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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE minutes 050817Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary May 8, 2017 Solid Waste Management Administration Building, Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill Present: Lynne Gronback (Chair), Bill Kaiser (Vice Chair), May Becker, Jeremy Marzuola, Jeanette O'Connor, Alan Parry, Sheila Thomas-Ambat, Marshall Gray, Matt Crook, Bill Newby Absent: Lydia Wegman, Rebecca Ray, Peter Cada, Alex Nicodem Staff: Tom Davis, Brennan Bouma I. Call to Order Chair Gronback called the meeting to order at 7:31. II. Additions or Changes to Agenda Introduction of Kim Livingston the new County Land Resources Coordinator III. Approval of Draft Minutes from April 10, 2017. Bill Kaiser motioned to approve the minutes as written. Marshall Gray seconded. Minutes were approved unanimously. IV. Guest Presentation – Kim Piracci of The North Carolina Climate Solutions Coalition (NCCSC) will present information concerning the resolution they are asking the Orange County Commissioners to consider including a commitment to be fossil fuel free by 2050. (Attachments 2, 3, and 4) The proposed resolution is based on Stanford Professor Marc Jacobson’s published work. Kim had a conversation with Commissioner Renee Price. Comm. Price recommended that Kim present to the CFE and then the CFE could put it forward to the Commissioners if they approve. Kim clarified that as long as no new fossil fuel generation sources are built, all existing sources would have outlived their useful life by the target date. She also clarified that this would be a non-binding resolution, and that 2050 is a long time, given the rapid rate of change in energy technologies and energy markets. The CFE agreed to review the documents and put it on their agenda next month for a vote. V. Orange County Recycling Programs - Orange County Recycling Programs Manager Allison Lohrenz presented information concerning recycling efforts, including composting, in Orange County. Orange County Solid Waste has met its aggressive per capita waste reduction goal for FY 15Ǧ16 of 62% overall, meaning that the waste landfilled per capita was 0.52 tons per person last year compared to 1.36 tons/capita per person in base year 1991. This surpassed for the third year in a row, our goal set in 1997 of 61% reduction. The County’s composting efforts were a significant part of this reduction since they divert some of the heaviest and hardest-to-process material from the waste stream. This residential program assists homeowners in composting at home through selling compost bins and training residents in their use. Residential food waste can also be dropped off at several locations. The commercial composting program includes free pickup from more than 10 businesses around the County by the County’s composting contractor, Brooks. The material is then composted at their facility and a portion is sold back to the County and then to residents for productive use. The CFE could help support the County’s composting efforts by reaching out to local businesses to recruit more into the program. The program is free, the businesses just need to produce a minimum of 2 tons of compostable waste. They can pool together with other nearby businesses to share a container. VI. CFE Facebook Page – Brennan provided an update concerning the new CFE Facebook page. Marzoula had an idea to write a very brief summary of each meeting to post immediately after the meeting and then the minutes could be linked the next month once approved. VII. CFE Committee Break-out Sessions Committees reviewed their draft updated priorities and discuss how to proceed (Attachment 5). VIII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items: x Continuing Action Items from previous CFE meetings o SOE 2019 Planning (Attachment 6) x Efforts to Freeze NC Renewable Energy Requirements (Attachment 7) x Forget About Climate Change (Attachment 8) x Any other new information from CFE members and staff IX. Adjournment Crook motioned to adjourn, Marzoula seconded. Meeting adjourned at 9:20 pm. Summary by B. Bouma, AMS Staff Next Meeting: June 12, Animal Services Building PLEASE NOTE: The September 11 and November 13 CFE meetings will be held at the Animal Services Building, 1601 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill.