City Hall

City of La Crosse, Wisconsin

400 La Crosse Street

La Crosse, WI 54601

Meeting Minutes

Climate Action Plan Steering Committee

Monday, May 13, 2024

4:30 PM

Eagle Room

This meeting will also be conducted through video conferencing.

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Call to Order

Mindel called the meeting to order at 4:32 pm.

Roll Call

7 -

Present:

Absent:

Dorothy Lenard, Casey Meehan, Mackenzie Mindel, Natalie Heneghan,

Andrew Ericson, Ronald Cosby II,Stephanie Hanna

1 - Adam Jacobson

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Lenard, seconded by Meehan, that the Minutes be

APPROVED . The motion carried by voice vote.

Notices & Discussion

Staff announced grant awards and gave overview: Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth

Climate Action Fund, WI PSC's Energy Innovation Grants, and AARP's Community

Challenge Grant. Heneghan announced kickoff for Renew the Block on June 1st at 10

am at Logan Middle School.

Agenda Items:

Discussion and direction on implementation plan

24-0512

Attachments:

CAP Implementation Plan

Staff provided update on plan implementation and requested guidance on revising

actions. Not much notable progress, but put together funding requests. Staff

recommended keeping the implementation plan the same. For increasing bus

frequency, the MTU is continuing their marketing, increasing accessibility, and making

minor adjustments to routes. For converting commercial fleets to EVs, the City can

lead by example, sharing findings of fleet studies with City departments, UWL, and the

County. The City received a grant to do home energy audits. Commercial buildings

can get audits through Xcel Energy since the City participates in Partners in Energy.

Staff hasn't had luck connecting with MREA on a solar group buy, but are using

Energy Sage as a resource and will model a program on Ann Arbor's. The Parks Dept.

is applying for an urban forestry grant should have their urban forestry plan complete

by June. The committee supported green infrastructure by contributing to Renew the

Block. The comprehensive plan was updated and the bicycle and pedestrian master

plan is almost complete. Discussions on eliminating parking minimums are ongoing.

Staff has contracted for assistance with outreach and grant services.

Kaitlyn Wiehe said the dumpster diversion was a success and diverted eighteen

thousand pounds of materials. Mindel requested staff share the implementation

matrix. Meehan asked for more direction on why CIP requests didn't make it into

consideration.

Staff also shared update on CIP requests, that the committee will need to find other

funding sources. The funding may have been considered to fit more in the operating

budget request than capital budget request.

For working groups, staff will ask research question each month to provide some

guidance. Hanna will join working group 2 and Jacobson will join working group 1.

Committee members may add, remove, or edit actions in the implementation plan to

suit their needs.

Proposal for Program Assistance

24-0662

Staff needs help to fulfill requirements for grants and programs, and has reached out

to WisCorps about getting an AmeriCorps member in the fall and an intern for the

summer. Any help from committee members would be appreciated as well--back up,

research, accountability, etc.

Mindel agrees that building capacity is necessary to implement the plan. Hanna and

Mindel offered to help with YCAF.

Discussion on Grant Applications

24-0663

Attachments:

Community Change Grant Program

Carbon Reduction Program

Staff gave overview of Community Change Grant and Carbon Reduction Program

Grant. The former is for $10 million minimum and has a broad criteria. It is granted on

a rolling basis ending in November. The mayor has in mind a brownfield clean up and

Habitat for Humanity is interested in partnering to pursue this. Technical assistance is

available. The latter grant is a State grant for transportation projects, including on and

off-street bike and walking facilities. There was no objection to pursuing those.

Outreach & Engagement Update

24-0067

City partnered with Sustainability Institute to host a small business workshop focused

on building energy efficiency and renewable energy with about 11 participants.

Nicholas will work with Redmond and team to promote Youth Climate Action Fund.

Bright Action is going to be focusing on a challenge with school district and City

employees. Bright Action participation increased due to Viterbo and Green Goose

Chase participation. Mindel offered to speak to organizations about the Climate

Action Plan.

Discussion and Action on Proposal to add Employee Commuting Survey to

the GHG Inventory.

24-0664

Attachments:

Proposal Addendum E-mail

Staff provided overview. The information in the survey could help with guiding the

parking cash-out program. The GHG inventory has data on community vehicle miles

traveled. Mindel asked about how to increase participation.

A motion was made by Ericson, seconded by Meehan, that this Proposal be

APPROVED . The motion carried by voice vote.

Next Meeting / Agenda Items

The next meeting will be 6/10. Agenda items may include updates on grants and

working groups, and target audiences for home energy audits (low income households

in Justice40 census tracts and EPA disadvantaged census blocks).

Adjournment

Mindel adjourned the meeting at 5:19 pm.

Notice is further given that members of other governmental bodies may be present at the

above scheduled meeting to gather information about a subject over which they have

decision-making responsibility.

NOTICE TO PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY

Requests from persons with a disability who need assistance to participate in this meeting

should call the City Clerk's office at (608) 789-7510 or send an email to

ADAcityclerk@cityoflacrosse.org, with as much advance notice as possible.