HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE Meeting Summary 09092024 Orange County Commission for the Environment
Meeting Summary
September 9th, 2024; 7:00 pm
Hybrid Meeting
Present: Kristie Mather, Mark Randall, Ian Morse (via Teams), Jane Harris (via Teams),
John Bucher, Matthew Ferguson, Regina Baratta, Lily Schacht, Veronica Penn
Beattie, Aimee Vandemark, Patrick Fn'Piere
Absent: Reade Oakley,Nicholas Stover
Staff: Chris Himi, Wesley Poole,Amy Eckberg, Kalani Allen, Karina Nabors, Melony
Gilles (via Teams), Madison Buschek(Intern, via Teams)
I. Call to Order
Chair Regina Baratta called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm.
II. Additions or Changes to Agenda
Amy Eckberg requested to introduce her intern, Madison Buschek, whenever she logged
in and let her tell everyone what she has been working on.
III. Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary—August 121h, 2024
Motion to approve by Matthew Ferguson; seconded by Kristie Mather; all in favor; none
opposed; motion passed.
IV. Community Climate Action Grant Round 4—Discussion
Veronica Penn Beattie created the scoring spreadsheet for Round 4 of the Community
Climate Action Grant, so she briefly went over the spreadsheet with the CFE before
removing herself from this portion of the meeting along with Ian Morse (they were asked
to do so by Regina Baratta via prior e-mail since they both submitted a grant application).
Reade Oakley will also be removing himself from discussions and scoring due to
submitting an application as well. Amy Eckberg notified the CFE that they received 25
applications to review, so with only $262,500 available and $1,151,873 of requests, this
is going to be a lot of work. The CFE began with a broad overview of the Community
Climate Actions Grant applications, then discussed specific application sections, ranking
criteria, and reasonable scores. The group went through scoring one of the applications
as a whole in order to familiarize everyone with the process. CFE members are asked to
fill out the scoring spreadsheet for each application on their own and come to the next
meeting in October ready to discuss.
V. New Member Applications
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Orange County Commission for the Environment
Meeting Summary
September 9th, 2024; 7:00 pm
Hybrid Meeting
Wesley Poole notified the CFE that they currently have two vacancies on the board and
five applicants to choose from. After a discussion of the candidates, the CFE agreed to
recommend to the BOCC that they should appoint Wendy Calvin to Position#4 and
Thomas Engelhardt to Position#7. All in favor; none opposed; recommendation passed.
VI. Updates and Information Items
• Chris Hirni and Kalani Allen reminded the CFE of the upcoming ERCD—Lands
Legacy 25th Anniversary Celebration. It will be held on October 19th at Blackwood
Farm Park and will feature a BYOP (Bring Your Own Picnic).
• Regina Baratta and Karina Nabors updated the CFE on what Green Teams
Hillsborough has been working on.
• Chris Hirni reminded the CFE to be reviewing past State of the Environment Reports
to prepare for work on the upcoming Report.
• Amy Eckberg reminded the CFE of the upcoming Volunteer Road Show. It will be
held September 21St at Eno River Arts Mill.
• Kalani Allen notified the CFE that the recent Harvest Festival held at Blackwood
Farm Park was a success.
VII. Adjournment
Matthew Ferguson motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:55 pm; seconded by Kristie
Mather; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed.
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