HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 06/19/2017MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD
Date: Monday, June 19, 2017
Location: Colorado River Room, 222 Laporte Ave.
Time: 5:30–8:00pm
For Reference
Mark Houdashelt, Chair
Ross Cunniff, Council Liaison 970-420-7398
Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison 970-416-2648
Board Members Present Board Members Absent
Mark Houdashelt, Chair
Vara Vissa, Vice-Chair
Harry Edwards
Jim Dennison
Gregory Miller
Chris Wood
Tom Griggs
Greg Clark
Staff Present
Ross Cunniff, Council Liaison
Lucinda Smith, Environmental Services Department Head
Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison
Guests
Alan Braslau (Energy Advisory Board Member)
Matt Tribby (Citizen)
Arsineh Hecobian (Citizen)
Randy Reusher (Utility Rate Analyst)
Justin Fields (Utility Rate Analyst)
Call to order: 5:34 pm
Mark moved and Gregory Miller seconded a motion to amend tonight’s meeting agenda to discuss city council
priorities with the Council Liaison rather than the HomeWise Program presentation originally scheduled.
Motion passed unanimously, 9-0-0.
Public Comments
Alan Braslau, a member of the Energy Board, stated that his fellow board members would like to be proactive
about proposed rate changes and structures. They have formed a subcommittee to make recommendations to the
Energy Board regarding rate structures, including the TOU study, and has invited AQAB board members to
comment upon any such recommendations.
Approval of Minutes
Harry moved and Greg C. seconded a motion to approve the May minutes as presented.
Motion passed, 8-0-1.
AGENDA ITEM 1: Discussion of City Council Priorities with Council Liaison
City Council members recently attended a retreat to discuss priorities for the City. A summary of the Council
retreat has been presented to the AQAB. Ross Cunniff stated that the items addressed in the retreat meeting
minutes have been adopted by resolution. While any recommended changes at this point will be difficult, the
Council is interested in AQAB feedback.
Discussion
The AQAB discussed the Environmental Health topics that were addressed at the retreat, which included radon,
outdoor residential burning and ozone.
Radon
Mark suggested that it may be prudent to reiterate the AQAB’s previous recommendations regarding radon
mitigation to the Council, as this item was not explicitly acted upon at the retreat. Mark suggested submitting a
formal reminder to the Council to ensure that the AQAB’s priorities are clear; Ross agreed and recommended
communicating in the form of a memo.
A discussion of whether it will be necessary to propose a mid-cycle BFO to provide resources to research and
recommend additional radon mitigation policies or programs followed.
● Jim expressed concern with potential discussions with CSU, noting that there may not be enough time to
secure funding if they wait to discuss the matter with Dr. Carter, who specializes in indoor air quality and
is interested in working with the City on radon issues. He inquired whether or not fellow board members
perceive CSU as integral part in determining the direction that the City moves in.
● Vara and Jim expressed shared concern over why radon is not being mitigated more aggressively. Vara
would like to see more focus on the human connection to this issue; especially regarding real risks posed
to local families. She suggested that additional resources may be the appropriate to set clear priorities for
a potential radon workgroup.
● Cassie stated that a workgroup will not be the next immediate step. She suggested working with Dr.
Carter from CSU to clarify what options the AQAB would like staff to consider for the 2018 - 2019 mid-
cycle BFO process to better determine the resources required to meet goals. She also mentioned that in
2018, there may be other opportunities to perform radon studies without securing additional resources.
Cassie, Lucinda and Mark discussed the deadline for a first draft for mid-cycle BFO offers, which will be July 10.
Since the next AQAB meeting will occur after this date, it was suggested that the original AQAB
recommendations be sent via email to Council prior to this deadline as a reminder.
Tom moved and Harry seconded a motion to resend original AQAB recommendations regarding radon mitigation
resources and policies.
Motion passed, 9-0-0.
Outdoor Residential Burning
Jim inquired whether or not the AQAB has seen a presentation on emissions from outdoor burning and the
direction that other similar communities have taken.
● Cassie informed the Board that staff is collection information for a presentation, and could be available in
the Fall. Board members agreed to wait until more information is available to them before
recommendations regarding outdoor burning policies.
Ozone/Ozone Plan
Mark and Jim asked what input Council would like from the AQAB regarding ozone.
● Ross explained that the Council will want the AQAB’s input on how the EPA’s designation for ozone
relates to Fort Collins with regards to the implementation of city policies. For example, requiring city
contractors to limit their use of ozone-polluting equipment.
● Cassie stated that State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for the new ozone standard have been delayed a
year. The AQAB will not have the opportunity to provide input on the adoption of any new SIPs for 1-2
years.
Technology
Mark inquired about the retreat initiative to incorporate more technology into their plans. He would like more
detail outlining this matter as the specifics are not clear.
● Ross indicated that he was also not clear on the specific priority regarding air quality and technology.
AGENDA ITEM 2: TOU Recommendation
At the last meeting the AQAB supported TOU rate structure and recommended additional customer outreach.
This recommendation will be considered in an upcoming Council work session on July 11. Mark prepared a
document to provide the Council with enhanced guidance as they consider TOU rates, which he presented to the
Board during this meeting. The document stemmed from the inherent complexities surrounding electrical usage
data analysis. The question was posed of whether or not there are factors that the Council should consider to help
decide if TOU, or a combination of TOU and something else would best suit Fort Collins.
Discussion
A discussion ensued regarding the social and economic factors to be considered with a TOU rate structure.
● Greg Miller inquired whether PRPA has been able to make age/income correlations in their research.
● PRPA suggested that while making age correlations is difficult, income correlations have been
recognized. A low income rate was previously proposed; however, it was not approved by Council.
● Ross stated that it was not pursued because it didn’t have enough economic impact.
● Chris, Mark and Vara all expressed concern with the effects a TOU structure could have on low-income
citizens. They also pressed for more specific data regarding the effects that this rate structure would have
on air quality in Fort Collins as well as data that relates energy consumption to income and demographics.
● Harry brought up the use of electric vehicles and their potential to change the mix of use in the future.
● Vara mentioned that she would still like to see more with regards to education and outreach.
It was decided to leave the AQAB’s original TOU recommendation as it stands.
AGENDA ITEM 3: Air Quality Data Update
Cassie made a presentation to update the AQAB on air quality data compiled by the city. The presentation
covered updates on a few major indicators including O3, PM2.5 and PM10, CO and visibility. She also discussed
the City’s current air quality challenges which are centered on population growth, transportation, and the oil and
gas industry. She also asked the Board for feedback regarding priority pollutants for future planning purposes.
Presentation
Ozone
● Fort Collins lies within a nonattainment area for O3. There are currently two O3 monitoring sites within
the city; both consistently measure exceedances of the 70 ppb NAAQS standards. Unless we can better
control the precursors to O3 formation, such as fossil fuel combustion, etc., we will continue to have
nonattainment issues in the future.
● Fort Collins is installing a low-cost Village Green O3 monitoring site at the Gardens on Spring Creek,
which will measure hourly O3, monitor meteorological parameters, and feature O3 sensitive plants as
indicators. It’s intended to act as an outreach effort to the community.
Particulate Matter
● PM10 originates from various sources, including dust, smoke and soot. Fort Collins measured better than
the NAAQS standards through 2016.
● PM2.5 originates from smoke, motor vehicles and industrial sources. Overall, there is a decreasing annual
trend in PM2.5 measurements.
Carbon Monoxide
● CO is emitted primarily from vehicles and has significantly improved since the implementation of federal
motor vehicle emission standards. CO levels in Fort Collins are much better than the NAAQS standards;
levels have been steadily decreasing for the past 20 years.
Visibility
● Urban visibility is based upon the Denver Visibility Standard Index and is more a measure of observer
preference rather than an actual health indicator. Fort Collins exceeds criteria approximately 20% of the
time.
● A preview of Fort Collins’ visibility website was provided, which will feature a camera image, real-time
updates, AQI indices and time-series plots.
Discussion
Mark inquired about how visibility is being measured.
● Cassie explained that camera images are used in conjunction with instruments that measure light
scattering in the atmosphere.
● Greg asked how we compare to other communities and Cassie replied that Fort Collins, Denver and
Phoenix are the only urban areas that measure visibility.
Harry inquired if the Air Quality plan will specifically address local concerns about the oil and gas industry.
● Cassie stated that it will, and the City has proposed a presentation to the Board regarding data collected
during 2014 FRAPPE study, and the implications regarding oil and gas effects in Fort Collins.
Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will email the priority pollutant list to AQAB members to remind them to consider
pollutant priorities before next month’s meeting.
Board Updates
● Vara spoke with Ross Cunniff regarding the City’s organic waste plans. It seems that there has been little
progress since the last update. She also inquired about the Triple Bottom Line and whether or not there’s
a standardized process for approving and prioritizing projects. Ross indicated that Council considers the
Triple Bottom Line, but there is no standardized means to weigh the three components in different
projects.
● The City is looking into a study on organics collection and considering processing organics at the Drake
Water Reclamation Facility; however, this has not been organized in detail yet. There still isn’t a clear
means of collecting organic waste from residents or restaurants at this point.
● Mark informed the Board that the Regional Wasteshed Planning coalition is hiring a consultant to look at
ways waste can be handled as the Front Range population continues to grow.
● Mark attended a celebration acknowledging the fact that the 222 Laporte building has been awarded
LEED v4 Platinum status. Tours for the AQAB board can be set up; this will be discussed via email.
Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will work with Travis to plan a time for an AQAB tour.
Staff Updates
● Innovate Fort Collins Challenge will host a public pitch night on August 3rd to award $250,000 to
proposed GHG reduction projects. Each board in the city can elect a member to sit on the panel for this
hearing. The panel will be able to vote on which projects are awarded funding.
Future Actions and Agenda Items
7/11/17 Work Session: Time of Use Electric Rates-Next Steps
8/22/17 Work Session: Fort Collins Organized Energy Markets & Smoking Ordinance
9/26/17 2018 Budget Revision Process
10/10/17 Work Session: Climate Economic Action Plan
11/28/17 Work Session: Community Organics Recycling Project
Greg Miller moved to adjourn.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:13 pm
Next Meeting: July 17, 2017
______________________________
Signed by Chair