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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/19/2006MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD SPECIAL MEETING (Joint Meeting with Transportation Board) 215 NORTH MASON April 19, 2006 For Reference: Eric Levine: Chair 493:6341 David Roy: Council Liaison 407:7393 Lucinda Smith: Staff Liaison 224:6085 Air Ouality Board Members Present Nancy York, Dale Adamy, Bruce Macdonald, Dave Dietrich, Eric Levine, Kip Carrico Air Ouality Board Members Absent Gregory McMaster, Cherie Trine, Jeff Engell Transportation Board Members Present Gary Thomas, Sara Frazier, Rick Price, Tim Johnson, Don Edmondson, Neil Grigg, Ed Robert Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Lucinda Smith, Brian Woodruff Transportation Services: Mark Jackson, Cynthia Cass Guests Jim Strickland The Transportation Board convened the Transportation Board meeting and conducted introductions, agenda review, public comment, approval of their minutes, and Council liaison report. Then they adjourned their meeting and Eric Levine convened the meeting of the Air Quality Advisory Board at 6:05 p.m. Eric Levine informally polled the Air Quality Board members about their interest in holding their regularly scheduled meeting on April 25, 2006. A majority indicated a desire to meet next week. Mobility Management Best Practices Review Presentation Brian Woodruff briefly explained that the Mobility Management Best Practices Study arose when the City changed its VMT policy from "reducing VMT growth rate to not exceed population growth rate" to "the city will continually strive to reduce the growth rate of VMT by implementing a VMT reduction program that strives to meet or exceed the performance of similar programs in comparable cities." A consulting team composed of The Brendle Group in Fort Collins and Todd Litman of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute was hired to prepare a Mobility Management Best Practices study and make recommendations for Fort Collins. Although the final recommendations of the study are not yet complete, Todd Litman made a presentation to both boards on Mobility Management Best Practices. Eric Levine raised the point that "mobility management' is not as clear a metric as "VMT reduction". Regarding Transportation Demand Management (TDM), Rick Price pointed out that the City is dismantling many of the TDM strategies discussed during the presentation. Because Air Quality Advisory Board 4/25/2006 Page 2 of 6 it has been deemed not cost-effective, the City SmartTrips program is being terminated and a few, but not all, elements are being incorporated into other parts of the City. Todd Litman drew the analogy that often preventive health programs are undervalued more than "heart surgeons" who come in to provide an urgently needed fix, often at much greater cost that the on -going preventive program. Neil Grigg asked how to convince the decision -makers about the importance of funding the existing transportation plans. Todd Litman suggested putting it into dollar terms, rather than just promoting transportation and alternative modes because of their environmental benefits, which might be written off more easily. Todd Litman indicated their report will provide general financial information and examples, but it will be up to the city to flesh out detailed cost savings associated with recommended actions. Ed Robert asked if an economic cost-effectiveness assessment will be provided for various recommended options. Todd replied that the report will identify the ways that conventional planning overlooks many of the benefits associated with mobility best practices, but the project scope of work does not provide for a specific cost -benefit analysis. Ed Robert asked whether or how these analyses account for the "other" trips that are sometimes associated with families that do not have cars, such as delivery services (food, dry cleaning, etc.) Todd Litman agreed that VMT reduction estimates for families without cars should only consider the net VMT reduction. Tim Johnson said he thinks that many delivery services occur independent of whether or not a family has a car. Tim Johnson stated the community must decide about the cost of adding highway capacity versus the cost of funding alternative modes. Todd Litman suggested it is not too difficult to identify the specific types of VMT trips that, if reduced, would provide the greatest cost and/or environmental benefit. He said the greatest benefit comes from providing congestion relief. It would be possible to identify vehicle owners (using remote license plate readers) who are traveling during peak rush hours, and implement a marketing plan specifically targeted at that group to change behavior. Similarly, it would be possible to target a campaign to certain neighborhoods. Eric Levine asked when the final report was expected. Todd Litman replied that a draft should be available in about a month, and that the draft will provide a thorough discussion of the existing situation in Fort Collins. He reiterated that the report will not identify a cost or cost savings associated with the specific Fort Collins recommendations, but the report will demonstrate that the recommended strategies are cheaper. Eric Levine commented that while it is possible to build bicycle capacity incrementally, it is much more difficult to incrementally increase transit capacity. He mentioned the analogy of the frog slowly boiling to death and not realizing when the water was too hot and it was time to jump out. We may not realize when the transport problem is too serious until it's too late to fix it. Todd Litman replied that yes, it's challenging because you are talking about behavioral change. But he mentioned two good news items. 1) Although Coloradoans love their cars, studies show that they would NOT prefer to spend more time in their cars. They would prefer to go home Air Quality Advisory Board 4/25/2006 Page 3 of 6 after work and take a walk or a bike ride. 2) The pop culture also acknowledges saturation. LA and Houston are two examples of modern urban cities that are saturated, so there is more support for multi -modal transport. Brian Woodruff clarified the report completion process for the boards. The consulting team will illuminate the best practice and apply their best judgment about where Fort Collins fits relative to the best practices, and where Fort Collins might be able to make the most progress. Staff will be able to review the draft to insure it contains accurate statements, but there will not be a round of public input before the report is completed, as the limited project resources cannot cover that. The City can then use the recommendations to the best of our ability. More research to flesh out the recommendations may be needed. The recommendations could be used to form the basis of new budgeting offers for `08/'09. The next draft is expected out in about 6 weeks. Brian Woodruff said that Judy Dorsey of the Brendle Group would be available to make a presentation to the boards on the final results. Mark Jackson commented that it is expected the next round of BFO (Budgeting for Outcomes) will be much more grass -roots based and seek more public input. Eric Levine commented that the last BFO process was too short and much of the planning was redundant or compartmentalized, and didn't explore synergies between programs. Tim Johnson discussed some points about alternative modes. He said the City's new street standards cover some issues and provide for biking and pedestrians. But the older streets not built to these standards are less safe and have more problems. Eric Levine asked Todd Litman if the report will address the incremental costs of adding changes to infrastructure retroactively, rather than initially. Todd Litman replied that it is hard to project cost savings for specific actions accurately. If he did a quick estimate job, the cost savings might be underestimated. If the costs savings were high, his methodology might be heavily criticized. But the report will point to existing projects that have very clear cost-effectiveness. Boards Discuss Topics of Mutual Interest Eric Levine said the Air Quality Board has already been discussing some of the points made in Todd's presentation regarding CSU, PSD and the location of schools and their policies that promote chauffeuring of students, or require student to leave the campus mid day. The AQAB is concerned about actions that are contrary to solutions. Fort Collins has experienced approximately a 3% per year population growth rate. The solutions are not keeping up with the growth of the problem. Neil Grigg stated that the T-Board and City staff are very dedicated to improving things. They don't need much convincing. But Neil Grigg stated he doesn't think an economic study will make any difference. The challenges are in convincing the public. The challenge is in figuring out how to make the changes that are already identified in the transportation plans. Eric Levine said that to get change, we really need a choir. Neil Grigg responded that we have some good choirs, but we need to select the right piece of music. Some of the difficulties in the past have come from the way items were packaged together on the ballot, and votes were lost. The tough part is figuring out the connections in Old Town. Air Quality Advisory Board 4/25/2006 Page 4 of 6 Gary Thomas stared that staff are smart enough to figure out the solutions; we just don't have the money. Eric Levine stated that the school district is sending the wrong signal in some of their polices, it's not just a matter of dollars. Neil Grigg asked if the two boards could work jointly on CSU. Ed Robert said that you have to understand, there are financial priorities. Transit is not the only mode being left behind here. There is an 8 million dollar shortfall for streets alone. Rick Price said the bike community has risen to the challenge to make more effective use of dollars to support alternative modes. The T-Board, AQAB, EVSAG, DBA, Senior Advisory Board, NRD and Transportation Services staff all have an interst. The Convention and Visitors Bureau supports biking. (Six yellow bikes were delivered today to the bike collective.) But, these groups are not talking to each other about bike advocacy. How can we get all these stakeholders to work together when the City budget is being divided along strict lines? Ed Robert said that as much as he likes biking, someone will point out that the majority of City Council will ask about the broader mobility issue. Rick Price asked if we really have to trade one for the other. Neil Grigg said that we must strive for interactions. Tim Johnson said that all modes are built right in to the Transportation Master Plan. Ed Robert responded that the funding hasn't been addressed. Where do these plans say how we are going to fund it? And who represents the car drivers and the pedestrians? Are there associations advocating for those modes? Another 100,000 people in Fort Collins think differently. Dave Dietrich asked whether there is a voice in the City representing the stakeholders. Who can organize the stakeholders? Rick Price pointed out that there is a 1/2 time bike coordinator that is not tied to state or federal funding, and therefore not as limited in scope. This new position will be an ombudsman to provide for communication. City staff are revising the bike plan which is now ten years old. His group will call for more community involvement, while leaving the engineering to City staff. Mark Jackson said the new bike position will be an ombudsman, providing customer service. The position description was developed in conjunction with Rick Price and other biking groups. But ultimately, it is Mark's hope to increase customer service for all modes. Dave Dietrich commented that he sees many more bicycles parked outside his office, now that gas prices have risen. Nancy York raised her concerns about global warming and pointed out the relationship between peak oil, national security, transportation, and global warming. She would like to see the boards come up with a strategy that would facilitate each individual being able to carry on with their lives in the future. Ed Robert said he is a proponent of balanced mobility plans, balancing the environment and economics. But where are the advocates for auto mobility needs? Nancy York responded that roads already exist to support auto mobility. Ed Robert stated that social values of society must be taken into account. Auto are sill here and we have to recognize this. Air Quality Advisory Board 4/25/2006 Page 5 of 6 Eric Levine then referred to the Cities for Climate Protection packet item, and said the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and electricity will be taking off in the future. Rick Price said that the new bike coordinator is not an advocate for biking. Rather, it is the role of outside groups to bring advocacy issues to the table. City employees cannot advocate effectively, and are affected by political swings on City Council. Tim Johnson stated that the City is redoing the Bike Plan. The effort will identify needed and missing connections, and will look at locations for road underpasses to increase porosity. The City has a Downtown Strategic Plan that promotes "park once and walk". Efforts are underway to make allies safer at night. He also mentioned that for very gallon of gas burned, 17.5 pounds of carbon dioxide are emitted into the air. He suggested a campaign to "save your weight" in greenhouse gases. An average person would only have to save about 10 gallons of gas to "save their weight". Don Edmondson said if we want to get serious about decreasing auto emissions, we will have to increase the gasoline tax. Nancy York said that she has heard that gas tax dollars only pay for %< of street maintenance. The federal gas tax has not been raised for 20 years. And there is a bill in the Colorado legislature proposing to lower the gas tax. Rick Price suggested that the AQAB should invite David Kemp (DK) to one of their meetings. Mark Jackson offered to make his whole staff available to the AQAB to discuss transportation planning. Gary Thomas said the existing Transportation Master Plan is a balanced plan. It already assumes that an X% shift to more alt modes will occur. If the plan could be built, our issues would be addressed. Many people live in Fort Collins for the lifestyle; it is not so congested here. Mark Jackson pointed out that the federal government passed SAFETEA-LU ( the new transportation funding act) that has funds set aside for transit -oriented development ("New Starts" and "Small Starts"). Rick Price pointed out that Colorado passed Referendum C, so there will be funding for transit; $20 million in 2006, on up to $200 million total (-10%), and that that money has not yet been spoken for. Larimer County Commissioner Karen Wagner has been appointed to a state task force to decide how to allocate that money. Don Edmondson asked if a local match is needed, because we may not have that available. Mark Jackson replied that state dollars do not need a local match. Nancy York said that we don't have a balanced transportation system, because so much money is used for road widening. We need to move forward to meet the realities for the future. Ed Robert asked aren't we widening the roads for other modes as well, for example on East Prospect and at Taft Hill. Eric Levine stated that the AQAB is dependent on the Transportation Board because auto emissions come not only come from vehicle tailpipes (technology) but also from the amount of Air Quality Advisory Board 4/25/2006 Page 6 of 6 miles driven (transportation planning) There has not been much discussion tonight about land use pattems. An $8 million deficit is being run up by poor transportation planning. Ed Robert said that City Plan has activity centers and other components that address the land use side of this issue. The Land Use Code came first, and the transportation plans came second. He asked if the AQAB can get a handle on the RapidScreen program failure. Lucinda Smith responded that the Denver Post reported that the RapidScreen van was not exempting as many motorists from the full emissions test as expected for a variety of reasons, including equipment failure, etc. She said the City of Fort Collins worked to retain the emission program, but the state only extended it by one year beyond their proposed termination date, so now the program will end on December 31, 2006 in the north front range. Eric Levine pointed out that the emissions program was developed to address carbon monoxide, but now we have a big problem with ozone levels. Eric Levine asked the AQAB to postpone approval of their meeting minutes until the next AQAB meeting and they agreed. With that, the Air Quality Board moved to adjourn their meeting at 8:30 p.m. Meeting adjourned 8.30 PM Submitted by Lucinda Smith Senior Environmental Planner Approved by the Board on : 2006 Signed Lucinda Smith Senior Environmental Planner Extension: 6685 /as/U� Date