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1 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary August 11, 2014 Orange County Solid Waste Management Office Building, Chapel Hill _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PRESENT: Jan Sassaman (Chair), May Becker, Peter Cada, Loren Hintz, Donna Lee Jones, Cliff Leath, David Neal, Jeanette O’Connor, Rebecca Ray, David Welch ABSENT: Judy Miller, William Newby, Steve Niezgoda, Gary Saunders, Lydia Wegman STAFF: Tom Davis _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I. Call to Order – Sassaman called the meeting to order at 7:33 pm. II. Ad ditions or Changes to Agenda – There were no changes or additions. III. Approval of Minutes – Sassaman asked for comments on the June 9 meeting minutes. Neal motioned to approve as written; Hintz seconded. Approved unanimously. IV. Introduction of New Members – Sassaman welcomed Leath to the CFE. Leath introduced himself to the group. Judy Miller was not in attendance. V. Environmental Summit Planning – Davis showed members a revised draft of the flier and program for the Environmental Summit, which is scheduled for October 11 at the Maple View Agricultural Education Center. CFE members then reviewed a list of potential speakers, including Norm Christensen (Duke/climate change), Don Francisco (UNC Chapel Hill/water issues), Avner Vengosh (Duke/fracking), Mike Kunz (NC Botanical Garden/invasive plant species), and Judd Edeburn (Duke/forest management). CFE members decided to limit the program to three speakers: Christensen (keynote) possibly speaking on climate change, and two others—one to present on invasive species and Don Francisco to speak about a water-related issue, with the topics for both speakers of local relevance that citizens would be able do something about. CFE members discussed having one Question and Answer session following the keynote address, and a second following the other two speakers. The program will begin with refreshments and mingling from 9:30 – 10:00, and then the keynote address beginning around 10:00 am. Leath asked about ways to publicize the event and suggested Orange County Voice and Preserve Rural Orange as possible outlets. He also suggested contacting The Independent for additional publicity. VI. State of the Environment 2014 – Sassaman and Davis reviewed the status of the report. Leath asked about target audience and how rural, elderly residents might access the document. He suggested using churches to help publicize the report, as well as the Orange County Department of Aging and the Senior Times publication.