Environmental Sustainability Board reviews 2026 work plan, calls for clearer follow‑up on studies and stronger stakeholder engagement

The Environmental Sustainability Board spent much of its Dec. 18 meeting refining a draft 2026 work plan, discussing priorities for the coming year and asking staff for clearer mechanisms to track the implementation of studies once they reach county council.

Staff told the board that an ESB member (Kala, last name not specified in the transcript) submitted a resignation, leaving two board vacancies and a public application process. Members urged outreach to recruit replacements and discussed member retention as part of broader governance concerns.

Board members reviewed the board's top activities and accomplishments for the prior year — community outreach at Earth Day and local festivals, collaboration with the Department of Public Utilities on electrification and energy‑efficiency outreach, participation in steering committees for the fleet conversion and climate action implementation, and an evaluation of single‑use plastic bags. As staff and members edited the draft, several participants said the work plan should explicitly state the board's desired next steps when studies are presented to council.

"If the work plan gets approved, it means that we could actually make a recommendation on it," one member said, arguing the board should move beyond presenting options to endorsing a preferred path when appropriate. Another member pressed that the board should adopt a more active posture: "When we do have our work objectives ... we state as a board what is our voted on preferred path forward," the member said, recommending internal votes or endorsements prior to council presentation.

Members also raised process concerns: studies such as the bicycle working group report, the artificial turf study, and prior plastic‑bag work had been presented to council without clear next steps, increasing the risk that recommendations "die" without follow‑through. Suggestions included adding explicit objectives, timelines, and post‑council milestones to the work plan and using periodic updates to stay engaged with implementation.

The board identified priorities for 2026 including supporting the municipal food‑composting program, CAP implementation actions (energy efficiency, EV promotion, green building standards), a commute‑trip reduction program, a vulnerability assessment, and public climate outreach. Members recommended clearer stakeholder mapping for projects — including encouraging council and staff liaisons to interface with DOE, DOT and LANL where appropriate — and better definition of when and how community partner involvement should be deployed.

Staff previewed upcoming agenda items: a waste audit presentation slated for January and the final work plan, which staff expect to submit to council soon. The board approved routine agenda and minute items at the start of the meeting and adjourned for the holiday break without taking formal policy votes on the draft work plan.

The board asked staff to circulate revised wording for final edits and to return in January/February with the final work plan and any scheduled presentations to council.