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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 01/17/2007MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD Regular Meeting 200 W. Mountain, Suite A January 17, 2007 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, Linda Knowlton, Joe Piesman, Rob Petterson, Liz Pruessner, Clint Skutchan, Ryan Staychock Board Members Absent Joann Thomas Staff Present Natural Resources Dent: Rich Bachand, Susie Gordon, Jennifer Shanahan, Lucinda Smith, Judi Vos Guests Ben Manvel Ann Hutchison The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Agenda Review Staychock said he would like to go over the planning calendar at the end. Apt said he had some information on Mercury Emissions. Public Comments There were no public comments at this time. Knowlton asked Joe Piesman to introduce himself Piesman has lived in Fort Collins since 1989 and works for the Center for Disease Control in the Foothills Campus. His specialty is tick born diseases. He is interested in everything associated with the board's scope, responsibility, especially habitat and wildlife issues. Review and Approval of Minutes Staychock made the following motion: Move to approve the minutes of October 18, 2006 of November 15, 2006. The motion was seconded by Skutchan and passed unanimously Knowlton said she had attended a meeting with the City Manager and other board chairs on Dec 27. Darin Atteberry talked about the City wide restructuring which had been Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 2 of 9 approved by Council. The focus was on a study done by a consultant and their recommendations. - Atteberry will have fewer direct reports. - NRD will be moving out of CPES into CRLS - John Stokes will be reporting to Marty Heffernan. - There will be a new Chief Financial Officer. - City Manager will have four direct reports. Knowlton asked Atteberry specifically if there would be any changes for the Board and he indicated that neither Council nor the City is proposing any changes. Staychock asked if the NRD budget will be grouped with a larger budget but Manvel indicated the impacts should be minimal with the use of the budgeting for outcomes tool. 2007 Work Plan Knowlton commended Staychock for drafting the work plan based on prior year plans. There were major differences due to the loss of Natural Areas program. Following submittal to council Manvel had some suggested changes. Knowlton explained that the changes had to be submitted to council and Manvel's changes would made at the council level. Skutchan said he had some concerns with having the work plan altered and certainly without any notice to the Board. Knowlton reminded that the Board works for council. Manvel said he agreed with Skutchan. He had sent the proposed changes to Knowlton and Stokes. The process is that the Board prepares the plan; Council liaison says they have some changes and Council votes on the revised work plan. He reiterated that Board does work for council. If there is something on the plan that Council doesn't want the Board spending time on, it is up to them to recommend that it not be done. Apt asked for examples of the revisions: • Move the "General actions....." bulleted list at the top of page 2 to be the second paragraph, right after the intro. • Following the list of nine priorities, replace the two paragraphs on the bottom of page 1 with one paragraph: • We are committed to providing Council with sound advice on issues related to natural resources throughout the year. Our priorities are reflected in the attached list of action items for 2007, which identifies issues that are already scheduled or that we anticipate will be considered during the year 2007 either by the full NRAB or by Board committees. The NRAB closely monitors Council's six-month planning calendar for upcoming topics on which to provide recommendations. Unforeseen issues may also be addressed by the Board as they are brought before us by Council or staff. To the extent practicable, the timing of our consideration of items will closely parallel Council's schedule, since many of the issues identified in this work plan are also in City Council's Policy Agenda. Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 3 of 9 • Finish up with the last two paragraphs on page 2, changing some things around to read better. • Under Electric Supply Policy add "and distribution" after "power generation" • Under Solid Waste Reduction remove the construction and demolition waste recycling project, which no longer exists. • Under Downtown and River Corridor reword with ..."Downtown Strategic Plan and other projects with...." • Under Regional Planning delete the "and as necessary..." phrase, which is obsolete. Manvel agreed it would have been a good idea to forward changes to the entire board so they would have known it was coming. Following Skutchan's suggestion that the Board have the opportunity to review the changes to the work plan, Manvel suggested next year having him pre -edit it before sending to council. Overall he felt the work plan was very impressive. Electronic Waste Disposal Ban — Susie Gordon Gordon said they have taken the proposal to Council to amend City's pay as you dispose ordinance. This arose out of strategic planning process for waste reduction that they worked on in 2005 and 2006. When Council reviewed the recommendations they immediately thought it should be implemented. The Council will review the plan on Feb 6s' for first hearing. Discussion followed regarding how the haulers handle electronic waste, if batteries are included in this proposal and how enforcement is handled. . Gordon commented that the haulers already have a system in place for bulky items including electronic waste. Customers notify the hauler that they have a bulky item and they are charged extra for this. She commented that batteries are not included in the prbposal but last year the state passed legislation prohibiting batteries from going to the landfill which will become effective during the summer of 2007. Gordon said in regard to enforcement that the culpability is on the person that put the item in the trash, riot on the hauler. The hauler will take it out and leave it if they find it but the smaller items may slip through. That's where it becomes important to do a good job of educating people. Although they haven't started a new campaign a lot of information is on the website. Outreach will begin in March. For 6-8 months the department will have a fairly active campaign using utility bill messages, info commercial on studio 14 cable, etc. Skutchan asked how they will handle these items at the landfill and if there will be an option to set aside like paint? Or, would they be willing to tell folks at the gate the items are unacceptable? Gordon indicated that this would be a great suggestion to them and that it would be easy to offer that. She has already mentioned to the County that it would be great if the landfill would adopt the same regulations. Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 4 of 9 Peterson made the following motion: I would like to make a motion that we make a statement of support to City Council in favor of this ordinance change. Skutchan seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Knowlton said she would include the need for a strong educational component when it is implemented since there will be no enforcement or penalties for people who don't comply with the ban and the suggestion that batteries be included. Skutchan said he would like Knowlton to include comments about working in cooperation with the landfill. Climate Protection Plan and Greenhouse Emissions — Lucinda Smith Smith gave an update on the Climate Protection Plan and indicated there is no action required by the Board. City Council passed a resolution in July 1997 to join the Cities for Climate Protection campaign. The City voluntarily committed to looking at what the greenhouse gases were, projecting a forecast for the year 2010, setting a greenhouse gas reduction target, and develop a strategy for meeting it. In doing so the City committed to looking at what baseline emissions were using the 1990 as baseline year. The majority of emissions are from electricity with transportation fuel second. Forecast for 2010 — the important assumption is that the vehicle miles of travel would grow at the rate of 7% per year in period 1995 —1998. The worse case 2010 forecast shows an increase of 160% of greenhouse gas emissions with transportation being the most significant. Citizen advisory committee and staff team met to consider what city's target should be and to develop a plan. It was recommended and adopted by council to reduce emissions 30% below worst case 2010 scenario. The Plan adopted by council in 1999 contained measures, energy, transportation and waste reduction: . • Achieving improvements in fuel efficiency in standards of cars • Completion of a commuter rail from Fort Collins to Denver • Bring VMT growth rate down to population growth rate 44% of anticipated greenhouse gas reductions come from transportation outside the City. The City prepares a report every other year. It appears in 2004 emissions are higher than the 2010 target. Smith said in looking at per capita emissions, they have grown between 1990 and 2005. Population has increased in that time period around 80% and the greenhouse gas emissions have increased. Smith pointed out some successes: • converting traffic signals to diodes implemented in 2001 • saving over 100,000 in energy costs over the past couple of years Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 5 of 9 • electric energy supply policy has played important part in moving toward goal - 2005 looks at voluntary wind energy 125,000 tons of carbon monoxide collectively. • Climate Wise program business outreach program has become very popular. • Rivendale opened in 2002 which has shown consistent growth. The main point here is that the waste sector only contributed 2% and recycling accounted for over 50% of reduction. Although Smith said we still are not on track, she listed a few of the activities that would bring benefit in 2010 above what we saw in 2005 which include Demand Side Mgmt, Renewable Energy Program, Climate Wise, clean energy cluster, and the use of biodiesel. Council asked Smith during their January 6s' study session what are the consequences if the City doesn't meet the goal. Smith said since the program is voluntary, there are no actual consequences. Experts say up to 80% green house reduction is needed by 2050. We have to be changing the way we act and work with adaptation in dealing with climate changes as they are happening now. City Council has indicated they would support a resolution to reconvene a task force to update the City plan. Following a brief discussion, Apt asked if there would be any benefit in being part of the Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change. Smith said the Air Quality Advisory Board sent a memo to Council encouraging the City to sign the Mayor's Agreement. Apt said he would like to make a motion that the City sign the Mayor's Agreement. Piesman seconded the motion. Knowlton commented that the Board doesn't know what it is and that the Board should have more information about what it is so they could reference that in their letter. Smith said there are three points only: • Strive to nteet or beat the protocol targets in your community • Urge state and federal government to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emissions targets suggested for the United States • Urge US Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation which could enable a national emissions trading system. Skutchan commented that he agreed they need more information especially when talking about congressional bills. Apt agreed to table his motion until the Board has more information. He agreed to take the lead in finding what the air quality board did and asked if they needed to have this done before the item goes to Council in February. Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 6 of 9 Smith commented that the resolution will be on consent agenda. It will be important to show support for the Mayor's Agreement when the task force makes its recommendation back to council about an updated plan or goal which might be around the end of the year. Natural Areas Wildlife Management Guidelines — Rick Bachand & Jen Shanahan Skutchan said it had been asked at the Council meeting if prairie dog folks had been included in this process and he was curious about that as well. Skutchan asked about including conservation easements in the guidelines. Bachand said because the prairie dog part of the plan is so controversial they have presented the guidelines to Council, Land Conservation Board and the Natural Resources Board first. They have also sent the entire document out for peer review. They want to make sure it makes sense from a peer perspective first before doing a public review. He said trying to bind guidelines to conservation easements to these guidelines would be very difficult. Those agreements are specific to the property and the owner, not just the easement owner. Knowlton commented that this document is about natural areas and mainly the purview of the Land Conservation Board. But, there are other guidelines and City regulations that apply to other areas like Meadow Springs Farm that the NRAB should be looking at. She had asked Stokes if there would be any changes to those regulations based on these and he thought not. Knowlton asked if there are other parts of City code that pertain to fumigation and other regulations that are more properly of interest to the NRAB Board. She asked Bachand to cover the changes made from prior guidelines. . Bachand said there are three main points that would be changing: • Public notification period - in 1998 there was a six week notification period prior to any fumigation of prairie dogs on Natural Areas land. At the time that would give public time to find areas to relocate the prairie dogs. In ten years, we have done relocation one time to our own property. • We will go to a plan where there is zonation using suitable habitat. we would allow them to occupy only 60%. • Most poighant point— differs from 1998 plan, wildlife management guidelines focus is on ecosystem health, maintaining and improving the habitat, and making sure the habitat is sustained. The idea of establishing those thresholds is critical. The City is working with the USDA on developing a contraceptive for prairie dogs. There is oral bait and an injectible method which is good for the life of the prairie dog rather than every year for the oral bate. The USDA is currently conducting tests on three of our Natural Areas and using our population study. Pruessner asked what impact the birth control would have on the ecosystem to predators and potential runoff in the water. Bachand commented that there is a lot of data collected in California from use on ground squirrels. It shows that the effective dosage is so low it would not be significant. Staff is comfortable with their findings. Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 7 of 9 Knowlton asked if they see any relocation efforts in the future Bachand said it is still a tool they can use. McKee farms is about 1,000 acres currently in dry land wheat. They will plant about 100 of that back into native grass continue each year until they have another 1000 acres.of function prairie. The same restrictions would apply. Discussion followed regarding, introduction of natural predators, and hunting as a management tool. Sears said they changed guidelines to allow for consideration of hunting as a management tool only outside City limits but they don't see the need in foreseeable future. Staychock commented that they had a great conversation during the Environmental Economics Committee meeting regarding the potential of the natural areas to stimulate some economic development with tourist dollars. He said he supports anything they can do to that helps with species diversity and helping to maintain the ecological integrity of bird populations, etc. Piesman said he had heard discussion of introducing bison to Soapstone. Bachand said they want management plan to set forth goals for Soapstone. They want a vision that Soapstone is large enough and natural enough that there are some missing parts of the ecosystem that theoretically in next 10-20 years we could seriously look into reintroduction of those species. Skutchan reiterated his concern as to whether or not the activists have been included along the way. Sears said he and Bachand have met with these people for almost a year and they have provided huge amounts of input. They also met with the prairie dog coalition in Oct/Nov who prepared a lengthy list of recommendations for consideration as the guidelines were developed. The department is also in the process of doing a mailing to stakeholders. advocates, and neighboring HOAs. There is also a comments page that has been posted on the web for those that didn't have the opportunity to make the open house. Staychock commented as a dog owner he appreciates the leash law. He gets a little frustrated when his dogs can't swim in a natural area but he appreciates that and respects it. Maybe there could be something in the guidelines that explains this. Following further discussion, Bachand commented that it would be very important to have the voice of the NRAB saying this is a rational plan. Apt made the following motion Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 8 of 9 I move to support the total ecosystem approach to wildlife management in the natural areas including the repeal of 1998 guidelines and administrative adoption of the guidelines. Skutchan seconded the motion which passed unanimously. . Knowlton said she would like to urge members as individuals to go to the council meeting. Those at home might not know about the Board's memo. UniverCity Connections — John Stokes Knowlton said the idea started on a bicycle ride with Larry Penly and Darin Atteberry. They said we need to do more to connect the university and the City. It is a fast moving effort, the logo has CSU, oldtown and the river. Skutchan said it is has been basic information to this point but they should get a better idea of the impact in the next couple of months. Starting in February they will develop an action plan breaking into subcommittees. As this moves along, the main emphasis would be the downtown river corridor. They are trying to create interconnectivity from campus to the river corridor to transportation and economics aspects. Just the whole idea of CSU being part of the City. Colton said it includes having better physical connections (bikeways & sidewalks). Mason Street corridor would be part of it. Knowlton said there is a schedule for action plans to be finalized by the end of May. An action plan may be identifying funding sources. New Business: Apt brought an article he saw in the December 12a issue of the Coloradoan about Mercury. He wanted to distribute the article and after everyone has an opportunity to look review it make a request of council and PRPA. Staychock said he will add it to the Planning Agenda and the article will be included in the February packets. Knowlton said there are two meetings coming up that might be of interest to the Board. On Jan 24`s is the review of Soapstone and Red Mountain management plans at the Senior Center and Feb 5a' meeting which is the public open house on the Wildlife Management Guidelines. Skutchan said he forwarded a packet regarding CMAQ re: air quality project. Individual groups can apply and the deadline is the 19s . The MPO has some dollars to allocate. Skutchan gave a brief report on the Environmental Economics Committee meeting — Jim Clark from the Convention and Visitor's Bureau gave them an overview of some of things they are working on. What was surprising is how much equates to the Natural Resource Advisory Board November 15, 2006 Page 9 of 9 environment. They are looking at a lot of sustainable economic practices and talked about budgetary -trying to brand Fort Collins and get information out. They did a 2006 survey of various outlets showing an average age of tourist is 42 and a salary of 92,000. They are trying to promote outdoor ideas. Staychock commented on the heritage area which is to tell the story of western water. The idea is to try to capture money from outside the city and a way to get national attention. They are also looking into City tours around natural areas. The City of Fort Collins has a shortage of day long trips for the older tourist. They have pinpointed Soapstone because of the archeology. Six month agenda Planning Calendar Wildlife Management Guidelines - Memo to Council. Climate Protection Plan - no action February Agenda • Mobility Management with Judy Dorsey (informational) • North College Subarea Plan (action) • John Daggett - RTA (informational) • Mercury (action) March Agenda • Climate Wise with Kathy Collier Demand Side Management with John Phelan Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m. Submitted by Judi Vos, Admin Support Supervisor