Carbondale Reporter

City of Carbondale Sustainability Commission met June 20.

Here is the agenda provided by the commission:

Voting Members:

	Present	Absent	Comment
Treesong (Chair)	x
Aur Beck (Vice Chair)	x
Jane Cogie	x
Kevin Clark	x
Sarah Heyer	x
Vacant (CCHS Student)
Chaya Rice (SIU Student)	x
Gayle Klam	x
Joan Davis	x

Ex Officio Members:

	Present	Absent
Vacant

City Staff:

	Present	Absent
Lauren Becker (Staff Liaison)	x

Community Members Present:

1. Call to Order and Roll Call (5:03pm)

2. Approval of Meeting Minutes: May 16th, 2024 (J. Cogie moved, J. Davis seconded)

3. Citizen Comments and Questions (None)

4. Presentations

5. Report of Officers, Committees, and Communications

a. Sustainability Coordinator Monthly Progress Report (L. Becker, attached)

• Discussion about current grant administration (6)

• Discussion on Water Power Technologies Office Lab Call Proposal (submitted)

• Discussion on Dowell “Rooftop Solar Learning Lab”

• Discussion of YSEALI Fellowship, Annisa Nurulhuda

• Discussion on PC 25-01 1MW Solar Special Use Permit, July 17th

• Discussion on Municipal Electricity Aggregation

• Discussion on Comprehensive Stormwater Master Plan

b. Former Koppers Wood Treatment Site Report (A. Beck)

6. Old Business (None)

7. New Business (None)

8. Announcements (None)

9. Adjournment (6:11pm, S. Heyer moved, Vice Chair Beck seconded)

The following will serve as my Sustainability Coordinator report of progress for the month of June 2024. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions and comments.

Table of Contents:

1. Routine

2. Uncategorized

3. Energy Sovereignty, Security, & Democracy Proposal

4. City Sustainability Commission

5. Communities LEAP Coalition Cohort 2

Routine:

- Continued regular check-ins with Justin Harrell, SIU Facilities & Energy Maintenance 

- Continued regular check-ins with Stan Reno, Interim City Manager

- Continued regular check-ins with Wade Halva, Faith in Place

- Continued attending weekly “Federal Funding Fridays” by the Midwest Climate Collaborative 

- Continued attending monthly “Complete Streets” meetings, which encourage interdepartmental collaboration for well-designed cityscapes

- Continued regular monthly check-ins with the Village of Dowell team

- Continued monthly check-ins with Aimee Lemrise, SIU Sustainability Director 

- Continued attending bi-weekly EFG Office Hours

Uncategorized:

- Attended the Illinois Municipal Sustainability Staff Meeting (6/5)

- Supported Jackson County Health Department staff in their first Rain Barrel Sale (6/5) 

- Met with Pankil Desai, our new point of contact with Solstice, to discuss potential short term applications of community solar (6/6)

- Accepted an invitation to learn about patents on concentrated solar energy systems from a Mr. Martin out of Paducah, KY (6/7)

- Attended the VSN Regional Southern Illinois Gathering, hosted by the Nature Conservancy (6/11)

- Coordinated a successful tour of CRC Recycling (6/13)

- Met with graduate student Hannah Weber to discuss a potential internship with the City of Carbondale for Fall 2024 (6/14)

- Coordinated meeting with St. Louis Composting along with Jackson County Health Department Recycling Coordinator Angie Kuehl to discuss opportunities for collaboration and location within the Jackson County region (6/20)

- Met with Pankil Desai of Solstice and Alex Pasanen, Policy Director, to discuss why community solar and community choice aggregation are not typically paired (6/27)

Energy Sovereignty, Security & Democracy Proposal:

- Carbondale WPTO TA Proposal Meeting (6/3)

- C2C Expert Match Check In (6/4, 6/25)

- Accepted invitation to meet with Shoshanna Spector of All of Us Strategies to discuss the Energy Sovereignty Proposal (6/4)

- Submitted full WPTO TA Proposal (6/6)

- Met with our Energy Future Grant Program Manager Briana Farber for the first time to review the first draft of the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) (6/6)

- Met with Frances Sawyer and Gentry Higgins of Pleiades Strategy to discuss the creation of a proposed Scope of Work for strategic communications surrounding the Energy Sovereignty Proposal (6/6)

- Attended the Energy Future Grants (EFG) Community Benefits Plan Webinar (6/12) - Accepted invitation to be interviewed by Jessica Wettig of the Southern Illinoisan (6/13) 

- Checked in w/ Scott Carron (NREL) regarding EFG (6/13)

- Completed SOPO Revision 2 (internal)

- Created Standard Operating Procedures for the EFG Phase 1 Project Team (i.e. file-sharing) - Held EFG Phase 1 Project Team “One-on-ones” to discuss preferred practices of Elevate Energy, NREL, and L4GG (6/21)

- Met with Amanda Pankau and Robert Hirshfield of Prairie Rivers Network regarding the Dowell & Carbondale Energizing Rural Communities Prize Phase 2 Application, involving the creation of a ten-minute video (6/26)

- Checked in w/ Scott Carron (NREL) regarding EFG (6/26)

- Attended the EFG Budget Justification Workbook Webinar (6/26)

- Checked in w/the wider NREL team regarding EFG SOPO Revision 1 (6/26) - Checked in w/ Scott Carron (NREL) regarding EFG SOPO changes (6/28)

- Submitted EFG CBP/CBOO First Draft and SOPO Second Draft to Bri Farber (6/28)

Sustainability Commission:

- Held Sustainability Commission meeting (6/20)

Communities LEAP Coalition Cohort 2:

- C-LEAP Cohort 2 Check in w/ Justin Harrell, Gregory Norris, Johanna Jamison, and Scott Carron to discuss the timeline for roll-out (6/5)

- Accepted invitation to be interviewed regarding Communities LEAP Cohort 1 by Bryan Garcia of the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board (6/26)

https://www.explorecarbondale.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07182024-2301