SC 08-17-2017\.
CITY OF CUPERTINO SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION
Environmental Education Center 22221 McClellan Road
Thursday August 17, 2017 4:00 PM
MINUTES
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
The meeting convened at 4:17 p.m.
Commissioners Present: Angela Chen, Anna Weber, and Meera Ramanathan (arrived @
4:17)
Commissioners Absent: Gary Latshaw and Vignesh Swaminathan
Staff: Roger Lee, Assistant Director of Public Works; Cheri Donnelly, Environmental
Programs Manager; Katy Nomura, Management Analyst; Lauren Dickinson,
Environmental Outreach Coordinator; Gilee Corral, Sustainability Program Coordinator
Guests: City of Sunnyvale guest presenters: Mark Bowers, Solid Waste Programs
Division Manager; Karen Gissibl, Environmental Programs Manager
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Action Item: Draft minutes of July 20, 2017 meeting approved. Motion by
Commissioner Weber, 2nd by Commissioner Ramanathan. Motion passes 3-2 with
Commissioners Latshaw and Swaminathan absent.
POSTPONEMENTS
None.
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Subject: Approval of FY 2017/18 Work Plan
The Commission amended the draft Work Plan as follows: add to the September 21,
2017 meeting a staff presentation on the draft Recology amendment and draft Zero
Waste Policy. An executive summary of the draft Recology amendment will be emailed
to Commissioners prior to this meeting.
Action Item: A motion to approve the FY 2017/18 Work Plan as amended was made by
Commissioner Weber and seconded by Commission Ramanathan. Motion passed 3-2
with Commissioners Latshaw and Swaminathan absent.
NEW BUSINESS
2. Subject: Update on Sustainable Waste Strategies & Recology Agreement and
Special Presentation from City of Sunnyvale
Roger Lee, Assistant Director of Public Works, provided context for the discussion and
reviewed progress on updating the City of Cupertino's agreement with Recology. Staff
is looking ahead to plan for changes in the Recology agreement, which expires in 2019.
Staff is considering an amendment to extend the agreement to January 2021 and is
scheduled to take this draft amendment to City Council on October l7th. A rate increase
is not anticipated at this time; however, staff is looking into options that might increase
costs, such as waste characterization studies, a pilot program to explore the split cart
system, and working with the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer Station
(SMaRT Station). The Commission will have an opportunity to review an outline of the
draft Recology amendment before it is presented to City Council.
Mark Bowers, Solid Waste Programs Division Manager for the City of Sunnyvale, gave
a presentation on Sunnyvale's SMaRT Station and Food Cycle composting program.
Highlights:
• SMaRT Station has excess capacity and could take on waste from other
jurisdictions, including Cupertino.
• SMaRT Station diverted 31 % of waste that came through the landfill stream last
fiscal year.
• Sunnyvale's FoodCycle program has a residential split cart that separates food
and yard waste. Food waste is converted to nutrient-rich animal feed and yard
waste is converted to compost.
The Commissioners expressed interest in taking a tour of the SMaRT station; Gilee will
look into the logistics of setting this up.
NOTE: Before the meeting began officially, Joan Chin, Cupertino resident, gave the
following comments on this Agenda Item:
Informed the Commission about a Zero Waste for Homes eve nt coming up in Sunnyvale
on August 30th.
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Noted that there were comments on NextDoor on the new split cart system in Sunnyvale
and recommended that Cupertino ensures a social media process is in place to address
concerns before piloting a split cart system.
3 . Subject: Festival Planning (Fall Festival & Diwali Festival)
In the interest of time, the Commission focused on plans for Fall Festival and will
discuss the Diwali Festival at a future meeting. For Fall Festival: Sustainability
Commission members will work in shifts to cover the Sustainability table and run the
Environmental Jeopardy Game. Commissioner Ramanathan will take the morning shift
and Commissioner Weber will take the afternoon shift. (Commissioner Chen is tabling
at a booth already). Gilee will email Commissioners Swaminathan and Latshaw to see
when they can cover the booth. If the Environmental Jeopardy Subcommittee creates
new questions for this game in time, they will forward these to Gilee . Staff will email all
Commissioners with the final shift schedule and logistics closer to the festival date.
STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS
Commission Reports :
The Sustainable Schools Subcommittee received two proposals for waste audits and will
convey this information to the schools to see how they wish to proceed.
The Sustainable Speakers Series Subcommittee met and discussed possible topics for the
series, including water recycling and waste, and discussed ideas for the essay contest.
Commissioner Chen asked if a student who is not a Cupertino resident would be
eligible for receiving an award; Gilee will check on this. Next, the Subcommittee will
discuss how to advertise the speaker events and check into the possibility of connecting
with the City Speaker Series.
Staff Updates:
• Carpool Pilot: staff is looking for volunteers to help count cars as part of a
carpool app pilot. Contact Gilee or Katy Nomura if interested in volunteering.
• Silicon Valley Clean Energy staff will give a presentation at the November 16th
Commission meeting.
• SunShares: the following providers are offering discounts:
o Solar providers: PetersenDean, Skytech Solar, Solar Technologies
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o Electric vehicles: Toyota Mirai & Nissan Leaf
Commissioner Rarnanathan noted that there was an issue with SunShares in a
past year: with one of the solar distributors, the cost per kWh increased for some
customers above the advertised price when it came to install the solar panels.
Gilee will bring up this concern with the SunShares program administrator.
• The City of Cupertino will receive the following Beacon Spotlight Awards from
the Institute of Local Government this year: Gold Level Award for 13 %
Community Greenhouse Gas Reductions; Platinum Level Award for 23 %
Agency Greenhouse Gas Reductions. The awards will be presented as part of the
League of California Cities conference on Sept. 141h.
• City Council voted to approve the AB262 Letter of Support.
• Sustainability Commission budget carryover of $5,993 from FY 2016/17 was
approved .
• Cheri announced an upcoming event of interest: Zero Waste Horne -Sunnyvale
Speaker Series, Aug. 20 1h 7:00-8:30p.m., City Council Chambers, Sunnyvale.
ADJOURNMENT-6:16 p.rn.
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