July Meeting Minutes

SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION
THURSDAY
July 25, 2024

HYBRID MEETING
STAFF CONFERENCE ROOM
AND MICROSOFT TEAMS
211 WEST ASPEN AVENUE
4:30 P.M.

Vision: The City of Flagstaff is a culture and community that thrives in response to the Climate Crisis.

Mission: To advise Sustainability Division Staff on matters related to climate and sustainability, support community projects through Neighborhood Sustainability Grants, and provide feedback to the City Council on sustainability issues.

Members of the public may join the meeting online, via Microsoft Teams, or in person.

Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
To comment on a discussion item, please use the Teams Chat function: simply type in ‘public comment’ to indicate to the Chair that you would like to comment. The Chair will then recognize you when it is time for public comment, and staff will unmute your microphone if needed.
Public comments may be sent in advance of the meeting to Tia Hatton at tia.hatton@flagstaff.gov. Public comments should be limited to three minutes of reading time.

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 4:44 pm; the time the Commission got to quorum.

ROLL CALL

NOTE: One or more Commissioner may be in attendance through other technological means.

CHAIR AMY WOLKOWINSKY - Present
VICE CHAIR MARY METZGER - Present
COMMISSIONER NOAH BAKER - Not Present
COMMISSIONER KRISTEN KONKEL - Not Present

COMMISSIONER TOM LAMMIE - Present
COMMISSIONER RODGER SCURLOCK - Present

LAND ACKNOWLEDEMENT
The Sustainability Commission humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area’s Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.

Commissioner Tom Lammie presented the Land Acknowledgment.

PUBLIC COMMENT
At this time, any member of the public may address the Commission on any subject within their jurisdiction that is not scheduled before the Commission on that day. Due to Open Meeting Laws, the Commission cannot discuss or act on items presented during this portion of the agenda. To address the Commission on an item that is on the agenda, please use the Teams Chat function: simply type in "public comment" to indicate to the Chair that you would like to comment. The Chair will then recognize you when it is time for public comment, and staff will unmute your microphone if needed.

Ward Davis provided a public comment on recycling in Flagstaff, his involvement and knowledge on this issue, and asked the Commission to consider including recycling on upcoming agendas. He also offered to provide updates to the Commission and to go over data reports.
Steven Thompson, Neighborhood Engagement & Volunteer Services Manager, wanted to let the Commission know about some upcoming events, including: Sandbag Volunteer Event in Coconino Estates (July 27), Fix-It Clinic (August 2), Watershed Cleanup (August 10), Walk the Rio (August 17), and OPERATION FLAG at the airport (September 9.)
Al White, who used to be the Council Liaison to the Commission, requested the Commission consider how they could help with tracking data and monitoring, increase publicity around what is recyclable, and provide input to solid waste on efficiencies in packing.

APPROVAL OF JUNE MINUTES

Draft June Minutes

Vice Chair Metzger motions to approve the June Sustainability Commission minutes. Commissioner Lammie seconds. All agree. Motion passes to approve the June minutes.

BUSINESS

Sustainability Division May + June Monthly Report

Brady Henderson, Health & Resilience Coordinator - Climate Corps

Presentation

Brady Henderson presented the Sustainability Division’s May & June Monthly Report to the Commission, which detailed highlights for the entire division the work done by each section (Climate Action section and Neighborhood Engagement & Volunteer Services section), as well as social media.

Vice Chair Metzger requested more information on the 13 project partners for the Resilience Hubs projects, which Liaison Hatton will send.
Metzger also noted she attended the May Climate Resilience Project discussion with City Wildland Fire staff, which was great.
The Commission also enjoyed viewing the photo of the first cohort of Climate Resilience Leaders, which included Commissioner Lammie and Scurlock.
Vice Chair Metzger mentioned a previous program held on October 15 where the community went out and cleaned for 15-minutes. Director Antonopoulos noted this event is no longer happening in that format.
Staff Liaison Hatton and Director Antonopoulos expanded on the report’s details on the Empower, Elevate, Engage (E3) Program
Chair Wolkowinsky noted she appreciated all of the work done by the City. Chair Wolkowinsky asked if the new charging stations were for City-vehicles or public use. Director Antonopoulos stated the newest installations are part of municipal energy upgrades. However, there are three public-facing charging locations on city property, including at City Hall, the Aquaplex, and the Visitor’s Center. She noted the City has completed a city-wide infrastructure analysis for EV charging, so they know what to prioritize and improve public. The goal is to have 50 public charging stations and seek funding for this. Also noted was private businesses have their own plans, as does ADOT.
Vice Chair Metzger asked about infrastructure for electric bikes. Staff responded they use small, plug-in portable chargers, which are different than vehicle charging.
Vice Chair Metzger asked if many other cities have Sustainability Divisions. Antonopoulos noted when she started in ’07 there were 75 and now there are over a thousand.

Neighborhood Sustainability Grant (NSG) FY25: Working Group Updates, Outreach Brainstorm, Timeline, and Asks

NSG Working Group

Discussion and Vote

The working group and the commission discussed and voted on updates and changes to the materials for the Neighborhood Sustainability Grant, including a re-structure of the guidelines to make it easier to read, updating guidelines for how many goal and category-objectives folks have to meet, some updates to language in the category-objectives, incorporating equity scoring into the rubric (i.e. adding more points for applicants that meaningfully involve underserved communities), adding optional questions to collect more data on how they heard about the program and info about the applicant, cutting the application completion and clarity points. They also discussed adding disclaimer language regarding tax implications for applicants to the guidelines.

The Commission also voted to open the grant on Thursday, August 15, in order to expand the period during which the application is open. The grant will still close on September 30.

The Commission discussed some new outreach ideas, such as providing paper applications at new locations and flyering at critical locations. It looked at calendar options for grant support workshops with a preference for August 27 or September 5.

Hatton asked that each commission volunteer for at least one event to help with outreach and another opportunity to share the word about the grant. The Commission agreed with this.

Chair Wolkowinsky moved to vote on the updates to the materials, application window, and items discussed today. All were in favor.

TO AND FROM - ALL

The Commission discussed adding recycling to the agenda and added it below to future agenda items.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEM REQUESTS

The full Commission requests to put the topic of recycling in Flagstaff on a future agenda item. This item may be on pause until Sustainability onboard their new Waste Supervisor.

ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 6:40 PM