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<br /> <br />FROM: Commission for the Environment <br />SUBJECT: Monthly Meeting Summary <br />DATE: January 9, 2012 <br />LOCATION: Environment and Agricultural Center (Hillsborough) <br />_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />MEMBERS PRESENT: Renee Price (Chair), Michael Hughes (Vice Chair), Chris Adams, Lucy <br />Adams, May Becker, Michele Drostin, Loren Hintz, Bill Kaiser, David Neal, Tom O’Dwyer, Jan <br />Sassaman, and Gary Saunders <br /> <br />MEMBERS ABSENT: Peter Cada and David Welch <br /> <br />STAFF PRESENT: Rich Shaw and Tom Davis <br />_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br /> I. Call to Order: Price called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm <br /> <br />II. Additions or Changes to Agenda – Three members asked to make brief announcements. <br /> <br />III. New Member Introduction – Jan Sassaman was welcomed as new member of the CFE. <br /> <br />IV. Approval of Minutes – The Dec 12 meeting summary was approved unanimously with <br />technical edits by Saunders and Neal. (Motion by L. Adams; second by Saunders) <br /> <br />V. Expectations for 2012 and Committee Breakout – Price led a discussion of potential new <br />issues and work items for the new year. Members identified three potential projects: <br />joint forest management symposium/workshop, sustainable practices in County <br />government, and working on a new State of the Environment report for 2013. Each of <br />the four standing committees then met separately for approximately 30 minutes. <br /> <br />VI. Committee Reports – The CFE reconvened and each committee reported on the status <br />of various projects underway. Neal and Becker reported on two initiatives by the Energy <br />Committee. Neil is preparing draft memo to the Planning Board informing them of a NC <br />statute that allows local governments to offer incentives for installing energy <br />conservation measures in buildings. The CFE agreed to have Neal circulate draft memo <br />to CFE members via email for comments prior to it being finalized and sent to the <br />Planning Board for consideration. Becker reported on her discussions with Orange <br />County Solid Waste Dept. and a state agency on potential ways to reduce the solid <br />waste stream by increasing the volume of composting of food waste in Orange County. <br /> <br />The Air, Water and Biological resources committees reported on other ongoing tasks. <br />Drostin reported that a cover memo for the Water committee’s research and findings <br />about forestry’s impacts on water quality will be ready for CFE consideration in February. <br />Hintz reported on plans to present the roadside native plant habitat proposal to the board <br />of commissioners at an upcoming BOCC meeting (February). <br /> <br />VII. Updates and Information Items – CFE members received written materials and brief <br />updates on the following: CFE Annual Report and Work Plan 2011-12, CFE proposal to <br />conserve native plant habitat along roadways, CFE proposal for solar energy sites in <br />new developments, US Dept. of Energy awards $12 million to spur solar rooftops, and an <br />upcoming (Feb 11 Chapel Hill) symposium to discuss the future of local streams. <br /> <br />The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:20 p.m. Minutes by Rich Shaw, DEAPR Staff