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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/21/2024 - NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD - AGENDA - Regular Meeting Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING – February 21, 2024 Location: 222 Laporte and via 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 – DECEMBER & JANUARY 4. NEW BUSINESS 6:10 – 7:00 Introduce Sustainability Services Leadership Jacob Castillo (City of Fort Collins’ Sustainability Officer) and Amy King (Environmental Services Dept. Director) will join the board to introduce themselves and discuss 2024-25 City Council Priorities that pertain to the Sustainability Services Area as well as the Environmental Services Department restructuring, previewed last month. (Discussion) 7:00 – 7:30 2024 Proposed Our Climate Future Budget Honore Depew (Climate Program Manager) will review 2024 proposed OCF (Our Climate Future) budget items to be considered for funding by City Council from new 2050 Tax revenue dedicated to reduce climate pollution. (Discussion) 5. OTHER BUSINESS / UPDATES • Board Member Reports • NOTE: March-May NRAB Meetings Location Change – City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave. • 2024 Super Issues Meetings of Fort Collins Boards and Commissions will be held at the Lincoln Center. The dates are as follows:  Monday, March 25th (Columbine Room) - for boards and commissions to learn about one another.  Monday, June 10th (Founder's Room)  Monday, September 9th (Founder's Room) • In-person training for new board and commission members to take place in Council Chambers on April 8th and April 22nd. Current members welcome to attend.  Topics will include the Code of Conduct and the Anti-Discrimination and Anti- Harassment Policy. • 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 12/6/2023 – MINUTES Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, December 6, 2023 – 6:00 PM Virtual Only, Via Zoom 1. CALL TO ORDER: 6:02 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – • Dawson Metcalf (Chair) • Kelly Stewart (Vice Chair) • Barry Noon • Danielle Buttke • Lisa Andrews • Kevin Krause • Matt Zoccali b. Board Members Absent – c. Staff Members Present – • Honoré Depew, Staff Liaison d. Guest(s) – • None 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Metcalf reviewed the agenda. Depew requested the Board also finalize a decision about how it would like the minutes to be written in the future. 4. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (November) Chair Metcalf stated he received approval from Councilmember Pignataro for the Board to utilize summary minutes rather than verbatim. Page 2 12/6/2023 – MINUTES Chair Metcalf made a motion, seconded by Buttke, to approve the November meeting minutes as written. The motion was adopted unanimously with Stewart and Andrews abstaining. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Finalize and Approve 2024 NRAB Work Plan – Board Chair continued review and approval of 2024 Work Plan update from November meeting – due November 30. Buttke commented on a wording suggestion she has for the third bullet. Krause also made a comment on the document. Chair Metcalf stated Noon is recommending that ‘water quality and availability for fish, wildlife and people’ be added to the first paragraph as a part of where the Board is focusing. Additionally, Noon is recommending inserting ‘an expanding human footprint’ before the term ‘accelerated’ in the second paragraph and to replacing ‘natural’ with ‘social and ecological systems’ in the first bullet. Noon is also suggesting the potential of the Board having a conversation around prioritizing the numbers one through thirteen. Noon asked if the list was prioritized or random. Chair Metcalf replied the first four came directly from what was expanded upon in the previous Work Plan, though there was no particular order for the rest. Krause suggested possibly bulleting the list rather than numbering it to indicate there is no priority. Buttke noted she added ‘and’ to the expanding human footprint language as expanding human footprint is not an exclusive modifier of accelerating climate change; behaviors themselves do it as well. Chair Metcalf pointed out the referenced draft note-taking and documentation from the previous Work Plan and noted those preceding pages will not be utilized in what goes to Council. Buttke commended the modifier used by Zoccali regarding the interconnectedness of social and ecological systems and also supported the inclusion of ‘taking bold action to prioritize environmental health.’ Zoccali noted that was Krause’s suggestion. Depew commended the overall refresh of the Work Plan and stated Council will appreciate the overall conciseness of the document. Chair Metcalf outlined the components of the document that will go to Council. Chair Metcalf made a motion, seconded by Zoccali, to approve the NRAB 2024 Work Plan. The motion was adopted unanimously. Page 3 12/6/2023 – MINUTES b. Review 2023 Annual Report – Board Chair to lead process for review and finalizing draft annual board report – Due January 31. (Discussion) Chair Metcalf outlined the sections of the report dedicated to outgoing members and written memos or action of support. Zoccali commended the format. Chair Metcalf asked if it is necessary for the Board to wait to approve the Annual Report until its January meeting. Depew replied that is not a requirement and it could be approved at this meeting. Zoccali made a motion, seconded by Chair Metcalf, to approve the NRAB 2023 Annual Report. The motion was adopted unanimously. 7. OTHER BUSINESS • Board Member Reports  Krause reported on the City Utilities’ Peak Partners program for customers (especially electric vehicle owners) that deals with demand response and charging control.  Depew noted the program is also used to help manage peak loads around things like air conditioning usage.  Buttke asked if the program applies to any Fort Collins Utilities customer. Depew replied it is only for Fort Collins Electric Utility customers.  Buttke asked if any members attended last night’s Council meeting and/or spoke to the item regarding the proposed new natural gas plant. Depew noted Council was not voting on anything with that item; it was a Platte River Power Authority Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that included a lot of intention around renewables expansion and the pursuit of dispatchable thermal once the Rawhide coal-powered plant goes offline (by 2028). He stated the plan is to bring online a new fossil gas plant that would be able to fill in gaps during the “dark calm” periods and to build the plant in a way that it could be converted to renewable gas in the future. He stated there were several commenters urging the Mayor and Utilities Director, as PRPA Board representatives, to adopt an “all-source request for proposals (RFP)” instead of just getting an RFP for the gas plant.  Krause questioned whether there is actually a technologically available solution if PRPA were to move forward with the broader RFP upon which anyone gave feedback. Depew replied his understanding is that the current IRP looks like it can get the entire energy production system up to about 87% non-carbon production in the next six years; however, they do not currently have a pathway to get to 90-100%, therefore that is the reason for the energy exchange market to potentially bring in other forms of energy. He stated there was not a definitive answer at last night’s meeting and the IRP will continue to be developed with input from owner communities.  Buttke stated the cost estimates are pretty loose due to the timeline, supply issue impacts, and new EPA rule that was just released on methane regulations.  Depew noted the EPA also just updated the social cost of carbon. Page 4 12/6/2023 – MINUTES • The final Super Issue Meeting of 2023 took place on December 4th  Chair Metcalf stated he attended a portion of the meeting and noted the final environmental impact statement on the Halligan project was released in October. He also stated the ongoing water efficiency plan update was discussed and a new water modeling tool is being developed to look at water demand and potential savings from various efficiency and conservation strategies considering current and future climate and population predictions. He stated this is being tied into the City’s One Water approach and the model should be completed in the next quarter with a presentation to the Water Commission in the summer, either jointly with the NRAB or as a separate presentation.  Depew noted he has been involved on the leadership team for the update to the Water Efficiency Plan (WEP) and the Water Conservation team is doing a great job to align the work with Our Climate Future. An item to discuss the WEP will be added to a 2024 meeting of NRAB. • 2024 Super Issues Meetings of Fort Collins Boards and Commissions will be held at the Lincoln Center. The dates are as follows:  Monday, March 25 (Columbine Room)  Monday, June 10 (Founder’s Room)  Monday, September 9 (Founder’s Room)  March 25 meeting will be dedicated for Boards and Commissions to learn about each other. Request from City Clerk’s Office to have several members of the NRAB present. • In-person training for new Board and Commission members to take place in Council Chambers on April 8th and April 22nd. Current members welcome to attend.  Topics will include the Code of Conduct and the Anti-Discrimination and Anti- Harassment Policy.  Chair Metcalf asked if new members will be joining in April or earlier. Depew replied he is unaware of the specific start time for new members.  Chair Metcalf encouraged members to promote available spots on the Board should members feel comfortable doing so.  Depew noted any member with a term expiring at the end of March needs to reapply if they are not term limited.  Buttke noted she is term limited. • Six Month Calendar Review https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-calendar.php  Depew presented Council’s Six Month Calendar and noted Council is intended to develop a shorter list of priorities at its retreat in January. He noted Council will be discussing the renewal of the quarter cent sales tax for capital projects.  Krause commented on the BAC holding a recent meeting at the Streets facility. He noted the department is focused on the types of deicer it is using from several perspectives, including environmental. He stated the department is being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. Depew also noted Streets is responsible for the Hoffman Mill crushing facility where a staggering amount of aggregate is recycled.  Depew noted Council will be considering a revision of the Strategic Plan and there may be an opportunity for Board input early in the year.  Depew outlined items Council will be considering later in the six-month Page 5 12/6/2023 – MINUTES period that may involve Board engagement. He noted meetings will begin to fill in once Council priorities are set.  Buttke stated there are likely some significant implications in density and housing availability regarding the residential occupancy requirement and asked if those considerations are too tangential to the Board’s purview. Depew stated there has been pressure from both sides of the U+2 ordinance and the topic is quite contentious. He stated it is up to the Board whether they would like to discuss it.  Buttke stated there are some obvious environmental impacts to both sides of the issue but acknowledged the topic could be outside the typical purview of the Board.  Krause disagreed it is outside the purview and noted the Land Use Code is on the path to repeal again. He stated it is important for the Board to continue reiterating support for the revised Code.  Zoccali stated he would like to hear an update from the Natural Areas team regarding the property purchased along the Poudre River and master planning efforts. Depew stated an update to the Natural Areas Master Plan is slated to be launched as soon as this year. Additionally, he noted there are new permissions for joint Board meetings which could be valuable.  Depew commented on the recently approved half cent sales tax which will fund parks and recreation, transit, and climate. He noted the portion designated for climate specifically includes funds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, which has a very clear linkage to the work of this Board. He suggested considering some closer work with the Air Quality Advisory Board which could be centered around criteria for how that pot of money should be allocated.  Noon stated he would like to consider Thornton’s proposal for a 1041 permit from the County which will affect flows through the city and natural areas due to pipeline infrastructure. He also noted Northern Water recently requested a $500 million loan from the EPA for dam construction and the estimated cost of the Glad Reservoir and associated infrastructure is now in excess of $2 billion. Additionally, he noted there is a mitigation and enhancement plan and proposals for maintaining very small minimum instream flows in relation to the North Fork. He suggested it could be valuable to discuss the adequacy of that mitigation and enhancement plan.  Members briefly discussed plans for the first few meetings of the new year. • 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 8. ADJOURNMENT a. (7:15 pm) Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on XX/XX/XX Page 1 1/17/2024 – MINUTES Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, January 17, 2024 – 6:00 PM 222 Laporte and Via Zoom 1. CALL TO ORDER: 6:07 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – • Dawson Metcalf (Chair) • Kelly Stewart (Vice Chair) • Barry Noon • Danielle Buttke • Lisa Andrews b. Board Members Absent – • Matt Zoccali c. Staff Members Present – • Honoré Depew, Staff Liaison • Ginny Sawyer, Lead Policy and Project Manager d. Guest(s) – • None 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Metcalf reviewed the agenda. 4. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (December - pending) 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Night Sky Update – Ginny Sawyer, Lead Policy and Project Manager, provided an update on the City’s Night Sky initiatives related to outdoor lighting best practices to support safety, energy conservation, and a healthy ecosystem. Page 2 1/17/2024 – MINUTES Sawyer stated feedback received early on has helped to shift the nomenclature from ‘Dark Sky’ to ‘Night Sky.’ She noted the initiative came from the Nature in the City project and its main foci are to maintain safety and security, reduce light pollution, support human and ecological health, and develop and implement best practices in outdoor lighting. Sawyer showed some photos of the city’s light dome and the CSU stadium which has improved its lighting since 2017. She showed additional photos of examples of placing the proper lighting where it is needed to serve its purpose. Sawyer discussed lighting best practices, including utilizing warmer lighting during the night and utilizing dimmable streetlights. She stated the new Lighting Code discusses BUG ratings – backlight, uplight, and glare – and at this time only addresses new build and is not retroactive, though that is being considered. Sawyer noted the selection of non-shielded lights sold at home improvement stores is often much larger than that of shielded lights which poses a problem for consumers. She commented on a neighborhood that jointly decided on a lighting retrofit and noted the City worked with the neighborhood to find a lighting provider. Sawyer also mentioned the City’s Efficiency Works Rebates program for residents and businesses and commented on the Rolland Moore Park lighting retrofit project. Sawyer discussed the lighting monitoring program that measures the night sky quality. She outlined the monitor locations, lighting context area zone map, and urban zone natural areas map. Noon commented on difficulties in getting people to limit their use of bright outdoor lighting. Sawyer stated the Museum of Discovery is talking about providing some additional programming and noted Fort Collins has a strong astronomy club and Natural Areas also hosts regular stargazing events. Andrews asked if the term ‘lighting budget’ is related to how much lighting is considered acceptable in the plan in a given area. Sawyer replied in the affirmative and noted the fcgov outdoor lighting website does a good job of outlining some specifics of the Lighting Code. Buttke stated she works for the Parks Service closely with the Night Sky division and is involved in some work on the negative health impacts of blue light. She commented on the blue light circles that are part of a new downtown project and asked where the City is going in terms of blue light management. Sawyer replied some of the biggest pushback in developing the new Lighting Code came from the Downtown Development Authority as they have a desire for daylight brightness at 2 AM when bars are closing. She stated the downtown area is the area of the highest intensity lighting budget and there were some compromises made in developing the Code and zones. Page 3 1/17/2024 – MINUTES She stated she was unsure of the specifics of the blue light rings. Depew asked if there are any Council touchpoints upcoming with this body of work. Sawyer replied staff sometimes provides updates and stated upcoming work will involve setting a baseline and target within the lighting context zones and utilizing the monitoring to ensure those targets are met. Sawyer commented on the interrelatedness of air quality and night sky noting some of the monitoring locations are shared. She also discussed the onerous minor amendment process that is required for certain lighting retrofits and stated the planning staff is hoping to course correct and make adjustments to that process in phase two of the Land Use Code updates. Additionally, she stated she would like to write a volunteer description to place in the Engage platform for interested individuals to perform outdoor lighting audits particularly for areas near urban natural areas. Sawyer also noted outdoor lighting information has been added to the City’s Access Fort Collins web page, despite the fact that there are no specific enforceable regulations. Members commented on auto dealerships and gas stations being egregious lighting offenders. Noon asked if there are recognition programs for cities in this space. Sawyer replied cities can achieve an International Dark Sky certification and the team originally thought Soapstone would work; however, one of the requirements of the certification is that the space be accessible to the public 24/7 which Soapstone is not. She stated Dark Sky International has recently created some different categories that may provide some opportunities; however, there is some resistance around being a Dark Sky community. Depew noted the newly approved sales tax for climate will be able to address reducing air pollution and there could be some linkages in that area. Sawyer and Depew commented on some of the City’s exterior lighting retrofit projects, including EPIC, Northside Atzlan Center, and the Senior Center. Sawyer noted good work has been done around the Lincoln Center as well. Buttke asked if Sawyer was aware of any social science that works in terms of getting people on board with supporting lighting changes and whether there is messaging or specific approaches that work around highlighting the science that brighter lighting does not make places safer. Sawyer replied the photos seem to do more than anything in terms of affirming how changes improve various situations. She stated the social normalizing of a darker environment overall is starting to occur and stated the team has collected information around health benefits as well. Page 4 1/17/2024 – MINUTES b. Environmental Services Department Restructuring – Honoré Depew, Climate Program Manager, shared an update on how the Environmental Services Department (ESD) in the Sustainability Services Service Area (SSA) is proposing to reorganize to better optimize staff roles and responsibilities to improve resilience and flexibility for the future. Depew announced a new Environmental Services Department Director, Amy King, will be starting on Monday. He discussed the history of the Environmental Services Department and its program areas and stated the Department has now decided to move away from the program-type organization and reorganize around outcomes into three working groups: conveners, whose specialty will be on project and process management and engagement efforts, strategic advisors, which will be focused on bringing in subject matter expertise, and amplifiers, which will be focused on project or program implementation and education and outreach. He stated the intention of the change is to set the Department up to be far more nimble and flexible in the face of changing priorities. Noon asked about the size of the Department’s staff. Depew replied it fluctuates between 25 and 30 with hourly, contractual, and fellows, in a service area totaling around 50 with Economic Health Office, Social Sustainability Dept. and SSA Admin (including Finance and Urban Renewal staff). Noon asked if staff is able to specify the attributes of the goals that have been set. Depew replied reporting and assessment is a big part of the work and noted all of the work in the environmental space is data driven, particularly in terms of mitigation-focused goals such as greenhouse gas emission reduction or waste diversion. He noted there is also a work group focused on equity and resilience assessment and reporting development. Buttke asked if the Boards will be restructured following the reorganization. Depew replied there are five Boards and Commissions supported by the Sustainability Services Area and it is possible that Council could consider whether it makes sense to combine some of those Boards at some point in the next few years. Noon asked Depew about his role. Depew replied he is on the leadership team for the Department and reports to the Department Director. He stated he will be managing the team around strategy. He suggested having Amy King and the leadership team attend an upcoming meeting. Chair Metcalf asked if the Department is well staffed at this time. Depew replied they are three full-time positions short which will pose some challenges for 2024, but the hiring process is being accelerated to fill those vacancies. He stated the other two manager positions are currently being held by interim individuals and the third empty position is around education and outreach. Page 5 1/17/2024 – MINUTES 7. OTHER BUSINESS • Board Member Reports • 2024 Super Issues Meetings of Fort Collins Boards and Commissions will be held at the Lincoln Center. The dates are as follows:  Monday, March 25 (Columbine Room)  Monday, June 10 (Founder’s Room)  Monday, September 9 (Founder’s Room)  March 25 meeting will be dedicated for Boards and Commissions to learn about each other. Request from City Clerk’s Office to have several members of the NRAB present. • In-person training for new Board and Commission members to take place in Council Chambers on April 8th and April 22nd. Current members welcome to attend.  Topics will include the Code of Conduct and the Anti-Discrimination and Anti- Harassment Policy. • Six Month Calendar Review https://www.fcgov.com/cityclerk/planning-calendar.php  Depew reviewed Council’s Six Month Calendar and noted Council will be considering priority setting, the broadband capital improvement tax, the water efficiency plan, Strategic Plan revisions, the occupancy ordinance, and land use standards for trees, during the next six months.  Noon suggested discussing what topics and issues are relevant to the Board as a Natural Resources Advisory Board at a meeting following the induction of new members.  Chair Metcalf supported digging into short- and long-term goals.  Buttke suggested collaborating with other Boards as well.  Depew noted Boards were restricted from holding joint meetings in the past but those regulations have changed and Boards can now officially hold joint meetings. He stated he believes the March 25th Super Issues Meeting will likely provide an opportunity to make some of those connections between Boards. He also commented on the Board having a joint meeting with the Air Quality Advisory Board.  Depew noted the Council Finance Committee will be looking at the proposed budget and use of new revenue in early March and will make a recommendation to the full Council at the April 9th work session.  Depew stated building performance standards and the natural gas franchise fee could be good topics for the Board.  Noon stated Thornton has applied to Larimer County for a new pipeline that would go through City property and suggested the Board may want to discuss that topic and 1041 regulations. He also stated he would like to hear more about the mitigation and enhancement plan for the expansion of Halligan Reservoir.  Noon commented on Larimer County water supplies.  Depew outlined the forthcoming process for Council to identify its priorities for the upcoming term.  Noon stated a discussion of the short- and long-term goals and objectives would be valuable for the Board. Page 6 1/17/2024 – MINUTES  Depew commented on creating meaningful Council Priorities and noted there is an outside consultant supporting Council in this process. He showed some of the slides Council will be considering during its upcoming work session.  Depew outlined the part of the work session he will be presenting on Our Climate Future, including the Our Climate Future Council roadmap. He stated the materials related to the final list of priorities will be available the first week of February and suggested the Board may want to discuss the topic at its February meeting. Members also suggested inviting the Council liaison to the April or May meeting.  Depew stated the FC Moves transportation staff would be happy to come to the Board’s March meeting and the water efficiency plan staff would prefer to attend a Board meeting later in the year. Additionally, the Urban Forestry Strategic Plan, known as ‘Rooted in Community,’ would like staff to present to the Board in May or June.  Depew clarified Amy King will be attending the February meeting and the Board will also consider the 2024 proposed budget, or mini-BFO, and will discuss the outcome of Council’s priority-setting process. In April, new Boardmembers will be welcomed. He also stated he will invite Jacob Castillo to the February meeting. • 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 8. ADJOURNMENT a. (7:55 pm) Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on XX/XX/XX