MINUTES

MIDDLETON AD HOC SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE

MONDAY OCTOBER 19, 2009 6:30 P.M.

 

MEMBERS PRESENT: Brar, Carey, Koenig, Lorman, Olson, Saeger, Share, West

MEMBERS ABSENT:

OTHERS PRESENT: Attoun, Huang

 

1. Call Meeting to Order

Saeger called the meeting to order at 6:30.

2. Minutes of July 20, 2009 and August 24,2009

Share moved, Olson seconded, to approve the minutes of July 20. Motion carried (8-0).

 3. Become a Committee by Ordinance

The committee discussed the draft ordinance. They considered the idea of having an alternate for the student committee member. Committee members discussed using the sustainability definitions and vision statements from the sustainable city plan to incorporate into the ordinance. Committee members would like the reference to “Middleton High School student” to be changed to a member of high school age.

4. Additional Committee Members

Committee members discussed essays received by high school students to join the committee.

Brar moved, Share seconded, to recommend that the Mayor appoint Natalie Hinahara to the Sustainability Committee. Motion carried (8-0).

5. Sustainable Community Plan

Green Team Committee members updated the committee on the status of the Sustainable City Plan. Attoun will schedule a workgroup to occur before the Green Team meeting on Wednesday, November 4 and will email the draft vision, baseline indicators, and target setting documents to the Sustainability Committee.

6. Community Gardens

The Community Gardens Task Force will meet on Wednesday, October 21 with Biologic Consultants, Penni Klein and Dee Finnegan to discuss the Bock Garden. The committee will discuss design issues, costs, and articulating responsibility for various parts of the project.

The committee discussed the lack of time/funds to move forward on the MG & E substation garden for the 2010 growing season. Attoun will contact Jim Montgomery with MG & E to let him know that the committee would like to wait until next year to start working on the MG & E garden.

The Community Gardens Task Force will send out a mailer to the Forsythia Gardeners to remind them to take down their gardens and to alert them of an end-of-the-season cleanup.

 7. Clean & Green Middleton

Koenig provided preliminary results for Clean & Green. At the October 17, 2009 C & G event, we collected: 111 pounds of cartridges, 65 cell phones, 99 pounds of CDs, videotapes, and cassettes, 116 CFLs, 184 pounds of batteries, and about ¼ a truckload of household goods for St. Vinnie’s. File 13 and Pellitteri information is not yet available.

8. MedDrop

Committee members discussed the need for a year-round MedDrop. Members discussed working with local companies like King Pharma and PPDI to set up a year-round drop off.

9. Solid Waste Automated Collection Education

West handed out a draft of the A to Z guide. Committee members provided feedback on the document.

10. Monthly Sustainability Seminar

Share recommended having a calendar on the Sustainability Committee website. Olson is putting together a comprehensive list of media contacts for future Sustainability Committee events. Committee members discussed having a Sustainability Committee facebook page.

Saeger recommended finding a speaker for the January socially-responsible investing seminar who could speak about different screens (no alcohol, no drugs, etc) for investing. Carey will send out information on two companies that have ‘socially-responsible’ mutual funds. Brar recommended contacting the West Madison Urban Ag. Station or the UW to find a speaker for the February topic on Composting/Vermiculture.

11. Adjourn – next meeting scheduled for Monday, November 16, at 6:30

Meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.