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Commission for the Environment

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

Regular meeting Environment and sustainabilityParks and recreation

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Orange County's commission for the environment opened voting on the first annual RIPPLE Awards on February 9, reviewing nominations and starting a process the chair expected to run into March. The awards were finalised on March 9 and presented at an Earth Day ceremony in April.

The commission also discussed which county and municipal Earth Day events to take part in, with staff reporting a change to the county's own event, and kept working on the State of the Environment Report.

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

Orange County's Commission for the Environment began judging its first RIPPLE Awards on February 9, voting to give the Sustainable Business Impact award to Endswell, a modern funeral home. The group ran out of time to score the other four categories and put that off to its next meeting; two members recused themselves from one nomination over a work relationship with the nominee.

Staff said this year's Earth Day event moves from River Park to Blackwood Farm Park on April 22, with the awards to be presented there. The commission approved its January 12 minutes and kept working section by section on its State of the Environment report, aiming for a June draft, but skipped its subcommittee breakouts for lack of time.

How the votes went

Approved the January 12 minutes unanimously. Awarded the Sustainable Business Impact RIPPLE Award to Endswell, with one member abstaining.

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 (6)

Discussion item · 4Minutes approval · 1Staff or committee report · 1
  1. III Approval of DRAFT Meeting Summary – January 12, 2026
    Minutes approval
    The draft summary of the January 12, 2026 meeting.
  2. IV RIPPLE Awards: Nominations Review and Vote
    Discussion item Environment and sustainability
    A review of nominations for the first annual RIPPLE Awards and the start of voting, a process the chair expected to extend into March. Winners were finalised on March 9 and presented at the April Earth Day ceremony.
  3. V Earth Day Events Discussion
    Discussion item Environment and sustainability
    Which county and municipal Earth Day events the commission should take part in, with a staff update on a change to the county's event.
  4. VI State of the Environment Discussion
    Discussion item Environment and sustainability
    Progress on the State of the Environment Report, with missing material and topics identified and assigned.
  5. VII Sub-Committee Breakouts
    Discussion item Environment and sustainability
    Subcommittees broke out to set goals and projects for the year and reported back to the full commission.
  6. VIII Updates and Information Items
    Staff or committee report Environment and sustainabilityParks and recreation
    Subcommittee summaries, the commission's annual work plan presentation to the county commissioners on February 10, and a tree giveaway.

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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