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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 02/04/1987MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD FEBRUARY 4, 1987 7:00 p.m. Board Members Present: Dave Dubois Scott Duncan Gil Fechner Bill Fischer Tim Johnson Board Members Absent: Suzanne Bassinger (unexcused) Staff Present: Roger Krempel Bob Wilkinson Denise LaRue Ari Michelsen Pat Reed Pat Sousa Bob Sanz (excused) Brian Woodruff Edith Felchle Approval of Minutes Minutes of the January meeting were unanimously approved as submitted. Mayor's Remarks Mayor Ohlson said since he would be leaving the Council in another month or two, he wanted to personally thank the Board for all of their hard work. He said creating this board was one of his areas of greatest satisfaction during the time he served on Council. He encouraged the Board to play a strong role in getting their recommendations to Council. LaRue asked Ohlson if he thought there was any future for a Fort Collins/Loveland corridor. Ohlson said he felt it was still possible, particularly with the support of Governor Romer and his ideas. Committee Reports Mitigation -- The committee met recently and reviewed the City's plan on implementing an environmental review process. Sanz will report details at March NRAB meeting. Education/Information -- An address list will be sent out this month for the Board's review. Water -- Met to work on goals. Also received a report on enhancement of the Poudre as a fishery. Reviewed groundwater legislation currently being worked on. All short—term goals have been addressed. Hazardous Materials -- Met in mid —January. Reviewed goals. Woodruff had reported to the committee that a household hazardous waste collection day was not economically possible. Received a report on the hazardous waste transfer station being studied by Fort Collins, Loveland, and Larimer County. When the study report is out the committee will review it. u Air Quality -- Had two meetings term goals. Making progress toward covering short - Because of the nature of the Bylaws and Goals & Objectives committees, it was moved, seconded, and unanimously passed to delete those two committees from the monthly agenda listing. If either has anything to report, they will do so. Wildlife Protection Plan Wilkinson gave an overview of the current status of the wildlife protection plan, and described the mapping that has been done. He explained the advantages of bringing the wildlife protection plan together with the planned erosion control ordinance since both measures deal with the disturbance of vegetation and land cover. He pointed out how this meets the City policies to protect the environment (adopted in 1979) calling for an Environmental Management Plan. The plan will also be linked into current systems, such as the Land Development Guidance System. In two or three months the Environment Management Plan and ordinance should be well under way. Underground Storage Tank Responsibilities Woodruff outlined the levels of responsibility relative to underground storage tanks, identifying the State Oil Inspector (at the state level) and Poudre Fire Authority (at the local level) as having responsibility at the installation, leak monitoring, and leak detection or removal phases. The State Oil Inspector's office is currently starved for funds so implementation of their responsibilities is somewhat limited. If a tank has been abandoned, Poudre Fire Authority requires that it be removed from the ground. At the clean-up phase, the Colorado Department of Health, Latimer County, and Poudre Fire Authority have responsibility. Legislation is being introduced this session to give the state greater authority to order clean-up of contaminated areas. It was stated that the City Division of Natural Resources is not a regulatory agency, but rather acts to try to keep things moving, instead of letting problems lie dormant when action should be taking place. Colorado Groundwater Legislation & Regulations Linda Burger, the City's Environmental Regulations Specialist in the Water Department, gave background of development of recently enacted groundwater regulations, stating that one reason for development of the regulations was that there was a need for common goals for everyone to work toward. These regulations necessarily involve the use of minimal funds. At the present time the regulations are voluntary. The Commission will soon be looking at control regulations. Poudre River Corridor Fishery Plan Burger presented background of the fishery study plan, saying that hopefully the proposal is near completion. The proposal has involved many entities and about one year of work. Two factors limiting a fishery in the Poudre are seasonal low flow and poor habitat. The proposal sets a process for evaluating various aspects of such problems as -- what is required to create a fishery -- what kinds of flows are necessary, etc. Phase one will look at the type of stream channel flow needed to support various kinds of fish. Hopefully this phase will be implemented in the next few months. There was some discussion about the possible impact of the new requirements for Bio Monitoring of wastewater effluent contained in the reauthorization of the Clean Water Bill. Burger stated that the Clean Water Act requirements were largely developed with eastern waters in mind and they are not appropriate for western cities, but cities all across the nation must comply. This may create a major obstacle for creating a fishery in the Poudre. Krempel urged the Board to keep this in mind. Announcements There were miscellaneous announcements and hand—outs. Krempel said a new system is being implemented for some hand—out materials. If it is perceived that material may be of interest to only some members of the Board, the material will be passed around with a sheet whereby anyone who wants a copy can sign up for one. LaRue mentioned the Friends of the Poudre "Meet the Candidates" session to be held Feb. 7, and handed out a flyer about it. Krempel briefly updated progress on the curbside recycling program. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.