CITY HALL, ROOM 604

MEMBERS PRESENT: Gary Delveaux, Ian Griffiths, Mayor Jim Schmitt, Michael Finney, Jeffrey DeLaune, Jessica Garrels, Christine Fossen-Rades, John Miller, Richard Krieg, Tom Lesperance, Bill Lockery, Derek Lord, Rob Strong, Clarence “Wick” Wickham, Annette Weissbach, Josh Arnold & Connie Lindholm via teleconference and Dan Roarty (arrived late)

I. New Introductions

Derek Lord stated that he works for the City of Green Bay Economic Development Department and has a background in planning. Wally Cloud works for Solar Mining and will be attending meetings when “Wick” is unavailable.

Mr. Delveaux distributed copies of Milwaukee’s Green Team efforts and the City of Madison’s Mayor’s Energy Task Force Committee from their respective websites. He said their websites are the backbone of both programs and encouraged the committee to visit these websites. Mayor Schmitt said we could develop a website and keep updating it as these groups have done. Connie Lindholm gave background information relative to Milwaukee’s Green Team stating that at the recommendation of the Green Team, Mayor Barrett appointed an Environmental Sustainability Director, Ann Beier. Her responsibilities are to coordinate the happening of the projects of the Green Team such as storm water issues, smart energy, etc. Ms. Beier’s position is only funded for this year and then is responsible for raising her own salary through grants, etc.

Bill Lockery printed out the Milwaukee Green Team’s Report to Mayor Tom Barrett from October 2005 and offered it for committee members to review. Mr. Delveaux distributed a copy of the Milwaukee Green Team’s mission statement, which wasn’t included in the handout.

Mr. Delveaux generated brief discussion on Madison’s Energy Task Force, which was broken into two groups: The Conservation and Green Building Subcommittee and the Utility Subcommittee. Connie Lindholm shared information on Madison’s Energy Task Force which looked at energy and green building issues, water/transportation issues and produced a report. She said the Milwaukee Team looked more at the inner connection between things such as public issues, the private sector and the private/public interface. Josh Arnold stated that due to budget issues in Madison, he believes the full time position for a staff person to coordinate the ideas for the Task Force, is on the bubble. He indicated that the Task Force meets on a regular basis, unlike the Milwaukee Green Team who has not been called upon since they submitted their report to the Mayor.

Connie stated that the lessons learned from the Green Team is “keep it simple” look at the low hanging fruit first, and look at the different issues like green building, energy, water and transportation.

Annette stated that there was a Sustainable Green Bay effort in 2000 which came about through a grant. She said this group had a lot of good ideas and shared a booklet which included a slogan, a mission statement and plan of action. She said it was disappointing that the group fizzled out, which she believed was when it became a formal non-profit and had to establish time lines, etc. Mike Finney shared information regarding this group and said the assistance fell short in the second, implementation phase. Annette and Jessica Garrels said Green Bay has many things already in place which are covered in the Best Practices. Mayor Schmitt said this group has the support of the Mayor’s Office and said not to concentrate on the funding part of it right now.

II. Criteria/Prioritization Technique - Jeff DeLaune

Jeffrey DeLaune reviewed a Project Prioritization Process and used four potential activities as examples: Purchase an Electric Trolley for Green Bay; Distribute Rain Barrels to Green Bay homes and businesses; Purchase 10% of Green Bay City Hall’s electricity from Green Power sources; Promote installation of four energy efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. He used Cost, Benefit, Time, and Effort as areas of prioritization for all projects, using scoring criteria as high, medium and low.

He suggested looking at short-term projects that produce quick results. Ian recommended the committee be broken down into subgroups by subject matter and use Jeff’s prioritization process. Connie recommended looking at the subject matter to give some kind of economic benefit, job creation and suggested looking at the life cycle cost of the project. Mayor Schmitt reiterated that the goal is not to produce a document that the city can use, but rather needs the group to implement some projects. He stated that education is a big part of it, adding that we need to announce to the Press-Gazette that his committee exists and is working toward sustainable, energy efficient projects.

After further discussion, it was agreed that the subcommittee categories would be: Water, Energy/Energy Efficiency, Transportation, Land use & Economic Development, Communications and Funding (to include website/media). Discussion surrounded the fact that there are some agencies such as the USDA or Focus on Energy and the library who are already covering the education aspect. Suggestion to have someone in education on each team, and to update brochures that have already been done.

Annette said if the city is looking to be a leader, the group could focus on things that a government entity could do such as meeting with the Brown County Builders Assoc and green building, Chamber of Commerce, getting a speaker to talk to them about greening their conventions. Suggestion to link something done on a group level to people’s personal lives so they can carry it out. Annette stated that to have a sustainable community, you have to have a strong economy, a clean environment and a good social fabric; safety, culture, etc. and they all have to have an equal balance.

Mayor Schmitt reiterated that each subcommittee will include in their categories: background, recommendations (to include cost, job creation and prioritize recommendations using Jeff’s prioritization plan), then education and outreach to include how you’re going to include the neighborhoods and connect to the community, and a plan for implementation. He asked that each group write a few pages as a working document patterned after The Milwaukee Green Team’s Report to Mayor Tom Barrett. Further discussion included each category having an outline to include how we can best implement the action plan and a timeline for implementation. It was agreed to have all members email their first two choices of subcommittees to Gary and Ian.

Mayor Schmitt said city contacts can assist with background information such as trails and permit information, and land use.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in Mayor Schmitt’s Office at City Hall.