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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE Agenda 06132022 AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment June 13t", 2022 7:00 p.m., Bonnie B. Davis Environment and Agriculture Center Time Item Title 7:00 I. Call to Order 7:01 II. Additions or Changes to Agenda 7:03 III. Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary — May 9t", 2022 The CFE will consider approval of meeting summary from the last meeting.Action needed (Attachment 1) 7:05 IV. Orange County Residential Solar- Discussion Provided information from staff,the CFE will discuss a recent email from an Orange County resident regarding limitations for residential solar and local power utilities. 7:45 V. Intergovernmental Parks Group- CFE Rep- Action Item The CFE will nominate a new member representative for the County Intergovernmental Parks Group,which meets once to twice a year. 7:50 VI. CFE Earth Day/Evening Events Retrospective The CFE will discuss recent Earth Day events; successes, needs,future planning and recruitment potential. 8:10 VII. Committee Breakouts The CFE will break out into committee assignments and discuss goals/projects for the year. Committees will report on projects upon returning to the main meeting. 8:40 VIII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items: • Climate Action Plan- RFQ • Community Climate Action Grant Program • Solarize the Triangle • County LEED Status Announcement Any other new information from CFE members and staff 9:00 IX. Adjournment *Next Meeting Date: August 8rh, 2022(NO meeting in July);Bonnie 8 Davis Environment and Agriculture Center Attachment I Orange County Commission for the Environment DRAFT Meeting Summary May 9, 2022; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting Present: Kim Piracci, Kim Livingston, Kristie Mather, Veronica Penn Beattie (via Zoom), Jessie Birckhead, Jaya Nair(via Zoom), Jane Harris (via Zoom), Elizabeth McWhorter(via Zoom) Absent: Bill Ward(excused), Ian Morse (excused), Carrie Fletcher, Reade Oakley Staff: Wesley Poole, Chris Hirni, Amy Eckberg, Kalani Allen I. Call to Order Kim Piracci called the meeting to order at 7:l 7 pm. II. Additions or Changes to Agenda Kim Piracci asked for a motion to add a bullet point about the Piedmont Electric solar situation and the letter from David Rust to the Updates and Information Items. Motion by Kristie Mather; seconded by Elizabeth McWhorter; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. III. Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary—April 11', 2022 Motion by Kristie Mather; seconded by Veronica Penn Beattie; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. IV. Solid Waste Composting and Recycling-Update Orange County Solid Waste Community Engagement Supervisor, Kyra Levau, gave a virtual presentation to the CFE with updates and information regarding the County's composting and recycling programs. Kyra stated that a waste composition study is done every 5 years and almost 50% of what Orange County is throwing away could be composted. She discussed their glass on the side program that started in 2017 with a focus on bars and restaurants. Now they have over 100 businesses participating and the drop off program has become very successful. She discussed their new recycling stars program where residents recycling properly will get an orange star on their cart and entered into a raffle, but those not doing so will get an"oops"tag with information on how to recycle properly. The Fork it Over program was put on hold because of Covid, but was relaunched in April. As for composting, Orange County now has 5 drop off locations where any Orange County resident can bring food waste for free. Kyra also discussed Solid Waste's 5 year master plan with a goal of zero waste by 2045. A consulting group is working on the specifics of the plan and how to engage residents. Page 1 of 3 Orange County Commission for the Environment DRAFT Meeting Summary May 9, 2022; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting The presentation ended with a Q&A session and CFE members had lots of input/ questions. V. CFE Policy and Procedure Review The CFE was asked to review and discuss edits to the CFE Policy and Procedure document for draft adoption. Veronica Penn Beattie led the discussion and went through the revised draft document item by item and received lots of input from CFE members. Kim Piracci asked for a motion to forward the draft document to County legal staff for review. Motion by Kim Livingston; seconded by Kristie Mather; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. VI. CFE Earth Day/Evening Event Planning—Discussion Time was running short so Jessie Birckhead made a motion to delay Items VI and VII from tonight's agenda to the next meeting; seconded by Veronica Penn Beattie; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. VII. Committee Breakouts See above. VIII. Updates and Information Items - Wesley Poole led a discussion about CFE attendance policy and explained how unexcused absences can lead to dismissal from the CFE by the Chair. Wesley urged CFE members to notify County staff if they could not attend a meeting so that they could be marked as excused. - Veronica Penn Beattie mentioned that the CFE is currently looking for three new members to fill recent vacancies, so if anyone knows someone that may be interested, please spread the word. - Kim Piracci discussed the Intergovernmental Parks Group that meets twice per year, once in April and once in October, at which the CFE has a representative at. She went to the last meeting and informed the CFE that at the next meeting we would be voting on a new representative. - Amy Eckberg informed the CFE that Orange County recently received a gold certified LEED status. The official announcement will be coming soon. - Amy Eckberg informed the CFE that she is involved with the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network and they have a draft letter on net metering that she can get a copy of to share with the CFE for review/comment. As for the Piedmont Electric solar Page 2 of 3 Orange County Commission for the Environment DRAFT Meeting Summary May 9, 2022; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting situation and the letter from David Rust, that has been shared with the CFE and will be discussed further at the next meeting. - Kalani Allen asked about the status of the bio-sheet creation and Veronica Penn Beattie said that was on her. Jessie Birckhead had suggested making it a Google sheet so Veronica said she would be working on it before we meet again. IX. Adjournment Jessie Birckhead motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:01 pm; seconded by Veronica Penn Beattie; all in favor: none opposed; motion passed. Page 3 of 3