Calvert County Environmental Commission will meet on Monday, Nov. 19.
Here is the agenda provided by the commission:
Members Present: Ron Klauda, Carys Mitchelmore, Peter Vogt, Christopher Roettgen, Holly Budd, Jane Dodds, Autumn Phillips-Lewis, Craig Simmons
Staff: Will Hager, Dorothea Oller
Guests/Liaisons: Sheila Stevens
I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
II. Guest Speaker Program: Michael Gonsior, associate professor and chemist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Chesapeake Biological Lab gave a presentation entitled “Evidence of Organic Wastewater Tracers in Streams Near Septic Systems”
III. Approval of Agenda: There was a motion to approve the agenda from the 9-24-18 meeting which was seconded and passed unanimously. There was a motion to approve the agenda from the 10-29-18 meeting which was seconded and passed unanimously.
IV. Approval of Minutes: Chair Klauda suggested a correction to the minutes from the 9-24-18 meeting on Page 2, Item F. There was a motion to approve the minutes from the 9-24-18 meeting with the suggested correction which was seconded and passed unanimously. There was a motion to approve the minutes from the 10-29-18 meeting which was seconded and passed unanimously.
V. Old Business:
a. Review of Action Items from 10/29/18 Meeting – Chair Klauda reported research on Calvert County’s carbon footprint was ongoing. Will Hager reported discussions between the Communications and Media Relations department and the Cove Point LNG Plant were ongoing. Commissioner Simmons reported that work on the “Who should I call about injured wildlife?” FAQ’s is ongoing. Chair Klauda reported that work on preparing the 2018 EC Activities Report for the BOCC is ongoing. Chair Klauda reported that Commissioner Vogt has sent him a draft information blurb for the purposes of recruitment.
b. EC Shirt Purchase Follow-Up – Vice-Chair Mitchelmore initiated discussion on the logo to be used for the T-Shirts. Commissioner Phillips-Lewis initiated discussion on the color of the T- Shirts. Chair Klauda asked for a show of hands to show support for either Cool Grey or Stone, and it was decided to move forward with Cool Grey as the color for the T-Shirt. Chair Klauda asked for a show of hands to show support for the current coloring of the logo for the T-Shirt or different coloring, and it was decided to move forward with the current coloring and design of the logo with some minor modifications. Commissioner Dodds volunteered to take charge of contacting Chesapeake Custom Embroidery & Screen Printing to request a “mock-up” image of a Port Authority Silk Touch polo shirt in Cool Grey with the current EC logo embroidered on the left chest, but with the words “Environmental Commission” removed from inside the circular logo and instead printed in small caps in an arc above the circular logo. Each commissioner then specified which shirt size would work best for them.
c. Reappointment of Craig Simmons – Will Hager restated that both Commissioner Simmons and Commissioner Budd are in “limbo” and remain voting members of the EC until the BOCC takes action on their recommendations for reappointment.
d. Recruitment – Commissioner Vogt voiced that he had been in contact with someone who had shown an interest, but had not heard back at that time. Commissioner Dodds asked if she could work to actively recruit among science teachers at the high school level and Chair Klauda voiced approval of this.
e. Creation of Sustainability Subcommittee – Commissioner Roettgen described the purpose of the proposed subcommittee. Chairman Klauda stated that sustainability captures a lot of things important to the EC as well as to Calvert County and stated that the draft Comprehensive Plan mentions sustainability a number of times. There was a motion to approve the formation of this new subcommittee which was seconded and approved unanimously. Chair Klauda, Vice-Chair Mitchelmore, Commissioner Roettgen, Commissioner Vogt, and Commissioner Budd volunteered to serve on the new subcommittee. At this time Vice-Chair Mitchelmore left the meeting.
f. PAXCON 2018 Conference – There was a motion to approve using the EC’s budget to pay for attendance at the PAXCON 2018 Conference of two EC members in the form of a reimbursement with the stipulation that the attendees give a report on the conference to the EC at the next meeting. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
g. Year-End Report to BOCC – Chairman Klauda initiated discussion on the Year-End Report to the BOCC and gave an update on its progress. Commissioner Budd volunteered to present the Year-End Report to the BOCC if possible. Chairman Klauda asked for discussion on whether a member of the EC should make the Year-End Report to the BOCC and it was agreed that this was a good idea.
VI. Sub-Committee Reports:
a. FAQs – Chair Klauda stated that he has drafted and expanded version of the septic systems section to include information about nitrogen reducing systems and passed it on to Commissioner Long-Bradley for comments and will eventually pass it along to the rest of the EC. Chair Klauda stated that work on the Land and Air FAQ’s is still ongoing.
b. Public Education/Outreach— Commissioner Dodds mentioned that the STEM Expo will be taking place in February and asked if the EC should be involved. Commissioner Vogt suggested the EC might give an award related to sustainability. Chairman Klauda asked Commissioner Dodds and Sheila Stevens to get more information and report back at the next meeting.
c. Public Guest Speaker Program – Chair Klauda suggested dissolving this sub-committee and re- forming it as the “Guest Speaker Subcommittee.” There was a motion to approve the re- forming of the “Public Guest Speaker Program” to the “Guest Speaker Subcommittee” which was seconded and approved unanimously. Chair Klauda, Commissioner Vogt, Commissioner Phillips-Lewis, and Sheila Stevens volunteered to serve on this subcommittee.
VII. New Business:
a. Monthly Guest Speaker Update – Chair Klauda opened debate on the number of guest speakers the EC would like to have in 2019. After debate opinions were about evenly divided between EC members who favored having 8 guest speakers and those who favored having 12 guest speakers. It was agreed to continue this debate at the next EC meeting. Chair Klauda asked members to think of topics they would like to have covered by guest speakers in the future.
b. General Announcements – Commissioner Roettgen mentioned it might be a good idea to add the phone number to the conference room to the EC’s letterhead and Will Hager stated he would look into that. Commissioner Budd mentioned that the county should look into the cost analysis of solar energy if they haven’t looked into it in recent years since it has changed significantly.
c. Upcoming Events: Next Meeting – December 10, 2018
VIII. Public Comment: There were no public comments.
IX. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.
http://www.co.cal.md.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11192018-1932
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