Education and Research Committee
Pacific Ring Initiative

April 11, 2005 at 1:30 pm at the Great Pacific Coffee Company, Pacific, Missouri.
 
Jim McHugh, Chairman, of the Magi Foundation, reviewed the Pacific Ring Initiative, the committee structure and recognized Alternative Energy as the action sub-committee of the Education and Research Committee with jurisdiction in the area of Alternative Energy projects. He pointed out the importance of the role of alternative energy to the mission and the development of the Pacific Ring as a model of a sustainable community from both the standpoint of economic development and protection of the environment.
 
Environmental Campus
Kim Gardner reviewed the plan for the Environmental Campus to be located along Route 66 and across the highway and south of the Prison. There was extensive discussion of the Campus as a site for biodiesel and other energy projects relating to waste management. The Campus was discussed as a possible alternative site for a trash transfer station. The Campus is to include a training and teaching center for issues relating to the advancement of trash management technology and conservation with an on site education and demonstration facilities. Mr. Gandner will keep the committee advised of the progress of the Campus and the integration of Campus programs with the Pacific Ring Initiative.
 
Hydrogen Fuel
Dr. Suppes advised the NSF-PFI proposal relating to the development and demonstration of hydrogen fuel cells within the Pacific Ring has been resubmitted through the University of Missouri St.Louis and based on the reception of the first submission is very optimistic about the outcome.
 
Biodiesel
Vice Chair Bob Masson suggested that the committee address the opportunities of biodiesel within the Pacific Ring from both a production and distribution standpoint and develop a program promoting the Pacific Ring as a national demonstration of biodiesel application.

Sheila Steelman advised she would investigate and advise the number of fleets in the City of Pacific who would be candidates for alternate fuels conversion. 

The committee members agreed they would investigate possible sites for biodiesel production and would be prepared to report on their findings and recommendations at the next committee meeting. In the meantime they will continue to discuss and stay in contact with members of the committee.

Bob Masson suggested that the feasibility of an alternate fuel service station should be considered within the City of Pacific. After a very supportive discussion concerning the proposal Mr. Masson agreed to do further investigation and inquiry and will report to the committee his findings and recommendations.

Clean Cities
Dr. Suppes reviewed the advantages of the Clear Cities program and proposed that the City of Pacific and the Pacific Ring seek this designation. It was agreed that this would become one of the priorities of the committee and that a electronic conversation between committee members would be pursued to qualify for this designation at the earliest. Dr. Suppes recommended a review of web site:

www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/index.html

Action
After a discussion of a number of related topics Dr. Suppes announced the consensus of the group on project priorities and identified the following projects for committee focus:

1. Advance the NSF-PFI hydrogen fuel cell project;                                  
2. Aggressively pursue the opportunities for biodiesel fuels from local production to local distribution and use.                      
3. Initiate a promotional campaign of information about and use of alternative fuels with the Pacific Ring as a national model for the development of alternate fuels within a Sustainable Community.
4. Take immediate steps to advance the Clean Cites program.

Dr. Suppes adjourned the meeting and advised the next meeting would be at the call of the chair.

The Pacific Ring Initiative is an ongoing study of the total environment within the micropolitan area of the City of Pacific for the purpose of providing local citizens and businesses, policy makers and the scientific community with additional tools and information for the enhancement, development, support and promotion of the area as a national model of a sustainable community.

More than 50 attended the second general meeting of the Pacific Ring Initiative (PRI) on January 19th, 2005 at the Great Pacific Coffee Company in Pacific, Missouri.

Jim McHugh called the meeting to order and introduced the Mayor of the City of Pacific, the Hon. Jeffery Titter, who introduced members of the Board of Aldermen and the City Administration. 

Dr. Peter Raven set the tone for the meeting with an overview of the importance and benefits of sustainability as a community goal. He discussed this community challenge in the context of world economic and environmental conditions. He confirmed his view of the Pacific Ring Initiative as a national model and of the continued participation and commitment of the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Shaw Nature Reserve.

Jim McHugh reviewed the history of the Pacific Ring Initiative and reviewed its goals and objectives.

State Representative Harold Selby spoke to the group by conference call from Jefferson City and advised of progress with a proposed bill that would recognize the Pacific Ring as a micropolitan area with a goal of sustainable growth. He advised that the bill was in the works and that the draft will be available for review in the near future.

Current State of the Pacific Community

Sheila Steelman, Director of Community Development for the City of Pacific, stated that her data is based on what is occurring within Pacific’s city limits. The current official population is 6,611. This does not include the people who moved into new homes since the 2000 census was compiled. Pacific’s population is currently over 7,000.

Pacific has grown approximately 10% in since 2000 and growth should continue at an average of 3% a year. There are approximately 2,900 homes within the city limits. Since 2000, 5 new subdivisions were developed within the city limits with approximately 500 new homes. The base prices on these homes start at $180,000. The people moving into these homes will have higher median incomes and more disposal income.

On the business side, Pacific is the home to approximately 240 businesses. Since 2000 there have been 43 new businesses, an increase of 17%.

Pacific is offering more special events which are all growing in attendance. Many of the leaders of local civic and non-profit organizations have joined together to form the Pacific Community Action Committee (PCAC). Last year, the PCAC hosted a classic car cruise that drew 10,000 people to Old Town Pacific. This Sept. the Pacific Partnership and the PCAC will host the 4th annual Railroad Days Festival on Pacific Station Plaza. Other active projects that will enhance City of Pacific’s development are:

• Several local road improvement projects are scheduled including the I-44 Highway expansion.

• The city is in the process of studying the feasibility of annexation to provide for the City’s continued growth.
  

The Pacific Ring as an Education Center

Dr. Wendell Smith, Director of the Des Lee Collaborative Vision at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, reported on planning that is underway with educational initiatives. He indicated that a committee will be developed to provide direction to K-12 as well as Higher Education opportunities associated with the Pacific Ring. Persons interested in serving on this committee should get in touch with Dr. Smith as soon as possible.

Smith indicated that K-12 opportunities had initially been explored with Ed Hillhouse when he served as superintendent of Meramec Valley R III School District. Local leadership in the K-12 setting will now be provided by new superintendent Randy George. It is envisioned that numerous sites within the Pacific Ring will be of interest for school trips. Lesson plans specific to a variety of K-12 educational opportunities will be developed in conjunction with proposed research activities.

At the Higher Education level Smith reported on discussions that have transpired with Dr. Henry Shannon, Chancellor of the St. Louis Community College District, and his colleagues. St. Louis Community College is in the process of developing a campus in Wildwood. The buildings on this campus will all have a “green” theme. The Pacific Ring is actually at the front door of the proposed new campus in Wildwood and will serve as a working environmental laboratory. 

Dr. Shannon is currently President of the National Community College Association. He indicated that many of his colleagues around the nation would likely be interested in the educational and research projects that transpire in the Ring.

At the university level most of the activities in the Pacific Ring are envisioned to be focused on research. The primary university participants would be faculty and graduate students. As with K-12 and community college participation the local institutions will have direct access to the Pacific Ring for field trips and related activities. 

Smith also mentioned that the University of Missouri has a limited number of opportunities for an endowed chair matching program. The university will match gifts of $1,000,000. This will create positions that extend into perpetuity, additionally; these positions carry a significant annual expense authorization. The creation of a position using the Pacific Ring as its laboratory would be an excellent way to place permanent emphasis on this project.

Water and Air Quality

Ron Katz, director of the Magi Foundation Reforestation Institute, reported on matters discussed at a meeting of members of the Environmental Committee held that morning. Discussed at that meeting were matters relating to the status, demonstration potential, and possible funding sources for the core cluster project areas where Pacific Ring research is underway or being considered.

These research project areas are: air-related (including carbon sequestration and air quality) and water-related (including water quality, buffers, wetlands, and flood control).

Role of Alternative Energy in Sustainable Development

Dr. Galen Suppes, of the College of Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia stated that in the area of energy sustainability, the City of Pacific has the opportunity to not only establish a "showcase" facility, but also, to foster local expertise in technology that can lead to the creation of quality industries and jobs. In Missouri, use of biodiesel and ethanol are encouraged and should be considered. The recommended technology for commercialization is Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs). These vehicles can reduce the annual gasoline consumption of a vehicle from 600 to 80 gallons. The balance of energy would be provided by local electrical power generation and the money stays in Missouri. PHEVs are particularly attractive since, with the advent of fuel cell commercialization in automobiles, the annualized costs of PHEVs will be considerably less than conventional vehicles. More information on the technology is available at http://www.missouri.edu/~suppesg/PHEV.htm.

A Future of Economic Development within the Pacific Ring

Kim Gardner presented plans for an Environmental Campus to be located on an existing 72 acre industrial site near the City of Pacific. The Campus will be designed to attract recycling-based industries utilizing existing technologies or start-up businesses for the development of new technologies. A centerpiece of the site will be a Material Recovery Facility for handling, sorting and delivering products from the consumer and commercial waste stream to either on-site businesses or other final destination points. An additional focus of the Environmental Campus will be an educational center for teaching, training, and conference purposes.

Ron Sansone, president of Sansone Construction, discussed his many years of experience as a businessman and land-owner in the Pacific area. Mr. Sansone described the Pacific Partnership organization and the many accomplishments this group has brought to the City of Pacific. An example of the Pacific Partnership success includes the Railroad Plaza next door to the Great Pacific Coffee Company. Other accomplishments are the Railroad Days event and the SummerFest Car Cruise that over 10,000 people attended last year.

Mr. McLaren, president of McLaren Grading, outlined his experience as a building contractor and local land-owner/farmer. He expressed the need to bring development to support business growth within the area, while protecting existing land-owner interests such as family farms. His message was one of inclusion – that the active involvement of the residents within the Ring area will be the key to success and the vehicle with which we can accomplish future growth and development while maintaining the quality of life that attracts people to the area.

Advanced Information Technology Changes the Rules

Dr. Bill Plummer, Professor Emeritus at the University of Missouri, detailed the importance of information technology, especially as it relates to the Pacific Ring Initiative. Information technology - the amalgamation of computing and communications - is deeply entwined in most aspects of our culture, and its rapid uptake is due in equal measure to hardware and software advancements. Hardware provides processing power, data storage, and graphical techniques at nearly unbelievable levels. Software and algorithms permit data management and data synthesis of such scope that broad - almost holistic - models of reality can be constructed.

As we look to the near future of information technology there is a sea-change coming in the degree of automation which is possible in intellectual tasks. The main changer of the rules is the level of sophistication with which computer intervention can occur. Two key examples will be cited.

In the area of computer networks, the automation reveals itself in the degree to which networks are self-organizing. Routes by which data moves from one place to another are not specified by humans or predetermined. The network can “figure out” and modify how to get data packets from place to place on a second-to-second basis. This happens every day on the internet. In the Pacific Ring Initiative it can also permit collections of miniature sensors, with low-power wireless transmitters, to form into a robust data gathering network.

The second example is often referred to as “data mining”. Data mining is, in fact, a synthesis of elements from statistics, artificial intelligence, pattern recognition, and visualization. What it achieves is the discovery of hidden knowledge in databases. It extracts relationships which were not suspected or explicitly built-in at the beginning.

But information technology only changes some of the rules. In the words of renowned computer scientist Richard Hamming, “The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.” As graphic designer Fred Drennan expressed it, “Neither keyboard nor mouse has yet to produce a discernible word. As for creativity, the product can be no better than the humanity.”

The sustainability objective which drives the Pacific Ring Initiative is profoundly a manifestation of humanity.

Building a Sustainable Community Planning the Pacific Ring Micropolis within the St. Louis Metro Area

Greg Aubuchon, director of Labor and Education Market Analysis at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (LEMA) and the Community Policy Analysis Center (CPAC) at the University of Missouri-Columbia are considering research initiatives designed to implement a sustainable community program and occupational employment demand and supply model for the Pacific Ring. 

Tom Johnson, director of CPAC, added that LEMA and CPAC are considering research initiatives designed to implement a sustainable community program and occupational employment demand and supply model for the Pacific Ring.

The Community Policy Analysis Center proposes an interactive, place-based approach to sustainable community development for the Pacific Ring called Targeted Regional Economic Development (TRED). TRED involves five steps: 1) community members decide on their preferences for changes in their region; 2) the region’s strengths and weaknesses are assessed; 3) the region’s attractiveness to alternative economic sectors is measured; 4) the consequences of alternative economic sectors are estimated; and 5) optimum policies are instituted to bring about the desired future.

The proposed occupational demand and supply model will provide employment baselines that estimate the demand for efficient technology-based employment and the regional capacity to supply the same within the Pacific Ring. We intend to estimate alternative baselines based on competing assumptions regarding both the number and type of technology-based manufacturers and service providers that may locate within the Pacific Ring. By estimating the new demand for technology-based occupations and the numbers of employees needed to fill each employment occupation, we may form the basis for comparing the region’s capacity to educate and supply this occupational demand. This research may provide an objective analytical basis in support of regional efforts to remedy any supply deficiencies.

Action Plans and Funding

Jim McHugh reported the status of action plans approved at the first general meeting at the Shaw Nature Reserve, November 2004:

• Introduction of a bill recognizing the Pacific Ring as a micropolitan area with a goal of sustainability. Status: The bill is being drafted by Representative Selby and will be subject to review prior to filing. The bill will simply recognize the Pacific Ring as a micropolitan area with its goal as a sustainable community. There will be no fiscal note related to the bill.
  

• Complete committee assignments and refine the action plans for each committee. Status:  Three standing committees have been designated with those who have expressed interest in the work of each committee as follows: (Interested parties are encouraged to advise of their interest to serve on any committee, program or project of their choice)
  

I. Education and Research Committee

Research, Teaching and Demonstration of sustainability within the Pacific Ring. (Wendell Smith, Wayne Lovelace, Ron Katz, Wayne George, Henry Shannon)

II. Community and Economic Development Committee

Defining and supporting sustainability and improving quality of life Commercialization of research and advancing those technologies consistent with the comparative advantage of the Pacific Ring. (Kim Gardner, Sheila Steelman, Ron Sansone, Bill McLaren, Tom Johnson,
Greg Aubuchon, David McHugh, Mike Steeno)  

III. Strategic Planning, Policy and Funding Committee
Creating a strategic plan for the Pacific Ring with broad community support. Providing policy makers with credible analysis of policy proposals. Supporting grants and soliciting funds to advance the mission of the Pacific Ring. (Jim McHugh, Peter Raven, Des Lee, Steve Nagle, David Wilson, Blanche Touhill, Wendell Smith, Henry Shannon, Dennis Riggs, Harold Selby) 

The following Programs and Research Projects have been initiated or suggested with those individuals who have agreed or expressed interest in advancing a particular subject:

1. Air and Water Quality  (Wayne Lovelace, Ron Katz, Kate Trauth)
2. Alternative Energy (Galen Suppes, Bob Masson)
3. Advanced Information Technology (Bill Plummer)
4. Environmental Waste Management Campus (Kim Gardner)
5. CPAC / LEMA proposal (Tom Johnson, Greg Aubuchon)  
6. Family Farm Preservation and Sustainability (Bill McLaren, Kim Gardner)
7. McFall’s Creek water shed project (Ron Sansone, Mike Steeno)
8. Pacific Ring Tourism (Sheila Steelman,)
9. Historical and Cultural Restoration and Preservation (Pacific Partnership, Historical Society, Pacific Arts Counsel)
10. Transportation (Under consideration)

• Support and encourage new grant applications for major projects as prioritized by each committee. Continue to seek financial support from private and public sources for the purpose of establishing the Pacific Ring as a national model of a sustainable community. Status: These efforts are underway and the progress of specific programs and projects will be reported by the standing committees.

Three additional action plans were added at the January 19th meeting:

• Initiate information meetings with organizations and citizen groups within the Pacific Ring to invite and encourage their support through dialog and participation.
• Conduct a public relations campaign to establish the Pacific Ring as a national model of a sustainable community.
• Committee meetings and special meetings addressing specific programs or projects will be announced on a timely basis.  Those who have special interest in serving on a committee or working with a specific program or project please advise the Magi Foundation Administrator, Robyn Hanser (rhanser@charter.net) or Jim McHugh (jmchugh@pcblawfirm.com)
  

Adjournment

After thanking the participants for their time and interest, Jim McHugh reminded the group that this was primarily an information meeting and intended to present enough substance and foundation to support continued discussion and action He encouraged everyone with interest to join and participate in committee meetings and discussions. After advising that the next general meeting will be scheduled for the spring of 2005, he adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

Robyn Hanser
Administrator
The Magi Foundation