HomeMy WebLinkAboutSCMinutes_2015_09_24Sustainability Council
September 24, 2015 (amended)
A meeting of the Sustainability Council was held on Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at
Brookings City & County Government Center with the following members present: Holly Tilton Byrne,
Betty Beer, Ben Kleinjan, Alvaro Garcia, Nels Granholm, Jane Hegland, Bob McGrath, Norma Nusz
Chandler, Paul Peterson, and Mike Lockrem. Absent: Stephanie Aure. Others present included: Shari
Thornes, Bonnie Foster, Morgan Vetch, and Todd Langland.
Chair Tilton Byrne called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. A motion was made by Beer, seconded by
McGrath, to approve the agenda. All present voted yes; motion carried. A motion was made by
McGrath, seconded by Beer, to approve the August 12, 2015 minutes. All present voted yes; motion
carried.
Schedule next meeting. Thursday, October 15 at 2:00 p.m.
Proposed Ordinance Amendment. The Council reviewed the following draft ordinance that would
modify the Council membership structure to include one student enrolled in a post-secondary
educational institution. This would require City Council action to amend the enabling ordinance.
Ordinance No. 15-_____
An Ordinance Amending Division 5 of Chapter 2 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of
Brookings, South Dakota, and Pertaining to Terms of Office of Members of the Sustainability
Council of the City of Brookings.
BE IT ORDAINED AND ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKINGS, STATE OF SOUTH
DAKOTA, THAT THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCES ARE HEREBY AMENDED:
Sec. 2-198. - Manner of composition, appointment, terms, compensation.
(a) The Sustainability Council shall consist of nine (9) or more members who are
representative of the community-at-large, business/industry, higher education, students and
public agencies interested in sustainability practices. One member of the council shall be a
student enrolled in a post-secondary educational institution.
(b) Members of the Brookings Sustainability Council will be appointed by the Mayor with
the advice and consent of the council for the following terms of office:
(i) The term of the student member shall commence in May and shall be for a
term of one (1) year;
(ii) The term of all other members of the Sustainability Council shall commence
in January and shall be for a term of three (3) years.
(c) Any member whose term expires may be reappointed.
(d) All members of the Sustainability Council shall serve without compensation.
Sec. 2-200. - Vacancies.
(a) If a vacancy on the Sustainability Council occurs prior to the expiration of a term, the
vacancy may be filled by appointment, for the following terms:
(i) A term not exceeding one (1) year for the student member;
(ii) A term not exceeding three (3) years for all other members.
(b) If a member is absent from three consecutive regular meetings without authorization
from the Chairperson, the member's seat may be considered vacant and a new member may be
appointed.
A motion was made by McGrath, seconded by Nusz Chalder, to recommend an Ordinance change to the
City Council. All present voted yes; motion carried.
Trash/Refuse Generation Report. Todd Langland, Brookings Regional Landfill Director, provided an the
following written report on trash/refuse generation action plan questions.
1. Research and provide information to the public, business and industry on how to reduce waste.
Public- This is done with our advertising program on a weekly basis and through general contact
from the residents of Brookings
Business- Businesses work with their garbage hauler on how to reduce waste stream.
Industry – We provide monthly tonnage reports to the industries so they can track their waste and
look at areas it can be reduced
2. Research curbside composting of food waste programs in other communities.
• Curbside composting of food waste is done on a private hauler basis, usually governmental
agencies have not been involved.
• There is currently a private hauler in Sioux Falls that has been interested in doing it with
commercial clients(restaurants and grocery stores)has not started
• Rapid City does composting with the Biosolids from their wastewater treatment plant
• Cost to set up a pickup program would consist of containers, truck, extra personnel on the
collection side, drafting a plan for pickup service and additional landfill personal.
• Amend the Landfill Permit, storm water permit, Leach ate Collection system and vector control.
These costs will include working with our engineering firm to draft an amendment to our permit
and address all the requirements that the State Waste Management Department would
need.(State has not set up any guidelines for Food Composting)
• Cost for compost area( Concrete or asphalt pad) (May require a enclosed structure)
• How much would the Public participation be
• What to do with the compost product?
3. Research city imposed fee for not recycling:
• The City of Brookings has a monthly fee of $ 1.90 for collection of recyclables. It is part of your
$17.50 per month collection fee.
• The residents that are not recycling are still paying a fee
• In our community almost 80% of the residents are recycling
4. Recommend placement of recycling receptacles in public areas in Brookings:
Downtown:
• The Park & Rec pickup the garbage cans in downtown Brookings
• They would need to add an extra pickup service for recycling, extra personal and cost of
more carts
• Downtown businesses would have to be approached to get their input
• With all the SDSU Students on weekends I think you would see a lot of garbage in the
recycling containers
• Would need to make sure we had enough room for placement of carts
Public Parks
• I have visited with the Park & Rec Director; one concern is that garbage; instead of recycling
would be put in the cart
• Having personnel available to do an extra pickup a week.
• How much material would be picked up in the park systems?
• They have tried recycling during the summer arts festival, but people end up throwing
garbage in the carts
Additional topics discussed included how to dispose of latex paint, food composting, monthly fees
currently include cost for recycling, contaminated recycling, and the location of recycling carts at public
parks and the downtown area.
Food composting is not currently addressed by the State. Dairy and meat are not able to be composted.
Food composting would require a large investment and the creation of guidelines. The question was
asked about what to do with the end product and is there any value to it. There are currently five
Minnesota cities experimenting with food composting. Seattle is the biggest composter in the USA.
Approximately 80% of Brookings residents are recycling as compared to 40-50% national statistics.
All contaminated recycling ends up in the Sioux Falls landfill. The acceptable rate of contaminated
recyclables is 5%.
Recycling containers are not currently provided in public parks. Additional labor costs and increased
contamination have been cited as reasons for not installing containers. Recycling carts are provided for
large events, such as the Summer Arts Festival.
Recycling carts are not currently provided the downtown area. Placement and misuse pose concerns.
The idea of using slot or hole-style containers for item-specific was mentioned.
Recycling is up to the individual businesses. There are five commercial haulers and all provide recycling.
The landfill is currently conducting a survey to see if any residents are interested in carts for yard waste.
(Hegland left at 2:48 p.m.)
Quarterly Meetings. Holding evening planning meetings four times per year, which would enable a
deeper discussion on key issues, was discussed. Meetings during other months would be held during
regular, daytime hours. Rather than hold quarterly meetings, there was consensus try two evening
meetings commencing in November.
Conservation District Survey. The Brookings County Conservation District was seeking feedback on
priorities from various groups and individuals. They sent this survey to Mayor Reed and he asked that
the Sustainability Council address it. The survey deadline was September 15th, prior to the next
meeting. In order to send them a response by the due date, the Executive Committee submited the
following response. The top 5 priorities identified were: 1) Inefficient Energy Use – Equipment and
facilities, 2) Inefficient Energy Use – Farming/ranching practices and field operations, 3) Insufficient
Water – inefficient moisture management, 4) Water Quality Degradation – excess nutrients in surface
and ground waters, and 5) Water Quality Degradation – pesticides transported to surface and ground
waters. Beer suggested sending the Conservation District a copy of the appropriate pages from the
Indicator Project.
Mayor’s Big Sioux River Summit. Approximately 140 attended the Mayors’ Big Sioux River Water
Summit was held on Thursday, September 10th, from 2-5 p.m. at the Day’s Inn. Mayor Reed gave a
welcoming address and discussed sustainability initiatives in Brookings. The Sustainability Council
provided and staffed an informational booth. Nusz Chandler, Thornes, Hegland, and McGrath attended.
McGrath summarized a talk by Dana Loseke on water conservation and noted individuals in Minnehaha
Co. are buying buffer strips alongside smaller creeks that feed into the Big Sioux River to provide for
cleaner creeks and streams and control erosion. Beer asked about forming a committee to look into
doing something similar with 6 Mile Creek. Jay Gilbertson with the Dakota Water Dept. would be a good
contact to discuss this topic further.
Poster Campaign. Eleven posters were created in 2015. Input was requested on the following content
and images for new posters.
• Clean Drinking Water. Suggested images: drinking fountain for people and animals, picture of gold
fish in drinking glass, image of water treatment plant
o “Save money ($$) by using your own container.” Picture with City of Brookings water
bottles being used.
o “City water is tested, bottled water is not.”
• Energy – Northern Plains Power Technologies owned by Mike Ropp
• Steve Meyer and lightbulbs. Update to have LED’s rather than fluorescent bulbs.
o Use picture of LEDs used in city street lights.
o Look into the impact of changing bulbs/fixtures over the course of 5 years or more.
• Storm Water
• Bikes – “Bike Safety goes both ways”
Bike Friendly. The City Council recently adopted a Resolution outlining various bicycling initiatives and
the Charter for the new Brooking Bicycling Advisory Committee (BBAC). BBAC held its first meeting
September 9th. The next BBAC meeting will be held Oct. 14th at 4:00 p.m. Lockrem is serving as the
Council and university liaison to the BBAC.
Lockrem said the Bike Master Plan needs to be developed from the University perspective as an
investment by both the city and the university. The University is waiting to receive its “report card”
from the American Bicycle League. Once received, they can share that information to help create a
clearer picture for developing the bike master plan and the coordination needed between the city and
the university.
A list of standards will need to be developed: what is a bike lane, what constitutes a bike lane, if speed
limit is 35 and over, there should be a buffer between the auto lane and bike lane, create a list of
definitions around these types of things.
Storm Water Public Education Committee. Nusz Chandler, Peterson, McGrath and Thornes met on
September 21st with City Engineer Jackie Lanning regarding potential informational/educational
materials, resources, kits, and promotional opportunities. Education is needed on the difference
between storm water and sanitary sewer, as many residents don’t know the difference. The Engineering
Office submits an annual report to the State DNR as part of the discharge permits requirements. A joint
effort will help in improving the score for the city.
Summer Intern Draft Report. Morgan Vetch provided a draft report to the Council. Members were
asked to review the document and be prepared for a complete review at the next meeting.
The US Census poverty numbers include students. However, residents and students who reside in
dorms, married student housing, group homes, assisted living centers, jails, (wherever food and shelter
is provided), are not included in those poverty numbers. Students living on campus is between 3,900 -
4,100.
(Lockrem left at 3:49 p.m.)
Community Common Reed Presentation Request. Dr. Shelly Brandenburger serves on the SDSU
Common Read Planning Committee and contacted the Council about giving a brief presentation at the
Hunger Banquet, scheduled for November 8th at 7:00 p.m. This year’s Common Read is “The Other Wes
Moore” and poverty is one of the book’s themes. There will be a “global poverty/hunger” presentation
and Nusz Chandler and Vetch will present information on local poverty/hunger.
Beer suggested having someone talk about poverty at the TEDx event on October 1st during 2016
Creativity Week.
Heartland Conference. Thornes attended the Heartland USDN Regional Coordinators meeting in
Lawrence, KS on September 16-18. Six (6) states were represented. Urban Ag (food production and
processing within the city limits) was a major focus. The Urban Ag Committee will meet and discuss the
findings and will report back to the Council with its recommendations.
(Beer left at 4:18) p.m.
Announcements
• The “Green Drinks” presentations at Wooden Legs Brewery will start in January 2016. The first talk
will be on what is sustainability and the indicator project. Following talks to be on the various
indicator project principles and Vetch’s Poverty Report.
• Food Trucks are now permitted in Brookings.
Meeting adjourned at 4:28 p.m.
Submitted by Bonnie Foster