Meeting Notes

Thursday, July 13, 2006
10am-11:30am
DEQ Conference Room

Present: Rep. Cinta Kaipat, Daisie Camacho, Rep. Absalon Waki, Dexter Mendiola (Legislature); Charles Reyes (Governor's Office); Marites Castillo, Nieves Casta, Fe Palimi, Yolanda Jurado, Jayce Jurado, Irvin Jurado, Juanita Micabo (MOVER); Frank Tudela (MVA); Marian Aldan-Pierce (SEDC); David Bell (Balli Steel/Green Island Alliance); Tony Benavente, Mike Malone (Saipan Mayor's Office); Angelo Villagomez (RC&D); Anthony Guerrero, Gary Camacho (CUC); Christine Parke (Saipan Chamber of Commerce); Victor DLG (DLNR Forestry); Steve Hiney (DPW); Reina Camacho, Tina Sablan (DEQ)

COMMITTEE UPDATES

Restoration (Angelo) -- Beach Road tree plantings; Laulau tree planting on Sunday; Donations, volunteers still needed; Middle Road beautification project; Training for tree trimmers

• 22 flame trees (donated by Parks and Rec), and 254 coconuts (donated by the public) planted along Beach Road by MOVER volunteers and others
• Tree planting at Laulau this Sunday, July 16. Meet at Santa Soledad in Kagman @ 8am. Goal is to plant 600 trees!
• Restoration Committee still seeking tree planting volunteers; empty containers for plant propagation; seeds and seedlings; water and food donations for volunteers
• NMC Current Issues class beautification survey along Middle Road section --respondents said they want better street lighting, more trees, more sidewalks, and more clearly defined crosswalks. Contact Angelo for more detailed summary of survey
• NMC Class also produced a 60-min DVD about the Middle Road beautification project (Angelo showed the first three minutes).
• Tony Guerrero and Gary Camacho from CUC expressed support for training CUC personnel on proper tree trimming techniques
• Vic DLG from DLNR Forestry said plans were underway to secure a federally-funded arboriculture training in August, and agreed to include CUC
• CUC requested that Beautify CNMI only plant trees that grow no higher than half the height of the power lines (if planting under power lines), pursuant to PL 14-12

Recycling (Tina): Liberation Day carnival and Micro Games projects wrap-up; Street Market recycling; Recycling at public schools; Plastic bag manufacturer

• Liberation Day carnival -- 30-day project managed primarily by POWER Inc volunteers, with support from Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Liberation Day Committee, DEQ, Pacific Trading Company, MINA, carnival vendors, and private individuals; still awaiting final results of recycling (estimate is over 200lbs of cans and plastic bottles)
• Micro Games carnival -- weeklong project managed by CNMI Power and MOVER, with support from Micro Games Organizing Committee, Saipan Chamber of Commerce, and Pacific Trading Company; final results also pending (estimate is approx 100lbs of cans and bottles)
• Street Market -- initial contacts made with Dept of Community and Cultural Affairs to set up recycling program; Committee will continue coordinating with DCCA
• Public Schools -- PSS has one trash hauler (Artman) for all public schools who has agreed to provide recycling collection; Committee will continue coordinating with PSS and Artman
• Plastic bag manufacturer -- Rep. Waki mentioned that there is a plastic bag manufacturer (Jin Yong Americana, Inc) on island who collects used plastic bags (and shrink wrapping) to make new plastic bags
• Reina will coordinate field trip for anyone interested in touring this plant

Publicity (Reina): Logo contest; "Beautify CNMI!" website; Requests for updates, information

• "Beautify CNMI" logo contest to launch mid-August; details and prizes to be announced; contest will be open to the general public
• Angelo has created a "Beautify CNMI" blog -- http://beautifycnmi.blogspot.com . Check it out!
• David Bell volunteered to sponsor an official website for Beautify CNMI (about $10/month)
• Reina requested that the Publicity Committee be cc'd on all committee meeting notes; and also encouraged everyone to continue sending the Publicity Committee ideas for outreach projects; information about beautification-related grant opportunities can also be forwarded to Publicity Committee for dissemination

Litter/Junk Goods: Litter and Junk Goods committees have merged; Adopt-a-Road program; Anti-litter campaign and Zero Tolerance project; "Beautify CNMI" inmates (Div of Corrections); Scrap metal collection and recycling project; Solid waste mgmt at community events

• MVA to spearhead the Adopt-a-Road program; Frank Tudela of MVA said that this program will be more comprehensive than just picking up litter along the roads. Volunteers will also be asked to assist with cleanups of eyesores -- including repainting dilapidated or graffiti'd buildings, replacing missing or damaged signage, reporting hazards such as illegal dumps, etc.
• Adopt-a-Road guidelines still being modified; program will likely start in September
• At Cinta's request, Charles Reyes said he would see if the Governor would be willing to send out a memo to all the agencies to ask them to re-adopt road sections
• Litter Control Certification/Refresher training slated for late August -- DEQ will coordinate with DPS and other agencies mandated to enforce the Litter Control Act
• Anti-litter campaign to launch in September, will coordinate with Publicity Committee
• Zero Tolerance Against Litter month set for October
• Cinta gave kudos to DPS Division of Corrections and inmates involved in recent cleanups along the roads; also called for coordination with Parks and Rec and DPW to pick up trash after cleanup in a timely manner
• Tony Benavente and Mike Malone confirmed that the Mayor's Invitation to Bid for junk car removal and processing has been withdrawn because $30k appropriated for project is not enough
• Steve Hiney (DPW) announced that the Secretary has signed the RFP for scrap metal recycling (which will include junk car collection and processing); RFP should be issued next week
• Scrap metal recycling program will likely be a public-private partnership
• David Bell (Balli Steel, Guam) said that Balli Steel will pursue the RFP, and that their scrap metal recycling program for the CNMI would be modeled on their program in Guam, and would be at no cost to the CNMI government

Miscellaneous

• Chris Parke (SCC) passed out suggested guidelines for partnerships with volunteer groups (to help establish clearly, in writing the responsibilities of both volunteers and Beautify CNMI event organizers); will email out final template next week
• Cinta reiterated the need to establish a Zoning Committee
• Tina suggested that perhaps Zoning could be established as a subcommittee within the Legislation Committee, since Zoning Board members and the Zoning Administrator are members of that committee -- anyone volunteering to chair??
• Tina now updating the Beautify CNMI contact list -- will send out via email next week

NEXT GENERAL MEETING: AUG 10, THURSDAY, 10AM @ DEQ
This meeting is open to the general public