Kane County Reporter

City of Geneva Natural Resources Committee met Oct. 4.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

1. Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by Bill Doeckel.

2. Geneva NRC Members Present: Bill Doeckel, Rachel Ratos, Mel Rooney, and Autumn Bruno. Absent: Jay Womack, John Frankenthal, Stephanie O’hara, Carrie Carter Tom Dickinson, Kelvin Limbrick, Adam McMillen, Jeanine McMillen, Dan Ludwig, Steve Matravers and David Monaco (SPAC Liaison).

3. Amendments to the Agenda. None.

4. Approval of Minutes from September Meeting. Rachel Ratos moved and seconded by Autumn Bruno to approve the September minutes.

5. Active Projects:

• Earth Day Event.

i. Keep the light on for 2024.

• Eastside Fire Station Natural Landscaping Project

i. Dan Ludwig continues to monitor the plants.

• River Clean-up Day

i. Gear up for 2024.

• Rain Barrels

i. Jay has rain barrels - they are $75 each.

• Greening Geneva

i. Locations at James and 5th have been approved by Public Works.

ii. Location at parks have been approved. Need to stake the locations with Carl..

iii. Quotes for trees has been received from Wasco Nursery. Email votes by NRC has approved quotes. iv. Wasco Nursery to plant 28 new trees and replace dead trees this Fall.

v. Trees to be planted soon.

• Wine, Cheese and Trees.

i. The next event will be the last Saturday in February which is February 24, 2024.

ii. Library is reserved for the next event.

iii. Need to schedule the first planning meeting with other groups soon.

iv. Need PA system for auction.

v. Can ticketing be done online via app to facilitate check in?

vi. Should we consider bidding paddles (shaped like trees) to create competition and visibility?

• Fabyan Preserve Stewardship

i. Workdays will start the second week of October. A schedule has been sent out.

• Elm Park Restoration Work.

i. No update this month.

• NRC Facebook and Instagram

i. On-going discussions with City about oversight of media posts.

ii. Posts will be reviewed by Jay before the posts are uploaded.

iii. NRC gets first chance to respond to questions about posts.

• Recycling Bins on 3rd Street.

i. The bins are still there. The recycling bins do not seem to be emptied as often as the trash. The trash and recycling bins are an eyesore at times. There was discussion about how to reduce plastic use during City events. In the future the NRC would like to meet with the Chamber to discuss this. It was decided that the NRC will start a Sustainability Initiative to come up with ideas and recommended actions to help businesses and the City to become more sustainable.

• Pumpkin Recycling

i. Pumpkin Smash is a go! The event will be held Saturday, Nov. 4th, 10 to noon, at the Districts Community Gardens.

ii. Autumn is coordinating with her Middle School, Kane Cty Collects, Kane County Farm Bureau, SCARCE, Geneva Market (Mark Weaver), and Flat Can Recycling.

iii. Flyers are being made by District and Flat Can Recycling.

iv. Autumn, Jay, the District, and Kat met on Oct 20th at plots to review circulation and setup.

v. Autumn received approval letter from the City to host the event.

▪ NRC Lecture Series

i. This education series adds a new dimension to the NRC activities. Education is key to awareness and action about topics. This will help our citizenry stay abreast of these important topics. Bill comments on how the International Dark Sky lecture had a profound impact on him after learning of the damaging impact light pollution has on bird migration.

ii. NRC will begin a quarterly lecture series on environmental educational opportunities. The lectures will be held at the library.

iii. The first lecture was by Adam Kreuzer about the Dark Sky Initiative. We may want to invite Adam back at a later date so more citizens can hear his message. What more can the NRC do to inform and promote action on this important topic? Autumn suggested some sort of pledge by children/families at Earth Day to take action and inform others. She will think this through and come back with a proposal.

iv. The second lecture was the “Good Bat Neighbor”. The event was well attended by the community and generated a lot of questions and interest.

v. The third lecture will be a presentation by the Kane/DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District on December 9th from 2 pm to 3 pm. Topics covered will include a history/overview of the District, the mission of the District and protecting the Fox River watershed.

vi. March will be a presentation on native landscaping.

• Dark Sky Initiative

i. NRC will continue to promote the Dark Sky Initiative.

ii. The Geneva Park District has signed on.

• Tree Ordinance

i. Based on NRC recommendations, there are several sections of the City Code that need to be amended in relation to tree preservation, tree protection and landscaping. To date the City has not approved the revisions. 6. New Initiatives

▪ Create an annual environmental award recognizing a community member who makes a difference. This will be discussed at a later meeting.

▪ Create an education piece on styrofoam and plastics.

▪ Continue to support an educational opportunity to move Spring leaf collection into May and not April. 

7. Treasurer’s Report – We have cash.

8. Additional business – Several committee members attended the SPAC focus group. This led to a discussion about having the NRC prioritize our initiatives so we can focus on the most important topics and have greater impact. We would need to discuss further and agree on the above. Everyone needs to complete the city survey by October 7th.

9. Adjournment – Mel Rooney moved, and Rachel Ratos seconded to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.

https://www.geneva.il.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10042023-2227