Framingham Sustainability Committee Schedules Its First Ever Meeting For Tuesday

FRAMINGHAM – Framingham Sustainability Coordinator Shawn Luz has called the first meeting of the newly-created Sustainability Committee.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 27. The notice was filed with the City Clerk’s office this morning, July 23 (see below)

On April 6, the 11-member Framingham City Council unanimously approved nine individuals to the City’s first-ever sustainability committee.

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Created by the City Council on November 5, 2020, the purpose of the Framingham Sustainability Committee is to advise on how to improve the sustainability of municipal operations as well as support residents and local businesses in reducing waste, improving energy efficiency, adopting renewables, conserving water, and much more.

The Committee is tasked providing “recommendations to the Mayor, the Energy Task Force and Sustainability Coordinator by October 1 of each year in order to allow for the timely consideration of new programs and policies in the annual budget.”

Mayor Yvonne Spicer chose not to allow the Sustainability Committee to begin its work until July 1, 2021, according to a memo she wrote to the City Council.

The Mayor signed the ordinance approving the 9 committee members on April 15, 2021.

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The Framingham Sustainability Committee’s recommendation should include also an “assessment as to the state of the city, in the area of Environmental and Sustainability initiatives, and (except for the first annual report of the FSC) the FSC’s assessment as to the progress made towards the FSC’s short-term and long-term goals since the previous annual recommendation was issued,” according to the 2020 ordinance.

The new committee members approved are:

• Aimee Powelka – District 1
• Donna Kramer Merritt – District 1
• Erin Ellsworth – District 3
• Larry Stoodt – District 3
• Emma Rothwell – District 4 – Youth member, under age 18
• Jaime Haber – District 4
• Donald Grose – District 6
• Melissa Yu – District 6
• Sean Bilodeau – District 8

Mayor Yvonne Spicer nominated nine individuals from 35 applicants.

Applications came from every District in the City except Districts 7 and 9. There were 7 applicants from District 1, 5 from District 2, 9 from District 3, 7 from District 4, 2 from District 5, 3 from District 6, and 2 from District 8. Thirty of the applicants identified as white, said the Mayor’s office.

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