HomeMy WebLinkAboutSCMinutes_2014_03_14Sustainability Council
March 14, 2014
A meeting of the Sustainability Council was held at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, March 14, 2014 at
Brookings City & County Government Center with the following members present: Ben Kleinjan,
Bob McGrath, Ryan Carda, Trisha Jackson, Betty Beer and Holly Tilton Byrne. Absent: Alvaro
Garcia, Norma Nusz Chandler, Paul Peterson and Jane Hegland. Others present included: Shari
Thornes and Laurie Carruthers.
Vice-chair Kleinjan called the meeting to order at 8:31 a.m. A motion was made by McGrath,
seconded by Jackson to approve the agenda. All present voted yes; motion carried. A motion
was made by McGrath, seconded by Carda, to approve March 7, 2014 minutes. All present
voted yes; motion carried.
Meeting Schedule. Next meeting will be planned at a later date.
Indicator Project Analysis.
Indicator Suggestions/revisions
Volunteerism • Beer completing City volunteer information and adding chart
with city and national rates
Voter Participation • Change the indicator title to be “Registered Voter Participation”
• Add a line in the Figure 1 chart including city elections
• Identify mid-term elections with an “*”
Education Level • This indicator was not part of Dubuque’s project and the data is
inconsistent
• Remove this indicator from the project
3rd Grade Reading
Proficiency
• Change Figure 1 to be a vertical line graph and omit comparable
cities that are missing data
Arts & Culture • Jackson revising
True Housing
Affordability
• Jackson revising
Percent of
Employers who pay
wages at or below
poverty level
• Make future indicator
Public
Transportation
Ridership
• Jackson revising
Safe Travel Network • Beer revision
• In Figure 2, round the numbers
Household Radon • Add website with resources for radon testing
Asthma • Jackson verifying data – reduction more than half from 2012 to
2013. Acute care implemented in 2013?
Carbon Dioxide • Jackson revising as class project
Emissions
Clean Fleet • In the indicator description add “local” between meeting and
efficiency
• Beer revising
Bacterial
Concentration
• Add table
Impaired Stream
Segments
• Change order and move this indicator before Bacterial
Concentration
Chloride
Concentration
• Jackson revising
Drinking Water
Contamination
• Beer revising
• In the indicator description delete “from local ground or surface
water sources”
• Under How are we doing? – change “south” to “north”
• The chart is missing data
Urban Forest • Jackson revising
• Round the numbers in the figure
Municipal Chemical
Use
• Jackson revising
Bird Count • Beer verifying 2012 data and revising
Prairie and Wetland • Check what city/county has for wetlands
• Add table?
Future indicators:
• In Voter Participation – add eligible voters to the data
• Educational opportunity/employment opportunity
• Percentage of jobs that pay at or below poverty level
• Lung cancer compared to radon levels in Brookings
Overall revisions:
• Justify the entire document
• If the data is not obtainable, move that indicator to the next version
Plain Green Speaker Series with Cori Burbach – Schedule of events. Cori Burbach is arriving on
March 19 and will be here all day on the 20th. The Sustainability Council has a special meeting
to meet with her at 10:00 am on the 20th. Carruthers asked for question submissions ahead of
the meeting and she will create a guide for the members. The reception begins at 6:30 pm and
the lecture begins at 7:00 pm.
Earth Day Update. Tilton Byrne is the chair for the Earth Day subcommittee. She advised there
are several contacts to make for exhibitors and presentations. She asked for volunteers to
assist with the work for the Earth Day events. No one volunteered.
Public Education Campaign Poster Approval. The members were happy with the designs for
the following posters:
• Single Stream Recycling – Mayor Reed jumping out of a recycling container
• General Recycling – Habitat ReStore – Penny Hauffe
• Plastic – HyVee Manager Curt Osmanski carrying groceries in reusable bags
• Smart Energy – Steve Meyer – Energy use and percentages where Brookings
power originates
• Nature – Park & Recreation Director Pete Colson at the Nature Park site showing
the reuse of the old landfill
• Local Foods – Jack the mascot eating a carrot at the Farmer’s Market
• Social – Mayor’s Ride group photo
Posters should be printed on recycled paper. Advertising includes posters around town, poster
insert in Shopper or Register, Facebook ads, website, public access channel.
Announcements/Correspondence/Communications/Calendar
• March 20, 2014 – Plain Green Speaker Series with Cori Burbach at the Brookings City &
County Government Center
o 10:00 am – Individual meeting with Cori Burbach and the Sustainability Council
o 6:30 pm – Reception in Community Room
o 7:00 pm – Lecture in Chambers
• September 12, 2014 – Plain Green Conference
• Membership: Members’ terms were staggered with one, two and three terms when the
Council was created on September 15, 2011. Terms for Hegland and McGrath expire on
12/31/14. All are eligible for a full three year term.
• March 29 from 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Earth Hour: turning off the lights/electricity during this
hour to take action on climate change and show concern for the environment.
• Future topics: Bike racks for BATA buses, bike patrol, East Brookings industry traffic
concerns, Plain Green 2015 Indicator Project, legislative issues.
Draft April Agenda: Indicator Project analysis and Earth Day Update.
Adjourn. Carda needed to leave at 9:43 a.m., and there was no longer a quorum. Meeting
adjourned at 10:44 a.m.
Submitted by Laurie Carruthers