HomeMy WebLinkAboutSCMinutes_2024_06_12City of Brookings
Sustainability Council Meeting Minutes
Wednesday,June 12,2024 4:00 PM City/County Government Center;Room 300
Sustainability Council Members:Bruce Pengra,Cynthia Kunkel,Louis Hesler,Albert Patin,Samuel
Krueger,Anthony Shanks,Robin Buterbaugh,Emily Abele,Kiley Rath,Kyle Jamison,and SDSU Student
Representative Valentyna Stopul,City Staff:Samantha Beckman Assistant to the City Manager
1.Call to Order
T.Shanks
2.Approval of the Agenda
Motion to Approve:R.Buterbaugh
Second:B.Pengra
Aye:All Opposed:None
3.Approval of Minutes
Motion to Approve:R.Buterbaugh
Second:A.Patin
Aye:All Opposed:None
4.Open Forum
At this time,any member of the public may request time on the agenda for an item not
listed.Items are not typically scheduled for the end of the meeting;however,very brief
announcements of invitations will be allowed at this time.
5.City Update -Samantha Beckman
●Currently hiring new fire chief
●6-mile creek feasibility study final presentation at upcoming City Council meeting
●PRF have tested electric mowers
●Dakota Nature Park kicked off Happy Trails program to help kids develop a passion
for parks and the environment
●Inclusive Play Project:All-abilities playground set to be built next summer
●Brookings Charter revision in progress
●Pickleball courts near Hillcrest set to finish end of august
●Band shell at Pioneer Park expected to finish by the Arts Festival
●Energy performance analysis audit being done of all City entities
6.Speaker:Charlie Kuhn,Solid Waste Manager
●Initiatives in the works:
○Electronics recycling program
■Looking at Recycler out of Omaha
■Drop-off 6-days a week,potentially pay by the lb.(approx.$1.25 per lb.)
○Vamping up recycling education (for in-home vs.commercial)
■Improve education and outreach (especially in schools)
■Making the process as easy as possible for people
■Working on getting recycling trucks wrapped with recycling info (near the
end of the year)
●Purchased Bull Fencing to help prevent garbage from blowing away in the wind from the
landfill.
●R.Buterbaugh inquired about testing the City compost pile for herbicides and organic
matter/nutrient levels.
7.No Mow May updates
●Many complaints/concerns with the community this year.Most likely due to high rain
amounts.
○Sight-line issues while driving (10 separate complaints)
○24+call-in complaints to the City
○Citizens concerned with high amounts of weeds leading to chemical overuse.
○107 properties still out of compliance as of this meeting (5 days after needed)
○Noxious weeds spreading to neighboring yards
○Several landlords are putting into leases not allowing No Mow May participation
●S.Beckman:Proposal to look at if No Mow May is still best practice,or how to move
forward in coming years.If the Council decides to not continue,what will we do in place
of it?
○No Mow May primary goal was to raise awareness~no perhaps it’s time to move
on.
■Focus on Native Plants!
■Low Mow Summer
■Beautify Brookings
○Subcommittee to reevaluate No Mow May and give recommendations if to
proceed with a different approach:
■L.Hesler,R.Buterbaugh,A.Patin,C.Kunkel
8.Bee City Updates
●No Updates
9.Review Liaison Positions
a.Parks and Recreation Board
i.B.Pengra
b.Planning Commission
i.K.Jamison
c.Historic Preservation Commission
i.S.Krueger
d.BATA Board
i.K.Jamison [to request being a liaison]
e.Local Emergency Planning Commission
i.A.Patin
10.Updates from Subcommittees
a.Marketing and Communication
●10 Years of the Brookings Sustainability Council -post sometime this month.
●L.Hesler:Utilize recurring register ads and funnel those to social media instead
●B.Pengra:Charlie to give us some info to put out to the public for more recycling
education etc.
●A.Shanks:Task SDSU students to come up with social media post ideas for us to
choose and assign monthly posts.
●B.Pengra:post focusing on city entities and what they are doing that are sustainable.
b.Climate Action Plan
●S.Beckman:Climate Action Plan is still on the City’s radar for Financial Policy Projects..
c.Waste
●No Updates
d.Energy
●No Updates
e.Local Foods
●Food Forest Public Engagement Meeting by end of summer
○At the library?
○Ensure not overlapping with other big City events
●Have a meeting with Parks Dept.to make sure we’re all on the same page
●Signage:look up costs…Parks Dept.build wood signs?
12.Call for Future Agenda Items
●Reassess subcommittees
●R.Buterbaugh:How many native plant vouchers were actually redeemed?
13.Adjourn
Motion to Adjourn:B.Pengra
Second:C.Kunkel Aye:All Opposed:None
Respectfully submitted by Kiley Rath.