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Commission for the Environment

Orange County · Commission for the Environment
Monday, March 9, 2026

Regular meeting Environment and sustainabilityAppointments and personnel

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Orange County's commission for the environment finalized its Community Environmental Excellence Award on March 9, reviewing the tallies from the previous meeting and settling on winners to be notified ahead of an Earth Day ceremony in April. Commission members were needed to present them.

The chair introduced two new applicants and the commission discussed how to make orientation smoother and a new attendance procedure. Subcommittees then swapped sections of the State of the Environment Report, each group reviewing another's work and giving feedback, with all emerging-issue topics to be assigned.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The commission settled its RIPPLE awards. Laura Janway took the Environmental Leadership in Government award, Jeanette O'Connor the Individual Environmental Impact award, Madison Edwards the Next Generation Environmental Leadership award, and Endswell, a modern funeral home, the Sustainable Business Impact award. The Community Environmental Excellence award needed a final vote at the meeting and went to Steven Feuerstein. All five are to be recognized at the Earth Day celebration at Blackwood Farm Park on April 22.

Most of the evening went to the State of the Environment report. Subcommittees broke out, read and marked up each other's drafts, then the whole commission checked the indicators it had settled on at the start against what the drafts contain. Second drafts are due by the April 13 meeting. The chair extended the breakout time by 15 minutes at the start.

Two new applicants, Gary Sawhney and Luke Pangle, were introduced, and the chair and staff went through the county's new advisory board attendance policy. Staff flagged Creek Week from March 21 to 29 with a stream cleanup on the 24th, a Repair Cafe on April 11 at the Whitted Human Services Center, a tree giveaway on March 20, and that the county would observe No Mow March.

How the votes went

Three votes, all carried with none opposed: approval of the November 10 meeting summary, moved by Chair Regina Baratta and seconded by Matthew Ferguson; the final vote on the Community Environmental Excellence award; and adjournment, moved by Baratta and seconded by Lily Schacht. Twelve of the thirteen members attended.

From the published minutes.

Who spoke

No members of the public spoke.

Read from the records the government published after the meeting. Members of the public are private residents and are not named or indexed.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (4)

Discussion item · 2Minutes approval · 1Appointment · 1
  1. III Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary – February 9, 2026
    Minutes approval
    The minutes record the commission approving the draft summary of its November 10, 2025 meeting, not the February 9, 2026 meeting named in this agenda item.
  2. IV CFE Membership
    Appointment Appointments and personnel
    Chair Regina Baratta introduced two new applicants, Gary Sawhney and Luke Pangle. Members suggested ways to smooth future orientations, then discussed the advisory board's new attendance policy.
  3. V RIPPLE Award
    Discussion item Environment and sustainability
    The commission named its RIPPLE Award winners: Laura Janway (Environmental Leadership in Government), Jeanette O'Connor (Individual Environmental Impact), Madison "Vee" Edwards (Next Generation Environmental Leadership), Endswell, A Modern Funeral Home (Sustainable Business Impact), and Steven Feuerstein (Community Environmental Excellence, decided by a final vote). Winners will be recognized at the Blackwood Farm Park Earth Day celebration on April 22.
  4. VI Sub-Committee Breakouts
    Discussion item Environment and sustainability
    Subcommittees swapped sections of the draft State of the Environment Report and reviewed each other's work, suggesting edits directly in the shared drafts folder.

Agenda changes

What moved between published versions of this agenda. Item numbers shift constantly as things are inserted, so only genuine additions and removals are listed.

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