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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016.03.23 Conservation Commission Minutes Minutes for the Conservation Commission March 23,2016 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION Wednesday, March 23, 2016 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Chair Roxanne Beigel-Coryell called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Siskiyou Room. Commissioners Shel Silverberg, Mark Weir, Marni Koopman, Risa Buck, and Cara Cruickshank were present. Staff member Adam Hanks, Councilor Rich Rosenthal, and commissioners James McGinnis and Bryan Sohl were absent. 2. Consent Agenda Koopman/Cruickshank m/s to approve the minutes of February 24, 2016, as presented. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes, 3. Announcements The next commission meeting will be April 27, 2016. There will be a conference on April 16, 2016 regarding pollinators and pesticides. It will be from 8:00 a.m. —5:00 p.m. at SOU. The night prior will be a happy hour fundraiser at the SOU library. On Tuesday, March 29, from 9:30— 11:30 a.m. the Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a "best practices"workshop for restaurants. Former commissioner Beam will present to restaurants information regarding the choices they make at how those choices effect the waste stream. There will be a Hazardous Waste Disposal Day May 61h for businesses and May 71h for residential at Rogue Disposal in White City. Firewise Clean-up Day is April 301h at the Valley View Transfer Station. SOU is holding many Earth Week events April 18-24. Check the SOU Sustainability website for more information. On April 20 at 6:30 p.m. Buck is teaching a class at North Mountain Park regarding recycling (where it goes and why). 4. Public Forum Louise Shawkat—wanted the commission to know that the recycle center composting needs a rain barrel because when the water is turned off there is no water available to keep the composting going. Huelz Gutchen— stated that at the last City Council meeting he talked about the troubles in Syria and how their refuge crisis and current war are due to gas and desalination projects. Americans make more than 50% of the carbons in the atmosphere and here in Ashland we can't figure out whether burning things is good or bad. Now that it's possible to have zero-net, non-connected homes building departments and officials have to learn how to deal with these. The building department says that we can't build like that here in Ashland but he believes we can have Minutes for the Conservation Commission March 23,2016 Page 2 of 3 exceptions or even a mandate to cause all buildings in Ashland to be built to zero net energy. He wonders how long it will take us to mandate zero-net energy homes and wants to have a contest for people to guess when that will occur. Oregon is now on the map for their new renewable energy laws and requirements. Kudos are coming from across the country for this progress. 5. Reports/Presentations/Updates Downtown Recycling—Buck stated that five of the baskets are up and signage will be up next week. They are still looking for three additional locations. Low Impact Living Workshop Series—Buck stated that she met with North Mountain Park staff regarding the series and they are in support of the classes. She is now waiting for Parks staff to inform her what dates and times are best for the workshops. She is working on a flyer and is writing an article with Beigel-Coryell for the Sneak Preview. 6. Old Business Sneak Preview Column—Group decided to swap July and August topics so that the Low Impact Living article will be closer to the expected dates of the workshops. Group discussed and agree to the request from the Sneak Preview editor to limit the articles to 650 words or less. Cruickshank/Weir m/s to approve Koopman's Climate Challenge article, once the word cloud has been removed from the draft. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Weir/Koopman m/s to approve Buck's Plastics Recycling article as presented. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Climate &Energy Action Plan—Beigel-Coryell stated that Koopman is now a member of the committee. Koopman gave an overview of the last meeting in which the group met with the consultant, who gave information regarding the upcoming process and spent time learning from the committee what they want from the process. There will be lots of outreach throughout and the consultant wanted a sense of what stakeholders/ sectors/individuals in the community should be involved. Koopman stated she was glad to see two high school students attend the meeting and express interest in being involved. Rogue Valley Earth Day —There will be many members of the commission in attendance participating in booths such as the Ashland Climate Challenge, Conservation Division, Recology, and the Pollinator Project. 7. New Business Nomination of Chair and Vice Chair—Group discussed possible nominations. Buck would like to ask if either commissioners Sohl or McGinnis have interest in being the Chair. Koopman nominated Cruickshank as the Vice Chair, and she agreed to the nomination. Weir stated that if neither Sohl or McGinnis are interested in being Chair he is willing to fill the role for a year. 8. Wrap Up Cruickshank requested information on city policies/regulations/projects regarding preserving farm land. Group requested follow-up on the letter sent to businesses regarding the bag ban. Minutes for the Conservation Commission March 23,2016 Page 3 of 3 Meeting adj ourned at 7:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet Executive Assistant