Green Bay Sustainability Commission approves 2025 schedule, receives work-plan updates and grant news

Krista Keenanen, a member of the Green Bay Sustainability Commission, opened the commission’s first meeting of 2025 with procedural approvals and a series of work-plan and project updates from commissioners and city staff.

The commission approved its 2025 meeting schedule and voted to "receive and place on file" the current work plan and related materials so commissioners can update work-group sections before the commission posts a refreshed version to the city website. The body also accepted work-group updates and staff reports covering clean energy outreach, green stormwater infrastructure permitting, sustainable events guidance and an award for a pre-disaster flood resilience grant for East River / Emily Park.

Why it matters: The Sustainability Commission is an advisory body established by ordinance in 2018 that provides environmental-sustainability recommendations to the mayor and Common Council. The work plan and its six work groups steer the commission’s priorities for partnering with city departments, schools and local organizations and for pursuing grants and projects that affect stormwater management, habitat, waste reduction and clean energy.

Most immediate outcomes

- The commission approved the 2025 meeting schedule. - Commissioners voted to receive and place on file the work plan and attachments; leaders will send updated sections so the plan can be posted to the city’s website for 2025. - The commission received work-group reports (clean energy, climate resilience, healthy habitat for all, waste reduction, marketing/public outreach and youth engagement) and staff reports (stormwater utility/GSI permitting and the Energize Green Bay outreach effort).

Key project and program updates

Melissa (city staff) reported the city was selected for a $250,000 grant from Wisconsin Emergency Management’s new pre-disaster flood-resilience funding stream to support wetland restoration and flood resiliency work at East River / Emily Park. "We were selected," Melissa said, noting the award is competitive and will proceed through the city’s formal acceptance process and Common Council approvals.

The stormwater utility provided a 2024 summary of permitted post-construction stormwater-management practices; roughly half of those permits were identified as green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) practices in the memo attached to the staff packet. Melissa clarified that the table reflected permits issued in 2024 and not necessarily completed installations.

Clean energy work-group leaders described formation of a Green Bay Large Energy Users roundtable to coordinate with utilities, industry partners, technical colleges and university partners to track commercial-sector emissions (the commission’s clean-energy plan noted about 72% of the city’s emissions come from commercial and industrial sources). The roundtable will meet again Feb. 4 at NWTC to hear a presentation from Alex Lang of NWTC’s Industrial Assessment Center.

The healthy-habitat work group highlighted recent progress on pesticide policy language and native-planting efforts; commissioners said the city planted roughly 50,000 plugs in parks during 2024 (figure described as approximate). Work-group leads asked to be listed as partners where appropriate, including Green Bay Public Schools and Green Bay Botanic Gardens.

Waste-reduction leaders discussed barriers to a large-scale community compost or subsidized-bin program and noted possible grant prospects, including regional programs that can fund planning or pilot projects; they also flagged event waste reductions as an ongoing opportunity. Marketing and public-outreach leaders stressed the need to consolidate sustainability content on the city website and to use the city’s "Notify Me" subscription tool to reach residents.

Process and next steps

Commissioners discussed a standardized agenda-item template staff prepared to streamline requests for presentations or formal items to be sent to staff (Melissa and the commission chair) by the deadlines that feed the published agenda. Work-group leaders were asked to review and refresh their sections of the work plan and send updates ahead of the next meeting so the commission can formally post an updated work plan and supporting documents.

Staff said the draft sustainable-events guidance prepared by the commission is under senior-staff review and is expected back for final commission consideration next month. The city also has formed an internal sustainability and resilience staff team with voluntary representatives from eight departments; that internal team will meet quarterly and support reporting and cross-department coordination.

Meeting logistics and public outreach

The commission will target shorter meetings (roughly 5–6 p.m. local time) where feasible and plans neighborhood outreach through Energize Green Bay, including eight neighborhood meetings and a booth at the regional Home Expo. Commissioners encouraged members to use the work-plan criteria and the agenda template when proposing new initiatives.

What the meeting did not decide

No formal ordinances or council-level resolutions were adopted during the meeting; actions were limited to procedural approvals and the receipt/filing of the work plan and updates. The Emily Park grant will require formal acceptance through the city’s committee and Common Council process before work begins.

Looking ahead

Commissioners said they will update the work-plan sections and return an amended plan and accompanying materials for formal posting and further action. The commission’s next regular meeting was scheduled for Feb. 19, 2025, at 5 p.m.

Ending note

The commission closed with routine motions to adjourn after agreeing to keep meeting agendas focused and to circulate updates to staff in advance so items can be placed on the published agenda and reach the Common Council for consideration when appropriate.