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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 07/07/1993MINUTES • CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 CONFERENCE ROOM - 281 N. COLLEGE JULY 7, 1993 For Reference: Will Smith, NRAB Chair - 221-0425 Chris Kneeland, Council liaison - 221-2950 Tom Shoemaker, Staff liaison - 221-6263 Boardmembers Present Will Smith, Lisa Howard, Katy Mason, Hal Swope, Phil Friedman, Craig McGee, Terri Knudsen, Bill Miller, Tim Johnson Staff Present Tom Shoemaker, Julie Bothwell, Tim Buchanan, City Forester, Mike Smith, Water and Wastewater Utility Director Guest Present Glenn Haas, Chairman, CSU Department of Recreation Resources, Colorado State University introductions There were brief introductions of guests and new boardmembers, Lisa Howard and Katy Mason. Approval of Minutes It was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved that the Minutes of the June 2, 1993 NRAB meeting be accepted as written with the following amendment: Page S. under Recycling Program Review regarding recycling by restaurants, Smith would like the minutes to include his suggestion that when restaurants are reviewed in the newspaper they receive an environmental review for recycling and if they pass they would receive a "Green Seal" of approval. CSU Environmental Learning Center (ELC) Glenn Haas, Chairman, CSU Department of Recreation Resources, was present to provide the Board information on the construction of the ELC complex and to extend an invitation to the City to be partners. Haas distributed a handout on the background of the ELC and the current situation. Haas stated that they are going to build an environmental education building that hopefully will service the community and CSU. He said that the COORS gift of $500,000 allows a dream to become a reality. Haas said that the questions that remain are where to build the building and what organizations would like to have some presence and/or involvement. Haas stated that he has been a real activist in the City/University Cache La Poudre Landscape Opportunity Study (LOS) and feels that the area from Prospect and Mulberry down to Harmony, from Timberline out to I-25 is going to be the area. The question then becomes where to locate a building? Haas said that there are many potential stakeholders in this decision. Haas said that depending on the siting decision there could be a land trade that would require the State Board of Agriculture's approval and Council's approval. He said if that type of decision were made, a formal recommendation from various Boards would be requested. Haas said that the LOS should be coming to a conclusion within the next two months. The final vision plan, (the map) is being drafted. He said that co -locating the ELC building with the Colorado Tourism Board, the Welcome Center located along I-25 and Prospect is appealing. Haas explained that they would really like to embrace the concept of being a World Class Environmental Education Complex. He said that he is supportive of that to the extent that the community can collectively use the COORS money as a springboard for building some partnerships to release some other monies from other sources outside of the City'e.g., GO COLORADO. What is evolving is the concept of a complex that might house various natural resource entities. Haas said that they are interested in two parcels (1) the south end of the Resource Recovery Farm, and (2) a site north of the Sludge Farm. Haas reviewed some criteria and said if the Board had other criteria/sites, let him know. He stated that the site north of the Sludge Farm looks better. Haas stated that by August 10, he hopes to get approval from President Yates to begin serious negations for a site. Haas stated that the concept of a world class environmental complex with CSU being "A player" is great. Smith suggested that the Board present a letter to Council with comments of how the Board views the project and their concepts of the two parcels or any other sites. He suggested that copies of the letter be sent to other Boards and Commissions too. Miller stated that he represented the Board on the LOS and the consensus from all of the representatives of the subcommittee was that the center would not just be a CSU "adventure", but a community effort. He feels that it would be a loss not to accept the challenge and make it reality. Shoemaker said that Council would be interested in hearing the Board's views as to generally what level of participation the Board thinks appropriate once the center is built. Smith stated that the Board should make a strong recommendation to Council that the City be involved. He feels that if specific recommendations are developed, the information could be taken from LOS or Haas to GO COLORADO and State and Federal agencies and to give a little more power to cooperative efforts. Miller suggested adding the Environmental Clearinghouse to the list. Smith suggested also adding the Environmental Subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce. 2 Miller will draft a letter and present it to the Board for review at its August 4 meeting. Proposed Revisions to the Tree Ordinance Tim Buchanan, City Forester was present to outline proposed changes to the Tree Ordinance. Buchanan stated that the ordinance will be presented to Council in late summer or early fall after presenting it to various Boards and incorporating the changes. He was looking for any comments, changes or recommendations from the Board. Buchanan stated that the City has had a tree ordinance since the mid- 1950's. Some major revisions were made in 1971 primarily, to deal with the Dutch Elm disease problem. In 1980 care of trees along streets was given to the Forestry Department, along with some other minor changes through the years. Buchanan said there is a section that prohibits the planting of certain kinds of trees and there is a permit requirement for anyone that wants to plant trees or shrubs, or prune or remove trees or shrubs on any City property. There is a licensing requirement so that businesses that practice tree work must have an arborist's license. Buchanan said the ordinance gives power to the Forestry Department to send notices to require removal of hazardous trees or diseased trees where there is potential for an epidemic type disease e.g., Dutch Elm and Gypsy Moth. Buchanan stated that the Parks and Recreation Board suggested expanding the list of species that are prohibited to include Salt Cedar and Russian Olive trees. Also, a new addition would allow exceptions to allow the planting of some of the prohibited species in open space and natural areas. This was specifically added so that boxelder or cotton -bearing cottonwoods could be planted, where appropriate in open space and natural areas. Miller stated that Section 27-18 does not allow the private landowner a loophole, but it gives one to the City. He asked what the rationale was behind planting boxelder or cotton -bearing cottonwoods. Buchanan answered that both are native species and have a value in the ecosystem in those areas. Johnson suggested that this should be specified in the ordinance as to why these species can be used in open space and natural areas. Miller said that the exclusion would be made for the propagation of these species within those areas, that they are already native. He agrees with the Parks and Recreation Board with regard to the addition of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive to the list of prohibited trees. Johnson suggested that the reason the boxelder is objectionable is because the insect that is associated with it, feeds off the seeds. Miller suggested putting this information in a cover letter to the ordinance. Buchanan stated that a paragraph was added that says private tree services, nurseries, etc., will need to adhere to the standards, specifications and policies of the City Forestry Division. So, when Forestry comes up with standards on correct ways of treating, pruning, or 3 planting trees, private businesses must adhere to these standards as they carry out their business practice even though they are working for private customers. Buchanan stated that the insurance requirement for tree services and nurseries has not gone up since 1971. In the proposed ordinance, requirements would use from $100,000 to $300,000 for the injury or death of any one person, from $300,000 to $1,000,000 for the injury or death of any number of persons in any one accident and from $25,000 to $50,000 for damage to property. A license shall be issued when the applicant has proof that he has paid a license fee of $25.00 and the license expires at the end of that year. Also, a change on page six of the ordinance states that it is now the responsibility of the private property owner to clear any vegetation and/or tree and shrub growth that hangs over a sidewalk blocks a street, or causes danger to persons or property. This clarifies a liability concern. Swope stated that he supports recommending native species, but feels it is a little idealistic. He asked if using the state tree is mentioned. Buchanan said that it would just be open space areas and would not include the developed parks, parkway areas, or any developed public lands. This policy does say that native species planted in open space or natural areas would be species to various geographic zones within the UGA. Based on this policy, a Blue Spruce could not be planted in an open space area along the Poudre River by Martinez Park. He stated that the species planted should be those species that are native to that geographic zone and specific ecological situation along the river. Johnson moved and Swope seconded that the Board support the ordinance with the change recommended by the Parks and Recreation Board. Miller proposed the following amendment: "A letter of explanation be attached to the ordinance to justify the decision as to why certain species could be planted in open space areas, primarily the boxelder and certain cottonwoods." Johnson and Swope accepted the amendment. McGee asked if there was an opportunity for a review for a private homeowner to get a variance. Buchanan answered that they could make the exception for the planting regardless of whether it is private or public property. Friedman asked why would there be any exceptions made. He stated that if a species has been identified as being undesirable why would there ever be a reason why someone would want to plant it. Shoemaker answered that he cannot see any reason for planting Russian Olive or Salt Cedar. The others - boxelder and cotton -bearing cottonwood are native species in the riparian ecosystem. The reason they are a nuisance is that they are a pain when they are in a residential backyard, but if you are in a 100-acre open space along the Poudre River, you would expect boxelder to be there; habitat restoration projects might require planting these species. Friedman suggested making a reference to "native species" previously identified as being prohibited. Shoemaker said that with regard to the letter proposed by Miller, when Council adopts a Code it goes into a Code Book that states "here is what thou shalt do and what thou shalt not do in the City of Fort Collins." So there really is not a place in the Code Book for the letter, but the n Agenda Item Summary which accompanies a recommende3 ordinance contains a certain amount of rationale for the proposal, e.g.,;"WHEREAS we need to prohibit." Often those kinds of rationale statements are included so that there is some kind of record as to why it is being done. It was agreed that the rationale that Miller is requesting be incorporated into the "WHEREAS" series of statements and the addition that Friedman is recommending, "native species" would be included under Section 27-18; 3B, in the ordinance. The motion was unanimously passed. Proposed City Drinking Water Policy Mike Smith, (M. Smith) Water and Wastewater Utility Director was present to receive input from the Board regarding the draft Drinking Water Quality Policy developed by the Water Board. The draft was included in the Board's packet. M. Smith stated that the Planning and Zoning Board (P&Z Board) suggested that on page two under "Cooperating with Other Water Providers and User". They would like it to read "The City will pursue cooperative efforts with other water providers and users that are consistent with these water quality policies, enhance water quality in the basin and produce desirable long term benefits for the community." M. Smith stated that the P&Z Board thought that enhancing water quality in the basin should be an overall goal for everyone. Will Smith (W. Smith) stated that when he hears drinking water quality policy he thinks of the water that comes into the system and how that is handled, not the water that exits the system; the treatment half of that. He stated that when the policy talks about water in the basin you are dealing with effluents and he was confused. M. Smith stated that there is a section in the policy that talks about coordinating drinking water and wastewater treatment. You do not do things to the drinking water that are going to mess things up at the wastewater plant, or downstream, and that is where the question of water quality in the basin comes in. M. Smith stated that a few years ago they changed, how they treated the water, making it harder and less corrosive which means it leaches out less copper and lead which affects the wastewater sludge. The sludge is more useable now since it has less copper in it. They also added calcium and sodium bicarbonate. M. Smith stated that they are going to stop using the sodium bicarbonate because it is expensive and replace it with CO2. W. Smith asked what "Protecting, Developing, and Preserving Water Resources:" meant. M. Smith answered that the committee wanted to take a strong stand about protecting our water supply especially around the west side of town: Horsetooth Reservoir, upstream, and the Poudre. W. Smith asked if "Protecting, Developing, and Preserving Water" could be used to prevent the construction of dams on the Poudre River. M. Smith answered, "potentially." Staff and the committee really wanted to be a little more proactive to protect drinking water sources. He stated that at Joe Wright Reservoir, they had trouble with people wanting to put motor boats in there. Miller asked what the impact of boating on Horsetooth is at the present. M. Smith answered that their analytical capabilities are getting 5 such that they can start detecting some of the fuel and oil that is in there. It is not a danger to the drinking water, but when they start detecting it, then they start worrying about it. McGee stated that he did not see anything in the policy that talks about water conservation and wondered if it was outside the scope of the policy or is there any discussion of that. M. Smith answered that there was and they felt that the Water Demand Management Policy that was previously adopted adequately serves that purpose. W. Smith stated that regarding "Pro -active Monitoring and Testing", there has always been a concern that adequate measurements be taken in the various portions of the water system, especially with outflows rather than inflows. He asked if this necessarily means that there might be an increase in measuring and monitoring. M. Smith answered that the City does much more monitoring than is required, and they were concerned about people saying they were monitoring too much. The committee said that they were not doing too much and was very supportive and proactive in monitoring. Mason asked if testing was done for heavy metals. M. Smith stated that they test for a lot of heavy metals and various organics, more and more are coming up every year. Knudsen stated that regarding, "Protecting, Developing, and Preserving Water Resources", there is no mention of non -point sources of pollutants and wondered within the Poudre River Basin were there any kind of plans being made to meet Section 309 and 319 of the Clean Water Act. M. Smith stated that on the wastewater side that is a big issue. He stated that it is a tough one because the primary source is agriculture. Shoemaker stated that back when this was started one of the questions was if the utility had the policy backup to be treating to a higher standard than the Federal Government required and asked if that was covered under advancing treatment technology etc. M. Smith answered "yes" and that the committee was supportive of it because you can treat to State and Federal water standards and still make people sick. Friedman moved and Miller seconded that the Board support the Drinking Water Quality Policy as presented by Mike Smith with the one additional change made by the P&Z Board. The motion was unanimously passed. Shoemaker stated that Council's new Policy Agenda has some things that overlap with the old Policy Agenda and staff proposed to consolidate them into one review that has several parts. The old agenda says to review the recycling program and the new agenda says (1) improve education efforts to increase participation, and (2) consider alternatives to reduce trash trucks on streets. Shoemaker told boardmembers that he would like their feedback. He said that in August, staff anticipates presenting the Goals and Objectives 6 alternatives on trash trucks, and ordinance revisions. In September he will be presenting recommendations on all five products. In October staff is going to a Council worksession. Depending on how the worksessions turns out staff will then be moving ahead with ordinance revisions. Smith asked if the changes to the recycling program being considered were structural or educational. Shoemaker answered that it is some of both, a fair amount of people are not participating in recycling because they do not understand how it works and that can be addressed through education. Swope suggested that when the City has control of the trash hauling it will have control of the recycling. He said he would endorse looking into that type of a program. He likes how the City of Loveland does their program: one truck and pay as you throw, prepaid bags for trash, no charge for recyclables. Shoemaker said that staff was charged with doing the initial evaluation before the IPC was built and before the pay as you throw ordinance went into operation. He stated that by the August meeting, staff should have participation reports from the haulers on the first six months of 1993. Shoemaker stated that a vast majority of people say they recycle, but the vast majority are also using the free drop-off facilities. So when you get to participation in the curbside program there are two estimates (1) 22%, arrived at by taking the actual number of customers as the haulers report and then dividing by the estimated number of single-family households in the city. This underestimates the number because some portion of the households do not use trash services. (2) 30%, derived by asking citizens, "Do you use curbside?" Mason stated that in the report it states that we cannot have mandatory recycling according to ordinance. Smith stated that in 1989 Council did not want to make it mandatory. He said that the original proposal from the Board was to try and find methods of getting a single hauler to bid the city services and divide the city up, but dividing the city up was deemed illegal by the City Attorney.. Mason stated that she was referring to "everybody" paying for recycling. You would have a lot higher participation rate. A lot of the people in the survey says they should not pay to recycle, because it does not make sense when you can take recyclables to drop off sites free. Shoemaker stated for clarity that Mason might have read,"Is it possible for the City to require the hauler to only charge one rate for both trash and recyclables?" That would be regulating the rates of the trash hauler which is contrary to state law. Shoemaker stated that he intends to look at the range of alternatives and see what the pros and cons are. He asked the Board to think broadly and help staff look at pros and cons, but not necessarily be limited by what is in effect today. Shoemaker explained that in terms of changing the substance of the outreach program, staff is really identifying two different types of customers: (1) The trash hauler. Be more "one on one" with them to try and get their programs out where they are struggling, or to stay out of the way 7 if they are doing okay and don't want any involvement -from staff. (2) Citizens. Shoemaker stated that he could see staff taking a more active role as consumer advocates. He would want Council policy backing on it, but it would be possible to reach out to citizens and say, "if you find recycling confusing and inconvenient etc., here is how to make it less confusing and less inconvenient, and here's how to get costs down, etc. Shoemaker feels that this can be done as long as Council agrees that it is an appropriate City role. Shoemaker stated that the Staff recommendation was that the City should bid recycling citywide and hire one contractor to ensure consistency. Mason asked what the City has done to push commercial companies to recycle and the haulers to pick up commercial recyclables. Shoemaker stated that the ordinance requires haulers to provide recycling service on a subscription basis to commercial customers. Staff works with commercial facilities that want to set up a recycling program. Smith suggested a one stop shopping call. "Here is what your six haulers will offer you, here is what the fee structure is and here is what they will take." Mason suggested reducing the rate if everyone paid and hopefully the participation rate would go up greatly. Swope asked if it would be feasible to have neighborhood recycling receptacles. He suggested large bins for each item that could be recycled be placed somewhere within the neighborhood and could be picked up by one trash hauler. Shoemaker answered that it would be great to have more drop- off sites, and staff proposes to try and get consistency among drop- off sites so that they all are part of a "City program" and everyone is collecting the same thing. Johnson asked if it was time to look at a different direction and look at hazardous materials and try and find ways to recycle them, i.e., used motor oil, car batteries. Smith asked about construction and yard waste being recycled. Shoemaker answered that there is a pilot program underway at the landfill to use materials from Loveland to test composting. If it is successful, he expects it would be available to Fort Collins residents soon afterwards. Shoemaker stated that later in July staff, along with Larimer County Extension Service, will be opening a backyard compost demonstration site at Martinez Farm. Mason asked, in Shoemaker's opinion, if we have committed ourselves so much to the residential recycling program that it is too late to do a turn around and do what Loveland is doing. Shoemaker answered that option is not completely closed, it will be one of the alternatives that he looks at with the trash truck question. He said it depends on the goals and objectives; what the City is really trying to achieve. He has mixed feelings because although the program has not achieved the results that he would have liked to have seen haulers have made significant investments in recycling. Miller suggested dividing the city into areas and have the haulers bid e on doing the service • a particular area. That each would have the ' same number of customers, but they would be in one area instead of going from one side of town to the other. Shoemaker thanked Boardmembers for their comments and asked them to give additional comments or suggestions to him. Committee Reports Smith stated that at the August 4 meeting boardmembers will need to choose which committees they would like to serve on for next year. Announaemsnts Shoemaker announced that he has copies of a letter from Karen Manci seeking information on natural areas to areas south of Fort Collins and the Fossil Creek Reservoir, as well as the northwest corridor along the Poudre. He stated that she is seeking input on what people know about those areas. Shoemaker announced that staff is starting the process of developing the management program for the Cathy Fromme Prairie and looking for input. He said that the Board will have formal opportunities to comment. Shoemaker announced that the natural areas acquisition programs are moving very well. Staff has it active projects at the present time. He said that it is probable that the City will add 200-300 more acres this year into the system. Some of the key acquisitions are coming along and staff will be presenting 3-5 acquisitions to the Board at the August 4 meeting. Johnson announced that Mayor Azari stopped by his house and that she is supportive of Water Treatment Plant 1 being put back to public use. Smith read a note from Susan Kirkpatrick thanking the Board for the letter regarding her help and former Council's help on the NAPP. It was agreed that July 21, 6:00 p.m. would be set for a worksession for Greg Byrne to come for a "question and answer" session regarding the Cost of Growth Study and the LDGS. Staff will schedule a meeting room. Smith announced Bike Awareness Week was July 18-24 with different events going on each night. For the October meeting Swope invited the Board for a steak fry and to review the mitigation project of the Fairway Estates. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 p.m. 9