[2:00] - Yes.

[2:01] Oh, there. All right.

[2:04] Welcome to the Environmental Concerns Committee

[2:06] meeting for August.

[2:08] It's been a couple months.

[2:10] Let's check to make sure we're live streaming.

[2:13] We're good on that. Okay.

[2:15] We're going to start with our roll call over here.

[2:20] Rachel Yandel. Member David AK. Chair.

[2:26] - John Cruiser. Member

[2:28] - Katie Bloom, member.

[2:30] Excellent. And as you can see, if you're watching,

[2:34] there are some empty seats up here.

[2:36] So if you are a resident of the city of Kalamazoo

[2:38] and you have concerns about the environment,

[2:41] you are eligible to be on this committee.

[2:43] So go to the city's website

[2:45] and submit your application, please.

[2:49] All right. We are ready to go ahead and get started.

[2:52] We have an agenda. Everybody should have received that.

[2:56] Do we have any requests for changes to the agenda?

[3:03] No. If there's no request for changes,

[3:05] can we get a motion to approve?

[3:07] I will. Motion to approve the agenda. Second. All right.

[3:12] We are good to go with the agenda.

[3:15] We did meet last month and there are minutes.

[3:21] Do we have somebody who would like to either ask for changes

[3:26] or to motion for approval?

[3:31] Motion to approve.

[3:35] Motion to approve. Thank you. I'll second that motion.

[3:41] All right. Any objections? All in favor?

[3:46] Aye. Okay, good. Aye. All right.

[3:51] Communications. We're moving along.

[3:54] Justin, would you like

[3:56] to catch people up on C sustainability?

[4:01] - Sure. Yeah. So this is kind of, Ooh, it's loud.

[4:04] You know, pulling from the last couple months.

[4:06] So one was the textile

[4:07] pilot, you know, that was very popular.

[4:08] A lot of folks have asked me if we're gonna continue,

[4:10] we won't be able to continue that,

[4:11] but I'll give you the results and kinda the rationale

[4:13] why we can't continue.

[4:15] So we collected 1,565 pounds

[4:22] of textiles that was collected by students at Western

[4:26] The Moda is the name of the group.

[4:27] Merchandising Opportunities and Design Association.

[4:30] That was all led by my previous intern Dagney.

[4:33] So, yeah, so they collected, you know, almost 2000 pounds,

[4:36] almost a ton of textiles in a day there.

[4:39] 317 pounds weren't really usable for them, so they sent them

[4:43] to a company called Trashy that recycles them.

[4:46] But, so those students are currently sitting on about 1200

[4:48] pounds of textiles.

[4:50] It's not sustainable for them to continually pull in,

[4:54] you know, 1200 pounds every quarter to work on.

[4:57] But that those textiles, they're gonna be used in student

[4:59] fashion design projects.

[5:01] Gonna be working with students

[5:02] who are studying fashion design at Western.

[5:06] Next thing on the agenda here I have is

[5:07] the Rain Barrel sale.

[5:09] So about 87 Rain Barrels were sold through the partnership

[5:12] with the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council

[5:14] and like five Composters,

[5:16] those were dropped off or picked up.

[5:18] Some folks got them painted. We might start

[5:20] to look at doing more of those every year.

[5:23] So maybe two a year. But

[5:24] that was another successful event there.

[5:27] And basic species pulls at Glen North, Glen Park North.

[5:32] Great turnout there, you know, about seven folks showed up.

[5:34] We pulled about, you know, 10 or 12 bags of garlic mustard.

[5:40] We have a Master recycler program coming up.

[5:43] I'll see if folks can get that There.

[5:46] Folks can sign up there. So it, this is a partnership

[5:50] with the Michigan Recycling Coalition.

[5:51] They're working with communities

[5:53] and organizations to train folks on kind of how to recycle,

[5:57] you know, recycling's, replete with confusion.

[6:01] It, it's a mess, right?

[6:03] You, so this course is kind

[6:04] of designed to cut through the noise.

[6:06] So it's modeled on the Master Gardener program.

[6:08] So it is a time commitment.

[6:11] It's six weeks long, two hours, but food will be

[6:14] provided, it'll be Tuesday evenings at the new CPE offices

[6:17] and then graduate from the course.

[6:19] You're considered a master recycler

[6:21] and be a, hopefully be a resource in the community

[6:24] to answer some questions and things like that.

[6:26] Talk with your neighbors. Those classes will start 8 25

[6:30] folks can scan that QR code

[6:31] to sign up Michigan Green Communities.

[6:35] So it's kind of this internal state

[6:39] municipality certification program.

[6:42] Kalamazoo certified Gold.

[6:43] Again, it doesn't mean there are no environmental problems

[6:45] in Kalamazoo, it just means

[6:47] that we're hitting benchmarks laid out by

[6:50] the Migrant Green Communities Coalition.

[6:54] Just submitted an Eagle infrastructure

[6:57] organic infrastructure grant, looking

[6:59] to expand the composting program with that money, working

[7:03] with the Audubon Society on Lights Out education

[7:06] and kind of awareness programs here in the falls.

[7:09] Birds start to migrate. And that's it.

[7:14] Happy to answer any questions on that

[7:16] or any other city sustainability

[7:18] topics. Go ahead.

[7:22] - Can I ask you, can I ask you about number six, the

[7:26] or Eagle Organics?

[7:28] How will you expand on that?

[7:30] I mean, I, I know they were in different neighborhoods,

[7:34] but are you expanding like to universities?

[7:36] Businesses?

[7:39] - No, not universities,

[7:42] but it'll be more neighborhoods, more bins

[7:44] in included in that.

[7:45] We asked for a hybrid pickup

[7:48] where we could do backdoor service if folks have mobility

[7:52] or transportation issues, you know, they could work with us.

[7:55] We could pick up their material and bring it to sites.

[7:59] Yes, looking at Metro store enclosures too.

[8:01] So metro stores, enclosures, are these kind

[8:06] of all self-contained compost

[8:10] and recycling pickup boxes?

[8:12] Right, so right now the codes

[8:13] and ordinances require dumpsters to be contained, right?

[8:17] So you have to have a fence around them.

[8:18] But folks can still get in the top.

[8:20] These Metro Store enclosure.

[8:21] Enclosures are a giant cube that sits on top of dumpsters

[8:24] and then residents for the multifamily unit where we plan

[8:28] to post these can use a key code or a QR code to get in.

[8:31] So it should cut down in contamination and and other issues.

[8:36] - Thank you, - Justin.

[8:40] One quick question on the Lights Out campaign.

[8:43] Do you have more information about the dates, when

[8:47] that is gonna be active

[8:49] and maybe times when you'd like people to leave lights off?

[8:54] - Yeah, Rachel had shared some, I'll leave it for Rachel,

[8:59] but yes, we have more information on that.

[9:00] We have a whole, yeah, a nice flyer

[9:03] that Audubon Society put together.

[9:05] We're looking at starting around September 1st.

[9:08] You know, I dunno if there'll be some events we're

[9:09] working on putting some events together.

[9:11] But yeah, Rachel has that PDF and we'll share more on that.

[9:15] - Excellent. Thank you. Any other questions for Justin

[9:20] before we go to public comments?

[9:29] - Alright, - Let's go to our first public

[9:34] comments of the evening.

[9:37] If you are looking to call in, we do have a number.

[9:41] I wanna read that and then we'll take comments from the

[9:44] audience and then see if there's calls.

[9:46] The phone number to call in

[9:47] to make a comment is

[9:49] 8 8 8 3 8 2 9 5 5 6.

[9:54] Again, that's

[9:55] 8 8 8 3 8 2 9 5 5 6.

[10:01] Justin, do you want to monitor

[10:04] that while we have people come up and talk?

[10:07] Okay. Do we have anybody in the audience who would like to

[10:11] give a three minutes comment?

[10:16] - Hello everybody? Yeah, you hear

[10:19] - Me?

[10:20] Not yet. He's got a

[10:28] - Testing.

[10:29] Yeah, there we go. Hi folks. I'm Iris Potter.

[10:36] I just wanted to ask Justin about number five on there, city

[10:39] of Kalamazoo awarded gold status

[10:41] by the Michigan Green Communities challenge.

[10:44] Wonder if you could talk a little bit about that.

[10:46] That would be really helpful.

[10:48] Other than that, thank you so much for all the work.

[10:51] Appreciate it.

[10:55] - We will come back to answering that

[10:58] after we go through other comments.

[11:00] Do we have another comment from the audience?

[11:08] - Hi. Oh, start. Okay.

[11:11] Hi, my name is Tom, I'm speaking.

[11:15] Hi, on behalf of Asylum Lake Preservation Association,

[11:18] where I serve as a board member, we're asking the city

[11:21] to create two new Zoning districts, a green space district

[11:24] and a conservation district,

[11:26] which is on your agenda tonight.

[11:29] As you know, Kalamazoo has no base Zoning category

[11:31] that reflects green or ecologically sensitive lands.

[11:35] The NFP helps, but as an overlay,

[11:37] it layers conditions on base zone

[11:39] that still permits development.

[11:41] Largely as the zone allows,

[11:44] a dedicated conservation district works differently.

[11:47] Some conservation Zoning still permits development,

[11:49] but at a radically lower density

[11:52] and with far stronger protections today,

[11:54] land like the asylum lake preserved corridor

[11:57] or Oakland Memorial Beach Park, sit in residential zones

[12:00] that don't match how the land actually functions.

[12:03] Dedicated districts also shift the burden of proof, meaning

[12:05] that a developer must justify departing from it

[12:09] rather than forcing residents

[12:10] to defend each parcel case by case.

[12:13] This is well-established practice, not a novel experiment.

[12:16] In a letter we've shared with you, we've listed just a few

[12:20] of these cities, counties,

[12:22] and townships that already do this.

[12:24] Places with dedicated conservation

[12:26] and natural resource districts and separate green space

[12:29] and recreation districts.

[12:31] Kalamazoo has neither today,

[12:34] and we could lead

[12:35] among Michigan cities in adopting them closer to home.

[12:38] Ann Arbor offers a different inspiring example.

[12:41] Their green belt program established in 2003

[12:44] and funded by a 30 year millage has preserved thousands

[12:46] of acres of open of farmland

[12:49] and open space around the city,

[12:51] supporting local agriculture, recreation, natural resources,

[12:56] and habitat protection.

[12:57] In 2004, the city added a blue belt

[13:00] boundary aimed specifically at protecting its

[13:02] drinking water resources.

[13:03] Though not a Zoning tool, it is worth studying

[13:06] as a land acquisition program.

[13:08] Program like this could pair well

[13:10] with green Zoning districts

[13:15] in time for Imagine Kalamazoo 2035.

[13:18] Our request to this committee is pretty concrete.

[13:21] First, encourage the city to draft both districts

[13:23] for the Zoning Ordinance.

[13:25] Second, have those designations reflected on the future land

[13:28] use map and third study,

[13:31] which parcels across the city would benefit

[13:34] and bring a draft framework back to the community.

[13:38] The full list of our requests is in the letter we've shared,

[13:41] which also outlines how these districts could apply

[13:44] to public land and

[13:45] how private owners could subsequently opt in.

[13:49] In closing, thank you for placing this issue on your agenda

[13:51] and making it a priority for the city.

[13:54] We look forward to continuing

[13:56] how your committee can continue to lead on this issue.

[13:58] Thanks.

[14:01] - Thank you. Do we have any

[14:04] other audience comments?

[14:09] Justin, do we have any

[14:11] callers then?

[14:15] Do you want to take just a a moment to

[14:18] address Iris's question before we move on?

[14:21] Oh, while you're, while you're doing that, just,

[14:23] so we've also had three emails since the last meeting.

[14:28] One person opposed to data centers, one person in favor

[14:32] of a deer call, and then a letter in support of

[14:38] Elpas proposal for the green Zoning.

[14:40] So we've got those three letters as well. Justin?

[15:14] - Yeah, so here it is.

[15:15] The, my green communities, it's municipalities, you know,

[15:19] Oakland County, Holland, Ann Arbor.

[15:22] We're all kind of together.

[15:23] This is kind of the, the trade group, I guess for

[15:28] Michigan sustainability professionals

[15:30] and municipal government.

[15:31] So here we are. It's not really loading well,

[15:34] but yeah, every year, you know, we report to them

[15:36] what we're working on and you get points for certain things.

[15:39] It's not different than like stars

[15:41] or ASI at the university level or anything like that.

[15:44] So, you know, every year I tell them that we completed our

[15:49] greenhouse gas plan.

[15:50] We have, you know, X, Y, and Z.

[15:51] We're doing staff, internal staff trainings.

[15:54] We have no idling policies. It's things like that.

[15:57] So every year I check those boxes and then we get certified.

[16:01] I think it starts at bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.

[16:05] There's two platinum communities.

[16:07] It's Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor. Yeah, this is it.

[16:11] This is the trade group. You know, this is where I kind of

[16:14] connect with folks who are doing this type of workforce,

[16:17] cities and local governments in Michigan.

[16:20] This is where we get our CLC fellow, I dunno if you

[16:23] I'll remember Atel.

[16:25] And then we just worked with another student, Tori.

[16:27] So they work on small projects through graduate students,

[16:30] generally from the University of Michigan

[16:32] that also worked on integrated pest management.

[16:34] And Tori put together a master environmentalist program.

[16:38] So that's my green communities.

[16:41] It's all in line if folks wanna explore it for further.

[16:46] - Yeah, I just, - I just pulled it up

[16:49] and you can go to Michigan Green Communities if you just put

[16:51] that in your search bar, you'll get all the information.

[16:55] Thank you. Okay, let's move

[17:00] on to our reports.

[17:03] I think we'll approach it a little bit differently this

[17:05] month because we're short staffed

[17:09] and we've been talking about how

[17:11] to do this a little bit more effectively.

[17:16] Rachel, you've got some reports for yous.

[17:21] Just a second. Do Kate, do you have anything? I don't. Okay.

[17:25] I'm not assigned. That's what I thought.

[17:27] John, do you have any updates on yours?

[17:31] - I got a little bit on, is that better? Yep.

[17:35] I've got just a little recap on the natural features.

[17:38] - Why don't you do that and then we'll go to Rachel's,

[17:42] - The Natural Features Protection Review Review Board.

[17:48] I think we discussed this in May.

[17:49] They did the approval of the Sport Youth Sports Complex.

[17:52] They did a phase two site plan review

[17:57] that was basically in regards to

[18:00] some declining ill health dead trees and some bat habitat.

[18:06] The Natural Features Protection Review approve that.

[18:10] So that project is moving forward in June,

[18:13] they discussed the phase one of the site plan for the mill

[18:17] and park improvements projects at 6 0 7 East Kilgore.

[18:22] I believe they approved that the July meeting was canceled

[18:27] and the August is scheduled for the 27th of this month.

[18:36] - Thank you. Any questions?

[18:41] Okay, Rachel.

[18:44] - Okay. I do not have any updates

[18:47] for the planning commission,

[18:49] but I have some updates for the Native Species

[18:51] and Urban Landscape subcommittee.

[18:55] First, we were talking about the lights out.

[18:58] I did send out A PDF Just

[19:02] before the meeting, so maybe you have that in your inbox.

[19:07] And there is a QR code on it

[19:09] that has information on a pledge where people can

[19:13] sign up, put in their information

[19:16] and pledge to do the lights out commitment.

[19:19] It is September 1st through October 31st from 11:00 PM

[19:24] to 6:00 AM And the suggested

[19:31] options to help migratory Bo birds are putting outdoor

[19:35] lights on timers in motion sensors, wherever possible

[19:39] down shield exterior safety light

[19:41] or limit lighting to ground level turn off

[19:44] or dim interior lights, especially on upper floors.

[19:48] Reduce lobby and atrium lighting where possible

[19:51] substitute task and area lighting or draw blind and shades

[19:55] after 11:00 PM and use warmer lighting, so yellow lights

[20:01] and lower wattage light bulbs.

[20:04] In addition, Gail is going to be hosting a window collision

[20:10] workshop at the New City facilities on cross

[20:16] crosstown Crosstown.

[20:17] Yep. And that should be, did you guys confirm

[20:22] that it'll be six 30

[20:25] on September 8th?

[20:28] September 8th. Thank you. I missed the date.

[20:32] And she'll be discussing how to monitor bird collisions

[20:36] and also mitigate bird collisions

[20:39] and also a demonstration of application of

[20:43] bird safe window techniques.

[20:49] - Rachel, real quick, who that event on, just repeat

[20:54] that, September 8th at six 30 at the city

[20:57] offices on Crosstown.

[20:58] Yes. Who is welcome to attend that.

[21:01] And does, is there any kind of advance registration

[21:04] or anything people need to take?

[21:07] - Not - That I'm open. You can phone a friend, Rachel.

[21:08] Yeah, we'll be sending out some social media.

[21:11] Everything's cutting in and out.

[21:12] Yeah, it'll be open to everyone.

[21:14] I haven't set a cap, you know,

[21:15] I doubt we'll hit the cap, but yeah.

[21:17] You know, we'll get folks down there.

[21:20] This is Gail's passion. I don't know if anyone knows Gail

[21:22] Walters, but yeah, she'll show you how

[21:24] to make your own Windows bird safe for cheap.

[21:28] You know, sometimes it's just like drawing on the windows.

[21:31] Sometimes you can put up netting and things like that.

[21:33] So yeah, there'll be registration.

[21:36] Folks can come down there at six 30

[21:38] and learn a little bit from Gail.

[21:41] - And so there will be solutions appropriate to homeowners,

[21:45] renters, business owners, institutions, all the above.

[21:49] - Anyone with a window, yeah.

[21:50] Could probably benefit from this. Yep. Yeah.

[21:52] So none of this is really permanent.

[21:53] So you know, students are there, they're renting an,

[21:55] renting a house or an apartment somewhere, assuming

[21:59] that your landlord doesn't have a problem

[22:02] with just the colors or whatever on the window.

[22:04] It can be all wiped off or washed off.

[22:06] It's, it's not about, you know, buying expressive equipment.

[22:09] It's about using what you have to kind

[22:11] of mitigate your impact on the natural world.

[22:13] - Thank you. And yeah, Gail Walters is,

[22:16] was a long time member of this committee is important

[22:20] with the Ottoman Society.

[22:21] She is one of the key figures in

[22:23] managing the Peregrine falcons in town.

[22:26] So she's does a lot. And this is a passion.

[22:29] She's very

[22:30] knowledgeable. Anything else, Rachel?

[22:36] - The only other thing we briefly discussed is that moving,

[22:40] looking into next year, that there will probably be,

[22:43] talk about updating city codes

[22:45] and ordinances on native lawns

[22:47] to combat just general overgrowth of lawns.

[22:52] But that's more to come next year.

[22:58] - That's a issue that I really hope that we can be

[23:03] significantly engaged in.

[23:05] Yeah. So it doesn't, you know, go in the wrong direction.

[23:09] Yeah. Any

[23:13] other thoughts or questions for Rachel

[23:17] or any of our other committees

[23:19] before we move to our unfinished business?

[23:25] Okay. We move kind of fast through our committees today

[23:27] because I want to make sure we have time to get into these.

[23:32] So I have on here our first item for unfinished business.

[23:36] It says, discuss subcommittee, working session, date,

[23:39] times, and location.

[23:43] I don't know if that's from last month.

[23:47] What is exactly do you mean there? Yeah, so

[23:49] - At May's meeting there was a motion

[23:52] to create a small subcommittee,

[23:54] or not a subcommittee, a special meeting that would meet

[23:57] outside of this meeting to discuss.

[24:00] John, you were leading that one.

[24:02] If you wanna elaborate

[24:03] or we could make a motion to swipe that motion. Yeah.

[24:06] - It was basically a follow up of your suggestion in regards

[24:10] to the restructuring of some of the reports

[24:13] and the committees that we're reporting on.

[24:16] And just getting the feel for what our members feel like

[24:20] so we can come to the table with

[24:23] some serious discussion instead

[24:25] of having a discussion about the discussion.

[24:28] - Yeah. And I saw you have some thoughts written up

[24:31] that you showed to me.

[24:34] Do you want to share those

[24:35] with the committee for consideration? Yeah, I, I,

[24:38] - I do, and you know, thi this is my opinion,

[24:43] my opinion only that we as a committee spend a lot

[24:47] of our time discussing

[24:48] and recommending the city commissioner's issues

[24:52] that are impacting and important to our community.

[24:56] But I feel sometimes that we're being a little bit

[24:59] reactive instead of proactive.

[25:02] And I think that we would be

[25:05] more effective being a little bit more proactive on things

[25:09] that are, that we're hearing from the community,

[25:11] that we're observing from the community, friends

[25:14] and family issues such as the, the deer issue,

[25:19] Kalamazoo County potentially overseeing the management

[25:22] of Asylum Lake Preserve,

[25:23] which we have discussed as a committee.

[25:26] Unfortunately, the City Commission has not addressed that

[25:29] yet, even though we did as a committee make a recommendation

[25:33] to the City Commission.

[25:35] I believe that sitting with the city manager right now,

[25:39] but nothing is being done.

[25:43] Green Zoning that we're talking about now

[25:45] and land use, I mean, our, our task is

[25:50] to monitor significant environmental trends

[25:54] affecting the city of Kalamazoo and advise the city manager

[25:58] and city commission regarding environmental matter matters.

[26:03] This committee also serves as a citizens forum

[26:06] for environ environmental issues.

[26:09] And it's my opinion that some of the reports are,

[26:12] like I've said, a little bit reactive instead

[26:17] of being proactive, we're kind of behind the,

[26:20] behind the curve on this

[26:21] and I think we'd be better served

[26:23] being in front of it a little bit.

[26:29] - Thoughts?

[26:33] - You said that very well.

[26:35] I had some of the same thoughts

[26:36] and wrote down proactive versus being reactive.

[26:41] Part of it is, and I'm new to this, so maybe I

[26:45] need more education on this,

[26:47] but I think that when we collect minutes from the other

[26:50] committees about all we can do is

[26:54] react to what they've done.

[26:55] And in some cases it might be too late.

[26:58] So for me, I look at this

[27:00] and I think, well, somewhere along the way there's goals

[27:03] and objectives for each committee

[27:06] that they possibly set each year.

[27:08] Maybe, maybe not, I don't know.

[27:10] I come from the academic viewpoint of prepping for

[27:14] what I want to accomplish

[27:15] and thinking what, what are we,

[27:19] what do we want to accomplish?

[27:20] What do we want to see happen in this community?

[27:23] And then, then there is that piece where we do have to react

[27:27] to things that come up.

[27:29] So I, I'm looking at how can we be

[27:34] more proactive and,

[27:36] and we really, the Environmental Concerns committee, the,

[27:40] all these other committees fall into this as well.

[27:45] And so we're playing catch up in some cases

[27:48] and I don't know, I don't know how we fix that.

[27:55] - Rachel, what are you thinking?

[28:00] - I don't think I have anything new to add at this time.

[28:02] I do agree with Katie that there is an element

[28:04] where we're always going to be reacting to something

[28:07] that comes up and meeting once a month that is going

[28:11] to happen in terms of

[28:16] actually working on narrowing down some of these committees

[28:21] or flushing them out a little bit.

[28:25] Yeah, I think we're kind of in a tight spot right now

[28:27] with only limited members.

[28:31] - Yeah. So let me think.

[28:36] There's a couple things that

[28:37] that I think are important context.

[28:40] If we look at the committees that we have,

[28:43] what those committees represent for the most part is

[28:48] an accretion of interests.

[28:51] You know, the history

[28:52] of the Environmental Concerns Committee over time,

[28:55] different interests that committee members have had

[28:58] and turned into projects.

[29:01] And those projects turned into subcommittees that,

[29:04] that the committee that we worked on.

[29:07] And those kind of just linger as long

[29:10] as they, as long as they can.

[29:12] So the, the, a lot of those, that's where they came from.

[29:17] The other thing I think that's important context is

[29:19] what is the purpose of the Environmental Concerns Committee?

[29:23] We heard a big part of that.

[29:24] The other part of it, which, which you didn't mention, John,

[29:29] is, and this I think goes to one

[29:32] of the fundamental problems that we face as a committee.

[29:36] One of the reasons I think that we have

[29:38] such a difficult time maintaining

[29:40] and attracting memberships is

[29:43] that the city does also have an obligation to work with us

[29:47] to discuss issues with us that are relevant

[29:52] to environmental concerns.

[29:54] And that is absolutely 100% ignored on every single

[29:58] environmental issue that comes before the City Commission.

[30:02] If the City Commission continues

[30:04] to treat us like we don't matter at all, it's going

[30:06] to be hard to get people to donate their time to come here

[30:11] and, you know, put in serious effort to try

[30:15] to make the city a better place.

[30:17] So I think that this goes two ways, John,

[30:20] Katie, everybody's right.

[30:21] We do need to focus in on what we can accomplish, listen

[30:25] to the citizens and try

[30:26] and bring those, those concerns to the city.

[30:30] But the city does need to bring us into the loop.

[30:33] As an example, the data center thing are,

[30:37] is anybody going to try to argue

[30:39] that data centers are not an environmental issue?

[30:42] There was not a single communication from the city

[30:45] to the Environmental Concerns Committee about data

[30:48] centers, not one.

[30:50] So if the city's gonna continue to sideline us

[30:53] and pretend that we don't exist, it's gonna be really hard

[30:55] to be an effective committee.

[30:57] So Commissioner has to please take

[31:00] that back to your colleagues.

[31:04] But, so yeah, let's move forward with what can,

[31:06] what we can do, and I think what we can do is,

[31:08] is what you captured.

[31:12] There are a few of the things on here where,

[31:16] where we're integrated

[31:17] and I think we should, we should make sure

[31:19] to prioritize keeping those.

[31:21] An example is like the tree committee.

[31:23] The tree committee is, is the one

[31:27] city committee on which the Environmental Concerns Committee

[31:30] has a, a voting chair.

[31:33] So we, we do need to make sure we have a member on

[31:36] that committee that attends all those meetings

[31:39] because we, we are integrated into that, that

[31:42] that decision making process.

[31:46] The other ones, you know, we can keep ones

[31:51] that we're going to work on.

[31:52] So like what Rachel's doing right now with the,

[31:56] with the native LA landscapes

[31:59] and with the birds, those are great projects

[32:03] and we should continue to be pushing those forward,

[32:05] particularly because we have somebody on the committee

[32:07] who can spearhead those.

[32:09] So I, I think that's a good thing to keep.

[32:13] Then the other things that we're taught,

[32:15] we'll be talking about the stadium

[32:17] lighting, the green Zoning.

[32:20] Those I think could represent project specific tasks.

[32:26] So instead of trying to create a permanent committee

[32:29] that will exist for months or years

[32:34] or we do what we need to, to come up

[32:37] with a recommendation on those issues and then present it.

[32:42] - Yes. I,

[32:46] I, I, I totally agree.

[32:47] I think that that's, we have to be flexible on that.

[32:49] And I think we're somewhat pigeon

[32:52] streamlined on these reports.

[32:57] - I concur. Maybe one

[33:01] of the things we can make a point of doing

[33:04] each month is when we get to the New Business,

[33:08] we can take a moment for all the commissioners to go around

[33:11] and say, what are things that you have heard

[33:13] that the com from the, from the community that the,

[33:18] the ECC should start to think about and potentially address.

[33:30] - Yep. - So for the,

[33:35] the, the only thing that makes me nervous about this

[33:41] is because if we look at, at city committees such as the,

[33:47] the National Features Protection Review Board

[33:51] and Parks and Rec to some degree, but,

[33:55] but more so the Natural Features

[33:58] and Planning Commission, those two committees

[34:03] make a lot of important decisions very early in the

[34:07] process of issues.

[34:10] And it really probably makes sense for us

[34:15] to at least monitor what is happening there.

[34:22] - And I, I'd like to add that the city, again, just

[34:27] for on the record, that the city commission, you know,

[34:30] factors into what, what we have to suggest and, and,

[34:35] and take action on that.

[34:37] And that's part of my frustration is, you know,

[34:40] sometimes I feel complete inaction, particularly with our

[34:44] statements that we've made where nothing seems to happen.

[34:49] And that's very frustrating.

[34:51] It's very frustrating from our standpoint.

[34:53] And it's particularly frustrating from the community

[34:56] standpoint because it's like they're almost a,

[35:01] a sense of helplessness or it doesn't really matter

[35:04] or they're not interested, which I think will,

[35:08] will go back into green Zoning is

[35:14] like, it's not important,

[35:15] but yet if you look at the city's website,

[35:21] the environment is stressed over and over and over again.

[35:24] It's, it's, it's part of the goals.

[35:27] We, we've got eight IK 2035 coming up

[35:30] and it's one of the main points.

[35:33] But yet is that just talk in words

[35:39] or is it actually action as well?

[35:42] And I have a sense that it's more just words as I like

[35:47] to say, greenwashing more than actually taking action on.

[35:57] - So what I, I agree a hundred percent

[36:02] what I think could work.

[36:04] And so I'm going to see how we, we feel about this.

[36:10] Rachel, you're currently monitoring the planning commission?

[36:13] Correct. Okay. John,

[36:17] you're currently monitoring the NFP board, correct?

[36:21] - Yeah. And Parks and - Rocks. And Parks and Rec, right.

[36:29] Kate, do you have an interest in

[36:34] helping with being on the tree committee?

[36:37] - Yep, I can do that. I can fill in, when I look at this,

[36:40] I kind of break it down into groups like one

[36:43] and four go together, 11, 5, 3

[36:46] and six go together, two, 10 and nine.

[36:52] And I may have missed one somewhere in there,

[36:54] but I'm grouping them together in categories of

[36:58] what really fits and aligns with each other.

[37:02] And, and that's how kind of they,

[37:05] they fit when issues come up

[37:07] and they should have communication between them.

[37:11] So if we can look at 'em from that perspective

[37:15] and then I'm, I'm willing to, I'm willing to work

[37:18] with the whatever assignment I need, you need me to do

[37:22] because I'll just learn about it and deal with it.

[37:25] So I'm pretty open and flexible to doing that.

[37:29] But that's how I kind of broke 'em down

[37:31] and looked at it is how do these go together?

[37:35] So is that of any help

[37:38] - That is helpful, but I think we can,

[37:40] we can cut even further to see, to see how it works.

[37:45] Okay. So if we did, John stays

[37:49] with NFP

[37:51] and where did Clark Parks and Rec?

[37:56] Kate, you will grab the tree committee.

[38:02] Rachel will stay with planning

[38:05] and whatever you want to name your other group.

[38:08] 'cause you, you can keep it native species and,

[38:11] or you can call it whatever you want.

[38:15] And then I'll just serve as chair for the time being.

[38:22] And then beyond that

[38:25] we'll work on issues as we can create projects

[38:29] to, to investigate.

[38:36] That's a pretty big cutting back on things. Is that

[38:40] - Five and seven, - Is Rita also

[38:45] on a air and quality?

[38:47] Which one is, has she typically been

[38:50] - Her Her report is air quality. Okay.

[38:55] - But that's not a, that's just her giving reports.

[38:59] - Right. And that goes back to what John was talking about.

[39:02] If air quality is definitely an issue in Kalamazoo

[39:06] and we need to be aware of it,

[39:09] but if what we would be looking at is

[39:13] how can we find an actual recommendation?

[39:17] What is an issue we can approach and come up with a solution

[39:21] and a recommendation rather than just reporting on what the,

[39:24] the air quality is.

[39:27] - Right. So is the odor task force still

[39:32] - Operational?

[39:33] The odor operational?

[39:34] - No. 'cause that fits with it.

[39:36] And that's where I would think

[39:37] that would be coming from. But is that

[39:39] - There's a, there's a long history that Okay.

[39:41] That I won't completely dig into here,

[39:43] but I've kept that on there really just as a,

[39:47] as a kind of a sore thumb.

[39:49] Okay. Because it has not met in years,

[39:52] even though it was never officially disbanded.

[39:55] - I did look for it and yeah. Okay.

[40:00] - So if, if we're all in agreement,

[40:03] I'm just gonna go through that again.

[40:05] So, so Justin can note it though, it will be in the,

[40:07] the minutes we'll have the NFP

[40:12] and the Parks and Rec with John.

[40:17] We'll have the planning commission

[40:19] and native species, urban landscape with Rachel,

[40:23] with the tree committee, with Kate.

[40:26] And then I'll just, my service will be the chair

[40:29] of the, of this committee.

[40:31] And then when Rita comes in, we'll we will see

[40:34] how she feels about that.

[40:35] And the same with Luke. But beyond those core

[40:40] tasks, we'll be trying to be more project based.

[40:46] - Okay. - If that sounds good.

[40:50] I suppose it would probably require a,

[40:53] a motion to that effect.

[40:54] And then a second and a vote.

[40:57] - Okay. So moved that we divide

[41:02] the responsibilities for the various committees

[41:07] and boards as outlined

[41:11] by our chair Mr.

[41:13] Beak. Okay. Is that good

[41:15] - Enough?

[41:16] That's excellent. I support

[41:17] - Second.

[41:19] - So following Robert's rules, any discussion of the motion?

[41:25] All in favor?

[41:28] - Aye. - Aye. Any opposed?

[41:32] All right Justin. We'll have a change to the agenda

[41:34] for starting with next month.

[41:36] - Alright. And then just so there is

[41:38] that motion floating out there,

[41:39] we are not gonna create a separate meeting of this group,

[41:42] so we motion to rescind that?

[41:44] - Yeah, that's mooted at this point. Okay.

[41:49] So then the next thing we'll move to, we've got two

[41:54] more project task items here.

[41:57] We've got discussion of green Zoning

[41:59] and then discussion of stadium lights.

[42:02] John, these are both items that you're leading.

[42:04] So would you like to start with the green Zoning?

[42:07] - Sure. First of all, I want support

[42:10] and applaud alpha statement supporting the green space

[42:13] and conservation Zoning districts.

[42:15] I think it was very well written

[42:17] and thank you for that input.

[42:20] And I see no reason why the city cannot develop

[42:23] this classification.

[42:25] The implementation of green space

[42:28] and conservation Zoning districts is in alignment

[42:32] with the city's stated goals

[42:34] found in the sustainability plan

[42:37] and the climate action plan.

[42:39] Both of those emphasize the urgency of taking steps

[42:44] to protect our environment and act responsibility.

[42:49] Even on the Kalamazoo City website, it, it says it is urgent

[42:54] that we take steps to protect our environment

[42:57] and to act responsibly

[42:59] to reduce our impact on climate change.

[43:02] The community recognized this by identifying

[43:05] environmental responsibility as a goal during the cal,

[43:11] during the Imagine Kalamazoo visioning process

[43:14] and through the declaration of a climate emergency

[43:17] by the City commission.

[43:19] Kalamazoo does have programs in place

[43:22] to protect our natural, our local natural

[43:26] resources and works.

[43:27] And we're exploring new programs

[43:30] to make essential public services more sustainable

[43:34] through these programs.

[43:36] Our city government

[43:38] and I'm I'm quoting from the government,

[43:40] from the city website,

[43:42] our city government can help contribute to the culture

[43:46] of environmental stewardship.

[43:48] That is a vital part of our community.

[43:51] And one of the guiding principles of IK 2035

[43:56] is sustainability, which is the support,

[43:59] the long-term health

[44:01] and resiliency of community and environment.

[44:06] And if anybody looks up what sustainability is,

[44:09] there's three parts of sustainability.

[44:12] I think one, we're doing a great job as a city, as part

[44:16] of the silo, but I think we're missing the other portion of

[44:20] that silo, which is our natural environment.

[44:24] And the three main parts are the environment,

[44:26] which is protecting nature, cutting waste,

[44:29] and using clean energy society, treating all people fairly

[44:34] and supporting strong communities.

[44:36] And then it says the economy, growing wealth in a smart way

[44:41] that does not use up all the resources and why it matters.

[44:46] It saves natural habitats, stops climate change,

[44:50] keeps water, air, and food safe for everyone

[44:54] and helps businesses last longer, but not wasting materials.

[44:59] And in the simplest terms,

[45:01] sustainability is about our children

[45:04] and our grandchildren and the world.

[45:06] We will live them, leave them.

[45:08] And I don't think there's anybody that can say that.

[45:11] Protecting our natural spaces, increasing biodiversity

[45:16] and saving these areas that are not developed

[45:19] is not a very proactive step in better health,

[45:25] better opportunity for people.

[45:29] That's my green space.

[45:33] - So I have a motion I'd like to make

[45:36] and then perhaps we can open it to discussion.

[45:40] I'd like to move to ask the city commission

[45:41] to direct the Kalamazoo planning

[45:43] and Zoning to establish green space

[45:46] and conservation Zoning districts in the city of Kalamazoo

[45:52] in their Zoning ordinances within the next six months.

[46:00] - We have a motion. Do we have a second?

[46:07] - I I support that

[46:10] - We have a properly made and seconded motion.

[46:13] Do we have discussion?

[46:20] - I think my only hesitancy is

[46:24] I do agree with putting a, a timeframe on it

[46:28] is six months realistic

[46:35] as

[46:36] - I I'm I can, I'm willing to amend it

[46:40] because I do, I understand that.

[46:43] And

[46:44] - How about with an update on progress in six months?

[46:49] - Yes. I can amend that

[46:50] to an update on progress within six months.

[46:56] - What I, I'm so I'm, I think this is a great idea.

[47:04] L let's think about this, this

[47:08] very carefully drafted letter that we, we have from Alpha.

[47:14] I think that letter covers

[47:18] the issue very well.

[47:19] Lays out the argument, proposes the two types of,

[47:24] of additional Zoning.

[47:28] I I think that we could

[47:34] send that letter with, with our support

[47:38] as a recommendation

[47:40] to the city. I agree with that.

[47:46] - I I agree. I I actually think that, you know,

[47:50] in the past we've, the question has been raised well

[47:53] what is green space?

[47:54] And I did try to do a lot of research and,

[47:57] and look at what other cities are doing

[48:00] and pull that all together.

[48:01] And, and I think this has done it nicely.

[48:04] I think it gives you some links to look at

[48:07] what other cities do,

[48:08] but it also gives definition to the two categories.

[48:14] If I had any reservations at all, it's, it's in the use

[48:17] of the term conservation Zoning district because of, just

[48:20] because of the conservation district that exists exist

[48:26] and show making sure that we can define those two.

[48:30] But I think the terminology is less important than

[48:36] the concept of moving forward to

[48:41] identify these different Zoning areas that,

[48:46] that I do believe the residents

[48:47] of Kalamazoo have spoken on at various, you know, planning

[48:51] for the future in Kalamazoo.

[48:53] I, I see the green tags on little stickies.

[48:56] Green zone, green zone, green zone.

[48:59] And here we're giving definition

[49:02] and a process to it.

[49:05] And so I think this is our first step in saying to the city,

[49:10] we're coming to you with something definite

[49:13] that we need you to do.

[49:15] And we hope to hear back from you very soon.

[49:23] - I, I would support that.

[49:25] So I think based, based on the motion

[49:29] and the discussion, we could send this document to the city

[49:33] with our recommendation that we would like

[49:35] to see the city act on this

[49:37] and report back to us within six months.

[49:39] Yes, that's sounds like the motion. Yeah, I support that.

[49:44] Yeah, I support. So all in favor of that motion?

[49:49] - Aye. - Okay.

[49:51] Justin, do you need me to write something up for you

[49:54] so you can do that or is that clear enough?

[49:57] - No, I can handle that and I'll send it

[49:59] to you all again just to confirm

[50:01] before it goes to the clerk.

[50:03] - And just to clarify, 'cause we had this with one

[50:05] of our previous motions, Justin will send it to us

[50:08] and we will, we will have what, 48 hours after you send it?

[50:15] - Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll say 48 hours in writing here.

[50:19] - Okay. So if you have any, any changes

[50:22] or edits to what Justin sends to us, please respond

[50:26] to let him know and, and within 48 other 48 hours.

[50:28] Otherwise he'll send it as is. Sound good? Yes.

[50:33] Then the next, I'm happy to see

[50:36] that we are able to move that forward.

[50:37] Good work John, everybody

[50:40] and thank you for Alpa for pushing that forward.

[50:45] Then the next issue on our unfinished business is

[50:49] the stadium lights.

[50:57] - I'll go ahead and take the lead on that.

[51:01] Western Michigan University has proposed,

[51:03] I don't know if they've actually begun the installation of

[51:10] installing stadium lights at the western Michigan Stadium

[51:15] soccer area, which is located on Parkview Avenue,

[51:20] basically behind the Gibbs Gibbs house,

[51:22] somewhere in that area.

[51:27] And part of the response that the community has had,

[51:31] and I think we as a committee have is how will the lighting

[51:36] affect the quality of the environment, particularly

[51:41] as it relates to the asylum lake preserve

[51:45] and the surrounding neighborhood.

[51:49] I don't know, I don't even know what the status of, of

[51:53] that progress is.

[51:55] I mean, I could go through and read some emails.

[51:58] David, would you like me to?

[52:01] - That's the, the one thing I have as a,

[52:05] as a concern as we we push this forward is

[52:09] the recognition that that universities essentially operate

[52:14] as their own fiefdoms.

[52:16] And so the city has almost no control over

[52:19] what Western does.

[52:21] So we can request that the city request Western

[52:25] to do things, but the city, even if they wanted to,

[52:29] can't really force Western to do anything.

[52:33] So just, just wanted to put that out there so we're aware

[52:36] of the context.

[52:38] But yeah, catch us up on the, on the key elements

[52:42] of this discussion that you've been having.

[52:46] - Basically the key elements are that they had a study,

[52:50] a light study done by a light engineering firm

[52:54] that has claimed that there will not be any impact

[52:58] on the adjoining neighborhoods and

[53:01] nor will it have any direct impact on

[53:05] the asylum lake preserve, particularly as it relates to

[53:10] our, you know, our, our our native fronts, the birds,

[53:13] the animals and stuff like that.

[53:14] Because there has been concern

[53:16] and studies on the impact of light on

[53:20] how it affects migration

[53:22] and other, you know, habits of our wildlife.

[53:26] And they are claiming that it will not.

[53:30] And there has been some debate on that.

[53:34] And they're also claiming that it would be from,

[53:38] they say the games would start between five

[53:40] and seven, typically end around 10 o'clock.

[53:44] So not only would it be the light noise,

[53:48] the light pollution, there also be some

[53:51] potential noise pollution with the stadium speakers

[53:56] and additional car traffic that, that sort of stuff.

[54:04] - And yeah, I looked through those emails

[54:08] and unfortunately Western basically said we make enough

[54:11] money for the city, so you should just accept it.

[54:16] Which it's not,

[54:20] not in that, that's, as you mentioned

[54:22] before, talking sustainability, that economy is one leg on

[54:27] that stool of sustainability,

[54:29] but it's only one leg on that stool.

[54:36] - Yeah, that's, that's what they're saying.

[54:38] - Okay. So I, I can appreciate that, I can appreciate

[54:43] what they're saying.

[54:45] Having worked with universities for a long time.

[54:48] But I also know that living close to this area

[54:56] and talking with various people who study birds

[55:00] and, and the light effect and all of that

[55:04] and all kinds of biological things.

[55:07] I think that one thing we can do and

[55:10] and should do perhaps is send a letter

[55:16] of our concerns to the trustees

[55:21] of Western Michigan just to let them know.

[55:26] I think that it, sometimes communication doesn't always go

[55:31] to the right people or doesn't always get

[55:34] where it needs to go.

[55:36] And in this case, I, I do think just a simple letter

[55:39] of outlining what our concerns are

[55:44] from an environmental standpoint, recognizing

[55:48] that we have no authority is one step

[55:53] to having a working relationship with the university.

[55:57] 'cause if we don't share our concerns, they don't have

[56:01] any reason to change anything.

[56:04] But if we share our concerns and go to a trustee meeting

[56:07] and share them, then sometimes we have

[56:12] expressed our value in a new way to them.

[56:18] - I like the idea, but

[56:19] before we go any further with it, I want to ask Justin,

[56:23] I'm sure you don't know the answer to this,

[56:25] so it might be something that that'd be really useful

[56:27] if you could follow up.

[56:33] Do we, as the environmental concerns committee have the,

[56:40] don't wanna say authority

[56:42] 'cause we don't have any authority.

[56:44] Are are we empowered to send a letter

[56:47] as the Environmental Concerns Committee to an

[56:50] outside entity such as Western?

[56:55] - Yeah, it's a good question. I will follow up on that.

[56:57] Also, looking at western's trustee meetings.

[57:01] I mean, there are also general public comments

[57:04] that are taken in person at those meetings,

[57:06] but I'll check on the letter

[57:08] and you know, I guess that's always a second

[57:09] option going in person

[57:12] - Because I, I like the way you approach it

[57:16] because in, in John's emails that I was reading, yeah,

[57:20] there was a lot of correspondence.

[57:22] So there's correspondences happening,

[57:25] but how do we create a potentially systemic reform?

[57:32] Could we, what you're suggesting is good,

[57:35] but could we use this as a way to say

[57:39] the Environmental Concerns Committee stands ready

[57:43] and eager to coordinate

[57:45] and assist Western in addressing

[57:48] its environmental impact on the city.

[57:51] - Yes. I think that is well said.

[57:56] - So not just asking 'em to do something,

[57:57] but offering our help and cooperation.

[57:59] - Right. And I think going to these meetings has value.

[58:03] I just know from my own personal experience,

[58:06] being there in person and saying it

[58:08] and looking at people face to face makes a difference just

[58:12] as it does in the city or the county

[58:14] or anywhere that we can, we, we can relay

[58:20] there's both concerns, but there's, there's awareness.

[58:23] I mean, they are the, the university,

[58:27] Kalamazoo College, they're all a part of who we are

[58:31] and what we are in this community

[58:33] and we have to live together and we have to work together.

[58:36] So I just always wanna find a way to make that

[58:41] and to personalize it.

[58:46] - I'll go to re a second Rachel,

[58:47] but just kind of following up.

[58:49] I do think there's a very low chance of success.

[58:54] Yeah. But it's, it's an avenue that needs to be explored.

[58:59] But I think there is some chance of success

[59:01] because I believe western's new administration is

[59:06] interested in having a positive community impact

[59:11] much more so than previous administrations.

[59:14] So I I think this

[59:16] is at least worth attempting, Rachel.

[59:22] - Yeah, I mean, I agree with everything that's been said.

[59:24] I like the idea of if we are able to just sending over

[59:29] a letter of our thoughts.

[59:32] So yeah, I think the next step would just be finding out if

[59:34] that's something that we are, like you

[59:35] said, empowered to do.

[59:39] - Okay. - To facilitate this in

[59:44] a way that moves faster

[59:48] rather than more slowly.

[59:51] John, you've been at the front of this

[59:55] and you have more knowledge on this

[59:58] issue than any of the rest of us.

[1:00:00] Are you willing to draft a first make to make a first draft

[1:00:05] of this letter and share it with the committee

[1:00:08] for, for some feedback?

[1:00:11] - Yeah, I'd be willing to, to do that.

[1:00:13] I'd like to ask for Katie's.

[1:00:16] - Yeah. Yeah. - I I do have some other emails

[1:00:20] that I did not print out.

[1:00:22] So I can,

[1:00:24] - And we won't send it until we get the, the go ahead

[1:00:27] and even if we, if we get the feedback

[1:00:30] that it's not appropriate for the ECC to do that,

[1:00:33] we can send the letter as individuals.

[1:00:35] But you know, I, I do think there's, there's some

[1:00:41] value to saying that it comes from

[1:00:42] the Environmental Concerns Committee.

[1:00:47] Okay. I think that's a good place to, to take

[1:00:51] unless somebody else has something more on that issue.

[1:00:59] Excellent. We are productive today. Alright.

[1:01:02] We have two items on our

[1:01:07] New Business and we will see

[1:01:12] how we want to move forward with those.

[1:01:14] We'll do this New Business two items and then

[1:01:17] after that we'll come back to public comments.

[1:01:20] So if you're listening or watching

[1:01:22] and want to make a comment,

[1:01:24] we will have time for that shortly.

[1:01:27] Okay. So the, the two issues are urban deer complaints

[1:01:31] and data center moratorium.

[1:01:34] We can start with the Urban Deer complaints.

[1:01:38] I have some thoughts on that,

[1:01:39] but let's see what other people think first.

[1:01:43] - Okay. I'm not very shy.

[1:01:47] So as long as I've lived in Kalamazoo,

[1:01:50] which is not quite 10 years, the the deer has been an issue.

[1:01:54] And, and recently I was at an award ceremony

[1:01:57] where we gave a neighborhood award to somebody

[1:01:59] who served on a deer committee

[1:02:00] and somebody yelled out, how'd

[1:02:02] that work, how did that work out?

[1:02:04] And they said, great for the deer. That was the response.

[1:02:07] But here's the thing, I, I don't wanna reinvent the wheel.

[1:02:12] I don't want another ad hoc committee or a study group.

[1:02:16] Here's what I do think is, is is something that we could do,

[1:02:21] which I think is more proactive than reactive.

[1:02:24] But, so first of all, I,

[1:02:27] I have some connections at at Western in the biology

[1:02:31] department and I learned

[1:02:32] that there was a student wanting to study the deer.

[1:02:34] And I said, they've been studied and studied and studied.

[1:02:37] How about you compile the studies?

[1:02:40] So I, I don't know if that went anywhere,

[1:02:42] but my suggestion was they call Justin.

[1:02:47] And here's what I do think, I think that what we need

[1:02:51] to do is compile what's been done

[1:02:55] and who's been everything from the conservation district to

[1:03:00] what their recommendations are, to put all of that together

[1:03:05] and then for us to take a look at where we can go with that.

[1:03:10] Because there have been a lot of different studies

[1:03:14] and we all know what, what the different options are.

[1:03:18] And it is a very difficult, I I think probably it's one

[1:03:21] of the most divisive things we could talk about almost

[1:03:25] despite many other pressing issues.

[1:03:27] It is divisive, but along those same fields, it came

[1:03:31] to my attention that I know Western has at least two

[1:03:35] internships through their biology department.

[1:03:38] We're interns, and I know you have interns already probably,

[1:03:42] but I'd like to see us strengthen our relationship

[1:03:45] with the university

[1:03:46] and utilize those interns for projects like this

[1:03:48] where things could be compiled and,

[1:03:51] and not have to go to a different committee.

[1:03:55] But it's a good thing for a student to do.

[1:04:01] So my re my recommendation is, is that we

[1:04:05] see if Western or Kalamazoo community,

[1:04:09] I'm gonna get it wrong, community college, have someone

[1:04:14] that wants to work specific to this compiling things.

[1:04:19] Just give us a sense of direction from there.

[1:04:23] And I even think that it's, I know that

[1:04:26] for their internships they get credits.

[1:04:30] I can't, all I can do is suggest

[1:04:33] that the city offer a stipend.

[1:04:35] Do they do any stipends now or is it all unpaid?

[1:04:39] Do you know?

[1:04:41] - Yeah, so I mean, nothing

[1:04:43] that you said was wrong necessarily,

[1:04:44] but Chris Broadband tonight bring on six

[1:04:48] or seven interns a year from Western.

[1:04:49] So I don't want people, people to think

[1:04:51] - Right. Students

[1:04:52] - And we're not - Working with

[1:04:57] - The university and have a good relationship.

[1:04:58] Yes. So we've been bringing on students

[1:05:00] through the Broncos lead program,

[1:05:02] which is a program at Western that pays students

[1:05:04] to in intern with universities.

[1:05:07] I can't say that I don't have a budget.

[1:05:12] Occasionally there'll be money. We had the past, the,

[1:05:15] my Healthy Climate Core people who were paid.

[1:05:17] So yes, I cannot guarantee any student any

[1:05:20] money to intern with me.

[1:05:21] But I have worked with a lot of students from Western

[1:05:25] and are always happy to take on more.

[1:05:27] - Okay. Yeah, I I knew they probably had quite a few

[1:05:32] and that was my recommendation was they call you.

[1:05:34] But I really think that this is something we should just

[1:05:39] get it together and then make a

[1:05:40] recommendation and it's gonna be painful.

[1:05:46] - Did we, didn't we have someone from DNR come in to speak

[1:05:48] to us on this issue?

[1:05:51] - We can. We, we did like,

[1:05:56] well, I don't want to change the tone of debate until, John,

[1:05:59] do you want to jump in?

[1:06:02] Do you want to, before I go,

[1:06:06] - The only thing that I can add to that is, you know,

[1:06:09] I'm big on connecting the dots

[1:06:11] and I think this deer issue is absolutely related

[1:06:16] to the green Zoning issue and green space issue.

[1:06:19] If we look at why we have, well, part

[1:06:23] of the reason why we have a deer issue is

[1:06:25] because we're losing more and more of their habitat.

[1:06:27] And so they're, they're migrating into residential areas.

[1:06:32] So I think these, all of these issues are connected

[1:06:36] and I think we do need to do a little bit more study.

[1:06:39] And it is an absolutely complicated polarizing issue.

[1:06:44] - Yeah. There's studies and there's studies, right?

[1:06:50] The study that the city cooperated on a few years

[1:06:55] ago is an example.

[1:06:57] That study was done by somebody who was very openly looking

[1:07:02] for a way to justify a call.

[1:07:05] I mean, there, there, there's, that's what

[1:07:07] that study was designed to do, was

[1:07:09] to justify having a deer call the DNR.

[1:07:14] The DNR gets funding from hunting licenses. Yeah.

[1:07:17] So yeah, we can have studies,

[1:07:22] but that doesn't necessarily mean that that's the solution.

[1:07:28] John hit on the point.

[1:07:30] I mean, I am not in favor

[1:07:33] of chasing our tails, going

[1:07:35] after bandaid solutions when a

[1:07:37] systemic solution is what's necessary.

[1:07:41] You cannot kill your way to deer management.

[1:07:45] It's not possible.

[1:07:47] Every community that advertises the success

[1:07:50] of their deer management program, which is euphemism

[1:07:54] for deer killing programs, they're temporary.

[1:07:58] They, they create a smaller number of deer

[1:08:03] for a year or two, and then the deer come right back.

[1:08:06] You kill the deer, the deer come back, you kill the deer,

[1:08:08] the deer come back and it's, it's just a treadmill.

[1:08:11] It's not gonna change. Yeah.

[1:08:13] Killing deer is not going to reduce the number

[1:08:16] for more than a couple years.

[1:08:21] Habitat is needed, you know, as we continue to

[1:08:25] encourage the destruction

[1:08:27] of all the green space in the city,

[1:08:30] the deer have to go somewhere.

[1:08:32] Where is the biggest pressure that,

[1:08:34] where are the complaints about deer coming from?

[1:08:36] Almost exclusively, they're coming from Oakland windchill,

[1:08:41] Oakwood, the neighborhoods surrounding the few remaining

[1:08:45] islands of green space in the city.

[1:08:48] That's very clear.

[1:08:49] And then, you know, you got some on the edges of v

[1:08:52] and some of the edges of West Maine,

[1:08:54] but they're places where our, they're, they're corridors.

[1:08:59] What's not being promoted is exclusion,

[1:09:04] you know, putting fences

[1:09:05] around things you don't want their deer to eat that works.

[1:09:10] There are also non-toxic,

[1:09:15] non-chemical sprays that you can use.

[1:09:19] We actually use some to protect some trees

[1:09:21] that turned out to be really effective.

[1:09:23] It's called deer repel. It stinks.

[1:09:26] The, the active ingredient is

[1:09:30] putrid egg salads is what it's called.

[1:09:33] And smell and garlic. Yeah. Yep.

[1:09:35] And it smells, it's that sulfur smell that it,

[1:09:38] that makes it so effective.

[1:09:41] So I think before we have any dis

[1:09:44] before I would support any discussion

[1:09:47] of a call and just one vote.

[1:09:49] I mean, we could do whatever we want as a committee, but

[1:09:51] before I would support any discussion of a call, there needs

[1:09:54] to be a program designed to

[1:10:00] help homeowners protect their, their property

[1:10:04] that they want protected with fencing

[1:10:06] and other types of, of repellent

[1:10:09] and behavior alteration rather than

[1:10:11] immediately going to killing.

[1:10:15] So I, I, yeah, I, I'm open to having the discussion,

[1:10:18] but I think that we need to put more

[1:10:22] solutions on the table than just a coal.

[1:10:28] - I would agree with that. I was, I was in the

[1:10:33] landscaping industry for almost 50 years

[1:10:36] and there's a lot of educational opportunity there

[1:10:41] and there's a lot of, not a lot,

[1:10:43] but there are some very effective products that help deter

[1:10:49] the deer from eating things.

[1:10:50] There's different types of plants that can be planted.

[1:10:54] You know, there's a big movement towards native species.

[1:10:56] Unfortunately, sometimes the native species are

[1:10:59] deer magnets.

[1:11:01] So I think a lot of it boils, does boil down to education

[1:11:06] and, and having a,

[1:11:10] a commitment from all parties involved instead

[1:11:12] of just, let's kill him.

[1:11:14] Because I don't think that's a viable alternative.

[1:11:18] - It, it's, you know, it's,

[1:11:20] it would create some temporary relief,

[1:11:23] but it's not gonna fix the problem.

[1:11:25] - No.

[1:11:31] - So I respect that view.

[1:11:35] I use all those products.

[1:11:37] I have nearly an acre of, of property

[1:11:41] and I do the native planting,

[1:11:43] and I do almost every plant that the deer can't eat

[1:11:46] or shouldn't eat or wouldn't want to eat.

[1:11:49] But I can tell you I've had up to 17 deer in my backyard,

[1:11:53] even after I spray my deer out.

[1:11:56] And I, I think that, I think that there have, there's,

[1:11:59] there's a variety of ways to approach it.

[1:12:02] And I can tell you if I had to fence in my yard,

[1:12:03] it would be thousands of dollars.

[1:12:07] And if that's what I would have to do, I'm,

[1:12:09] I would maybe have to do that.

[1:12:11] But I've chosen to just, my yard happens to be one

[1:12:16] of the pass throughs between asylum and Kline stock.

[1:12:20] But at the same time, I, I, I hear

[1:12:22] what people are saying in the community

[1:12:24] and I think that we, we,

[1:12:26] when we put the burden back on them, as the guy

[1:12:29] who won the award said it was great for the deer.

[1:12:32] But I think we have to be willing to look at

[1:12:36] not necessarily what DNR says.

[1:12:38] I mean, I would like to hear from other biologists

[1:12:41] and people in the field who have done this

[1:12:43] and find out what other cities have done

[1:12:45] because I, I did come from a city where they did a coal

[1:12:49] and that, and it was effective.

[1:12:51] I lived out in a rural area for over 30 years.

[1:12:53] I've had more deer since I've lived here in 10 years than

[1:12:56] what I ever had out next to a farm

[1:12:59] and a lake in over 30 years.

[1:13:05] So I, I hear what people are saying,

[1:13:07] and I think they're saying that this isn't working

[1:13:10] unless the city wants to start paying to put fences

[1:13:14] around everybody's yard.

[1:13:16] So I, I think there's two sides to it.

[1:13:18] And I, what I'm looking for is some

[1:13:21] of the more hardcore science that says

[1:13:24] this is what is effective.

[1:13:26] Because I know that we talk about castration

[1:13:29] and other people say, no, that that's not effective.

[1:13:32] And some people will say, well, yes it is.

[1:13:35] But I'm looking to the science

[1:13:37] to say, here's what we can do.

[1:13:39] And that's why I recommended a student that's kind

[1:13:42] of a third party pull together what we have done

[1:13:47] and suggested and, you know,

[1:13:51] what is the deer population in the city

[1:13:54] and where are the problem areas?

[1:13:56] So that was kind of my thought is

[1:13:59] let's pull together the information.

[1:14:02] What is the deer population?

[1:14:04] And we know sometimes, you know, with various diseases,

[1:14:08] it's kind of taking care of its own.

[1:14:12] But I, I think we have to have a foundation of

[1:14:15] where we're at before we make a recommendation to the city

[1:14:20] or any further.

[1:14:23] So is it feasible to have a student work on

[1:14:28] compiling this information for us, do you think?

[1:14:33] - Yeah, so I spent too much time in school myself.

[1:14:37] When you say this information, I need specifics.

[1:14:39] Are we talking about a deer population study?

[1:14:42] What are we really wanting a student to find out?

[1:14:46] - I, I do think it is the deer population study.

[1:14:51] I, I'd like, I I I do wanna know

[1:14:55] the deer population study.

[1:14:57] We also need to know the, what do I wanna say?

[1:15:03] I wanna know the science behind the different methods,

[1:15:07] whether it's just fencing in the yard or doing a coal

[1:15:12] or doing the chemical castration.

[1:15:15] I mean,

[1:15:17] - Yeah.

[1:15:18] So there won't be any castration.

[1:15:18] The DNR does not allow for that anymore, it's coal

[1:15:22] or nothing with the Michigan DNR.

[1:15:24] You wouldn't get any permits for that.

[1:15:26] But yeah, this is something a student could definitely do a

[1:15:28] literature review on a lot of this stuff.

[1:15:29] Right. And for the last two years, requested special funding

[1:15:34] to get a deer population study done by drone,

[1:15:38] and that has not been marked as a priority for the city.

[1:15:42] - Maybe - That's where we start then.

[1:15:49] Okay. That's my recommendation then that we start

[1:15:52] with the deer population study.

[1:15:55] - And it sounds like Justin's on, on the same page there.

[1:15:59] So that is something that would have to come from the city.

[1:16:02] And the, that's the other only other thing

[1:16:05] that I'm a little bit hesitant with this,

[1:16:11] if there's, if there's any forward movement on any kind

[1:16:15] of deer plan that the Environmental Concerns Committee needs

[1:16:18] to be involved, but we are

[1:16:22] volunteers and it's absolutely not appropriate

[1:16:27] for the city to drop the most controversial environmental

[1:16:31] issue in the city in our laps in order

[1:16:34] to avoid it themselves.

[1:16:36] So we, we absolutely should be involved,

[1:16:39] but this is too big of an issue for us

[1:16:42] to tackle on our own.

[1:16:47] - Okay. I - Agree. But yeah.

[1:16:50] - Yeah, - Absolutely.

[1:16:55] - Anything else on the Deere issue

[1:16:58] or any of the other items?

[1:17:05] - The data center, - Oh yeah, that's right.

[1:17:08] The data center. I missed the, that one.

[1:17:10] All right, go ahead. So, yes, we had, the city has

[1:17:17] just as of, I think it was last night, voted

[1:17:21] for a 12 month, right, 12 month moratorium on

[1:17:27] data centers and battery storage facilities,

[1:17:30] and also crypto mining in the

[1:17:32] city comments.

[1:17:40] - I wanna, I wanna applaud the city

[1:17:42] commission for doing that.

[1:17:43] And I would also like to see that the City Commission incur,

[1:17:47] hopefully, is encouraging the planning commission to

[1:17:52] create new Zoning regulations, specifically written

[1:17:55] for this new development.

[1:17:56] I know that the City of Portage has faced the same issue.

[1:18:00] The City of Portage did come out with a moratorium,

[1:18:04] and then they passed it off to the Planning Commission.

[1:18:07] And the planning Commission implemented new Zoning

[1:18:10] regulations, specifically designed for data centers.

[1:18:15] It's a new issue

[1:18:16] and a lot of the Zoning laws were written a long time ago

[1:18:21] that, you know, predates any thought of data centers and AI

[1:18:26] and cryptocurrency.

[1:18:27] So I, I hope that the planning commission here will

[1:18:33] take the ball on this and,

[1:18:35] and make this a, a urgent priority.

[1:18:39] Justin, do you have any feedback on that or input?

[1:18:44] - I mean, nothing beyond, you know, what I sent you all,

[1:18:47] so I hope that this is not the end of it.

[1:18:51] I guess we're all, we've all probably, I don't want this

[1:18:53] to be the mission accomplished banner

[1:18:55] because, I mean, data centers use energy,

[1:18:58] but everyone everywhere uses energy.

[1:19:02] And that article that I'd sent you, you know,

[1:19:03] data center energy use is expect to be 17% of the usage as,

[1:19:07] as it continues to grow, which means there's 83% out there,

[1:19:11] scope one and two emissions are the driver

[1:19:13] of emissions in cities.

[1:19:17] So I hope that this doesn't stay constrained

[1:19:19] to just data centers

[1:19:21] and we start to think about energy use,

[1:19:22] energy production more broadly.

[1:19:24] It's kind of a soapbox thing more than, you know,

[1:19:26] any type of recommendation.

[1:19:28] But I just, yeah,

[1:19:33] - So I, my first thought was I,

[1:19:37] I really wanted to, I, I think it's good

[1:19:41] for the Environmental Concerns Committee

[1:19:44] to endorse the action that the city took on the moratorium.

[1:19:51] The same time, I, I think when I went

[1:19:54] to the educational session on data centers

[1:19:58] and such, someone said, you know, you really have to stop

[1:20:01] and think about, you know, what does your city wanna be?

[1:20:05] Who do you wanna be? What, what do you wanna grow into?

[1:20:09] And I think it ties into our green Zoning

[1:20:12] and our conservation district of what do we want, where

[1:20:19] it's comes down to what land do you wanna use for what?

[1:20:23] And I, so I, I endorsed what they did,

[1:20:26] but I do wish that

[1:20:30] the next step had been to put together an ad hoc committee

[1:20:33] that included citizens, not just planning

[1:20:36] and Zoning, not just city staff who are gonna come back

[1:20:40] and report in three months, but to put together a committee

[1:20:44] because this is, this is broader.

[1:20:46] This, this does involve the energy sector.

[1:20:50] This does involve a lot of different sectors

[1:20:53] to put their heads together

[1:20:54] and say what's best for the city of Kalamazoo,

[1:20:56] and here's our recommendation

[1:20:58] because there are people outside the city of Kalamazoo

[1:21:03] employ employees that will bring expertise.

[1:21:09] So I really felt the next step was that ad hoc committee

[1:21:13] to make some type of recommendation.

[1:21:16] And someone from the Environmental Concerns Committee should

[1:21:19] be on that ad hoc committee.

[1:21:22] So I would be willing to entertain a motion that we

[1:21:27] recommend the city take this step with an ad hoc committee

[1:21:31] composed of all the different entities

[1:21:35] that could possibly be involved.

[1:21:36] And that, that, I think that includes the county

[1:21:39] and surrounding townships to say,

[1:21:45] where do we wanna go with this?

[1:21:47] Because we, we have to, we have to come up with something

[1:21:50] that is concrete and I want us to have a seat at the table.

[1:21:58] - I think the city is in the process of trying to figure out

[1:22:02] how they're going to move forward.

[1:22:08] But yeah, this will be a good exam, a good test of whether

[1:22:11] or not they're going to include the Environmental

[1:22:16] Concerns Committee, we should definitely be involved.

[1:22:20] - Yeah, I, I agree with that.

[1:22:24] I think this is something that's very nuanced

[1:22:26] and I don't think I understand fully the impact,

[1:22:30] like obviously broadly the impacts of a data center,

[1:22:34] but then what would be the best practice in terms

[1:22:38] of suggesting Zoning ordinances

[1:22:40] and things like, I don't know the specifics of that.

[1:22:44] So I don't know if it would be possible to maybe have one,

[1:22:49] a local zoner maybe from Portage since they have passed

[1:22:52] something, speak on what they have done,

[1:22:56] and also find someone who's more knowledgeable about the

[1:23:00] environmental impact to be able to speak on what's the best

[1:23:05] practice for setbacks, noise limits, like all

[1:23:09] of those more technical things.

[1:23:18] - Should I put that into a better motion?

[1:23:20] I don't know that my motion was.

[1:23:22] - Well, so let's,

[1:23:25] I I think you've got a good point there,

[1:23:27] Rachel, to follow up on that.

[1:23:31] John, you mentioned that Portage

[1:23:34] is approaching this issue through Zoning.

[1:23:37] - They they have, yep.

[1:23:41] - Are you familiar with any of the folks

[1:23:47] who are behind

[1:23:50] that Zoning process in Portage?

[1:23:54] - Do I, do I know them? Yes, I do not. Okay.

[1:23:57] Just this is just what I have read

[1:23:58] and researched on, on how they've approached it.

[1:24:03] So knowing that we were gonna have this discussion,

[1:24:09] - I am willing to see if I can make

[1:24:17] contact with anybody down in Portage who is

[1:24:22] involved in that Zoning process

[1:24:23] or who was involved in that Zoning process.

[1:24:26] And if I'm able to,

[1:24:28] and if they're willing, I will connect them

[1:24:31] with Justin about getting them on the agenda to

[1:24:36] give a short presentation to us about how

[1:24:39] that worked in Portage for next month.

[1:24:43] Does that sound like a good place to start?

[1:24:49] - Yeah, I would. I'm looking at it right now.

[1:24:52] And the Portage Planning Commission on voted,

[1:24:58] they adopted a new technology campus

[1:25:01] called TC Zoning District that would define

[1:25:05] and regulate data centers and related technology uses.

[1:25:09] And that was after a public hearing.

[1:25:14] I, I can forward you

[1:25:15] - Yeah. Please do

[1:25:16] - This information.

[1:25:17] Yeah, because they're,

[1:25:18] they were pretty specific about building heights

[1:25:20] and all of the Zoning regulations and where it could be,

[1:25:24] because I think right now data centers, the way

[1:25:27] that it's defined in within the city

[1:25:29] of Kalamazoo can be located in an industrial area.

[1:25:34] And I think they need to change that.

[1:25:39] - So if, if people think that's a good place for us

[1:25:41] to start, I will get that information from John

[1:25:45] and then find the appropriate person and make an invitation

[1:25:50] and copy Justin on that.

[1:25:52] So they're on the agenda.

[1:25:56] - We do have a motion on the table though,

[1:25:57] so I either have to withdraw it

[1:25:59] - Or we have, well, it wasn't seconded, so Oh, okay.

[1:26:02] Yeah. Okay. So it is, it's still out there

[1:26:04] to be seconded if somebody wanted to, okay,

[1:26:09] - Here, here's one thought is my justification is

[1:26:12] that I think that sometimes when the city makes decisions,

[1:26:15] the citizens step up and say, you didn't involve us.

[1:26:18] Yeah. And I, and I was involved in something

[1:26:21] with the city here where I pulled out their policy

[1:26:24] and it had to do with street changes and street design.

[1:26:28] And it said, if you live within 300 feet, you have

[1:26:31] to be notified and pointed out

[1:26:33] to the city that didn't happen.

[1:26:36] So if you say you wanna involve citizens, involve citizens,

[1:26:40] and this is this debate.

[1:26:43] I, I mean, I see, I see posts on social media

[1:26:46] where people are just ranting about it.

[1:26:48] And I think, do you, Could you explain to me

[1:26:53] what you think a data center is and how it works?

[1:26:57] We have a lot of education to do,

[1:26:59] but I think one of the ways that the city can

[1:27:04] improve the relationship with citizens is

[1:27:06] to involve citizens.

[1:27:08] And that means that you bring together a group,

[1:27:13] you bring together some of the experts from the entities,

[1:27:17] but you also include some of the community.

[1:27:20] So that's my thought between behind and had ad hoc group,

[1:27:25] because if they're going to do this,

[1:27:27] they're gonna have to start now.

[1:27:29] It's not gonna be, it's not gonna be a three month process.

[1:27:33] That's gonna be a a,

[1:27:37] it's probably gonna be a multi-year.

[1:27:42] So that's my 2 cents.

[1:27:46] - I would second the motion of

[1:27:49] or recommending to the city to create an ad hoc committee

[1:27:55] - With environmental concerns committee involvement.

[1:27:59] - Yes, - I support that.

[1:28:03] That's a good idea.

[1:28:06] - Any in a, any opposed? Obviously not. No.

[1:28:10] So Justin, we've got a recommendation.

[1:28:14] We'd like to request that the city create

[1:28:19] a ad hoc committee to investigate data centers

[1:28:24] and their regulation

[1:28:25] and to include the Environmental Concerns Committee

[1:28:29] in that process.

[1:28:35] - Yep. The only thing, I mean, if the whole committee,

[1:28:39] the whole ECC is joining, that needs to be an open meeting.

[1:28:43] - You could say representation from the

[1:28:45] Environmental Concerns Committee.

[1:28:47] - I think I'm thinking have a seat at the table on,

[1:28:50] - Do we wanna pick who that is now?

[1:28:52] - Let's see if they do it.

[1:28:57] Yeah, I I mean we could, but

[1:29:00] - I mean, honestly, I, I could bring in some

[1:29:02] of these experts and we could just take the full two hours

[1:29:04] in one of our meetings to have it recorded

[1:29:06] and answer questions

[1:29:07] and invite people to one of our meetings.

[1:29:09] Or we could do a special session

[1:29:10] where I invite these experts in.

[1:29:13] I have no trouble or problem doing that.

[1:29:15] I know most of these folks. So we could

[1:29:18] do a fourth Wednesday

[1:29:20] and then have everyone here in chambers

[1:29:22] to discuss and have the experts.

[1:29:26] - I, I would just say that if we're gonna do that,

[1:29:29] I would like to coordinate that with you so

[1:29:32] that we can avoid the complete dog

[1:29:37] and pony show that the county put on,

[1:29:39] which was nothing other than a public relations

[1:29:42] blitz in favor of creating data centers.

[1:29:50] - Yeah. We can bring in who you folks want.

[1:29:52] - Okay. - I mean, I, I think that's good to ed

[1:29:56] for education for us,

[1:29:58] but I still think that we want citizen involvement and,

[1:30:02] and the experts in various groups who are going to within,

[1:30:07] you know, however long it takes,

[1:30:08] they've got a year moratorium to turn around

[1:30:10] and make a recommendation to the city.

[1:30:12] And I assume planning

[1:30:13] and Zoning is, is very much a part of that

[1:30:15] because it's Zoning regulations just like the,

[1:30:19] the green zone and the conservation, we have to figure out

[1:30:23] where's it going to be.

[1:30:24] That's the reality. Where, where

[1:30:27] and what, how big do we wanna

[1:30:30] - Be?

[1:30:31] Well, we can have a dedicated meeting

[1:30:35] that we will publicize and invite the public to.

[1:30:39] That will be a data center educational event.

[1:30:44] Okay. That will be hosted by

[1:30:47] or put on by the Environmental Concerns Committee.

[1:30:51] Yeah, I, I think both are good ideas. Yeah.

[1:30:55] So we'll follow up on that

[1:30:58] and we'll see what we can come up with.

[1:31:01] Alright, any other thoughts on the data centers?

[1:31:05] Alright, we've got one more round of public

[1:31:09] comments here year,

[1:31:12] if you are wanting to call in.

[1:31:15] That number is (888) 382-9556.

[1:31:21] Again, that's

[1:31:21] 8 8 8 3 8 2 9 5 5 6.

[1:31:27] While Justin is checking to see if there are any there.

[1:31:31] Well, we'll just let just Adam check.

[1:31:43] We will open the floor for public comments.

[1:31:45] One last quick round while we wait

[1:31:48] to see if anybody calls in.

[1:31:55] You have to

[1:32:02] - Each other.

[1:32:03] It's not that far away. It's for the notes. Pick it up.

[1:32:07] Oh yeah. Right, right. Okay.

[1:32:09] First of all, thank you

[1:32:11] for sending forward the green Zoning recommendation.

[1:32:15] I do have a question because I lost track.

[1:32:18] Is it a recommendation to the planning commission

[1:32:22] or to the city commission?

[1:32:24] City. City, thank you. That's what I thought.

[1:32:27] But just wondering,

[1:32:32] it is gonna be important until any other committees

[1:32:35] or whatever are set up that people

[1:32:39] attend the planning commission meetings

[1:32:41] and monitor that it's gonna be really important

[1:32:43] and provide input

[1:32:47] and also that they would be looking at it in the larger

[1:32:51] sense as member Bloom mentioned

[1:32:55] regarding the lights.

[1:32:59] I will talk to someone whose house directly abuts,

[1:33:02] abuts the Kay College field.

[1:33:04] So, and see what kind of effect has been there.

[1:33:08] We also, I should have finished that part about the

[1:33:13] green Zoning, but we do need to ensure that

[1:33:17] it all gets into IK 35.

[1:33:21] So on down the road, I know that

[1:33:26] six months, that's one thing sometimes the planning

[1:33:28] commission doesn't meet.

[1:33:30] So it's just something to keep in mind

[1:33:35] regarding the deer.

[1:33:37] I'm co-founder of Kalamazoo Animal Animal Advocates

[1:33:41] and I've been monitoring for one thing, the emails

[1:33:45] that have come in and there have been very

[1:33:46] few in the last year.

[1:33:49] I agree that it is

[1:33:53] because of loss of habitat is a main, main thrust of it.

[1:33:58] And we can use the golf club as one

[1:34:02] of those examples why deer are hitting

[1:34:06] windchill oakwood quite a lot.

[1:34:10] And thank you chairman nack for pointing out

[1:34:12] what has happened with calls and that we really have to,

[1:34:16] and this is so important.

[1:34:18] Look at this system, the whole system.

[1:34:22] And I appreciate you pointing out the bias study

[1:34:25] that was done in the past.

[1:34:28] So just points of information.

[1:34:30] I'm not sure if you know,

[1:34:32] but in the past,

[1:34:35] Kalamazoo Nature Center has done a call

[1:34:38] in the last two years.

[1:34:40] They have not. And one of the reasons, one

[1:34:44] of the main reasons is

[1:34:45] because of episodic hemorrhage disease

[1:34:49] and we have lost many deer

[1:34:54] in this area due to that.

[1:34:57] So Ms. Bloom referred to

[1:35:00] that, and that is vi

[1:35:05] - In terms of

[1:35:10] presentation, that

[1:35:14] any recommendations,

[1:35:17] and I'm alluding to that email that came in,

[1:35:20] there were no recommendations laid out

[1:35:25] situation and didn't necessarily talk.

[1:35:32] I do want education

[1:35:34] because I think that the reason why I'm not getting many

[1:35:39] of the website, the work that people have done, talk people

[1:35:44] about it has been very,

[1:35:49] I also will my report

[1:35:53] that couple years ago.

[1:36:00] So thank you.

[1:36:04] - Thank you, thank you.

[1:36:09] Wanna make another comment?

[1:36:19] - Hi again. Iris just covered a couple

[1:36:23] of these points already,

[1:36:24] but related to the urgency on some of the your priorities.

[1:36:27] Public Media Network article from just about a week ago

[1:36:31] reiterated that commissioners have until August 21st

[1:36:34] to submit final feedback on current goal

[1:36:37] and outcome statements

[1:36:38] before staff finalize the document for public release.

[1:36:42] So that's just a couple of days away.

[1:36:44] I don't know if any conversation here tonight is related to

[1:36:47] that deadline, but perhaps furthermore,

[1:36:51] work on the strategic vision

[1:36:53] and master plan will continue in parallel

[1:36:55] through the remainder of 2026 and early 2027.

[1:36:58] So everybody here might know that,

[1:37:00] but perhaps listeners don't.

[1:37:03] And on their website, they give some pretty concrete dates.

[1:37:07] August 31st through the 27th of September,

[1:37:10] the draft will be available for public review.

[1:37:13] So that's coming out pretty soon.

[1:37:14] Community subject matter experts will participate in fo

[1:37:18] focus groups at Western to develop

[1:37:20] and refine strategies

[1:37:21] to achieve the strategic vision goals and outcomes.

[1:37:24] That's mid-September

[1:37:26] and September 28th through October 5th.

[1:37:29] Staff will review and incorporate public comments

[1:37:32] and finalize the strategic vision draft.

[1:37:36] And October 19th, their strategic vision is anticipated

[1:37:39] to return to the city for potential approval.

[1:37:43] And then early 27th work will continue on the master plan

[1:37:48] per my individual input on the 2035 design at phase at a

[1:37:53] community event, I believe it was earlier

[1:37:55] this year, it was very cold.

[1:37:57] The city should establish a natural resources director

[1:38:00] or manager level position with staff as well

[1:38:03] as a sustainability position at that level, responsible

[1:38:07] for coordination, restoration, land management partnerships,

[1:38:11] grant acquisition supported by dedicated reoccurring funding

[1:38:17] and parallel environmental protection should pair this

[1:38:20] capacity with stronger regulatory

[1:38:21] and investment tools such as strengthening the na, the NFP,

[1:38:26] reevaluating setbacks and so on.

[1:38:28] This builds on the existing master plan direction

[1:38:31] to pursue protection of environmental areas

[1:38:35] through conservation easements, deed restrictions,

[1:38:38] development, right transfers,

[1:38:40] land conservation partnerships, and transfer to public

[1:38:42] or partner nonprofit ownership.

[1:38:48] Katie mentioned something about participate,

[1:38:51] public participation.

[1:38:52] That's, I feel very strongly about that.

[1:38:55] And I believe that the, the community input collected

[1:38:59] through public participation should be clearly summarized

[1:39:03] and available to the, the public.

[1:39:04] Not just a, not just making the, the

[1:39:10] public participation but then summarizing for the public.

[1:39:13] And then finally update rezoning, Ordinance,

[1:39:15] amendment criteria to include the sixth standard, which

[1:39:19] - Participation.

[1:39:22] - Thank you. Very good points from both

[1:39:26] of our, our people in the audience.

[1:39:30] Justin, did you see anyone on the phone lines? Okay.

[1:39:34] All right. We've got good public comments today.

[1:39:38] We have our last item on the agenda

[1:39:41] is do we have any Commissioner comments

[1:39:44] that you would like to make to close this out?

[1:39:46] We'll start with Kate.

[1:39:52] No, thank you. I, I have none.

[1:39:59] I will just say before we pass it to Rachel, thank you.

[1:40:02] People who showed up today, it's always nice

[1:40:04] to have some people in the audience.

[1:40:06] And again, I just wanna repeat,

[1:40:09] we do have seats available on the committee.

[1:40:12] Anyone who lives in the city of Kalamazoo

[1:40:14] and has an interest in environmental issues

[1:40:17] is eligible to be a member.

[1:40:19] So reach out through the city's website

[1:40:21] and send us your application.

[1:40:24] No comment here. All right, thank you. I'll

[1:40:27] - Jump in with one.

[1:40:28] I know we talk about plans a lot,

[1:40:29] but the city's also asking how to spend its money.

[1:40:33] So 2027 budget development here is open for Public Comment.

[1:40:38] There's a quick survey, I'll show you the survey here

[1:40:42] so folks can see, you know,

[1:40:44] what city services are most important to you.

[1:40:45] Select up to three. So we have water spurs,

[1:40:48] so we're looking, the city's looking for input.

[1:40:51] They want to know

[1:40:53] what citizens believe the city should spend its money on.

[1:40:56] So that's open through the mid through August, I believe,

[1:40:59] but sooner rather than later would probably be best.

[1:41:02] So, and this goes hand in hand with IK 2035

[1:41:05] so folks can have a say in that.

[1:41:08] - Thank you. Thank you Justin. Thanks Justin.

[1:41:11] All right with that last announcement,

[1:41:13] we are officially adjourned.

[1:41:15] I'll see you next month. Alright, good.

[1:41:18] That was a busy meeting. That was a good meeting.

[1:41:23] Get things done. Thank you Justin.

[1:41:27] Alright, thanks Justin.

City of Kalamazoo - August 19, 2026 Environmental Concerns Committee Meeting

Agenda

Transcript