HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 05/06/1992• MINUTES •
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
281 N. COLLEGE AVE. - CONFERENCE ROOM
MAY 61 1992
For Reference: Will Smith, NRAB Chair - 223-0425
Cathy Fromme, Council liaison - 223-9360
Tom Shoemaker, Staff liaison - 221-6263
Board Members Present
Will Smith, Phil Friedman, Deni LaRue, Bill Miller, Harold Swope, Steve
Erthal, Tim Johnson
Board Members Absent
Chuck Davis (unexcused)
Staff Present
Tom Shoemaker, Edith Felchle, Julie Bothwell, Brian Woodruff
Guest Present
Terry Whitaker, applicant for appointment to the Board
Minutes
It was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved that the Minutes of
the April 1, 1992 NRAB meeting be accepted with some grammatical
corrections.
Committee Reports
Land Use Committee - Recommendations Regarding Water Treatment Plant #1
Miller distributed a letter to the Board that the Land Use Committee
drafted to Council regarding the conversion of Water Treatment Plant I
(WTP1) to a Mountain Park. The Board reviewed and discussed the letter;
their comments were as follows: Swope stated that it was discussed on the
tour of the plant that the old filter plant building would make an
excellent museum for Poudre history items. Smith said the letter was good
and would be informative.
It was decided that on the first page, bullet six would be changed to
read; "National Water Heritage Area interpretive site and museum of history
of water usage." On page two, bullet three is changed to read:
"Solicitation of information from the public to determine level of public
support."
Erthal moved and LaRue seconded that the NRAB approve the amended
letter. The motion was passed unanimously.
Smith asked if the details had been resolved regarding the purpose of
the meeting with representatives of organizations and agencies that would
have an interest in WTP1, or would be involved in the project. Johnson
said that they would like to identify who would be the potential operators
and then meet with those people to see what their level of interest is.
Smith stated that the Land Use Committee has generated most of the
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initial thinking relativd to WTP1 and he feels that ..jw it is at the level
where it can become a Board project. He would like for LaRue, Miller, or
Johnson to take the lead in bringing the Board together to finalize details
of the meeting with potentially interested parties and clarify the purpose.
It was decided that this will be discussed more at the May 20 NRAB
worksession with the main goals to define the purpose of the meeting,
generate a list of affected parties, and draft a letter.
Shoemaker suggested.that Boardmembers who do not attend the
worksession read the material in the mailout so they will be kept up to
date for the regular meeting.
NOW Business
Shoemaker asked for ideas and recommendations from the Board about
some difficult issues that Staff is dealing with in regard to the final
draft of the NAPP. He said Staff is hoping to present the final draft NAPP
to the Board in early summer.
He said Staff conducted an inventory of natural resource areas and
considerably expanded some mapped areas in the community based on data and
public information about use of certain prairie areas in.the UGA by bald
eagles and ferruginous hawks. Most of these areas are occupied by prairie
dogs, which form a prey base for the birds of prey. They found through
observation that there is substantial use of areas in the Fossil Creek
Drainage by bald eagles (endangered species), ferruginous hawks (Colorado
Species of Concern), and other large raptors.
Paragon Point received a fair amount of press and a fair amount of
controversy because of a criterion in the existing LDGS that is fairly
strict in terms of its application to these birds, but underdefined in
terms of what it really means. The upshot was that there was a fair amount
of controversy and Staff had to deal with some real tradeoffs in terms of
the question, "Is it reasonable, desirable, etc., to attempt to
maintain/conserve these areas containing prairie dogs within the urban
setting?" Some of the tradeoffs were on the ecological side -- the use by
birds of prey; prairie dogs change the habitat and create nitches for a
variety of species. Prairie dogs cause problems, and there is some
legitimate concern about plague. Other concerns are that the prairie dogs
move around and dig burrows in people's lawns. The burrows do provide
homes for other animals that live in prairie dog colonies. The bottom line
is that staff came out of the Paragon Point situation feeling that they
really did not have the tools they needed, or policy direction, with
respect to dealing with these types of areas in the future, and they needed
to step back and look at it in the broader policy context instead of on a
site -by -site or development -by -development basis. How far can Staff go;
how far should they go?
Shoemaker presented a map that showed prairie dog occupied -areas in
the UGA. Seven Springs, the Hahn Property, and areas between Lemay and
College are areas in the fastest growing parts of town. Staff had some CSU
students do field observation and found out that, by far, Seven Springs and
Hahn are receiving the most consistent use by the birds, but there is
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substantial use as weO in the eastern propertieeetween College and
Timberline.
Miller said that he feels the City should consider ideas for
acquisition via the NAPP because the areas serve as corridors by which
other forms of wildlife also benefit.
Swope recommended that all the effort should be focused on large
areas.
Erthal suggested preserving all areas as they are; he believes if they
are there, they are there for a reason. He does not want to see any
poisoning techniques used.
Johnson agreed with Swope that the focus should be on the large areas
and that because the animals are not geographically static, the small areas
look like they won't be viable.
Smith said that there has been discussion between both Fort Collins
and Loveland about the buffer zone between the two and that maybe that is
an approach that should be looked at. These east -west prairie belts might
allow enough area of continuous land that populations of prairie dogs could
ebb and flow and also allow colonies large enough to avoid too much human
intervention, causing a loss of raptors because of too much activity.
Friedman said the focus should be on the large viable areas that exist
now. He said Staff should also focus on ensuring that those areas are
managed so the prairie dogs do not disappear. If the desire is to preserve
the prairie dog population, you also have to create a way of managing it so
that it is sustaining. He added that although a policy plan could address
these issues he feels that it would not "fly." These areas have to be
protected through land acquisition.
LaRue agreed with the rest of the Board.
Energy Policy
Brian Woodruff of the Natural Resources Division reviewed the draft
Energy Policy and asked for comments from the Board. The policy will be
presented to Council in June. The Board's comments were as follow:
Johnson said he likes the annual review concept. There should be an
annual audit of the City's past accomplishments and future plans.
Erthal felt the language seemed vague as to concrete goals and
schedules and he would like to see concrete goals in this policy. It needs
to include an oversight function -- to check that the work plans are
written and that they are implemented, and to review overall energy
efficiency actions and evaluate whether they go far enough. Council should
get serious about energy policy and allocate adequate staff and resources
to get the job done.
Friedman agreed with Erthal in that it is too vague, because it does
not say what it will accomplish. They should add a work item -- one
specific outcome should be to develop a concrete energy policy, e.g., "Item
D:" develop a policy document with specific, tangible, actions and budget
criteria, e.g., How much front-end cost is acceptable to get how much
future savings? A test of good policy is whether it is helpful to
decision -makers when making tough choices about budget and resources.
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Swope said there is',,600 much street lighting, &,d Light and Power is
too inflexible regarding the street lighting standards. He also said that
this document is not an energy policy, so rename it "Guidelines for the
development of an energy policy."
LaRue said to clarify that an annual review is called for. This is
stated in the cover memo, but not in the resolution.
Smith said the Board would not make a recommendation at the present
time and requested that a revised draft energy policy be brought before the
Board for consideration at the June 3 meeting.
Old Business
IPC Update
Shoemaker said plans call for the IPC to be constructed at the
Landfill and to be tentatively operating by January 1993. He is convinced
that it is going to be a great facility. When the Commissioners approved
the IPC, they extended the implementation date for the "Pay As You Throw
ordinance", or volume -based rate structures to coincide with the opening of
the IPC. So instead of July 1992, the ordinance will go into effect
January of 1993.
Johnson recommended writing a letter to Council thanking them for
their long term support for recycling. Staff will draft the letter.
Shoemaker said New England Crinc will take over and get the interim
facility going; It should be operating within sixty days after contract
signing. The interim facility will, however, collect a minimal amount of
commodities.
NRAB Worksessions
Smith said that a decision had been made to hold a Board worksession
on the 3rd Wednesday of every month, when needed. This will be in addition
to the regular meeting. It will be for information purposes only and will
not need a quorum or have minutes taken.
Topics for the May 20 worksession are Prospect Streetscape and the
Water Plant Conversion.
NRAB Attendance Policy
At the March 4 meeting the Board discussed adopting an attendance
policy. Smith propose that if a member misses three meetings, the Chair
will have a discussion with the member.
Felchle stated the Board cannot make the decision to vacate a spot on
the Board, but the Board can make a recommendation to Council to vacate a
spot if there is an attendance problem with a Boardmember. Smith asked if
the Board still liked that concept of making such a recommendation when
absences, excused or unexcused, exceed 25% of the regularly scheduled
meetings.
Friedman moved and Erthal seconded that the Board adopt a policy that
requires a discussion with a Boardmember who is absent more than 25% of the
12 scheduled meetings. Miller amended the motion to add, "after the
discussion with the Boardmember the Chair could go to Council recommending
vacating the Boardmember's position." Friedman and Erthal accepted the
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amendment and the moAn passed unanimously. 9
NRAB By -Laws
Felchle presented the proposed by-law changes for Boardmembers to
review. She asked that members bring their questions and comments to the
June 3 meeting to discuss rather than go over all of the by-laws.
Committee Reports (Unscheduled)
Miller stated the Land Use Committee reviewed their workplan and would
like for the following to occur: 1)to have a report on the possibility of a
pilot area at either Wore Park or Roland Moore with respect to
diversifying habitats along the streams,e.g., stop mowing so low to the
ground, 2)have an update on the Boltz Stormwater Detention Area, and
3)have a joint meeting with the Transportation Board and Parks and
Recreation Board or the appropriate subcommittees with respect to potential
trail and transportation links.
Announcements
Swope suggested that the Board take a another look at the LDGS to
determine if people really are living, working, playing, and shopping in
their own neighborhoods.
Smith said he announced to Council the results of the alternative
transportation challenge between the Board and the Air Quality Task Force.
Different parameters were used by the two Boards, so it was impossible to
actually declare a winner. Smith said it is now proposed that the two
Boards get together with the Transportation Board and have ice cream. He
said the Board avoided single occupancy vehicles 36% of the time.
Felchle announced that the Environmental Family Night was a big
success. She thanked LaRue and Johnson for helping.
Miller announced that Friedman did well with presenting the
Environmental Awards at the Council meeting and it went smoothly.
Adjournment
The public portion of the meeting adjourned at 9:25, at which time the
Board went into Executive Session to discuss natural areas land
acquisitions.
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Julie Bothwell, Secretary
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