HELP's new structure

The new structure suggested looks to lighten the meeting load for committee members as the work load within the departments increases.  Both the intensity of the grant writing that is required at this time and the process of each department developing their 15% carbon reduction plans and data collection systems will require more time than member's work in the past.  For these reasons, meetings will take place once a month to share department information and to provide an information assist for departments as they work towards their reduction goals.  The next meeting is set for Oct. 13, 11-12am

BEST meeting minutes, request for next meeting

For the next meeting, please come with at least one suggestion for continued progress in reducing the County's carbon footprint, or addressing another suggestion pertaining to issues surrounding sustainability.

It is also important that we hear from each department about how the 4-10 schedule is going. It may feel like we've passed the summit with the new hours in place, but there's more creative, innovative work to be done.  Creative because we are still on a micro-budget. Innovative because we are an unusual county that must accommodate a wide variety of activities, complete with wild weather and a population that just doesn't know when to come indoors (not a bad thing, really).

What we talked about last meeting, with Shana, Gail, Dusty, Eric, Amanda, Kathleen, attending:

Getting everyone to attend next meeting (Sept. 9!) = best guidance, input, planning New time sheets courtesy Amanda and Brooke (look for them tomorrow) Importance of flexibility in work schedules across the board Emphasis on building closures on Friday to realize most savings, emission redux Monitoring results: through ICLEI software and by reviewing benchmarks, indicators Particular interest in measuring productivity Long rush (used with apologies to anyone from NYC or Singapore) hour ride from Hailey to B-vue = almost 1 hour? Plans for a park and ride in Bellevue w dispenser? Kathleen will explore. Assigned ICLEI Web site review for webinars, new info, important announcements to:

Sept.: Shana

Oct.: Gail

Nov.: Kathleen

Dec: Dusty (tentatively)

In 2008 the Environmental Resource Center partnered with Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey and Blaine County to perform a detailed assessment of their carbon emissions.

At present these are the local groups that are actively addressing climate protection issues (click on any one for a detailed listing of their efforts):

Hailey Environmental Leadership Program (HELP) Blaine Environmental, Economic and Energy Sustainability Team (BEST) Ketchum CDC's Energy Solutions Team (EST)

Following ICLEI's for Cities for Climate Protection program, these local governments began to implement these steps:

Milestone 1. Conduct a baseline emissions inventory and forecast. Based on energy consumption and waste generation, the city calculates greenhouse gas emissions for a base year (e.g. 2000) and for a forecast year (e.g. 2015). The inventory and forecast provide a benchmark against which the city can measure progress.