HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 10/23/2008For Reference:
Minutes
City of Fort Collins
Economic Advisory Commission
Regular Meeting
300 Laporte Ave City Hall
October 23, 2008
11:00-1:00 P.M.
Christophe Fabvre, Chair 227-0282
Mayor Doug Hutchinson, Council Liaison 416-2154
Mike Freeman, Staff Liaison 416-2253
Erin Gill, Minutes 221-6505
Commission Members Present:
]im Clark, Blue Hovatter, Bill Timpson, Christophe Febvre, Rick Price, Beena Bawa
Commission Members Absent:
Kevin Shaw. Stu MacMillan
Guests:
Steve Yurash, citizen
Tom Clevenger, citizen
Staff Present:
Lucinda Smith, City of Fort Collins Senior Environmental Planner
Erin Gill
Mike Freeman, Chief Financial Officer
Agenda Item i — Meeting Call to Order
Meeting called to order 11:03 a.m.
Agenda Item 2 — Approval of Minutes
Unanimous approval of minutes August 27, 2008
Agenda Item 3 - Public Comment
Guest Fort Collins resident Steve Yurash (2920 Waterstone Court) public comment:
Large construction developments such as Harmony Technology Park, The Presidio, and
Riverwalk need to have special consideration under planning and zoning, electric utility
board policy, and the city council to provide for the possible inclusion in that
development of higher efficiency or renewable local power generation. Examples such as
on -roof photo -voltaic, co -generation of electricity and heat (such as at the Coors Brewery
in Golden), or special features in the parking lot for re -charging electric cars, should get
city incentives to make them happen in order to help meet the city's carbon foot -print
goals. Large construction projects have the potential to share in the energy generation
selection process because of the critical mass they have with the amount of square
footage, and it makes sense to build in these features during initial construction instead of
doing a retro-fit. These need to be done in a manner that does not overly burden the
overall long term cost structure of the project.
Agenda Item 4 — Member updates and discussion
Mike Freeman clarified that the December 161h Council work session agenda item
Economic Health/Financial issues is a general overview of City economics per City
Council's request.
Agenda Item 5 — Climate Plan Update by Lucinda Smith, Senior Environmental
Planner, Agenda Item 6 — Climate Plan Follow up and Agenda Item 7
Approval/Discussion of Draft 1.0 Presentation Documentation and Analysis form
The Economic Advisory Commission heard from Lucinda Smith October 23, 2008 and
followed up with a discussion on the Climate Action Plan. All members unanimously
agreed to make the following recommendation to City Council, in advance of the October
28, 2008 work session.
EAC Recommendations:
• The EAC sees great potential for these ideas to assist in the marketing of our
community's values to the community, nation, and the world, as our
community has consistently prided itself and marketed itself as a community
that acts progressively when it comes to issues of sustainability.
• By in large most of the recommendations do not directly affect businesses
and the economy. The main areas where the EAC sees direct effect are in
the Energy Supply Policy and Natural Gas Franchise Fee recommendations.
These issues should not be handled in a vacuum, but rather looked at in
conjunction with each other.
• Consider adding the importance of a marketing/education component
especially for items that involve the most impact to business and/or citizens.
Thank you for considering this recommendation
EAC Presentation Documentation and Analysis Form
Organization and/or person presenting to the EAC:
Lucinda Smith, City of Fort Collins Natural Resources Department, Climate Action Plan.
Date
1012312008
Does the city fund the organization, or will city funds be required for the proposed
project, and if so how much?
The presentation was focused on the Climate Action Plan being recommended to the
City Council. While estimates of costs have been given, the exact cost of
implementation will be based on the measures that are chosen for implementation.
What other funding does the organization receive? N/A
Is the organization requesting funding from the City?
Funding will be based on strategies that are chosen for implementation, and will be
looked into in greater detail at that time.
Purpose of the presentation
Inform the Economic Advisory Commission (EAC) on recommendations that will go to
City Council from the Climate Action Plan.
Desired outcome for presenter
Feedback and Questions that the EAC have on the Climate Action Plan.
Impact of presented material to the city's economy:
[Rate from 0 to 10 where 0 means no relevance]
Rank of 7
Comments:
• Many of the recommendations will require some type of financial support to be
effective.
• Many of the recommendations result in savings, mostly through efficiencies.
• It has significant potential positive effects for the long-term economy. The ideas
discussed also have some potential costs to the city, citizens, and businesses. The
EAC has identified some possible risks for businesses that at least need to be
carefully managed and or marketed.
• The EAC feels fairly strongly that there is strong potential for the plan to interact
positively with the City's current long-term economic vision.
• The EAC noted that there are risks that need to be assessed and managed for some
of the potential items relative to impact to local business.
What area(s) of the economy are impacted by the presenting organization?
[rate impact from 0 to 10]
Primary Employment
7 — new costs may affect current and future employers
Local economic generation ...
7 — has potential to create new jobs and industry
Lower Income assistance ...
8 — offers assistance to low income
High-technology generation ...
8 — support Clean Energy Cluster and CSU developments
Cluster activity
9 - Clean Energy
Other Electric Supply Policy/Air Quality ...
9
Comments:
• Depending upon the recommendations that the Council chooses to move forward
with will effect how much this plan will affect positively/negatively on the local
economy.
Is there a quantifiable or potential Return -on -Investment for the City and if sc
explain?
Yes, through efficiencies, possible natural gas franchise fee. Cost of doing nothing,
knowing that a Federal level cap & trade system is likely in the future.
Are there any issues that the EAC feels should be addressed by the presenter, or
are there any additional documents or data that the EAC requests from the
presenter?
How does it support local business and economy? What will this cost local business?
Who oversees the process? How does City market the benefits? Who saves and who
benefits?
Agenda Item 8 — Discuss next meeting time, location and agenda
Next meeting is scheduled for November 12, 2008 posted on the
Fort Collins main web page event calendar http://www.fc�yov.com
Agendas: http://fcgov.com/cityclerk/economic-advisory.php
Submitted Erin Gill, Executive Administrative Assistant