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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - MGG - 09-11-2014ORIGINAI, MILTON GROWS GREEN COMMITTEE SEPT. 11, 2014 MINUTES [ACCEPTED] Date. Sept. 11, 2014, 6:30 PM - 8:15 PM Place: Executive Conference Room, City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway, Milton, GA 30004 Attendees: Jack Lindon, Cindy Eade, Bruce Langston, Teresa Stickels, Kathy Johnson, Margaret Lamb, Francia Lindon, and Michel Plets. L Agenda: It was posted on the City's web site. H. Minutes: August 2014 were approved. III. Updates and New Business: • EverGREEN Schools Partnership: A brochure with the new logo and grant application was passed around. Kathy talked about the new logo and a new system based on points. The first monthly newsletter has been distributed. Mill Springs is interested. First sign up for the program and then applications for grants will go out at the beginning of the New Year. Grant money is just for Milton Schools. Every year is different in terms of project and goals. After goals are accomplished, points are assigned. Individual schools signup through the cities involved: Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton and Roswell. Bruce wanted to know if the new logo is going to be "protected." Program has been around for about 15 years. But now the way it works has been revised. This year they are going to be working with the Fulton County STEM curriculum teachers. The first meeting is October 2"a • Adopt -A -Road: New signs are going up everywhere. Have gotten positive feedback on them. Julie is following up with groups/people who have signed up to adopt to be sure they are actually doing the cleanup and signs are being replaced based on the response from the volunteers. YNSL are the most conscientious. There are still 12 more signs to print, which are in the October 2015 budget. • Boys Scouts Troop 3000 Shredding and Recycling Even: MGG is to promote this. Jack and Cindy will volunteer for Saturday in two weeks. • Bulky Trash: The YMSL will be there. They are so reliable we won't need more volunteers. Wanted to borrow Jack's tent. Bruce wanted to know when to show up for the photo op. • Advanced Disposal: It hasn't been decided what the Milton City Council will do or how they will respond. It's a decision to be made by Forsyth County although lots of Milton's recyclables are processed there. Jack has met with the facility manager and discussed the rkm-off and trash found in a nearby culvert. They seem serious about taking care of any perceived problems. There's been a lot of misinformation on the Facebook page put out by people who are opposed to the expansion. The Facebook page talks of problems generating from the Republic transfer station a mile further north without correctly attributing the problems to the right facility. Comments posted on Facebook that counter or try to correct the page are blocked or withdrawn by the gatekeeper who controls the page. There was a question about whether or not commercial entities are really making the effort to separate clean recycle materials. Jack said that it's not in Advanced's business interest to take dirty material. It just automatically sends dirty loads to Milton Grows Green Committee Meeting Minutes, September 11, 2014 [ACCEPTED] ALL ME,TON GROWS GREEN DocumENTs ARE PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER wrrH AT LEAST 35% Pos r- CONSUMER CONTENT. landfill facilities. The question was asked about who benefits from the facility. Milton does to a large part because local haulers use it as opposed to using the only other recycling facility south by the airport. Jack checked a nearby dry streambed that's a tributary to Chicken Creek and will be in touch with Advanced Disposal's environmental officer. He also did a water quality check on Chicken Creek with the Adopt -A -Stream kit and contacted concerned homeowners with information on what he found out. Jack asked the committee for a vote to be able to address Milton City Council on what MGG's position is on this. The motion was made to give Jack permission to speak for MGG in favor of the recycling facility with caveats if they arise. The vote was unanimous. • Birmingham Park Cleanup: It was noted that an event was held at the park with food. Jim Cregge approved the event. MGG's understand was that Birmingham Park couldn't be used until the ownership issues were resolved so there is some question about whether or not we can consider it as a possible venue for Earth Day. There is still more barbed wire at the back. The park is getting a lot of use, trails are well worn. Jack would still like to do some trail work and general clean up to display MGG's interest in the Park. He will talk with Jim Cregge about what can be done. We also have to sell the idea of a passive use park if we want to truly "Preserve Rural Milton." The issue of Providence Park came up. Apparently it will be opened in 2015. Fulton County is now claiming that it is "surplus land" and not a park The county needs the money from it. In which case the cost won't be $100/ acre but much more for Milton to purchase. Signs that once said "Providence Park" have been taken down as well as the ProvidencePark com website. Providence has a lot of steep slopes and a 100-foot quarry so it's not all developable. Money currently in the City's budget would be to improve facilities that already exist. Nothing will be done until we own it. More will be coming on this. • Milton's Conservation Initiatives: Tom Daniels will speak on Sept 23, a day after the City Council votes to accept the budget. The GreenPrint will be presented on the 23. City Council is waiting for the report before they make any recommendations on launching a conservation initiative. Cindy encouraged everyone to be there to support the GreenPrint and see what the path forward would be for preserving open space. • Crabapple Fest Coming up Oct. e. We will duplicate our Earth Day booth. Going to do pine cone bird feeders, promote the NWT Certification Project and Rivers Alive. Cindy is getting the Buster Brown Thrasher bird costume to walk around the event and as a draw to our booth. Need MGG help manning the booth along with the YMSL volunteers. Mark Law wants us to also highlight a contest to photograph noteworthy trees in Milton. IV. Old Business: • MGG Bylaws: The subcommittee has had 3 or 4 meetings working on a draft. Then took out a lot of the legal language. Jack and Cindy have met with Kathy Field and Chris L. and more changes have been made. We're now at version 14. Chris Logerbloom made only two changes of any significance. On our logo, City Council will have final approval. On discipline problems, any action to reprimand or remove anyone should be left to him or Staff. It shouldn't be a volunteer telling another volunteer whether their actions are appropriate. The City's attorney also has looked at it and surprisingly said it was a little too strict for a volunteer committee. We might be setting ourselves up for failure if we don't do all of the things that are in there. We don't want to scare people off with formal requirements. Cindy asked Chris for a model we should look at. But he came back with the suggestion we have a training session so we're all on Milton Grows Green Committee Meeting Minutes, September 11, 2014 [ACCEPTED] the same page on enacting this. We need to use the word "may' more so that if we don't do something, it can be interpreted as a choice. We asked our attorney, Kathy Johnson, to take a look at it. Want to have something to vote on in October to remain within our time -line. • Rivers Alive. Jack talked about the planning that's gone on to date. Wanted to elicit Bruce's help with checking streams. Bruce asked to do southeast since that's where he lives. Bruce, Jack, Jon McPhail, Marc Mazur and Todd Harkleroad will prioritize the sites. Rotary Club has a service day and we've added our event to their list. Francia will update the flyer with Adopt - A -Stream information. • Septic System Workshop: Jack and Cindy pinned down the Fulton County extension agent and UGA on a date for the Community workshop, November 20' from 7:00-8:30 pm. Better Together and MGG are sponsoring it. • Milton Trees Program: Cindy mentioned that Mark Law would like to get the Tree Photography project launched and wondered if there was someone from MGG willing to spearhead the project. • Little River Farms Rezoning: Kathy talked about supporting the Ivy family's request to rezone it as a rural event facility in order to meet the stipulations of the trust and to keep it a farm. The alternative is to develop the 80 acres as a subdivision of homes on 1 acre or as an industrial pig or chicken farm. Kathy's neighborhood of 64 homes abuts the farm and supports the family's proposal 1007o. Kathy was nominated by her neighborhood to speak in favor of the event facility. September 22 is the City Council meeting when this is going to be decided. Kathy wanted to know if someone from MGG would speak about the environmental aspects at the City Council meeting. Music after 10 pm seems to be the most important issue with the Valmont 24-home subdivision across the street from LRF. Jack's tongue-in-cheek solution to the problem was to only have slow music after 10 pm. The rest of the committee didn't even want to go there. Motion was made to have Jack speck on this for MGG. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting Adjourned at 8:15 PM ack Lindon, Co-chair ATTEST: r C Francia Lindon, Secretary Milton Grows Green Cmnmittee Meeting Minutes, September 11, 2014 [ACCEPTED]