Agendas and Minutes

Conservation and Climate Outreach Committee (View All)

Conservation Commission Monthly Meeting 05/28/08

Agenda
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES
7 p.m. – May 23, 2008
Community Development Center

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Chapman at 7:00 pm.

Attendees:
Risa Buck, Russ Chapman, Stuart Corns, Ross Finney, Tracy Harding, Jim Hartman and Jim McGinnis.         Kerry KenCairn was not present.

City Council member and Chair: Dave Chapman
Staff representative: Dick Wanderscheid

APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chairperson Chapman called for the approval of the minutes for April 23, 2008.

Commissioner Finney noted he was not present at the last Commission Meeting but listed under Attendees.
Commissioner Buck commented on the Solar Pioneer II section, wording was incomplete and under New Business: Commission Recognition should state Commission Recognition Event.
 
Commissioner Finney made a motion to approve the minutes with the stated correction and Commissioner Hartman seconded the motion.
 
Voice Vote: All Ayes. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.


PUBLIC FORUM
Huelz Gutcheon commented on the hazardous condition that bikes encounter when bicycling next to parked cars. Chairperson Chapman explained that bikes have the right to ride 4 feet out into the lane. Huelz discussed with the Commission the effectiveness of carbon reductions for additional bike lanes.


ASHLAND SANITARY & RECYCLING UPDATE
Risa Buck updated the Commission for the month of May.
 
Events:
 
Telephone Book Drive
Three elementary schools Talent, Helman and Siskiyou participated with the drive and Talent school collected the most books. Helman was second and Siskiyou School was third. The total books collected were 2,000 and cash awards were given to the top two schools.   Next year they hope to engage more schools.

Toner Recycling Project- Ashland Sanitary will no longer be reimbursed for the toner/ink cartridges and therefore we will not be able to offset the cost of this project.

Nursery Plastics Collection-May 11- June 2nd- Collected 12 bags so far and adding to this year clean 5-gal buckets.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection—880 cars participated, including 20% from Ashland which is up 3% from last year.

Latex Paint Day-245 cars participated.

New Discount Day- May 23rd, more than tripling the usual collection. Each load was $3.50 for green debris, brush, leaves, grass and lumber for residences.

Jackson County first Master Recycler group graduated 34 people, including Commissioner Harding.
           
Composting Classes- June 14, July 12 , August 23 and September 27 from 10am to noon at the Recycling Center.

The Association Recyclers Conference is June 5-8th. Commissioner Harding is interested in attending and Ashland Sanitary will cover her transportation and lodging if the Conservation Commission will cover the cost of the registration.

Commissioner Finney made a motion that the Conservation Commission pay for the registration in the amount of $361.55, for Commissioner Harding to attend the ORA Conference. Commissioner McGinnis seconded the motion.

Voice Vote: All Ayes. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.

           
FOURTH OF JULY CITY OF ASHLAND VIDEO
Dick Wanderscheid introduced the City video and explained it shows all the effort needed to put on the event from preparation to the clean-up.
 
The Commission watched the video which can be accessed on the City Web site: www.ashland.or.us under Videos located under Quick Links on the left side of the Homepage.

OLD BUSINESS
Purchase of Compost Bins
Commissioner Buck commented the Commission has around 24 bins left and should last through the first compost class on June 14. Commissioner Buck talked with the Grange about developing a county wide contest to design/plan new compost bins. Dick discussed the coupon that the City use to utilize when the program first started and also mentioned their might be some other designs/plans already available.

Commissioner Finney made a motion to spend the remainder of this years budget, or as close to the remainder as possible for compost bins, seconded by Commissioner Russ Chapman.

Voice Vote: All Ayes. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.


Open House/Bike Swap
Commissioner Harding reported the Bike Swap was a huge success, selling more bikes than they had in years.
Dick Wanderscheid commented on out of town guests who saw the banner and attended. Commissioner Harding gave a brief overview of the event and the how the earnings were distributed.

Sub-Committee Reports
Green Business
Commissioner Finney reported that Robbin Pearce was still processing around 14 applications. The sub-committee was looking at new logos to represent the program, that would stand out and that the merchants could utilize.

The Commission discussed how to support all businesses that want to become Green and how they maintain their annual status through ongoing efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.

July 4th Committee
Commissioner McGinnis updated the Commission with the ongoing preparations for the parade entry in the July 4th City event. The discussion included topics: organization, ideas, meetings, theme, and materials needed.

Plastic Bag/Non-Petroleum Dinnerware
Commissioners Russ Chapman, Buck and Harding updated the Commission regarding their out reach communication with the local retail and organizations. They discussed alternatives for plastic bags and gave some information from the Master Recycler’s Program. They are in the process of accumulating information from 18 different sources to determine their direction and how best to move forward with an educational component also.

Education
Solar Pioneer Project II
Dick Wanderscheid updated the Commission on the Solar Project outlining marketing efforts, current panels sold (38.5) and a brief look at a possible third project that would include the ability to purchase panels, donate them to non-profits and then receive a tax credit.

Cities for Climate Protection
Dick Wanderscheid remarked that Larry Giardina attended the annual conference and will attend the next meeting or submit a report to update the Commission. He submitted Solar Pioneer II to the awards committee and received a 3rd Place Award. This project was recognized as an innovative program.

Commissioner McGinnis attended the Sustainability Leadership Program through the University of Oregon and will meet with the subcommittee along with Larry Giardina to discuss how they can utilize their information for ICCEI.

Commissioner Corns updated the Commission regarding a study he discovered from SOU including carbon footprint reduction. They are preparing a handbook/curriculum based on this study for other communities on how to reduce their carbon footprint.

NEW BUSINESS
Budget Items-Already presented.


ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Nothing presented.        


ANNOUNCEMENTS
Next Meeting is scheduled for June 25, 2008.

ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.




In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the Community Development office at 541-488-5305 (TTY phone number is 1-800-735-2900). Notification 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting (28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title1).
 

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