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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 02/18/2015MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Location: 215 N. Mason Conference Room 1A Time: 5:30–8:00pm For Reference Bob Overbeck, Council Liaison 970-988-9337 Susie Gordon, Staff Liaison 970-221-6265 Board Members Present Board Members Absent Kelly McDonnell Joe Halseth Harry Edwards Bob Mann Luke Caldwell Alexa Barratt John Bartholow Jeremy Sueltenfuss Nancy DuTeau Staff Present Susie Gordon, Staff Liaison Alexis Hmielak, Admin/Board Support Melissa Hovey, Senior Environmental Planner Lindsay Ex, Interim Customer Services Manager Justin Scharton, Environmental Planner Bruce Hendee, SSA Director Ted Shepard, Chief Planner Rebecca Everette, City Planner Guests David Tweedale, citizen Call meeting to order: Harry called the meeting to order at 5:59 pm Public Comments: none Approval of Minutes: Luke moved and Nancy seconded a motion to approve the January 2015 NRAB minutes as presented. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0-0. AGENDA ITEM 1—Transition Plan: Sustainability Services Administration Bruce Hendee, SSA Director discussed the status of hiring a replacement for his position as he transitions into retirement at the end of February. Bruce’s last day is February 27. Staff and consultant are in process of search for new chief sustainability officer. The Sustainability Service Area (SSA) encourages sustainability from the triple bottom line perspective: social, economic, environmental. Bruce started four years ago; his assignment was to form and elevate sustainability as a concept within the City. During that time SSA was formed, completing his mission. Now the City must find someone to focus on implementation. There were 180 applications which are now under review. Mid-March staff will conduct interviews, followed by an open house to which NRAB will be invited. Expectation is to have the new CSO onboard by mid-April. The new CSO will be provided the new operations manual and video Bruce has made to help the onboarding process. Before he leaves Bruce would like to see the Climate Action Plan (CAP) approved by Council and complete strategic plans from each SSA department. Council and the City Manager strongly support SSA. Discussion/Q & A: • CAP goals are challenging o Direct current power may increase, which leads to big savings for consumers o Building efficiency is a huge component of CAP o CAP is a visionary goal that can make us a global leader o NRG is the largest energy company and wants to use the City as a prototype • What are the challenges between environment and social? o Looking for concurrence of the three departments. Using sustainability assessment tool to look at the three areas together to evaluate the triple bottom line. This must be a requirement of the entire organization. o On the value side, staff will meet and find connections. o A good CAP encourages companies to have strategies within it. • Among the City’s strategic plans, Bruce considers that what is important to NRAB is Nature in the City, CAP, and Environmental Services’ Strategic Plan. We should invite Beth Sowder and Josh Birks to speak to the board about the plans developed for their departments. • Bruce may help with Midtown and Downtown Plan after his retirement from the City. AGENDA ITEM 2—West Central Area Plan Ted Shepard, Chief Planner, and Rebecca Everette, City Planner, discussed policy recommendations and projects that are included in the final version of the Area Plan, which goes to Council for adoption in March. Staff is working with a consultant to update the West Central Area Plan. The current plan is 15 years old. The area consists of three square miles around campus. There has been significant growth in this area. The update began a year ago and goes to Council March 17. Four main topics: • Land use and neighborhood character • Open space networks • Transportation and mobility • Prospect Corridor design (redesign Prospect and Lake from Shields to College to better serve mobility needs) Key natural resources action items most relevant to NRAB: • Coordinate with Nature in the City and Climate Action Plan implementation • Clarify open space requirements for new development • Improve connections to open spaces • Enhance existing stormwater detention areas to improve habitat and recreational value • Pilot a residential tree canopy program, working with forestry department and local nurseries. Staff provided a map to the NRAB of locations with opportunities to achieve the goals. Discussion/Q & A: • Is the Summit apartment complex in the West Central area? o No, it’s outside the boundary. Land use code doesn’t specify style. The Summit has a hybrid international style. It has a good location to be walkable and replaces a mobile home park. This plan doesn’t address building aesthetics. o Staff is meeting with architects to be more collaborative, but not all the same. o There isn’t enough parking. The Max corridor is transit oriented; Max didn’t exist when this project was started. A lease with CSU for offsite parking never happened. Need parking storage. The developer didn’t clearly alert tenants to the parking situation. • Are the triple bottom line approach, sustainable innovation, and addressing climate change part of the plan? o Some overlap with CAP has been identified. • What are you hoping to create for wildlife in the city? Is there a list of wildlife, habitat, or vegetation you are interested in seeing? o We’re deferring to Nature in the City on this. They have done a detailed analysis and we will rely on their recommendations. We’re not to that level of detail yet. • Given resources, how does the City envision creating more open space vs. reducing amount of non-native species on its land? What is the ditch company position? o In this area of the city, stewardship of existing open space is the primary focus, not acquiring new land. The focus will be more on private land and along ditches. o Two major ditches cross the area, which are missed opportunities for recreation and habitat. We have policies in the plan to coordinate with ditch companies to utilize the ditches for things other than stormwater management. The ditch companies historically have not had strong partnerships with the City. o Ditch companies don’t own the land; they have easements in perpetuity, to provide access and control of use. • What would follow-up be with homeowners to what they want to see? What is the best use of their community spaces? o Staff has done a lot of public outreach about what people want to see. More outreach will happen as concepts are implemented. o The City should decide what the best use here is; there are many rentals and a lot of student housing. • Does your plan change with stadium? o We knew it was probable and assumed it would happen for planning purposes. o The City attorney will interpret state statutes. The City does not have jurisdiction over CSU. That is not part of this plan. Expect a joint work session on the stadium. • CSU is taking out gardens and an arboretum. Are any mitigation efforts in the works? o Yes. Just north of Gardens on Spring Creek (near the existing USDA greenhouses), CSU will relocate plant research to a horticultural center which will include greenhouses, tree nurseries, and research plots for grad students. o CSU is keeping the arboretum portion on campus. • Staff is proposing some small ditch crossings to improve pedestrian connectivity. Are areas next to ditch open? o Most are private property. Staff is looking for opportunities to connect public ones. • What about bridges for bikes? o Is it safe for two bikes to pass, but not on small bridges o Small bridges are not to encourage traffic, only for connectivity between neighborhoods. John moved and Jeremy seconded a motion for the Natural Resources Advisory Board to endorse the West Central Area Plan. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0-0. AGENDA ITEM 3—Nature in the City Justin Scharton, Environmental Planner in the Natural Areas program, and Lindsay Ex, Interim Customer and Administrative Services Manager, reviewed a strategic plan that establishes the vision, goals, and policies for implementing Nature in the City, which goes to Council for adoption in March. The community is experiencing rapidly changing development patterns and staff has heard concerns about continued access to nature. Nature in the City is about preserving quality of life for people and wildlife. The vision is a connected open space network accessible to the entire community that provides a variety of experiences and functional habitat for people, plants and wildlife. Project focus: • Complement existing programs by identifying linkages between public and private lands. • Ensure access to nature in the urban environment. • Enhance or restore places throughout the city to provide a variety of experiences at all scales. Additional analysis is necessary to determine restoration vs. acquisition. The three project phases are: inventory and assessment, strategic planning and implementation. In addition to providing access to nature, goals include high quality natural spaces and land stewardship. There is great potential to leverage existing programs, while considering additional programs and new incentives. Implementation is tied to policies. Who will lead the effort? What are the costs and how will projects be funded? There has been extensive community engagement, including many boards and commission, and an open house. The draft is available online, and the plan goes to Council March 17. Discussion/Q & A: • Council wants this plan before the separate implementation items, but Chapter 4 covers a series of action items, including short-, middle- and long-term. • What measures is staff taking toward carbon sequestration? o Working with Forestry, sampling sites across the city, calculating carbon sequestration. Will then expand to entire city and look at it over time. Don’t consider capture of carbon emissions from power plants—DOE killed the investment in CO2 removal process for coal fired power plant in Illinois. o We wouldn’t be looking at that. o CAP has other strategies to investigate including soil carbon sinks and biochar. • Nature Conservancy says top ways to establish wildlife are: don’t destroy habitat and keep cats inside. • Educational opportunity suggestion: here is what your yard could look like to promote nature in our city. o The Audubon Society is working on something like that. The City wants to focus on landscaping businesses to promote options/diversity. Need a certified landscaping program. o City can direct people to online resources, such as what type of plants attract butterflies, etc. Nancy moved and Luke seconded a motion that the Natural Resources Advisory Board endorses the Nature in the City draft strategic plan. Motion passed unanimously, 7-0-0. AGENDA ITEM 4—Fugitive Dust Control Melissa Hovey, Sr. Environmental Planner in the Environmental Services Department, reviewed proposals that have been drafted for requirements to control dust emissions from various urban sources such as excavating, demolition, and abrasive blasting. The City is proposing new code language under the municipal code to control fugitive dust emissions, and supplementing the code with the fugitive dust control manual. Fugitive dust is dust that is not emitted by a stack, chimney or vent, and has negative health and environmental impacts, as well as being a nuisance to aesthetics, safety, and visibility. Currently the City does not have a code and is unable to enforce state or county rules. Citizens and Council have directed staff to take action. There are monitoring stations around the nation for background data and the City has two particle monitoring stations. The dust control manual identifies 12 activities that must use dust control measures. Current inspectors will receive training to include dust in inspections and will have authority to respond to complaints and issue citations. There will be no new/additional fees, permits, or inspections. Best management practices (BMTs) are given in the manual for prevention, control, and limiting public exposure. Cost estimates for control measures are based on recent City contracts, CDOT data, the RS Means Guide, etc. BMTs were developed though research of 40 other counties and municipalities with dust control codes. Discussion/Q & A: • Can you use CDOT mobile units to look for other than particulate matter? o Melissa will investigate. • What about windy days vs. non-windy days? How does the inspector document this? o Intermittent inspections. Developers and citizens need education and good neighbor principles. • Is there any provision to make enforcement more stringent in proximity to high outdoor use areas like trails, or more vulnerable populations such as retirement homes? o Did work to define those categories, but got too complicated. Decided to use “off- property transport” to protect those areas/populations. o There is no documented safe level of particulate concentration. • Is a complaint the basis for investigation? Impacts of dust that aren’t dirt can harm wetlands and impact amphibious life. There is no provision for vulnerable areas. o Have left “sensitive area” in the definition, so if it was impacting wetlands could require mitigation. Will train inspectors to check. o Natural Areas staff or citizen could bring to attention. o Not proposing new staff to implement; must work with those already in the field. Jeremy moved and to Nancy seconded a motion to request Council return Fugitive Dust Control to their agenda. Motion passed, unanimously, 7-0-0. AGENDA ITEM 5—Board Elections • Alexa announced her resignation because she is moving to Denver. • Chair probably should have been on the board at least a year. • Jeremy and Harry both agreed to nominations to be vice chair. Bob Mann’s name was also mentioned as a possible vice chair. • John Bartholow accepted the nomination to be chair. • Members agreed to vote for vice chair during the March meeting. Harry moved and Jeremy seconded a motion for John Bartholow to act as Chair of the Natural Resources Advisory Board for 2015. Motion passed, 6-0-1. John abstained. AGENDA ITEM 6—Other Business Announcements/Open Board Discussion • CAP is going to Council in March. o Platte River has not agreed to power down coal, and is only considering a range of possible actions that were included in the modeling exercise. o Need Platte River to be invested in the plan as they are a major emissions source. Meeting Adjourned: 8:28pm Next Meeting: March 18