February 24, 2010: Clean Air Counts Green Cleaning Workshop (registration and networking from 9:30-10:00 am with the Tour following the workshop. A restaurant guide for downtown Oak Park will be made available, too.) LOCATION: Oak Park Department of Public Works 131 South Blvd Oak Park, IL 60302 RSVP: by February 20, 2010 epytel@mayorscaucus.org or312-201-4506 FEES:$25 per attendee, free to elected officials and municipal staff February 25, 2010: The Chicago Wilderness Sustainability Team will be hosting a meeting at CMAP on February 25th 9:00 to noon on Green Initiatives that communities in our region are undertaking. Five communities in the region will present their initiatives along with the background on how these initiatives got going. Presentations will be made by communities from around the Chicago region who are working on a variety of environmental initiatives from green roofs to community wide green plans. Come see how they got moving and learn how you can get your community moving. RSVP to Chris Mulvaney to be placed on the attendance list for Willis (Sears) Tower. Questions? Contact Lydia Schott. February 25, 2010: Join the USGBC – Chicago Chapter's Fox Valley Branch and State & Local Government Committee for presentations and networking on green tools for municipalities. Thursday February 25, 2010 8 a.m. – noon at DePaul University’s Naperville Campus - 150 W. Warrenville Rd, Naperville, IL 60563 We often hear about "going green," but what does that really mean to a city or town? And how can these types of projects be funded, especially in a time of severely restricted budgets? Green buildings and saving energy are hot topics, yet municipal leaders are often faced with separating out incomplete or out-of-date information. In addition, not enough information seems readily available on how to pay for these projects. Going Green and Paying for It: Green Tools for Municipalities addresses these concerns by offering municipal leaders concise and expert information on how to improve the environmental sustainability of their town. The event will feature two panel discussions providing guidance on how to start saving energy and money through green building practices and energy conservation. The first panel will provide a clear explanation of the benefits of pursuing green building, energy efficiency and renewable energy at the municipal level. The second panel will go into depth on how to pay for these improvements through grants and other available funding. Speakers include moderator: Rich Goulet, HarneTech, LLC; and sSpeakers: Doug Widener, USGBC - Chicago Chapter; Jamie Peters, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance; Jeff Davis, HarneTech, LLC; Kim Du’Prey, Illinois Finance Authority; Bob Romo, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation; and Rick Rodriguez, Siemens Industry, Inc. To Register, visit http://www.usgbc-chicago.org/?page_id=4315 and click on the “FV-Going Green and Paying For It” link on Feb 25th. February 26, 2010: CMAP will be conducting a webinar “Geothermal Energy in Your Community” on February 26, 2010, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Hear panelists discuss the design, applicability, benefits, and funding sources for geothermal heating and cooling, the cleanest alternative energy source according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Panelists include John Polich, P.E, President, Gabriel Environmental Services; William Smith, Executive Director, Community Builders of Evanston; and Bob Romo, Senior Program Officer, Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation. Register now for the geothermal energy webinar. March 3, 2010: Generate Revenue with Advertising on Your Website and in Your Publications: 10:00 am until 12:00 pm at Oak Brook Village Hall at 1200 Oak Brook Road in Oak Brook, IL 60523-2203. Municipal Media Solutions specializes in facilitating advertising on local government websites. Municipal Media Solutions helps municipalities navigate the challenging terrain of online media in order to deliver highly effective advertising solutions to local and national advertisers. Already the City of Northlake, Cook County Assessor's office and the Caucus have partnered with the business and are generating modest income. To see how this could look, please visit the Caucus website. Please RSVP by Friday February 26th to Eve Pytel or 312-201-4506.
March 10, 2010: Generate Revenue with Advertising on Your Website and in Your Publications: 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus offices at 177 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60601. Municipal Media Solutions specializes in facilitating advertising on local government websites. Municipal Media Solutions helps municipalities navigate the challenging terrain of online media in order to deliver highly effective advertising solutions to local and national advertisers. Already the City of Northlake, Cook County Assessor's office and the Caucus have partnered with the business and are generating modest income. To see how this could look, please visit the Caucus website. Please RSVP by Friday March 5th to Eve Pytel or 312-201-4506.
March 17 , 2010: ZumBox: A New Way to Communicate Digitally with Residents - Save Money and Paper: 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus at 177 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60601. Learn how Zumbox can save you money and help you protect the environment while providing a clutter-free way for residents to get their postal mail-including utility bills and service notices and news that come from their local governments-virtually. Zumbox lets governments send secure electronic correspondence to their residents using delivery criteria such as neighborhoods, ZIP codes, entire cities, or a specific list of street addresses. The service is free to local governments.
New York, Newark and San Francisco are piloting the program now. Closer to home, New Lenox has signed on. "We figured there has to be a catch here somewhere. There never was one," says Tim Baldermann, mayor of New Lenox, Illinois, which ran a pilot early this year and saw many residents sign up. Cities don't pay for the digital mailings. Businesses pay for what they send, which also supports the service. And for every resident who signs up for a Zumbox, that's one less stamp and zero printing costs for mailings the city sends. Please RSVP by Friday March 12 to Eve Pytel or 312-201-4506.
April 7, 2010: ZumBox: A New Way to Communicate Digitally with Residents - Save Money and Paper: 10:00 am- 12:00 pm at the at the Oak Park Public Library in the Veterans Room at 834 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60301. Learn how Zumbox can save you money and help you protect the environment while providing a clutter-free way for residents to get their postal mail-including utility bills and service notices and news that come from their local governments-virtually. Zumbox lets governments send secure electronic correspondence to their residents using delivery criteria such as neighborhoods, ZIP codes, entire cities, or a specific list of street addresses. The service is free to local governments.
New York, Newark and San Francisco are piloting the program now. Closer to home, New Lenox has signed on. "We figured there has to be a catch here somewhere. There never was one," says Tim Baldermann, mayor of New Lenox, Illinois, which ran a pilot early this year and saw many residents sign up. Cities don't pay for the digital mailings. Businesses pay for what they send, which also supports the service. And for every resident who signs up for a Zumbox, that's one less stamp and zero printing costs for mailings the city sends. Please RSVP by Friday April 1st to Eve Pytel or 312-201-4506.