The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About04/19/2023 - Natural Resources Advisory Board - Agenda - Regular Meeting Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING April 19, 2023 Location: 222 Laporte, Colorado Room & Zoom: https://fcgov.zoom.us/j/94115567733 6:00 CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL 1. AGENDA REVIEW 2. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FEBRUARY & MARCH 4. NEW BUSINESS 6:10 6:50 Land Use Code Noah Beals (Development Review Manager) will share an update on the Land Use Code Phase 1 Update. The update will focus on the input from 04.11.23 council work session and give an overview of what we are hearing from the community. Staff is here to listen to new topics and receive comments on the Land Use Code update. Multiple upcoming Council Work Sessions on this topic are scheduled. (Discussion) 6:50 7:30 Sustainable Revenue Ginny Sawyer (Sr. Policy and Project Manager) will share information and discussions about options for funding mechanisms for revenue gaps, including for Parks, Transit, Housing, and Climate. Seeking feedback and board member input prior to an April 25 City Council Work Session. (Discussion) 7:30 7:50 1041 Regulations Update Barry Noon (NRAB Representative to 1041 Regulations Committee) has provided an update memo for NRAB in the April meeting packet. The memo includes information on the state of the Draft 1041 Regulations, upcoming timeline for City Council, and perspectives from the 1041 Regulations Committee. Barry is requesting NRAB input and comment and a decision about whether a memo to the Mayor and City Council is appropriate. (Discussion with possible Action) 5. OTHER BUSINESS / UPDATES Board Member Reports Six Month Calendar Review https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-calendar.php Revisit action items from previous meetings & preview of next meeting City Websites with Updates: Natural Resources Advisory Board webpage: https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/natural-resources.php Our Climate Future: https://ourcity.fcgov.com/ourclimatefuture 6. ADJOURN Page | 1 2/15/23 - Minutes Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, February 15, 2023 6:00 PM 300 Laporte Ave., City Hall 1. CALL TO ORDER: 6:02 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present Lisa Andrews Drew Derderian Kevin Krause (Vice Chair) Dawson Metcalf (Chair) Barry Noon Kelly Stewart Matt Zoccali b. Board Members Absent David Bryan Danielle Buttke c. Staff Members Present Honoré Depew, Staff Liaison Kira Beckham, Lead Specialist, Waste Reduction & Recycling Caroline Mitchell, Manager, Waste Reduction & Recycling Carrie Tomlinson, Senior Specialist, Forestry Freddie Haberecht, Senior Specialist, Forestry Ralph Zentz, Manger, Forestry Kendra Boot, Senior Manager, Forestry Christine Holtz, Senior Specialist, Forestry d. Guest(s) None 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Dawson moved and Barry seconded a motion to approve the January minutes. Motion passed unanimously 7-0 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS Page | 2 2/15/23 - Minutes a. Waste Hauler Contracting - Kira Beckham (Lead Specialist for Waste Reduction & Recycling) provided an update on the Single-Family Trash, Recycling, and Compost Contracting project. Staff was seeking board support for the staff recommendation and included an updated timeline and milestones, and overview of the draft contract and key program elements including frequency of recycling pickup (Action) Discussion | Q + A Dawson Q I am curious when thinking about the weekly to every other week on the recycling; did that come up as something that was significant by families as something they would want to add? Did that ever come across? Kira A We have a survey out now asking that question and so far, it seems as if, depending on the family, but it seems as if price is still a top consideration. People are considering everything from do I need it and how often do it I need it, how does that play in with an additional truck on my street from a safety, noise, and emissions standpoint. So, all of those things have come up. I would say generally it feels like so far, people are leaning towards every other week, but we are still collecting it. Kevin Q Related to that, the numbers on the 78% increase for example, based on increased frequency, where does that come from? Why is the recycling rate so much higher with trucks coming more often? Kira Comment I am going to give a shoutout to Caroline on this one because she has done a lot of work on the diversion analysis. She has been closer to it over the last couple weeks. Caroline Q I guess I should clarify, when you are asking the equation was about recycling? Kevin A I messed up on the thought process around the jump. Caroline A Absolutely. As Kira had mentioned, we included a lot of different options in our request for proposals to the haulers and we included this weekly recycling option for a couple of reasons. One is Denver recently changed from every other week to weekly recycling. There had also been a local hauler Timberline Recycling that started up a couple years ago and one of their service elements was offering weekly recycling. When they closed there were a number of folks who had reached out to us get it from any of the other service providers in the community. For those reasons we included it to see what would happen. We all assumed giving more thought to, but when this price difference came in surprisingly close, our team stopped to look deeper into weekly vs every other week recycling. This is hot off the press, as it is work we just did in the last couple of weeks. In this sort of scale of weekly vs every other week recycling you have the greater impact from more trucks on the road to collect material and then you have that counterbalanced by more materials recycled and the greenhouse gas benefits of that. I was really interested to see that in the net there is a net greenhouse gas benefit to the additional recycling when compared. That takes into account the additional greenhouse gas impact so the additional transportation. I know none of which was Page | 3 2/15/23 - Minutes your actual question but some additional context into why here. When we actually get into the more recycling there are a couple different drivers for it. One put their recycling out every single week and so there is some element of that. There are some people who run out of space in their recycling bin and so they will just put materials into their trash bin instead. That is where you see doubling the recycling frequency, it national data over many years. When translated into Fort Collins specifically it would come out to a 9-27% increase in materials collected. I think also, as we have noted on the slide here, the other sort of trends happening across the world right now that are leading more communities to start to look at weekly recycling is the shift to working from home and the shift of materials generated to be more home based than in the past. Also, our increase in online shopping creates more cardboard. I think cardboard specifically is the material that tends to either get into the recycling bin if there is space or not if there is not space. So those are just some of the elements but again this is hot off the press. As Kira was saying we are getting feedback from folks. We have had an online survey on, but I think we have only had 35 responses so far because we have only been asking for less than a week. It is definitely a new topic for consideration in the community. Kevin Q Thank you that is helpful. I am making an assumption but is it still the case that if someone does have excess recycling they can put that in a secondary box or something like that with the contracted scenario? Caroline A Yes, so for the recycling service the base cart size would be the large cart size, 95-gallon cart and if we had weekly recycling collection each household would get one of those. If we had the every other week collection each household would still get a large recycling cart but if they requested they would have an option up to two large recycling carts for no pay as you throw system so that is one of the things that would change, is everyone would automatically receive a large cart. They will still have the option to request a medium size cart if that works better for them. The other piece that I just learned yesterday in talking to a different information source is in the difference between weekly and every other week recycling, for communities that have mostly medium size carts that recycle difference is actually greater than what is represented on the slide here and for communities with the large carts it is typically about the diversion anticipated here. It will be interesting to see which carts people choose, right now the majority of community members have the medium size cart. We can geek out to so many depths. I will leave it there but I am happy to go to any depth if anyone wants to. Barry Q I have a question about recycling too. So we have the large bin and every two weeks we seem to fill it but our concern is as we fill it up is how much of the stuff that we are putting in there is actually being recycled and not going to the landfill. The recycling market is very volatile and is it possible to have a sort of real time particularly true during take out during Covid where people would Page | 4 2/15/23 - Minutes give you these plastic clamshells and you would feel unbelievably guilty. I put them in recycling, but I am sure they went to the landfill along with all the other bottles. Is that even feasible to dynamically communicate to those of us who are recycling what in face is actually being recycled? Caroline A Recycling is one of those things that folks love to have the exposé about, like oh you thought all the material you put in the bin is going to get recycled but actually it tuns out its not. I would say that I would not recommend believing the hype on a lot of those and every recycling program is very local. While there maybe something happening in someplace impacting the recycling program there, on the whole it is actually far more consistent than those stories would have you believe. Specifically, I know about our program, our materials, where they go, and what the markets are. I can tell you that we take very seriously the recycling guidelines that we share with the community and all of the materials that are represented on the guideline do have valid domestic markets. All of the materials that are on the recycling guideline sheet get recycled into new material here in the United States. Barry Q Is that updated information as it comes about as the market changes? Caroline A Our guidelines used to include all the clamshells you are taking about as well as plastic solo cups and a lot of the lower value plastics. Those did get recycled back when China was accepting them because of the lower cost of labor to sort all the variety of plastics. When China stopped accepting those materials, we did a deep dive into figuring out how long term that situation was going to be and when we determined that it looked like it was going to be for the long haul, we changed our recycling guideline and took those materials off. You will notice that specifically for the plastics we list, we recommend focusing on the shape of the plastic rather than the number on the bottom which I know is a big shift for a lot of folks. We focus on bottles, tubs and depending on how specific you want to get jugs and jars . Those materials have strong domestic markets and the value of them goes up and down but they have baseline strong markets so if you put those materials in your bin, they will get recycled. I would ignore the exposés that take place. They almost never have any baring of what is going on in the industry and what is going on with our specific materials. That is a responsibility we take very seriously. Plastics as a whole is also one of those things where when people talk about all the materials that at a community where they are put a lot of materials into the bin that generated in total, how many of those get recycled. Depending on the story, I would be happy to talk about the details of anyone of them in particular but they are generally taking a very specific lens to try and rile people up. The baseline truth about recycling is far less dynamic. Honoré Comment I also put up the A-Z list and put it in the chat too. It has all the answers to specific materials. Lisa Q I just wanted to understand the change. At the present they are hands off. Is that correct and this change they are deeply Page | 5 2/15/23 - Minutes involved? Kira A So to describe the current system a little, we have a licensed system today. We license haulers and they do have to meet certain requirements with the pay as you throw pricing for instance as well as recycling is bundled. As long as the code requirements we have on the books are met, then they can be licensed. We have pretty minimal involvement there. Lisa Q In this new thing, you are up to your elbows in involvement? Kira A To step back again, the contract is going to do a lot. They are going to deliver the service including billing and customer service. We will not be doing the billing or customer service. Billing is something that may come in later that the City may choose to take over. For this first contract that was not possible. They will certainly have a role in doing all of that. Our job will be to administer the contract, to help roll out the program, make sure those customer service levels are met, and also that they are meeting the other requirements in the contract. There are all sorts of things around contamination of materials and specific requirements that the compliance team has worked through. I would say big levels of involvement from the City will be the program administration, contract administration, compliance, and we will also handle escalations from customer service and billing issues if community members are not satisfied with the service they are getting. Matt Q Does this apply to Growth Management Area (GMA) or City limits? Kira A City limits. Matt Q The slide about the money you are asking for and the budget, does that include additional FTE staff on your staff to help manage this or is that something separate? Kira A It does include it. I talked about 2-4 FTEs is where we expect that to be sized and we would expect that to be on the Waste Reduction and Recycling Team. Matt Q So if Council approves the contract and to use which ahs been known to happen, then that burden falls on existing staff to manage this? Kira A It would and that could impact other work we are doing. Matt Comment So I am going to put out there to the Board if we move forward on this, we encourage Council to add staff along with it if they choose to go with this option. Kira Comment Or maybe to say that the administration fee supports the staff. That ordinance will be going forward for that $1.35 administration fee. That is part of the code language that is under approval. That is an important element. I will just add to that and say the goal is to make sure this program is self-sustainable over time. nt it to draw down on existing resources and work that is being done. Matt Q you used, something about them performing the contract up to snuff. Are there mechanisms in there to deal with leaks and spills in the community. I see Caroline smiling because that has been an important ongoing thing. Kira A Yes, it has got so many pages of detail, but it is in there. Caroline A Matt I have it off the top of my head because I know this will matter term garbage Duke but we do have a requirement that any leaks and Page | 6 2/15/23 - Minutes spills email immediately. We worked with Susan Strong to make sure the requirements and penalties align with what made sense to her. Matt Comment Thank you for the presentation. I think it is a step in the right direction to have less trucks in the neighborhood. Kira Comment short on time but there will be no more diesel trucks as they start replacing so they will be moving over time to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). contract but that was another element that is probably important to the team. We will also have a pilot with one electric vehicle. So that was another sustainability win. Kevin Q That was going to be my last question because I remember talking about electrification potential there. Are their outcomes that they are looking for or we are looking for with that pilot program? Would there be a potential for the electrification to scale in the terms of the contract? Kira A I am not sure about in the term of the contract, but I think the intent is to see how it goes and see what the performance of that truck is in cold weather and what have you. Boise was a community that was doing a similar pilot so definitely to see ultimately if we can scale that with the electric vehicles as the technology is evaluated for a trash truck. Caroline Comment One extra layer I might add, so this is actually kind of a big deal. As far as I understand we would be the second community that Republic is bringing in an electric truck to. They do, as Kira has mentioned, have that pilot going in Boise but that is not a common thing in communities yet. It is still in the pilot stage as well. Trash trucks have great opportunity for electric with their stop/start nature. There are also a lot of needs they have that are very particular that still need to be worked out. The leverage of this contracted service enabled us to move to the front of the line for communities to pilot and I think there is a lot of openness that if it works well to seek grant opportunities to expand electrification as soon as the technology is ready. They are adding the electrical charging and the renewable natural gas/compressed natural gas capability. They are installing both at their current site. They are planning for the eventual build out of the electrification. It is all definitely very much on the radar that this is a strong interest from this community and the contract gave us leverage to make far more progress than we would have otherwise. Matt Q In the analysis did you look at a municipal run operation and that landed you back to this option where you said we are not going to buy our own trucks and run it like Loveland? Kira A We did not do a deep exploration. Dawson Q Question for action I think was a memo, have time to turn around a memo in that space. I think the best option would be to vote in support of or not by the Board. A couple of questions when thinking about the vote of support, do we feel strongly about issuing a thought towards the weekly vs biweekly recycling? Kevin A It is hard to say. Matt A If the balance is between using emissions and making neighborhood safer by having less trucks vs potentially increasing recycling, I think that is the core question, right? I don have a good answer either. Kevin A I tend to think maybe retaining the every other week and really targeting a Page | 7 2/15/23 - Minutes new way is the ability to get a family that extra cart or make sure it is well known of what you can do with the excess because to your point, the trucks are gone those other weeks and that is a huge win from full benefit but maybe you can squeak out part of that just by targeting actions towards what would know if that is a naïve statement, but it seems like you can do something. Lisa A I would personally like to stick with every other week and maybe increase the education to build this confidence in recycling. Despite what Caroline said, I think a lot of the public feels confidence or trust in recycling. Encourage people to use less at the front end. If the City could have an education program to encourage week is good. Drew A Maybe also incorporating some of the education to the contractors like a website where you can see all those different recycled materials and that kind of thing. Kira Comment That is built into the contract, so that is covered. Kevin Comment That just sparked a thought for me. When your cart is delivered there is a thing right on it saying did you know you can get another recycling cart or whatever that is built in that may not have the awareness to it. There is a big change coming up and make sure everyone knows that stuff up front. Maybe eat into that because I tend to feel like we are landing on favoring every other week and it would be nice to say why and maybe get some tools out there. Dawson motions and Kevin seconds to vote in support of the single hauler contract with the code change that includes the administrative fee because they want to specifically support that and to support continuing biweekly recycling. Motion passed unanimously. 7-0 b. Urban Forest Strategy and Policy - Carrie Tomlinson and Freddie Haberecht (Sr. Forestry Specialists) shared and update on urban forestry strategy and policy as it relates to Council priorities. This information was presented at the January 24 City Council Work Session. Staff was seeking additional feedback from the NRAB in Q3 2023 (prior to going to council for adoption), with more specific Land Use Code updates related to tree preservation and protection. (Discussion) Discussion | Q + A Dawson Q Thank you for the presentation. Great information. I remember when we first kind of had this conversation around forestry, is the tree canopy diversity, how much ash and everything. Could you speak a little more to the goals to what the diversity scale might look like as we go forward? Carrie A There are different guidelines as far as percentages go. It used to be that Maple Street had maples and Oak Street had oaks on it. Now we kind of want the more the better but a general guideline is no more than 10% of one geneious, like oak or elm but for some that is even too high because that means you lose 10% of your canopy if a disease comes through. For us right now in terms of site plan or new development certain species we are limiting to less than 5%. We have a really good new resource you might not know about called Tree Keeper. It is online Page | 8 2/15/23 - Minutes and is open to anyone who wants to look at it. It has a complete inventory of all of our public trees and has the species, size, location, whether or not it is an ash and if it is being treated by us for emerald ash borer. There is a certain percentage of trees in the public space of the inventory by this amazing person behind me that might be able to speak to that too of how many we are treating that are ash. Christine Comment About 2,100 are ash trees and initially we were going to be doing more frequent removals each year, but the EAB is moving a little slower than we thought so we are not doing too many preemptive removals. We do have a set number we are treating and that is going to be reduced overtime. We will be slowing down planting certain ash trees. We have a whole plan in place that we are shifting a little as it goes on to see what is actually happening. Lisa Q You mentioned 14% as the canopy at this time. Do you have the percentage target that would be ideal? Carrie A That is a great question and one we were going to address as part of the strategic plan. There are different thoughts on that also in terms of canopy metrics being used as just coverage vs other metrics. Does the canopy coverage equate to more cooling, generally yes. There may be other metrics though like age of tree and things that could be put in there as a way to measure the health of your forest too. Right now, the metric is canopy coverage but 14% is not too bad. Everyone says Colorado Springs has 17 we are talking about a different ecology between us and them. We live in a semi-arid desert. The fact that we have an amazing forestry canopy is really an incredible thing. In terms of that being a metric, I think that is going to be in the strategic plan. Barry Comment First of all, great presentation. I had no idea about all of this going on. One suggestion I think you could add to your list of benefits of trees is carbon sequestration and how that intersects e Smart program. That really puts an emphasis on older trees and there are metrics, as you are probably aware, in the Silvics Literature about how to define accumulation of mean annual increment, birthrates. To me that is an additional benefit. There is also knowledge of species-specific trees morphology of how different species of trees complement each other in terms of a multilayer canopy structure to fill a volume and their actual response variable is the volume of space that is filled by leaf area. 30x30 initiative to map, on all federal lands mature an old growth forest. I am a reviewer, not a doer of the methods that are being used to do that and they are actually scaling down eventually in this effort to look at the scale of counties and cities in terms of contributions to harvest seed sequestration and climate change mitigation. So, what you are doing is very cool. I mean I love trees. I here loves trees, but now when you find out about the unbelievable statistic that is a little big shocking. Just in the last few months there have been two peer reviewed scientific publications independently mapping the distribution mature and old growth forest wall to wall in the continental US and Alaska. The rest it is pretty close, but it is kind of shocking, on federal lands the estimate is less than 4% of forest Page | 9 2/15/23 - Minutes ecosystems are currently in old growth conditions. Then the effort yet to be published by the forest service and the BLM using slightly different metrics but these three groups are all fortunately talking to each other on how they are doing it but there will be maps and eventually they will allow you to scale down to the stand level, the scale of 100-1000 hectors. cut these trees down, if Biden or democrats stay in the office but it is an amazing effort, and your work compliments it beautifully. Carrie Comment We are blessed to have an amazing community support this program and a Council workshop that was blown away by the support. People like you and this committee are essential to make sure we can do our jobs too, so thank you. Dawson Q When thinking about the strategic plan areas of focus and conversations around co-creating a more equitable tree canopy, how are you approaching that? How are you finding the communities or actual locations? Carrie A McKale Study is a great resource for us right now. We are actually using original data layers from her study to find neighborhoods that we need to target for our canopy program. We are going to prioritize those communities in terms of giving them first dibs for that program. That is going to happen this year. Other things we are looking at is we are actually applying for grants right now that help with low income neighborhoods and low income household hazard tree removals. A lot of times a large dead tree will prevent the planting of a new tree. It is a danger for the homeowner and it is very expensive. A lot of times they stay standing dead for a very long time so removing those trees, opening up the ability to put new, healthy and good quality canopy is another strategy we are doing. Certainly, this is at the top of our priority levels and minds in terms of programming and what we are doing right now. Barry Comment That brings up another thing and I understand that in residential areas. For standing old dead trees in natural areas, a strong argument could be made that they should be retained. If you were to look at birds in North America, a group that has shown significant population declines are cabin nesting birds. Carrie Comment I am sorry to interrupt you because you are amazing and I love to hear you talk but we are looking at that exact idea with the interrupt but we are going there. Barry Comment That is great, ide your house but in all the natural areas we have, I think retaining those is super important. Freddie Comment Letterman, but I have been talking with Dave and talking about that exact concept. I am trying to utilize some of these urban and peri- urban spaces. I am curious at what some of the impacts are because it hasn been done a lot and to keep it safe for the community. Lets say you tack a sign to a tree in a park that you have removed or removed the hazard from. Maybe you can leave it as habitat value. How do we meld the urban and wild for that increased habitat because forest with urban forestry, what we have is a really clean brush on the ground. What impacts does it have on the habitat value? How do we incorporate that back as an urban Page | 10 2/15/23 - Minutes ecology approach to forest and to urban land management? Carrie Comment We love to hear ideas from amazing resources like you and anything you receive that you want to say, like hey why did we leave the trunk of that tree, call because we would love to have that interaction. Matt Q On slide 34, prioritization of opportunities the high priority items you have escrow from tree establishment, improve mitigation standards to incentivize preservation, and consider increasing penalties for tree removal. I think you are probably finding an audience that is friendly to those suggestions in this group, but I am curious if you have presented that to the Chamber or any of those groups. How is the development community responding because that might be a difference audience. Carrie A In terms of development this particularly is mainly referring to after development, parking lot spaces, that sort of thing. What we are having is 20-30 years down the road after development we are seeing trees disappear that should have been there that were marked as preservation and are still healthy. The actual picture from that slide if you have it pulled up, is that kind of incident where these large cottonwoods were removed, were perfectly healthy and fine. We have had a few of these in the past year so we have looked at needing to have some code changes and enforcement in place to stop that from happening and education education is important to make sure it happens. We started that process with our licensed arborist meeting that we had a couple weeks ago, telling them do not take down healthy tree off commercial sites anymore. If you have questions, call us. We would be happy to do a hazardous tree assessment with you. If it is hazardous we totally agree it needs to be removed but if it is not or only a limb needs to be removed so we can keep most of the tree or even the trunk of the tree, something to that effect. We want to have them call us and interact with us. Matt Q The escrow idea is similar to your erosion control escrow you have, so you put down a security and if the tree -10 years for a certain height, Freddie A Colorado is a really harsh place. It is a great place to sell trees because you can sell it three times. We are looking at how do we better incorporate our long establishment time and match that with the time we see in new development with the money we are spending. Our efforts sort of go further and if we are going to have a lot of new development, lets make sure it counts so it is better in the long term. Honore Comment The board heard from Katie Collins in Utilities about xeriscape last year and one of the elements of that project and reassessment is around updating the soil amendment regulations and expectations for new development with compost and other sorts of things. Just speaking to the full ecology system. Matt Comment Thank you. I agree with Barry the work you guys are doing is amazing and awesome and create the quality o life we have here, so thank you for that. c. Board Elections - Designate NRAB Chair, Co-Chair, and Liaison to the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC). (Action) Page | 11 2/15/23 - Minutes Discussion | Q + A Kevin will be stepping down for the Board soon. Kevin Q It has been four years for me on the Board. It has been great, and I appreciate it. I need to focus elsewhere right now. Regard to timing, it has been wishy washy. Would there be a replacement that could come before the end of the year? Honore A Recruitment will happen on the same cycle. I am not sure if it will happen before the fall. Kevin Comment I will see if I can go a little longer. If there is not a replacement I would rather stay involved as long as possible. We will need a new liaison for the Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) on Mondays as there is no way I can do that. Kevin provided information about BAC and how it is expanding to micro-mobility as well. It will likely soon become the active modes committee, but that is not official. The group meets the fourth Monday of the month and is usually a couple hours long. There is an expectation or requirement for someone from NRAB to be on BAC. Nobody nominated themselves. Dawson stated they have two individuals who are not there tonight and will reach out to them. Kevin stated starting in April he will no longer be able to attend BAC meetings. Dawson reviewed logistics of being chair and vice chair. Barry thinks Dawson should continue. Dawson is interested but happy to take a step back as well. Barry nominated and Kevin second Dawson as chair. Nomination passed unanimously 7-0 Matt asked Barry if he was interested in Vice Chair but stated it was not his strength as he was also on the Environmental Advisory Board for the County Commissioners and was also deeply involved in the lawsuits against Northern Water to stop the dam from being built and contract work with endangered species. Lisa was willing to volunteer but thought someone else might be better. Lisa stated if Kelly wanted to do it this year she would take it over next year and would be happy for Kelly to take it. Kelly was willing to accept the nomination. Dawson nominated Kelly and Lisa seconded. The nomination carried unanimously. 7-0 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Barry Comment I shared with you and Honore what is happening with the 1041 committee and the 1041 is having regulatory constraints on infrastructure projects and the big focus is on Northern Water and this project. I think it might be a good topic. I could talk about it in the March meeting to give more about how it is evolving. I am actually pleased the way it is evolving. The key issue that has been debated on back and forth just in the last week is whether regulatory constraints by the City of Fort Collins can extend beyond the boundaries of the City. The 1041 law has been expanded beyond the boundaries. A good example is Castle Rock that restricted activities that were affecting water supply in the City of Castle Rock. It was challenged in the Colorado Supreme Court and that challenged failed. The law was sustained that it can be extended beyond the boundaries and of course building the dam in Glade Reservoir is beyond City limits but what they do to the river will affect economic, social, and environmental factors in the City. That has been an important thing to come up for discussion recently. Dawson Q Coming from a Board member does it still make sense to be in the Board Member Reports and allocate more time or to be an actual agenda item? Honoré A Page | 12 2/15/23 - Minutes I think since it is not related to an immediate Council action or that staff brings in. Barry, do you know the timing? Barry A Timing keeps getting extended. The 1041 group or whatever we have representatives from a number of the City Boards, so I represent our Board on that committee. Honoré Comment I think if you want to add more time under Board Member reports or make it a new item. I think maybe it depends on how the agenda fills out too. Dawson Comment We can talk about March or April. Barry Comment I think things have been pushed back to May on the 1041 conversation. b. Kevin Comment installation on Pitkin of the advisory bike lane. The road is narrow so there was not enough room for parking, a bike land and two-way traffic so they piloted this installation where it is like maybe a lane that is sort of a lane and a half in the middle with two dashed bike lanes going along the side and some insurrectionary signs on what to do as you approach. You have to corporate, cars have to get behind bikes a data coming from that is that it has been successful and does not increase conflicts or issues. I thought that was neat because it is a controversial type of installation. Sometimes people just go a little crazy about change and it is a unique experience but we can figure it out. Hopefully we see some more of those changes to slow down traffic. I mentioned it briefly, but we did get an update on the spin program and its really successful. I will see if I can get that and share it out. It is really neat how it is being used and growing certain aspects. The staff team is working on making it better from how things are being parked or perceived parked and allowing some areas or prop signs to allow areas of code to change to better support what is happening now. Technically in City code there is no where you can park them and they tell them to park them in certain spots but that is not in code. There are all these nuances that are not caught up in terms of City code. From our perspective it is really delivering. I will try to find the presentation. Matt Q From a natural resource perspective and personally, I love the program and think it is great. I would love to see more data. As a homeowner, I have spin stuff left, like I have had a scooter sitting in our yard for like two months now. If there is something I can do, please tell me. There are bikes around the corner that have been in the bushes for like three months. Kevin A If you text them know this but when they are done with the ride they are required to take a picture of how they parked that. There is a compliance thing where if someone goes and reviews all those pictures, you get dinged if you miss park it or say it ends up launched over there. That might not be how someone parked it. It could be someone else but part of what they are trying to do is evaluate opportunities to continue to educate and look for opportunities that is needed to penalize or incentivize. One thing I did get from it is they will respond fast. They want the input Report it, they are there, they know the data and they know who rode it before. Matt Comment Comment are more engaged and the company is supposedly awesome. 9. STAFF REPORTS 10. OTHER BUSINESS Page | 13 2/15/23 - Minutes a. 2023 In-Person Meetings The meeting in March has been pushed back a week to be the 4 th Wednesday due to spring break. Dawson asked about holding in person meetings vs virtual. Honore will check on the room availability for next month since they moved the meeting. They will discuss more about in person moving forward at their next meeting. b. Six Month Calendar Review For March they currently have, sustainable funding update, downtown parking plan, economic health strategic plan with circular economy, and an update on NISP from Barry. Dawson recommended moving downtown parking to April for more time on the other topics. Honoré offered a topic on the land use/development code. Honoré Comment There are linkages to Our Climate Future (OCF) and other environmental policies that are supported by the new land development code. What we have heard is that Council and the public have not gotten a clear message about the linkage between those environmental aspects and land use planning. Really the main has been around housing affordability and that is a huge thing and even captured in OCF but in terms of the reduced vehicle miles traveled and other sorts of livability aspects of 15- minute neighborhoods, increased housing capacity, and density. I think there could be a really important role for NRAB to play in helping to advise Council who already voted to adopt rules but also the great community in trying to share a little bit about those linkages and what you all see as important. I would recommend something in this quarter if you invite Noah Beck, Meaghan or Paul to talk about that. Kevin Q Is that more feasible for April? Honoré A More for April than March. Although they are just going gangbusters. They agreed last night to do monthly work sessions on this topic because this is a tough community conversation. Council hit the reset button and now they really want to lean in. I am seeing general agreement. I will talk to staff to see what the right month is but will pencil it in for April. Dawson Comment Regional waste shed was more of a point of interest from us not necessarily tied to a timeline. Honoré Comment So that is two items for March and potentially forward with he election changes. We have November elections so that fall will turn into a light tim action. They are supporting some life work balance stuff around taking an intentional recess in some of the summer months. My point being when looking at this calendar, it does get a little lighter. If you look at the gray rows, those are the ones marked for work sessions. You can see as we scan through some of the things you all have talked about previously like here is the urban lakes water quality management program under regular meetings. You will see some of those things pop up but generally your work plan and items align with the work sessions items. Hughes is on the March 14 th work session. Council is now receiving staff reports during work sessions rather than regular meetings. It is a new change and just about a 10-minute overview with minimal questions. It is not a full work session item. Page | 14 2/15/23 - Minutes Honoré went over some upcoming topics some of which the Board had already touched on. Honoré will check with PDT on intention on taking items to the Boards. Perhaps they can do a combined conversation with transit and downtown parking. Honoré also mentioned canceling a summer meeting to give the Board a break. Matt Q Does the Board have interest in an update on Halligan? I saw it on the 6- provide an update because it looked like it was down the list. Honoré A It is on March 14th so that is sooner. time they were here. Dawson Comment Maybe last semester right before you all joined. Honoré Comment I am not seeing it listed so it could have been late 2021. Kevin Comment It is good to have a regular touch point on it. Barry Comment I just looked up the latest thing I got from Kirk Lonstein and apparently, he mentioned that Council is going to consider this on May 2nd so depending on when we meet in April, we might want to have a memo to City Council from our group and we would need less time. I could work ahead of time and have a draft a pretty big deal actually. Dawson Comment I think it would be fine if we could make it an actual agenda item with the memo and those pieces. We do have March if we want to use a little time in the Board member reports to formally say we are going to do a memo in preparation and then vote in April. Barry Q I am a little paranoid about the open records. If I were to do an initial draft and share it with everyone to get edits and comments and track the changes can that be done internally in our group? Is that okay? Honoré A The current way the law is wr explicitly exclude shared documents on google. I think the main point of it is that the work needs to be available to the public. The guidance we got from Davina is to say that we should include drafts in the packets that go out before the meeting so people can see them. I would recommend not doing comments or conversating through that means in substantive ways. Make sure that is captured in public record, but it is a useful tool. Barry Comment So if I send out the draft and ask people to use track changes and went back and forth with a few iterations. Kevin Comment Then that is brought back to the board to review and adopt the memo vs making substantive changes after saying yes, we are going to move forward with the memo. Dawson Comment At some point we will have to make those tracks available for the public. When the meeting came about, we would have to make the draft available. Matt Q Am I mis boundaries attached to 1041? Are you suggesting something supplementary to that? Barry A Pretty much on that same theme because it has come up again and put out for consideration. Our 1041 committee and other groups including Save the Poudre have responded to it as well. I have been privity to looking at those different responses and all I have seen in cord with us that there should be geographic boundaries. What we have learned in the interim is about other cities doing it and about the Page | 15 2/15/23 - Minutes challenges that have been sustained in the Supreme Court in Colorado and cities can extend proposed 1041 restrictions beyond the bounds of the city. That has been the biggest thing that has changed. boundaries. So, I did some research and came across this Castle Rock thing that had a challenge in court and prevailed and it was over water issues. I am not a lawyer but there might be better examples. It only took me a couple of hours on the internet to track it down. Dawson Comment Lets table this for March due to time and the need for writing a memo. Then we can make a motion if the Board sees appropriate and then vote in April. Barry Comment It is an issue we already address but resurfaced. Kevin Comment I think if you already have a draft in mind Barry, draft and sharing for discussion is not a bad thing. What are we going to do. Honoré Comment If you are going to draft something, we could include it in the packet and that would be most idea regarding the open meetings law. Barry Comment I could do that. Barry will join virtually next month. 11. ADJOURNMENT a. 8:43pm Minutes approved by a vote of the Board/Commission on XX/XX/XX Page | 1 3/22/23 - Minutes Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, March 22, 2023 6:00 PM Remote 1. CALL TO ORDER: 6:03 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present Lisa Andrews Danielle Buttke Bryan David Drew Derderian Kevin Krause (Vice Chair) Dawson Metcalf (Chair) Barry Noon Kelly Stewart Matt Zoccali b. Board Members Absent Barry Noon c. Staff Members Present Honoré Depew, Staff Liaison Jillian Fresa, Economic Health Manager Molly Saylor, Lead Sustainability Specialist Ginny Sawyer, Sr. Policy and Project Manager d. Guest(s) Galemarie Kimmel Mary Witlacil 3. AGENDA REVIEW 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION a. Galemarie Kimmel and Mary Witlacil joined to continue the discussion on the Poudre River and the Rights of Nature. They wanted to thank the Board for the memo they wrote in December. They also wanted to get the Board s opinion on what the guardianship body might look like. Dawson A Personally I think it has to be different from NRAB due to all the expectations, priorities, and other commitments we have to meet. I do see this as a body that is geared specifically towards the Poudre River Watershed. That would be my first foundational thoughts there. Page | 2 3/22/23 - Minutes Danielle A - I do think similar to NRAB that whatever guardianship body has decided upon it would be important to be influenced if not appointed by elected officials so it can be somewhat reflective of public opinion and yet still have a recognized process that is very transparent. I think there are critical differences between an advisory board and essentially a decision making body that actually has the ability to influence policy. I think it would be ideal if this particular body was more than simply an advisory board but had decision- making authority. Dawson Q Honoré, can you maybe help inform this conversation a little bit based on what Danielle was just saying. Can you explain the differences to me on how the City looks at our advisory boards and commissions? I know there are some quasi-judicial decisions. Could you give us some foundation on that? Honoré A I will do my best and then may take a little follow up with someone with more in depth knowledge if you wanted to explore this further. Essentially, the traditional advisory boards and that is most of the 27 or so boards and commissions are specifically tasked with advising Council as a body without any decision making authority. Then there are a handful of boards that do have quasi-judicial authority over certain aspects like reviewing complaints or the Planning and Zoning Board for example. That would require a different type of charter or change inside our City Code. That is not super helpful but yes as you point out there is a distinction between advisory boards and quasi-judicial boards. I can get more info on that if that is helpful. Dawson Comment I appreciate that, Honoré. It was simply for me to better understand some of the commitments or roles that we play between those. Matt Comment I have a quick comment related to Danielle having the river guardianship group be more than advisor. I am not throwing that out, but it gives me sort of an initial set of heartburn only because of what I understand the Water Commission does in terms of being a quasi-judicial decision-making body. As long as there were some guardrails and guidelines for if the Water Commission is tasked with say making a decision related to a flood plain issue. How could that sort of crossover with a new potential guardianship of the river kind of voice. How would they work together? Again I am not throwing the idea out, just presenting another challenge of opportunity, however you want to frame it to how those groups would work together. Presenting a problem instead of a solution. I apologize for that but that is where I am at. Bryan Comment Somewhat similarly on that note, if the end goal is for this body to be advocating for the natural rights of the river, it almost seems to me that being separate from a governing body allows it to have more freedoms to take stands and advocate from a different point of view from a body like NRAB would be sort of limited to in some ways. If the end goal is to push for things that are counter to some government initiatives being on the outside of that maybe helpful and provider a broader sense of perspective than what would be coming from politically appointed positions or something like that. Galemarie Comment We have heard lots of those voices in our head at one time or another, so they are confirming. It is a little Page | 3 3/22/23 - Minutes puzzling at how best to imagine this going forward. We see you as colleagues in all of this so as we keep noodling our way, we will let you know. How do we best stay in touch with you all? Is it just showing up at these moments? I would have at least loved to have warned you we were going to ask that so you might have been able the Boards. Dawson A You can email me as the Board Chair or Honoré as the Board Liaison. That information can be shared if you were planning to come. Public participation is open to anyone in those ten minutes. It is important to note though if we have multiple guests joining us, we have to be conscientious of that time and how it is divided between folks. Honoré Comment It is great to communicate directly with the Board Chair. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. The Board will approve the minutes at their next meeting as they are waiting for clarification on a portion of the minutes from Barry who was unable to attend or review them. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Economic Health Strategic Plan Circular Economy Jillian Fresa (Economic Health Manager) and Molly Saylor (Lead Sustainability Specialist) shared an update on the Economic Health Strategic Plan. The update is focused on supporting businesses to enable a healthy, equitable, and resilient economy and community, including an initiative to support a circular economy. This information was presented at the March 14, 2023, City Council Work Session. Staff was seeking additional feedback from the NRAB prior to going back to Council for a second Work Session on August 8, 2023. (Discussion) Discussion | Q + A Matt Q Thank you for the presentation. It was very informative. It seems like you are pretty evolved in the circular economy portion of the planning and how you are starting to look at implementation. This question comes from curiosity and not criticism. Early in this presentation you mentioned wildfires and urban fires that we saw down in Superior and things like that and the City would have a role in supporting businesses and being resilient to those kinds of events. I am curious what implementation steps you see the City being involved in. For instance, a small business having a continuity of business plan to deal with an urban fire, where might they set up shop if their business was burned down, and those kind of things. Is that the sort of thing you are thinking with that program? Jillian A addressing the need for one. Just because a few of us went down to talk to Empire and their Economic Development Office and the impacts not only to the actual burn but also the smoke and that completely destroyed the businesses down there. So still trying to explore what a preparedness program would look like in terms of fires Page | 4 3/22/23 - Minutes but even in that educational stance of small businesses understanding their insurance policy. If they are impacted by fires understanding their own insurance policy to be prepared but still exploring that. That is a great question. Dawson Q I was curious if you were looking at other municipalities or cities when it comes to circular economy and how they have formed policy ideas regarding the implementation of some practices. I know we were talking a little bit about our sister city and everything but I am curious if there are some American cities you are looking at right now specifically regarding the policy piece. Molly A We are looking generally at all parts of the circular economy. Policy and how that is being done in other cities is part of that. You probably Strategic Plan because that is nearly a plan intended to support businesses. You will see more of the supportive programming side and probably through one of our other planning mechanisms is where some of the policy things would show up. For example, one exciting win for businesses and cities in the state of Colorado in the policy space was the new extended producer responsibility law that the state enacted which will require, if you are producing packaging, you are now responsible for the recycling of that financially. That was great and we actually heard from some of our local businesses that they really supported that because they need the recycled content to come back in to achieve their own goals. To come back to your question about other cities, yes we do look at those. We are looking domestically and internationally and what we are finding is sometimes it is the creation of new policies, but often looking at what polices may need to be removed that are barriers. We are seeing some really interesting things come out of Denmark and Sweden that are about looking at policy barriers and that it is its own policy action. I think generally we see things fall into categories like producer responsibility times those are things that are more easily implemented at a higher level of government where cities are more at an advocating space. Things like the right to repair movement, meaning that if you buy certain products you are guaranteed that they can be repaired or that you can repair them. That has its own spectrum and then we also see some things in other cities that are around land use and zoning. There are a lot of circular economy things that have to do with co- location of things that may not typically go together. If you were to think about a server farm and perhaps a greenhouse, those things are not always zoned to be compatible but that is an important part of circular economy. Sometimes we see something in other cities where they need physical space to store materials for a certain amount of time and that storage space needs to be convenient to builders and that sometimes also requires different land use and zoning options. Just in terms of names of cities, we have looked at Charlotte, Cleveland, and Portland. We have worked closely with a consultant in the Netherlands who has done a lot of work with Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and some Danish and Swedish cities. Our Portuguese city also happens to be a big manufacturing industry so they have some really interesting chops where they are helping co-locate Page | 5 3/22/23 - Minutes incubation spaces for circular economy focused businesses within the actual physical space of more established manufacturers. They have textile startups co-located within one of their big manufacturing offices. There is a lot of cool stuff we are seeing and that was probably a long and enthusiastic answer to your question. Dawson Comment I was just going to say I love the enthusiasm behind it. That is great. It just helps me frame the context and think of things I could look at to better inform myself. I appreciate it. Thank you. Danielle Q First and foremost, I am absolutely blown away and so excited about this initiative. It feels amorphous and enormous and that terrifies me. How do you start eating this elephant? I just want to commend you on being so visionary and really coming up with a phenomenal approach to what seems to me such a difficult problem. It looks like you are making some really exciting inroads. A couple of things come to mind. As this plan identifies a growth based economy cannot by nature be a sustainable one. We have externalized impacts to natural resources and human health for so long that we do have to think about not just a circular economy but a scaled down or a different scaled economy in such a way that we are no longer externalizing environmental impacts. One of the ways, Sweden in particular, has approached this is by changing some practices around private ownership. Instead of everyone having their own washing machine, maybe in an apartment, there is a shared washing machine or shared appliances. That feels very foreign to most American cultural values. The City has done some amazing work in the tool lending library that is available at Eco-Thrift and a couple of other places like the drop and swap at the Larimer County Landfill. I am wondering if you have evaluated these programs and if there are opportunities to scale it up or look for potential business opportunities of more rental type facilities or opportunities there. My second question/comment is that part of preparedness or resilience is making so close to having massive shortages of not just toilet paper but food and other really critical supplies. I am wondering if you are prioritizing essential services or businesses as part of this circular economy plan and the Economic Health Strategic Plan to make us more resilient if we do have these large chain disruptions whether it is an event from a wildfire or an event like COVID. Molly A In the world of reuse and sharing economy I think we as a City have been in a space where we know that is the ultimate route of our sustainable practices. We always need that really strong recycling foundation and we have some big gaps in that. I think we have had to focus on that while trying to be opportunistic about supporting other things. I think we are at a point where we can shift into a more strategic way of growing our reuse and sharing economy and I think part of that will be really understanding who is already in that space and trying to convene them to do this together. We are able to start putting some of the funds from the disposable bag ordinance or paper bag fee towards that. We think that there will probably be some other funding we can use, both internally but also start to push out into the community to those people who are already active to help them start to grow and to think about what strategies are needed there. I think the City can Page | 6 3/22/23 - Minutes have some role in behavior change but in building a culture, that would certainly go beyond what we can do in-house. I think that is work you will most likely see reflected through Our Climate Future and the other big moves but that is closely tied, and we see some intersections too. For example, we see business models that are bringing reusable cups or takeout containers to cities and that is the intersection of a business model that is circular but with that community scale sharing in mind. I think we are at the beginning of an exciting time for that kind of stuff. Jillian A That is a great question about prioritizing essential businesses and in the point of keeping things local. That is one of the strategies that I was referring to was how we can develop local procurement practices and really connect small, medium, and large businesses together to address supply chain resiliency as well as increase employment opportunities. We did run a cluster study through Hickey Global in our economic analysis update and some of the industries that were identified that were really excelling it and this is really thanks to our strong partners locally including CSU and Ionosphere which is an incubator here, was clean tech energy, bioscience, and ag sciences. Those were some industries that we are trying to elevate thought this strategic plan. Thank you for highlighting that. I think that is a great point. Kevin Q I guess one area that comes to mind for me that I am point about this being and feeling big and overwhelming, any areas where the City has more control to encompass the end to end opportunities to me sound very interesting. That might sound strange because I know the initiative is to connect private and other business to one another and so forth. I guess on the front, I am curious about your thoughts on around things like even facilities. Thinking about what people in our community have to leave our community for to me feels like it ties in to this conversation to say the more we can keep people in our community. Obviously there are several other goals and initiatives around reducing travel and so forth but I think it also keeps money in our community and in that economy of these same businesses that would be working in the program in a different context. I would be curious if there have been thoughts to look inward whether that is areas like Parks and Rec might present an opportunity or other areas certainly in or around the City. It could even be so far to say say there is no gelato place and from some data set everyone is going to Johnstown to get gelato. Like hey there is a business opportunity here Jillian A Right now our Planning Development and Transportation (PDT) department is exploring the 15-minute city model and really trying to identify these little pockets of community. I think they are going to do a full analysis of what that looks like and reserve land for those opportunities in that space. I think you do make a great point, especially around where people work. We know we track commuting percentage, but I want to say 1% of Fort Collins travels to Colorado Springs for Page | 7 3/22/23 - Minutes work and that has a major impact on the environment of course. That is really where our business retention expansion and supporting our large employees is important. Ultimately if we have good jobs, people can work here and live here. I think that is a great point. Kevin Comment I guess I would say on the 15-minute city is I think you can miss something that is just not in our community as a whole. What is kind of reiterating this for me is there has been a lot of conversation, as you might have seen at Council a couple weeks back about the lack of a large scale bike park in our community. We have a lot of people who travel all the way to Boulder regularly for a recreational facility that we could create here. That is not a 15-minute is people having to take these increasing trips for something like that. I feel like there is a lot of stuff that could fall into that similar space. b. Sustainable Revenue Ginny Sawyer (Sr. Policy and Project Manager) shared early discussions and information gathering related to options regarding mechanisms to fund revenue gaps. She was seeking feedback and board member input on framing of options (Discussion). Discussion | Q + A Kevin Q Thank you Ginny, this is great. I really appreciate that thought and lead up to the meat of it all at the end. I guess where my brain goes is especially coming from the circular economy focus and curious when I think of parks, one thing I think of is are there things we need to stop doing. Clearly there is a finding gaps there is identified top tier focus area has been out there. I am curious if things have not been utilized enough but then require maintenance for example or has something really declined in popularity since it was installed in the 80s but now it needs maintenance. Are there things where dget into it. Hand in hand with that something we have talked about as a Board with like parks, one of the items in there was turf maintenance and other associated turf costs and what is the turf removal plan because we have been thinking about this for single family and other development opportunities. How do we just stop some of that stuff? I think one thing for me is just pairing up the need for funding with areas we can take a hard look at vs just upping the request for funding from voters. Sometimes yo have to stop or say no. Just curious about that department. Ginny A So park maintenance is entirely funded out of the general fund, so not even just what do we stop doing in the parks, it is what do we stop doing out of the entire general fund. I am biased but I feel like our park folks are really good in this area and they track and notice how we are doing less turf in existing parks and in new parks. We will never get away from turf because there is a strong desire for that obviously. I think they are doing good water maintenance plans. The stop doing would ultimately look at closing parks either because of unsafe playgrounds and infrastructure, courts that are deteriorated enough that they are not being used, or irrigation systems that are not Page | 8 3/22/23 - Minutes worth replacing. It is always a good question, and we are going to be asked that as we go forward so I think we are in a process now of really going out to all general fund and all services to say what are the efficiencies we have done, what are the trends we have seen, and where have we stopped doing things. Kevin Comment Right because it is utilization. It is great to have that one tennis court that I can walk to but only five people use it per week, and we are spending want to take anything away from anyone, nobody does, but we do this with so many other things where we optimize. I know you said they are on top of it as a department. I am not trying to s people who use that court because it is going to cost us a million dollars over ten years to maintain or whatever it might be. Ginny Comment I appreciate the comment. Danielle Q This is a little bit out in left field, but I think we do so much as a City, that it is easy to ask for more because it is such an incredibly accommodating and progressive place to try new things. Thinking about increasing taxes on utilities, thinking about these conflicting affordable housing and circular economy goals and metrics, one of the things I keep thinking about are some of the zoning restrictions that we have. It was mentioned in the previous presentation of the idea of having a server farm and a greenhouse Similarly, we have pretty restrictive housing and residential laws when it comes to very friendly climate practices such as tiny homes, gray water, composting toilets, etc. When we increase tax on utilities and basic services we are further undercutting the people at the bottom tier of income brackets that are struggling to make ends meet without providing them with any other option. I am wondering if there are conversations happening in ways in which we can support those individuals to have individual homeownership by allowing and changing some laws to allow tiny homes. I believe very strongly that the City has a standing to sue the state for water rights to allow for gray water rights to allow gray water because of the very clear conflicting allowances for septic systems which are essentially gray water rights but individuals that d multimillion dollar homes. I am wondering what conversations might be happening at this nexus. I realize it is a little far outside your primary court area but with a mention of some of these taxes and the prior conversation happening of the influence of zoning, I think this is a conversation we should all be having when we are talking about affordable housing, sustainability, and the triple bottom line. I am interested in your comments and if you say this is not my area, I totally understand as well. Ginny A I will say our Council and staff are committed to all our residents with a focus on equity. As we have had this and any tax that could be rebated back to income qualified is part of Page | 9 3/22/23 - Minutes that conversation. We want to do that. We are having what I will call a more blunt, not a sharp tool kind of conversation around this new revenue just because we know we have these gaps in the areas that you are talking about and really brining all of these things together to create an environment where more can happen. Those conversations are happening. We did pass a gray water measure this year where ink I am making that up. Danielle Comment The caveat there and I am super biased is that it is gray water in name only. It allows you to reuse your sink water to flush your toilet. It does not allow any subsurface irrigation which is what is really needed from a climate and sustainability perspective in this climate and environment. Ginny Comment We are having the conversation and trying to get there as we can. Then certainly our Land Development Code was looking at all the things you are talking about and today the state was was finalized, that was actually calling for a lot of the things that was in our Land Development Code. We are at a really interesting nexus both statewide and loc know what will happen or come out of it but to answer your question, are the conversations happening, absolutely. The process is always slower than we want it to be. Honoré, anything you want to add to that. Honoré Comment It is a pretty exhaustive comment and I appreciate it, Danielle. I think it shows sort of the complexity of this work when we are being asked to follow the traditional model which is to approach voters with a packet of services and say here is what you will get if you vote for this tax. Now as we try to adapt and stay more nimble, we are looking to Denver who passed a very flexible voter approved sales tax for the climate protection fund that allows, within certain allowable uses with a strong focus on equity to distribute those tax resources in a way that help accelerate and scale up climate initiatives. That is not the model we have used here before and that sort of takes time to adjust people to there is much comfort. We seen a lot of support for a sales tax from Councilmembers who weighed in so far but I do think that kind of model could provide more of the flexibility you are referring to. Danielle Comment I think it is a cart before the horse issue. You need zoning in place in order to have those flexibilities. Ginny, thank you so much for your grace in answering a question that was really very far outside your area but in my mind, it is kind of the donut hole and so I appreciate your input there. Ginny Comment I guess I would ask going forward just to not even ask for a position but to help us raise awareness in the community when and if anything comes forward. I think this is a bit complex as much as we try to simplify it. I do think something will make it to the ballot and it is going to be a much shorter timeframe than we certainly as staff are used to in being able to build a story and take time to get out and talk to a large portion of the community. We are going to be pretty crunched in that area. Please reach out if anyone does have questions. Honoré Comment I would add in, we will do what we always do at the end of the meeting which is look Page | 10 3/22/23 - Minutes at the six-month planning calendar and map out your agenda. I am conversation around this even next month or in May because as Ginny said despite all the content and detail she shared, we have been shuffling down a funnel to more specificity slowly but surely. I do think after that April 6th Council Finance Committee there will be a lot more specificity including the natural gas options both the possibility towards a climate tax on natural gas or simple increase to the franchise fee could generate $800k - $1 million/year. It could be helpful for you all to be able to advise Councilmembers on what your perspective is on what the best way forward might be because they will have a hard time parsing through these options and making a final decision about you thinking about doing another round with boards? Ginny A I mean for sure because by then we should also have a more refined and smaller list of what is being considered which will make it easier to say yes, yes and, or maybe not. Honoré Comment And having this foundation will help you all jump back into that conversation in a meaningful way. This is one where I think Council needs some help figuring out what the interest, priorities, and appetite of the community is for some of these options. Bryan Comment I would be happy to have another opportunity to weigh in once Council has looked at it and refined it. I think that is a great idea. Thank you. c. 1041 Regulations Update Barry Noon (NRAB Representative to 1041 Regulations Committee) was supposed to update the Natural Resources Advisory Board on the state of the Draft 1041 regulations, upcoming timeline for City Council, and share perspectives from the 1041 Regulations Committee. Barry was proposing a formal motion from the Natural Resources Advisory Board to recommend that City Council adopt 1041 Regulations with considerations shared by the 1041 Regulations Committee. (Action) Barry was unable to attend the meeting so the Board agreed to table the conversation for a later meeting. It was also mentioned that they are looking at pushing that back from a City standpoint so they thought there was time for that conversation down the road. 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS a. Kevin Comment I was unable to attend the last Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting. It was a joint meeting with the Transportation Board of which on that. I will say and I have shared this to some degree, but I am seeing if I can pull back. I am toeing the line to see what I can make happen and nobody jumped out about getting on BAC either. Danielle Q When does BAC meet? Kevin A The fourth Monday at 6pm. I will definitely need a sub for some of them, if I can put that out there first. Danielle Comment I will sign up for a sub. I wish I could do it full time but we are still settling in and getting the CSA up and ready. I will happily sign up to be your sub. Kevin Comment We will touch based. I will need a sub in April. b. Matt Comment Something I did recently, and it was out of curiosity, but I rode the bus from my house to my office because I wanted to see how long it would take. I live out by Overland and Mulberry basically, so I had to pick up Page | 11 3/22/23 - Minutes the bus at LaPorte and Hollywood. Sorry I am going to give you the play by play quick. I had to be there by 6:19am so I could make it to my office by 8:00am. I had to transfer at the Downtown Transfer Center and wait a little outside in the cold with some other folks who were cold because the station was closed. It sounds like I am whining but I am just telling you the facts. I got on the bus and it finally made it to my office after getting dropped off near Riverside and Prospect. Our office is kind of to the northwest of Bath Nursey. All in all it was an hour and 14 minutes to go about eight miles and I thought man if I had to do this everyday back and forth and I had kids and I had to get to the grocery store. It sounds like I am being critical but I guess what I am getting at is I wanted to understand our local/public transportation system better. There was pretty good ridership there; there were about ten people on presentations from Transfort folks about ways to improve but is an hour and thoughts? Honoré Comment I am happy to share. I have had similar experiences. It is tough for people who ride the bus all the time. Certain routes are much more frequent, like the Max Line is amazing and all of that. We have, as you know, in the PDT service area specific departments including one that focuses on transit and one called FC Moves which includes bicycles, pedestrians, and active modes. We have had an item that has bounced around that is no longer on the Council calendar around advancing transit initiatives. I can follow up on that and see about getting a specific conversation around transit or could invite FC Moves to talk more broadly about all active modes of transportation as well. I guess you did have a bunch of time with Cortney Greary when the Active Modes Plan was being developed. Matt Comment That is true. going over the next few months but it was sort of a moment I realized this and perhaps I should have realized it sooner. I am fortunate to have a car and get trip for people every day That is my bad. Honoré Comment I will take whatever direction you give but it is a little bit of a lighter Council calendar so as we segway here into talking about the next several months of planning, those sort of general updates from staff, so you all get more familiar with the landscape in these different areas could be a good use of your time. Kevin Comment I will just point out what I immediately think of is the mobility that e-bikes give and obviously like it is such a strong possible thread in the community to really make those happen and it has been shown through some of the grant programs. I just saw a notification that they are trying to regain traction at the federal level for 30% tax incentives for e-bikes to be able to solve that. It is hard to solve that big transit part and to the previous presentation we put a dedicated tax and the more we can promote those other forms that we are trying to promote anyway could solve that for some, not all. That came to mind. If you combine that federal with the state with the local you can get people e-bikes and that gives them more freedom, mobility and circumstances that could be great. Matt Comment Thanks Kevin, I appreciate that. I had a couple bucks out because I was going to pay the guy we fund it all out of the general fund and nobody is paying. I get that some Page | 12 3/22/23 - Minutes give you $10 for this trip. That is what Lyft would have cost me. Kevin Comment Right, there is a bit of a mismatch it feels like. 9. STAFF REPORTS 10. OTHER BUSINESS a. Six Month Calendar Review Honoré went through the Council calendar and mentioned minimum wage and Land Use Code. He stated the Land Use Code is getting complicated and will be a meaty conversation. He thought the Board bringing their perspectives to Council could be meaningful. There should be multiple ways for them to bring in input as individuals or as NRAB. Honoré also mentioned topics like sustainable revenue, Council priority update, regional water update, occupancy regulations, and Transit. He mentioned Council will be taking a break during the summer. For April the Board has Land Use Code, 1041 Regulations, sustainable revenue, Downtown Parking Plan, update on NISP, advancing transit initiatives, and regional water as potential agenda items. The Board discussed if it would be better to have sustainable revenue as a topic in April or May and the details on the regional water topic. Honoré will find out more information on regional water. The Board decided to focus on Land Use Code and sustainable revenue for their in-person April meeting. Dawson will also extend an invitation to their Council Liaison. 11. ADJOURNMENT a. 8:02pm Minutes approved by a vote of the Board/Commission on XX/XX/XX Land Use Code Phase 1 Updates: Process Next StepsApril 14, 2023Noah Beals | Development Review Manager Purpose of the Land Use Code Updates:To Align the LUC with Adopted City Plans and Policies with a focus on: Housing-related changes Code OrganizationEquity2 FIVE GUIDING PRINCIPLESRevisions to the code will continue to support the five guiding principles confirmed by City Council in November 2021 with an emphasis on Equity.1.Increase overall housing capacity(market rate and affordable) and calibrate market-feasible incentives for deed restricted affordable housing2.Enable more affordability especially near high frequencytransit and growth areas 3.Allow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing context 4.Make the code easier to use and understand5.Improve predictability of the development permit review process, especially for housing 4TimelineStage 1 (Mar-Apr)Begin outreach to allIdentify areas for engagement and potential adjustmentStage 2 (Apr-Jun)Gather feedbackEducate, Inform & ConsultStage 3 (Jun-Jul)Draft Code RevisionsTesting & Legal ReviewStage 4 (Aug-Sept)Recommendations & Adoption 5Upcoming Engagement OpportunitiesEarly April Postcards arrived in mailboxesApril 12th, 6:00-9:00 p.m. CityWorks 101 presentation on LUC updatesEarth Day 4/22, Open Streets 6/4, Bike to Work Day 6/28, etc. TablingApril 24th, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Virtual Information SessionApril 26th, 5:30-8:00 p.m. Forum with Center for Public DeliberationLate April Next Level Neighborhood Walking Tours Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays in May Neighborhood Walking ToursMay 8th, 2:00-7:00 p.m. In Person Community Open HouseJune (dates TBD) Overflow Neighborhood Walking Tours as needed Questions1. Are Councilmembers comfortable with the overall engagement approach and timeline?6 8Engagement Summary - TopicsAnalysis of Recent InquiriesAugust 2, 2022, through February 27, 2023, roughly corresponding to the release of the public draft of the Land Development Code (LDC) through the repeal of the LDC. 369 inquiries - 140 emails from 111 people; additional 166 inquiries from around 60 participants in the November 29, 2022, community information session. 7 main themes identified 9Specific topics for additional engagementIncreased menu of housing choices and associated regulationsAffordable housing comments, questions, and suggestionsSize, height, form, and allowed density of specific housing typesNotification, community input, and review procedures for residential developmentInteraction between the code and private covenantsInfrastructure and utilities 10Increased menu of housing choices (ADUs)CURRENT CODEREPEALED CODECONCERNSPRINCIPLESWhere: Review: Public Hearing (Type 1)Setbacks: Same as house; no separation required from houseHeight: 24 ft maxSize: 1,000 sf max floor areaParking: 1 per bedroomUtilities: Can extend water from primary house, separate electric meterOther: no internal ADU permitted; 10,000 sf minimum lot size in NCM, 12,000 sf in NCLWhere: All residential and mixed-use zones Review: Administrative (BDR)Setbacks: Same as house; 5 ft separation required from houseHeight: 28 ft max, 24 ft in OTSize: 1,000 sf max floor area Parking: none required Utilities: Can extend water from primary house, separate electric meterOther: internal ADU permitted; no minimum lot sizeAmount of parking requiredPotential impact on neighborhood, especially if many ADUs are builtPotential to impact shading and privacy of adjacent propertiesADUs as short-term rentalsCost and feasibility to buildIncrease overall housing capacityEnable more affordability Allow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing contextImprove predictability of the development review process 11Increased menu of housing choices (2-5 plexes)CURRENT CODEREPEALED CODECONCERNSPRINCIPLESWhere: UE (up to 2 units), NCM (2-4 units)Review: Public Hearing (Type 1) in UE; Administrative (BDR) in NCM* Height: 2-3 storiesParking: 1-3 spaces per unit depending on number of bedroomsDesign Requirements: YesOther: Administrative approval in NCM only if no structural change to an existing houseWhere: Add NCL and RL (up to 2 units); Increase NCM (+1 unit)Review: Administrative (BDR)Height: 3 stories or 35 ft maxParking: 1-3 spaces per unit depending on number of bedroomsDesign Requirements: YesOther: Affordable housing incentives allow additional 1-2 units and reduced parking requirementsConcern about demolition of existing structuresAvailability of street parkingPotential impact on neighborhoodPotential to impact shading and privacy of adjacent propertiesMulti-unit buildings as short-term rentalsIncrease overall housing capacityEnable more affordability Allow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing contextImprove predictability of the development review process Where: All zonesType: Voluntary incentivesReview:Administrative (BDR)Requirements: 99 year deed restriction; 10-20% of units must be affordable to access incentivesIncentives: Citywide density bonus of additional units, density, or height depending on zone; ~50% reduction in parking requirements for all affordable projects; reduced tree sizes12Affordable HousingCURRENT CODEREPEALED CODECONCERNSPRINCIPLESWhere: All zonesType: Voluntary incentivesReview: Varies by district Requirements: 20 year deed restriction; 10% of units must be affordable to access incentivesIncentives:Limited density bonus of 3 dwelling units per acre in LMN (from 9 to 12); 50% parking reduction in Transit-Oriented Development Overlay; reduced tree sizesUpdates do not do enough to ensure affordable housing for residentsUpdates will not make housing more affordableClarification about how the updates will increase housing affordabilityTechnical questions related to enforcement, deed restrictions, definitions and income level requirementsIncrease overall housing capacityEnable more affordability Allow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing contextImprove predictability of the development review processRental For Sale10% at 60% AMI or10% at 80% AMI or20% at 80% AMI 20% at 100% AMIRental and For Sale10% at 80% AMI 13Size, height, form, and allowed densityCURRENT CODEREPEALED CODECONCERNSPRINCIPLESGeneral concern about additional housing, especially in existing neighborhoodsImpacts of additional housing on built environment and neighborhood Impacts to traffic, parking, utility capacity, gentrification, sprawl, and other topicsQuestions about new housing types, particularly the cottage courtIncrease overall housing capacityAllow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing contextWhere: Residential and mixed-use zonesReview: Administrative (BDR)Design Requirements: Defines specific design requirements including (but not limited to):Urban detached houseSuburban detached houseCottage courtRowhouseApartment buildingOther: Detached house limited to 2,400 sf floor area in OT approach including façade, articulation, height, massing, entry, and other requirementsWhere: Residential and mixed-use zonesReview: Public Hearing (Type 1)Design Requirements: Specific to each zone district. Code Single-family detachedSingle-family attachedTwo-familyTwo-family attachedMulti-familyOther: Detached house floor area limited by lot size and rear coverage in Old Town zones; with design requirements for carriage houses, single unit houses, and multi-unit buildings 14Notification, Community Input, and Review ProceduresREVIEW TYPES: OVERVIEWReview Levels: Overview 15Notification, Community Input, and Review ProceduresRESIDENTIAL DISTRICTS MIXED-USE DISTRICTSRUL UE RF RL OT-A OT-B MH LMN MMN HMN OT-C NCUSES LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDC LUC LDCSingle Unit DwellingTwo Unit Dwelling (duplex)Single Unit Attached (2-4 units)Multi-Unit (4+ units)Mixed-Use DwellingAccessory Dwelling UnitX - Not Permitted in LUC- Administrative (BDR)- Only if Affordable in LDC- Public Hearing (Type 1) - Public Hearing and Neighborhood Meeting (Type 2) 16CONCERNSPRINCIPLESNotification requirements were not changed in the repealed code, but many had concerns about notification processesConcern about removing requirements for neighborhood meetings in housing developmentsConcern that fewer neighborhood meetings and public hearings could result in decreased opportunities for community inputQuestions about Development Review processIncrease overall housing capacityEnable more affordability Improve predictability of the development review processMake the code easier to use and understandNotification, Community Input, and Review Procedures 17Interaction between the code and private covenants (HOAs)CURRENT CODEREPEALED CODECONCERNSPRINCIPLESHOAs are currently prohibited from creating or enforcing provisions thatProhibit or limit:- The installation or use of xeriscape landscaping- The installation or use of solar/photovoltaic collectors on roofs- The installation or use of clothes lines in back yards- The installation or use of odor controlled compost binsOr requiring:- Turf grass yards/lotsAdds language that prohibits HOAs from creating or enforcing provisions thatProhibit or limit:-implement its housing policies, as supported by the Housing Strategic Plan-Including but not limited to provisions for increased density, height and occupancyQuestions asking whether someone could now build an ADU even if it is against their HOA rulesConcern about legality of preempting HOA restrictionsConcern that the code updates improperly disregard HOA rulesIncrease overall housing capacityEnable more affordability Allow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing contextImprove predictability of the development review process 18Infrastructure and utilities (including parking)CURRENT CODEREPEALED CODECONCERNSPRINCIPLESIncrease overall housing capacityEnable more affordability Allow for more diverse housing choices that fit in with the existing contextCondition of and costs associated with water, sewer, roads, electricity, and schools Availability of street parking if more people live in Fort CollinsQuestions about how the code intersects with transportation planning/trafficAbility to accommodate more people, particularly with regard to water availabilityAdequate public facilities (APF) management system ensures that public facilities and services are available concurrently with the impacts of developmentIncludes:TransportationWater UtilitiesElectric FacilitiesFire and Emergency responsePublic streets are constructed to allow on-street parking, and development is required to meet minimum parking standardsNo changes to APF criteria and regulationsPublic streets designed to allow on-street parkingDevelopment required to meet minimum parking standardsoReduction for studio, one, and two bedroom unitsoAdditional reduction for affordable housing 19Specific topics for additional engagementIncreased menu of housing choices and associated regulationsAffordable housing comments, questions, and suggestionsSize, height, form, and allowed density of specific housing typesNotification, community input, and review procedures for residential developmentInteraction between the code and private covenantsInfrastructure and utilities Questions2. Are there specific engagement topics missing that Councilmembers would like to see included?20 22Approach to Revisions/AlternativesDraft Code OptionsCouncil DirectionConcerns and Suggestions from EngagementAlignment with Guiding PrinciplesAnalysis of Tradeoffs 23Approach to Revisions/AlternativesExample: Increased menu of housing choices and associated regulations (ADUs)Concerns from Engagement Potential Alternative Examples Analysis RequiredNot enough parking to accommodate more residentsPotential impact on neighborhood, especially if many ADUs are builtPotential to impact shading and privacy of adjacent propertiesADUs as short-term rentals (STR)Cost and feasibility to buildConsider requiring an off-street parking space for ADUsReview design requirements to evaluate for compatibility with neighborhood settingReview design requirements to evaluate for potential privacy and shading issuesExplore limiting use of ADUs as STRInvestigate possibility of pre-approved ADU plans Economic feasibility/tradeoffs of additional parking requirementsAdditional research into design requirements and graphics/visualizationAdditional research into design requirements and graphics/visualizationPeer communities research; legal reviewPeer communities research Questions3. Do Councilmembers support the proposed approach to exploration of potential alternatives and revisions?24 Next Steps26April and May: Community engagement eventsMay 23rdWork Session: Present feedback received so far and explore potential code revisions and analysis of alternativesJuly 25thWork Session: Present engagement summary, discuss code revisionsAugust 22ndWork Session: Present draft code amendments April 18, 2023 TO: Natural Resources Advisory Board RE: 1041 powers (with specific reference to NISP) FROM: Barry R Noon Most of what is outlined Fort Collins 1041 citizens group" to exercise extra-jurisdictional, regulation authority beyond City limits. The primary contention of our group is that the City (Mayor, City Council, and City staff) has as their primary responsibility creation and implementation of policies to protect public health, human wellbeing and equity, and to sustain a healthy environment for the benefit of the citizen of Fort Collins. Any threats to these responsibilities should be addressed and mitigated to the extent possible. We emphasize that 1041 law authorizes Fort Collins to regulate a development project whose primary constructed elements lie beyond Fort Collins city limits, if: state interest under 1041 law Fort Collins citizens, or damage natural resources or environmental quality within the City. This authority is in addition to the clearly stated authorities that apply to projects whose primary constructed elements lie within city limits. Relevant language from the legislative declaration, expressing the purposes of 1041 law (CRS § 24-65.1-101), includes: Local governments shall be encouraged to designate areas and activities of state interest and, after such designation, shall administer such areas and activities of state interest and promulgate guidelines for the administration thereof. Regulatory authority is established by designation of an area or activity of state interest by a local (county or municipal) government, and the authority applies locally. ability (responsibility) to designate the Cache la Poudre River as an area of state interest, there is an existing acknowledgement of the significance of the River that justifies such a designation. The Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area was designated by the U.S. Congress in 2009. Following the language of 1041, it is clear the Heritage Area qualifies as an area of state interest. Approximately 9 miles of the Heritage Area lies inside our City limits, including 18 Natural Areas, a large part of Lee Martinez Park, the Whitewater Park, and the Poudre Trail. The -jurisdictional consideration and regulation of reasonably anticipated adverse impacts. (regulatory objectives) for major extensions of (or new) water and sewer systems are stated in CRS § 24-65.1-204: which will result in the proper utilization of existing treatment plants and the orderly development of domestic water and sewage treatment systems of adjacent communities. in those areas in which the anticipated growth and development that may occur as a result of such extension can be accommodated within the financial and environmental capacity of the area to sustain such growth and development Both paragraphs mandate a concern for protecting nearby communities or jurisdictions with the words, environmental capacity of the area The second paragraph is particularly relevant, as it establishes responsibility not to exceed the environmental capacity of the area, which means not only the host jurisdiction of a project, but also surrounding jurisdictions. Orderly development in the first paragraph mandates avoidance of environmental damage, because development that disregards environmental consequences can no longer be regarded as orderly. There have been several court rulings that have supported the cross-jurisdictional authority delegated by the 1041 law to local municipalities. The details of the court cases have been summarized by Dr. Watts and that summary is available from our ad hoc citizens group. Now to address the nexus between 1041 powers and the Northern integrated Supply Project. In 2014, the City of Fort Collins developed available at (https://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/pdf/erm_report.pdf#:~:text=The%20Poudre%20River%2 0Ecological%20Response%20Model%20%28ERM%29%20is,the%20Cache%20la%20Poudre%20 River%20ecosystem.%20The%20overall), which predicted riparian ecosystems are likely to respond to a variety of possible hydrologic futures, ranging from status quo, to new water development, to climate change. The major conclusions from the ERM were consistent with subsequent 2015 Poudre River Report Card (available at https://www.fcgov.com/poudrereportcard/) which concluded that the River is already impaired and sensitive to any further stress from flow alteration. Based on an A-F scale, the City gave the River a C grade. The results from these analyses clearly showed that the health of the Poudre and the public amenities it provides (e.g., kayaking, fishing, riparian vegetation, wildlife) are strongly dependent on (1) limiting the amount of water taken from the river during spring peak flows and (2) stabilizing fluctuating low flows in late summer-fall. The NISP project will almost certainly degrade the river, even with the pro plan. These findings are supported in a published, peer-reviewed scientific journal article (Bestgen et al., 2020, available at https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/eap.2005 ). Seven of the nine authors of this publication are CSU faculty members. Overall, the scientific analyse , by the City staff and independent scientists, all supported the conclusion development and will be inadequate to prevent serious harm to the Poudre River and its natural resources. It is important to note that adverse impacts from NISP will occur directly on City properties even though the major activities will occur external to City limits. A dam upstream of Fort Collins will result in decreased flows downstream through the City and directly affect City property, resources, environmental quality, and its citizens. Combining the intent of the 1041 legislation to protect areas of state interest with the recognition of the inescapable adverse impacts of NISP on the Poudre River, we strongly suggest that the City invoke its 1041 powers and deny approval of NISP.