Meeting Minutes 11/3/2017
9:00 – 10:30
Student Life Conference Room
Attendance
Governing Core Members present: Theresa Hornstein, Kristi Heintz, Marissa Johnsen, Danielle Wood, Mike Francisco, Nathan Bronk, Connie Moore, Cliff Koski, Deanne Roquet, Dave Israel, Wade Gordon
General Members present:
Guest Present: Chris Whaley
Announcements
The American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO) is hosting a “Sustainable Practices: Solar, Worms, and Ojibwe Values” discussion/meeting tonight (Nov 3rd) from 5-7:00 pm at The Dr. Robert Powless Cultural Center at 202 W 2nd St in Duluth.
The Twin Ports Climate Coalition is hosting it’s November speaker on the 21st at the MPCA office in Canal Park. This month’s topic is What climate action lessons can the Twin Ports learn from South Florida? Networking at 11:30 and program at noon. Bring your own lunch.
New Business
Kristi attended the B3 Awards Luncheon last week and accepted the award on behalf of the college. This news has been shared with the campus, and Janet put together press release this week. The award has been in Admin for the week, and will live permanently in the Sustainability Office for all to sniff (it’s made of cedar wood).
Kristi and Connie met this week to talk about the LSC Store’s ability to purchase compostable product kits for campus events, and departments can purchase from the Store. They both feel this will be advantageous for the campus, as Connie can purchase in bulk for better pricing, less time will need to be spent across campus on product pricing and purchasing decisions, less time will be spent on PO encumbrance and record keeping, and hosting zero waste events will be simpler. Kristi will work with Connie on product options. Deanne suggested it might be good to offer a “brown bag” to roll out this Zero Waste Kit idea to the campus, inviting key purchasers to hear about the procedure and benefits. This is also a listed goal in our Strategic/Master Work Plan.
Al shared that the METASYS upgrade will happen next week, and programming and training will happen when the upgrade is complete. Kristi also noted the new roadway lights have now been retrofitted to LED fixtures with programmable timers. These improvement projects are now logged in B3 so we can track energy savings.
Marissa shared that Minnesota State (C&U) is reviewing MS4 status for our campus (among others). She will let us know when a decision is made by MPCA. Kristi noted that future reporting will get more onerous with Miller Creek now in approved TMDL status. Also, we are nearing the end of our “grace period” to implement a number of enforcement and response procedures (ERPs) and documentation for best management practices (BMPs) related to the most recent permitting cycle. We’ll wait for MPCA’s decision before we move forward with getting these procedures finalized.
The Council decided April 19th would be a good day for LSC’s 2018 Earth Day (actual holiday is the following Sunday). Ideas for theme and speakers will happen later.
Old Business
Work Group and Student Employee Reports
Chris gave a GreenCorps project(s) update:
- He’s been working to reconnect the campus’ EnergyMisers, most of which were disconnected after they were originally installed (5+ years ago). Kristi shared that Al has been using the electric and cost data that we found to renegotiate our contract with Lighthouse for the Blind. Chris noted that we would need just over $900 to connect the machines that are not currently on misers. There are no rebates currently available to defray this cost. The Council decided it would be a good idea to wait until the contract is settled to see if some machines could potentially be removed before we put misers on them.
- Kristi and Chris went to ERTC to do a mini-audit of energy use. Chris noted there were very few students in the building at the time, but the whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree! The fixtures are dated and there would be guaranteed savings from fixture/bulb retrofits and also motion activated sensors for many of the classrooms and hallways. Wade noted this has been discussed before, but not made a high-level priority. It might be a good idea to quantify the potential energy savings. Kristi will look around, and work with Mark and Al, to find someone to do this analysis.
- Chris has been working on a Green Office survey. The idea behind this is to both provide information and dialog within departments/office-mates and also get information and campus ideas to the Sustainability Council. The Council reviewed the survey, some minor adjustments were made and questions about scoring and incentive were briefly discussed. Kristi noted it might be a good idea to get a small group to work on this more between now and the next meeting. We may want to roll it out in April, around Earth Day, maybe introducing it at the April Duty Day. Kristi will ask Kirsten to pencil the Council in on the Agenda for this and maybe a larger update on GreenCorps projects. Dave suggested we also include some workspace nature/calming components into the survey.
- Related to the Green Office, Wade wondered if there might be an individual opportunity to participate if office mates weren’t willing. There could be a “Green Champions” category/award. Dave cautioned we don’t “nominate” someone for this distinction without their consent, as green-nosing might be seen as unwelcomed attention in some areas.
Kristi shared an update on the Trex recycling challenge. After our first month of this challenge’s collection, we have 55 pounds on record! We have 5 more months to reach our 500 pound goal!
Danielle gave an update on her grounds and garden maintenance work. She worked with Marissa and maintenance to get the glass removed from the garden area and has done a lot of work to clear the vegetable garden for spring. She will also decorate the planters with festive branches for the winter once they are moved.
Budget
FY 18 total budget: $8,450
Encumbrances to date:
- Menards: -300
- Atrium soil, potting soil, landscape tools
- Mileage reimbursement: MPCA site supervisor training: -160.50
Review/revise FY17potential budget items
- Bottle filling station for Atrium?
- Picnic table under H catwalk, or Student Life area?
- Interpretive Trail bench, trash/recycling cans, exclosures
- Sustainability kiosk: pamphlet holder, plastic bag bin
- workshops?
Meeting adjourned 10:30
Next Meeting
Friday, December 1st, 9:00
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