HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE minutes 021317Orange County Commission for the Environment
Meeting Summary
February 13, 2017
Solid Waste Management Administration Building, Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill
Present: Bill Kaiser (Vice Chair), May Becker, Peter Cada, Jeremy Marzuola, William Newby, Alex
Nickodem, Jeanette O'Connor, Alan Parry, Sheila Thomas-Ambat
Absent: Lynne Gronback, Lydia Wegman, Rebecca Ray
Staff: Dave Stancil, Tom Davis, Brennan Bouma
I. Call to Order - Kaiser called the meeting to order at 7:30.
II. Additions or Changes to Agenda - No changes.
III. Approval of Minutes from December 12, 2016. Cada motioned to approve the minutes as written.
O’Connor seconded. Minutes were approved unanimously.
IV. CFE New Member Introductions and Welcome - Alex Nicodem, Alan Perry, and Jeremy
Marzuola introduced themselves.
V. Continuing Action Items from Previous Meeting(s) - Members discussed items of ongoing
interest and new interest:
Carrboro Climate Change Action Plan – No update as the Carrboro Board of Aldermen has yet to take
up the plan.
CFE Newspaper Articles – All 12 of the articles that were initially considered have been written.
Members are interested in continuing the series and agreed that it would be good to have a list of
proposed articles with deadlines in order to ensure they get accomplished. The topic was referred to
be discussed in committee breakout meetings.
O’Connor gave an update about the CFE Facebook page, that she is waiting to hear back from Beth
Young about whether the CFE page is now officially accepted.
Ambat discussed an idea to use the County webpages to showcase the environmental initiatives of
the County, ideally with an interactive mapping tool.
Marzuola discussed an idea to use the CFE Facebook page to drive people through links to check out
the work the CFE has done, like the series of articles.
Stancil noted that 2019 would be the year of the next CFE State of the Environment Report. It would
be good to have a plan of action by the end of this calendar year.
VI. Upcoming Outreach Opportunities- were discussed.
Photo Contest is ongoing
Earth Evening will be April 28th. Kaiser volunteered to help.
Last Fridays in Hillsborough – April through October, the CFE has a booth.
FestiFall – large event
Bee City Activities in Carrboro
Hydrilla Open House – March 1st at 6:30, Cedar Grove Community Center.
VI. CFE Committee Break-out Sessions - New members Nikodem and Parry indicated they would
join the Air and Energy Committee. Marzuola will join the Land Resources Committee.
Air and Energy Committee Meeting Notes:
Newby discussed a possible 12% budget cut at EPA and many grants may currently be frozen. The Air
and Energy committee will continue to monitor the issues. Alan P proposed an article to look at the state
of clean energy economy in the County. NCSEA audit could be used as a framework. Could bring up
potential to use solar and wind in rural areas to assist otherwise underserved populations. Becker
discussed an interest in ensuring that the CFE maintained its focus on reducing food waste. Taking
responsibility for the website and Facebook page content may be a good role for the committee .
Traditional news articles have the benefit of being the underlying content that can then be posted
elsewhere. Then the social media pages could go into more detail on topics that couldn’t fit into 600
words. Newby talked about some tools related to air quality and carbon emissions that are available for
our use. The focus on Climate Change could respond to Carrboro’s Climate plan and see if there are
options for the county to align with it. The green building item was discussed, and while laudable there
were several obstacles including expense, and legal restrictions on incentives. The committee could be
involved in educating about Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing. This could relate to the
priority on working with utilities to increase energy efficiency.
Water Resources Breakout Meeting Notes:
Stream buffers were tabled from further consideration at this time as they’d already been addressed in
some ways. They discussed an article identifying entities and agencies that are involved and what they
do: Soil and Water, OWASA, FEMA, etc. They also discussed the water supply and thought about
capitalizing on the recent water supply crises in Chapel Hill/Carrboro and Hillsborough. Educating on
what went well and then in general about who supplies water and where it comes from.
Land Resources Breakout Meeting Notes:
Article idea to interface with Air and Energy to look at pros and cons to changing landscapes to allow for
renewable energies in Orange County. Also could detail the land use implications of transportation.
Comprehensive Conservation Plan was discussed as something that may currently be stalled. Rich was
part of a regional group that was going after a grant, and we’ll get in touch with him when he returns to
ask about the current status. This committee is also interested in finding in-person actions, including:
Ways to educate homeowners on pollinator gardens and rainwater management sys tems.
Carrboro has a pollinator garden, and maybe we could recreate that, or maybe set up kits.
Becker asked if the Land Conservation Committee had any information about the CFE’s ongoing interest
in the responsible management of food waste. Marzuola will reach out to the SWAG for an update.
VII. Updates and Information Items – Information in the following items was provided: a) Monitoring and
Evaluation of County’s Goals from January BOCC retreat; b) Sustainability and Environmental
Responsibility Goal Update; c) Annual Work Plan Discussion at BOCC Work Session, 7:00 March 28th,
Whitted Building; d) 2017 Nature of Orange Photography contest; e) Eno River Watershed Hydrilla Public
Information Open House; f) DEAPR Earth Evening event, April 28th, 2017; g) Triangle Land Conservancy’s
Brumley Forest Preserve Grand Opening, April 22nd, 2017; h) Price of Solar Panels.
VIII. Adjournment- Cada motioned to adjourn, and Marzuola seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:28 pm.
Summary by B. Bouma, AMS Staff
Next meeting: March 13, Richard Whitted Building, Hillsborough