Minutes for the Sustainable Task Force

8/28/08

 

Call to Order – 3:06 pm

 

Introductions 

 

  • Business Marketing Plan – Lisa opened the discussion, and mentioned that the group began meeting and discussing how to proceed with the plan.  Lisa and the committee put together a draft for the Marketing Plan, campaign initiatives, identifying components of the campaign initiatives, etc.  The Marketing committee has a copy.  Gary noted he took a look at it and commented that it is a great model and looks good so far.  Ian requested that the plan be sent out to the full Task Force.  On a side note, Sandy noted that the Task Force was in the BBJ, Ian pointed out that there is going to be a second story coming out in the Journal next month.  The committee wanted to finish looking at the plan, revise and will then send it to the full task force before the next meeting.  Gary pointed out having only met once that it is a great start! 

 

  • Food Committee – Nancy opened the discussion with the research the committee is doing on the WIC program.  There are a couple of road blocks, but Judy Brosee is going to send Nancy some information about what they do already to encourage the use of the Farmers Market.  They are seeing more Wednesday night goers, but not Saturday and this could be due to the commercials for the Wednesday market.

 

Nancy is also going to talk with the State coordinator for further research.  She mentioned that only $15 is given to individuals each Farmers Market season.  She also noted that transportation is an issue.  Karen spoke about the urban area as a food desert.  She briefly updated the committee on the with Mark Winne, and also about meeting with Karen Early, a food and nutrition specialist with UW-Extension.  Karen continued discussing the issues with access to the farmers markets.  There is an access problem for people in the area.  For example having access to the farmers market, but also community gardens, grocers, etc.  The Oneida Nation has looked at this very strongly and they would be an excellent partner on this topic.  They have additional resources and workshops that they are putting on in the next few months. 

 

Karen also mentioned that Howard Lyman is speaking at the Urban Frog.  The Task Force also worked to help find people to support this initiative. 

 

Nancy also mentioned the mesh bags and that this is something that the subcommittee decided they would like to look at the entire supply chain operation of the bags, and will continue to research for next year’s farmers markets. 

 

Kathy LeFebvre also mentioned that she would like to see the subcommittee look into a full year market.  Appleton has one and she would like to do more research and bring it to the next meeting. 

 

Gary also mentioned that the communication plan states that each committee should work with the communication team to figure out a marketing plan for each. 

 

Karen also brought up that there is going to be a look at the school lunches.  Sandy pointed out that there is a huge hindrance because 80% is required to come from one vendor (national guideline).  Gary pointed out that if anything, an education program about snacks after school.  There are a lot of good projects out there and lots of good stuff to do. 

 

Nancy also mentioned that the Governor’s wife is putting on an eat/buy local challenge in September.  If every household spent 10% of their funds on local foods it would be a $2 billion impact in WI.  www.eatlocalwisconsin.com and Karen also mentioned www.SavorWisconsin.com – this shows you local producers and grocers. 

           

Annette mentioned that there is a teacher from Wrightstown who has been trying to work with the school to tackle the food issue too.  Annette will also send out some additional information to the task force. 

 

  • Kim also wanted to quickly mention the Great Lakes Gatherings that are taking place.  She has to leave early, so she handed out some information pieces.  The event is going to be held at UWGB in the Phoenix Rooms.  Mayor Schmitt is going to give the opening speech but will not be able to serve on the panel.  Kim would like to have someone from the Task Force sit on the panel.  Please let Kim know if you are interested. 

 

Annette also wanted to piggy back off of that, there is going to be a few of them and Paul Linzmeyer is going to be the keynote speaker at one.  These will be taking place at all the Lakefront counties and each is going to have a slightly different theme.  If anyone is interested check out the website. 

 

  • City Hall Building and Leading by Example – Andre was named committee chair, Andre and Debbie spoke about the carbon footprint calculators, and some other information.  They received widely varying results and there is a group working on rectifying the variations in the calculations.  They are focusing primarily on the Nat. gas and electricity usage.  They are looking for more WPS specifics on what the breakout of electricity is, % coal, nat. gas, etc. This will help to determine the actual information.  Debbie is also going to be the new chair of the project, so any volunteers should refer to her.  Andre and Derek will serve as resources.  They will also be contacting Honeywell to get a better understanding of where City Hall is in the phasing, and will share the statistics. 

John Miller asked if this is something that FOE could help us with?  They may not have a program but they might have some funding.  Doug pointed out that for commercial, they give out money for improvements.  Ian also mentioned the Energy Star piece, you can measure the buildings output based on size, age,etc. 

 

Derek, Lisa and Wes have been working on the Fall Pharmaceutical event that will be on September 19th from 8 am to 1 pm.  The info is available on the website.  Lisa put together a list of 200 agencies and sent out a flyer and letter in the mail.  This is open to businesses’ customers, hospitals cannot bring drugs.  Primarily residential uses. 

 

Derek also mentioned that the EPA grant is being used to work with a design group to put together a marketing effort.  Derek pointed out that Lisa is the one doing all the work!  This is being set up for the county to be able to take over after all this effort has been done, addresses compiled, etc.  Annette had an idea and a suggestion, what if there was something where by the people could bring the pills popped without the packaging?  Derek pointed out that all the letters have been sent already, but they will try to get the word out via media appearances.  It can’t be added to the flyers right now, and they will mention it to Wes for future collections.  Gary asked if there is a goal, Derek said they don’t expect to see the same number of pills in as last time (over 1.2 million), but Friday was the busier day and that is why it will be Friday only. 

 

  • Additional Subcommittee Reports: 
    • Doug’s rebate program update – Derek mentioned that the City was able to get an account set up so that those funds can be set aside.  But as those funds come in, the Task Force will need to go through and formalize the way the money will be spent.  But this is a program that will be talked about more in the future. 

 

Kathy brought up the concern about unused pills and just throwing them away.  Is there anyway that we could do something about giving the pills away?  Derek pointed out that because this is open to anyone, we couldn’t be certain what they gave.  This is another thing that could be considered for the future.  It is difficult given the logistics we are dealing with, it might not be possible. 

 

Doug wanted to get back to the energy home audit program, there is going to be a kickoff on the 9th.  There will be a targeted marketing effort and they are going to try and get Task Force tied into the efforts.  As soon as they get the paperwork back, they can start getting some funds.  This is an opportunity to get a home energy audit for $275.  The goal is to have 40 referrals by the end of the year and that would mean $3000.  This means that for whatever incentive, you get a check for doing any of the recommendations.  And then SGGB gets $75 per referral. 

 

Go to highlandbuildingconsultants.com to check out all the rewards. 

 

    • Derek also mentioned the green built home on chestnut.  This is a project that came out of this task force.  The developer was asked to open this house up as an example of what can be done for greening your home.  There will be some elements that you will be able to see and some you won’t.  Please try to make it out there.  The neighborhood division in the planning department worked with the developer to get this opened up.  Trudi Arnold also offered that if there is another group out there that would like to do an additional tour, she would be willing to set that up.  September 8th from 2-4 pm is the tour. 

 

Annette gave a two second sidebar on a company in Germany that made homes similar to this of a company who made something with woodchips and structured kind of walls 8-10 inches or so thick.  This wood came from a sustainably managed forest.  They used the milk whey product as a natural deterrent for bugs. 

 

    • Greening events subcommittee has also met – Karen mentioned that Tina Quigley is the Chair of the subcommittee.  She hopes to make Art Street a zero waste event and this would be a great model for other events.  Karen mentioned some of the challenges of with composting, and there are some hurdles that the DNR is looking into.  There is also a meat scrap issue.  The clear stream plastic containers are available for other organizations to rent out for recycling.  Arts Events, Inc. is working on a contract for people and then they will be able to “rent” them out. 

 

    • Annette is also working on another small project.  The green building group met before this meeting, Nancy, Amy Kox, 13-14 folks.  Sue L. from the Green Building Alliance is here to discuss any ways that they can help support the committee.  They will be putting on some consumer geared educational talks to get people understanding why they should buy green or buy into buying green.  There is a good group that is meeting and they are sort of getting away from Land Use, but more towards green building. 

 

There are also some resources for building demo and reconstruction contact Annette if you would like to know more.

 

Ian commended the Task Force on all the great things that are going on. 

 

Meeting Adjourned!