HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 02/15/20171 | Page
MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
Date: Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Location: Colorado River Room, 222 Laporte Ave.
Time: 6:00–7:30pm
For Reference
Bob Overbeck, Council Liaison 970-988-9337
Katy Bigner, Staff Liaison 970-221-6317
Board Members Present Board Members Absent
John Bartholow Bob Mann
Elizabeth Hudetz
Nancy DuTeau
Luke Caldwell
Katherine de Leon
Drew Derderian
Ling Wang
Jay Adams
Staff Present Staff Absent
Katy Bigner, Staff Liaison, Environmental Services
Guests:
Jen Shanahan, Natural Resources Watershed Specialist
David Tweedale, Land Conservation and Services Board
Call meeting to order: 6:03 pm
Introduction of Guests: None
Agenda Review: No changes
Public Comments: None
Introduction of New Members:
Ling Wang is a newly appointed member of the NRAB. Ling’s academic background is in
environmental science and policy. She has been working in the graphic design field since she moved
to the U.S. She is interested in combining her design skills and environmental interests.
• The board is considering pairing mentors with new board members. New members are
encouraged to reach out to other members to learn about them and their fields of interest.
Approval of Minutes:
Luke moved and Elizabeth seconded a motion to approve the January minutes as amended.
Motion passed unanimously, 8-0-0
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Corrections: Public Comments Section: Land Conservation and “Stewardship” (instead of
“Services”) Page 3: Discussion about dark sky lighting – “mounding” should be changed to
“mounted” lights. Page 3: Question about codes related to landscaping or irrigation should state that
gutters must carry water 5 feet from foundation. Page 1: Correct date to “2017”.
Election of Chair and Vice Chair:
John has been the Chair of the NRAB for a couple of years, and he believes the board would benefit
from rotating leadership.
• Elizabeth nominated Nancy. Luke seconded.
• Jay nominated John. John declines the nomination for re-election.
John invited nominations for Vice Chair.
• Elizabeth nominated Luke for Vice Chair. Nancy seconded.
Nancy was nominated as the new Chair of the NRAB by acclamation.
Luke was nominated as the new Vice Chair of the NRAB by acclamation.
AGENDA ITEM 1— State of the Poudre Update
Jen Shanahan, Watershed Planner for Natural Areas, provided a preview of the State of the Poudre
Assessment and Report Card. This assessment provides the City of Fort Collins with a robust tool to
benchmark progress towards its vision of “…sustaining a healthy and resilient Cache la Poudre
River.”
State of the Poudre Assessment (SPA) will be completed this spring. Collaboration to collectively
improve watershed services. Watershed services refers to how the community benefits from
watershed health. Assessment will provide a data-driven perspective on how healthy the river is.
Based on previous projects: 2015 River Health Assessment Framework, 2016 Field Assessment, and
data analysis. The 2017 SPA will compile all data that has been collected, and include a detailed
assessment and report card (community facing document). There will be an online mapping tool to
get summaries of river health at specific areas. Hope to reach a broad audience—stakeholders and
natural resources managers want detailed data analysis, public wants information in more general
terms.
Study area is from Gateway Park to I-25. 4 zones: Canyon, Rural, Urban, and Plains. Using physical,
chemical, and biological analyses, and the Functional Assessment of Colorado Streams. Looking at
the river in different scales of study: watershed, floodplain/riparian, and channel. Birds were included
in the study in the previous version; however, since birds do not stay within the area of study it no
longer made sense to include this dataset. May return in future iterations if applicable.
Integration of various datatypes into a comprehensive report card—Level 1: GIS; Level 2: Field—
rapid assessments; Level 3: Field—data (more traditional scientific data collection). River health is
defined with A–F grading system. Inverse relationship between the grade and how much
management is needed. There are “aspirational, yet feasible” recommended ranges for different
metrics.
Overall, the Poudre is somewhere in the “C” range. The results show a wide range of good and poor
functions along the river. The assessment proves that management practices make a difference. Ex:
Some restoration sites did not receive good grades in health. They are young sites, and more
vulnerable to flood damage. Over time these sites will show the most improvement. Another finding
was that native fish species are locally becoming extinct. This is due to a lack of connectivity and the
variations in water temperatures, often caused by water inputs and diversions.
Possible applications of the SPA include providing a common place to begin for everyone interested
in or involved with the river, informing management practices, and enabling staff to make choices
and prioritize projects. Results of the assessment will be discussed with be used to identify the
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greatest stressors and figure out how to reduce them. Assessment will be redone every 3–5 years
(Plan-Do-Check-Act).
Discussion/Q&A:
• Can the report card, or portions of it, be put on interpretive signs along the river for educational
purposes?
o These signs would be great for trailheads as well.
o Good idea—will consider how that can be achieved.
• Does the City have baseline data about aquatic life? Example: With NISP could be used to
measure the impact of the project if it is completed.
o Lower Poudre Monitoring Alliance is a group that collects data on aquatic insects. Their
data, plus additional points, is used in the State of the Poudre Assessment. Data on fish
populations is provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, but it is not consistent data
across the landscape. The hope for the assessment is to reproduce it every 3–5 years with
the most up-to-date datasets.
• If NISP negotiations are approved by Council, will watershed team help monitor river health for
the project?
o City hopes to be at the table to talk about management and monitoring. State of the
Poudre is a different type of assessment than Environmental Impact Statement for NISP.
• How do small dams affect the native fish?
o Small diversion dams are completely impassable to small fish. Collaborating with others
about creating fish passage in certain dammed areas.
• Understood the entire McMurry Natural Area was impacted by the flood, but the graphic does
not indicate that.
o Flood occurred after restoration was completed at the site. Project was designed to have
low elevations to hold water in the event of a flood. Because the restoration was so new,
the flood had a severe impact on the area. The project is more established now, and will
now respond to flooding the way it should.
• How do invasive plant species affect the river health scores?
o Jen said they created a sub-metric: Problematic Herbaceous Species. Only some areas
were assessed with this sub-metric.
• What are your goals right now to fix the river problems?
o Creating fish passages, but the City does not own any of the diversions. Collaborate with
owners and raise funds. Currently involved in fish passage project at the Timnath Inlet.
Other goals include managing natural area properties, collaborating about flows at the
regional level and looking at creative options to manage flows.
• Fish are very limited in the urban zone.
o Trout fishing is best primarily upstream of College, and there are some ponds that have
been stocked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
• Who can describe creative options for flow management?
o John Stokes or John Bartholow.
o John said the options are all long-term management strategies.
• Does prioritizing tasks and funding increase community engagement in ways like the annual
cleanup of trash or planting parties?
o Small projects will impact the big picture. There could be some meaningful projects for
kids as well.
• When the report is complete, what’s next?
o NISP related projects; Jen will be involved in negotiations if they occur. Will continue
involvement in fish passage projects and there will be a lot of conversation about the
State of the Poudre Assessment after it is finished.
• The northern part of this study area is not really in Fort Collins. Why did you go up that far?
o What happens upstream affects the river in Fort Collins.
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• What about downstream?
o The City does not think it is appropriate to assess downstream health at this time.
• Are you bringing this assessment to Council in April?
o It could be a “good news” item for Council, but they may inquire more about it.
• We will see the results of the assessment when you come back in April?
o Yes.
ACTION ITEM: Jen will consider ways to create interpretive educational signs from the State of the
Poudre Report Card and provide a Colorado Parks and Wildlife brochure of stocked ponds.
AGENDA ITEM 2— NRAB Meeting Effectiveness
Discussion on how to manage public comments and interactions, developing Board motions and
interaction with City staff.
The board has tried two different methods for public comments: allowing guests to speak and ask
questions near the end of meetings and during presentations, and having all public comments occur at
the beginning of meetings.
Discussion/Q&A:
• Appropriate to have public comments at the beginning. Leaving space between comments and
presentations creates a nice buffer. There should be a time limit on comments.
• Could ask guests to write down any questions they have during a presentation, and questions can
be brought up afterwards if there is time.
• Suggest the board restrict signs in meetings, because it is not the appropriate place.
• Is it acceptable for guests to record meetings?
o The board unanimously agreed it was acceptable for guests to record meetings.
• Robert’s Rules of Order has a section on “When questions should be asked.”
• Robert’s Rules of Order states there is no second required for nominations.
• Suggest members write down the wording of a motion before making it.
• Suggest the board make recommendations to Council about upcoming business.
• Presenting staff can draft the anticipated motion beforehand, which can provide guidance for
board members.
• Concerns about board member interactions with staff.
o Staff members are very customer service oriented. Liaisons can choose to buffer staff
from certain requests. Data requests and similar needs should start with the liaison.
Questions or follow-ups can be facilitated through the liaison. The liaison organizes
board packets and makes sure board recommendations get to Council in a timely manner.
• Suggest selecting a member to monitor the 6-month calendar. This person can alert the board
when something has been rescheduled.
o Future NRAB agendas are based on the agenda of Council and the ever-shifting 6-month
calendar.
• The NRAB generally doesn’t initiate business with the Council.
o It is important to inform Council about certain Natural Resources related issues that may
not be on their agenda.
• Need to understand who to talk to first. Some things are better to approach as an individual rather
than as a representative of the board.
ACTION ITEMS: Jay will email a “When questions should be asked” and motion sections of
Robert’s Rules of Order to the board.
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AGENDA ITEM 3— Other Business
Announcements/Open Discussion
• NISP open house on Monday, February 13?
o 200+ people in attendance. A small handout was provided. John Stokes gave a
presentation. Informal. Most attendees were from Save the Poudre. Organizers of the
open house will collect comments from the event and create a report to bring to Council.
o Tuesday, February 21, NISP is on Council agenda.
• Bike Advisory Committee Update:
o Luke was elected Chair of the committee.
• Land Conservation and Stewardship Board (LCSB): Focus on land acquisition, driven by high
use of our natural areas.
o Land acquisition is focused inside the Growth Management Area (GMA), but if a good
opportunity comes up outside the GMA, the City will take advantage of it.
o Board received a presentation in 2015 about the shift in focus from outside to inside the
GMA for the 2015-2025.
o Recent focus on land acquisition in the northern region of Fort Collins.
o One of the projects for Nature in the City is producing a connectivity map for wildlife
corridors, and could be related to land acquisition.
Nature in the City project is focused on bird species and animal migrations
(mainly deer). There are four major corridors of birds that the project is looking
at. The board will receive a report on this topic.
• Next NRAB meeting is during Spring Break.
o A majority of the board will be able to attend.
• February 28: GOCO Project Outdoors: Plug into Nature. Open House. 4-7 pm, Northside Aztlán
Community Center.
Review of Council 6-Month Agenda Planning Calendar/NRAB Agenda Planning
• Changes in Land Use Code presentation has been moved to April.
• Adoption of the Downtown Plan presentation moved to March 21.
• February 28 Work Session: Road to 2020—Climate plan initiatives and rebranding
o Can take an online survey. David will send the link.
• April 25: Nature in the City Work Session
• May: Composting
• June Work Session: Organized Electric Markets—Platte River Power Authority.
o Interesting to know how solar and other energy markets are impacting the city.
o City’s wind power program. A company is selling single solar panels. Does the City have
a program like this?
Community solar garden on Riverside Ave.—sold out.
Is there another option?
Not at this time—limited land for this use.
• Can the board have a presentation on the canal system?
o On the list
• Safe Rides to Schools program—suggest they use a rotating schedule where all the schools are
visited. There could be educational talks about bicycle safety.
o Could use a similar approach to educate about recycling in schools.
• The board will receive a presentation on updates to the Community Recycling Ordinance.
o Recycling glass bottles is loud.
Broken glass is not recyclable.
Board should research this.
o Suggest a Styrofoam collection bin during the holidays; have a truck take the it to
Boulder where it can be recycled.
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• Hiker and mountain biker safety on trails. City’s effort to make bikes stop for hikers isn’t
working.
o Improve signage and legislation.
• Should recycling education be done by waste companies?
o Although haulers are required to educate about recycling, the materials are often not
delivered directly to individuals.
Meeting Adjourned: 7:56 pm
Next Meeting: March 15, 2017