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NextGen board sets quarterly roadmap; chooses waste diversion as July focus
Summary
The NextGen Advisory Board adopted a quarterly-objective approach, named environment as the first priority and scheduled a July presentation from the South Metro Waste Diversion project as the board’s immediate focus.
The NextGen Advisory Board voted to adopt quarterly objectives and set environment as its near-term priority, with a presentation from the South Metro Waste Diversion project scheduled for July, the board decided.
Board leaders explained a three-meeting cadence for each quarterly objective: meeting one to gather information from a relevant speaker or department, meeting two to discuss and refine, and meeting three to draft a product the board could send to City Council. “If we can deliver three items to City Council, then I think that’s great,” the board chair said.
The board framed five focus pillars for the year — housing, safety, economic development, infrastructure and environment — and discussed how those areas overlap. Participants argued the board should produce a small number of substantive recommendations rather than attempting to cover every city issue. The chair said the board’s near-term tasks are to research the waste-diversion presentation materials, prepare questions for the July meeting, and decide whether to write a letter or present recommendations after the July and August reviews.
On waste diversion, board members noted the South Metro project’s early findings, including that a large share of household waste is compostable and that the current free-market hauler model can limit economies of scale for added services. “If we had fewer haulers, we would actually hit…reduce costs or increase services,” one member relayed summarizing the project’s findings. Board members discussed household composting options and private services that collect food waste for farms as examples of diversion strategies citizens are already using.
Housing remained a recurring theme. The board reiterated interest in land use code updates, the Geneva Village proposal, and learning from the city’s housing-policy analyst. Members cautioned that housing discussions can be polarizing and said the board should pick scoped, evidence-based projects rather than attempt to solve every housing issue at once.
Next steps: board members were asked to review South Metro Waste Diversion materials, prepare questions for the July presentation and consider how the board might produce one or more deliverables for City Council by September.
