The Green Bay Sustainability Commission on a September virtual meeting asked commissioners to submit proposed actions for a 2026 work plan and voted to "receive and place on file" the proposed process so staff can gather additional input from city departments.

Commissioners said the plan will be used to prioritize and track concrete projects for next year. "Our goal is that anything that we plan to work on in 2026 would be incorporated into that work plan," a commission member said, urging colleagues to solicit ideas from their networks and stakeholders.

The proposal calls for commissioners to compile a comprehensive list of proposed actions before the October meeting. During that meeting, the commission would assign proposals to work groups. Work groups would then meet between October and November to identify one to three initiatives for 2026, using the SMART framework (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound). At the November meeting each work group would present a draft plan, and the commission would vote on a final work plan at its December 2025 meeting.

Staff emphasized the expectation that each commissioner participate in at least one work group and that, starting January 2026, the full commission meetings would focus on monthly work-group updates against the plan. "The request would be that each work group would come prepared every month with a report on what they achieved toward their 1 to 3 targets," the staff member said.

Commissioners and staff discussed how the work-plan approach could keep the volunteer body focused on achievable outcomes rather than repeated planning studies. Several commissioners endorsed using the work plan as a framework to break larger plans into implementable action items and timelines.

The commission moved to receive and place on file the proposed process and to refer city staff to gather input from department heads and the city's internal resilience and sustainability team. The motion was approved by voice vote.

The commission chair and staff encouraged members to consult the current work plan included in the meeting packet when drafting proposals and to recruit additional volunteers or subject-matter contributors where needed. Members were asked to bring proposed actions to the October meeting for compilation and assignment to work groups.

No budget allocations, ordinance changes or regulatory actions were adopted as part of this procedural item; the action was to collect and organize proposals for future consideration.