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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD - MINUTES - 09/17/2025 (2) Air Quality Advisory Board REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, September 17, 2025 – 5:30 PM 222 Laporte Avenue, Laramie River Room 1. CALL TO ORDER: 7:17 PM 2. ROLL CALL a. Board Members Present – • Dan Welsh (Chair) • Howard Gebhart • Maria Moore b. Board Members Absent – • Mark Houdashelt (Vice Chair) • Christina Swope • Adam Schmidt • Michael Cheeseman • Michael Johnson • Matt Ayres c. Staff Members Present – • Emily Olivo, Healthy Homes Lead Specialist d. Guest(s) – 3. AGENDA REVIEW No changes. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – AUGUST 2025 (**Secretary’s Note: This item could not be considered as there was not a quorum.) 6. PREVIOUS BUSINESS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Board Plan of Action Chair Welsh stated he does not believe a memo is necessary for the Our Climate Future Strategic Funding Plan, though the Board could communicate any recommendations. Moore disagreed and noted the Board has been told 1 9/17/2025 - Minutes to write memos and stated she strongly feels a memo should be written regarding prioritizing some of the pathways given how far behind the City is in its goals. She stated she would like to emphasize to Council that the current position is unacceptable. She suggested two members could get together to draft a memo. Chair Welsh encouraged Moore to begin to draft a memo, but noted any final decision would need to be made with additional Board Members. Lujan de Albers noted staff is still seeking guidance and direction from Council regarding the OCF Strategic Funding Plan and decision-making will not occur until the beginning of the year. Chair Welsh stated he would revisit the earlier memo sent by the Board regarding Building Performance Standards. He suggested members could make edits via Google Docs in advance of the October meeting. Gebhart stated it seems there may be an opportunity to fast track some renovations in certain projects for Building Performance Standards. Moore noted renovations are required to meet the current Code and stated that is not sufficient. Chair Welsh commented on the difference between Building Code standards and Building Performance Standards. b. Repeal of Radon Disclosure Ordinance Emily Olivo, Healthy Homes Lead Specialist, stated the repeal of the City’s radon disclosure ordinance is set to go to Council on October 7th, and is currently on the Consent Agenda. She noted that since 1997, the City Code has required that every property seller provide radon information to the purchaser prior to the execution of any contract. She stated the radon information was defined as information that is produced and disseminated by the Office of Sustainability Services and was not specific. Olivo stated the Colorado State Senate passed a bill in 2023 which significantly expanded statewide requirements around radon disclosure and mandates that every contract for the sale of a residential property must contain a disclosure of the seller ’s knowledge of radon concentrations, including past test results, mitigation history, and any installation of radon reduction systems. She noted the law also extends the radon disclosure requirements beyond just buyer/seller situations and into landlord/tenant situations prior to the execution of a lease. Olivo stated that because the State requirements are more specific and comprehensive than the local ordinance, staff has recently switched from disseminating the City-created materials to realtors to the materials issued by the State radon office to reduce potential confusion. She stated staff was asked by the City Attorney’s Office to consider the repeal of the local radon disclosure ordinance, and subsequently, she looked through historic Access Fort Collins records for any questions or complaints related to radon 2 9/17/2025 - Minutes disclosures, and only one was found wherein a realtor was asking how the State law would interact with the local ordinance. She noted staff also checked with the City’s rental licensing program and stated some landlords have broadly questioned the new State landlord/tenant laws broadly, but not specifically the radon piece. Additionally, Olivo stated staff talked to the Fort Collins Board of Realtors and the President expressed emphatically that a repeal of the local disclosure requirement would be welcomed to eliminate confusion. Olivo stated the staff recommendation to Council is to repeal the radon disclosure ordinance. She noted there are no anticipated financial impacts of a repeal and stated education and outreach efforts regarding radon will remain. Additionally, there will be no changes to the local requirement regarding passive radon reduction systems being installed in single- and two-family dwellings after 2005. Chair Welsh stated it makes sense to eliminate confusion, but advocated for continued efforts to spread awareness about radon and mitigation efforts, though that seems to be what is planned. Olivo replied in the affirmative and announced the annual radon awareness event on October 4th at the Old Town Library. Gebhart concurred with the repeal, particularly as the State law is more comprehensive. 8. OTHER BUSINESS a. Board Member Reports Chair Welsh stated there has not been a great deal of activity with the AQMAC recently; however, there is a technical subcommittee meeting tomorrow to review some preliminary findings from a field study that occurred over the summer that helped to speciate and identify the driving factors in ozone formation on a site-by-site basis. He stated the plan for the meeting is to show how positive matrix factorization will be employed with the observations. Chair Welsh commented on some upcoming listening sessions to discuss a potential air toxics permitting program for Colorado. Additionally, he announced the upcoming Healthy by Nature fair. b. Six Month Calendar Review c. Revisit Action Items from Previous Meetings and Preview of Next Meeting 9. ADJOURNMENT ● 8:04 pm 3 9/17/2025 - Minutes Minutes approved by a vote of the Board on 10/20/2025 4 9/17/2025 - Minutes