Commission on the Environment

 Meeting Minutes
September 12, 2006

1.	Welcome, News and Agenda Review
	The meeting was called to order at 7:34pm in the Blue Crab Room at Rockville City Hall.
2.	Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes
	SY was absent for the 7/11/06 meeting, but had read through the minutes and noted the questions concerning the cost of green buildings; she had compiled this information into an email and sent to FK and NW.  NW to send this information out to the EC, as well as to the RORZOR as they brought up many of questions. Motion to approve July 11, 2006 meeeting minutes passes by unanimous vote.
3.	Review of City's "Environmental Strategy"
	FK mentioned that any additional comments not raised tonight are due to NW by September 20th. NW explained that the grouping of topics was artificial as there is a great degree of inter-relatedness; however, needed to create bite-sized portions, and organized in such a way to most easily link up with the City’s organization (i.e., departments or divisions will take lead roles in topics within their purview). JL underscored the importance that project management will play in such a large task – need to be evaluating project performance.  FK mentioned that the introduction should better articulate the importance of performance measures / metrics, “tipping point” analyses, etc. NW to incorporate EC’s comments, incorporate comments from City staff and present for EC endorsement at the October meeting.
4.	Endorsement of Climate Protection Agreement
	JL mentioned that the scale of cities involved with climate protection activities appeared to be much larger than that of Rockville.  NW mentioned that there are certain recommendations in the Agreement that pertain only to larger cities, but that many smaller jurisdictions were signing on and implementing local strategies that best suited their size. GS mentioned that the only recommendations which may be difficult to achieve were #1 and #4 – conducting a citywide audit of carbon dioxide emissions and increasing the use of clean/renewable energy by landfill gas collection, purchase of “green tags” and other initiatives.  NW mentioned that the City already purchases some portion of its energy (likely 5%) from renewable sources (wind) via our contract with Montgomery County, and it is possible that this number could be increased.  For #1, ICLEI will assist cities in performing greenhouse gas emissions audits, so the City will want to investigate the scope of such an undertaking further.  FK mentioned that regardless of Rockville’s ability to comply with the recommendations at the same level as larger municipalities, signing on raises awareness within the community which is very positive. JL motions, GS seconds to endorse the Mayor & Council’s signing of the Climate Protection Agreement.  Motion passes with unanimous vote.
5.	Prioritization of Commission Goals
	FK mentioned that in light of the City’s “Environmental Strategy”, the Commission’s goals for FY07 could be slightly revised to reflect this.  Instead of revising the sustainability paper, this goal could be altered to supporting the Environmental Strategy and promoting the sustainability linkages where possible.  Both the metrics/annual reporting and the high performance green building goals can also be rolled up into support of the Environmental Strategy.
6.	Additional Working Group Organization
	FK mentioned that now that the working groups have been created, we need to keep them invigorated.  This will require at least two leaders per working group.  Right now, the Community Outreach group has only one Lead, AH, and a relatively long list of possible activities.  The other work groups have two Leads, as follows: SWM & Watersheds – DB & KD; HPGBs – TO & GS. JL will assume a Co-Lead role within the Community Outreach working group. FK would like to see the other working groups out “in the field” with on-the-ground activities.  For example, SWM & Watersheds – can you initiate stream cleanups, volunteer water monitoring, and promote the upcoming Adopt-A-Stream program?  High Performance Buildings Group – Can you create a residential fact sheet for green renovations, consider a residential green building / renovations seminar, energy efficiency seminar, etc? FK would like group leads to set some goals for working group activities, and present at the next meeting.
7.	Staff Updates
	NW mentioned the Intergovernmental Green Building Group (IGBG) and MWCOG will be holding a green building conference on September 29th.  Also, the EC has been added to list of "Coyote Committee" members for the City's Coyote Policy - this group will hear evidence of problem coyotes or excessive population and agree on control strategies.  Lastly, the City's annual NPDES report will be coming out soon.
8.	Wrap-Up and Adjourn
	Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.