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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 03/09/2022 NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR March 9, 2022 6:00 – 8:00 pm Via Zoom 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 1 CALL TO ORDER 6:04 pm ROLL CALL • List of Board Members Present - − Danielle Buttke – Chair − Barry Noon − Dawson Metcalf − Drew Derderian − Hillary Mizia − Victoria McKennan − Kevin Krause – Vice Chair − Avneesh Kumar • List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made • List of Staff Members Present − Honore Depew, Staff Liaison − Ashley Pace − Caroline Mitchell • List of Guests − none 1. AGENDA REVIEW a. Danielle reached out stating she was going to be late to the meeting and Kevin stated he had limited availability, so they would need someone to act as chair. − Kevin nominated Victoria to be acting chair and Hillary seconded. Passed unanimously. 4-0 b. No changes to agenda 2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - none 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – FEBRUARY NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 2 a. Drew moved and Kevin seconded a motion to approve the February minutes with no changes. Motion passed unanimously. 4-0 4. NEW BUSINESS a. Curbside Trash and Recycling Contract – Caroline Mitchell, Waste Reduction and Recycling Program Manager, shared work being done surrounding the Council priority to explore contracting for household trash and recycling services. City staff will ask what goals Councilmembers would prioritize in a contract during an upcoming work session on April 12. − Discussion | Q + A − Victoria – Q – You mentioned that Fort Collins has a more robust licensing system, why is that and what makes Fort Collins unique in that? Caroline – A – The norm across the country is either have contracted services or municipal services. We are unique not only because we don’t do that, but because we also have a strong commitment to waste reduction. Fewer communities license their haulers. − Hillary – When Golden was looking at the same process, Hillary was part of their Sustainability Advisory Board. It is a lot of work, so kudos to the team for moving that forward and it is exciting to think Fort Collins can take the next step as it has been a long time coming. − Barry – Q – Has there been discussions with the individuals who drive and man the trucks who are local members of our community; what are their perspectives? If the city were to adopt, what would be the effects of the employment for these local people? Caroline – A – To clarify we are not discussing the City taking over the hauling business itself, but to issue a contract to haulers. One decision point is if it would be one contract or create districts and contract multiple haulers. We have not conducted engagement with drivers specifically. One key element is that these companies are nationally owned, so it is safe to say there are other communities in Northern Colorado that would continue to use their service. The specifics of what would happen to each company would vary. Barry wanted to express concern for the people who do the actual work and if their perspectives were being considered in the deliberation. − Hillary – Q – How do HOAs play into this and what about commercial recycling and trash? Caroline – A – Colorado State Law states that municipalities are not allowed to contract or service for commercial or multifamily structures of eight units or more. The contract would only apply to single family homes. We are gathering contact information for HOA’s who currently are contracted to get their feedback. We are thinking they could NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 3 either opt in or just roll into the City once their current contracts expire. − Hillary – Q – What percentage of trash hauling is single family vs commercial and multifamily complexes? Caroline – A – We don’t have the number of locations, but volume-wise it is about 50/50. − Kevin – Q – Does that 50/50 still apply in terms of miles traveled? Caroline – A – We don’t have analysis of the numbers of miles traveled by the vehicles. We would have to dial in with traffic engineers to see if there is a way we could get that. Kevin would be interested to see if the numbers based on volume holds up against other impacts. − Drew – Q – What is the timeline to offer to Council, to switch to a contract? Caroline – A – We are working toward a decision on which hauler by the end of the year. There will be some gap time between making the decision and implementation as there are a lot of logistics involved. Based on conversations with haulers, we are looking at anywhere between six months and a one-year gap. − Victoria – Q – What is the best way to provide feedback. Caroline – A – For individual response I am happy to gather that now or you can through the questionnaire. If you want to provide feedback as NRAB, that is usually shared with Council through a memo. Honore – This will not be the only opportunity to weigh in. Staff also tends to attach minutes to the materials for City Council to see thoughts and questions. − Barry – Speaking for himself: No strong perspectives right now. Trusts how staff and Council will approach this issue. − Kevin echoes Barry’s thoughts. The areas that are being focused on are appropriate and correlate to the City and Council’s goals. They are going in the right direction and supports those focus areas. Would be interested in weighing in once they get more feedback from the work session and when there are more specific things on the table. − Drew supports the general idea of pushing toward a contract system. Recommends being cautionary in rushing the gap period, as a year seems quick. b. Our Climate Future Update – Honore Depew, Climate Program Manager, shared updates on implementation of the Our Climate Future (OCF) plan and seek input on proposed community engagement, including for the Council priority to explore climate emergency messaging and review community climate goals. This item will be discussed by City Council at an April 12 work session. NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 4 − Discussion | Q + A − Barry – Q – Since weather operates on broad geographic scales, what efforts are the City engaged in, so the effort we are putting forward to deal with climate issues, is not compromised? Honore – A – Coordination is critical. The City of Fort Collins has been a leader locally, regionally, and internationally. On a state level we were a founding member of Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA), which helps develop, support, and reinforce statewide legislation in Denver. There are now nearly 40 communities participating across Colorado. It has made a meaningful impact on the state level of climate friendly legislation. On a local level we are increasingly coordinating with Larimer County, and we see additional alignment and action coming from a county level. − Hillary – Q – Can you tell us more about the co-led concept and what that might look like? Honore – A – Co-led work has been transformational part of work. Achieving our OCF goals is not something the City can do alone to get to the targets we want and help create the future we want. This started by having over a 1,000 community members help create the OCF plan and set the vision of the 13 transformational Big Moves. Community Consultants are now participating on the OCF Strategy Team along with staff members. There is an application process, and some have been compensated to bring their lived experience. Moving forward we think about projects that could fall into this shared leadership space. Reimagining ClimateWise is a great example of the co-led collaboration model of shared leadership. Staff can advise but is not necessarily in the lead role. The City can break out of the mold of always being in the driver seat. Victoria – The shared leadership model is exciting and allowing for some cool opportunities. Victoria is interested in hearing more examples. She likes the idea of interim targets, to not only keep things moving but create energy and excitement around making a difference and actions mattering. − Avneesh – Q – Referring to the 2030 and 2050 goals, why is there such a long tail between the 2030 and 2050 goal? Honore – A – It is his understanding that at the time 80% by 2030 was an extremely aggressive goal. Several cities have since readjusted their goals to be more in alignment. We also recognize that the last 20% is going to be more difficult as it is not low hanging fruit. It will be slower to get there and harder to attain. − Avneesh – It would be nice to know what the major sources are, so you can get the max benefit for every dollar. Honore – You are in alignment with Council. They are going to be discussing new sources for how the City can increase revenue to take high price priorities like funding for parks and rec system, transit, and housing affordability, which climate work is part of. What NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 5 is the funding we need to make meaningful progress on goals and advance climate future strategies? Electricity, natural gas, single occupancy vehicles, and waste are some of the big sources. − Avneesh – It seems like you must drive here as there aren’t many other options. Honore – Even though Fort Collins is a proud Platinum Bicycle City and we have some great options for safe routes, it is not viable for everyone. A focus on increasing transit infrastructure is a high priority for quality of life and environmental goals. This board did have a presentation from FC Moves team on the development of an Active Modes Plan a few months ago. − Avneesh- It seems like they are pushing to use bicycles, but not the space to use them. Honore – Kevin is the representative from NRAB to the Bicycle Advisory Committee. Kevin – There are a lot of opportunities that are being worked on in the Active Modes Plan. They are trying to put policies in place that would allow a community to reach new levels of cycling and address some of those challenges. Kevin would be happy to chat and collaborate. Honore – The Parks and Natural Areas crews do keep the bike paths clear after a snowstorm. c. 2023-24 Budget Cycle Board Suggestions – Discuss ideas for program and service changes, including changes to current levels of service, that should be considered by staff, Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) Teams, the Budget Lead Team (BLT), and City Council. Suggestions may be made formally, or informally through the NRAB staff liaison. Such ideas should be communicated by Monday, March 14th. − Kevin - Don’t know what to think of specific requests but will continue to push spending for outcomes and wants to see super aggressive budget items. − Dawson - Interested in seeing more energy toward and amping up the water wise landscaping incentive program as well as community engagement communication. − Hillary - Having served on the Budget for Outcomes committee, always impressed with the quality of offers and discussions that happen in those meetings so to be asked this on a removed setting seems funky. One thing Hillary would like to see is East and West connectivity in transit as it seems like that is a big gap in our public transit system that has not seen attention. Also interested in seeing more attention on aging systems in City infrastructure as it is important to keep up on that. − Danielle - Wanted to follow up on the memo Barry was creating for the BFO process and removing the river diversion just north of College Ave. as well as support for electrifying buildings and electric charging infrastructure in new NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 6 housing developments. In a previous meeting the Board voted to support electrification and highlight the cost saving benefits it brings. Barry was hoping to have the memo done by this meeting, but it didn’t happen. One constraint might be the water rights and if it is available for purchase. The dam would be relatively inexpensive to remove but it is an active diversion. Barry was surprised this was not address prior to the white-water park being built due to proximity. Barry will work on memo. − Honore- This will not be the only opportunity for the Board to weigh in. It is an early ask of what areas or themes staff should be diving in deeper on. Some themes Honore will pass on based on the conversation are viability of transit, bicycle infrastructure, increase investment in water wise programs, east-west transit, aging infrastructure, removal of Poudre River diversion dam, benefits of electrification of housing stock, and being electric ready. − Danielle – Q – Honore, with your knowledge of the process, do you feel like specific written memos are necessary or just in minutes that are viewed. Honore – A – This feedback will be sent to the Budget Office along with the feedback from other Boards to help provide guidance to staff and the City Council later this year. Don’t think a memo right now is the timeliest as Council won’t touch the budget until September. − Drew asked to add air quality and monitoring to be a focus. Honore – You will be happy to hear Cassie is also pursuing a grant for air quality monitoring equipment right now. d. NRAB Board Elections- Board members to nominate and elect Board Chair and Vice- Chair for 2022. − Kevin nominated and Barry seconded Dawson as chair. Passed unanimously. 7-0 − Danielle nominated and Hillary seconded Kevin as vice chair. Passed unanimously. 7-0 5. OTHER BUSINESS a. Board Member Reports − Danielle – Q – Any update from 1041 meetings yet? Dawson – A – I am on in addition to Barry being on the official one. We have not met since the last one, so there is no update. Barry- There has not been a second meeting scheduled as they are waiting for some action by City Council before scheduling. A question asked is how you distinguish adverse effect from a significant adverse effect. NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 0 3 /09/2022 – MINUTES Page 7 − Danielle- I would go to irreversible harm, but why should we have to differentiate, lets just avoid both. One could be reversible with a lot of energy, effort and resource, the other is not reversible. − Barry- How does one identify and detect thresholds prior to the threshold being surpassed, because the City is trying to establish thresholds related to significant adverse effects vs adverse effects. − Danielle- I refer to the article about the Amazon inching toward an irrecoverable threshold and scientists would not be able to detect the threshold prior to it being surpassed. Its something you won’t be able to detect until it is too late. Danielle recommends adding cautionary principal phrasing and acknowledging the uncertainty of science. − Victoria- Also look at the irretrievable aspect. Yes, those are significant, but there are also a lot of significant impacts leading up to it as well. − Kevin- Had a presentation from CDOT to go over some bills that passed, one of which was 260 sustainability of transportation system bill that was inclusive of multi-moto funding and EV funding for road maintenance. The Active Mode Plan has also made a lot of progress and it would maybe be a good opportunity to have Courtney back to give updates to the Board. Kevin also attended a meeting related to safety stop legislation. It would be a state level bill to legalize bicycles to safely roll through intersections when conditions dictate. Legislator committee took a not support stance. However, since it ties into sustainability, they wrote a letter in support of the bill to see if the legislator committee would change to a support backing. b. Six Month Calendar Review https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-calendar.php − Board members looked at upcoming subjects through the summer. There was interest shown in heat response plans, the Halligan project, land use code, and the East Mulberry project. c. Revisit action items from previous meetings & preview of next meeting − Barry wanted to check in on the decision for the Rights of Nature Group. Danielle stated that they had decided they would invite them to present as a member of the public and then if the Rights of Nature Group wanted more time, the Board could vote at that time. Barry and Hillary will work on getting in contact with them. 6. ADJOURN - 8:31 pm