Government Center

719 S. Batavia Ave., Bldg. A

Geneva, IL 60134

Kane County

KC Energy and Environmental

Committee

Meeting Minutes

BATES, Tarver, Allan, Kious, Roth, Strathmann, Young, ex-officios Pierog (County Chair), and

Tepe (County Vice Chair)

Friday, October 11, 2024

9:00 AM

County Board Room

Call To Order

Chairman Bates called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM.

Roll Call

Board Member Mavis Bates

Board Member Bill Tarver

Board Member Bill Roth

PRESENT

Board Member Cherryl Strathmann

Board Member David Young

Board Member Chris Kious

REMOTE

ABSENT

Board Member Deborah Allan

Ex-Officio County Board Chair Corinne M. Pierog

Ex-Officio County Board Vice Chair Vern Tepe

Also present: Co. Bd. Member Lewis; Recycling Coordinator Ryan; Sustainability Mgr.

Hinshaw and staff Powell; ITD staff Peters; and members of the press and public,

including Recycle Coach Revenue Operating Mgr. Lauren Webb.

Remote Attendance Requests

Chairman Bates announced the remote attendance requests for today's meeting. She

asked the Committee if there were any objection to Committee Member Kious

attending remotely. There was no objection.

Approval of Minutes: September 13, 2024

RESULT:

MOVER:

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT

Cherryl Strathmann

Public Comment (Agenda Items)

Kane County resident and Committee Member, Young, recited a prayer that was

shared at St. Patrick's Parish, pertaining to this year's election.

Environmental (J.Wollnik)

No report was made.

Recycling/Solid Waste (C. Ryan)

Recycle Coach Web & Mobile Tools: Coming Soon to Kane County

Recycle Coach Revenue Operations Mgr., Lauren Webb, shared a video

providing information on the software company. She stated that the website is a

platform to help residents understand their municipal and local recycling

programs and options. The company is based out of Toronto, Canada. Recycle

Coach is partnered with 1,500+ municipalities across North America, as well as

some in Australia and New Zealand. This software allows residents to

immediately have access to their collections schedule, how to dispose of items

properly, and recycling education. The mobile platform provides blogs, lessons,

and interactive features to keep residents excited about recycling, sustainability,

and circular economy. The app will provide hyper-local collections schedule,

information, and recycling and community events. The purpose of Recycle

Coach is to change behavior through education to decrease contamination for

residents. Webb spoke on her successful visit to Illinois to conduct training

sessions with partner municipalities and agencies to learn on-board with Recycle

Coach. There are eight locations in Kane County that have started their on

boarding process, and over 60 municipalities across five different county

agencies in Illinois who have also started their on boarding process. Webb

addressed questions and comments from the Committee. Much discussion

ensued.

Timing of Next County Solid Waste Plan Update

Recycling Coordinator, Ryan, provided an update on the timing of the Kane

County Solid Waste Management Plan. (Committee Member Allan arrived at

9:30 a.m.) She noted that all counties in Illinois are required by state law to

update their solid waste management plan every five years. She indicated that

the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is willing to extend the

update timeline for any county. Ryan noted that Kane County and other

counties struggle to provide accurate and complete data to characterize waste.

The reason for this issue is that the data is held by private companies. Ryan

recommended to request IEPA to extend Kane County's Solid Waste

Management Plan Update timeline by two or three years, and asked for a

consensus from the Committee. The Committee provided their consensus. Much

discussion ensued.

Sustainability (S.Hinshaw)

Climate Action Implementation Plan: Aligning Strategic Goals

Sustainability Coordinator, Powell, provided an update on the Climate Action

Implementation Plan (CAIP) and the aligning strategic goals. He indicated that

he has been reviewing and comparing the advocacy agenda called "Transit is

the Answer," and the main CAIP strategic goals through the Regional Transit

Authority (RTA). Powell identified four specific actions within the climate action

plan that are related to their advocacy agenda. The long-term substantive

changes to the regional transit system include secure increased funding for

transit operations, develop a funding structure that is less reliant on rider fares,

secure increased funding for transit infrastructure, and partner with roadway

agencies to build more transit-friendly streets. The goals of CAIP will be to

increase public transit commuter ridership from 2.24% to 6.5% by 2030, and

invest in infrastructure that supports bus operations and more comfortable and

welcoming bus stop environments. The Bus-Rapid Transit (BRT) is a dedicated

bus-transit system that provides a fast and efficient service from one location to

another. This system may include dedicated lanes, traffic signal priority, and

elevated platforms and enhanced stations. Powell highlighted a potential idea,

which is for BRT to partner with Pace to implement a Pulse route along Randal

Road. This would connect Aurora to Elgin with one route. The next steps for

CAIP will be to set up meetings with Kane County Division of Transportation

(KDOT) staff, Mayor Schielke of Batavia, and Pace Board of Directors to discuss

the feasibility of BRT. Powell indicated that additional steps will include

reviewing existing planning grants to fund an updated BRT feasibility study, and

continue research on existing BRT case studies, Intelligent Transportation

System (ITS) improvements such as transit signal priority, and the cost of a

covered bus stops and Pulse bus stops.

Climate Action Implementation Plan Progress Update

Sustainability Mgr., Hinshaw, briefly announced that the charging station at

KDOT is now available to use. She highlighted each action and progress of each

sustainability group. The goal for transportation will include decreasing Vehicle

Miles Traveled (VMT) by 5% by 2030. To achieve this goal, sidewalk and

bikeway construction and education projects that promote active transportation

in alignment with the 2023 Kane County Bike and Pedestrian Plan will continue.

The second goal is to increase battery electric vehicle (BEV) use to 15% of

vehicles on the road by 2030. This will include collaborating with partners such

as businesses, school districts, fleet operators, and transit providers, including

taxi fleets within community to work towards a goal that buses and fleets based

and operating in the community be 50% electric by 2030, and 100% by 2035.

The goals for buildings and energy will be to improve total community-wide

residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial building energy efficiency by

12% for electricity and natural gas by 2030, and achieve 10% residential and

commercial and industrial building "fuel switching" from on-site fossil fuel

combustion to electrification by 2030. For water and wastewater, the goals will

be to promote increased water conservation and wastewater generation

community-wide with a targeted reduction of 5% by 2030, and educate, engage

and empower the public on water quality and conservation. The waste

management and the goals include decreasing the total municipal solid waste

handled 2.5% by 2030, and decrease municipal solid waste from government

operations 15% by 2030. Hinshaw noted that by collaborating with partners to

explore options for expanding or establishing local facilities capable of accepting

and processing organics will help meet the goals of this plan. The goals for local

food and agriculture will be to increase share of farms using low emission or

regenerative agriculture practices. The goals for greenspace and ecosystems

will be to increase tree cover and diversity by 6.5% by 2030, and 15% by 2040,

and reduce the heat island effect through community-wide neighborhoods with

higher heat island impacts by 10% by 2030, and 23% by 2040. The goals for

health and safety include assisting climate vulnerable populations throughout

the community in preparing for and mitigating climate change impacts, and

educate the public on health and safety risks of climate change impacts. Lastly,

the goals for climate and economy are to capture economic value of each

climate action goal in the Kane County CAIP, support equitable workforce

development and entrepreneur opportunities of climate action in the local

economy, and communicate climate action economic and development

opportunities to stakeholder groups. Hinshaw noted that this will include

collaborating with partners to create a market for certified compost, promote

workforce development in partnership with local schools, colleges, and

universities to implement a curriculum for green skills, and strengthen

communications in support of business and economic climate resilience.

New Business

Recycling Coordinator, Ryan, stated that campaign signs will now be recycled. There

will be a container for dropping off signs located on the Kane County Government

campus near the grotto area. This will remain in place from November 8-17, 2024.