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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 06/25/199797 06 — i/ MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES CENTER 405 CANYON AVE. NNE 25, 1997 For Reference: John Fooks, AQAB Chair - 229-5225 Scott Mason, Council Liaison - 226-4824 Tom Shoemaker, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present John Fooks, Susan Bilo, David Gallup (left at 9:45 p.m.), Harry Edwards (left at 9:45 p.m.), Raymond Sons (left at 9:10 p.m.), Nancy York, John Scanlon, and Eric Levine (arrived at 7:35 p.m.) Board Members Absent Pete Perkins Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Tom Shoemaker, Brian Woodruff, Linda Devocelle and Sally Maggart Engineering Department: Marybeth Snyder, Adrian Crowfoot, Ward Stanford and Matt Baker Transportation Planning Department: John Daggett Guests None The meeting was called to order at 7:09 p.m. Approval of Minutes With the following changes, the minutes of the May 28, 1997 meeting were approved as written. • John Fooks said to strike paragraph 3 on Page 4 because the discussion should not be part of the minutes. John Fooks asked that the minutes reflect that the I/M Non Testing Committee work has been done well under the leadership of Lucinda Smith. John Fooks asked that the minutes reflect that the Board approved the general changes to Linda Devocelle's presentation on Page 5. Review Action Log 1. Done 2. Fooks said he asked Linda Devocelle to hold off on this item. Tom Shoemaker noted that the Board provided general direction on this in the budget memo to Council. He suggested waiting until the more serious budget talks in September. Air Quality Advisory Board June 25, 1997 Page 2 3. The committee met. 4. To be discussed at the July meeting. 5. Done 6. On the agenda 7. To be discussed at the July meeting. Review Council Six -Month Planning Calendar • PLUS Plan - June 17. Shoemaker reported that Council is supportive and is urging the County to move toward implementation. Transportation Master Plan - August 12. The Board will have a presentation prior to this. Fiscal & Environmental Impact Model - July 22. This was developed by professors at CSU to help the City have better tools for deciding the costs and benefits of new industry. The Board will have information in their July packet. Other Nancy York said that she is concerned about the $300,000 being spent on the parking garage and nothing budgeted for pedestrian use. David Gallup asked if a bicycle advisory board is being formed. Staff present were not aware of it. Shoemaker noted that the Transportation Board considers all modes of transportation in their planning. John Daggett, Transportation Planner, said that this will be addressed in the multimodal presentation tonight. York said that she wanted to emphasize mode equality. She added that continuing the way we are going is not in conformity with the Air Quality Action Plan or Policy Plan. Fooks suggested that York discuss this in the committee meeting with Transportation Board members. New Staff Liaison Fooks announced that Tom Shoemaker, Natural Resources Department Director, will be the new staff liaison to the Board. Shoemaker explained that the shifting of responsibilities in the Natural Resources Department is creating different opportunities for staff. He said that, while he is not an air quality specialist, he brings policy experience and has worked closely with City Council. Shoemaker said that his background is in resource planning, environmental policy and wildlife ecology. He noted that air quality staff will continue to provide support to the Board. ACTION ITEMS Multi -modal Transportation Center. John Daggett John Daggett, Transportation Planner, said that he is seeking input on this fast moving project. He reported that the City is trying to establish the feasibility of establishing a multi -modal center downtown to provide "seamless" transportation, reduce vmt and allow for various travel modes to come together. Daggett noted the following criteria that have been established for site selection: adjacent to railroad, Air Quality Advisory Board June 25, 1997 Page 3 adjacent to Mason St., close to or in the downtown area, large enough to serve all uses, accessible to all modes, environmentally clean, intensity of services and jobs, acquisition and development costs, protection of historic resources, and compatibility with existing plans. He said that of the nine sites selected and rated, two sites came out on top. They are the existing LaPorte -America parking lot and the northeast corner of LaPorte and Mason where the Depot is located. Daggett explained the features at the two sites. He noted that the dock area at the Depot will be preserved because of its historical value. Harry Edwards asked what studies will be done to evaluate the impact on air quality. Daggett responded that there will be none because this is a feasibility study to determine if a site should be selected and there are not any resources available to do impact studies at this point. Edwards said that he would be more comfortable with a recommendation that some energy and resources be devoted to evaluating the impact on air quality. York asked where bicyclists go and how they move around. Daggett responded that Mason St. has a bike lane and the alleyway by the Depot is the bicycle connection there. He noted that the concept is to store bikes while working or shopping. The bicycle storage areas in both plans are designed to hold the whole bicycle. He noted that building the parking garage is contingent upon voter approval. Susan Bilo asked if the Depot plan can be built at the other site. Daggett responded that it could not be done with the proposed parking garage. Raymond Sons asked where the rail hub fits into the scheme. Daggett responded that a platform could be built next to the track on Mason St. Eric Levine said that he is concerned that Council did not ask for Board input on the parking garage. Daggett reiterated that this is a study to determine feasibility; it is not a conceptual plan. Shoemaker reminded the Board that there was solid air quality information in the Structure Plan and the overall planning concepts of activity centers, with the downtown being the main center providing facilities for multi -modal transportation. He said that it is appropriate for the Board to send a memo about this issue. Street Oversizing, Matt Baker Matt Baker of the Engineering Department presented the proposed modifications to the impact fee program used to build roads. He said that he is seeking board and commission recommendations this month. Baker listed the major assumptions in modifying the program: all modes included; increased fees needed to cover new costs; trip generation as a more equitable method of calculating new Air Quality Advisory Board June 25, 1997 Page 4 development impact; and, credit provisions. Edwards asked if widening streets will improve air quality Baker responded no, that is not contended at all. He added that the City has a Congestion Management Plan and the City Plan; street standards are based on that and cars will continue to be the primary mode of transportation. Edwards asked about the impact on air quality. Baker said that he has read theories and seen models where, by improving capacity, the improvement in air quality is a short term effect because when people drive on a higher capacity street, air quality goes down. He added that making travel most efficient is what helps air quality. Fooks asked if the focus of the presentation is to start incorporating multi -modal aspects to street oversizing. Baker responded "yes". Baker explained that the current model for street oversizing is more auto -related and fees are not collected for bicycle lanes and pedestrian improvements. He said that a ten percent modal shift is the City Plan goal and the new street standards are designed to accommodate that. Baker added that new development will be required to pay for the growth -related impact on transportation fees. Edwards asked if this is a one time fee for the developer. Baker replied that it is. Edwards asked if the cost of maintaining service is distributed. Baker replied that the impact fee is used to offset the impact use of new development; it cannot be used for deficiencies. He added that the fee is based on traffic impact and each development is required to file a traffic analysis. Baker said that he would like a recommendation from the Air Quality Board for general concurrence that the program needs fees to increase to cover the new costs of growth. Levine said that this is necessary and he approves. He added that it is a good step in the right direction, but expressed concern about vmt and the length of trips. Baker said that vmt was looked at and discarded early as not appropriate because the city is only five miles wide and eight miles long. He added that vmt is based on average trip length and that is pretty constant in Fort Collins. Levine noted the new drive-thru restaurant at Mulberry and College. He said that this is inappropriate land use and he would like to talk about it at the next meeting. Edwards commented that this was a high quality presentation. He asked for a ruling from the Chair if this is an appropriate time to consider a motion. Chair Fooks said that the Board would continue with clarifying questions before a motion is made. Fooks said that he is interested in knowing the general feedback from organizations. Baker responded that there is general agreement with the methodology and that this is a reasonable Air Quality Advisory Board June 25, 1997 Page 5 approach. He added that the major concern heard is about development having to pay everything. York asked what the total charge from the general fund is for street oversizing. Baker responded that it is currently $200,000. He added that the request is to increase it to $500,000. Harry Edwards made the motion to endorse the oversizing fund modification plan as presented. David Gallup seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (8-0). City Plan Indicators, Timothy Wilder Brian Woodruff, Environmental Planner, said that he is seeking comments on the revised list of indicators and he will pass them on to Timothy Wilder in the Advance Planning Department. Woodruff noted that the list has been pared down slightly and indoor air quality actions and woodsmoke emissions were taken out because they are not related to City Plan's land use function. Fooks asked if Wilder is part of an oversight group looking at the indicators or is it a "one person show". Shoemaker explained that Wilder is a staff member in Advance Planning assigned to a project manager role, with oversight from the Growth Management Lead Team comprised of service area directors from Planning, Transportation, etc. He added that Council's Growth Management Lead Team and boards will review and have input on the methodology, as well. Fooks said that he is stunned that the benchmarking program is not a part of it. He added that indicators should be used to track this. Shoemaker responded that it is good to flag that connection and make it happen. Edwards asked what effort is there to identify incentives to encourage people to grow in sensible ways. Woodruff responded that City Plan indicators measure how City Plan is doing, not incentives. Shoemaker noted that City Plan is a land use plan for the community. He added that the incentive is that if you want to build here, you have to do these things. Edwards said that he is trying to figure ways to move air quality in the community in a positive direction and incentives are good. York said that she is curious about how many people in the north will drive south for shopping and how vmt is measured. Woodruff said that the Transportation Department has done a mobility report card to compile data and this will happen again, but it is not called out as a City Plan indicator. John Scanlon said that he would like the level of service on roads identified to determine if travel patterns and growth patterns are going in the right direction. He added that this should be looked at in the context of City Plan. Woodruff said that there are techniques to include alternate modes in the level of service. Air Quality Advisory Board June 25, 1997 Page 6 York asked that the safety issue involving accidents between different modes be studied. AQ Action Plan Update; Commerce, Brian Woodruff Harry Edwards made a motion to approve the commerce portion of the Air Quality Action Plan. Susan Bilo seconded the motion. After the following discussion, the motion passed unanimously (7-0). Fooks suggested that the Board say that this is moving in the right direction rather than give approval. Woodruff explained that there is room for editing before the final recommendation. Edwards noted that this is a committee work product and the Board should support it. Eric Levine expressed concern about pollution prevention and requested that staff look into the legality of more stringent regulations. John Fooks recommended a friendly amendment to the motion stating that the Board approves this as a work in progress rather than approving as final. Harry Edwards accepted the friendly amendment. York suggested scheduling a pollution prevention discussion for a future meeting. Bilo suggested a report be provided by staffmember Margit Hentschel. Eric Levine made the motion to extend the meeting until 10:00 p.m. Susan Bilo seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously (5-0). AQ Policy Plan Update, Brian Woodruff Woodruff said that Alex Chapman sent a letter with concerns about the Air Quality Plan. He said that he will contact Mr. Chapman to see if he would like to meet with the committee. This item was deferred to the next meeting. Clean Cities, Linda Devocelle This item was deferred to the next meeting. Indoor AQ Issue Paper, Linda Devocelle Linda Devocelle, Environmental Education Specialist, said that this will possibly involve three meetings. David Gallup said that he would like to be on the committee. Fooks said that he will check with the new board members. INFORMATION ITEMS AQAB Award Program, Susan Bilo Susan Bilo said that she will write a recommendation for action at the next meeting. Air Quality Advisory Board June 25, 1997 Page 7 CO Ambient Concentration & Mobile Emissions, Brian Woodruff This item was deferred to the next meeting. Other Business York provided a draft letter on wind power subscribers in the packet. Fooks said that recognition of Platte River Power Authority and the City of Fort Collins Light & Power needs to be included. He suggested the change to "a significant" before COZ. Bilo suggested including a hyphen between "wind" and "generated". Levine said that listing participating businesses is a dangerous principle. York said that the intent is to compliment the businesses and promote further participation. Scanlon noted that businesses did this on a voluntary basis and it is appropriate for the Board to recognize this. Shoemaker said that staff will wordsmith the letter and send it back to the Board for approval. John Scanlon made the motion: that the Board send the letter after the proper wordsmithing. Susan Bilo seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-1. Propose Items for Next Meeting Agenda • Non Testing Report • Benchmark Study Report • Auto Emissions (Eric Levine) • Mobile Emissions • Draft NFRAQ Report • New Members • Transportation Board and AQAB Committee Meeting Report Goodbye, Susan Bilo Boardmembers wished Susan good luck with her move to Salt Lake City and thanked her for her contribution to the AQAB. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m.