HomeMy WebLinkAboutSCMinutes_2016_02_17Sustainability Council
February 17, 2016
A meeting of the Sustainability Council was held on Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.
at Brookings City & County Government Center with the following members present: Holly Tilton
Byrne, Nels Granholm, Ben Kleinjan, Paul Peterson, Bob McGrath, Norma Nusz Chandler,
Stephanie Aure and Mike Lockrem. Absent: Alvaro Garcia and Jane Hegland. Others present
included: Shari Thornes and Laurie Carruthers.
Chair Tilton Byrne called the meeting to order at 3:13 p.m. A motion was made by McGrath,
seconded by Nusz Chandler, to approve the agenda. All present voted yes; motion carried.
A motion was made by McGrath, seconded by Aure, to approve the January 21, 2016 meeting
minutes. All present voted yes; motion carried.
Schedule Next Meeting. Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.
6th Street Ad Hoc Design Committee
Lockrem suggested the ad hoc committee meet with the DOT first to obtain and review their
specifics, then facilitate a community forum. No members who were present volunteered for
the committee.
Participation in the SDSU SustainABILITY of People, Planet, Profit March 17
Tilton Byrne provided an overview of the event and the Ignite speaker format and asked for
volunteers. No members who were present volunteered for the event.
Star Pilot Project
Thornes advised Brookings would be participating in an indicator project specifically directed for
smaller communities. There will be 21 indicators and a shorter timeline. Members of the
Heartland group are also participating. Thornes has a staff member who can work on the
indicators for the next few weeks. McGrath will work on the indicators specific to Brookings
Municipal Utilities and the Landfill. Nusz Chandler has reserved a computer lab on campus on
March 4 to complete the final indicators. Members are asked to help if needed on March 4th.
Updates / Reports
Legislative Updates – Tilton Byrne advised the bike bill is still in committee.
Green Drinks – The first Green Drinks was well attended with Nusz Chandler as the speaker.
Garcia will facilitate the topic of the definition of sustainability for the second session. Additional
topics include individual indicators, happiness factor/well-being and affordable housing. Since
the chicken ordinance was referred, a different topic needs to be selected for March.
Brookings Register Column – Future topics include: affordable housing, ecology vs. economy,
sustainability – the common denominator of everything, Aldo Leopold, where the comparison
cities are at today, Entomologist Jonathan Lundgren and other sustainability groups.
Liaison report – Lockrem reported the Affordable Housing Task Force had their first meeting on
February 10, and the next meeting will be March 10. Lockrem also reported the Bicycle Advisory
Committee has been working on the City Council Resolution No. 15-092 for bike lane
connections. The committee has completed 6 out of the 7 streets from the resolution. One
street is wide enough to have a bicycle lane – 11th Street from 3rd Avenue to Medary Avenue; the
others will have bicycle advisory lanes. Currently, there is no recommendation to connect 8th
Street to 3rd Street and downtown because of the parking removal impact. On February 23 they
will present their recommendation to the City Council, and the public hearing that will include
the removal of parking will be on March 23. Additionally, there are two vacancies on the
committee with two more in May.
Green Building Practices Policy – Thornes reported the City Council unanimously passed the
policy at the February 9, 2016 meeting. The subcommittee of Nusz Chandler, Kleinjan and
Thornes will meet in March. The Comprehensive Master Plan Advisory Committee will likely
meet in April or May.
Urban Agriculture – Thornes advised the subcommittee is currently conducting a comprehensive
evaluation of the urban ag related ordinances and also looking for barriers for bikes and
stormwater in this review. The Dubuque conference in 2015 had a session dedicated to
codifying sustainability, which will be a key resource. They are also utilizing a toolkit that has yet
to be published and will provide feedback on the toolkit.
Orientation – Thornes and McGrath are developing a new orientation guide and will meet with
department heads, Brookings Utilities Board Members and City Council Members.
Announcements / Correspondence / Communications / Calendar
Riley Gene Larson is the new student member. Kleinjan applied to be the Sustainability Council
Member on the Comprehensive Master Plan Advisory Committee. The Poverty and Housing
Report is scheduled to be presented to the City Council on March 15.
Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm.
Submitted by Laurie Carruthers