Sustainable Stockton Meeting Minutes

Thursday, January 8, at 6:30 pm, Stockton Municipal Building (meeting #16)

Attendees:  Sue Anderson; Donna Literski; Mary Maller; Haley Sankey; Jeanne Dodge; and Sharon Reichert.

Agenda Items:

Meeting Minutes.  Minutes of Meeting #15 were approved with 1 amendment -- change “Kathy” to “Kelly” in paragraph 2 under Weatherization Workshop agenda item (Donna/Jeanne; all in favor). 

Documentary Series Update/Advertising for February.   Mary did some research on deadline dates for submitting information to various media sources.  Letters to the newspaper editors and press releases should be submitted at least 2 weeks before the event date; public service announcements at least 1 week prior; event announcements to the Stevens Point Journal go into the Community Events section 8 days out from event date; Our Community Spirit, an Amherst monthly paper, needs event items by the twentieth of each month.  In addition, the group thought that event posters should be put up around two weeks prior to event. 

As far as the film series, Crude Impact, our next movie, will be shown on Thursday, February 12, 2009, at 7:00 pm at MREA.  The film demonstrates the interconnection between our country’s appetite for oil and its devastating effects on the world’s economic, environmental, and cultural health.   The viewing of this movie will follow the same format as the previous documentary.  Judy Peplinski will facilitate, and Donna and Sharon will provide the popcorn.  A list of 10 (or so) small steps to consume less (written by Mary), the Affluenza book (Mary), and Shopping for a Better World (Sue) will be brought to the movie viewing.  Donna and Mary will create posters for the event; Mary will work on press releases and psa’s; and Sharon will write letters to the editor to promote the film.  Posting of the film flyer around the community will be divided amongst committee members. 

Find It In Stockton Directory.  The committee’s Find It in Stockton Directory was mailed with the January Town of Stockton Newsletter.  Many thanks to Jerry Piesik for printing the directory free of charge to our committee.  And thank you to the Stockton Town Board and Clerk Marie Helminiak for getting our directory mailed to the Stockton residents without charging us for postage.  Sue will send a formal thank you to Jerry for his generosity. 

E-Mail Lists/Usage and Update.  Group again discussed having different e-mail lists for Sustainable Stockton, so people only get information they’re interested in.  Currently folks have come to Sustainable Stockton through 3 ways:  our original e-mail list, the CFL give away, and the documentary series.  As of 2009, the committee is sending the approaching meeting reminder with a list of upcoming events (related to sustainability) as the main portion of its monthly e-mails with meeting minutes and agenda as attachments.  The group may offer committee members the option of being on a second list –possibly one that includes more frequent notices of upcoming events and opportunities (could be participatory, financial, or labor related).  Sue is working on an invitation to send to all Sustainable Stockton members to invite them to participate in the committee as best suits them. 

Non-Profit Status.  Haley stated the lawyer (Brian Formella) that was to come discuss non-profit status was unable to attend tonight’s meeting.  However, he should be able to come to February’s meeting.  Committee members can think ahead and come prepared to ask questions on this subject at our next meeting.

Weatherization Workshop/Poster?.  Sue was contacted by Kelly Zagrzebski of Wisconsin Public Service regarding the weatherization workshop on Tuesday, January 27, 2009at 6 pm.  Kelly informed Sue that people interested in attending the workshop are to preregister with MREA, so she knows how many kits to bring.  Sue will check on what publicity needs to go out to advertise the workshop.  Donna and Mary plan on attending.

Open Discussion/Thinking Ahead/Outreach.

·       Committee still considering joining MREA or another sustainability-related organization as an alternative to seeking IRS non-profit status. 

·       Sue mentioned that Eric Olson of Sustain Central Wisconsin is trying to organize a meeting of local “green” organizations.

·       Jeanne informed the committee that local recycling is in crisis.  The Portage County Solid Waste Board may have to consider landfilling recyclables because of the markets being so bad.  And the Board may even sell the MRF (Materials Recovery Facility).

·       Upcoming outreach possibilities include:

1.  Have folks from current ecomunicipalities speak at an upcoming meeting.

2.  Sponsor a guest speaker series in the future.

3.  Organize an open house tour in the Town of Stockton illustrating sustainable practices local residents are doing.  Possible invite other “green” local organizations and include a potluck.

·       Members to think about what they want to see happen in Sustainable Stockton this year for next meeting.

Next Meeting.  February meeting will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2009, at 7:00 pm at the Stockton Municipal Building.

Respectfully Submitted,

Sharon Reichert, Secretary