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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 03102025 AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment March 10t", 2025 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 — Feb. 10t", 2025 The CFE will consider approval of meeting summary from the last meeting.Action Needed (Attachment 1) 7:05 IV. CFE Introductions/Candidate Recruitment The Chair will lead a discussion of current applicants for membership and the CFE will vote on preferred candidates.The CFE will also discuss possibly recruitment of future"youth"delegate. 7:30 V. State of the Environment Report- Discussion The CFE will discuss the State of the Environment Report and expectations for the sub- committee breakout discussions for the 2025 report. 7:40 VI. Sub-Committee Breakouts The CFE will break out into committee assignments and discuss the SOE and goals/projects for the year. Committees will report on projects upon returning to the main meeting. 8:40 VII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items: • Sub-Committee Report • Planning for Earth Evening 4/25/25: CFE's role and volunteers needed • Volunteers needed for Tree Give Away and Repair Cafe • Hillsborough Climate Challenge begins end of March • Updates to CCAG application process Any other new information from CFE members and staff 9:00 VIII. Adjournment *Next Meeting Date: April 14t,2025;Bonnie B Davis Environment and Agriculture Center Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary February 10', 2025; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting Present: Kristie Mather, Mark Randall, Ian Morse, John Bucher, Matthew Ferguson, Regina Baratta, Lily Schacht, Veronica Penn Beattie (Teams), Aimee Vandemark, Patrick Fn'Piere Absent: Jane Harris, Reade Oakley Staff: Chris Hirni, Wesley Poole, Kalani Allen, Amy Eckberg (Teams), Karina Nabors (Teams), Melony Gilles Guests: Leto Copeley, Mayur Lodaya, William Branch I. Call to Order Chair Regina Baratta called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm. II. Additions or Changes to Agenda None. III. Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary—January 13', 2025 Motion to approve by Mark Randall; seconded by Lily Schacht; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. IV. CFE Introductions/Candidate Recruitment Chair Regina Baratta introduced the guests that were attending the meeting that night to see if they would like to be considered for appointment to the CFE. They were Leto Copeley, Mayur Lodaya, and William Branch. CFE members and staff did brief introductions along with the guests. Chair Regina Baratta described the process for joining the CFE. V. State of the Environment Report-Discussion Chair Regina Baratta discussed the survey results of what members would like to see with the State of the Environment Report. Everyone agreed to use a Google Folder to keep everything organized. The majority agreed to not use an outside consultant and try to have the report complete by 2026. It will be permissible for sub-committees to meet outside of regular meetings to complete the extra workload of putting the Report together, just keep meeting summaries of what is discussed. Members discussed the possibility of getting an intern to help with the work. Page 1 of 3 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary February 10', 2025; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting VI. Sub-Committee Breakouts The CFE broke out into committee assignments and discussed goals /projects for the year. Sub-Committee Breakout Meetin,-Summaries Air& Energy Resources Subcommittee: Present: John Bucher, Veronica Penn Beattie (Teams), Ian Morse, Matthew Ferguson, Kristie Mather Absent: None Staff: Amy Eckberg(Teams) • Committee discussed potential topics for the SOE and discussed assignments for individual subjects. Additionally, we wanted to make sure that the report mentions the climate change resilience and the impact of growth in OC. These topics will require collaboration with the other subcommittees. • Subcommittee is planning on having an outside meeting on February 24th. Water Resources Subcommittee: Present: Mark Randall, Lily Schacht, Patrick Fn Piere Absent: None Staff: Wesley Poole, Melony Gilles • Notes: Guiding question -How is Orange County doing at meeting water-related challenges? Target combined indices (e.g., watershed quality index). Framing: climate change will impact water sources, how resilient are we?Federal data may disappear so download data now. Update figures from 2019 SOE. • Next meeting: Talk about methodology. Divide responsibilities. Can someone contact water utilities to update Fig. I on Page 19 of 2019 SOE. Land Resources Subcommittee: Page 2 of 3 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary February 10', 2025; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting Present: Regina Baratta, Aimee Vandemark Absent: Jane Harris, Reade Oakley Staff.- Chris Hirni, Karina Nabors (Teams) • The Review Process of previous State of the Environment Reports and used the Survey results to start picking topics for the 2025-6 SOE. • Keep the bird survey part to represent the state of animals in OC(like an indicator species) since bird counts can also indicate presence/absence of insects,pollutants, native plants, etc.; Bird counts are also done annually so data would be easy to compare. Questions to consider: • How is OC doing compared to goals set in 2019? • What are our successes?Aimee selected: "Trees for the Forest"/Acres of Land Protected(pages 11-12 in 2019 SOE). Regina picked:Protected Land/Land Legacy Program (pages 13-14 in 2019 SOE). Reade's and Jane's topics TBD. Kristie Mather volunteered to help our Subcommittee with Solid Waste topic. VII. Updates and Information Items • Chris Hirni informed the CFE of the recent Lands Legacy Program conservation milestone: breaking 3,000 acres of land conserved in Orange County. • Regina Baratta informed the CFE of the many Hillsborough Climate Challenge events planned for April. • Karina Nabors informed the CFE of the Tree Giveaway coming up on March 15th • Mellony Gilles informed the CFE of the Repair Cafe coming up on March 151h as well. • Amy Eckberg informed the CFE of the hold placed on federal grants for Climate Action. VIII. Adjournment Chair Regina Baratta motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:03 pm; seconded by John Bucher; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. Page 3 of 3