CLEAN Community Experience Susan MiHalo, Chair Environmental Advisory Board Town of Ogden Dunes

Why Did We Participate in CLEAN?  Altruistic Motivations  Concern for the Environment  “Walking the Talk” improves credibility

Incentives to Participate  FREE Technical assistance (CMTI)  Access to and better relationships with agencies and agency leadership  Public recognition

Pilot Experience:  Guidance by IDEM (hand holding)  Regular conference calls  Pre-application reviews  Developed “ownership”  Provided contacts in IDEM and EPA for other issues, i.e., air toxics monitoring

Pilot Experience Difficulties Included:  No models to follow.  Moving target: changed from week to week.  Length of time: Town Officials lose interest.  More hours required: Collectively, we spend about 250 hours on this project.

Quality of Life Plan (QLP) Development  Selection of Stakeholders  IDEM/CMTI Site Visit  Stakeholder Meetings

Selection of Stakeholders  Representation from committees/boards.  Fire Dept.  Plan Commission  Parks Dept.  Town Council representative  Environmental Advisory Board members  Tapping into key leaders creates town buy-in.

Quality of Life Plan Timeline February 05: Introductory meeting. March 05: Identified operations and developed policy statement. April 05: Site Visit by IDEM. July 05: Reviewed aspects/impacts and ranked and defined roles/responsibilities. September 05: Met with employees and narrowed down projects. January 06: First draft of QLP. May 06: Reviewed Final Draft of QLP and Application. June 06: Achieved Designation.

Policy Statement The Town of Ogden Dunes and its citizens, who strive for a high quality of life and appreciate the area’s unique ecosystem, are committed to both voluntary and required compliance measures related to impacts on the environment. By doing so, the Town of Ogden Dunes will continuously protect, prevent and reduce impacts on the world’s natural resources of air, land and water, and will further improve the health of its residents.

In order to fulfill this policy commitment, the Town of Ogden Dunes will:  Establish annual environmental objectives, benchmarks and targets for continual improvement of pollution prevention and energy savings measures.  Seek fiscally responsible ways to reduce waste, and conserve and re-use natural resources and products made from natural resources.  Maintain a group of Stakeholders who are committed to developing and implementing a Quality of Life Plan.  Foster environmental leadership, awareness, education and cooperation among its employees, residents, business entities, as well as neighboring communities and industries, by sharing its environmental decisions and performance information.

 IDEM Site Visit – April 2005  CMTI conducted thorough audit  Could not have been accomplished on our own  CMTI Rep: good rapport with staff  Assurances to Town Council/Staff that this was not an “inspection”

Selection of Projects – Sept. 05  Recycling  Restoration of Pollywog Pond  Compliant Compost Site  Compliant Used Oil Recycling  Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy (EPPP)

Recycling Project  Aspect: Solid and other wastes.  Impact: Increased landfill usage/costs.  Objective: Increase rate of recycling, decrease amount of solid waste generated, while offering recycling opportunities to the community.

Recycling Measurements:  No previous municipal recycling efforts with paper, cans, batteries, etc.  Fill one 95-gallon container with recycling and one with trash.  No battery recycling benchmark established.

Recycling Results to Date

 On average, 29% of municipal and resident solid waste is now being recycled.

 Drive-up recycling offered.  725 lbs. of batteries recycled since February  Girl Scout Troop is assisting with these efforts.

Restoration of Pollywog Pond  Aspect: Natural Habitats  Impact: Degraded water quality, reduced biodiversity, lower quality of life for wildlife.  Objective: Restore Pollywog Pond before December 31, 2009.

Restoration Measurements:  Herbicide Phragmites before November  Conduct prescribed burn before November 30,  Reduce invasive species by 20% before December 31, 2006.

Restoration Results:  Phragmites herbicided in Aug,-Sept and again in Aug-Sept with NPS help.  Prescribed burn conducted in July  Invasives reduced by more than 20 percent.

Compost Site  Aspect: Solid waste generation, energy usage and groundwater.  Impact: Filling landfills, fly dumping, leaching into groundwater, energy consumption (hauling leaves out of town)  Objective: Develop and manage a leaf composting site in a productive and compliant manner.

Compost Measurement:  To compost at least 2,000 cubic yards of material before December 31, 2006.

Compost Results:  Fall 2005 approximately 78 tons  2006: increased to 264 tons with new waste contract

Still Underway:  Used Oil Recycling  SOP developed  Environmentally Preferred Purchasing Policy

Quality of Life Plan clean/catalog/CLEAN_OgdenDunes_ qlp.pdf clean/catalog/CLEAN_OgdenDunes_ qlp.pdf

Implementation Successes  Recycling efforts worked well and are easy to track.  Look for projects the community can participate in as well.  Raised level of awareness about the environment.  More responsiveness from IDEM and DNR on issues/permits.  Buy in from Street Department.

Implementation Difficulties  Town officials can change – requires constant education.  Stakeholders hard to convene.  Confusion between aspects/impacts.  Hard to keep momentum after recognition.  Fear of high cost.  Resistance to change.

Other Tips for Success  Adjust Plans as necessary  Annually Review SOPs  Review Chain of Command after incidents

Instill a Culture of Accountability and Responsiveness.  Use a Memo of Agreement  Educate:  Volunteers  Govt. Officials  Employees  Address Issues:  Policy Implementation  Understanding Compliance Requirements

Contact information: Susan MiHalo ODEAB 115 Hillcrest Rd. Ogden Dunes, IN