Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2024-12-17

Village of Skokie
 Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission
 AGENDA

 December 17, 2024
 7:00 pm
 Village Hall Room D/E
 Public Comments: sustainability@skokie.org


  I. Approval of minutes

 II. Old Business

 a. Identifying food establishments for food recovery program

III. New Business
 a. EV’s and Charging Station
 b. Biodiesel usage in Fleet Vehicles
 c. Stretch Code Presentation
 d. Compost RFP’s
 e. Recycle Coach
 f. Community-Wide Tree Planting
 g. Green Alleys
 h. ICLEI Membership & ClearPath GHG data

IV. Other business

 V. Public Comment

VI. Next meeting:

 a. January 28, 2025

VII. Adjournment




Document Number: 511765

Memorandum
TO: Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commissioners

FROM: _______________________________________________________________________
 Andrew D. DeCanniere, Commissioner, Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission

DATE: January 7, 2025

SUBJECT: December 17, 2024 Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission (SEAC)
 Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 7:12 PM in Conference Room D/E at Skokie Village Hall

Present: Chairperson Jennifer Grossman, Vice Chair Jim McNelis, Commissioners Christopher
Buccola, Andrew DeCanniere, Lisa Gotkin, Olivia Mahoney, Rick Moskovitz, Emily Okallau,
Robert Render, Charles Saxe, Assistant to the Director of Public Works / Staff Liaison Elizabeth
Zimmerman

Absent: Commissioners Michael Gershbein and Alma Likic

I. Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Commissioner Render to approve the minutes from the October 22, 2024
meeting of the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission, seconded by Commissioner
Saxe. The minutes were unanimously approved as amended.

II. Old Business

 a. Identifying food establishments for food recovery program

 Staff Liaison Zimmerman said Commissioners can consider approaching businesses
 regarding the program themselves, or may bring suggestions for potential participants in
 the program to her and Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher. Discussion ensued.

III. New Business

 a. EV’s and Charging Stations

 Staff Liaison Zimmerman informed Commissioners that the Village is adding five
 electric vehicles (EV’s) in Q4. However, they are not on the road as of yet, as they
 are still being outfitted. These include a Police Chevrolet Blazer, a Police Ford Mach-E,
 and three Teslas.



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In addition, there is the goal of completing the following charging station projects by the
end of the year: 2 DCFC (fast chargers) at the Police Department, three Level 2 EV
chargers at the Police Department, two Level 2 EV chargers at Fire Station 16, two Level
2 chargers at the Public Works Department, and two Level 2 EV chargers at Village Hall.

b. Biodiesel Usage in Fleet Vehicles

Staff Liaison Zimmerman informed Commissioners that Public Works has been testing
B20 biodiesel, although they may need to go to a lower blend as temperatures get colder.
If everything goes well, they hope to use B20 for about eight months a year, weather
permitting. The goal is to increase the use of B20 biodiesel as the Village ages out the
oldest diesel vehicles (providing the vehicles respond well to the fuel). They will be
reaching out to other fleet programs that use B20 and operate in very cold temperatures
for additional information. Discussion ensued.

c. Stretch Code Presentation

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that, on November 6th, there was a presentation to the
Stretch Code Committee. Village will be researching it further, along with what other
communities are doing, and what Skokie can do.

Vice Chair McNelis noted that the Stretch Code can affect a whole bunch of items on
the Sustainability Plan, and how we move forward with those items.

d. Compost RFP

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that the Village has released a Request for Proposals
(RFP) for new drop-off and curbside compost services. Three good proposals were
received. These include Collective Resource, Waste Not, and Urban Canopy. These
proposals will be reviewed. The RFP was written to be able to enter into Franchise
Agreements with one or more companies. Discussion ensued.

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that they looked at a number of factors when they
considered the proposals, including the user-friendliness of the potential service
providers’ websites, the material the potential service providers accept, and their
environmental sustainability (e.g. what does their vehicle fleet look like?), among
other considerations.

e. Recycle Coach

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that the State of Illinois entered into a contract with
Recycle Coach. Users can look up individual products and see information regarding
that product’s recyclability. It is tailored to our region, and will remind people of

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holidays or other days on which there is no pick-up. One of the positive aspects
is that everyone would be using the same app. On the other hand, some nuances
of some collection programs may be overlooked. Discussion ensued.

f. Community-Wide Tree Planting

Commissioner Saxe said that the tree planting took part in November. Staff Liaison
Zimmerman said that plantings took place at a mosque in the community, at East
Prairie School, and at a condominium building.

Commissioner Saxe mentioned that the Community-wide Tree Planting took place at
the old VFW site, and that it seemed as though there was a good representation of
Village officials and staff.

There was a demonstration of how to plant a tree. People seemed receptive, and it was
good to have a breadth of people participating in the event.

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that there was a 15% increase in tree plantings in the
community.

g. Green Alleys

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that there were three additional green alleys installed in
2024.

These include the following locations: an alley between Suffield Court and Greenwood
Street (Laramie Avenue to Gross Point Road), an alley between Lavergne and Bronx
Avenues (Gross Point Road to Grove Street), and an alley between Kenton and Kolmar
Avenues (north of Lyons Street).

h. ICLEI Membership & ClearPath GHG Data

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that one benefit of membership is that Sustainability
Coordinator Sanzenbacher gets access to tools and models to be able to do the next
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory.

There will be a choice between the past standard GHG Inventory or to use the new
model (where methane is more emphasized). They are now trying to determine which
of these models would be the best model to use and how to proceed.




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IV. Other Business

Staff Liaison Zimmerman said that the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County
(SWANCC) sent an email regarding a new opportunity for 2025. Hefty ReNew is a program
which allows residents to purchase orange Hefty ReNew bags at retail stores in the community.
They can then put materials that could not otherwise be recycled into those bags. When the bag
is full, they put it into their recycling toter, and those orange bags are removed at the recycling
facility. The Village is looking for feedback to bring back to the Village Manager’s Office.
Discussion ensued.

V. Public Comment

No public comments were received.

VI. Next Meeting

Based upon the expected availability of Commissioners, the next meeting of the Sustainable
Environmental Advisory Commission will take place on Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

VII. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM with a motion from
Chairperson Grossman, seconded by Commissioner Okallau.




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