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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD - MINUTES - 12/06/2023 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 w hich 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 ins tream 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 02/21/2024.