Agendas and Minutes

Conservation and Climate Outreach Committee (View All)

Conservation Commission meeting April 24, 2013

Agenda
Wednesday, April 24, 2013

CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES

6:00pm-8:00pm –April 24, 2013
Community Development Building
51 Winburn Way, Ashland, OR  97520
 
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Beam called the meeting to order at 6:00pm.
Attendees:
Thomas Beam, Risa Buck, Stuart Corns, Marni Koopman, Jim McGinnis, Shel Silverberg and Mark Weir,
Not present: Roxane Beigel-Coryell (Stuart Corns representing SOU). Jim Hartman, Cat Gould
 
City Council Liaison: Rich Rosenthal
Staff Representative: Adam Hanks
 
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chairperson Beam asked for approval of the minutes for March 20, 2013.
 
               
Commissioner Weir moved to approve the amended minutes for March 20, seconded by Commissioner Buck.
Voice Vote: All Ayes.  The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Commissioner Beam welcomed new Commissioner Shel Silverberg, who was appointed to fill the seat of David Runkle who completed his term and did not apply for re-appointment.  Commissioner Silverberg gave the Commission a brief personal and career background.  Commissioner Beam also welcomed the Commission’s new Council Liaison, Rich Rosenthal.  Councilor Rosenthal gave a brief background and stated his excitement for the topic and for future participation with the Commission
 
The next Conservation Commission meeting would be held May 22, 2013, Wednesday beginning at 6pm.
 
 
PUBLIC FORUM
Malena Marvin informed the Commission of her work with greywater systems and offered her assistance to be involved in the promotion and outreach of greywater systems for both water and energy conservation.
 
Shawn Franks, representing SOU Students, described several SOU programs he felt the Commission might be interested in, including the plans for the Sustainability House and the project of installing a large scale sustainable garden/agriculture center on SOU lands on Walker Avenue near the Scienceworks campus.  Franks also mentioned the water restoration project that would restore 80 million gallons of water per year to the Klamath Basin and offset much of the water consumption of the University.
 
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Energy Summit
Commissioner Koopman discussed that she wasn’t sure how best the Commission could be involved but felt that the event fits with the Commission goals and would like to pursue involvement as the event details become more clear and defined.  Commissioner McGinnis agreed and the Commission as a whole was in favor of Commissioner Koopman reporting back to the Commission as more details became available.
 
B. 2013 Goals Prioritization
Commission Chair Beam described that he felt that each of the goal categories are priorities and that he wanted to be sure that each Commissioner felt that their issues were adequately represented and that there was a “champion” for each category and that strict prioritization wasn’t necessary.
 
NEW BUSINESS
A. Earth Day Recap
Commissioners discussed the Earth Day event and the success of their booth and the Conservationist of the Year awards ceremony and were generally pleased with the overall event.  Former Commissioner Runkle was congratulated for his multi-year efforts in establishing and promoting the Conservationist of the Year program as well as for his time and efforts on the Commission over his term.
 
B. Compost Class Assignment
June 8 – Tom Beam
July 13 – Mark Weir, Shel Silverberg
August 17 – Adam Hanks
September 14 – Jim McGinnis, Marni Koopman
 
 
The Commission also discussed somehow including the AAUW Garden group in the compost events.  Commissioner Buck agreed to follow up.
 
C.  Fourth of July Planning
Commissioner Buck noted that the sub-committee is comprised of Commissioners Beam, Gould and Buck and welcomed Commissioner Silverberg to the group.  Buck announced the next Fourth of July sub-committee meeting would be May 7 at Recology at 4:30.
 
D. Solid Waste Working Group Update
Commissioner Beam gave a brief update on the status of the work on developing a new solid waste franchise agreement and noted that a draft ordinance and resolution was being developed by staff for distribution to the group this week and that the working group and Recology would both be reviewing that draft then meeting together to work out final details.
 
STAFF REPORTS/UPDATES
Hanks suggested that the Commission goals be prioritized or matched up to leverage existing and proposed programs of the Conservation Division to further both the Commission and the Division’s objectives and find the right role for each group in each of the Commission’s goal categories.  The Commission agreed and requested that Staff provide them with presentations/updates on the City’s existing programs and plans for future changes/new program ideas so they can assist with promotion and outreach as well as work on some of their goals directly.
 
Hanks updated the Commission on the Operational Sustainability Plan progress and noted that an SOU class was assisting with preparing an employee survey to get feedback on existing perceptions and implementation of sustainability practices as well as attitudes regarding sustainability and potential barriers to increased sustainable practices.  The group would like to present their findings to the Sustainability sub-committee as part of the final for the class and would like to present on June 10 at 1:30 in the Siskiyou Room.
 
The SOU class is also working on recycling benchmarking and green fleet evaluation and recommendation that will also be a part of the report and presentation.
 
QUARTERLY LIAISON REPORTS
Deferred to June Meeting
 
COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS
Deferred
 
OTHER BUSINESS FROM COMMISSIONERS NOT ON AGENDA
Commissioner Weir asked that Staff provide a report on the Conservation Division budget for the FY13-15 biennium that was in the process of approval. 
 
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00.
 
 
Respectfully submitted by:
Adam Hanks, Administration

Online City Services

Pay Your Utility Bill
 
Connect to
Ashland Fiber Network
Request Conservation
Evaluation
Proposals, Bids
& Notifications
Request Building
Inspection
Building Permit
Applications
Apply for Other
Permits & Licenses
Register for
Recreation Programs

©2024 City of Ashland, OR | Site Handcrafted in Ashland, Oregon by Project A

Quicklinks

Connect

Share

twitter facebook Email Share
back to top