Battle Creek sustainability committee reviews plan, readies commission briefing; approves June minutes

On July 28 the Sustainable BC Committee of the City of Battle Creek met by Zoom to review the city's sustainability plan goals and identify immediate steps before a planned commission workshop in October. Committee members discussed the city's recent greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, LED lighting upgrades, options for renewable energy, stormwater funding, water-quality tracking, changes to transit governance, air-quality monitoring, recycling and composting, and biosolids management. The committee also unanimously approved the minutes of its June 2025 meeting.

The meeting matters because the committee's recommendations will inform a briefing with City Commission leadership in October, which members said is needed to set firm near-term targets and decide which responsibilities the city should retain or hand off to county-level entities.

Patty Hill, City of Battle Creek environmental staff, led the review of plan chapters and highlighted actions the city has completed and items flagged for near-term work. Hill said the city completed a greenhouse gas inventory covering 2022'023 and intends to present that inventory and possible next steps to the commission in October. Hill characterized some items in the 2019 plan as out of date and suggested updating targets after the commission provides policy direction.

Energy and greenhouse gases

Committee members noted the completed GHG inventory as a key baseline. Hill said the city has been upgrading fixtures to LED when funds and projects allow and that a proposed Consumers Energy municipal solar participation program remains on hold but could be revisited. Members identified the need for a clear policy decision from the commission before setting new interim reduction targets (the 2019 plan included midterm and long-term goals, including a 2050 net-zero aspiration discussed previously).

Hill mentioned a recently appointed chief facilities officer, Katie Norton, and suggested engaging that position to implement energy-audit recommendations across city buildings.

Water and stormwater

The committee reviewed water-related goals, including tracking potable-water demand and water-quality measures for inland lakes and rivers. Hill said existing water-quality datasets are inconsistent and sparse at many sites; she noted Goguac Lake (the transcript reference spelled a variant) maintains regular monitoring under its lake board contract and provides one of the most consistent data sets. Members discussed state-level stormwater funding legislation that recently failed to pass and confirmed the city continues to follow regional efforts, including work at SEMCOG, on stormwater utilities.

Hill proposed a public-facing GIS map to illustrate stormwater flows and watershed areas; members agreed such a map could be a useful educational tool and for incident response, but cautioned it may be a significant lift for the city's GIS staff.

Transportation and air quality

Committee members raised a major planning change: city transit will move to county-level governance in the coming year, reducing the city's direct control over transit fleet decisions. Commissioner Paige Heathers Smith and others said that shift could affect the city's ability to use transit modernization to reduce local particulate emissions.

Members recommended establishing an air-quality monitoring baseline tied to things the city can influence (for example, municipal fleet changes or local pilot projects). Patty Hill asked whether members would support researching monitor options; several participants endorsed asking Bob Gilbert to research monitor models, costs and how other cities implement spot PM2.5 monitoring. The committee discussed using low-cost or commercial networks (participants mentioned IQAir-style sensors and localized spot monitoring on high-traffic corridors such as Michigan Avenue) to document street-level particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10) trends.

Members also noted the city's nonmotorized-transportation plan exists but the local bike committee has been inactive for several years; the committee recommended revisiting the nonmotorized plan and considering whether to reconstitute the bike committee or fold responsibilities into the sustainability committee.

Waste, composting and biosolids

Hill reported the city has moved to an opt-in residential recycling service and now receives monthly curbside waste and recycling reports from Republic Services. The city applied for a pilot food-waste composting grant and expects a decision soon. Hill said she is following a possible industrial-scale composting operation, Hammond Farms, that may locate in Calhoun County near the landfill and could help local organics diversion.

On biosolids, committee members described an existing small-scale pilot composting effort at the wastewater plant and noted that full-scale composting would require substantial land and cost. Hill and others said PFAS regulation developments are complicating land-application options and that staff should invite Rodney Clifton (wastewater) to a future meeting to explain current planning and constraints.

Government management, outreach and plan revision process

Members repeatedly returned to process questions: many 2019 goals are dated and will need revision, and several items will require city purchasing and finance involvement to implement. Andy Humboldt (committee chair) and others recommended producing an updated draft of short-term items and flagging open questions for the October commission workshop. Humboldt and other members volunteered to research regional examples and to begin cleaning up language in the short-term goals between meetings.

Administrative action and next steps

The committee unanimously approved a motion to accept the minutes from the June 2025 meeting; Patty Hill moved to approve and Bob Gilbert seconded. Hill and staff will compile edits to the plan, invite subject-matter staff (including planning and wastewater), and coordinate outreach to the commission before the October workshop. Members agreed to pursue three near-term tasks: (1) preparing an updated short-term-goals draft, (2) researching options and costs for air-quality spot monitoring, and (3) tracking the status of the food-waste composting pilot and the Hammond Farms proposal.

The committee said it will continue drafting revisions and follow up at its next regular meeting, scheduled for the fourth Monday of even months at 1:30 p.m.; Hill said the group will meet again in August as part of its regular schedule.

Ending

Committee members emphasized that the commission workshop in October will be necessary to finalize interim targets and to set priorities that require commission-level policy decisions. Members asked staff to return with technical briefings (wastewater/biosolids, planning, and public-works/GIS) so the committee can prepare a concise package for the commission.