===== PDF PAGE 2 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Draft MINUTES ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION December 16, 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 Commissioners Dan Beebe present in person, Commissioners, Bob Blaus and Joe Cavataio, were present via Zoom internet connection. Commissioners Bethany Brown and Kris Zimmermann were absent. Staff present in person included Assistant Director of Public Works, Tim Wilcox. Chairman Beebe read the following statement: “Mayor Pineda has determined that in-person meetings are not practical and prudent”. 2. Approval of Minutes. A. Environmental Commission Minutes of October 21, 2020. Commissioner Blaus made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Cavataio to approve the meeting minutes of October 21, 2020. Voting Yea: Commissioner Beebe, Blaus, and Cavataio. Voting Nay: zero. 3. Public Participation/Presentations. None. 4. Items For Consent None 5. Review and discuss Commission Priority List. A. Review current priority list Pumpkin Recycling Event The event held at First United Methodist Church parking lot at 643 East Washington Street, from 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, November 7, 2020 was very successful. A record 4.94 tons of pumpkins was collected. Commissioner Blaus indicated Elmhurst collected 6 tons, the most they ever collected. Promoting and good weather on the collection day may have contributed to greater participation. Commissioner Blaus will relay the overall total once he receives from SCARCE. Environmental Commission Meeting December 16, 2020 Page 1 of 2 ===== PDF PAGE 3 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Holiday Light Recycling Groot provided recycling totes again this year and for the first time will be recycling the collected holiday lighting as part of the residential waste a recycling contract with the City. The Gaylord container Groot provided is currently about half full with approximately a month left in the collection period for this season. B. Discuss new additions to priority list None. 6. Other Business Commissioners discussed a letter some residents received in the mail about a proposed transfer station on Powis Road south of North Avenue at Lakeshore Recycling Systems property. Mr. Wilcox mentioned he forwarded to all of the Commissioners emails he received from the National Wildlife Federation™ regarding changes to the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge program. This information requires reviewing at a future meeting and the Commission should determine whether a recommendation is made to continue the program in West Chicago. The Commission should also make selections of the particular goals to achieve in 2021. The deadline for the Mayor to commit is March 31, 2021. 7. Adjournment At 7:15 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 December 16, 2020 Page 2 of 2 ===== PDF PAGE 4 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Mayors’ Monarch Pledge Survey Open Pledge Period: December 1 – March 31 Thanks for your interest in taking the National Wildlife Federation Mayors’ Monarch Pledge this year. Only mayors and heads of local and tribal government (or their staff designees) may fill out this pledge form. Please note: the survey will not save and will need to be completed in one sitting. Information from this form will be used to create a public community profile page to showcase your mayor’s progress and efforts in the program. Please be sure to read the pledge language and FAQ before taking the pledge. If you have any questions, you can email us at mayorsmonarchpledge@nwf.org. Mayor’s Basic Information If you are not a “mayor,” or the head of local or tribal government, please enter your name and appropriate title here. Title First Name Last Name Email Address 1 ===== PDF PAGE 5 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Community Name If your community doesn’t have an official name, consider using the following formats: Town of Herndon, City of Fairfax, etc. City State Mayor’s Mailing Address Address Line 1 Address Line 2 City State Zip Code 2 ===== PDF PAGE 6 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Staff Point of Contact Information Please provide your professional title in the space below. Please note that the Staff Point of Contact you entered below will be the default user for your community profile. Please make sure you enter a valid email address. Title First Name Last Name Email Note: This email address is your log in account. Phone Number Pledge Summary Please type a description of your community, your community’s efforts and/or interest in committing to monarch and pollinator conservation. This information will populate on your community’s profile page, but can be updated and edited after this survey is submitted. See below for a sample description. Example Description: Exampleville is a city in central Virginia with a population of roughly 50,000. The city is nestled in the Green Ridge Mountains and is home to the beautiful Exampleville Regional Park and many community gardens. Mayor Smith of Exampleville, VA has committed to saving the monarch butterfly and other pollinators with their signing of the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge and looks forward to engaging residents in building more pollinator habitat throughout the city. 3 ===== PDF PAGE 7 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Action Item Selections Each year, you must commit to at least 3 Action Items from this list which you will report on at the end of the year. At least 1 action must be taken from the “Program & Demonstration Gardens” section. Communications and Convening  Issue a Proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. Example Activities: 1. Issue a Monarch Day Pledge 2. Incorporate monarchs into your Earth Day, Pollinator Week or other proclamation  Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)  Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.  Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.  Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters) to support monarch butterfly conservation. Example Activities: 1. Develop community gardens with local gardening leaders 2. Host programming and other activities with Nature Centers 3. Coordinate and collaborate with local gardening groups at schools, colleges, and universities  Engage with Homeowners Associations (HOAs), Community Associations or neighborhood organizations to identify opportunities to plant monarch gardens and revise maintenance and mowing programs.  Engage with developers, planners, and landscape architects to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat. 4 ===== PDF PAGE 8 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text]  Create a community-driven educational conservation strategy that focuses on and benefits local, underserved residents. Example Activities: 1. Conduct outreach and support habitat / green space improvements in underserved communities. 2. Develop brochures in different languages  Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition. Example Activities: 1. Host photo contests 2. Commission murals 3. Create and show films and documentaries 4. Support public art installations 5. Collaborate with local artists, including school, college, and university art departments to create community-wide art Program and Demonstration Gardens  Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.  Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.  Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent community location.  Convert abandoned lots to monarch habitat.  Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants in medians and public rights-of-way.  Launch or maintain an outdoor education program in school gardens that builds awareness and creates habitat by engaging students, teachers, and the community in planting native milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA Schoolyard Habitats program and Monarch Mission curriculum). Example Activities: 1. Eco-Schools USA Schoolyard Habitats 2. PK-12 Monarch Mission Curriculum (English and Spanish) 3. National Wildlife Federation Campus Pollinator Pledge 5 ===== PDF PAGE 9 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text]  Earn or maintain recognition for being a wildlife-friendly city by participating in other wildlife and habitat conservation efforts (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program). Example Activities: 1. Join the Community Wildlife Habitat  Host or support a monarch neighborhood challenge to engage neighborhoods and homeowners’ associations within the community to increase awareness and/or create habitat for the monarch butterfly. Example Activities: 1. Host photo challenges 2. Create property certification challenges 3. Collaborate with schools, universities, and colleges to host joint awareness and habitat creation challenges  Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health. Example Activities: 1. Citizen Science Opportunities (Monarch Joint Venture) 2. NWF’s Monarch Stewards Program Certification 3. Engage with local colleges and universities science departments to host community-wide opportunities  Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar producing plants in public community gardens.  Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.  Host or support a city monarch butterfly festival to promote monarch and pollinator conservation, as well as cultural awareness and recognition  Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat beyond monarch demonstration gardens. Example Activities: 1. Neighborhood Garden Signs (Victory Garden of Tomorrow) 2. Create plant labels or interpretive language for community gardens, parks, prairie habitat, rights-of-way, etc. 6 ===== PDF PAGE 10 ===== [Extraction: embedded PDF text] Systems Change Please select the actions that you will begin to work on this year, are in progress, or have already been completed.  Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).  Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.  Increase the percentage of native plants, shrubs and trees that must be used in city landscaping ordinances and encourage use of milkweed, where appropriate.  Direct city property managers to consider the use of native milkweed and nectar plants at city properties, where appropriate.  Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.  Change ordinances so pesticide, herbicide, insecticide or other chemicals used in the community are not harmful to pollinators. Example Activities: 1. Work with local school districts to eliminate or minimize the use of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides on school properties 2. Adopt Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices  Adopt ordinances that support reducing light pollution.  California Specific: Pass a resolution to protect over-wintering monarch butterfly habitat on public and private lands. Questions or Comments Do you have any questions or comments? 7