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MINUTES
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
July 15, 2020, 7:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order, Roll Call, and Establishment of a Quorum.
Chairman Beebe called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. Roll call found Commissioner Dan Beebe and
Commissioners Bob Blaus present at City Hall, .Commissioners Joe Cavataio and Kris Zimmermann
were present via Zoom internet connection, Commissioners Bethany Brown was absent.
Also in attendance at City Hall was Assistant Director of Public Works, Tim Wilcox.
2 Approval of Minutes.
A. Environmental Commission Minutes of June 17, 2020. Commissioner Blaus made a
motion, seconded by Commissioner Zimmermann to approve the meeting minutes of
June 17, 2020 with changes.
Voting Yea: Commissioner Beebe, Blaus, Cavataio, and Zimmermann.
Voting Nay: 0.
Changes were made to the last sentence in section 6 to correct two run together words, and
section 7 to correct the spelling of Commissioner Zimmermann’s last name.
3. Public Participation/Presentations.
None.
4. Items For Consent
None
5. Review and discuss Commission Priority List.
A. Review current priority list
Adopt a Highway
Chairman Beebe reminded the group an Adopt A Highway cleanup is scheduled for this Saturday at 8:00
a.m. July 18, 2020. He reviewed plans for social distancing while performing the cleanup and other
precautions to be mindful of while collecting trash. He also said high temperature could be the biggest
thing to contend with. Commissioner Zimmermann indicated she would not be able to attend.
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Paper Shredding Event
The paper-shredding event will be held on August |, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to noon at City Hall. Chairman
Beebe reviewed new procedures that Accurate plans to implement during the event. They will have
drivers wear gloves and masks during the duration event. The totes will be 8 to 10 feet away from the
shred truck and residents will have to place material in totes. Once a tote is full, the driver will then shred
the contents. Commission members will be on hand to offer assistance if needed.
Chairman Beebe mentioned if anyone is concerned about the heat they should bring plenty of water to
stay hydrated and noted more frequent breaks would be helpful. He added COVID-19 could be a reason
for limited participants at this year’s event since people are used to staying home and some afraid to
venture out except when necessary, or it could be just the opposite.
Contaminated Material in Residential Recycling
Chairman Beebe discussed the topic of reducing the amount of contaminated materials in residential
recycling bins collected by Groot in West Chicago. He asked Mr. Wilcox to provide a summary of
correspondence with Groot regarding this topic. Mr. Wilcox explained that last month he emailed the list
of questions related to this topic from Commissioner Blaus to the Municipal Manager of Groot and his
Assistant. He did not receive a response so in early July he sent another email. He received a reply from
the Administrative Assistant indicating that Josh (Molnar) was on vacation and the questions would be
discussed once he returned. Mr. Wilcox sent an email today indicating there was an Environmental
Commission meeting tonight and asked for an update. He also let Groot know the Commission is
interested in having a representative from Groot attend a future meeting to answer questions and discuss
ways to educate the public about recycling. He also included in the email the City was currently using
Zoom for public meetings so the representative could attend remotely. He said there was no reply today.
Chairman Beebe said after last month’s meeting he began looking more closely at the recycling bins
placed out by other residents and noticed there were numerous strange items that did not belong ina
recycling bin. He could not recall any recent educational materials distributed by Groot or the City,
especially since polystyrene was excluded from the recycling stream.
B. Discuss new additions to priority list
None
. 6. Other Business
There was a discussion pertaining to curbside organic food waste. Some members indicated they have not
seen any advertising for the service, others thought they had read a short informational piece about it.
Information is contained on the Groot website, however the information is located in the section under
yard waste and not easy to find.
A suggestion was made to link the City website to West Chicago’s page on the Groot website to make it
easier for residents to find information about the various Groot programs available in West Chicago.
There was also a suggestion made to have Groot’s Video of their recycling process on the City website, or
link to it; which may provide a better and more visual method for residents to learn about how the
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recycling process works. There was also talk about showing the video at the next Blooming Fest event at
the Environmental Commission booth.
SCARCE opened up their new facility on Route 53 just north of North Avenue last month. There is much
more space available and they now have used book and vinyl record sales.
Commissioner Zimmermann mentioned her milkweed plants are attracting lots of honeybees but not too
many butterflies. Commission Cavitaio agreed: this time last year he said he had almost one hundred
monarch caterpillars on his milkweed plants but this year he hasn’t seen any.
7. Adjournment
At 7:40 P.M. Commissioner Blaus made a motion to adjourn. Commissioner Cavitaio seconded the
motion. Motion was unanimously approved by voice vote.
Respectfully submitted,
Tim Wilcox, Assistant Director of Public Works
Environmental Commission Meeting
July 15, 2020
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