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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGTF Minutes 11-3-09 GREEN TASK FORCE MINUTES NOVEMBER 3, 2009 Roll Call Members Present: Chair Mario Guerra Julia Emerson Vice Chair Luis Marquez Mike Finn Desi Alvarez Bill Kalpakoff Bob Ciatti Robert Rubio Lars Clutterham Sylvia Southerland Tom Davidson Also Present: Dave Schwade, Outside Sales Representative and co-worker of Bob Ciatti Jonathan Leonard Absent: Calvin Davis Bob Phillips Nancy Swenson Sally Flowers Jesse Kalashyan The meeting was called to order at 12:30 pm by Vice Chair Marquez. The flag salute was lead by Desi Alvarez. Minutes It was moved by Robert Rubio, seconded by Julia Emerson and carried to approve the Minutes from October 6, as presented. Vice Chair Marquez thanked everyone for coming and noted members Clutterham and Swenson attended the October 13 Council Meeting to speak about the “Day Without a Bag” program. He said Lars also presented a PowerPoint program depicting items the Green Task Force is working on. Vice Chair Marquez said the City is still waiting on an announcement from Tesla Motors. Chair Guerra arrived and advised he and DUSD Superintendent Dr. Wendy Doty met with the National Department of Education who want to use Downey as a model city for the Character Counts program. He mentioned traveling to Washington, DC regarding Character Counts and reviewed recent statistics, such as a reduction in school suspensions that have shown improvement since the inception of the Character Counts program. He said it takes the School District and the City working together to instill the six Character Counts’ pillars. - 1 - Sylvia Southerland felt this should be on the City’s website, stating other cities could benefit from this information. Chair Guerra advised he spoke with the Governor’s office about making California a Character Counts State. Sustainability Working Group Mr. Ciatti introduced his guest, co-worker and outside sales representative, Dave Schwade. Mr. Schwade mentioned school districts the company has worked and consulted with, such as Upland and Saugus. Mr. Ciatti presented a PowerPoint reiterating the subcommittee’s October 27 meeting where they had a guest speaker, Anna Valcarcel. He said she participates in Keep Downey Beautiful and brought photographs and information regarding websites and related information. He said it was mentioned cigarette butts are the No. 1 global litter item with plastic bags as No. 2. Chair Guerra advised the City had a website subcommittee meeting and hopes the site will be up in February. Ms. Emerson mentioned possibly banding with other cities, noting Lakewood and Norwalk have received awards for city sustainability efforts, and also referred to links for rebates and saving energy. Bob mentioned inviting Henry and Eric from the Downey Patriot to their meeting and hoped a quarter sheet of the newspaper could be devoted to what the Green Task Force is doing on the fourth Friday of every month. Chair Guerra said if we write something up they will get it in and Lars advised he would write something summarizing all actions accomplished so far and will get it to Chair Guerra. Ms. Southerland said she will put something together on where the city is on energy and how we can be more energy efficient. Vice Chair Marquez asked if there is a way to know how many people from Downey have applied for energy efficiency rebates. Ms. Emerson and Ms. Southerland advised they would check to see if this can be done. The group recommended the city lower the cost of permits required to install or improve systems that enhance environmental efficiency or protection. Mr. Alvarez noted the City has a mandated water ordinance but it is not necessarily enforced, as there is not a dedicated staff person doing enforcement. Enforcement is done now on a report basis. Vice Chair Marquez advised it was discussed to bring the ordinance back out to the public occasionally to keep residents informed of what is and what is not allowed. Mr. Alvarez advised this information does go out occasionally with the water bills. Mr Ciatti suggested putting Astro Turf in front of the Library, City Hall and in center medians throughout the City. He also suggested creating a non-profit organization to pay for the green ideas and asked what it would take to reactivate the 501c(3). Ms. Southerland mentioned that corporations cannot contribute unless it is to a 501c(3) and said it is fully deductible. Mr. Alvarez asked if the group was looking for an entity at the city for Green Task Force purposes and the response was yes. He also pointed out that Astro Turf does require water, as it gets hot and must be cooled down, and noted drought tolerant plants are an alternative. Chair Guerra pointed out reclaimed water is used for the medians and the golf course. Education Working Group Member Clutterham passed out a sheet from Central Basin Municipal Water District on the high efficiency toilet (HET) program and pointed out the water drop which has the City of Downey logo and also mentions the Downey Green Task Force. He advised the Education Working Group met at noon on October 27 and said he will distribute minutes this time but from now on they will be paperless. He said - 2 - the most notable thing about the meeting was the City Council’s passing of the recommendation for the GTF website design and green links and the reusable bag project. Mr. Davidson mentioned at a previous subcommittee meeting it was noted the City gave away bags before and it did not go over well. Mr. Alvarez explained the City has had bags at different events and mentioned the bags for the farmer’s market were all taken in one day. He did note that all of the market vendors use plastic bags. Chair Guerra noted former Mayor/Council Member Kirk Cartozian suggested the City get rid of plastic bags completely but said senior citizens like them. Mr. Davidson noted it was also brought up to expand the group’s focus on more items. Chair Guerra asked if there are any recommendations to bring forward and Mr. Ciatti reiterated lowering the costs of permits. He asked Mr. Alvarez if there was an easy way to figure the cost and the response was no. Desi advised that when remodeling people are required to do energy and water saving things. He noted the group wanted to look at the whole building code to move towards a greener code and for commercial buildings wanted to do a LEED goal. He said this would be a major revision to the building code. Mr. Kalpakoff asked how long ago the building code was reviewed and Mr. Alvarez said it gets updated every 3 years and was just updated recently. He said it can be tweaked to include lower fee schedules above and beyond what is there now. He also noted LEED certification won’t be used by most residents but would be more for commercial use. He said we can put this on the Agenda if that is the way the group wants to go. Mr. Ciatti suggested withdrawing this recommendation for now. Ms. Southerland mentioned discussion about a kiosk with green programs. Mr. Alvarez said this could be passed if the group comes back to the City with how they would like it to work and where it could be based at City Hall, noting there is not much display space available. Lars asked if this was something that requires a recommendation and noted he would also like to see recycling bins at City Hall on the request. Vice Chair Marquez thought this did not need to go to the Council but we need to get the price. Mr. Kalpakoff noted Calmet will purchase the containers and City Hall can maintain them. Mr. Alvarez said they can work with him and Kathy Simmons on this. Mr. Ciatti noted he would like to bring Dave Stevens back to speak to the group and Ms. Emerson said she will check his schedule. City Council Actions on Task Force Recommendations Mr. Alvarez advised the City Council did look at the recommendations from the Green Task Force about the web page and authorized its inclusion. The web consultant estimated the cost at around $2,500. The Council also authorized participation in the HET program. He said if Central Basin Municipal Water District wants to move forward, the City is ready. He also noted an additional drought tolerant gardening workshop was discussed. He said the group might want to identify one or more members as consultants regarding the website and links suggested. Lars Clutterham and Bob Ciatti volunteered. Mr. Alvarez said the HET program can be discussed further when Ms. Flowers comes back. He noted in October the group looked at the public education campaign and working with the School District to educate the school-age population about plastic bags, stating the City Council did authorize moving forward and approved the A Day Without a Bag program. He said it was estimated the bag program would cost about $15,000. The Council approved seeking funding for the program, noting there is not a grant program that would be fast enough so we need to look to the community. He asked Lars for comments on his dealings with the major supermarkets. Lars noted they are not very willing to give away more than $25 worth of goods and said he approached the four major chains. It was noted we - 3 - are looking at giving a bag to every elementary school child. He said he is being cautious about contacting the School District and is moving along slowly. Mr. Rubio asked if the group would permit a logo on the bag from an entity and the response was yes. Bill Kalpakoff suggested approaching the stores for a program, such as receiving a free bag for every so much purchased in groceries. Mr. Alvarez suggested assigning a small work group to work on how to implement this program. Mr. Ciatti mentioned he felt it would be good to have the Task Force members’ names on a City card. Mr. Alvarez advised the City does not issue I.D. cards but can write a letter stating the member’s involvement in the Task Force. Ms. Emerson asked if the Task Force names were on the website and was advised no but that this can be considered. Other Business Lars brought up the subject of solar energy and a group visit to his home, noting he will work with his wife on the timeframe. He noted information is also available through Southern California Edison. Mr. Rubio thanked everyone for his being part of the committee, noting as a result the Rio Hondo Boys and Girls Club was awarded solar panels by ESPN. He said his board is very supportive and they have been teaching the youth about conservation. The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m. to Tuesday, December 1, at 12:00 pm in the Cormack room at the Downey City Library. _____________________________ ______________________________ Shirley Conte, Secretary Chair, Dn. Mario A. Guerra - 4 -