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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 19, 2011 Draft Meeting MinutesSt. Lucie County Sustainability Advisory Committee May 19, 2011 Meeting Minutes Present: Commissioner Tod Mowery, Councilwoman Linda Bartz, Doug Coward, Marty Laven, Donna Rhoden Staff and Guests: Sandra Bogan (ERD); Nancy Flickinger (for Amy Brunjes/FPL), Marty Sanders (SLC School District/facilities), Mike McFarland (SLC School District/facilities), Amy Griffin (ERD), Veronica Berrones (ERD) ************************************************************************************************************************************************* The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 1:38 pm A motion was made by Doug Coward, seconded by Tod Mowery to appoint Marty Laven as Chairperson of the meeting in the absence of the Chair and Vice Chair MOTION TO APPROVE minutes from the February 17, 2011 meeting made by Doug Coward and seconded by Linda Bartz, passed unanimously. Marty Sanders, Exec. Dir. of Growth Management, Land Acquisition, and Intergovernmental Relations for the St. Lucie School District and Mike McFarland, Project Manager with St. Lucie School District facilities division, were invited to speak about the various actions the District has taken to reduce waste and enhance recycling. Marty Sanders said that the District's recycling efforts primarily center on being a paperless workplace. Agendas, paychecks, etc. are no longer printed and it has reduced the costs of paper significantly. Marty Laven said that the Martin County Commission is using iPads and were able to justify the purchase by quantifying the savings from reducing paper and printing. Currently, each school is responsible for recycling so it depends on the school's funding and staffing/leadership to coordinate. Mike McFarland said the District went out for bids last year for recycling, with the goal of having a person at each school to be the leader, and to hire a District-wide Coordinator. Due to costs and staff they have been unable to fulfill this goal. However, he said there are different ways to get people involved in the waste stream. For example, they looked at Styrofoam containers used in the cafeteria and were able to use thermal compactors to turn them into bricks and self for planters. McFarland also surveyed the dumpsters at each school and adjusted the sizes to more accurately reflect the decrease in waste. They have seen significant savings through the reduction of waste and subsequent dumpster sizes. Marty Sanders said the District saved about $1.3 million on energy costs in 09-10 and expects it to be more this year. The school district entered into a peak demand contract with the utility company. They have ice plants at five schools that produce ice from 10pm to Sam, thus working to ensure they are not going over their energy allotment during peak hours. One of these plants alone saved $200k in one year. Ice plants work different{y than normal chiller plants that just use cool water. Ice plants use glycol, so that the A/C is only running the air handler and pump and not the chiller. Marty Sanders also pointed out that putting controls on things is where you get a big payback dollar for dollar. Schools bring in large volumes of air, so putting in oxygen monitors allow for'demand ventilation,' instead of random ventilation that makes the a/c work harder and exposes the interior to more potential allergens and pollutants than is necessary. Lighting retrofits have also saved schools money. Nancy Flickinger mentioned that Energy Recovery Ventilation works well, in which expelled air cools incoming air through a permeable membrane. Marty Sanders said some of the newer technologies they are looking at are UV lamps and bipolar ionization in A/C. Bipolar ionization puts a positive charge on air molecules. This works with water, where ionized water has a positive charge and acts to reduce surface tension (acts like a detergent). They use this to clean floors because it reduces the need to use toxic strippers to remove old sealants/waxes. Donna Rhoden asked about maintenance issues when making retrofits, pointing out that there may be cost savings with the design but not with the maintenance. Marty Sanders said that you do have to be careful to look at all costs and payback period when changing or investing in new technologies. If the costs of maintenance outweigh the savings, it may not be worth it when you have a limited budget. The Committee changed to a discussion on locally grown food, and wanted to know how to get local growers providing food for students. Marty Sanders said there is a USDA grant to help schools/students'get to know your farmer.' Marty Laven said that Harbor Branch Oceanographic is having a fall event for the local farms. The discussion of waste water was also raised. Currently, local governments are not able to control wastewater residuals (sludge) from being sprayed onto land, and potentially polluting groundwater and surface waters. Commissioner Coward talked about how this has been an issue he has tried to deal with for some time. There is a way to'pelletize' sludge as an alternative, which was brought before governor Crist, but he vetoed it. So how do we work regionally to deal with water and wastewater issues? The group discussed adding water to its list of priorities. Sandy shared the Living Machine proposal that Committee member Bob Cenk wants to bring to the committee. This was left for a future discussion. Donna Rhoden suggested it was time to make some recommendations onwaste management. The committee asked Sandy to create a list of the various sustainable waste management strategies that the group has thus far discussed, so they may look at them systematically and determine any recommendations they may want to make to the Board. Commissioner Mowery reminded the members that it was his understanding that this committee was made up of a diversity of stakeholders so that the recommendations the committee makes should be brought back to the members' respective organizations for consideration. MEETING ADJOURNED at 3:08, motion by Linda Bartz, seconded by Doug Coward, passed unanimously.