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Orange County
Commission for the Environment
Meeting Summary
December 12, 2016
Orange County Solid Waste Administration Building, Chapel Hill
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PRESENT: Lynne Gronback (Vice Chair), May Becker, Peter Cada, Loren Hintz, Bill Kaiser,
Bill Newby, Jeanette O’Connor, Rebecca Ray, Sheila Thomas-Ambat
ABSENT: Lydia Wegman
STAFF: Brendan Bouma, Tom Davis, Rich Shaw
GUESTS: Paul Cough
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I. Call to Order – Gronback called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm.
II. Ad ditions or Changes to Agenda – None
III. Minutes – Gronback asked for comments on the November 14 meeting summary. Hintz
motioned approval as written; seconded by Kaiser. Approved unanimously.
IV. CFE Annual Report and Work Plan 2016-17 – Shaw referred CFE members to the
CFE’s annual report and work plan, which was discussed at the November meeting. He
pointed out the changes that were made in November and reminded CFE members they
had already approved this document. Shaw said he would submit the approved
document to the Clerk to the board of county commissioners.
V. Planning for Climate Change – O’Connor provided an overview of the Town of
Carrboro’s community climate action plan, which she noted is being considered for
implementation by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. O’Connor pointed out the Board
had been scheduled to take action on the plan in November, but this item was delayed.
O’Connor said she is a member of the Carrboro Energy and Climate Action Task Force,
which developed this plan with assistance from Randy Dodd, environmental planner with
the Town of Carrboro. The purpose of the plan is to educate the town residents on ways
they can help reduce Carrboro’s greenhouse gas emissions in ten categories, including
transportation, energy consumption, ecosystem management, and food consumption.
CFE members commented and asked questions about various aspects of the plan.
O’Connor pointed out that many of the objectives will be difficult to achieve, but the task
force decided not to shy away from ambitious targets. She noted two overarching
recommendations from the task force is for Carrboro to create a sustainability
coordinator position and to establish a stormwater utility.
O’Connor reported CFE members can access the climate action plan via the Town of
Carrboro’s website, noting it is #2 of the download options found at the following page:
https://carrboro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2882400&GUID=9581AE32 -5EE5-437A-82AD-
F8CF21FB4022&Options=&Search
CFE members thanked O’Connor for sharing that information and asked they she
apprise them of any further actions by the board of aldermen.
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VI. CFE News Articles – The CFE considered a draft news article by Bill Kaiser on the
subject of climate change and a draft follow-up article, also on climate change. Kaiser
pointed out he had made several edits to the first article (Part 1) since the November
meeting and considers it ready for CFE approval. CFE members offered some final
thoughts on the article, including a recommendation by Becker that there be a more
comprehensive description of the natural causes of climate change. Kaiser pointed out
the difficulty in covering the topic in just 600 words, but he would consider adding that
additional information if Becker would provide the suggested language. She agreed to
send a new sentence to Kaiser for an addition to the article. The consensus of the CFE
was to approve the article with minor changes by members by Kaiser.
Kaiser said his second article was still in draft form and he asked for further comments
by CFE members and staff so he could provide a revised draft for consideration at the
January meeting.
VII. Election of Officers – CFE members conducted the annual election of a Chair and
Vice-Chair for the upcoming year. Lynn Gronback was elected Chair, and Bill Kaiser
was elected Vice Chair for 2017. Both votes were unanimous.
VIII. Updates and Information Items – Information on the following subjects was provided in
the meeting materials: a) CFE meeting calendar for 2017, b) CFE comments on UDO
changes for flexible minor subdivisions, c) 2016 climate change indicators in the US, d)
COP22 Marrakech Action Proclamation, e) NC Industrial Hemp Commission, f) and an
article describing the environmental meaning of President Trump.
IV. Adjournment – Gronback adjourned the meeting at 9:00 pm.
Summary by Rich Shaw, DEAPR Staff