Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 11/07/1990MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD CITY HALL WEST - CIC ROOM NOVEMBER 7, 1990 Board Members Present Chuck Davis Harold Swope Bill Miller Tim Johnson Board Members Absent (excused) Joyce Berry Staff Members Present Dave DuBois Ward Luthi Will Smith Christine Ferguson Deni LaRue Tom Shoemaker Susie Gordon Susan Hayes Minutes It was moved, seconded, and unanimously approved that the Minutes of the October 3, 1990 NRAB meeting be approved as presented. Staff Reports Erosion Control: Susan Hayes from the Stormwater Utility presented the Final Draft of the Erosion Control Reference Manual. It has been revised for better comprehension and to be more concise but does not yet include public comments. Staff is finishing work on the manual so that it can be taken to Council in January. Hayes requested the Board read the manual and provide their comments to her in January. Hayes would like a letter recommending its adoption. The Water Committee was assigned to review and comment. Hayes emphasized that the manual creates mandatory criteria that are additions to the existing ordinance. The intent of the manual is to remain flexible about approaches that may be used to allow people to stay up-to-date. The manual applies to all projects except single family lots smaller than 10,000 square feet (unless they are near sensitive areas) and emergency work. Definitions have been changed from "during construction" to "temporary," and from "after construction" to "permanent." Application of criteria starts with land grading. Standards are for control of ten-year rainfall events and a 15% maximum increase in sediment discharge. Standards are a combination of what can be achieved and what is economically reasonable; natural erosion occurs which can be theoretically calculated and used in design. There was confusion about calculating "performance standards" and staff determined that because of the minimal amount of variation that occurred in calculations, the requirement should be dropped. Daily inspections will be made at project boundaries to monitor sediment coming off the site. In response to a question about standards for already degraded sites, Hayes stated that historic dryland grass vegetation will be cited as existing cover. The ordinance for preventing sediment deposits on roads by vehicles will be more strongly enforced in conjunction with the manual. When asked about CSU's obligations under the manual, for instance around their farmland and stadium areas, Hayes stated that the University is exempted by state statute. They have been asked to comment on the manual, but it is unlikely that CSU would ever submit their plans for review by the City. Agricultural land uses are not covered by the manual. Security will be based on cost estimates of the control measures multiplied by 50%. A minimum requirement of $1,000 is being considered instead of $5,000 to prevent excessive burdens on small contractors. Inspection fees cover the City's administrative costs; increasing charges will have to be a policy decision. There are three years of follow-up supervision on a project. Criteria only apply to new development. A discussion ensued about incremental degradation. Smith used the example of paving causing increased downstream runoff and erosion. Hayes stated that the manual doesn't have a way to deal with upstream sources yet. When Smith asked whether owners would be allowed to remove wind barriers (trees), Hayes responded that the owner would have to replace it with substitute vegetation. Hayes agreed that past development shouldn't be excluded from erosion control, but explained that the manual is part of an incremental project. Stormwater Utilities does intend to make ordinance changes to include other concerns,but for now, they are starting with the areas that will achieve the greatest improvement. It will be more difficult to create ordinance changes, compared to simply adding the criteria to the existing Stormwater Manual. Hayes agreed that a discussion of future planning could be included in the manual, as an introduction, or as part of the resolution in Council packages. Hayes informed the Board that the consultant has been chosen to create guidelines for streambank erosion control criteria, as part of the Mail Creek stabilization project. Clarendon Hills is also being required to do a stabilizing project. Hazardous Materials Program: Shoemaker provided a report on the development of the new Hazardous Materials Program. It is a multi -pronged program which has not been completed; the NRAB has a good opportunity to provide comments to Poudre Fire Authority on it. Shoemaker will submit those comments for NRAB in December so that PFA can respond to them at the January meeting. The program goes well beyond the SARA-Title 3 requirements. It will include review of new development for hazardous waste siting, design and construction of handling and storage facilities, and an approved management plan. The program has a public education component as well. The program is intended to increase coordination between agencies .and City departments for spill response (past initial clean-up) and to identify organizational responsibilities and funding. PFA has hired a hazardous materials specialist to manage the program. The Hazardous Materials Committee was asked to provide a brief report on the program for December. Ideal Basic Cement Hazardous Waste Proposal: Shoemaker outlined the proposal by Ideal Basic Cement of LaPorte to burn hazardous material for fuel. The company has provided notification to the Environmental Protection Agency and has been given an Interim Designation on the project. Two more regulatory steps need to be taken; 1) prepare modifications to their air quality permits with the State, and 2) revise their land use permit, for which the County will have a special review. A question was raised about whether Ideal Basic will actually be changing their land use, as they will still be making cement. Shoemaker stated that it is premature for the City or NRAB to prepare a response to the proposal. There are many questions that still need to be answered. The Board discussed potential hazards for this kind of burning, which is practiced in western Europe. Although the high temperatures of cement making makes incineration a good way of destroying hazardous waste, emissions are a problem. Inorganic chemicals don't volatilize and produce ash and alkaline salts. Breakdowns can occur and create fugitive emissions. There is uncertainty about the status of state, county, and EPA approval because inconsistent information is being given by the company about the date that they intend to begin the process. Ferguson commented that Ideal Basic has been very resistant to controlling their silica dust and that the County may not be an adequate "watchdog" for the company. She wondered whether the hazardous waste incineration could be tied into the silica problem in the form of a regional air quality agreement. It was decided that the Board will be provided with a summary of the proposal by Brian Woodruff. This summary is being prepared for Council. Natural Resources staff will monitor the project and keep Council, the Board, and City Management informed. Mail Creek update: Shoemaker informed the Board that the request for proposals (RFP) for Mail Creek rehabilitation work will be written next week. Johnson stated that it is important to resolve the Mail Creek project because it represents procedure for dealing with past problems. New Business Interstate Dump Siting in Colorado: Luthi introduced the topic of locating interstate garbage dumps in Colorado; a proposal has recently been made for a 6,500 acre facility on a prairie ranch in southern Colorado. He asked whether the NRAB would consider it appropriate to prepare comment on the proposal for Council. Shoemaker stated that although Council and staff focus primarily on local issues, Council has expressed interest in global issues, as evidenced by the passage of the CFC ordinance. Luthi will further investigate and draft a short summary of the proposal. Recycling Goals: Smith requested the Board to give him their ideas within the next four weeks for recycling program goals to be proposed for Council's consideration; for example, a minimum waste stream reduction of 25% goal. Smith will include ideas in a letter to Council which he will prepare for the December meeting. Suggestions were made to include a composting and other "separables" goal, a policy goal for the City to buy recycled office paper, to incrementally reduce paper use in the City, to conduct a full audit ,of the inflow/outflow at City offices ("precycling" audit), and to attempt to get larger companies involved in recycling. The Board discussed sending thank -you letters to merchants and restaurants, like McDonalds, for their efforts to eliminate styrofoam and packaging. Other means of identifying positive efforts like this include information packets to be published in City News and/or to be made available at the Natural Resource spring symposium. The NRAB could prepare the list and staff could write a letter for the mayor's signature. The Chamber of Commerce's Environmental Committee could also be involved in this project. 1991 Workplan: Johnson informed the Board that its 1991 workplan needs to be written by November 30 for adoption at the next meeting. He suggested that it could be produced by folding the Environmental Management Plan in with the 1990 workplan. He advised the committees to meet and draw up their individual plans and submit them to Felchle for compilation. Announcements The suggestion was made to draft legislation for March elections. A suggestion was made to send a short letter of commendation to Parks and Recreation for their interest in integrated pest management; it was assigned to Shoemaker to draft a letter. The Environmental Management Plan received approval from Council last night, November 6. It was noted that "battles" are likely to form over costs, and each program will have to justify its costs. Appreciation was expressed to Swope, Miller, Ferguson, and Johnson for their work in commenting on the LDGS to Council. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. ASSIGNMENTS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD MEETING NOVEMBER 11, 1990 Obtain copy of 1988 study conducted by Development on the costs incurred by the permit application system. (Shoemaker) Write comments on the Erosion Control Manual. (Water Committee) Write brief report on Hazardous Materials Program for December meeting. (Hazardous Materials Committee) Write summary of Ideal Basic Cement issues and distribute to NRAB. (Woodruff) Investigate and summarize interstate dump proposal in southern Colorado. (Luthi) Draft "atta-boy" letter to merchants, restaurants, for recycling achievements. (Shoemaker) Draft 1991 workplan as committee components. (All committees) Draft "atta-boy" letter to Parks and Recreation about IPM program. (Shoemaker) Obtain copy of article on LDGS in magagzine, Reason Foundation. (done)