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Slade offered that another strength of the Council might be in the ability to leverage the <br /> physical infrastructure controlled by all members. He recalled previous Council discussions <br /> about limitations to influencing the community at large, and thought the Council might have <br /> a greater impact if it could facilitate the common purchasing of vehicles and clean energy <br /> technologies. <br /> Hansley-Mace offered that the Council has a strength in being one of the first groups of its <br /> kind in at least the state.This allows the Council to define its role. <br /> Rubinoff thought that the Council would make a strong advocate to other regional entities <br /> and coordinate actions with them based on an analysis of greenhouse gas impacts. She <br /> recommended that the Council stay at a high level and address issues and problems held in <br /> common where individual action is not sufficient such as the planning for the 15-501 <br /> corridor. She also asked if anyone knows of a hub for climate information. Kaufman said that <br /> lots of hubs already exist and they have different focus areas. Perhaps the Council could help <br /> to point to those information hubs such as ACEEE and DSRIE. McCullough said that the new <br /> climate action coalition is beginning to gather easy-to-understand informational pieces. Gu <br /> offered that Chapel Hill has a new climate action website with information that is right in <br /> line with what the Council seems to be looking for. <br /> Richards offered that another weakness of the Council was conflicting priorities. Given the <br /> mix of public and non-profit groups on the Council, it may be challenging to unify around <br /> common goals and strategies. <br /> Cole observed that the Council has a recurring tension between the desire for quick action <br /> and need for a clear and inclusive vision and mission. <br /> Kaufman highlighted that the Council needs a process of how to organize and evaluate <br /> projects. <br /> Bouma thanked the group for their thoughts on this topic and illustrated that this discussion <br /> of strengths and weaknesses will be used in part to build project assessment criteria that <br /> were informed by the capacities of the Council. <br /> VI. Identifying and Categorizing Joint Project Ideas—Based on the length of time needed for <br /> previous agenda items and the identified need to clarify the Council's mission in advance of <br /> assessing joint projects, Marcoplos recommended we move this discussion to a later <br /> meeting and instead offer an opportunity to hear other ideas and reflections from Council <br /> members who had not actively participated in previous discussions.The Council agreed. <br /> Fisher said that he will be keeping this group in mind when working with his colleagues at NC <br /> State University. <br /> Janway said that it is good that the Council is helping to broaden the climate change <br /> conversation and accommodate all perspectives. <br /> Pitts liked the idea of aligning policies and leveraging ideas from others. With Orange County <br /> Schools being a small district Climate Council is helping to bring useful resources and <br /> research back that there would not otherwise be time to collect. <br />