GRC 6-21 Mtg Minutes
Kirsten Taylor
GRC
Here are the minutes from last week’s GRC Meeting. Our next meeting is August 2, 5-6:30pm, MI Chamber of Commerce, 7605 SE 27th #109. Put it on your calendar now!
22 Ways Challenges
1. Emmanuel Episcopal wrapped up their 22 Ways Challenge on June 12. Bruce attended to present awards to the church and helped Cheryl give t-shirt awards to members of the top three families achieving the most number of 22Ways. Kirsten provided a framed certificate for the Church. 31 households participated, with a total of 306 action items completed. The top 3 On The Go items were eliminating a car trip, walk instead of drive, and make car trips more efficient. The top 3 At Home items were using a programmable thermostat, doing laundry more efficiently, and replacing 5+ incandescent bulbs. Cheryl is writing a press release in hopes that the Reporter will publish. Kirsten took pictures at the event to use with the press release.
2. MI Rotary 22Ways Challenge is well underway with 40-50 pledges turned in. Nancy is continuing to mention and nudge the challenge to encourage more Rotary club members to pledge, to work on the 22Ways items, and to turn in their results. The Rotary Challenge will wrap up at the end of July, and GRC will attend the August 2 MI Rotary Club meeting to say a few words and present the club with a certificate and three t-shirts. All GRC members are encouraged to attend this presentation (approximately 10 minutes at the beginning of the meeting).
3. City of MI 22Ways Challenge will kick off at the end of July and go through October. When the City Challenge wraps up, all of the participants from the three challenges will be invited to attend a City Council meeting to be honored.
4. Testimonials have been rolling in, but more are needed. Bruce will be working on this in August, but would love some additional help. The testimonials will be an important PR tool, so will be worth the time we invest.
5. 22Ways Participant Give Aways. There is no budget for items to recognize 22Ways Challenge participants. Terry Moreman is going to ask for a grant to see if Allied Waste or PSE might fund some small items. Discussion about printing 22Ways window clings that people could put in their car or home windows. Terry will make the ask and report back on funding.
Continued Agenda Items
1. Summer Meeting Schedule. Decision to not meet in July due to vacation schedules. Next meeting is August 2nd.
2. Fall Meeting Schedule. Plan to meet 1X per month, on the first Tuesday of the month. The third Tuesday will be reserved for subcommittee meetings (or other date/time as arranged). Plan is to meet on Tuesday September 5th for the September meeting .
3. Green Drinks is scheduled for September 20th at Veloce Vela. Terry Moreman and Ellen Miller-Wolfe are working out details.
4. Green Business declarations are still arriving at the MI Chamber office at a rate of about one per week. Terry will be updating her list and printing a new poster for the Chamber window. Also getting window clings for the businesses.
5. Moving Planet Project, September 24, 2011. Jonathan would like GRC to participate, but was not able to attend the meeting to give more information. He will update the GRC at the August meeting.
6. New Energy Cities. After June presentation the consensus is that it is not a fit for Mercer Island.
Fall Agenda items
1. Strategic Planning in the Fall. Discussion that the GRC will want to revisit the strategic plan on an annual basis. The plan from last fall was to complete the Council/School Board Challenge, and support three additional 22Ways challenges. These are all in progress, and will be wrapping up in the fall. It will be time to plan for the next steps and direction for the GRC. Questions to discuss: how to fund sustainability, how to measure and communicate successes, and focusing on new projects for 2012-13. Bruce is pushing for sustainability funding at the Council level. With Bruce’s support and urging, the City has also added two performance measures to the “Dashboard Report”: 1) #of green power customers, and 2) carbon footprint of the City.
This is a brief synopsis of the meeting, much more takes place in live discussions. Hope to see you all in August, and again for Strategic Planning in the Fall!
Respectfully submitted,
Kirsten
Kirsten Taylor | Administrative Services Manager
City of Mercer Island
ph: 206.275.7720