LPC Environmental Club

Environmental Club

 

Las Positas College

3033 Collier Canyon Road

Livermore, CA 94551

 

March 14, 2007

 

Meeting Minutes

 

I.           To Order

The meeting was called to order at 3:02 p.m. All officers were present except Christian Blanco, Club Treasurer. Our advisor, Mr. Kutil, was also present.

 

II.         Approval Of Minutes      

       Tiffany Breger asked that there be a motion to approve the minutes with the change that the year of our last meeting was 2007, not 2006. Elizabeth Learned moved to approve the minutes with the change, Parag Saraf seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

III.        Adoption Of Agenda

       Lori Myers passed around copies of the agenda. Tiffany moved to adopt the agenda, Elizabeth seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously.

 

IV.        Guest Speakers

       There were no guest speakers at this meeting.

 

V.         Officer Reports

                 A. President – Lori Myers

                           Lori said that she turned in the form for our club requesting our $500 from the ICC. However, the ICC does not have much money now, so it is unknown when the clubs will be receiving their $500.

          B. Vice President – Parag Saraf

                           Parag had nothing to add at this time.

          C. Secretary – Tiffany Breger

                           Tiffany had nothing to add at this time.

          D. Treasurer – Christian Blanco

                           Christian was not present at this meeting. Please remember to turn in your $10 dues to Christian.

         

 

          E. ICC Representative – Position Vacant

                           Lori is currently acting as the ICC representative but had nothing more to add at this time.

                            

VI.        Public Forum

       No one had anything to add at this time.

 

VII.      Unfinished Business

              Lori reported that she looked at the StopWaste.org website, but it wasn’t what she had anticipated. It was really designed for regular people who wanted more information about recycling. She said that Tiffany received an email from David Darlington who said he could possibly get us free recycling bins. Mr. Kutil said that we’ll have to find out how many David can get us and if there are different colors available. He also wants to see if it would be possible to get the recycling bins and trash cans to require the same amount of work – if one has a lid, the other should have a lid as well. Once we get new bins, we need to create a lot of signage and information.

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VIII.     New Business                                 

               Lori asked if anyone would be interested in a possible hiking trip to Ohlone Regional Park in Sunol on Saturday, March 31^st. She said the trail may be difficult. Elizabeth and Tiffany said they would check their schedules and get back to Lori. Lori also passed out information about the scholarship the club will be giving out. Mr. Kutil said that the handout had to be amended to say that Lori cannot get a copy of the applications members send in to him. She cannot be part of the judging, but Mr. Kutil said she can apply. Lori declared on our budget that we will only be giving out one scholarship, but Mr. Kutil asked that it be amended to say two. Lori can add any other changes that Mr. Kutil or our other advisors would like to see in place. Lori will be planning our kayaking trip for April. Lori asked if there was a motion to reimburse her $32.46 for our movie screening and Club Day. Elizabeth moved to reimburse Lori, Parag seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. Tiffany said that the club made $40 from our screening of An Inconvenient Truth. She still has the money but will be giving it to Christian next time she sees him.

 

IX.        Faculty Advisors – Dr. Ansell, Mr. Harpell, and Mr. Kutil

         Mr. Kutil announced that he got an email from Jean Rozsnyai, a retired LPC professor. The following email is from her:

 

“Congratulations! 

I am so happy to hear that the LPC Environmental Club is being revived.  I am a retired adjunct instructor at LPC and taught in the Math X program and the Introductory Chemistry courses, retiring about six years ago.  As such, I had never met any of you.

I think our students at LPC would benefit greatly by what I am              proposing.

 

As future taxpayers, homeowners and residents of our valley, they should be made aware of the process by which decisions are make by our local city governments concerning our environment.  They can attend Design Review Committee, Planning Commission and City Council meetings and express their views and visions for the future.

We have a few big projects coming up for decisions fairly soon.  These include two projects just across I-580.  One is the El Charro Prime Outlet Mall which will amend our Scenic Corridor protections and become a precedent for all future projects up and down I-580.

I have been the spokesperson for the Save Our Hills citizens' grassroots group in Livermore since 1978.  We have worked very hard to make the city and developers comply with the Scenic Corridor protections as set forth in our General Plan and its Scenic Route guide.  These can be seen on the City website.

The Livermore Design Review Committee is meeting this Thursday, March 15 at 7:00 in the City Council Chambers.  This project is just part of a huge development and the Specific Plan can be seen in the Livermore Civic Center Library. 

Things are moving along very fast.  City Council will make its final decision in May 21.  The local newspapers have been silent about this and I am afraid that all the hard work of so many citizens for so many years will all be lost at that vote.

It will probably pass since there is a lot of tax money involved and this is a big company with a lot of clout.

It would be nice if more citizens of Livermore became involved.  The traffic, air pollution, light pollution and loss of open space will affect everyone and to a large extent the future of our students.

Let me know if you are interested and how my group can help and how you can help us!”

                  

Mr. Kutil asked if any of us would be able to make the meeting on the 15^th, but it didn’t seem like that would be possible. Lori asked if Mrs. Rozsnyai would be willing to possibly be a guest speaker at one of our meetings. Mr. Kutil mentioned the article that was written about our club and said some of the information that was printed was incorrect. 

 

X.         Open Discussion/Announcements

       Tiffany announced that she got an email from Christian with some ideas he had for our club. He mentioned the Adopt-a-Tree project and said he could do some more research. He also mentioned a newspaper drive, but we were unclear as to what he meant by that or how it would work. He suggested an amazing environmental race, but Lori was unsure if students would want to participate. The last thing he wrote about was possibly having an environmental awareness day, and we could maybe ask professors to come talk and set everything up in the theatre. Mr. Kutil and Lori liked that idea the best, and Mr. Kutil said maybe we can do that around the time we get the new recycling bins. Mr. Kutil also suggested that maybe we could do it at a Town Hall meeting in front of the faculty. Town Hall meetings are on the first Wednesday of every month, and they’re held in the theatre on campus. Mr. Kutil and other professors can also make announcements in their classes letting students know about the new recycling system.

      

XI.        Adjournment

                    The meeting was adjourned at 3:34 p.m. Elizabeth moved to adjourn the meeting, Tiffany seconded the motion, and the motion passed unanimously. Our next meeting will be on March 28^th, 2007 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in the Club Room.