University Environment Committee

Thursday, February 26, 2009 in Room 140 Rawl Annex, 3:30 pm

 

Presiding: Jill Twark

Regular members in attendance: D. Lawrence, C. Hodson, H. McKinnon, J. Twark, A. Gross-McMillan, M. Montgomery

Ex officio members in attendance: E. Gardner, B. Koch, J. Gill, C. Rigsby

Guests:

Jeff Ashbaugh, Site Solutions

Derek Williams, Site Solutions

Mike Hammersby, Corley Redfoot Zack, Inc.

Andy Cruickshank, Corley Redfoot Zack, Inc.

JJ McLamb, Athletics

Robert Brown, Facilities Engineering and Architectural Services (FEAS)

Ron Mitchelson, UNCTomorrow

Pat Long, Center for Sustainable Tourism

 

1. Review and Approval of Minutes from January 22 meeting.  The minutes were unanimously approved.

 

2. Report from J.J. McLamb, Bill Koch, and Site Solutions/Corley Redfoot Zack design team from Charlotte on the status of planning for the new Master Plan, including requests for construction of new athletics department facilities (one full hour).

 

McLamb: The proposal includes a new 1000-seat softball stadium, an 1000-seat soccer stadium, a practice track, 12 tennis courts, and an Olympic sport building. 

 

Ashbaugh and Williams (Site Solutions):

The site is at the corner of Greenville Blvd. and Charles Blvd.  The existing softball field will be relocated into  the current wooded area (Frisbee golf course), with a central core of the team building and soccer stands/press box.  The track will be close to Charles Blvd.  Improvements will be made to the parking lot, which will also be expanded by ~100 car spaces.  The new facilities will be further from the neighbors than the existing track.  The plan will preserve green space and the large trees along Greenville Blvd.  Landscaping, small maturing trees, and larger trees will be added.

 

Issues/questions raised by the committee:

·        sitelines

The track will be below Charles Blvd to allow for clear sightlines across it.  The goal is to

keep the view of the complex from the road as open as possible.

·        drainage issues for parking lot and tennis courts

Suggestions included semi-permeable pavement, catch ponds, irrigation for playing fields, and swales (rain gardens or green spaces with water-absorbent plants planted in them) .

·        lighting

The soccer field and softball field will be fully lit with 100-foot lights.

Technology can address energy-efficiency and spillage.

The committee suggested exploring solar electricity and rooftop copper pipes or other solar options for producing hot water.

·        funding

The project is being funded by Athletics.

Gross-McMillan: It is important to think beyond standard procedures and consider new and more sustainable ways of doing new construction.

·        timeframe

Phase One, the softball stadium, will start in July 2009 for completion in February 2010.

Phase Two, the soccer stadium, track, team building, and parking lot expansion will be

completed in 2011.

Phase Three, the tennis courts, will be completed in 2012.

·        trees

Gill: Removed trees have traditionally been replaced at 2-1 or 3-1 ratio.

This project would feature replanting at a 2-1 ratio.

Some trees may be relocated to other parts of the campus.

·        Irrigation

                        The project will use city water.

                        Lawrence: Shallow wells could be used, especially for field irrigation.

                        Twark: Perhaps a large cistern could be added to the site to catch rainwater for irrigation.

3. Report from Tom Pohlman (EH&S Environment Manager) and/or Ariel Lopez on planning for Earth Day and other student initiatives. (10 min.)

Pohlman and Lopez were not in attendance.

Koch: Students are continuing to work on recycling and will possibly undertake a small, achievable Earth Day project.

Gill: Facilities has been planting trees for International Studies in order to reduce the carbon footprint of ECU’s study abroad programs.  The Library’s green task force has also sponsored tree planting.

4.  UNC Tomorrow (Ron Mitchelson, Pat Long)

UNC Tomorrow is working on a Phase III report on sustainability progress.  The goal is to have sustainability as a core value.  The Phase I report asked for a sustainability coordinator, but this was not funded.  Mitchelson and Long are inventorying sustainability activities in both facilities and instructional/research areas.  Mitchelson will share this report with the UEC.  Mitchelson would also like to see the Chancellor sign off on a sustainability/climate statement, an idea that has been rejected in the past. 

 

Lawrence: In our attention to trees, we have largely ignoring campus animals like foxes.  The UEC should consider adopting a policy of maintaining wild space around streams on campus.

 

5. Discussion of potential student Service-Learning project on determining the viability of placing light windmills at select, open locations on campus.  (10 min.)

 

The company selling the windmills is Bluesunrenew.com.  There was discussion of whether eastern NC has sufficient wind to make the windmills a good investment.  Mitchelson has access to weather data.

 

There was a motion to adjourn and the meeting was adjourned at 5pm.

 

Next meeting (3/26, 3:30pm):

Bill Bagnell presentation on energy use and conservation at ECU

Ariel Lopez presentation on student Earth Day project