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Sandpoint sustainability committee maps planning steps, seeks resources and university help
Summary
At its Oct. 28 meeting the Sandpoint Sustainability Committee agreed to focus next meetings on drafting goals, identifying partners and preparing a brief for City Council; members discussed tracking volunteer hours for grant match, a possible greenhouse-gas inventory, and university student partnerships.
The Sandpoint Sustainability Committee on Oct. 28 agreed to focus its next meeting on producing materials to take to Sandpoint City Council and to begin developing a one-year planning process toward a city sustainability or resilience plan. Committee Chair Christine Moon said she met Oct. 21 with Mayor David Grimm, who endorsed the committee’s work and suggested showing council an example plan the committee would adapt for Sandpoint.
Why it matters: committee members framed the effort as groundwork for a plan that would guide future city and community actions, and they discussed seeking limited city funds in the next budget cycle for technical work such as a greenhouse-gas inventory.
Moon said the mayor “suggested that we bring our intention and maybe an example of an existing plan…to city council and let them know what we're up to.” She told the committee that council-level buy-in could help secure staff time or budgeted items in the city’s March budget process.
The committee discussed whether to label the effort a “sustainability plan,” a “climate action plan” or a “resilience” plan. Committee member Mikayla Sundquist cautioned that “sustainability and resilience are, like, two different prongs,” saying sustainability typically focuses on emissions reductions while resilience centers on adapting to climate impacts.
City staff and outside partnerships: Moon and other members reported outreach to university programs. Moon said she had a phone conversation with Professor Voss at the University of Idaho, who was “pretty positive” about partnering and could provide undergraduate or graduate student help in spring. Rachel McKinley, the city’s public works project manager who is serving as the committee’s staff liaison while the planner is on leave, recommended simple administrative steps the committee could take now to strengthen future grant applications and student projects.
“Using your time as volunteers is a great way to do match for grants,” McKinley said, recommending the committee begin tracking volunteer hours and offering to prepare a shared Excel sheet the group could use.
Data and methods: members agreed a greenhouse-gas inventory could be an early deliverable and discussed options for funding and who would perform the work. Moon said the committee could request a budget line in the March budget process specifically for a greenhouse-gas inventory and that the mayor had been positive about planning for one focused initially on local government operations.
The committee also discussed whether to join the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), which Moon said Moscow and McCall had joined and that membership was “a $1,800 membership rate.” Members noted ICLEI provides standardized protocols and tools useful for inventories and tracking.
Volunteer tasks and near-term steps: volunteers agreed to take on preparatory tasks before the committee’s next meeting on Nov. 13 (a Thursday meeting at 2:30 p.m.). Assignments made or volunteered in the meeting included researching greenhouse-gas inventory logistics (volunteers: Mary Wilkos and Mikayla Sundquist offered help), drafting a skeletal communications plan (volunteer: Diana Duke), and compiling public-engagement ideas and model plan excerpts for committee review. McKinley offered to prepare a time-tracking spreadsheet for committee members.
Votes at a glance: The committee approved the minutes from its Sept. 23, 2025 meeting by voice vote. Chair Moon called for a motion, a member moved and a second was recorded; the committee voted “Aye” and Moon announced, “Motion passes and the minutes are approved as presented.” The minutes approval was recorded as a voice vote and no individual roll-call votes were captured in the meeting transcript.
What’s next: the committee agreed the Nov. 13 meeting will prioritize assembling a short packet to present to City Council (Moon suggested Dec. 3 as the earliest council meeting for a presentation). Committee members also agreed to assemble example plan excerpts and to clarify whether the group will proceed as a climate action plan, a broader sustainability plan, or a resilience-focused plan.
Funding and staffing questions remained open: members repeatedly noted the city’s constrained budget and that any sustained effort likely requires either a budgeted staff position or outside funding; McKinley said she would check how much time she can commit in her current role.
