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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE Agenda 03092026 AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment March 9t", 2026 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. 9t", 2026 The CFE will consider approval of meeting summary from the last meeting.Action needed (Attachment 1) 7:05 IV. CFE Membership The Chair will introduce two new applicants. Discuss any changes or suggestions for making orientation smoother. Discuss new attendance procedure 7:20 V. RIPPLE Award Review Tallies from last meeting and finalize the Community Environmental Excellence Award. Nominees and winners will be notified for the April Earth Day Ceremony. CFE Members are needed to represent and present awards. 7:45 VI. Sub-Committee Breakouts Each group will review another group's section and give feedback. All topics for emerging issues need to be addressed and assigned. 8:15 VII. State of Environment Discussion: Review input/feedback on sections from sub-committees. Discuss next steps and coverage of emerging issues. Second drafts due by April 13th. 8:45 VIII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items: • Earth Day Updates • Creek Week • Repair Cafe April I1th • Hillsborough Climate Challenge Updates Any other new information from CFE members and staff 9:00 IX. Adjournment *Next Meeting Date: April 13th,2026;(Bonnie B Davis Environment and Agriculture Center) Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary February 9', 2026; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting Present: Kristie Mather, Ian Morse, John Bucher, Regina Baratta, Aimee Vandemark, Patrick Fn'Piere, Mark Randall, Jeff Ryan, Leto Copeley Absent: Mayur Lodaya, Margot Lester, Lily Schacht, Veronica Penn Beattie, Matthew Ferguson Staff: Chris Himi, Kalani Allen, Wesley Poole, Amy Eckberg, Melony Gilles, Karina Nabors Guests: None I. Call to Order Chair Regina Baratta called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm. II. Additions or Changes to Agenda None. III. Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary—January 12t", 2026 Motion to approve by Mark Randall; seconded by Aimee Vandemark; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. IV. RIPPLE Awards—Nominations Review and Vote Chair Regina Baratta led a review of nominations for the first annual RIPPLE Awards and began the voting process. The (5) award categories are Community Environmental Excellence, Environmental Leadership in Government, Individual Environmental Impact, Next Generation Environmental Leadership, and Sustainable Business Impact. Kristie Mather motioned to award the Sustainable Business Impact Award to Endswell, A Modern Funeral Home; seconded by Ian Morse; all in favor except for Patrick Fn'Piere who chose not to vote; none opposed; motion passed. The group continued to discuss the other categories but ran out of time allotted, so they will individually score and discuss at the next meeting. Chair Regina Baratta will not vote on Cathy Vinski because she works with her. Leto Copeley asked(the next day) for it to be noted that she also did not consider the nomination of Cathy Vinski for a RIPPLE Award due to her working with her on a project. V. Earth Day Events Discussion Page 1 of 2 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary February 9', 2026; 7:00 pm Hybrid Meeting Kalani Allen led the discussion on the Orange County DEAPR Earth Day Event that is currently being planned. It will be held at Blackwood Park this year instead of River Park and will be held on Wednesday April 22nd, Earth Day. There may be some activities planned for school groups during the day,but not sure yet. The main event will be after work hours in the 5-7pm timeframe. Orange County Sustainability will have a table there and some CFE members will assist. The RIPPLE Awards will be presented at the event. VI. State of the Environment Discussion The group did a round-table discussion of each sub-committee's progress with their respective portions of the State of the Environment report. Once the final draft is completed, it will be submitted to Melissa Blackburn for graphic work. The goal for this would be June. Chair Regina Baratta stated that she would like each section to be no more than 20 pages and would like to see rough drafts entered into the shared folder by the next meeting so that they can start peer editing. VII. Sub-Committee Breakouts The CFE decided to skip Sub-Committee Breakouts due to a time shortage. VIII. Updates and Information Items • Chris Hirni notified the CFE that the Annual Work Plan Presentation would be held on February loth at the Southern Human Services Center and that Vice-Chair Ian Morse would be presenting. • Karina Nabors notified the CFE that the Tree Giveaway would be held on March 201h at the Bonnie B. Davis Center, the same day as NC Arbor Day. Those that sign up can get one tree each and leftovers may be available. • Chair Regina Baratta notified the CFE that Hillsborough Climate Challenge would be having an event on Earth Day, April 22nd at Whitted Human Services Building from 7-8:30pm. • Kalani Allen notified the CFE that Orange County would be celebrating Creek Week from March 21St through 291h and Wesley Poole invited members to join the staff creek cleanup event planned for March 241h IX. Adjournment Chair Regina Baratta motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:48 pm; seconded by Jeff Ryan; all in favor; none opposed; motion passed. Page 2 of 2