Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2025-08-26

Village of Skokie
 Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission
 AGENDA

 August 26, 2025
 7:00 pm
 Village Hall Room D/E
 Public Comments: sustainability@skokie.org


  I. Approval of Minutes
 a. SEAC Meeting 07/15/2025

 II. Old Business

 a. Community Solar campaign update [link]
 b. IDOT Lincoln Ave Project [link]
 c. Compost updates
 d. EV chargers installed at Village Hall [link]

III. New Business
 a. Welcome new SEAC Trustee Liaison Lissa Levy [link]
 b. Back Lot Bash
 i. Pancake Breakfast
 ii. Summer of ‘25
 c. Electric bills [link]
 d. Solar webinar recap (Switch Together (Wilmette) + Grow Geo Power
 Hour (DuPage)
 e. IL Solar for All advisory committee opening [link]
 f. Bike Friendly Community survey [link]
 g. Skokie Strategic Plan survey [link]
 h. Open Water bottles at National Night Out

IV. Other business

 V. Public Comment

VI. Next meeting:
 September 23, 2025

VII. Adjournment




Document Number: 511765

Memorandum
TO: Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commissioners

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

DATE: August 27, 2025

SUBJECT: August 26, 2025 Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission (SEAC)
 Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 7:03 PM in Conference Room D/E at Skokie Village Hall

Present: Chairperson Jennifer Grossman, Vice Chair Jim McNelis, Commissioners Andrew
DeCanniere, Michael Gershbein, Lisa Gotkin, Alma Likic, Olivia Mahoney, Emily Okallau,
Robert Render, Charles Saxe, Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Sanzenbacher, Assistant to the
Public Works Director / Staff Liaison Elizabeth Zimmerman, Trustee Liaison Lissa Levy

Absent: Commissioners Christopher Buccola, Rick Moskovitz

Also Present: Lauren Grodnicki, Skokie Resident
 Howard Sproull, Skokie Resident

I. Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Vice Chair McNelis to approve the minutes from the July 15, 2025
meeting of the Sustainable Environmental Advisory Commission, seconded by Commissioner
Gotkin. The minutes were approved as presented.

II. Old Business

 a. Community Solar Campaign Update

 Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher informed Commissioners that the Village of
 Skokie’s Illinois Shines application has been successfully submitted. Once approved, a
 Press Release that will be going out. Additionally, Joule will proceed with their community
 outreach plan.

 Vice Chair McNelis inquired as to when this will proceed. Sustainability Coordinator
 Sanzenbacher stated it should be within the next week or two, after Labor Day.




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 b. IDOT Lincoln Avenue Project

 It was noted that the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) hosted a presentation
 regarding the Lincoln Avenue Project at Lincoln Junior High School on July 15th and, as
 was promoted in The Scoop, had been accepting public comments until August 8th. The
 project is currently in Phase 1 (preliminary engineering and environmental study).
 Commissioner Mahoney inquired as to the latest regarding Oakton Street. Discussion
 ensued.

 c. Compost Update

 Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher updated Commissioners on composting rates.
 Composting hit a record in June, at 26.3 tons. July also saw a high at 23.9 tons, which
 is similar to May. Furthermore, there is nearly twice the tonnage at free drop off sites
 versus the amount composted through the subscription service. The compost program has
 been promoted in the Village’s e-newsletter, The Scoop, noting that the promotional
 countertop bin program is over, and informing residents of how to properly engage in
 backyard composting so as to avoid pests.

 d. EV Chargers Installed at Village Hall

 The Village of Skokie recently installed 13 new Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging
 ports for municipal vehicles at Village Hall. The Village is to replace 10 gas-powered
 vehicles with EVs over the next year. This, in turn, will save 2,300 gallons of fuel and
 $6,000 per year. Including other anticipated vehicle purchases, this will bring the total
 number of EVs in the Village’s fleet to 34 by May of 2026, representing about 15 percent
 of the total fleet. The Village currently operates 20 EVs across several departments,
 including seven Police vehicles, three Fire Department vehicles, six Public Works vehicles,
 and four Village Hall Motor Pool Vehicles. Discussion ensued.

III. New Business

 a. Welcome New SEAC Trustee Liaison Lissa Levy

 Commissioners introduced themselves to newly appointed Trustee Liaison Lissa Levy, who
 subsequently introduced herself and spoke about her professional background.

 b. Backlot Bash

 i. Pancake Breakfast

 Commissioners Render and Mahoney discussed composting at the Backlot Bash.
 WasteNot Compost indicated that there was hardly any contamination.

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 Chairperson Grossman inquired as to whether there is any sort of primer on
 composting for vendors who participate. Staff Liaison Zimmerman noted that
 there is some coaching on what vendors are to do. For instance, when Collective
 Resource starts a new business/vendor, there is a sort of onboarding process.
 WasteNot is more signage-based. Additional discussion ensued.

 ii. Summer of ’25

 The Village of Skokie launched the Summer of ’25 campaign to inform residents
 of the upcoming reduction in the speed limit on most residential streets, from 30 mph
 to 25 mph, effective March 1, 2026. Village representatives and the campaign’s
 mascot, Cruz the Turtle, were in attendance at Skokie’s Backlot Bash to help further
 promote this upcoming change.

c. Electric Bills

Staff Liaison Sanzenbacher said that residents have been calling about their bills. It was
noted that the Village of Skokie does not set electric rates. However, there are resources
out there that may be available to consumers. Staff Liaison Zimmerman stated that the rate
increases have to do with the available capacity on the electric grid.

d. Solar webinar recap: Switch Together (Wilmette) + Grow Geo Power Hour (DuPage)

Commissioner DeCanniere said that he recently attended the Wilmette Solar Power Hour
and DuPage County Geothermal Power Hour Zoom webinars (held on August 12th and
August 19th, respectively), and proceeded to recap both for those who were unable to
attend.

e. Illinois Solar for All Advisory Committee Opening

It was noted that there is an opening on the Illinois Solar for All Advisory Committee.
The application period will run until September 26th, with an information session on
September 16th to register to learn more about Illinois Solar for All and the committee.
Discussion ensued.

f. Bike Friendly Community survey

Commissioners were encouraged to participate in the survey to help the Village of Skokie
understand bicycling conditions and potential areas for improvement. They were also
encouraged to share this survey with others. Deadline to submit survey is October 5th.




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 g. Skokie Strategic Plan Survey

 Chairperson Grossman noted that much talk has occurred regarding the update to Skokie’s
 Strategic Plan. There is a Community Visioning Session set to take place at Niles West on
 October 5th. Survey includes items that are in the Village’s Sustainability Plan, and will
 remain open through Saturday, October 11th. Trustee Liaison Levy noted that the Strategic
 Plan is very important and will inform Village policy going forward. Discussion ensued.

 h. Open Water bottles at National Night Out

 Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher noted that they didn’t want to give out plastic
 water bottles at National Night Out. Open Water was selected as an alternative, based on
 both the sustainability of sourcing and the recyclability of the aluminum bottles.

 Chairperson Grossman inquired whether there is some sort of portable water truck that
 could be brought in for use at such events, which could be an alternative to single-use
 plastic water bottles as well. Discussion ensued.

IV. Other Business

Sustainability Coordinator Sanzenbacher spoke about the Evanston Repair Cafe. Evanston
Repair Cafe also provided flyers which could be shared within the community.

V. Public Comment

Skokie resident Lauren Grodnicki spoke about composting and recycling at the Pancake
Breakfast. She also spoke about the issue of idling vehicles at Backlot Bash and similar events,
suggesting a more sustainable alternative to provide the necessary power at these events.

Skokie resident Howard Sproull shared his idea for a potential source of water at events, and
thanked the Commission for its hospitality.

VI. Next Meeting

On August 29, 2025, it was determined that the next meeting of the Sustainable Environmental
Advisory Commission will take place on Monday, September 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM. The meeting
is to be held in Conference Room A at Skokie Village Hall.

VII. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:01 PM with a motion from
Commissioner Okallau, seconded by Commissioner Gershbein.



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