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The Town and County Climate Action Plans were briefly reviewed. The Town of Carrboro <br />adopted their first CAP in 2017 with updates in 2020, The Town of Chapel Hill adopted their <br />Climate Action and Response Plan in April 2021 and Orange County and the Town of <br />Hillsborough adopted their respective plans in 2023. <br /> <br />2. Introductions of Council Members: Laura Janway with the Town of Carrboro led <br />introductions. Members introduced themselves and spoke about specific actions they are doing <br />within their organizations to combat climate change and what they hoped to get out of this <br />group. Members brought forward the following topics/themes during introductions: <br />• Tap into faith-based organizations to give them the tools to implement energy <br />efficiencies, clean energy, and resiliency. Real change can happen when we can <br />“communitize” <br />• Offer demos/education so people can see firsthand how things work i.e. small scale <br />solar; work with youth to develop next generation of climate leaders <br />• Town of Carrboro mentioned the 319 EPA Stormwater grant providing resiliency in <br />neighborhoods. This is a grant that Kim Nimmer, now with OWASA administered. <br />• Kim Nimmer with OWASA mentioned they are looking to work on a climate action plan <br />this summer and would love to receive recommendations from consultants the group <br />has used for this. <br />• Sarah Smylie indicated that the schools have a big opportunity with the school bond to <br />implement climate smart practices in their buildings. She would like to tap into the <br />passion and energy of the students for climate action. <br />• Ian Fowler mentioned he wants to help members understand the Inflation Reduction <br />Act. Is there a fact sheet he can provide along with EV charger installation resources? <br />He is attending an inner-city trip to Ann Arbor, MI later this year <br />• Patrick Florence with Orange County schools mentioned the solar project and DC Fast <br />charger for EV school bus project that they are looking to implement with the support <br />from Orange County’s Community Climate Action Grant program. <br />• Riza from CHCCS Board mentioned she has been doing renewable energy work for the <br />past decade. She started at Strata Clean Energy and is working on LED lighting, solar, EV <br />bus grant, school gardens. She is interested in closing the gap between government and <br />policy to get down to the community level. They are getting ready to install solar in <br />their district from the support of the Orange County Community Climate Action grant <br />program. <br />• Susan Bowen with Durham Tech – one of their strategic goals is sustainability and will <br />look to incorporate that in their large capital projects <br />• Robb English – interested in advancing more bike/ped <br />Other themes mentioned during introductions were that sustainability staff in the <br />Towns/County meet monthly and are working together on several joint grants and programs <br />(Solarize the Triangle, Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant, Community Climate Action