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<br /> <br /> 1 <br />Orange County <br />Commission for the Environment <br /> <br />Meeting Summary <br /> <br />January 12, 2015 <br />Richard Whitted Meeting Facility, Hillsborough <br />_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />PRESENT: Jan Sassaman (Chair), May Becker, Peter Cada, Loren Hintz, Donna Lee Jones, <br />David Neal, Steve Niezgoda, Bill Newby, Jeanette O’Connor, Rebecca Ray, Gary Saunders, <br />Sheila Thomas-Ambat, Lydia Wegman, and David Welch <br /> <br />ABSENT: None <br /> <br />STAFF: Rich Shaw, Tom Davis, Brennan Bouma <br />_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />I. Call to Order – Sassaman called the meeting to order at 7:35 pm. <br /> <br />II. Ad ditions or Changes to Agenda – There were none. <br /> <br />III. Minutes – Sassaman asked for a motion on the December 8 meeting summary. Becker <br />offered a correction to a sentence on Page 2. Wegman motioned to approve as <br />amended; seconded by Hintz. Approved unanimously. Sassaman asked staff to draft a <br />response to the BOCC indicating the CFE is exploring ways to address social justice <br />issues in the State of the Environment report and perhaps also recommending the <br />BOCC add a consideration of social justice in the CFE’s overall charge. <br /> <br />IV. Committee Meetings – Sassaman asked CFE members to break into committees and <br />continue prioritizing issues and work items for 2015. Each of the standing committees <br />met for about 45 minutes (Air and Energy, Water, and Land resources committees). <br /> <br />V. Committee Reports – Representatives from each committee reported on what they <br />have prioritized as issues to work on in 2015. <br /> <br />Neal spoke on behalf of the Air and Energy Resources Committee, which prioritized its <br />work items as follows: <br /> <br />1) Update the greenhouse gas emissions inventory, but first determine whether it will be <br />feasible and worthwhile to perform a complete update of the 2005 inventory. <br />2) Encourage the County to implement a rebate for permit fees for green construction. <br />3) Educate county residents about climate change, alternative energy sources and <br />efficiency, and steps to reduce their (and the county’s) carbon footprint. <br />4) Partner with Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation to take advantage of USDA <br />program for low-interest loans for energy efficient upgrades for its members/owners. <br />5) Proceed with creation of the planned Renewable Energy and Efficiency Work <br />(RENEW) Group (utilizing the current CFE / Air & Energy Committee structure). <br /> <br />Hintz asked why the committee felt it needed to assess whether to conduct a complete <br />update of the greenhouse gas emissions inventory, because he said any additional <br />baseline data would be valuable. Cada agreed that the update would be valuable. Neal <br />said the group wants to make sure any recommended measures would be implemented; <br />for that reason they recommend some sort of cost-benefit analysis. Also, they want to