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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 05/20/1996MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 CONFERENCE ROOM - 281 N. COLLEGE AVE. MAY 20,1996 For Reference: John Fooks, AQAB Chair - 229-5225 Will Smith, Council Liaison - 223-0425 Brian Woodruf% Staff Liaison - 221-6604 Board Members Present John Fooks, Pete Perkins, Eric Levine, Susan Bilo, Bill Eckert, Lynne Baker, Nancy York and John Scanlon Board Members Absent Harry Edwards Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Susan Caplan, Sally Maggart, Brian Woodruff, Linda Devocelle Advance Planning Department: Clark Mapes Transportation Services: Gary Diede, Marc Engemoen, and Tom Frazier Guests None The meeting was called to order at 4:32 p.m. Approval of Minutes With the following changes, the minutes of the April 15, 1996 meeting were approved as written. John Fooks said that on Page 3, sixth paragraph, he meant to say that the CCP goals were exorbitant and there would have to be a very large reduction in energy consumption to cut generation at Rawhide. On the same page, in the motion in the seventh paragraph, Fooks amended the last sentence to read "fuel switching measure for power plants". Review Action Log The Board reviewed and revised the items (revision attached). 1. Brian Woodruff reported that there was a 1990 study done on City vehicle idling. It was found that vehicles need to idle when maintaining electronic equipment and power -absorbing equipment. Also, some employees use the vehicles for offices and leave them running for air or heat. He checked with the Equipment Review Board to determine if a policy was needed and they declined. 2. Work Plan agenda was distributed. John said it will be updated on an ongoing basis as projects or issues change. 3. VMT/LDGS will be on June's agenda. Air Quality Advisory Board May 20, 1996 Page 2 Old Business 1. Benchmarking Study Pete reported that the Benchmarking Committee (Brian, Susan and Pete) identified the Fort Collins community (general public) as its primary customer. He distributed a time line for the Benchmarking Study and noted that the committee is on schedule. Pete said the goal of the study is to improve air quality in the city. He said customer's needs and expectations need to be known to measure goals. Brian noted that finding towns our size with the same pollution problems may be difficult. Pete said he will do some research to determine if any other community has conducted a benchmarking study similar to the one proposed for Fort Collins. John F. asked if customers drive the process. Pete said they designate what they believe success is and what the needs and expectations are. John F. asked why the Air Quality Policy Plan is not the customer. Pete said the plan represents input from the customer, i.e., a lot of public input went into development of the AQ Plan. Eric suggested researching cities that are 10-15 years further down the road than Fort Collins. Pete said he will return with the key metrics. Lynne said we could be the top in class. Nancy suggested looking at air quality education and finding a city with a good program. It was agreed the committee should proceed with the Benchmarking Study. 2. Wood Smoke and Radon Ordinances Update Linda Devocelle, Environmental Education Specialist, reported that Phase One, the formation of committees to look at the two ordinances, is completed. Linda reported that the wood smoke committee (which is very small) determined that wood smoke pollution impacts the air quality of those living close to the problem. She reviewed the seven options for the wood smoke ordinance and noted that good woodburning data should be available by the middle of June. The committee has also recommended expansion of the ZILCH program and the complaint line. Linda noted concern that there might be some legal issues related to the wood smoke point of sale ordinance. The city attorney's office is researching the issue. Linda asked if the committee should pursue public outreach. Nancy said that it is necessary to get information. Lynne said she is disappointed that the committee is small. She added that property management firms might not be getting the minutes to the homeowner's associations. Linda said Lynne's point is well taken and she will get to the individual homeowners during the public outreach phase, which begins in mid -June. Regarding requiring testing in all new constructions at point of sale, Linda summarized the committee view, which supports testing and/or the possibility of requiring the installation of passive radon Air Quality Advisory Board May 20, 1996 Page 3 systems in new constructions. The Board supports proceeding with development of the ordinances. Critical dates: City Council Study Session on July 23 and City Council vote on August 20. Brian said the City Structure Plan, the Master Streets Plan and the Timberline Extension all relate to the Congestion Management Plan and VMT growth. Streets Master Plan Brian reported that Council will vote July 2 on the Structure Plan and the Streets Master Plan. Tom Frazier, Group Leader for the Multi Modal Transportation Group, said that the Transportation Plan coordinates all the plans and sets up the level of service, street design standards, and development guidelines. He outlined the areas of transit concern and reported that data from the land use system is being coordinated by Eric Bracke, Transportation Planner, to determine the size and type of roadways that best fit the community. Tom added that the City is coordinating with the County to make sure that the roadways will take care of future needs. Pete Perkins asked when Overland Trail will be completed. Tom responded that it depends on the park development and the natural habitat areas. Gary Diede, Group Leader for Transportation Operations and Project Group, noted that taking Overland Trail to Horsetooth instead of Highway 38E is a valid issue. Nancy noted that most employment centers are on the east side, yet the roads are going north and south. She wondered where the people are going. Tom said that only 17 percent of the trips have to do with commuting; the majority of trips are not from home to work. Air Quality Advisory Board May 20, 1996 Page 4 Nancy asked if we would still need six lane highways with an improved transit system. Tom responded that six lanes would still be needed; the transit system, which is at less than one percent ridership now would only capture seven or eight percent of the traffic when fiiUy implemented. Timberline Extension Marc Engemoen, Engineering Manager, explained the three alternatives for the Timberline extension. Alternative A is a "no build" scenario; Alternative B goes straight north from Prospect and ends at Mulberry; and Alternative C crosses Mulberry and ties into Summit Drive north of International Boulevard. Alternative C is closest to the original design studied in the early 1980's and considered with Choices 95. The one exception is that it no longer intersects Riverbend Ponds because of a remodeled hydraulic study of the river, which places the intersect beyond the Riverbend Ponds area. Marc said staff recommends Alternative C. Marc explained that, with the building of Timberline, the levels of service improve on Mulberry and Prospect. He distributed information on the changes in vehicle miles traveled and vehicle hours traveled. Without a north -south link, traffic would have to drive east -west, increasing travel time and miles traveled. Pete asked if the extension will make it easier for truck drivers to avoid the weigh station. Marc responded that it won't make much difference. Marc said there is less than a .3 percent change in generated trips with the proposed Timberline extension; the number of trips are basically the same, but the distribution changes. Nancy said she added the numbers from the north streets and compared them with the west streets. She said the figures show significantly more trips with the Timberline extension. Marc explained that the numbers are from 1995 and not all links are reported on the drawing. Marc said that since this goes to Council on June 11, he is seeking a recommendation from the board. Bill Eckert made the motion to adopt Option C Lynne Baker seconded the motion. Nancy said that she feels that the Transportation Department is not encouraging people to use their own power, the only way to get across traffic lanes is in a car. She added that the Timberline extension is not even approaching the city's air quality goals and she hopes the board turn down the proposal. She went to the Timberline public meetings and brought up the issue of alternative transportation. At the unveiling of the plan, consultants failed to address that. She said the city continues to build for automobiles. Eric said there has been a valiant effort to get through the meeting today, but there should not be a vote now because there has not been adequate time for discussion. John S. said that he thought good information has been provided prior to the meeting in the Board packet and that a vote could be Air Quality Advisory Board May 20, 1996 Page 5 taken. John said that if board members want more time for discussion of particular items, they can call, or should have called him prior to the meeting. Pete Perkins made the motion to extend the meeting 25 minutes for further discussion. Eric Levine seconded the motion The motion did not pass by a vote of 5-3. Bill called for the question on his original motion The motion failed to pass with a vote of 4-4. Nancy York made the motion not to support the extension and to pursue transit and self- propelled transportation as a priority before considering more capacities The motion died for lack of a second. No action was taken on the Timberline extension. The meeting adjourned at 7:05 p.m.