Michigan City Sustainability Commission approves IDEM nomination and backs Water Resources Development Act
Loading...
Summary
At its Feb. 12 meeting the Michigan City Sustainability Commission approved submitting the Earth Month Extravaganza to the iDEM governor's awards and unanimously voted to sign on in support of the Water Resources Development Act; the commission also discussed EV pilots, event recycling and coal-ash testing.
The Michigan City Sustainability Commission met Feb. 12 and unanimously voted to submit its Earth Month Extravaganza for consideration in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (iDEM) governor’s awards program and to sign a statement of support for the Water Resources Development Act.
The commission first approved the January minutes before moving through project updates. Members agreed to authorize a formal submission for the iDEM award after a motion and second; the group then voted to proceed. Later the commission discussed a request to sign on to the Water Resources Development Act, noting prior practice of allowing officers to sign timely advocacy items; that motion also passed unanimously.
During the meeting members reviewed several active projects: an exploratory compressed-natural-gas option for the city fleet, an electric-vehicle pilot for Michigan City Police Department administrative vehicles, a ‘Recycle Smart, Do Your Part’ waste-reduction campaign funded by a community activation grant, and an investigation into whether biochar technology could treat coal ash for reuse. The commission also discussed SolSmart Silver designation work, habitat certifications with the National Wildlife Federation, and event-focused recycling logistics.
Quotes from the meeting illustrated both opportunities and next steps. On EV grants and infrastructure, a member said, “There’s a significant amount of money available and potentially and Drive Clean Indiana can, also has some donations available of charging stations.” On awards work, the commission agreed Nancy Molnauer would prepare the iDEM submission and the motion to vote on submitting passed unanimously; the group then voted to move forward with the submission.
The commission ended with announcements about Black History Month events, a proposed second recycling workshop, a pollinator planting event and a family STEM night at Barker Middle School. The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m.
