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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources Advisory Board - Minutes - 05/15/201905/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 1 NATURAL RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING MAY 15, 2019 – 6:00 PM 222 LAPORTE AVENUE, FORT COLLINS – COLORADO ROOM 1. CALL TO ORDER At 6:06 PM the meeting was called to order by Nancy DuTeau. ROLL CALL: • Board Members Present: • Nancy DuTeau – Chair • Danielle Buttke – Vice-Chair • Drew Derderian • Kevin Krause • Board Members Absent: • Bob Mann • Elizabeth Hudetz • Jay Adams • Barry Noon • Staff Members: • Lindsay Ex, Climate Program Manager • Heidi Wagner, Senior Environmental Planner • Mariel Miller, Water Conservation Specialist 2. AGENDA REVIEW No changes. 3. COMMUNITY MEMBER PARTICIPATION No community members present. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Corrections - None b. No quorum…check with Christine on language 5. NEW BUSINESS Foothills Natural Areas Management Plan Update • Heidi Wagner, from Natural Areas. Heidi is sponsor, not program manager. • The Natural Areas Dept mission is to conserve and enhance lands with natural resource, agricultural and scenic values, while providing meaningful education and appropriate recreation opportunities. • Natural area mission is clear, conservation first and recreation as appropriate. • Foothills • A unique habitat zone where the mountains meet the plains. 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 2 • 34 plant species of interest • Last patch of ecology where the mountains meet the plains • 37 wildlife species of interest and counting • Large areas of restored grasslands that now support declining species • People • 18 miles of trail, scenery • Contribution to community health, biking, hiking • Timeline o Fall 2018 Kick off o Winter 2018 Discovery o Spring 2019 o Public Outreach o Feb- April stakeholder community meetings o NOW writing, administrative adoption of plan does not release a draft because public comment is in the outreach stages, not the plan writing. ▪ Staff follow up note – Natural Areas will now release a draft plan for public comment, expect to see something late summer. o Fall 2019 – Administrative adoption o NANCY: would like NRAB to be involved earlier, next time • Since 2017 Foothills Plan • 1229 Acres of Restoration • 98 acres of prescribed burning • 1100 acres were treated for cheat grass • 176 educational programs. Activities for 6251 people since 2013 • 1254 Volunteer Ranger Assistant visitor contacts in 2018 • 2 parking lots added- total of 61 new space • ¼ of areas have been fully restored by the city ----- • 4017 acres of additional land conserved • 93% of trails are in good conditions a. Challenges • Growing population in FC • How will we manage the increase in recreation • Maxwell Natural Area • Most well-loved, smallest • Will adjoin subdivision, working with the developer • Marketing is around foothills access • Finding ways to make trail connections, considering conservation and lad ownership • Invasive plants especially cheat grass, • Protecting rare plant and wildlife habitat and avoiding fragmentation • Ensuring a conservation and stewardship ethic in the community • 50% said conservation first and 50% said recreation; • Seems that recreation is becoming a priority with new folks in town b. Visitor Use Background • 3-fold increase in visitation at the Foothills natural areas in the last 10 years c. Visitor Intercept Surveys in 2017 and 2018 • Goals: want people to feel safe, welcome and have the experience they set out to achieve that day • People are happy with facilities and with experience • In general visitors to the Foothills Natural Areas are not feeling crowded d. Management Goals for Foothills 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 3 • Promote Ecological Integrity • Responsible Public Access o Just hired an additional ranger • Connect People to Nature e. Foothills plan visitor Use Decisions • Maxwell Trail to the top o New trails, separate uses, leave it with maintenance? o Challenge is to keep it in good shape and fun for everyone • Short Loop Trail o Outreach to non-visitors, maybe a short, accessible trail that is not focused on hiking or biking, but also not a park o Accessible to families, ADA, natural area • Sledding at Pineridge • Use to be used a lot, but not always safe for community, city is considering discontinuing this sledding hill f. Future Trail Considerations • Cathy Fromme to Coyote Ridge Connection, could not do it in this plan – holding on mental health facility and landfill capping plans. g. DANIELLE – Study on Recreation impact on wildlife, is there anyone looking at if it’s better to set aside protected areas, concerning sensitive species? • The human scent clears wildlife ½-1 mile around trail • The numbers were about 296 acres disturbed for every mile of trail • Fragmentation goes back to continuing to the conservation ethics, many community people do not understand fragmentation. h. NANCY – City plan is not increasing growth management area, so will we be limited in acquiring land? • No, natural areas is not affected, will continue to seek out properties that align with their conservation criteria • Land purchases within the GMA is a challenge as cost is upwards of $65,000/acre- however conservation easements can be sold to the city at a much lower rate i. FEEDBACK FROM OUTREACH • An Advocacy group was vocal, wanting more trails • Some comments about appreciating conservation of land • KEVIN – how does this influence this process? • As a conceptual example, in natural areas analysis if 85% of FC supports natural areas however only 10% use the trails, that does not equal building more trails all of the time, because the ecologically carries more weight because of the conservation mission • KEVIN – Maxwell will be closed to bikes during certain days/times? • No, however alternating days between people on foot and bike traffic, the strategy comes from Jeffco and Boulder, gives awareness to the community about the potential of alternative access on weekends that manages visitors. • An alternative is adding infrastructure (paving) • Alternative is a permit system • Alternative will be a separated use trail, one for people of foot, another for bikes; this could be best plan and addresses some perception of crowding on bikes • KEVIN – Aggressive Public Outreach Process? There was feedback, but was it listened to? • Natural Areas are trying to decide how to weigh the feedback • KEVIN – How could the public have done better in expressing what they wanted to ensure that natural areas will use their input? 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 4 • The bulk of feedback came from one user group, which was in the minority of uses. Natural Areas has to include other people because it’s just that one user group that was most vocal. Does the lack of voice of others mean they are totally happy, or are they not being heard? That is what Natural Areas is trying to balance and understand. • This is an issue in most public processes, we have never had a plan like this, this is new territory with this plan and trying to include everyone • KEVIN – public health, well-being perspective, how much do we weight this in decisions • DANIELLE – when there is a conflict between recreation and conservation, conservation must take priority, there is not a lot of research on how much is enough to give people healthy nature experiences • KEVIN – would like to be more engaged in this process moving forward • HEIDI – Our responsibility is to continue educating ourselves and the community, communicating that what we do/see as humans is affecting the quality of the natural experience; important for us to remember that humans are on a different timeline than nature and we are limiting growth access to nature by needing more access ourselves. • DREW – will there be changes to cheat grass management? • Natural Area will continue to treat it in as many ways as they can • DANIELLE – saw some burning efforts, are you using grazing? • Yes using both, even with a smaller staff based on size of other cities Water Supply Shortage Response Plan • Dusting Off the Water Shortage Response Plan • We have not had a declared water shortage for over 5 years • There have been changes in water use, ways of thinking about water, and what resources we have • Looking for potential updates, and remind people that this can be an issue o Share and Remind o Identify Beneficial changes and new opportunities o Prepare • This is only FC Utilities Water District, other areas may implement water restrictions at the same level, as they have before • DANIELLE – New Hughes stadium development, is that part of FC Water District? Follow-up: Yes, this will be a part of FC Water District. • Update Process • Water Supply, demand and shortage • Current Shortage response • Ideas to-date • Feedback • Timeline City Staff/Boards – Stakeholder Engagement – Public Input – Amendments to Council Q1 2019 Q2 – 2019 Q3-4 2019 Q1 -2020 • Needed to identify specific stakeholder groups based on changes that may be coming • City teams, many engaged o Remaining include Utilities groups, planning, sustainability • City Boards • Stakeholder engagement – many remaining • KEVIN – do you look at stakeholder engagement in regards to pure usage, are there other ways to include commercial classes and residential high use groups 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 5 • NANCY – the city needs to talk about the water allotments and not base them on green grass • Public Engagement – many remaining • Which water use activities are NOT limited during a water shortage? (at any level of restrictions) • NOT LIMITED: Use of raw/well water, raw water, typically comes from same source as FC utilities water, so there will be a limit to the amount of water distributed to users • Water Supply – two sources • Poudre River and Horsetooth Reservoir, both are dependent on water quality and water quantity, snow pack, storage levels, and Colorado Big Thompson quote we get 2x. year • Water Shortage, lack of resources to meet demand • Causes: drought, water quality, infrastructure Issues, regional impacts (if other areas are short on water, we could potentially see our quotas reduced in order to share the water) • Snow pack + Storages levels + CBT quote less than Projected Demands • 2013, Shortage scenario both quality and quantity, • difficulty treating prouder river water • Horsetooth quota was not enough • Response: • Level 1 restrictions declared, April 1- June 1 • In 2002 we were in restrictions June-Sept and reached level 2 • When we have a water shortage • Water supply shortage response plan (restrictions) • Water shortage management action plan (communications, procedures) • Restrictions are laid out in a grid, from 2013 • Lawn Watering Restrictions SEE PICTURE • Exceptions by permit, SEE SLIDE • Watering for non-lawn landscaping SEE SLIDE • Works with parks to assure that trees are taken care of • Landscape watering may match the turf/grass requirements will be a change that can be made • Other outdoor water use – non-landscaping SEE SLIDE • Fines and Rates SEE SLIDE • 2012, 300 potential violations were investigated, 50 warnings went out, no fines were assessed • Plan update ideas • Water budgets, instead of prescribed restrictions • Year-round watering schedule (other cities already use this), different from a shortage plan because it’s a year-round conservation effort, builds resiliency against going in to shortages as often and as dramatically, allows for more to be collected in storage for when restrictions hit they are not as bad • Minimize restrictions to splash parks o more information is needed about how much water is actually used o manage public perception through education. They don’t use much water and it is recycled • Voluntary response level • Restrictions for landscape watering • Coordinate with contractual water users and other water districts to align shortage response • Potential changes to existing and new contracts could include having to follow the same restrictions when resources are minimal 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 6 • NANCY – question water shortage, does that mean that we can’t get enough water in to treat? • DANIELLE – some research from California drought, says that people are much more willing to practice in conservation when it’s a drought, using budgeting and year-round schedules can be used to educate people and make behavior changes in community members about water conservation. • DANIELLE - How far can you forecast, and how accurate are your forecasts? • Water resources does supply management and forecasting, the way they have planned in the past has been based on the average 50-year drought. They are trying to get away from that because historical numbers aren’t as accurate. Looking at vulnerability study to look at what natural events will come due to climate change, and plan supplies for many scenarios, will require a lot more conservation efficiency work • KEVIN – agrees with idea of awareness, likes idea of volunteer response, give a channel to good behavior changes in everyday life. • Are there other tie-in’s, to xeriscape, to get people to recognize the data that applies to them and their water use? • Home water reports will be updated to include outdoor water use during irrigation months that will point out direct use of irrigation water • KEVIN – could it be tied to “if you use xeriscape, you would save $X this year” • DANIELLE - Question about developing water budgets, • We would only use water budgets during an actual shortage • KEVIN – How would exceptions by permit be managed? • Question is how much can we use the hourly meter data for enforcement • KEVIN – is there technology that can be used to help restrict • Smart irrigation controllers are being developed in NV and CA, the pilot can view usage but not control it • Gray water – city attorney office found some water rights issues more difficult, still waiting to hear back • When NRAB sent memo to council, there was a comment made about NRAB’s suggestion, and it did make an impact on the city attorney looking into it deeper. • If there is an opportunity, they will come back for more input on the future draft • This board would like to be involved in this plan moving forward • NANCY – reusable water (like in Denver) is just not that much in FC, if they become decommissioned, that could matter more in FC Climate Action Plan, Energy Policy, and Road to Zero Waste Planning Processes • Overview of the planning processes • Historical approaches • Questions the plans need to answer • Approximate timeline • World Café Exercise • Discussion & Next Steps • Natural gas continues to go up in usage, vehicle usage has changed since the state data in 2012. • What was funded/is happening? • Offer 43/12 – 2030 Climate Action and Energy Policy Update • Offer 43.10 Road to Zero Waste Plan Update • Platte River integrated Resource Plan Update 1 Shows an 80% reduction by 2030 • What have these plans addressed historically • CAP Framework 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 7 • Scope can we get to updated climate action goals? If so, what are the potential strategies? 2020, 2030, 2050 • Energy Policy • Goals for energy efficiency, supply, buildings and CAP alignment to 2020 • Road to Zero Waste Plan • What is needed to answer to reach the 2030 goals? o All the strategies on how to be out there, now the conversation is HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGIES? o HOW DO WE CHANGE THE SYSTEMS so that when you need to replace a furnace, a more efficient model is the first choice? • What are the most cost-effective, pragmatic and equitable initiatives in this timeframe? • What is the right sequencing of imitative to achieve the 2030 goals? • What infrastructure and/or capital needs are necessary to reach the goal? • How will emissions reductions in the natural gas sector be achieved? • How should the city build in adaptation and resilience initiatives? • How will the community need to be engaged over the ten-year period? • What are the key areas of tension or tradeoffs that need to be considered? • Approximate timeline for launch • Council work session is July 23, 2019 • Peer Cities Research, • Community Engagement to inform scope • Internal scope development • Final Scope, RFP, and award • If the planning processes were successful… • How would residents be engaged? o She the impact more often, bridging the gap between upgrades that are more eco-friendly, how much it actually saves (money, trees, etc) o Reaching people who are already engaged and together, churches/neighborhoods/multifamily dwellings o Neighborhood competitions (who can recycle the most?) o Community bbq or block party provided in exchange for 20 minute discussion about an issue o Awareness- online competition, how much do you know? (Nextdoor app) o Little libraries popped up everywhere, whatever made those catch on, do that o Neighborhood innovation challenge o Get people involved at work and at church, so they can transfer the same things in their homes too • How would businesses be engaged? o Do incentives put the cart before the horse? Can we share incentives/kickbacks with businesses to shift product inventory that are reusable or electric-ready, would that engage key informants in important efficiency decisions. Works for water/plumbing/sprinklers, energy, all sectors. o We need to visit more with contractor communities o Landlord education when they are upgrading homes, even if it’s single properties o Landlords/property owners/investor owned are a large stakeholder group that gets left out o Start-up week innovation challenge • How would initiatives to achieve the 2030 goals be selected? o Follow the triple bottom line principals, make sure you have a balanced portfolio o Visible, Immediate, Personal (how it affects me) o How does visible, immediate, and personal get us to 2030 goals? 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 8 o Shift the identities of people who are not engaged to them associating with a movement/process, branding gets you closer to transformational issues o Putting higher cost, bigger impact issues in the beginning because there may not always be a budget for these plans o How can utilities rebates/incentives evolve? • Implementation Next Steps o Scope of work developed o Annual inventory o Council work session o RFP release o Ongoing • Campaigns (Shift campaign) • Time of Day (Summer) • Many other programs and initiatives 6. OTHER BUSINESS a. Debrief the Triple Bottom Line Board Pilot 1 Nancy, Elizabeth and Drew were present, survey was emailed to attendees after meeting 2 Was a working meeting, explained current process, gave a topic and forms and then gathered each tables forms. None were identical, but followed a trend. 3 Feedback was that this does work and it might be something they could give boards to see how it maps out on a given topic. 4 Some of outcomes showed that more education/clarity was needed about tradeoffs and environmental impacts. 5 Never did a memo to council, regarding city plan. Didn’t give NRAB a chance to put that together because the TBL meeting was a working meeting. Fast paced timing from council impacted the memo not getting to council either. b. Board Member Reports 1 KEVIN – Green building film, focused on the fact the common perception is that the greenest building across the country where they are brought back to life to be recertified as a green building. Forever building, craftsmanship, how do you shift a workforces to implement true standards that help with impact? This isn’t about tearing down a building and starting over. Restoration is key, if someone with the knowledge to do so is not local, it simply will not happen, so how do you grow that knowledge base. Mostly the energy board members that were there. How can we do energy incentives and knowledge for people to make good decisions about their home? How do we inform contractors to promote the right things? Upgrading the infrastructure in ways that are long-term efficient. 2 DANIELLE – West Nile, last committee meeting, set schedule for next year. Would like to be more effective moving forward. BFO was approved, to look at where mosquitos are present, why are they there. 3 DANIELLE – American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship – needs ideas/people who are scientists active in their local communities 4 NANCY – Women’s Commission Breakfast, they asked if the boards would encourage city council to adopt the UN Treaty on “Ending All Discrimination against Women”. Will be discussed at next meeting. Women’s Commission is wanting more collaboration with other boards/commissions. Many boards will connect with NRAB, or send a representative. NANCY – Regional Wasteshed, Nancy spoke at Council on Regional Wasteshed IGA and Ordinance for Construction and Demolition Waste, and both passed unanimously 05/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 9 c. Six Month Calendar Review 1 Harmony Gateway Plan will be here in June, hearing is in July 2 Climate Economy Action Plan Update will be here in July 3 Broadband 4 Downtown Storm water Project 5 Sept will be 2020 budget revisions 6 City Park Improvements in November 7 Work Session Topics a Affordable Housing b Mobility c Equity and Inclusion d Parks and Rec Master plan e Reimaging Boards and Commissions d. Additional Announcements e. Next meeting: June 19, 2019 ADJOURNMENT 8:59 p.m.