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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 08/15/2007MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD Regular Meeting 200 W. Mountain, Suite A August 15, 2007 For Reference: Ryan Staychock, NRAB Chair - 481-1801 Ben Manvel, Council Liaison - 217-1932 John Stokes, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Alan Apt, Amy Dean, Linda Knowlton, Rob Petterson, Joseph Piesman, Liz Pruessner, Ryan Staychock Board Members Absent Glen Colton, Clint Skutchan Staff Present Natural Resources Dent: Daylan Figgs, Susie Gordon, John Stokes, and Judi Vos CPRE: Marty Heffernan Utilities: Patty Bigner Guests John Bleem, PRPA Dale Adamy, Air Quality Advisory Board Phil Freidman, Climate Task Force Meeting called to order at 6:05 p.m. Public Continents No public comments Review and Approval of Minutes: Dean moved to approve the minutes of July 25, 2007. Piesman seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously. Green Energy Policy — Patty Bigner/John Bleem Bigner began with a recap of the discussion in March. She said the City is in the process of transitioning from wind power program to include more diversity. They have since then written a letter self certifying informing public utility commission of the program and their plan to meet the goal. Since that time PRPA has updated their policy. They have also had quite a bit of press and a lot of questions about renewable energy credits and how that fits into the scenario. Bigner said at the end of 2006, the City of Fort Collins purchases were not sufficient to make the City eligible for the Green-e certification program. At the beginning of the year the City requested more renewable energy from PRPA. Bigner explained that PRPA purchases the Natural Resources Advisory Board August 15, 2007 Page 2 of 7 credits on behalf of the City which are supplied to the City through wind turbines or by using renewable energy credits. Bleem gave a brief history starting in 1995. PRPA now has a policy to get renewable energy from whatever attributes are available. They will be building 10-15 megawatt hour (MWh) of new renewable generations by 2010; two hydro projects that could deliver 3-5 MWh and the rest would come from wind. Staychock asked about the diversified portfolio issues, specific to Fort Collins and what are the tools/policies for citizens of Fort Collins to purchase or use renewable energy before 2017? • Bigner said there currently is no policy in place. She explained that staff shares the concern that the percentage of RECs versus energy is getting out of balance. The cost is the primary driver. They have tried to come up with a program that meets the intention of those that want to subscribe to renewable energy. Until recently there was not a strong push to make it local. There was a brief discussion regarding citizen skepticism about renewable RECs. Bleem said staff was concerned several months ago; their concern was that the new growth of carbon may not include offsets. PRPA has the highest quality RECs that are possible. He explained that price is the issue. New wind energy cost 3-4 cents; can get RECs for Yz cent. Bleem said when they do contracts for the RECs, the developers are selling electricity and RECs. Those dollars are paying for wind projects. Bleem said they are considering projects in eastern Colorado, Uma and Weld County and Wyoming. • Pruessner commented that the Climate Task Force is hearing public comment that they want projects that are local. The task force is including RECs as part of the projects being considered. Haven't put boundaries on that to say they have to be local. • Apt said part of that would be the generation of local jobs. Discussion continued about alternative power sources such as solar thermal, geothermal, small hydro power, new solar technologies and the related costs. Bleem said costs have come down a fair amount since the 80's. Tend to look at systems that are well distributed and have proven the technology. Another thing many communities look at is thermal solar. That is certainly a carbon mitigation option. Bleem said they are focused on least cost. • Staychock asked if there is a policy in place that says the City has to purchase the cheapest renewable energy. • Bigner explained there are several components to their electric supply policy. There are policy goals around rate, energy efficiency, reliability and renewable energy. They are striving to keep all those things in balance. • Staychock asked if citizens are interested enough, what direction would Council need to provide to staff if Council wanted to see more solar panels on houses in Fort Collins. • Bigner responded that the request for energy goes to PRPA. This is a four city decision, which cannot be made by Fort Collins alone. • Bleem explained the State standard and how it applies to the City of Fort Collins. • Bigner said one thing is offsetting environmental footprint. The other is the notion of using renewable energy as an economic driver. That is not part of the policy. Also, trying to Natural Resources Advisory Board August 15, 2007 Page 3 of 7 generate jobs is not on their radar. Council would have to develop a policy. She said she will send a chart from a recent study that was done showing the most cost effective thing that can be done is to insulate homes. Bigner said they cannot get contractors to learn how to do the work. They want to develop knowledge base of folks that can do the work. Following a brief discussion, Bigner said she would be happy to talk further about this at another meeting. • Piesman said he struggles with the overall goal. Is it to increase renewables or decrease environmentally damaging technologies like coal and gas. Having the goal of providing energy as cheaply as possible is in conflict with the main goal. • Bigner said the goal is not as cheaply as possible. They have equity issues and something in the policy that says to keep this rate at or below Excel Energy. • Apt said if they want local job generation to be a policy that Council considers, there would have to be a decision by Council.. • Staychock said he would support that. • Pruessner said there is a component coming that includes insulating homes, solar thermal, low interest loans. The question is can we get these people skilled in this town to do the work. • Stokes said he has been talking with Mike Freeman and he is actively recruiting green energy businesses in the City of Fort Collins. • Staychock asked if there is a recommendation to Council. • Apt said he would like to recommend council to leverage green energy dollars to help generate local jobs. • Petterson asked what if the trade off is that we can't buy as much renewable energy but it gets local jobs? Is that something we want to support? • Apt said he would need to know the cost benefit ratio. • Petterson said if it does not reduce the amount of renewable energy we are buying he would be in favor. • Knowlton said she would be interested in looking at the chart. If they recommend anything to council, it would be that they pay more attention to those things that have a bigger payoff. • Bigner mentioned the market research asking customers about renewable energy and demand side management. They are strongly in support of the renewable energy program. Tested them for price and there is a cap that they are unwilling to go above. Apt moved that the board recommend council take a look at the energy policy with respect to potentially creating local jobs and weatherization programs. Knowlton wants more information before making a recommendation. She said she would like to see the chart Patty Bigner spoke of. Petterson said he would like the recommendation to say something in context of "job creation without compromising amount of carbon reduction we are able to achieve." Pruessner said there will be a wealth of information that comes out of the analysis from the Brendle Group. It will help the board to make a better recommendation. Natural Resources Advisory Board August 15, 2007 Page 4 of 7 Following further discussion, Staychock and Apt agreed to work on a draft and bring it back to the board next month for discussion. Stokes introduced Marty Heffernan, the Culture, Parks, Recreation and Environment Director. He explained that the department was recently moved to this service area. Soapstone Management Plan — Daylan Figgs Stokes briefly outlined the process and resources used while creating the management plan. There are prescriptions in the plan about hiking, camping and when we are going to be open but much of the plan has been devoted to describing the natural and cultural resources at the site. We have had time to do baseline inventory at the site which is critical in managing a site like Soapstone which is vital to the development of the plan. Figgs said the planning process started in 2005 and 2006 doing resource inventories. Colorado National Heritage Program helped define resources on the property and identify what the management plan would be. The department has hosted tours with over 700 people giving feedback. There have also been several open houses. He said they hope to develop the final plan in the fall of 2007. Figgs pointed out that this planning process has been jointly held with the County. Figgs gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Soapstone Natural Area Management Plan Draft. • Management Zones ( Developed, Front Country, Back Country and Primitive) o Define visitor experience o Carrying capacity o Seamless with Red Mountain • Conservation Targets o Conservation statue — large scale systems o Threats — regional or system wide o Management Actions — maintain process • Nested Targets • Short grass Prairie o Loss to conversion — conserve regionally (scale) o Loss of large blocks — minimize fragmentation o Loss of diversity/management issues — maintain process • Mountain Plover o Declining 1.5% annually— conserve breeding population o Tied to prairie dog colonies — maintain/expand prairie dogs o Easily disturbed when nesting — close seasonally • Conservation target: Cultural resources o Visitor Experience • Hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, ADA trails, shelters, guided tours, backcountry camping, hunting, motorized vehicles, dogs, horse/buggy of public roads, rock climbing o Visitor Use ■ Loop trails originating from Red Mountain Open Space and Cheyenne will remain open 7 days/week • Open 4 days/week (Fri — Mon) sunrise to sunset Natural Resources Advisory Board August 15, 2007 Page 5 of 7 ■ Open March 2 — October 31 o Visitor Experience/Education — Proposed Education Products o Visitor Experience/Education — Education and Interpretive Topics Staychock asked of all the yeses, is there no revenue generating recreational uses. Figgs said there may be. They have talked about the possibility of trail rides, or guided bicycle tours. Have to figure out how the policy would look. Figgs said the cultural resource aspect is very enticing to people. Because of the Lindenmeier site, the City has partnered with the museum on a couple of projects. The discovery museum will have displays about the cultural resources and then travel to the landscape where they were collected and learn about them there. We have that connection with the type of tourism we might draw to the area. Discussion followed regarding the educational programs, level of management, the "no dog" policy, fire danger and staffing levels required. • Pruessner asked if there are water and mineral rights owned by the City. • Figgs said there are no adjudicated water rights. The City owns a portion of the mineral rights. • Apt commented that the plan looks good and the things chosen to be excluded are good too. • Piesman asked if there are plans to bring bison or black footed ferret to the property. That would improve the cultural/environmental benefit to the community but asked what the cost would be from a management standpoint. • Figgs said bison would be a very expensive proposition. They will manage the property for a few years and revisit that. With the ferrets, fish and wildlife would have to be involved. He approached Terry Bison for a grazing lease proposal but they declined as the infrastructure is not equipped to handle bison. Discussion followed regarding fire mitigation and a prescribed burn plan. Figgs said Natural Area crews would do the burn with Poudre Fire Authority involved and they would partner with Larimer County as well. He said currently it stands that all wildfires will be extinguished. • Staychock asked if the management plan will protect the ponderosa pine stand. • Figgs said the stand is naturally protected by shale. It is also reproducing. • Knowlton commented that the volunteer trail host program is a huge concern of hers. She was pleased to see the plan includes a large involvement. • Staychock asked if there is any action. • Apt said he recommends adoption. • Stokes explained that council doesn't adopt the plan, it is adopted internally. They will take it to council as part of their work session. They will take it back to LCSB and hope to sign in October. The plan will be revised over time. As changes are observed, they will adaptively manage the plan. • Piesman asked if there are any issues about funding. • Stokes said the major issue fiscally is getting the improvements funded. The road being the biggest issue. Will be rebuilding the road into a very plain, simple, 20' wide gravel road which will be very expensive. Have to build 3 bridges over some creeks that flash flood. He Natural Resources Advisory Board August 15, 2007 Page 6 of 7 said there is no plan to hire a lot of new permanent staff but plan one full-time ranger and some seasonal help. When people enter the property, we want them to be greeted. We want the visitors to know we are paying attention and we care about the area. The seasonals will also be very diligent about policing the main road for weeds. • Pruessner said it was really great to read a document with that level of expertise. • Knowlton agreed. • Ryan said he supports hunting access, it is part of the culture of the area. I think that plan could have represented that further. In reference to "no dogs", he feels humans will have more impact than dogs. He feels that is a fatal flaw in the plan. • Apt, Petterson and Knowlton strongly disagreed. Apt said there are a small percentage of people that bring the aggressive dogs that ruin it for everyone with dogs. • Staychock thinks the management tactic saying "no dogs" seems to be the easy way out. It is turning off a lot of people in Fort Collins. Following further discussion whether or not dogs should be allowed at Soapstone, Stokes said as professionals in resource management, they feel it is the best choice and recognize that part of the population might be upset over this. He said dogs aren't allowed at Bobcat either. We thought the public might have a negative impact. Once we explained our reasoning, we have had very little blow back. Solid Waste Diversion — Susie Gordon Gordon recapped the strategic plan to help City reach a goal of 50% waste diversion by 2010. In 2004, we looked at the goal and how they would reach that. They engaged in planning process to evaluate which new strategies would be appropriate and research options for new programs which included: identify gaps, convened steering committee; established which materials get measured and develop program options for council. They did a public opinion survey which reinforced what we hear from people. Gordon said guidelines and objectives were established with the help of the steering committee. There were twenty measures which denote low/no cost to City. It was identified that in order to achieve 50% waste diversion, we would need 60,000-75,000 new tons annually. The E-waste ban was the single item that Council asked staff to pursue. Electronics ban was adopted in February 2007. • Knowlton asked why council didn't adopt anything other than E-waste? • Stokes said partly because some of these are regulatory. Council wasn't ready to go for regulatory activities. E-waste was an easy choice, getting toxic waste out of the waste stream. Petterson made the following motion which was amended slightly following discussion from the board. Natural Resources Advisory Board August 15, 2007 Page 7 of 7 The Natural Resources Advisory Board strongly supports the Council -adopted policy objective of a 50% solid waste diversion rate. The Board supports this objective for its general environmental benefits; for its associated green house gas reductions; and, for its potential economic benefits. It seems clear from the data that the City will not be able to achieve its 50% reduction objective, or make substantial progress towards it, without significant changes to policy and/or actions. Therefore, the Board recommends that the City Council direct staff to implement changes to our waste diversion policies and programs which will make significant progress toward reaching the already established objective of 50% diversion. In particular, the Board strongly recommends that the Council direct staff to implement two or more of the following high -return -on -investment strategies as identified in the 2006 Five -Year Strategic Plan for Solid Waste Reduction,* or other effective strategies which will make significant progress toward the 50% waste diversion goal: 1) A mandatory yard waste program 2) A construction and demolition waste management program 3) A commercial pay -as -you -throw 4) An enhanced residential pay -as -you -throw program These four are from the original list of 20 recommendations which were made in 2006. Only one was adopted for E-waste. Apt seconded the motion including the friendly amendments. The motion was unanimously approved. New Business Stokes said Eric Levine has asked if the NRAB has any volunteers for the West Nile Task Force Dean and Staychock volunteered. Staychock said he will contact Levine. Stokes reminded the board that he will have budget information in September. Other possible items for September are: Green Energy Recommendation Natural Resources Department Budget CSU Campus Foothills Annexation Plan City Forester Climate Wise The meeting adjourned at 8:55. Submiitted_ byJudiVos, A nun Support Supervisor