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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 11/15/2006MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD Regular Meeting 200 W. Mountain, Suite A November 15, 2006 For Reference: Linda Knowlton; NRAB Chair - 223-9328 Ben Manvel, Council Liaison - 217-1932 John Stokes, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Alan Apt, Glen Colton, Nate Donovan, Rob Petterson, Liz Pruessner, Clint Skutchan, Ryan Staychock Board Members Absent Linda Knowlton, Joann Thomas Staff Present Natural Resources Dent: Geri Kidawski, John Stokes Guests Pete Whiting, CSU Student Jim Hibbard, Marcia Hilmes-Robinson , Utilities Ann Hutchison, Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. Agenda Review Donovan proposed adding to the Agenda the review of the Proposed 2007 Legislative Policy agenda set to go to Council for adoption on Tuesday November 21, 2006, the draft Planning Agenda, and a report on the Solid Waste Committee meeting. There were no objections to these additions. Staychock said he had been asked to go over the December Agenda which he would do during new business. Review and Approval of Minutes • Skutchan asked about adding a correction that doesn't involve him? • Staychock commented that he had been told if you see something in the minutes, you should email it to everyone for comment. • Skutchan said it was in the opening statement to the NRAB Focus/Direction. It just starts with his response. Page 7, Linda actually opened that and there is nothing from her. Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 2 of 7 Stokes suggested to the Board that the minutes be prepared in more of a summary format which would minimize the time spent by staff. He proposed the review of this meeting's minutes in the more general format for the Board review. Staychock said he would prefer that minutes be reviewed at the meeting instead of emailing everyone. It doesn't seem very efficient. 1. It was agreed to hold off on approving the October 18, 2006 minutes until the December meeting. Public Comments There were no public comments at this time. Glade Reservoir — Mark Easter Easter said he represents the Poudre Canyon group of the Sierra Club, and will be covering threats to the Cache Is. Poudre River that are presented in particular from the Glade Reservoir. He gave a presentation regarding threats to the Poudre and alternatives to new storage and restoration of the Poudre. - Acknowledgements - Presentation outline included: o Background on NISP o Economic Concerns ■ Major funding source will be bonds ■ Existing ratepayers held liable ■ Yearly population growth rate of 4-6% needed to service debt ■ There are cheaper and less risky alternatives o Recreational Impacts ■ River "dry -ups" Estimated native flows at Canyon mouth ■ Existing flows would be reduced by half ■ Fisheries and boating impacted ■ Riparian ecosystem and wetlands threatened ■ Effectively no recreation at proposed reservoir site o Environmental Impacts ■ Flow regime ■ Water quality • Habitat issues o Alternatives to New Storage ■ Conservation • Improve Efficiency ■ Demand based on realistic population projections • Consumption projections must include conservation/efficiency o Restoring the Poudre ■ Adopt a river management paradigm ■ Restore the flow regime • Seek long-term sustainability Natural Resource Advisory Board November15,2006 Page 3 of 7 ■ Replace "hard" diversion structures with "soft" structures that support ecosystem ■ hnprove water quality ■ Establish a water trust for senior water rights o Conclusions No new storage should be built until: - Existing infrastructures is fully utilized - Conservation and efficiency opportunities have been exhausted - Interruptible supply agreements are fully integrated into the water supply system A brief discussion followed Easter's presentation regarding irrigation efficiency, advantage to upgrading ditches, consideration of climate change, conservation, and the attainability of goals. Stormwater Update Action Required — Bob Smith Smith gave a brief update. They have presented the plan to a number of Boards. The Board's recommendations follow: • Water Board passed a motion supporting Option D, 100 year Critical Facility • Planning Board also supported that recommendation • Land Conservation and Stewardship Board —recommended that the Product Corridor be eliminated and also Dryland Access. There was a good turnout for the Nov 14 open house and staff received a lot of positive comments. They are scheduled for a study session Nov 28 h with Council and tentatively scheduled for Council consideration after the first of the year and have focused their discussions on Floodplain Regulations. Staffs preference would be to get rid of the Product Corridor and Dryland Access. Stokes indicated that the Land Board also supported Critical Facilities. Staff feels that the plan will not have an impact on the environmental quality of the river. In terms of environment, staff liked that the County would accept general conditions of the code related to changes that would be made to the floodway. The City has other mechanisms in place to protect the environment on the river corridor which include building setbacks, the Land Use Code as well as Section 3.4.1 of the code which deals with protecting natural features on private property. Staff also agreed on alternative D. Apt made a motion to adopt alternative D, Critical Facilities Peterson seconded the motion. Smith passed around the revised Poudre River Floodplain Regulation review property information and discussed the changes with the Board. Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 4 of 7 Staychock confirmed the motion on the table was in support of Alternative D. The motion passed unanimously. A brief discussion followed regarding the conveyance of the Board's recommendation to Council. It was agreed that Smith would include the Board's recommendation in the agenda item summary indicating their support of Alternative D-Critical Facilities, due to the environmental impact. North College Subarea (Corridor) Plan — Clark Mapes Mapes shared some history on the plan. There is currently a North College Corridor plan in existence. There was concern from citizens that the area was lagging behind the rest of the city with its physical and economic conditions. In response, the original North College Corridor Plan was adopted in 1994. Since that time, things have changed so an update to the plan is needed. The Vision sets a foundation for goals which are: • The Highway itself— North College Avenue/ SH 14/ US 287 • Connections to Downtown across the Poudre River Corridor • More Complete Street Network • Community Appearance & Design • Uses and Activities • Public Support for Change • Finance and Administration The overall topics are: • Forward -looking • Support and buy -in • "More Downtown -Like Feel" • Next generation of storm drainage financing • Owner -assembly of property • Identify Image • Commercial market There was discussion regarding future plans for 287, what has kept North College from prospering and the impact to floodways. Mapes stated that there is definitely interest in making the necessary changes to promote North College and seeing the river corridor link the North College corridor with Downtown and the rest of the community. They recognize the need to maintain a Natural Resources buffer along the river. Stokes commented that staff has talked about the North side of the river on the south side of Vine in the floodway and would like to do restoration there if given the chance to provide native vegetation and make it a more viable part of the natural system. There has been consideration of extending the trail from Gustav Swanson all along this short Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 5 of 7 section of the river and under Collegeproviding access from the north side of town down to the river. Following further discussion, Staychock summarized the key points of the presentation and discussion stating that the main natural resources seem to be the floodplain, the Poudre River, smart growth and also the discussion about new streets and roads that will be feeding into the system. He commented in order to facilitate a healthy floodplain and smart growth, there are some barriers to giving some investment in this area. The investment seems to be in infrastructure needs — stormwater drainage, and utilities access. That within this plan includes residents housing, commercial buildings, hopefully some urban forestry. He asked if there is anything else they weren't catching. Mapes said they will take the plan to Council's work session Nov. 28's He asked if the Board has an opinion and if he should bring this back for the January 17a' meeting. Colton wanted to reiterate what Stokes had said about maintaining a wildlife corridor. Staychock said he thought it would be appropriate for the Board to review the entire plan and comment on the natural resources issues. He asked Mapes to please email a copy of the plan whenever it is ready but definitely by the January packet. It was agreed that this would be a 20-30 minute agenda item for January 17a'. Skutchan offered to draft some language prior to that meeting. Six month agenda Planning Calendar Staychock explained the Planning Agenda. • Table 1 has items scheduled that will appear on the next agenda. • Table 2 lists priority agenda items that the Board needs to hear about in the next 2-3 months. • Table 3 lists general topics and Focus on Fort Collins items and timetable. • Table 4 has topics of upcoming interest. • Table 5 shows accomplishments — agenda item, action taken, if any and if there was a memo sent to Council. The Board agreed to use the Planning calendar for several months and see how it works. Any items of interest that come up should be emailed to Staychock to be placed on the calendar. December agenda items were discussed. • Wildlife Plan — 1 hour • Climate Protection Plan and Greenhouse Emissions — 1 hour Stokes had spoken with Ted Shepherd regarding the impacts involved following the 2006 Land Use Code changes which occurs bi-annually. Shepherd indicated there is currently Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 6 of 7 nothing with any relevance to Natural_ Resources, however, there will be one in June dealing with pervious pavement. January agenda items will include: • John Phelan — Demand Side Mgmt • RTA • CllimateWise — Kathy Collier. Staychock asked if it would be a good time to talk about that long range plans for the Board. Stokes indicated that it would be a 1 %z hour conversation. It was agreed that February would be a good time for that. It was agreed that Skutchan would have the time slot prior to the January meeting for an Environmental Economics committee meeting. Discuss Legislative policy for 2007 Donovan said he would like to discuss a few things that need to be highlighted for Council. The policy is scheduled to be adopted on November 21 e`. He proposed that the Board write a memo to Council which he would be willing to draft. He would put the discussion in the form of a motion. The memo would include the following items:: • Page 6 & 7— City's adopted air quality objectives o Items 4, 5 and 7 - Support legislation that increases the fuel efficiency of vehicles including the CAFE standards at the Federal level. o Page 7, #8 — Support incentives to encourage renewable energy o Page 7, #11 — Promote pollution prevention. • Page 8 - Support Net Metering • Page 12 — Retail Wheeling o # 20 — Support options for renewable energy • Page 19 - Hazardous Materials Management o #4 — Support pollution prevention programs • Page 23 - Planning and Land Use o # 4 - Support the integration of sustainability measures in new land uses and development o #8 — Support a baseline of consistent and coordinated basic land use and transportation planning. • Page. 26 & 27 — Recycling and Solid Waste o #1 — Support integrated waste management planning for the state o #2 — Support incentives and funding for efforts to promote waste reduction o #6 - Support establishing a solid waste goal up to 35% o #12 —Support regulations that support recycling of electronic equipment. • Page. 33 — Water Utilities o #6 - Support a mechanism to enhance in -stream flows Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 7 of 7 Donovan made a motion that the Board submit a memo to Council. Peterson seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approyed. It was agreed that Donovon would draft the memo for the Board's review and then send to council. New Business: Donovan reported on the Solid Waste Committee meeting. • Possible ban of electronic waste from going to the landfill from residential customers. • Yard waste diversion • Staff resources that might be needed in solid waste to implement parts of the strategic plan and impact on BFO project in March. • Tackling waste stream to increase profits • Delay with transition of Rivendale drop off site • Christmas tree drop off will continue • 2007 state legislation • Solid waste control and green house gases Peterson would like to address in the new year how the Board can re -energize the solid waste reduction plan. It will be added to the Planning Agenda. Ann Hutchinson had the following announcements: • Dec 12a' 7:30a.m. — Environmental. Panel, 225 S. Meldrum • The Chamber will release environmental business award applications on their web site with a deadline Jan 16s'. Donovan agreed to chair the December meeting as both Knowlton and Staychock would not be present. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Submitted by Judi Vos, Admin Support Supervisor