The Sustainability Council
discussed converting a few vehicles and then run a study on the benefits vs. risks. Hyde will identify
what data is needed for the study.
A motion was made by McGrath and seconded by Nusz Chandler to support the study, move ahead to
see more data before making a complete recommendation and have filling stations in place before
converting any vehicles. All present voted yes, motion carried.
Review of 2013 City Budget Process
Thornes provided an overview of the City Budget Process identifying May 30 the budget
instructions/worksheets are due and June 15 the complete budget proposals are due. She advised if
there is a specific item requested for the 2013 budget, she needs a work plan from the Sustainability
Council.
Report on meeting with Mayor Reed 4/18/12
Sanders reported on the chair/vice-chair meeting with Mayor Reed. Reed was excited about the
proposal of an ad campaign for the Sustainability Council. Sanders explained the campaign would have
photos of community leaders and feature their efforts at being sustainable. An example – a photo of
Reed with a CLF light bulb with the caption “Mayor Reed does it one bulb at a time.” Suggestions of
community leaders include the Brookings High School Student Body President, President Chicoine, Bob
Bartling. The posters could be distributed on internet billboard and posters throughout Brookings.
Reed also encouraged the Sustainability Council to review the building policies and codes for practices
that could be more sustainable. This project can be divided up by the sub-committees to provide ideas
on what areas to concentrate on. Reed suggested the Sustainability Council partner with another entity
to provide a new website encouraging sustainability. Some suggestions include the Children’s Museum
and Brookings Municipal Utilities. Reed advised the City recycling containers would be discussed at the
Council Meeting on April 24. He encouraged the Sustainability Council to attend and show their support
of the recycling containers.
Old Business/Updates/Reports
Sustainability Guide update.
Sanders advised the general template for the Sustainability Guide is complete. She requested a
volunteer to help piece the Guide together.
GreenFest – Recap of event
The GreenFest was an overall success. A couple of suggestions for future events include: program
agenda display in building, volunteers where shirts to direct flow, planting hands on event for kids,
presentations in separate room than exhibitors (possibly the classroom) and more utilization of the
straw house features.
Subcommittee updates
None of the subcommittees had anything to report. The subcommittees are asked to begin considering
the best practices of city policies and codes.
Motion was made by McGrath, seconded by Hegland to adjourn at 6:34 PM. All voted yes, motion
carried.
Submitted by Laurie Carruthers