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MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD
Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Location: Colorado River Room, 222 Laporte Ave.
Time: 6:00 pm
For Reference
Bob Overbeck, Council Liaison 970-988-9337
Katy Bigner, Staff Liaison 970-221-6317
Board Members Present Board Members Absent
Nancy DuTeau, chair John Bartholow
Bob Mann Katherine de Leon
Elizabeth Hudetz
Luke Caldwell
Drew Derderian
Ling Wang
Jay Adams
Staff Present
Katy Bigner, Staff Liaison, Environmental Services
Tina Hopkins-Dukes, Minute Taker, Social Sustainability
Rhonda Gatzke, Sr. Energy Services Engineer
John Phelan, Resource Conservation Manager
Jennifer Shanahan, Natural Resources Watershed Specialist
Molly Saylor, Environmental Planner
Guests:
David Tweedale, Land Conservation and Stewardship Board
Prad, CSU Student and ASCSU Member
Call meeting to order: 6:00 pm
Public Comments: David Tweedale mentioned that the proposed sale of land to Hageman is on the
agenda for the August 15, 2017 regular Council meeting. The question was raised regarding how new
Council are informed of ongoing Board issues and recommendations.
Approval of the Minutes: Nancy asked to correct the May minutes. Elizabeth motioned and Jay
seconded the motion to approve the May minutes as amended. Motion passed unanimously.
Corrections: Page 5 - August 25 should be July 25
AGENDA ITEM 1—Fort Collins Solar Program
Rhonda Gatzke and John Phelan provided an overview of the Fort Collins Utilities Solar Program
for businesses and residents of Fort Collins.
The City has two specific Energy policy objectives. The first or primary objective is to have 20%
renewable electricity by 2020 and the second or sub-target is 2% locally installed on the distribution
system, ~20MW PV. In order to reach their goals in 2017-2018 funding was approved for an
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additional 2 MW for Residential rebates, an additional 2MW for Commercial rebates, ~2MW for the
Solar Power Purchase Program (SP3), and 1MW for Community Solar.
Solar resources have increased in the past couple of years and currently the City has a capacity of
about 24MW. Fort Collins residential rooftop solar program is at 4MW capacity, SP3 adds close to
another 4MW, the Community Solar Garden adds another ½ MW and the multi-agency agreement
Rawhide Flats added another 15MW.
Solar Rebates are very popular right now with over 200 yearly applicants for the residential rebate.
However, the commercial rebate program has only one applicant currently which accounts for 10%
of the rebate funding. Residential rebate funding has increased to 40% committed to date.
The Solar Power Purchase Program (SP3) is not owned by the City Utility. It is a 20 year power
purchase agreement, which currently has 14 commercial sites with a 3.7 MW of capacity. The
guidelines were released this week and applications are being accepted until early September.
The Riverside Solar Project is managed by Clean Energy Collective and has 200 customers. It uses a
capacity model which means the customer paid up front for the panels and owns them as if they were
on their rooftop and the customer receives the tax rebates. However, the panels are actually in the
brown field on Riverside Ave. and although very successful, it is a complicated model and not one
that is used often.
The Shared Community Solar program is in development and is a joint effort between Platte River
Power Authority and three cities. It consists of Loveland, Longmont, Estes Park, and Fort Collins and
would be owned by Platte River. Each city would get their equity share of the purchase agreement
and customers would subscribe to the program rather than owning. The City is buying 5MW from the
Rocky Mountain Institute SHINE Program to help lower the cost of solar energy. The results of
customers surveyed said they want more rather than less solar and they do not want to see the panels.
The Solar Affordability Program is unique in that it is owned by the Utility and the panels are placed
on City owned buildings. The energy generated is used as an efficiency program and offered to
customers that receive utility assistance funds. The first 24 offer letters were just sent out and include
single family, multi family, homeowners, renters, and mobile home owners. This is a case study and
learning experience. The participants will receive about $300 in solar credits and will reduce the need
for bill pay assistance and will be a part of the program for one year.
What is the value of solar? In 2016 total solar value was $36.60/MWh or 3.6 cents KWh. Solar Topic
Areas that the Energy Board is looking at right now is fixed cost recovery or time of use rate
structure and Solar REC’s (Renewal Energy Credit). Solar capacity planning is an ongoing topic.
Discussion/Q&A:
• How does solar compare to wind?
o Green energy- wind power program - is being redesigned now that solar is cheaper and so
that they can relate to each other.
• With enough solar power would customers not have to pay utilities?
o There is a 120% rule which determines the capacity of energy you could produce. Most
customers pay water and waste water fees so it could offset other parts of your bill
o The excess energy is pushed out to your neighbors or can be sold to others
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AGENDA ITEM 2—State of the Poudre Report
Jennifer Shanahan provided an overview and results of the recently released State of the Poudre
Report.
This study was broken down into four zones and eighteen regions which spans from Gateway Natural
Areas to I-25. The purpose of this study was to provide communication, in terms of watershed,
between the departments and individuals who work on projects along the river. This study looked at
flow regime, sediment, water quality, floodplain connectivity, riparian condition, river form,
resilience, physical structure, and aquatic life.
The study used A-F to score the health of the river. The good news is that water quality, insects,
sediment, fine scale structure, and trout all scored well, between A- and B+. Areas to sustain or
improve are peak flow which scored in the C range meaning management likely required; base flow
which scored very poor in areas; fluctuation of flow or rate of change is not natural; connectivity-
diversions on the river - causing some areas to be very narrow; and small bodied native fish which
are declining in numbers. Riparian zone grades look poor but where connected it scored in the B-
range.
Thought process, or report structure, asks what the stressors on the system are and how these
stressors are manifesting – looking at results by topic and results by zone. Then asking what are the
gaps between where we are and where we want to be and what are the potential opportunities for
improvement.
The State of the Poudre is an assessment framework to track trends long term. It is not perfect, a
predictive model or a management plan but it provides the building blocks.
AGENDA ITEM 3— Carbon Sequestration Study
Molly Saylor provided an overview of the Carbon Sequestration Study that was funded as part of the
Climate Action Plan efforts.
Carbon Sequestration refers to soil and vegetation taking in CO2 from the air, and keeping the carbon
in organic material, thus absorbing the carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration is also
known as land carbon management. The land carbon management study was conducted in
partnership with Cascadia Consulting to help Fort Collins understand and manage its carbon
sequestration potential.
The goal outcome of this study is an understanding of Fort Collins’ carbon sequestration landscape,
and a clear and strategic roadmap for taking action. The research included 18 interviews with internal
and external City staff, reviewing City materials, data and previous studies, and use of City-
developed organic waste management lifecycle assessment (LCA). This provided comparative
metrics and recommendations which were presented to over 30 internal and external stakeholders.
The agenda items for the stakeholder charrette included vetting and prioritizing recommendations,
SWOT analysis, and challenges, solutions and next steps. Highlights from the SWOT analysis
showed Strength - CSU partnership, Weakness - limited influence on private land, Opportunity –
regional wasteshed planning, and Threat – drought.
Final recommendations are to improve soil amendments, convert Ash trees to other species, restore
riparian forest habitat, and increase tree planting on private land, focusing on drought-tolerant
species. Next step and deliverables are final executive review, deliver the technical appendix and
inventory and then start meeting with the CAP team to discuss potential implementation and the
method development for inclusion in carbon inventory.
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Discussion/Q&A:
• Does the report go further in depth to offer ways to improve soil or what types of trees to plant?
o Yes. The report is higher level and does give specific recommendations and has a
technical appendix.
• Is the goal to engage the general public?
o The idea here is really for us to help met our CAP goals.
AGENDA ITEM 4−Announcements/Open Discussion
• Bicycle Advisory Committee is working on developing a white paper informational packet
regarding electric pedal assist bikes. The City does not allow these types of bikes on trails unless
you are disabled. Next Monday at the BAC meeting they will have an e-bike demonstration.
• Bob and Nancy have joined the North Front Range Wasteshed Phase 2 Coalition Stakeholder
Group.
• There was a discussion regarding making sure Council is aware of this Boards stance regarding
the sale of land to Hageman
REVIEW OF CITY COUNCIL 6 MONTH PLANNING CALENDAR
• July 18 –Michigan Ditch Video – is this available online?
• July 25 – Work session – update on NISP discussion and presentation on mitigation
• August 15 – Raw water discussion, approval of staff comments on NISP, and the authorization of
the sale of the Running Deer property
• August 22 – Work session – presenting Organized Energy Markets
• October 10 – Review Climate Economic Action Plan
• November – 28 – Work session – Community Organics Recycling Project
Meeting Adjourned: 8:27 pm
Next Meeting: July 19, 2017