San Rafael Chamber of Commerce Green Committee Meeting Minutes - APPROVED Wednesday, November 11, 2014 - 9:30-11:00 am In Attendance: Madeleine Austin, Nancy Benjamin, Sharon Chen, Ben Choi, Patrick Costello, Jennifer Grenier, Bob Herbst, Emily Quinton Notes:
[email protected] I. Introductions Meeting led by Bob Herbst. New attendees - Sharon Chen from ADXR Accountancy Corp., Patrick Costello from Green River Insurance and Financial Services, Ben Choi from MCE II.
Ask and Offer
Emily - MSEL Sustainable Enterprise Program - 10 different project groups for high school freshmen and sophomores (similar to bringing EV charging stations to Pt. Reyes). (Emily to email me) Project proposals presented to mock-investors with 6-8 to be voted in second week of December. Emily –Seeking college graduate for ½ year fellowship program - similar to Climate Corp Program. Madeleine – looking for publicist for Smart Receivables BtoB program. Ben - MCE – is expanding coverage. Unincorporated Napa has joined. City of San Pablo has joined with Richmond. There will new positions on board. Nancy – overview of what to expect in upcoming newsletter concerning building. Nancy to check about Green MBA Dominican network. III.
Board Updates
Bob – working on annual planning update. Cory – SR City Highlights: Setting new refuse rates for 2015 for commercial customers. A pilot was conducted with businesses and residential customers. AB341 states that businesses that generate 4 or more cubic yards of garbage and multifamily dwellings that generate 5 or more cubic yards of garbage must recycle. The new proposal is to incentivize increased recycling by giving credits and raising rates for black can collection. Cory – Zero Waste Outreach: Kim Scheibly @ Marin Sanitary Service working on spotlighting businesses in different categories to create tip sheets focused on certain types of businesses.
Note – San Rafael has 141 Electric Charging stations. Cory - Collaborative Projects: Marin Climate Energy partnership to help implement climate action plans. City report cards (to be completed by Marin Climate.org website) and hopefully finished by January. Cory – County Highlights: voting on surplus funds to help fund countywide program. Ben – MCE – home utility report will look at efficiency in homes. Need speaker series ideas
Going paperless (Madeleine) Sea level rise (Emily) Green investing (Partrick)
(Suggestions from Chris – choose top 3) Clean Energy Climate change mitigation, adaptation Transportation solutions Hybrids, electric vehicles Waste Air quality/pollution Affordable Housing Local Public Policy on sustainability issues Water use/conservation Sustainable food systems and agriculture Other suggestions _________________
Next meeting - Setting plans for the new year – voted to have “party” – review new business plan / goals for 2015. Meeting Adjourned – next meeting Weds, Dec. 10 from 9:30-11:00 am
