MINUTES

March 29, 2000

CALL TO ORDER – The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Carole Wheeldon at 7:02 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Members present were Bruce Moats, Kari Tuck, Karen Amarotico, Carole Wheeldon and Russ Chapman. Staff present were Dick Wanderscheid and Sonja Akerman. Also present was Dan Murphy from Ashland Sanitary & Recycling. Members Ashley Henry, Howard Braham, Russ Otte and Kirk Evans were unable to attend.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Chapman stated the Minutes of the February 23, 2000 meeting, under Jefferson Monthly Article, should read "…a college student to translate the article," rather than "…interpret the article." The Commission then agreed to approve the minutes as corrected.

PUBLIC FORUM – There was no one present who wished to speak.

ASHLAND SANITARY & RECYCLING UPDATE – Murphy reported: 1) The spring phone book drive is currently going on. First and second place prizes will again be offered this year for the schools collecting the most phone books. 2) Waste Prevention in Jackson County flyers were mailed out last month. He will bring extra flyers to the City Hall to make them available to more people. 3) There is currently an ad in the papers for April events. These include chipper day, chipper week and free disposal of leaves and grass. 4) There are now three sizes of worm bins on display in the office, which are available for sale. Paige Pruitt will be offering a free class on vermiculture at the North Mountain Park on June 3 at 1:00 p.m. Coupons will be available at the class to allow participants to purchase the bins at a lower cost. 5) He has a file in the office for DEQ, which contains everything Ashland Sanitary has done with the Jackson County Recycling Coalition for waste reduction. It is possible to receive 2% credits for education and promotional programs. All advertising for compost classes, etc. add up to meet the criteria, which needs to be documented, submitted to the County, then in turn, the County will submit everything to DEQ. We are currently recycling 34% and it is possible to get up to 6% credit. Tuck asked if advertising for compost/vermiculture classes would count for the credit. Murphy replied the classes are posted at the office, but they have never advertised. Chapman noted his approval for Ashland Sanitary to advertise classes. Wheeldon asked about Ashland Sanitary ads and Murphy responded since most events sponsored by Ashland Sanitary have happened prior to summer, no more ads are placed until fall. Murphy will investigate the possibility of being a part of countywide ads also. 6) Hazardous Waste disposal is scheduled for May 5 and 6 at the Jackson County Expo Center. This is currently being advertised. The cost is $5.00 per car and Murphy stated it would be fine to carpool.

July 4^th Parade Float Discussion – In discussing this, it was discovered very few members would be in town this 4^th of July. Therefore, the Commission will decide at the next meeting whether or not it will participate this year.

Green Business – Ross Finney reported that with the help of Chapman and Wanderscheid, he had given the Green Business presentation to the Council. There was no opposition so he felt very positive about its reception. The program received approval to move on with the pilot. Finney then handed out the scope and timeline of the proposal. Timeline restructuring was discussed due to budgetary time constraints. Wheeldon asked that the participating businesses be recruited by the April meeting. Finney agreed to begin immediately.

Education Subcommittee – Tuck stated she still needs to talk with Cathy Cartmill to find out how effective the energy conservation articles have been. There will be a Water Wise landscaping class at the North Mountain Park on April 8 with Robbin Pearce and Eric Setterberg at 10:30 a.m. The committee has nothing more planned at this time. Wheeldon suggested the education subcommittee tie in with the TID subcommittee now and perhaps begin writing articles on topics such as water rights, the history of TID, etc. Wanderscheid agreed it would be a good idea to write articles to educate people about TID and Tuck concurred. A meeting date will be announced via e-mail.

Jefferson Monthly Article – Tuck wrote a good article on worm composting. Amarotico will write the next one, possibly on recycling.

Update on Solar Program – Wanderscheid reported the Requests for Proposal have been sent out to 20 companies. April 4^th will be the site tour for the bidders (at least four have expressed an interest in bidding). Bids are due April 11. On April 17, the bid will be awarded to one of the companies. The City is hoping to have the solar systems installed by June 17. Wanderscheid noted that 237 citizens have signed up for the Solar Pioneer Program, however, only one business has done so. Because of the overwhelming response, Wanderscheid said the City is open to suggestions as to whether it should pay back the businesses installing the systems earlier or install another system.

TID Subcommittee Report – The committee did not meet again so there was no report.

Budget – The balance is $833.

Compost Classes for 2000 – The Commission would like to sponsor these classes again this year. Wanderscheid will speak with Claudia Law regarding dates for the classes. How to advertise will be discussed at the next meeting.

COMMISSION ITEMS – 1) Tuck noted certified wood is being used on the restoration of the old farmhouse at North Mountain Park. The lumber was purchased at Ashland Lumber. Tuck will find out the difference in cost for the lumber. She also remarked $60,000 is needed to finish and furnish the house and they are currently trying to raise the money. 2) Wheeldon stated the City Council recently passed a demolition ordinance that centers around solid waste. She is concerned because nothing in the ordinance addresses plans for disposal of the materials and the Conservation Commission was not involved in its passage. Chapman said Biomass takes clean wood that still has nails, but nothing else. Gypsum board, insulation, drywall, plaster, plumbing material, windows, etc. would need to go elsewhere, most likely the landfill. Wanderscheid added that a few years ago, Ken Hagen and contractor John Fields had researched where building materials could be recycled, and found it is not feasible in Southern Oregon.

ADJOURNMENT – The meeting adjourned at 8:41 p.m.