Lake County Gazette

Village of Deerfield Greenhouse Gas Ad Hoc Working Group met Oct. 27.

Here are the minutes provided by the group:

A meeting of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ad Hoc Working Group was held at 3:00 pm via Zoom. Chairperson Mary Oppenheim called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm.

Present:

Trustee Mary Oppenheim, Chairperson

Don Anderson, Sustainability Commission

Camilla Dadey, Go Green Deerfield

Elaine Jacoby, Village Trustee

Bill Mertes, Sustainability Commission (arrived 3:11 pm)

Victoria Street, Executive Director, DBR Chamber of Commerce

Art Wilde, Go Green Deerfield

Also Present:

Clint Case, Building & Code Enforcement Supervisor

Andrew Lichterman, Assistant Village Manager/Dir. of Community Development Dan Nakahara, Village Planner

Robert Phillips, Director of Public Works and Engineering

Public Comment

There were no Public Comments received via Zoom or email or in person. Business

1. Introductions and Roles

Chairperson Oppenheim thanked everyone for agreeing to serve on the Commission. Ch. Oppenheim noted that the Working Group includes the seven voting members, as appointed by the Mayor and Village Board. Staff members represent various municipal disciplines and are here to help facilitate discussion and advise as needed.

2. Meeting Structure and Roles

Ch. Oppenheim noted these meetings are governed by the Open Meeting Act, which means they are recorded and subject to FOIA requests. She asked for no side meetings with more than two members of the working group.

Ch. Oppenheim noted the Board has given the working group a six-month goal. Within six months, the working group will produce a plan that recommends programs and policies that address all the focus areas that have been identified in the February 2020 Proclamation and identify resources needed to implement these policies.

Ch. Oppenheim suggests meeting the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 3PM. Due to the holidays, she recommends holding only one meeting in November and meeting December 1 and 15. The commissioners expressed consensus on the upcoming meeting schedule.

3. Mission and Goals

The Board passed a Proclamation that set forth goals for the Working Group. Go Green Deerfield provided information from Berkeley which breaks down the focus areas.

• Long-term goal: 45% reduction by 2030 / 100% carbon neutral by 2050

• Focus areas: energy, transportation, food, waste, land, water

4. Benchmarking

Mr. Lichterman noted that staff provided answers for all the topic areas listed in the Green Region Compact 2 (GRC2) framework. Ch. Oppenheim noted the framework is a reference tool the group can use going forward and to understand where we are with sustainability initiatives as of today.

Ch. Oppenheim noted that in addition to the framework, the GRC2 includes an accompanying resolution that can be passed by the Village Board. If the Board adopts the resolution it would provide the Village access to resources and programs from the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus.

Commissioner Wilde reported the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus released a complementary regional plan to provide additional direction. Mr. Lichterman explained the 2021 Climate Action Plan is not tied to a Resolution, but is something to consider at subsequent meetings. By adopting the GRC2 Resolution the Village would gain access to their graduate students at a very low-cost starting in October of 2022.

Commissioner Jacoby moved to send the Resolution to the Village Board with the recommendation it be adopted. Commissioner Dadey seconded the motion. The motion passed by the following vote:

AYES: Anderson, Dadey, Jacoby, Mertes, Street, Wilde (6)

NAYS: None (0)

Mr. Lichterman noted the Resolution will be presented to the Village Board at the November 15, 2021 meeting.

5. Carbon Emission Baseline

Ch. Oppenheim noted that one of the first items of business will be for the group to reach consensus on our current carbon emissions level so that we can measure our actions against this baseline. Mr. Lichterman noted that we are tasked with creating a multi-year plan, similar to the Village’s capital improvement plan, that will reduce carbon emissions over the next two to five years.

Ch. Oppenheim asked how the working group wants to define the baseline. Commissioner Dadey explained Go Green Deerfield has completed some research in this area. Ch. Oppenheim noted the carbon footprint for our zip code is 150 times the national average, based on the information that was provided in the packet. Commissioner Wilde explained that information comes from the UC Berkeley Cool Climate Project. Mr Wilde suggested that 2020 would not be a representative baseline year due to the impacts of COVID-19. Commissioner Mertes believes the committee should form some initiatives on what is known, as well as defining a baseline on what can be influenced so it is attainable. Commissioner Street asked if there is specific data for the Lake Cook Road corridor. She suggested that this data may be available from the TMA. She noted the Village and businesses are involved in a number of great green initiatives. Mr. Lichterman will look into the possibility of getting data on the Lake Cook Road corridor. He will continue to request aggregate data from ComEd and North Shore Gas as well.

Commissioner Wilde also suggested getting data from Lake Shore Recycling Systems and SWALCO so we can fully analyze the solid waste streams as well. Commissioner Wilde indicated Go Green measured sources of GHG emissions and has data from varying years.

Ch. Oppenheim believes a lot of information has been collected already by Go Green Deerfield and the working group needs to determine if the baseline numbers are acceptable or if they need to be recalculated. Commissioner Anderson does not believe he has the background knowledge to judge whether the calculations need to be changed. Commissioner Wilde will share the assumptions, calculations, protocols and source information that has been prepared by Go Green. Mr. Lichterman will circulate this information in advance of the next meeting.

Ch. Oppenheim beleives looking at the information from Go Green is a good place to start to understand our baseline. Commissioners Mertes and Jacoby believe the focus should be on where we can make the most impact. Commissioner Wilde shared a path to 2030/2050 slide, which shows what impact needs to be made to reach the goals. Ch. Oppenheim believes this is a good approach. Mr. Lichterman suggested having a brainstorming session to get information on a thought map before prioritizing the information.

5. Other items for Discussion

At the next meeting, the group will review and discuss the baseline information as well as ways to approach the focus areas.

Public Comment

Deerfield resident Christopher Call is part of Go Green Deerfield and is excited to see this effort underway. He noted Deerfield has several close neighbors that have already come up with policy documents and proposals. He recommended looking at Evanston, Northbrook and Highland Park for policies as they have been working on this for several years. Mr. Lichterman noted Northbrook’s plan cost about $30,000 and took 18 months for an outside company to complete.

Adjournment

There being no further business or discussion, Commissioner Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Street seconded the motion. The motion passed by the following vote:

AYES: Anderson, Dadey, Jacoby, Street, Wilde (5)

NAYS: None (0)

The next meeting of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Ad Hoc Working Group will take place on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 at 3:00 pm via Zoom.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:16 pm.

http://www.deerfield.il.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10272021-801