Northbrook Village Hall | Village of Northbrook Website
Northbrook Village Hall | Village of Northbrook Website
Village of Northbrook Committee of the Whole met Aug. 26
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
1. ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Kathryn Ciesla Village President Present
Robert Israel Trustee Present
Heather Ross Trustee Present
Johannah Hebl Trustee Present
Joy Ebhomielen Trustee Absent
Michelle Kohler Trustee Absent
Matt Cassidy Trustee Present
Also Present: Village Manager, Cara Pavlicek
Deputy Village Manager, Jim Hawkins
Village Clerk, Derek Gau
Sustainability Coordinator, Kate Carney
PaleBLUEdot, Ted Redmond
2. MINUTES APPROVAL
A. August 12, 2025 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes for Approval
RESULT: APPROVED [4 – 0]
MOVER: Johannah Hebl, Trustee
SECONDER: Matt Cassidy, Trustee
AYES: Israel, Ross, Kohler, Cassidy
NAYES: None
ABSTAIN: Kathryn Ciesla, President
ABSENT: Joy Ebhomielen, Trustee and Michelle Kohler, Trustee
3. DISCUSSION TOPICS
A. Review of the 2024 CAP Progress Report and the Sustainability Commission's recommendations for the 2025 Priority Action Items
Sustainability Coordinator Carney introduced Ted Redmond, paleBLUEdot, the Village’s consultant who presented an update on the Climate Action Plan. Using 2023 as the baseline year, he noted that overall emissions are already below 2030 targets thanks to cleaner electricity, though transportation, solid waste, and water/wastewater remain behind. Water and wastewater data in particular shows inconsistencies that call for better measurement. Municipal operations are performing well, with the same measurement gap for water and wastewater.
Future reports will include Renewable Energy Credits as offsets. Key opportunities include diverting more organics from landfills and replacing older natural gas appliances. Board members discussed sharing reports sooner, adding sustainability videos to meetings, improving communication with the public, and exploring predictive purchasing for EVs. They also talked about charging station ownership, and broader initiatives like a renewable energy master plan and emergency alerts. Trustee Israel suggested inviting the forestry contractor to speak about buckthorn.
4. REMARKS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
A brief discussion of availability for upcoming Board meetings.
5. CLOSED SESSION
A motion by Trustee Ross and seconded by Trustee Cassidy to go into closed session to discuss minutes pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/(c) (21), personnel pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/(c) (1), and the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/(c) (5).
RESULT: CONVENE INTO CLOSED SESSION AT 7:11 PM [4 – 0]
MOVER: Heather Ross, Trustee
SECONDER: Matt Cassidy, Trustee
AYES: Israel, Ross, Kohler, Cassidy
NAYES: None
ABSTAIN: Kathryn Ciesla, President
ABSENT: Joy Ebhomielen, Trustee and Michelle Kohler, Trustee
RESULT: RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION AT 7:30 PM [4 – 0]
MOVER: Matt Cassidy, Trustee
SECONDER: Heather Ross, Trustee
AYES: Israel, Ross, Kohler, Cassidy
NAYES: None
ABSTAIN: Kathryn Ciesla, President
ABSENT: Joy Ebhomielen, Trustee and Michelle Kohler, Trustee
6. ADJOURN
RESULT: ADJOURN AT 7:31 PM [4 – 0]
MOVER: Robert Israel, Trustee
SECONDER: Heather Ross, Trustee
AYES: Israel, Ross, Kohler, Cassidy
NAYES: None
ABSTAIN: Kathryn Ciesla, President
ABSENT: Joy Ebhomielen, Trustee and Michelle Kohler, Trustee
https://northbrook-il.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=northbrook-il_14787d0eb8eda7cf6544068ee50745cb.pdf&view=1
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