Environmental Commission Minutes Page 2
Meeting of November 1, 2017
MEETING MINUTES
CITY OF OXFORD
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
November 1, 2017
7:00 p.m.
Call to Order
Environmental Commission members present at the Wednesday, November 1, 2017 meeting were: Chair, Mr. Wright Gwyn; Vice-Chair, Ms. Madeline Maurer; City Council Representative, Mayor Kate Rousmaniere; Planning Commission Representative, Mr. Bill Snavely; Mr. Jon Ralinovsky, and Mr. Vince Hand. A quorum was present. Ms. Celeste Bronson, Ms. Clare Quinlan, Ms. Page Jordan, Mr. Ryan Bourgart, and Ms. Sara Rudokas, graduate students with Miami University’s (MU’s) Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES), Mr. Bob Feldman, faculty with MU’s Kinesiology and Health Department, and MU undergraduate student, Ms. Shannon Pressler, were also in attendance.
The Minutes from the October 4, 2017 Environmental Commission meeting were unanimously approved as presented.
Public Remarks
Mr. Feldman addressed the Commissioners regarding establishment of a bicycle sharing program on the MU campus and adjacent Oxford areas. For costs and liability issues, MU prefers that a student group take the lead on establishing a bike-share program, and establishing a “bike-friendly” campus status. Presently, Mr. Feldman is investigating Oxford’s interest in involvement due to its proximity to MU campus, and the potential need for additional bicycle racks in the Uptown area.
Ms. Pressler informed the Commissioners that Green Oxford (a student organization primarily devoted to sustainability, with working groups on food, recycling, and water conservation) has re-worked the recycling public information flyers to be more student-specific. Presently, Green Oxford is working with MU’s Asian American Association to provide multi-lingual translation of the re-worked recycling flyer.
Discussion
A) Institute for the Environment and Sustainability Professional Service Project: Update Summary of Researching the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
Prior to the meeting, the IES Professional Service Project (PSP) student team had provided a summary of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy program (the Covenant) components. The Covenant is divided into four phases (register the commitment, conduct a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, set GHG reduction targets, and develop and implement a plan to achieve the reduction targets), with each containing a plan to mitigate/reduce the impact of city operations on the climate, and a plan for how a city will adapt to climate change. The PSP team is still in the process of evaluating the labor hours associated with completion of the four phases. In an effort to determine what it took for other communities to address the Covenant’s requirements, the PSP team has contacted six communities involved in the Covenant, five of which are cities with adjacent colleges/universities of similar demographics as Oxford/MU (with three being actual signatories to the Covenant), and the sixth being Cleveland, where an IES graduate worked with their application and participation with the Covenant. As of the November 1, 2017 Commission meeting, two of the communities had contacted the PSP team. The PSP team is also scheduled to meet with the three Oxford residents that had been encouraging the Mayor to become a signatory to the Covenant to invite their participation. The mid-term formal presentation of this PSP is scheduled for Wednesday, December 6th at 8:30 AM in Shideler Hall on MU’s main campus.
B) Status Update of the Revised Oxford Codified Ordinance Chapter 935 with Tree Preservation and/or Replacement
Commissioners went through the proposed revision to Oxford’s Codified Ordinance addressing preservation and replacement of trees on private land page by page to address questions and concerns by the Commission and Oxford’s Community Development Director, Mr. Jung-Han Chen. Chair Gwyn again volunteered to incorporate the Commissioner’s most recent revisions to a draft ordinance, and is to provide a copy to the Commission for additional review and comments. The intention is to have a final draft of the preservation and replacement ordinance for Mr. Chen’s review and comments by November 17, 2017.
Adjournment
The Commissioners concluded discussion at 8:50 p.m. The Environmental Commission is next scheduled to meet at 7:00 p.m. on December 6, 2017, in the Municipal Building’s Second Floor Conference Room.