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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 02/23/2009AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING MINUTES February 23, 2009 DATE: Monday, February 23, 2009 LOCATION: 215 N. Mason Conference room 1-A TIME: 5:30 -8:00 P.M. Dinner is served starting at 5:15 For Reference: Eric Levine, Chair - 493-6341 David Roy, Council Liaison - 407-7393 Brian Woodruff, Staff Liaison - 221-6604 Board Members Present: Dennis Georg, Greg McMaster, John Schroeer, Dale Adamy, Hugh McKay, Dave Dietrich, Members absent: Kip Carrico, Katrina Winborn Staff Present: Alexis Hmielak, Brian Woodruff, Lucinda Smith As Eric Levine was not yet present, Vice Chair Greg McMaster called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Public input none Federal grant opportunity CSU environmental health scientists John Volckens, Ph.D., and Jennifer Peel, Ph.D., addressed the Board about a multi -million dollar Federal grant that calls for a local science/public-health partnership. • John explained that he and Jennifer are from the CSU Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, specializing in epidemiology and human exposure and air quality measurement. They are focusing predominately on air pollution and particulate matter. • The Federal Government put out a Request for Application (RFA) from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) entitled "Research to Action: Assessing and Addressing Community Exposures to Environmental Contaminants." http://grants.nih. gov/grants/g;aide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-09-00l .html o This is for a four-year partnership between a research institution (CSU) and a community -based organization. o It is a unique research partnership because the RFA specifies the research needs must be equally driven by the community. • John and Jennifer were present tonight to invite the Air Quality Advisory Board to partner with them in this project. They proposed to do a traffic -related air pollution study with common research interests to support the community. o Depending on input from the community, research could involve: work and school commuting routes, recreation sites or evaluating exposures at intersections. o It would determine important predictors for higher exposures (time of day, type of road, distance from road) o It would provide recommendations/data to community • To demonstrate their capabilities, John stated he and Jennifer had done a study with National Jewish Hospital in Denver. In a new type of exposure assessment study, they documented asthmatic children going to and from school and their daily personal exposure to particulate matter. The goal of this study was to determine action and intervention for human exposure of air particulates. John pointed out this type of study might also be able to translate to the residents of Fort Collins. for air particulate exposure in commutes, recreation or any outdoor activity. o In answer to a question from Hugh Mackay, John Volckens stated the children in this study carried a special backpack with a GPS and special device to measure particles in the air in real time, but they could not determine what the pollution was a result of. • John Volckens explained what would be needed from the city for this partnership: o A working partnership with AQAB o Help with outreach, communication and research itself o Ideas for research focus o One or two primary contacts/collaborators with a 10 hr/month, 4-year commitment to attend meetings, trainings, recruiting, research and data collection. • CSU and researchers would provide: o A subcontract to the AQAB Board (via the City) o Funding to support meetings, focus groups, outreach efforts with community discourse, travel time and supplies o A Partnership in Research ■ Three-way communication (CSU, AQAB and citizens) ■ Community and City benefit ■ Facilitated outreach, education and intervention - Healthy routes to school program - Maybe a Google maps program - Suggestions for healthy city development such as identifying low exposure locations, roundabouts vs. traffic lights o Timeline ■ Grant application is due April 1 — Nov 1 start date ■ 2010 — Jan -March — facilitate community input ■ 2010 - April — began data collection ■ 2011 - Develop model, research products ■ 2012 — Conduct interventions, outreach, education and program evaluation Discussion ■ Jennifer Peel stated she foresaw having a matrix of different types of issues the community is interested in and then prioritizing them for research. A sample would be: Is it better to ride a bike on a bike path than on the street and how much better. ■ John pointed out the research would involve hundreds of measurements per day. ■ In answer to a question from John Schroeer, Jennifer stated they have not yet contacted the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) because the purpose of the grant is to tune into local citizens' concerns; not state or regional. She added that she and John are looking for suggestions of any local organizations to contact that they didn't think of. ■ Dennis Georg wondered why John and Jennifer aren't proposing to work directly with the City because the boards are more policy advisors to City Council. John answered they would eventually want to work with the City but the grant won't be reviewed if their primary partner is not community -based, i.e. concerned citizens who want to take an active role in this. 2 • Brian Woodruff pointed out the AQAB members are viewed as "employees" of the City, even though they are volunteers and not empowered to sign anything. The City Manager would sign the partnership agreement and AQAB's commitment of time would make this work. ■ Hugh Mackay pointed out the research would give the City tons of data it doesn't have now that could be used in advising City Council on policy decisions or issuing building permits in a pollution bloom area. ■ In answer to a question from Dennis, Brian stated many things contribute to air pollution other than traffic but, for children walking to school, nearby pollution such as traffic would be the major pollutant. John Volckens stated the reason they are interested in traffic pollution is because it is not uniformly distributed over the city like ozone is. Because of this, citizens can make decisions to lower their exposure by taking a different route. ■ Eric Levine pointed out the AQAB is supposed to be representatives of the community and is permitted to convene ad hoc committees. The AQAB could recruit someone from the board or outside the board from the community. Brian also stated people from the asthmatic community or other related organizations could be recruited through the AQAB and will pass along contact information of some local community groups he is familiar with that might be interested in participating in this research. ■ Eric stated, in his experience, research done in the past by Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDHE), had a lack of follow through. Jennifer reassured him that this grant will be completely funded to take the project through to completion. ■ Brian pointed out that time is of the essence since the grant application deadline is April 1. John stated there are other CSU collaborators and they will be having a primary planning meeting next week where they are hoping to identify the potential community members. It is also important the Air Quality Advisory Board partner with them for success. Jennifer stated the specific areas of study don't need to be defined by April 1; just the framework of how the research will work. The study itself doesn't begin until January, 2010. ■ Jennifer pointed out they are looking for volunteers that can be a sounding board from the community. John stated volunteers don't have to be experts on air pollution; they will be trained. However, the volunteers do need to take an active role in moving the project forward with the help of a facilitator. This is a little vague at this point, but very flexible. John also pointed out the grant will pay the volunteers. Also, the volunteer does not have to make a 4-year commitment. If they need to quit the project, John and Jennifer will find a replacement. ■ In summary, Eric Levine stated the project seemed to be a good fit with the AQAB. He and Brian will contact John and Jennifer with names of people and organizations they know that might want to be involved in this grant. Mountain Vista Sub -Area Plan Senior City Planner in Advance Planning Pete Wray and Transportation Planner Matt Wempe updated the Board on the revision of this component of City Plan which is scheduled for Council adoption in March. ■ As background, Pete Wray explained the Mountain Vista Sub -Area Plan (MPSP) study area is about five square miles bounded by I-25 on the east, the Anheuser Busch Plant, Richards Lake Rd. and Douglas Rd. on the north, Turnberry Rd. on the east and E.Vine Drive on the south. o The Mountain Vista Sub -Area Plan was adopted in 1999, and is an element of the City Plan that was adopted in 1997. They are proposing to revise the Mountain Vista Plan because certain conditions have changed since it was adopted. 3 o The original plan showed opportunities for expansion of the brewery and industrial units adjacent to the brewery. The school district purchased 100 acres 10 years ago for future development. The City has been trying to purchase land from them for a community park but so far has been unsuccessful. The original plan also identified community commercial, mixed use, natural areas and public open lands along with proposed road and key intersection changes. • Matt Wempe described the draft plan schedule and key issues of the project. o They began the project last March and during the last year have hired a consultant team to help with land use analysis, met with area property holders, had public open houses, will meet with Council in May and should have final decision from Council in June. o Land use and transportation issues being addressed: ■ Land Use • Adequate Buffer between ABI Brewery and Residential Uses • Increase Amount of Industrial/Employment • Co -locate Community Park and Future PSD Site • Location and Size of Community Commercial District • Character of Mountain Vista Drive Entryway ■ Transportation • Realignment of East Vine Drive • Location and Design of Enhanced Travel Corridor • Local Transportation Network Access and Connectivity • Coordination w/ BNSF on Future Street Crossings Discussion ■ Greg Mc Master stated there is growing pressure to get more green building in new projects and wondered if the Mountain Vista Subarea Plan is focusing on green building since it is starting from scratch. Pete Wray stated the City has a desire and interest to provide incentives for green building and is going through a Building Code update, but a lot of it is dictated by the market. ■ In answer to a question from Dale Adamy who asked if there would be any transit -oriented development and suggested setting land aside for transit, Matt Wempe stated there will be two enhanced travel corridors at Vine Drive and Timberline that would have a separate plan to connect them to the downtown transit center. Pete added there would also be transit stops along the corridors and also a park -and -ride connection to I-25. ■ Pete Wray explained they are trying to plan for the long term and future growth and that this is the last large growth area for Fort Collins. However, they are challenged because there is no room to expand Vine Drive because of the existing development and railroad tracks. They would have to build expensive grade -separated interchanges at E. Vine Drive and Timberline. o Some people are concerned Vine Drive would become a major truck route or high- speed throughway. Pete pointed out there is no provisions to reroute the current major truck route through town through the Mountain Vista area. • There are 3 proposed options for the plan:. o Option A - is close to original plan o Option B - would have more intersections and flow to 1-25 would not be as direct as Option A. o Option C — Similar to Plan B Hugh Mackay asked if there is any correlation with the boundaries of this area and Fort Zed and what is the projected population. Pete responded he projects about 4 14,000 people and 6,000 housing units at full build -out and perhaps 15,000 future jobs. He would check about Fort Zed's boundary. • Pete explained they are faced with some financial challenges in this area o If growth in this area was left to the market it would take 20 years. o Any large future residential project has been on hold for several years o Until they have funding for the major grade -separated intersections, they are on hold. . The project has gone to Fort Collins voters for a capital project and was denied twice. o Drainage detention pond projects are also holding up this project. • Next Steps in the Process • Develop Preferred Framework Plan Map • Final Transportation Modeling Analysis • Individual Neighborhood/Land Owner Meetings (Jan. - Mar. 2009) • Public Open House (February 19 - 2009) - (Apr TBD) • Boards and Commissions Review (February to May 2009) • Transportation Board Recommendation Hearing (4/15/2009) • Planning and Zoning Board Recommendation Hearing (5/21/2009) • City Council Work Session (5/12/09) • City Council Hearing (6/2/2009) . Discussion • In answer to a question by Eric Levine who was concerned about funding shortfalls and quality of life issues, Pete stated fees for roads and the expanding tax base does provide a fair amount of income but the large projects in this are the funding issue. Existing development has created deficiencies such as streets that cannot be widened and the necessity for two. grade separated interchanges. Future development could pay for some of it but not all of it. • Dennis Georg asked what is the impact of Options A, B and C on multi -modal transportation. Matt stated because the Bike Plan was passed last October, bike lanes will be required on the streets here. • Regarding edges and transitions, Pete Wray stated, since this long term growth area has significant employment, they did not feel the need to feather densities to existing ones. Their goal is to have a more compact, walkable, pedestrian -oriented pattern with a strong employment base. He cited the Lowry redevelopment area in Denver and the St. Michael's Center in Greeley as samples of what they're looking at for the commercial center. • Eric Levine asked how the jogs in the road affect Transfort. Matt responded the curves in the road are designed by acceptable engineering standards and would accommodate transit. Matt added Transfort is going to more of a grid -based system anyway. • In answer to a question from John Schroeer, Pete Wray stated analysis from the consultants has determined retail should be neighborhood -oriented and not at I-25. The idea is to have a more attractive gateway and entryway at I-25. • Greg McMaster asked about Options B and C. It seemed to him the 4-lane roads weren't conducive to community cohesion. Pete stated Option B was an effort to have E.Vine Drive connect with Mountain Vista Drive in a less direct path with a possible main street venue and a lower speed limit. • Dennis asked what steps can be taken to improve air quality in these plans. Pete stated their land use perspective is to have destinations in close proximity and higher density residential and pedestrian areas. The two new enhanced travel corridors in this area will have public transit. E • Eric Levine asked about where the shortfall for the funding for the realignment of E.Vine Drive will come from. Pete envisioned that street will be paid for by future development, but they still need to work out the. storm water issues. However, until funding is available the existing streets such as E. Vine, Douglas Road, Country Club Road, etc. will continue to be very frustrating for travel in this area. • Pete stated Anheuser Busch is now willing to sell some of their property and Fort Collins could put some light high quality industrial projects on the east side of the Mountain Vista Subarea Plan. • Hugh Mackay wondered how to discourage trucks from cutting through Vine Drive over to I- 25. Pete stated they cannot ban trucks, but the police would be fining any trucks that use this area to avoid the weigh scales. • Greg McMaster pointed out the Mountain Vista Subarea Plan is a chance for the City to make an impact on green building and suggested this plan make green planning a major component or to have a green building zone. Brian stated green building will come along in the building codes and green building programs. Pete agreed this is a big opportunity to find the right developers with innovative design. • In summary, Pete Wray stated this presentation is a general update. He and Matt are asking the Air Quality Advisory Board, Transportation Advisory Board and Planning and Zoning Advisory Board for input and recommendations to council. They could return to the AQAB in April or May if the board does not want to make a recommendation at this time. They will be going to the Council work session in May. o Eric Levine stated the AQAB supports the concept of City Plan and mixed use and will review this at their April meeting. However, he would like to see the output of the Transportation Advisory Board and the Planning and Zoning Advisory Board. Matt stated he could provide that information to the AQAB. Climate Action Plan Lucinda Smith gave an update on the progress of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) and asked the Board member's perspective on the appropriate next steps. • When Council passed the Climate Action Plan (CAP) in December, 2008, the Plan didn't completely reach the goal. They rejected the original addendum because a large part of it involved money going outside the community in carbon offset purchases. Council asked for a revised addendum to the Plan with additional strategies to meet the 2012 goals. Lucinda agreed to discuss strategies with the board and get back to Council in May with additional items to consider. • Ideas under consideration for the addendum: o The Climate Action Plan asked for a 1% reduction in electricity through efficiency programs. However, Utilities' Energy Plan, passed by Council in January, 2009, increased this to a 1-1/2 % reduction. (45,000 additional tons of CO2 equivalent in 2012) o Utilities staff is working on the implementation plan for the Energy Policy and will go to Council work session on April 28. Details are not known at this time. o Institute a construction/demolition debris deposit system to encourage recycling of construction materials. This was part of the original addendum and still has merit. (Estimated 20,000 CO2 equivalent tons in 2012) o Provide incentives to purchase high efficiency vehicles. Even though the price of gas is now lower it will most likely go back up. Council and other boards felt this is a reasonable strategy. (Estimated 3000 tons CO2 equivalent in 2012) • Other larger and more comprehensive or visionary ideas: o Fort Zed - There is a proposal by the Clean Energy Cluster for the Fort Zed project to be funded through the Governor's office with stimulus package money. The goal is to achieve Net Zero energy use 5 years from when funding starts. The carbon benefit to achieve this by 2015 is large. (over 200,000 tons of CO2 equivalent.) o Architecture 2030 — (not estimated yet) This is a large national initiative that has been endorsed by many major groups that calls for increasingly progressive standards for building new buildings so that by 2030, new buildings would be net zero. Lucinda will talk with the Green Building Team to see what kind of strategies they think should be in this addendum. ■ Lucinda suggested the group review the City of Seattle's Green Building Capital Initiative report with extensive appendices to see their recommendations: hqp://www.seattle.gov/environment/Documents/GBTF Propose Policy Recs 1-30- 09.pdf ■ Greg McMaster asked where funding for renovation would come from. Lucinda stated there is a "fee -bate" concept that has a high fee for a building project and, if they meet the stringent codes, they get a rebate. If not, the City gets income. ■ Dennis suggested establishing an energy efficiency improvement district using these funding tools to do it. The City of Fort Collins could establish such a district and weatherize 1000 homes. o Other approaches (not estimated yet) ■ A visionary idea from previous addendum was to take Fort Collins trash and reclaim the energy in it from a non -combustion type process and feed it back into the community. This is a future technology -based process. ■ Reducing lighting in the City at night has many ecological and human benefits plus an energy benefit. ■ There was a request from Council to get better estimates of future changes in the vehicle fleet emissions. Lucinda has been talking to MPO for a future model of fleet mix and will talk to the state modelers also. She stated this was not factored into our future inventory. Discussion by the AQAB of their thoughts what else should be in the addendum: • Greg McMaster suggested trash districting, commercial recycling, bike paths and bus routes should be in there because they have many positive benefits. o Lucinda added that "embed commercial recycling rates in commercial trash fees" has a lot of support and is in the Climate Action Plan by 2020, but not by 2012. A cardboard ban is in the CAP and actually has a greater carbon benefit in the short term (by 2012) than imbedding the commercial recycling rates. o She also stated trash districting and increased recycling will be beneficial for carbon reduction and they will look at this more. • In answer to a question by Greg who asked how these potential addendum projects fit into the BFO process, Lucinda stated the next BFO cycle (2010-2011) would be the busiest cycle because it is right before 2012. Regarding incorporating these ideas into the BFO process, they will have to compete with all the other needs of the City being offered. Offers will have to be submitted and the reality is some may not be funded. o Dennis voiced his opinion it would be a shame if the Climate Action Plan isn't built into the BFO process and the City would not be able to do it, Fort Zed and Architecture 2030. He suggested a City-wide special district for energy efficiency be established because in order to attract funding the City would have to be doing something to drive it. If the City doesn't invest in this, it won't get done. In addition, 7 it was his opinion air quality projects would be more beneficial to the city than street projects. • Hugh Mackay stated the Fort Zed website identified 5 strategies, one of which is local power generation, possibly from the Maxwell Wind Farm. He questioned if the City has the right to generate power locally. Lucinda thought she had heard PRPA might give the City an exemption up to 3 megawatts to accomplish Fort Zed, but will check into it. • In answer to a question from Dave Dietrich who asked if there will be any direct incentives to homeowners to conserve, Lucinda stated Utilities are talking about a program like one in Sacramento, California, showing energy being used by you and your neighbors and the effects on greenhouse gas. Utilities will also continue to provide direct incentives. • John Schroeer asked if there will be incentives for homeowners to install photovoltaics. Lucinda stated we can get some money from the Governor's Energy Office, but she will also ask Utilities what they are planning. • Dennis stated there does not seem to be one place a citizen can go to find all the incentives available from the City. He suggested the City should better inform the community about the benefits of making your home more efficient. Lucinda will pass this along to Utilities. • Eric Levine pointed out a few suggestions the Climate Task Force were interested in: o Having a time -of -sale ordinance when a home is sold requiring there be disclosure of the various energy efficiency rebates that are available to the home buyer. o Regarding the Climate Action Plan that predicts what has to be reduced to achieve carbon reduction, he pointed out the City needs to be as flexible as it can and lay the groundwork for real growth by putting programs into affect regarding natural gas, transportation and electric use. o Fort Collins should have a 3% gas franchise fee like many other cities have. Revenue from this could help with home efficiency audits. o Fort Collins should have revenue -neutral tiered electric rates for low income families. o Some of the Tier I suggestions made by the Climate Task Force should be revisited, as they are still viable solutions. • Greg McMaster suggested making home energy audits more affordable and tying them into any rebates available to make your home more efficient. Lucinda pointed out the Energy Policy will address this. • John Schroeer suggested raising the dollar limit for Zilch loans because many energy efficiency projects are more expensive than the current amount. Lucinda stated Zilch loans are currently being restructured and some limits are being raised. • Dale Adamy asked, if Council approved an expenditure of $500,000 in the BFO for implementation of the Climate Action Plan, which items in the Plan would the money be spent on. Lucinda stated, because the Climate Action Plan is interdepartmental and has so many interdisciplinary components, she envisioned funding would be for the first tier of items outlined in the Council agenda materials in December, such as the Transit Strategic Plan, Energy Plan, Community Climate Challenge, Climate Wise and Trash Services Study. Offers would be put in for them and could be designated as supporting the CAP. • Dennis asked how would Council know in the BFO process how well the Climate Action Plan is beingfunded without having to track all that down. Funding should be designated for policies that Council approves and'address the priorities for them. He suggested the natural Resources Department to submit offers for the components of the CAP and support their funding. • Dennis suggested the AQAB write a modification to the BFO process to improve transparency and improve the connection between policies and their funding. He also suggested City Council should review the policies they have approved and identify funding for them. Another suggestion was having individual staff members champion each policy to be sure it is funded. o Lucinda stated she does not envision this being possible in one BFO offer. It would have to be pulled together from different offers. She reminded the AQAB the implementation details of Utilities' Energy Plan has yet to be finalized and expects there will be BFO offers from Utilities to achieve this policy. • Lucinda also stated the Climate Task force recommended Phases I, II and II, but there was no prioritization. Approval of January minutes John Schroeer had several small corrections to his statements on page 7 and pointed out he abstained in the vote regarding SB 09-003. Greg McMaster moved and Dale Adamy seconded a motion to approve the January 26, 2009, minutes as amended. Motion Passed Unanimously Budgeting For Outcomes • Brian Woodruff presented a memo he submitted to Chief Financial Officer Mike Freeman on behalf of the AQAB regarding their opinion of and input on the BFO process. He also pointed out the board can send a memo to Council regarding these same input and concerns. o Dale wondered how the AQAB can write their recommendation concisely and convincingly enough that Council gets the point. o Brian also pointed out the board members could go before Council at meetings and bring their ideas to them there. • Dale Adamy suggested they invite Air Quality Advisory Board liaison David Roy to their March meeting so the board can explain their frustration with the BFO process. • Brian pointed out the intent of the BFO process is to be more prudent with revenue and be more transparent. Also, the current BFO process has been in place for three years now and it is not likely any change in focus can be made at this time. This is an opportunity given to the AQAB to improve the BFO process, not get rid of it. Discussion about particular changes to BFO requested by Mike Freeman: • Dave Dietrich pointed out he saw nothing in the BFO Results Statements that addresses natural resources management. He saw "environmental health" in #2, but that term refers to human health and not managing the City's natural resources. He suggested the wording be changed to "environmental management" and the Results Statements state "clean air, clean water, sustainable natural areas, etc." o Brian pointed out the results team in this area would have representatives from Natural Resources. • Dennis suggested there should be an additional "eighth" result statement related to policy implementation. He suggested the statement "the City implements policy as approved by Council" be added here. 0 o Dale suggested putting a result as "supporting policy with funding mechanisms" in the BFO in order to send a message to Council the AQAB does not see a policy alignment in the BFO process. • Greg McMaster pointed out "energy" was also not mentioned in the seven focus areas of the BFO and suggested it be broken out as Results Statement #9. o Lucinda stated the Energy Policy will also fall under Environmental Health. o Dave Dietrich suggested the following language: "the City should provide reliable, affordable, carbon -neutral electricity." • Dennis also suggested in #6 under Transportation, the following be inserted: "The City invests in efficient and effective multi -modal intra and inter -city travel." • Eric Levine stated that also missing from the BFO are items from the City Action Plan such as revenue -neutral tiered electric rates, gas franchise fee, smart meters, new building requirements, energy efficiencies, etc. • Dale Adamy suggested there be money budgeted for staffing to carry out the approved programs. • In summary, Brian Woodruff will draft a report of the Air Quality Advisory Board's input on the BFO process to be submitted to City Council with a copy to Mike Freeman. Chair Eric Levine and Vice Chair Greg McMaster will review it before Brian sends. o The AQAB members will discuss their personal feelings with their City Council district representative or at a Council meeting. Announcements ■ Board officer elections are scheduled for the AQAB March meeting ■ Dale suggested talking about BFO at March meeting if David Roy attends. ■ Greg will attend Jennifer Peel's CSU grant meeting next week. Eric Levine adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m. Submitted by Alexis Hmielak Administrative Secretary I Approved by the Board on_�!!�l ��'/1 d�L Z �2 2009 Signed d!&—_ Administrative Secretary I D� Date IK