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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD - MINUTES - 07/16/20251 7/16/2025 - Minutes Natural Resources Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, Ju ly 16, 2025 – 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Avenue and via Microsoft Teams 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:35 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – • Kelly Stewart (Chair) • Dawson Metcalf (Vice Chair) • Kelen Dowdy • Leslie Coleman • Sharel Erickson • Xavier Perei ra • Teagan Loew b. Board Members Absent – • Sara LoTemplio • Barry Noon c. Staff Members Present – • Melinda Peterson, Environmental Services Lead Specialist d. Guest(s) – • None 3. AGENDA REVIEW Chair Stewart reviewed the agenda items. 4. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – JUNE 2025 Dowdy made a motion, seconded by Pereira, to approve the June 2025 regular meeting minutes as amended. The motion was adopted unanimously. 2 7/16/2025 - Minutes 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Single Use Plastics Reduction (SUPR) – Melinda Peterson Melinda Peterson, Environmental Services Lead Specialist, noted the key question regarding the single use plastics reduction effort relates to whether the multifaceted approach helps to improve the understanding of effectiveness of the plastic bag ban and carryout bag remittance requirements. She provided a summary of the disposable bag ordinance, which was affirmed by voters in 2021, noting it included a plastic bag ban for 19 large grocers in the city and a $0.10 paper bag fee, 60% of which is remitted to the City and 40% of which remains with the grocers to assist with education efforts. Additionally, the ordinance included a ban on polystyrene at restaurants and retail food establishments, though there was no enforcement plan for that component at the time. Peterson stated the 2025 update expands the plastic bag ban and remittance fees to all multi-store franchises, though not small businesses. Specifically, stores that are exempt include those that operate solely in Colorado, have three or fewer locations, and are not part of a larger entity with locations outside of Colorado. Peterson outlined the project timeline and discussed the current state of reporting from the 19 large grocers noting there is a lack of information to create conclusions about waste diverted from the landfill. Peterson stated a multifaceted approach is needed to include annual data collection from businesses, the community, and nature for the purpose of building a comprehensive story of reduced plastic waste in Fort Collins. She stated the approach will help to address the complexity of multiple contributing factors, including the policy itself, individual behavior, and pollution. Peterson outlined the prototype for data collection methods, including annual reporting from businesses, a voluntary survey of commu nity members, peer community benchmarks, a co-interpretation workshop, and a survey of data from volunteers who complete Natural Areas cleanups. A Board Member asked if the 19 large grocers have been compliant in providing the requested data. Peterson replied they have been 100% compliant in remittance and reporting. Vice Chair Metcalf asked if age is being requested as part of the customer/community survey noting it is a major factor in storytelling. Peterson replied there have been discussions as to whether surveys should be done at store locations or more widely across the community. She concurred that age would be a valuable data point. Vice Chair Metcalf noted the microplastics and health topic resonates with certain age groups more so than others as does the cleanliness of the environment. Peterson noted there will need to be additional education efforts around the plastic bag ban expansion. Members discussed whether retailers have seen an increase in the number of reusable bags sold. Additionally, members discussed retailers that provide boxes to customers and the associated cost savings to retailers in terms of recycling. Peterson also noted Sprouts no longer offers paper bags or boxes. 3 7/16/2025 - Minutes Depew commented on waste sorting data being valuable to understand what material is going into the landfill and how much of that material could have been composted, recycled, or diverted in some other way. He noted a full waste sorting audit is quite expensive and time consuming, and the most recent one for Fort Collins was done in 2016 in collaboration with Larimer County. He also noted another audit has not been funded. Vice Chair Metcalf commented on the value of asking customers whether they have reduced other types of plastic use because of the bag ban and noted that information could be valuable in terms of determining how much further the community would be willing to go in terms of eliminating plastics. Peterson stated they would like to parse out different types of plastic reduction as part of that question. Pereira stated that if selling reusable bags is still not deemed to be a zero waste end result, would there be an appetite for enforcing that paper bags be required to be an option. Depew stated that has not been proposed and commented on the importance of life cycle assessment research for reusable bags versus paper bags. He also noted that paper bags have a higher footprint in some categories, including water usage for production, than plastic bags. A Board Member asked about next steps. Peterson commented on plastic bag reduction calculators and stated one goal to tell a broader story about what is seen in Natural Areas and how the Poudre watershed is benefitting from the ban. Additionally, she noted the customer data can help inform an existing conditions assessment and the appetite for additional single use plastics reduction efforts. b. Our Climate Future – Strategic Refresh Honore Depew, Climate Program Manager, noted one of Council’s priorities centers around reducing climate and air pollution and achieving 100% renewable electricity, which tracks closely with the ballot language approved by voters at the end of 2023 creating the 2050 tax, a portion of which goes specifically to climate-adjacent areas. He noted Council wants to see a more strategic, better organized approach to the climate work to help inform priority setting, strategic planning, and budgeting. Depew stated work started on the Strategic Refresh at the end of 2024 and has included mostly internal engagement regarding helping colleagues be stronger implementation partners of the Our C limate Future (OCF) strategies. Additionally, preliminary work has occurred around the strategic funding plan, including its outline and structure, how to project revenue, what to include in the revenue projections, and what criteria should be used to guide allocations. Depew stated Council will see a preliminary draf t of the strategic funding plan with the full plan complete by the end of the first quarter of 2026. Depew discussed the OCF Plan, which focuses on mitigation as well as resilience and equity, and is related to several other City Plans, including the Active Modes Plan, the Transit Master Plan, and the Rooted in Community Urban Forest Plan. He stated the Strategic Refresh aims to help the Plan be more effective by developing long-term goals and a vision along with implementation tactics and strategies to help deliver those results. He noted areas of influence include economic drivers, regulations and policies, infrastructure investments, and education and outreach to influence behavior. He 4 7/16/2025 - Minutes summarized the effort as making OCF simpler to talk about, more in clusive of the City’s sustainability efforts, and a more useful tool for planning and accountability. Depew stated next steps for the Strategic Refresh include incorporating input and feedback from staff, community engagement, and OCF executives, summarizing enhancements to the OCF framework, including assessment, reporting, and storytelling, internal alignment and collaboration, and structure and governance, and developing an implementation approach for 2026 to align with the OCF strategic funding plan. He discussed an implementation plan example from San Diego. Depew outlined the purpose of the OCF strategic funding plan , which includes a 15-year time horizon with periodic updates, attempts to balance the guidance and vision across medium and longer time horizons, aims to bring clarity and focus about how to best deploy funds and allocate resources in the near term, and aims to inform and help Council set realistic priorities that can be executed and funded. He stated the strategic funding plan has three key components: revenue projection s, the next moves plan, and allocation guidance. He noted revenue projections include climate-driven and waste- driven funding, including portions of the 2050 tax, the disposable bag remittance fees, and a portion of the Utilities rate payer structure that funds things such as energy efficiency and renewables, all of which must be expended in specific ways. Depew outlined the allocation approach which includes financial constraints, multiple time horizons, and a bucketed approach to include funding for one-time and ongoing efforts and holding some funding for things like innovation and matching funds. Vice Chair Metcalf asked how the ‘cost of inaction’ conversation is occurring within the City organization. Depew replied the most tangible example of the cost of inaction for Colorado and many other states is the cost of home insurance. Vice Chair Metcalf noted the number one environmental topic is water quality and asked if there are other specific popular topics in our community that could generate tangible interest in change. Depew replied the statistically valid community survey includes broader questions, not necessarily questions related to top topics of interest. A Board Member commented on the importance of including foundational actions that must occur from a funding perspective. Additionally, she commented on connecting next moves to big moves and identifying associated funding. Pereira asked if there is any framework for creating a prioritization for Council to consider on a broader scale in terms of weighing next moves in various categories. Depew replied the original OCF framework used some simple visuals that describe impacts across four categories: cost investment, potential impacts on mitigation, equity, and resilience. He noted there is a bias toward the mitigation category as that is measurable and directly tied to slowing and reversing the effects of climate change; however, equity and resilience will need to be more of a focus for longer term goals. A Board Member commented on the impacts of the gutting of the Inflation Reduction Act on consumers in terms of increasing prices of electricity and cost of meeting climate goals. She stated this could be a good time for the City to double down on energy efficiency efforts for homes and businesses. 5 7/16/2025 - Minutes Vice Chair Metcalf noted there is a level of distress in various institutions given the current federal administration and reiterated the importance of working on issues about which the community is passionate. He noted environmental issues intersect with public health and other topics that are front of mind for many community members. Depew commented on the possibility that there may be a line item in the Community Capital Improvement Program tax renewal related to composting infrastructure, which could be an item that may excite community members. 7. OTHER BUSINESS/UPDATES a. Board Member Reports A Board Member reported on attending the Boards and Commissions Super Issues meeting on the Hughes Stadium property. She noted there was some skepticism of the civic assembly process and a great deal of confusion about the proposed bike park was expressed. Additionally, there seemed to be some confusion as to the result of the civic assembly’s recommendations. Depew noted that the Paths (Planning Action to Transform Hughes Sustainably) Group has collected enough signatures to put an item on the ballot asking voters if the Hughes property should be forced to become a Natural Area, which he noted would use all of the Natural Areas funds for a number of years. Additionally, there is another ballot measure related to the property. Depew stated there will be an online blue book for this year’s election. b. Six Month Calendar Review Depew highlighted some items that Council will be considering in the coming months, including Which Wheels Go Where, the Parking Services Optimization Study, budget organizational systems, the community survey results, Building and Energy Codes, the Our Climate Future strategic funding plan, the Transfort Optimization Plan, Building Performance Standards, Halligan Reservoir, and the 2026 Work Plan and Annual Report. Depew also commented on the formation of the Cache la Poudre Improvement Fund with the settlement dollars from the Save the Poudre lawsuit against Northern Water. A Board Member noted there will be a committee of six individuals, three from Northern Water, and three from Save the Poudre, who will manage the $100 million fund. She noted work is being done with the NoCo Foundation regarding how people will apply for the funds, which are only available for projects from the Monroe Diversion to the confluence with the South Platte. c. Revisit Action Items from Previous Meetings and Preview of Next Meeting 8. ADJOURNMENT • 7:31 pm 6 7/16/2025 - Minutes Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on 9/17/2025