7 p.m. – December 10, 2008
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Chapman at 7:06 pm.
Attendees:
Risa Buck, Russ Chapman, Ross Finney, Tracy Harding, Jim Hartman, Shelly Lotz were present.
Jim McGinnis and Stuart Corns were not present and unexcused.
City Council member and Chair: Dave Chapman, not present
Staff representative: Robbin Pearce
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Commissioner Chapman moved to approve the minutes for October 22, 2008.
Corrections to the minutes:
Commissioner Finney listed as both present and absent.
Commissioner Lotz was not present.
Commissioner Buck seconded the motion to approve minutes with attendance corrections.
Voice Vote: All Ayes. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
PUBLIC FORUM
Huelz Gutcheon mentioned to the Commission about the importance of Zero Net Energy.
GUEST SPEAKER
Cynthia Salbato, producer for PLAN-IT YOU! presented to the Commission a Power Point presentation showing how the new application/video would be utilized by individuals and a community. The first segment, regarding health, will launch with the YMCA on January 20. She was hoping to receive support to help design the next segment regarding conservation, called Green Plan-It Ashland. There was a lot of discussion regarding how her web application would fit with conservation and sustainable goals.
For more information you may contact her at 541.261.2828 or www.planityou.com.
ASHLAND SANITARY & RECYCLING UPDATE
http://www.ashlandsanitary.com/
Commissioner Buck updated the Commission for the month.
Jackson County Health Department
They have developed a leaf exchange program that focuses on air
quality. They will help connect people who want leaves with those
who want to get rid of leaves. Contact Ashland Sanitary for
information if interested.
Commercial Compost Program
There are now 31 participants; their next goal is a total of 40.
Leaf Bag Program
The program has been going really well with support from the Commission and Public Works. In 2007 there were 94 set sold of the 5 paper bags and 20 were subsidized. This year so far there have been 150 sets sold and 82 of those were subsidized.
E-Waste Collection
In the past 4 months they have collected 18 tons and in November
alone they collected 9 tons. In the past 5 months they diverted 27
tons of electronics from the landfill.
Battery Recycling Program
Ashland Sanitary is starting an in house pilot battery recycling program with a company called
Thinkgreen.com to see how well the program functions.
Plastic Bag and Shrink Wrap Collection
On January 9 every plastic water bottle will have a return value of .05
cents. The unredeemed nickels, including aluminum cans, are kept
by the distributors. The Oregon Beverage Recycling Coop is taking
over CRINC (Container Recovery Inc.) and any store over 5,000
square feet must accept all water bottle returns not just what they sell.
A store under 5,000 square feet are only required to accept what
beverages they sell.
Boy Scout Christmas Tree Pick Up
Troop 112 will pick up trees January 10th, Saturday.
Plastic Roundup
Very successful, 453 cars were received at the Valley View Transfer
Station over a period of 2 days. 13
Master Recyclers volunteered and the event collected 6.9 tons.
Combined plastic collection from all three locations was 21.70 tons.
Materials Recovery Report
Jackson County was down in 2007, first time the rate has been down
in a long time.
SOU Pilot Program
Residential Hall, Suzanne Holmes, have a pilot project where every
room has a small recycle bin. The Residential Advisor reported the
project is working and going well. Quality control was being
performed by the janitorial system.
OLD BUSINESS
ClearMax Update
ClearMax is an opportunity for the City to begin a pilot collection of plastic water bottles and aluminum cans. A total of 4 businesses to participate and purchase the bins would make the project more cost effective. Standing Stone is interested in participating and trying to work with the City.
Chairperson Ordinance Change/Commission Name Change
In August, the Commission voted to make the mayor’s representative a full voting member, with full voting powers, which includes the ability to be chair. Also, the Vice-Chair would automatically become the new Chair following the year they were Vice.
The Conservation Commission was formed by Resolution and in order to make any changes, there would need to be a new resolution. Commissioner Finney will contact Dave Chapman to see if he is moving that forward, and this item will be placed on the next agenda.
Sub Committee Report
Green Business
The current Green Businesses have been approved, and there are 6 new applications for next year.
Fourth of July Committee
No report. Again the Commissioners talked about unexcused absences.
Plastic Bag/Non-Petroleum Dinnerware Committee
Commissioner Harding reported she will try and approach the Chamber of Commerce to see if they are interested in partnering with this project.
Education Committee
The Commission discussed reusable cloth bags for consumer.
Cities for Climate Protection Committee
No Report.
NEW BUSINESS
Earth Day Contribution
Commissioner Chapman suggested the Commission match or
increases their donation to
Commissioner Hartman made a motion to give the Earth Day Event $800.00 and Commission Lotz seconded the motion.
Voice Vote: All Ayes. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
COMMISSION ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA
Commission Finney remarked about updating the Commission display and asked to put this item on the agenda for next month. There was a suggestion that the Education committee could take the lead in this project.
Commissioner Lotz asked to be on the agenda regarding the subcommittees and which need help and where she can be assigned.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Commissioner Harding announced that the Car Share Pilot Program has obtained a car (Prius) and will hold a membership drive on Sunday at the Community Center from 2-5pm.
The next meeting is January 28, 2009.
ADJOURNMENT –
Meeting adjourned after 8:50pm.
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