Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2023-11-28

Village ofSkokie
 Susfainable Environmental Advisory Commission
 AGENDA

 November 28, 2023
 7:00 pm
 Village Hall Room D/E
 Public Comments: sustainability@skokic.org



  I. Approval of minutes


 II. Old Business
 a. Pumpkin composting recap
 b. REO Grant update


III. New Business
 a. Q3 update (attached) and Green Business update from Lisa Sanzenbacher,
 Sustainability Coordinator
 b. Field visit to LRS C&D facility from Max Slankard, Public Works
 Director
 c. Household Hazardous Waste event summer of 2024
 d. Community Solar postcards and Citizen's Utility Board (CUB) Solar and
 Decarbonization event
 e. Sub-Committee sector report next meeting


IV. Other business


 V. Public Comment


VI. Next meeting - January 23


VII. Adj oumment




Document Number: 511765
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Q3 Update
 Community GHG Reductions Wedge Diagram



Environmental Sustainability ^
 2020
Plan Third Quarter 2023 726,365
 Metric Tons C026

Accomplishments Remaining Emissions
 Following Reductions



The 2022 - 2030 Skokie Environmental 2030
 469.381
Sustainability Plan has aggressive, yet Metric Tons C02e


attainable goals to reduce carbon emissions by
nearly 257,000 MTC02e by 2030 and to create
a more sustainable, equitable and resilient
community. It has been nearly one year since
the Village Board approved the Plan, and the Estimated Village-wicie GHG reductions Included in the Plan



Sustainability Action Team has made
tremendous progress implementing many of
the action items.

The team is working towards achieving goals in almost every strategy, mostly
focusing on the prescribed action items from the Plan. However, as noted in the
Plan, these are simply a menu of options, and some action items are being modified
to increase effectiveness. This quarter, actions were assessed for prioritization
through the lens of the community-wide goals for sustainability, resilience, and
greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. This report highlights the accomplishments and
great progress made towards our Sustainability Plan goals in Quarter 3 of 2023,
which includes progress made in July, August, and September.




 A_
 Village Rfnl of
 SKOKIE
Continue seeking funding for a new Transportation Plan.

Staff identified additional sources for transportation planning assistance thorough
the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning for bicycle and pedestrian
planning. This will help inform what to include in future edits of the transportation
chapter of the Comprehensive Plan.


Promote the Safe Routes To Schools (SRTS) Implementation Plan to school
districts to expand and implement for all schools.

Village of Skokie SRTS Guidance draft document is complete and will be circulated
internally for comment. Once implemented, Improving these routes will help make
these routes safer, create a more sustainable environment, and encourage a
healthier transportation option.


Conduct a Sidewalk and Bike Path Quality Assessment and Master Plan.

Skokie's Engineering Division annually assess existing sidewalks within a rotating
sixth of the Village area such that the department cycles through the Village every
six years. The bike path quality assessment is complete.




Promote public transportation options to Village employees, and implement a
pre-tax transit benefit program for Village employees.

This action item has been completed. The Commuter Benefits program launched
providing Village employees a tax incentive on public transportation and is
presented during new employee orientation.
Achieve designation of "EV Ready Community" through the Metropolitan Mayors
Caucus.

The EV Readiness application was finalized and is under review with the
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and will be announced by end of 2023. Earning the
designation will denote that Skokie is committed to EV Readiness and is making it
faster, easier, and more affordable for our residents and businesses to install EV
charging stations and transition to clean electric transportation.


Establish new and promote existing incentives and/or grants for EV charger
installation and EV vehicles.

Skokie was awarded the Powering Safe Communities grant to support the
purchase and installation of a new EV charging station near multi-family housing
and downtown businesses to be installed in the coming years.




Explore an incentive program to convert fuel-burning lawn equipment to
electric.

The team identified a funding source for 50 electric leaf blower rebates at $50
each to incentivize Skokie residents to purchase an electric leaf blower to replace
their gas-powered blowers which not only emit greenhouse gas emissions, but
also air pollutants like benzene, butadiene, formaldehyde and fine particulates.




Conduct a Municipal Fleet Inventory and EV Transition Implementation Plan.
Village Staff created fleet inventory and EV transition plan and will phase in EV's
as applicable. The current fleet has 4 Electric Vehicles and 14 hybrid vehicles.



Update Village Operations anti-idling policy and include an "Eco Driving Guide'
to be distributed to all employees and in new employee training.

This action has been completed. An anti-idling policy was created for the Village
fleet. Also, an Eco-Driving Guide manual was created for Village employees and
communicated during new employee orientation.
 Land Use & Housing

LH 1 Increase average population per developed acre by 10% by 2030.

 LH 1-1 Assess the community's affordable housing needs and determine how housing for
 low and moderate income households can become sustainable.

 The Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is under review which can encourage and
 require new developments to have an affordable component.




LH 2 Reduce share of population living in high energy poverty from 15.4%
 to 10% by 2030.


 LH 2-3 Allow low-income and fixed-income residents to participate in energy efficiency
 and weatherization program(s) at little to no cost.

 The Illinois Power Agency's Illinois Solar for All program and Nicor's
 Weatherization program has been identified for income-eligible home and
 building owners. Other funding sources have also been identified to incentivize
 these Skokie residents to participate in these free programs.




LH 3 Update community plans, zoning, and design standards to
 increase housing and community resilience to the impacts of
 climate change.

 LH 3-1 Study ability to construct Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU's) and increase rental
 and home ownership opportunities.
 The Housing sub-committee of the Plan commission is studying Housing during
 the update of the Housing chapter of the Comprehensive Plan.




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 Buildings & Energy

BE 1 Improve total community-wide residential, commercial,
 institutional, and industrial building energy efficiency by 15% by
 2030.

 BE 1-3 Create a residential energy efficiency challenge promoting and expanding
 residential and multi-family energy efficiency audit and upgrade program.

 SEAC created the "Skokie Residential Sustainability Award Nomination Form'
 including categories in heating and cooling, lighting, renewable energy, water and
 innovation to be promoted during Q1 of 2024.




BE 4 Increase on-site renewable energy from 0.12% to 2% of residential,
 commercial, industrial, and institutional electric use by 2030.


 BE 4-1 Promote existing local programs that offer group purchasing to lower the cost of
 solar installations.
 Cook County's Sun and Save program and Illinois Solar for All program listed on
 Skokie's Solar Energy webpage.



 BE 4-3 Achieve SolSmart Gold Level Status requirements.
 At the end of Q3, the Village of Skokie received a Gold designation from the
 national SolSmart program for encouraging the growth of clean, affordable solar
 energy at the local level. To achieve SolSmart Gold designation, Skokie has
 demonstrated a turnaround time for residential solar permits of three days or less
 and codified its zoning language to ensure there are no unnecessary barriers to
 solar energy use. In Q3 alone, Skokie issued 41 solar permits, which puts the total
 number of permits issued at 537 from 2017 through September 2023!




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BE 6 Increase resilience of community-wide building stock to the
 impacts of climate change

 BE 6-1 Streamline approval process of "green roofs" by Village Appearance
 Commission.

 Village staff completed the draft of the Appeamce Commission Application to
 include the option for a green roof. Once finalized, residents and building owners
 with a green roof application will be first on the Appearance Commission
 agenda.




BE 7 Improve total municipal building energy efficiency by 15% by 2030.

 BE 7-1 Conduct a Village Facilities Energy Audit on all Village buildings.

 The Village participated in the ComEd Energy Efficiency Program that facilitated
 the identification and implementation of cost-effective energy-efficiency
 improvements. LED lighting and networked lighting controls were installed in the
 Village Hall, Public Works building, the Police Station and all of the Fire Stations.
 These simple lighting retrofits reduce lighting-related energy use by 338,968
 kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, which equates to an reduction of 165 metric tons
 of carbon dioxide equivalents. Not only is this program environmentally
 beneficial, there is also a financial benefit After all the upgrades were complete
 and total instant incentives and bonuses from ComEd were applied, the Village
 paid just pennies to complete this project.




BE 8 Achieve 15% municipal building thermal "fuel switching" from on-
 site fossil fuel combustion to electrification by 2030.

 BE 8-1 Establish a policy requiring all new municipally owned buildings to be 100%
 electric.

 Village staff created a draft policy to require all newly constructed municipal
 buildings to use electricity as the primary source of power for space heating
 (including heating of all indoor and outdoor spaces of the building), water
 heating, cooking appliances, and clothes drying appliances.
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 ^^ Educate residents, businesses, and institutions on waste reduction, proper
 recycling, and organics options

 Over the summer of 2023, the Public Works intern educated residents about
 proper recycling through a flyer attached to recycling toters. The recycling rate
 for Q3 was just over 19%.



 Reduce solid waste collection frequency to once weekly for single family
 households.

 There has been a 23% decrease in diesel fuel usage from Skokie's refuse trucks
 in Q3 this year when compared to Q3 of last year. There is a direct correlation
 of the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.



 Incentivize businesses to phase out single-use products.

 Village staff began discussions with the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center
 and the Illinois Green Business Association to provide businesses with high
 quality technical assistance and assessments that drive environmental and
 economic savings that include waste management strategies like eliminating
 single-use plastics, among others.
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 WiiVJ 3" 1 Conduct outreach to grocers, restaurants, and food pantries to understand
 current practices in handling expiring perishable items.

 "Current Practices in Handling Food Waste" survey sent to 335 Skokie Grocery
 Stores and Restaurants that inquired about the establishments' disposal
 methods, daily food waste weight, and main source of waste. By Q3, Village
 staff received 22 responses.


 3-4 Increase residential participation in Village's food scrap compost collection.
 By the end of Q3, a total of 345 Skokie residents have signed up for the
 curbside food scrap collection program, a 4.5-fold increase since the
 program began. Combined with the free drop-off sites (Action Item WM 3-
 5), Skokie sent 62.5 tons of food scraps to be composted, just in Q3 alone!
 Compared to the 25.5 tons of food scraps collected in Q3 of the previous
 year, it is clear that composting not only is effective in keeping food waste
 out of landfills, but also is a popular program for the residents of Skokie.


 3U£3 Increase availability of composting options for residents and businesses such
 as... free municipal drop-off locations.

 In Q3, Public Works added another free Food Scrap Compost Drop-Off Site for a
 total of 9 sites, which are all listed and mapped on Skokie's composting
 webpage. Due to the accessibility of the free drop-off sites and the popularity of
 the residential food scrap collection program, the Village is on track to compost
 nearly 200 tons by year end, a 150% increase in composting compared to 2022.




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 4-2 Require that Village-hosted events and users of certain Village facilities use
 reusable food/ beverage packaging, recycle and compost, and minimize
 landfill trash generation (AKA "Zero Waste"). Incentivize businesses to do the
 same.

 Several Village-hosted events have been Zero Waste through the help of
 Collective Resources Zero Waste event staffing which includes composting and
 recycling.
 Promote increased water conservation community-wide with a
 targeted reduction of 7.5% by 2030.


W 1-1 Facilitate reduction of water use by top 20 customers through an opt-in
 program and offer free technical resources.

 One additional customer identified as being a "top 25 water user" replied to
 request for technical assistance and received free water assessment in Q3,
 bringing the total to two.


W 1-3 Develop and implement water conservation education and outreach programs
 in residential, commercial, and institutional sectors.

 In order to reduce water leaks for users of the new water meter, a info sheet of
 "How to Read the Neptune E-CODER® Register" has been posted on the Water
 Billing page of the Skokie website.
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 LF 1-1 Conduct a study to identify properties for urban farms or community garden
 plots.

 All vacant properties have been listed and is being refined to include only areas
 that are applicable to host gardens.


 jjj.' r[|^ Collaborate with schools and park district to establish a "Grow Skokie" program
 increasing community garden plots and establishing a "market garden"
 concept.

 Skokie Park District provides 133 garden plots for the community with 3 public
 locations, donating excess to Niles Township Food Pantry. Grow Skokie program
 part of checklist developed for Skokie Schools.


 U:? 1-3 Create a publicly available GIS map database to locate community garden
 locations.

 The maps have been created, and will be posted once properties are refined to
 include only applicable garden sites.




 LF 3-2 Continue to provide enrollment assistance for participation in the the
 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants, & Children
 (wic) and other food assistance programs
 HHS assisted 58 households in the SNAP program by end of Q3, as well as the
 following programs: Bags of Food; Farmers Market Food Donation; Food, Toiletries,
 Clothing Drive; Grocery and Department Gift Card Donation; Farmers' Market
 Nutrition.


 LF 3-5 Work regionally to support food donation programs that reduce the amount of
 healthy, safe food that goes to waste and redirects it to those in need.

 The Commission on Family Services and St. Paul Lutheran Church has
 collected 6330 pounds of donated produce from vendors at the Skokie
 Farmers Market in 2023. Over 700 pounds of non-perishable food has been
 collected during monthly donation drives. All donations go to the Niles i?v!\^
 Township Food Pantry. N^T7
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 ?S U"1 Continue to use a diverse selection of native tree species in new plantings.

 Within the Tree Preservation Checklist for Plan Reviewers document, there is list of
 approved species for parkway and private property tree planting that highlights
 the species that are native to northern Illinois. By the end of Q3, Public Works has
 planted a total of 422 public trees of 18 different species, and 58.5% were listed as
 native.




 Promote the Village's free parkway tree program and the MWRD oak saplings.

 Village staff created the trees(5)skokie.org email address for residents to use for
 questions regarding tree planting. Skokienews consistently promotes the free
 parkway tree planting program.




 Establish a tree planting plan. Prioritize tree replacement programming in
 neighborhoods based on factors outlined in the Village's Ground Cover study

 The Village of Skokie has been awarded a $327,000 grant through the USDA
 Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program to increase tree planting
 in disadvantaged areas of Skokie. The Village will plant 450 free trees on non-
 Village-owned properties over the next five years. For every tree planted on
 private property through the program, the Village will plant at least one
 additional tree on a Village parkway or Village-owned right-of-way in a "Climate
 Priority" area, with the goal of planting 1,065 trees overall.
GS 2 Replace 8% of turf community-wide with alternative natives or other
 plants or reduce maintenance cycles that benefit pollinators and
 increase stormwater benefits by 2030.


 GS 2-2 Train staff on how to identify common native plants. Increase the use of native
 plants in landscaping at Village-owned and park district-owned properties.

 The Village hosted another native planting event near the multi-use path at
 Terminal and Carol Avenues. Along with Village staff, volunteers planted nearly
 1000 native plant plugs.



 GS 2-4 Continue to implement a strong, integrated pest management program, raise
 mowing height to 3.5-4" on Village-maintained turf. Use compost in beds.
 Electrify landscape equipment.

 The entire Village landscape equipment is all electric, reducing noise and air
 pollution.



 GS 2-5 Invite the Beautification and Improvement Commission to develop a
 recognition program for properties that incorporate a significant amount of
 natives or sustainable landscaping.

 This action item has been completed. The Beautification and Improvement
 Commission updated the awards program to support proven sustainable
 practices that will help make our community a better place to live. Awarded top 5
 of "Skokje's Best" to homes that employ a significant amount of native plantings.




GS 4 Increase climate, flooding, and extreme heat resilience and
 biodiversity supportiveness of community's parks and open spaces.


 GS 4-3 Promote strategies that support biodiversity and ecosystem health such as
 "No-Mow-May" and "Leaf-them-alone-November".

 The Village promoted "Leaf-them-alone-November" in enews: Rake a few inches
 of leaves into your landscape beds. mulch leaves into your lawn using a mulching
 lawnmower, or add leaves to your backyard compost bin.
 HS 1 Assist the community's populations who are vulnerable to listed
 climate risks in preparing for and mitigating climate change impacts.

 HS 1-2 Make emergency communications available in multiple languages and
 platforms.

 Skokie.org utilizes Google Translate for website users. Smart 911 sends alerts to
 residents' computers or smart phones that have registered and created an
 account.




HS 2 Educate, engage, and empower the public on health and safety risks
 of climate change impacts.

 HS 2-1 Provide education and resources about climate risks to the public to potential
 impacts of high-heat and extreme weather. Include an Emergency Response
 Toolkit.
 The Emergency Preparedness webpage of the Village of Skokie website has been
 updated to include links to FEMA guidance and resources that are available in
 multiple languages via the Google Translate function.




HS 4 Strengthen community response capacity and social support
 networks for populations who are vulnerable to air quality, extreme
 temperature, flooding, and power/infrastructure failure impacts.

 HS 4-2 Review and evaluate community networks for those who require assistance
 during extreme weather events.

 Village staff has access to the Niles Township Social Worker contact list which is
 updated annually.


 HS 4-3 promote equity in hazard mitigation, emergency response, and recovery
 activities.
 The Cook County Annual Hazard Mitigation Report was updated to include



 %)
 sustainability goals including specifying certain populations listed in the Skokie
 Climate Vulnerability Assessment.
 Economy



EC 1 Develop the economic potential related to sustainability and
 climate action.



 EC 1-1 Consider the current Economic Development Commission (EDC), SEAC and/or
 establishing a Green Economy Task Force with business, environmental
 organizations, and Village staff

 Village staff began discussions with the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center
 and the Illinois Green Business Association to provide businesses with high
 quality technical assistance and assessments that drive environmental and
 economic savings that include waste management strategies like energy
 efficiency upgrades and cost savings, pollution prevention, solid waste reduction,
 and water effiencies.




EC 4 Promote sustainable businesses who are Green America or B Corp
 certified.


 EC 4-1 Establish a Green Leadership Awards program to promote Skokie as an
 environmentally-friendly destination

 'Skokie Sustainable" Certification/Green Leadership Award criteria incorporated
 into "Business of the Year" expanded award process. The Illinois Green Business
 Association program also recognizes "green" businesses through the certification
 program and publicly available map of green businesses nation-wide.




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