Commission on the Environment

 Meeting Minutes
July 10, 2007

1.	Welcome, News and Agenda Review
	The meeting was called to order at 7:32pm in the Blue Crab Room at Rockville City Hall.
2.	Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes
	TO makes a motion to approve the June 12, 2007 meeting minutes; BK seconds. Motion passes by unanimous vote.
3.	Brainstorming on Outreach Material Development
	In June, the Outreach Working Group mentioned that they wanted to plan/design outreach materials for a roadshow type display.  The Outreach Group would like to hold two brainstorming sessions – one with the Water group and one with the HPB group – to develop themes. FK is still working with the City Clerk on logo/branding issues.  Because of this, don’t want to halt the Water Group’s brochure, but perhaps make a more limited 1st run, and they can be updated with new theme and/or logo for a 2nd run printing. Water Group to meet with Outreach Group on July 17th at 7:30 pm. HPB Group meets on 4th Tuesday of the month, so would like to meet with the Outreach Group on July 24th.
4.	Going Green Expo Update / Green Building Institute
	BK mentioned that she and FK attended the event held at the Rockville Library, and she felt it was a well-attended successful exhibit.  Collected several brochures from interesting local companies that we could invite to an Energy Fair or Eco Fair the Commission might hold. FK also mentioned some interesting vendors, particularly the New American Dream.  These folks may be able to assist with a responsible purchasing network, and maybe aggregating purchasing not just for energy but for goods and services (like CFLs, insulation, etc.). FK also spoke with the Green Building Institute out of Jessup, MD.  FK will report back on the possibility of a green building tour of the area.
5.	Working Group Updates
	Water Working Group The Water Group now has two designs for their watersheds brochure – one with a mailing label and one without.  Would like to ask Montgomery County, others about a business database – who keeps track of businesses on the area?  REDI? Chamber of Commerce?  Where do they need to apply for a business license?  Is there some state tax database that may track businesses?  Would like to target brochure to restaurants and auto repair shops. Would like to meet with City communications staff, graphics to finalize the brochure.  FK to ask City Clerk about content being released by a Commission. High Performance Buildings Group Still working on the Energy Tips – are now looking at appropriate avenues to getting them out to the public.  Certainly via Rockville Reports and the website. Collecting home energy audit information to put on the web for residents.  May be able to link in to creating an “Environmental Partners” type program so that the City could provide a list of companies providing home energy audits without appearing to be endorsing any particular company. The HPB group is also researching the new LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) standards. As an aside – HPB found that HUD has archived many of their webcasts on topics such as whole house fans online. The Community Outreach Group See agenda item #4.  FK asked whether Rockville had a table-top exhibit for use by Departments / Commissions.  NW has only seen easels and posterboard used for this purpose – not an official display. FK will also check with City Clerk about reviving the Environmental Awards program – can the Commission update the categories/descriptions?
6.	Staff Updates
	NW mentioned that the Water Quality Protection Ordinance was to be officially adopted at the next Mayor & Council meeting.  Also, the Environmental Management Division was in the process of hiring for the new Environmental Tech position, which will be taking on a large portion of the Water Resources and Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) program duties soon.
7.	Commission Vacancies
	We will be inviting all recent candidates for our two vacancies to the August 14th meeting.  Please let NW know if you cannot attend.  NW will PDF applicant info and send out to Commissioners for their review.
8.	Wrap-Up and Adjourn
	Meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.