Sustainability Committee meeting Tuesday, April 6 at the Central Public Library

Join us for our next regular meeting of the Sustainability Committee on Tuesday, April 6 at the Central Public Library (Meeting Room A) from 6:30PM-7:45PM.

Meeting Agenda:

1. Welcome and Introductions.
2. Review and approval of meeting minutes from February and March 2010 meetings.
3. Announcements:
4. Neighborhood Council elections registration for candidates has started! You are encouraged to sign-up as a candidate and run for a seat on the Board of Directors.
5. 2009-2010 Budget: all expenditures must be submitted by April 15, 2010 to the City of Los Angeles. To discuss and review budget allocations.
6. Green Space: Harlem Place Project will be presented in May 2010 – probably around the time of ArtWalk. Volunteers needed.
7. Green Space: Urban Garden Guide. Review cost proposals for printing and make a decision about next steps.
8. Green Space: Tree Planting Guide. Gunnar to present guide to tree planting.
9. Green Space: Green Pockets is underway and we need your help organizing Big Sunday (May 1-2). Motion to request support of DLANC Board of Directors.
10. Mobility: Car-Free Fridays. Propose that the Fourth Friday of every month is designated Car-Free Fridays. For more information, check out www.la-bike.org and http://la-bike.org/events/cff_supporting_orgs.html for more information about this initiative.
11. Mobility: Pedestrian Cross-Walks presentation of research into Downtown Urban Design Guidelines and proposal to request changing the timing of pedestrian crosswalks along corridors in the neighborhood.
12. Energy & Water: DWP and the proposed rate increase. The Sustainability Committee discussed this issue last Fall 2009 – do we want to take this on again? Next steps to be determined.
13. Resource Toolkit & the DLANC Website: could this become our “online resource toolkit” and should the Sustainability Committee take a more active role in helping with the online content?
14. Sustainability Committee Chair office hours are designated opportunities to work on projects for the community. Come visit!
15. Adjournment.

Rotary Club of Los Angeles provides $1,000 in support of a Community Greening Strategy for Downtown

A very special thank you to the Rotary Club of Los Angeles

On Friday, March 19, 2010, the Rotary Club of Los Angeles - the fifth oldest Rotary Club - presented the DLANC Sustainability Committee Chair Ashley Zarella Hand, LEED AP BD+C, Assoc. AIA with a $1,000 check towards the community match required for the SDAT (Sustainable Design Assessment Team) Grant. This money will go the national American Institute of Architects Center for Communities by Design to help cover the costs of the SDAT visit hosted by DLANC last December 2009 as part of the process to develop a community greening strategy. In addition to financial support, the Rotary Club participated throughout the team visit, sharing its perspective on the changes seen Downtown Los Angeles and its vision for the future.

DLANC has committeed $1,500 towards the $5,000 match required for this $15,000 grant and we continue to invite community partners to help support this grassroots initiative to create a comprehensive sustainability plan for Downtown Los Angeles. For more information on the SDAT process and our preliminary report from the team of professionals on the SDAT, please click here.

Green Pockets - Survey Day #1 Saturday, March 20

Join us as we kick-off our first survey of the neighborhood for the Green Pockets Project. Our goal is to map all of the leftover spots around Downtown Los Angeles that could potentially be transformed in small gardens with native (and maybe even edible) plants.

Meet us at the DLANC Office (453 S. Spring Street, Suite 1020) on Saturday, March 20 at 10AM where we will divide into survey teams and begin this exciting new project! Please let us know if you can make it - RSVP here or go to our website www.downtownsustainability.com

Here's our schedule for the day:

• 10:00AM: Meet and sign-in
• 10:15AM: Brief introduction to program and survey (with donuts)
• 10:30AM: Teams depart to survey a few areas of the neighborhood
• 11:30AM (or whenever you are finished): Return to the DLANC Office with your survey data

If it's rainy, we'll try and meet on Sunday at the same time - check out our website for updates!