Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Environment and Natural Resources Committee met March 7.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
Members Present: Keary Cragan – U.S. EPA, Danielle Gallet – Metropolitan Planning Council, Stacy Meyers (via phone) – Openlands, Mike Prusila (for Mike Warner) – Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, Tom Rickert – Kane County, Deborah Stone – Cook County Department of Environmental Control, Mike Sullivan (via phone) – IDOT
Members Absent: Lynn Boerman – IDNR, Jack Darin – Illinois Sierra Club, Martha Dooley – Village of Schaumburg, Sean Wiedel – Chicago Department of Transportation
Staff Present: Dominick Argumedo, Nora Beck, Sarah Buchhorn, Dustin Calliari, Brian Daly, Emily Daucher, Austen Edwards, Kate Evasic, Maggie Jarr, Kendra Kuehlem, Jason Navota, Jared Patton, Kelsey Pudlock, Sarah Walwema
Others Present: Garland Armstrong, Stefan Schaffer, Barry Stuedeman, Gavin Taves, Matt Tse
1.0 Call to Order 9:30 a.m.
Danielle Gallet, acting as chair for the committee, called the meeting to order at approximately 9:35 a.m.
2.0 Agenda Changes and Announcements
FLIP: CMAP’s Future Leaders in Planning youth leadership program will be offered
from July 15th to July 20th, 2019. FLIP is a free program where teens learn about the issues that shape the CMAP region and think of solutions with other students from Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. High school students from the CMAP region are eligible. Applications will be accepted online through May 20th, 2019.
Regionally Significant Projects: The CMAP Board and MPO Policy Committee will be considering two requests for amendments to ON TO 2050’s list of fiscally constrained regionally significant projects (RSPs) at their March 13th and March 14th meetings. The requests are both from the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT): 1) Roadway Improvements to Support the Update to the South Lakefront Framework Plan (more commonly known as the Jackson Park Transportation and Mobility Improvement Project), and 2) O’Hare Express System. Memos including CMAP staff recommendations and a summary of public comments will be available on the CMAP website with the materials for those meetings.
Local Technical Assistance: The recommended list of accepted projects for the next round of LTA projects was presented to the Transportation Committee on February 15th and will be presented to the Coordinating Committee on March 13th. The list will be presented to the Board for approval in April.
Agenda Change: Item 6.0 (Algonquin-Cary Subarea Plan) was postponed until a future meeting.
3.0 Approval of Minutes—February 7, 2019
A motion to approve the minutes of the February 7, 2019 meeting was made by Keary Cragan, seconded by Mike Prusila. The motion carried with all in favor.
4.0 Resilient Chicago – Stefan Schaffer, City of Chicago
Stefan Schaffer presented the City of Chicago’s recently released Resilient Chicago, which contains 50 actionable initiatives to reduce disparities between the city's neighborhoods; address the root causes of crime and violence; ensure the provision of critical infrastructure; and promote engaged, prepared, and cohesive communities. Stefan Schaffer provided an overview of the plan process and recommendations.
Vulnerability of residents with disabilities. Attendees noted that residents in the region with disabilities have suffered property damage from flooding and can lack renters insurance, and recommended workshops to educated them. Stefan Schaffer noted the importance of education in the plan, as well as its strategies to boost household economic security and reduce flood risk head-on.
Lessons from 100 Resilient Cities Network. Members asked what the City of Chicago has learned from other cities that are part of the Rockefeller Foundation’s program. Stefan said that he would like to learn more from them, but so far has been able to look to others for benchmarks and has been to some conferences. He noted that Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles were useful examples of how to talk about race and equity in the plan.
Industry trends. CMAP staff asked whether the plan’s discussion of workforce opportunities, race, and equity include consideration of industry trends in addition to education. Stefan responded that the mobility and opportunity actions touches on industry trends, but is not a major part of the overall plan.
Alignment with other regional efforts. Members asked how the plan would align with other regional efforts, such as MPC’s Our Equitable Future. Stefan replied that implementation will provide exciting opportunities for the City of Chicago to step back while other regional groups can carry forward their work and pursue complementary strategies.
5.0 Capacity Building Program – Maggie Jarr, CMAP
Staff provided an update on the development of CMAP’s new capacity building program and engage the committee in a discussion of the region’s local training and capacity building needs.
Service sharing. Members asked for examples of cutting edge service sharing by local governments. Members provided examples such as Oswego and Montgomery partnering to make and apply brine, and the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission offering drone photography to other departments and agencies.
Sidewalk investments. Attendees said that the lack of sidewalks and safe pedestrian infrastructure is a major issue for regional governments.
Coordinated Investment Study. In response to members’ questions about the McHenry County Coordinated Investment Study and how it will be promoted within and beyond the County. CMAP staff replied that the project is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2020, and would be shared on the CMAP website and by partner communities. CMAP staff also agreed to bring the project to the committee at a later date for feedback.
Trainings. Members identified several trainings that could be useful models. The Northwest Municipal Conference offers well-attended trainings for newly elected officials, as does the Illinois Municipal League. Members noted that elected officials often have other jobs and are asked to commit to too many events, especially in evenings. MPC is thinking about the same issues while developing their Water 1-2-3 academy, which will consist of four subregional workshops with help from CMAP, Barrington Area Council of Governments, Will County Governmental League, and Southwest Conference of Mayors. Multiple members cited the Institute for Sustainable Cities, which asks participants to bring partners from their community and offers working time with national experts, as a good model. Attendees stressed the importance of elected officials seeing firsthand what is happening in the region.
Embedded Staff Planners (ESP). Members had several questions and comments about the ESP program.
o Members asked whether there was a size threshold for whether a community would be recommended to have a staff planner. Staff said that a goal of the project is to demonstrate the value of having a staff planner, but that depending on the community, the next step after the program may be to take advantage of identified funding programs to hire a planner, distribute planning tasks among multiple staff, or share planning services with neighbors.
o Members stressed the importance of having local support and setting expectations. Staff explained that the communities have passed resolutions with memoranda of understanding about the role of the ESP, which includes a general work plan.
o In response to questions about potential activities related to governance, staff explained that they would be reviewing current processes, such as zoning approvals, and looking at opportunities to collaborate with neighboring jurisdictions.
o Staff noted that CMAP had experimented with sending staff to
communities several years ago, but not to the extent the ESP program will allow.
o Members and staff discussed possible outcomes for the programs, such as encouraging counties to support more collaborative planning efforts and helping CMAP, counties, and COGs think about the role of Planning Liaisons or other planning support.
6.0 Algonquin-Cary Subarea Plan – Kate Evasic, CMAP - Postponed
This presentation will be delivered at a future ENR Committee meeting.
7.0 Update on 2019 ENR Committee Work Plan – Brian Daly, CMAP
Staff updated the committee on feedback it received on the 2019 work plan, membership expectations, and meeting logistics. Staff presented a revised committee charge and meeting schedule for the remainder of 2019.
A motion to approve the revised committee charge and amended meeting schedule was made by Mike Prusila, seconded by Danielle Gallet. The motion carried with all in favor.
8.0 Other Business
None
9.0 Public Comment
This is an opportunity for comments from members of the audience.
Garland Armstrong would like to see CMAP and Access Living continue to be partners on the same team.
10.0 Next Meeting
The next meeting will be May 2 at 9:30 am in the Lake County conference room.
11.0 Adjournment
The Meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m.
https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/documents/10180/937360/2019-05-02-ENR-3.0-Minutes-2019-03-07.pdf/2cee0c9b-4b68-3839-7740-4814dc7a0ec1
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