City of Elgin Sustainability Commission met Nov. 9.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
A. Call to Order: 6:06pm
1. Roll Call
i. Present: Commissioners: Tom Armstrong, Dekovia Livingston, Jeff Biss, Dan Brosier, Chris Flaherty. Student rep: Jordon Hill. Staff Liaison: Mikala Larson. Council Liaison: Carol Rauschenberger.
ii. Absent: Commissioners: Steve Kroiss, Deb McMullen, Curt Mette.
B. Recognize Persons Present
C. Approval of Meeting Minutes
1. October 12, 2021
i. Commissioner Biss moved to approve October minutes, Commissioner Livingston seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
D. Discussion Items
1. 2022 Meeting Schedule
i. Commissioner Brosier moved to approve draft 2022 meeting schedule, Commissioner Biss seconded. Motion passes.
2. 2022 Budget
i. Discussion about 2022 budget begun, will wrap up at December meeting. Discussion: Basecamp decided to be a duplication of Box; Basecamp funds reallocated to Waste Initiatives. Susty Awards funds reallocated. Discussion regarding necessity of Zoom webinar add-on tabled to allow for Commissioner Kroiss to share more information at a future meeting.
ii. Discussed a comprehensive tree plan to roll out next spring along with demo gardens, that potentially would include: planting trees, educating, getting community involved. Discussed considering large-area tree planting but to consider wildlife and include community wildlife groups. Tree education program potential partnerships: Wild Ones, Gail Borden Library, City of Elgin, Elgin Sustainability Commission, Chicago Region Trees Initiative, County Forest Preserve Districts. Great opportunity for partnerships to build a broad program going forward. Free trees can be acquired from Living Lands and Waters. Suggested planning group: Commissioner Flaherty, Commissioner Brosier, Mary Alice Masonick. Increase consistency of work groups to move programs forward.
3. Reminder: Nov. 13th Workday
i. Volunteer sign-up sheet for Nov. 13th workday was shared via email. Email Larson_m@cityofelgin.org to sign up. Tasks will be: rolling sod, laying stone borders, amending beds with compost. Current project sponsors: La Farge Fox River Decorative Stone donating stone, and Green Guerilla offering bed prep and associated services. More sponsors are welcome to support this project, as well as community members and groups who can adopt a bed.
4. Plastic Bag Fee
i. Looking for comments on working document. Comments: determine specific cost to execute initiative (such as to promote program, educate, design standardized stickers for retailers, etc.), connect with other communities that have implemented similar programs, determine cost of potential bag fee, build out extensive outreach & education campaign. Dollars would be budgeted upfront, with the potential to recoup costs through the program. Pros discussed: reduce plastic bag waste in Elgin, a fee can generate revenue for businesses and City. Examples: Aldi and Costco do not hand out bags; they must be purchased. Exemptions: recommended to not have any exemptions by square feet and such. Discussed bag type exemptions: comment from public to do all bags, paper and plastic.
ii. Outreach & education campaign necessary:
1. Offer retailer-specific education & outreach.
2. Key education: customer only charged if customer insists on getting a plastic bag.
3. Determine initial cost to execute initiative and for outreach efforts.
4. Education at entrance and point of purchase: standard sticker for retailers to place at front doors and registers.
5. Encourage and assist retailers to train staff on this program.
iii. Next steps:
1. Sustainability Commission to work together to create a package to present to City Council, with the goal of Council implementing the program into ordinance. Share out all plastic bag fee documents in Box. Tasks for Commissioners: include comments on document and if you have no comments then put “No Comment”. In December: move forward with outreach plan and contacting Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Neighborhood Association and city-wide retailers.
Contact other communities who have implemented a similar program.
2. Look into plastic bag fee implementation in low-income communities.
3. Watch recommended documentary: Bag It
5. Smart Cycling Quick Guide
i. Update: Chairperson Armstrong reached out to the League and has not heard back yet. If the League’s quote comes back aligned with Commission’s vote at October meeting, move ahead with the purchase.
6. Bike Station Quotes
i. Received three quotes on purchasing 2 freestanding bike stations. The quoted stations have options between tools on retractable cables vs. on hanging cables. Locations for the stations were discussed such as: library, bike trail, in front of Elgin Community Bikes Bike Shop. Kane County has an online map where individuals can locate stations.
Commission discussed considerations regarding future maintenance, would like to move forward with hanging cable stations from Dero.
ii. Commissioner Biss moved to purchase two bike stations from Dero at a total cost of $3,631.17. Commissioner Flaherty seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
7. Recap of Pumpkin Smash
i. The Sustainability Commission offered two locations this year: Hawthorne Hills and Old Library Lot. It was a huge success; we heard a lot of great responses from community. Thank you to volunteers from Ellis Middle School and Elgin High NHS. We collected 6.94 tons of pumpkins, which is the most collected out of any year.
E. Other Business
1. Doug Tallamy: The Nature of Oaks - YouTube
2. Wild Ones Presents Ed Collins for Oaktober - YouTube
3. Many bike trail updates coming to Elgin.
F. Adjourn: 8:12
1. Commissioner Biss moves to adjourn meeting, Commissioner Brosier seconded. Motion passes unanimously.
https://www.cityofelgin.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/7593
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