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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 09/06/1989MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD SEPTIIMBII2 6, 1989 Board Members Present: Joyce wry Ari Michelsen Charles Davis Will Smith Tim Johnson Harold Swope Denise LaRue Susan Whitmer Ward Luthi Board Members Absent (excused) Suzanne Bassinger Dave DuBois Staff Present: Brian Woodruff Edith Felchle Bob Wilkinson Minutes Minutes of the August 2, 1989 Natural Resources Advisory Board meeting were unanimously approved as submitted. • -- S-..a_. Recycling Ccmmittee -- It was reported that staff will present preliminary citywide curbside recycling figures to Council at the next Council meeting. This presentation is only for budget consideration. Details of a reccmexided recycling program will be worked out later. The City Manager has loaned Natural Resources a staff member, Jody Kole, to help put the citywide curbside recycling proposal together. A second Council presentation, in October, will outline options and recommend a specific program. Global Warming ad hoc committee -- LaRue reported that the committee, made up of Johnson, Smith, and LaRue, met with Susan Kirkpatrick in August. Kirkpatrick attended a global warming conference in July, and she shared information from that conference with the committee. Smith, referring to Kirkpatrick's report, said there are things we can tell people they can do locally, e.g. it may be possible for the City to support small business use of recapturing equipment for those businesses who perform auto cooling system servicing. He wants to pursue this. It was reported that, since global warming issues may be approached in various ways, the global warming resolution NRAB was considering has been put on hold. Environmental Management Plan (EMP) — Woodruff gave the board the Presentation he gave Council at its 8/28/89 meeting. He reviewed environmental management planning for the last several years, highlighting the 1985 Air Quality Management and Control plan, Light and Power's electric rate structure favoring energy conservation, Police involvement in hazardous materials transportation, the IDGS ennvirormiental criteria, Xeriscape promotion aimed at water conservation, and storm drainage plans developed and administered by Stormwater. He said the City has done a lot in environmental management, but it has not been brought together into an Environmental Management Plan (EMP). He emphasized that comprehensive plans have a broad scope and are long range. He stressed that citizen input it must be part of the process of developing the III, and he advised that the final plan must be acted on by the Planning and Zoning Board. He said that the focus is on Fort Collins' future. He said the plan must be developed within the framework of a comprehensive plan. He outlined the steps of the EMP development: Phase I -- develop the framework (target date of completion — April 1990), Phase II -- develop information base and Policy, Phase III — implement steps within the phases. He listed possible issues to be addressed in the EMP and gave examples of clustering of issues for interdependency consideration. He said target dates for phases II and III have not been set. He handed out copies of responses made by Council members at their 8/28/89 meeting. Smith stated that we should take a look at what this is being balanced against. Woodruff responded that comprehensive plans of the City taken together guide development of the City; the Planning and Zoning Board would continue to do the balancing. Staff has developed basic questions to garner public input into EMP development. These questions are: What are the main problems that an environmental management plan should solve? What elements of environmental quality should the environmental management plan address? Haw will we know when the Environmental Management Plan is doing what it is suppose to do? Wilkinson said that NRAB members may want to consider answering the questions themselves. Board member its included the following: There is not enough information available to answer the questions and the questions will generate too broad a range of answers. Public meetings should also tell what the City is doing. The questions are too sophisticated. Maybe we should back off on an EMP and instead ask people what they want Fort Collins to look like. People are asking where Fort Collins is going. We don't have a comprehensive planning document. After we get a comprehensive planning document, then we can write an EMP. Iuthi said he has talked to many Council people and there is a lot of confusion about what an EMP is. Woodruff responded that an EMP cannot be a vehicle for all planning for the City. Wilkinson said we need to final out what the community issues, values, and expectations are regarding the environment. It was moved and seconded and unanimously passed to have a work session to deal with this issue. The work session was set for Wednesday, September 13, 1989, at 7:00 pm, with location to be announced. Smith asked for a report on state legislation regarding materials municipalities are and are not allowed to ban. Woodruff said staff will get a copy of HB1300 for NRAB. • Committee Armointments No appointments were made to the Air Quality Committee since that committee will disband when the Air Quality Task Force begins functioning. Committee appointments were as follows: Legislative Review: DuBois, Davis Mitigation: DuBois land use: Bassinger, Luthi, Michelsen, Whitmer, Berry, Swope Education/Information: Whitmer, LaRue, Smith Water: Michelsen, DuBois, Swope Hazardous Materials: DuBois, Johnson, Davis, Smith Recycling/Solid Waste: Bassinger, LaRue, Luthi, Smith Johnson asked committees to designate a chair by the October NRAB meeting. Felchle stated that there were two liaison positions that had not been filled when Pat Reed resigned from the board. To fill those positions, Johnson agreed to be the National Recreation Area NRAB liaison; Whitmer agreed to be the NRAB liaison to the Backyard Wildlife Habitat committee. Ccamminity Greenhouse Robyn Dolgin-Allen harried out brochures about the Community Horticultural Center. She said that the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society have indicated support for the center. They specifically support the center's plans for a focus on education. Relative to environmental aspects of the center, she said that examples show that innovative pest management does work. The center will also incorporate Xeriscape principles and will exemplify how people can deal with yard waste productively. She said they do not yet have the land for the center, but they have received $50,000 in a Community Development Block Grant from the City. She showed slides of what a community horticultural center might be. She said the center's purpose will be to enrich the lives of Fort Collins citizens. The slides featured a solar greenhouse and the involvement of seniors and at -risk youth in center activities. She said they would like to locate along the bike path. She said that the Parks and Recreation department is supportive of the project and is helping to look for a site. They hope that some of the food raised at the center will go to the food distribution center. They hope to contract with Poudre R-1 for class and school ground activities. They also plan to offer public workshops. She said they may need support from NRAB if they decide to develop the center on City property. Public Access to Water Treatment Plant No. 1 Joe Maurier from state Parks reported that progress has been made on the two picnic rock areas, and with help from NRAB, adjustments have been made. Regarding the Water Treatment Plant, he said the Water Board is uncomfortable with a long term lease. Regarding the access problem, he said that if access is allowed, and a safety problem occurs, the Highway Department would be liable. He said they received a design from the Highway Department in July. The estimate was $80,000 and the issue is still being negotiated with the Water Department. state Parks is looking at which budget cycle the $80,000 will came from. They are also talking to the Water Department about the City fronting the money with a State guarantee of reimbursement. A short term (5 year) lease is a bit of a problem. He said the access problem, at the worst, means the facility could probably open July 1, 1992. If the City fronts the money this year, it MAY be possible to open July 1991. The $80,000 plan calls for a loop out into the river and then back to the road at a 90 degree angle. If all circumstances were perfect, the facility might be able to open July 1990. Johnson suggested that creative think ng may be needed to get the project underway. Annmancenerits Michelsen discussed goal setting for committees. He said that '88-'89 goals have been quite ambitious and that there is a need to set achievable short term goals. Long term goals can be on -going projects covering several years. Goals should have a focus of attention and should clearly state an objective. He said that NRAB tends to want to set action goals, but the board's charge is to advise Council. Things the board can do include motivating, coordinating, and recc mnending. He said that progress reports need to be prepared on the past years progress for the Board's annual report to Council. He reminded members of the importance of considering other interests (other board's, departments, etc) and indicating in the goals that coordination with these is intended. It was stated that a significant amount of time should be allowed at the October meeting for goals discussion. Johnson introduced Harold Swope, who was appointed to fill Bob Sanz' term on the board. Swope briefly provided information about his background, indicating that he has been heavily involved in wildlife management. Felchle handed out SCORE materials provided by the Light and Power Utility. She said that Doug Swartz, of Light and Power, wanted some time on an NRAB agenda to present the SCORE program to the board. It was mentioned that the National Recreation Area plan and proposal may be accelerated. The meeting adjourned at 9:30 Fan.