Orange County NC Website
Attachment 1 <br />Orange County Commission for the Environment <br /> <br />Meeting Summary <br />November 13, 2017 <br />Animal Services Building, Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill <br />Present: Bill Kaiser (Vice Chair), Bill Newby, Bill Ward, Matt Crook, May Becker, <br />Jeremy Marzoula, Bradley Saul, Will Stanley, Peter Cada <br />Absent: Alan Perry, Shiela Thomas-Ambat, Lynne Gronback (Chair), Marshall <br />Gray <br />Staff: Brennan Bouma, Tom Davis <br /> <br />I. Call to Order – Kaiser called the meeting to order at 7:30. <br />II. Additions or Changes to Agenda – Staff requested that the group conduct their <br />annual officer election as required by the Policies and Procedures. Kaiser <br />suggested delaying the election until December, given that the Chair and other <br />members were not present. Marzoula made a motion to delay the election which <br />was seconded by Newby and adopted unanimously. <br />III. Approval of Draft Minutes from October 9, 2017. Crook made a motion to <br />approve the minutes as written. Cada seconded. Approved unanimously. <br />IV. SOE 2019 – Bouma led extended discussion of the purpose and intended <br />audience for the planned State of the Environment (SOE) 2019 report. Brennan <br />asked the CFE to determine two main issues at this meeting: the purpose of the <br />SOE and the intended audience for the report. After consid erable discussion, <br />consensus seemed to be converging on the idea that the primary audience for <br />the SOE should be the Board of Orange County Commissioners, and that the <br />purpose was to make concise and actionable recommendations based on the <br />best information and science available. .Lama BouFajreldin, a Lecturer in the <br />Curriculum in Environment and Ecology at UNC Chapel Hill, was introduced and <br />the CFE discussed working with a group of UNC CH Capstone students (led by <br />Lama) to assist with the examination of the set of environmental indicators used <br />in previous SOE reports, and to consider alternative indicators and formats. The <br />students would work on this project from January until April 2018, at which point <br />they would make recommendations concerning indicators, and then the CFE <br />would have another 12 months or so to complete the 2019 SOE. <br />V. Annual Work Plan – Revisions intended to update the CFE Work Plan and <br />Annual Report were discussed. After a short review of the document, some <br />discussion ensued, with minor changes to one item offered. A motion was made <br />by Saul to approve the work plan as edited. Cada seconded this motion which <br />was then approved unanimously.