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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 07/15/19967R MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 CONFERENCE ROOM - 281 N. COLLEGE AVE. JULY 15, 1996 For Reference: John Fooks, AQAB Chair - . 229-5225 Will Smith, Council Liaison - 223-0425 Brian Woodruff, Staff Liaison - 221-6604 Board Members Present Harry Edwards, Eric Levine, Susan Bilo, David Gallup, John Fooks, John Scanlon, Raymond Sons, Pete Perkins and Nancy York Board Members Absent None Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Sally Maggart, Brian Woodruff, Linda Devocelle, Susan Caplan Guests Ruth Clear, Transportation Consultant; Doug Fogg and Bill Eckert, Citizens Introduction of New Board Members Raymond Sons and David Gallup were introduced and welcomed. Approval of Minutes With the following changes, the minutes of the May 20, 1996 regular meeting were approved as written: John Scanlon noted that the "John" referred to on Page 5 is John Fooks. With the following changes, the minutes of the June 17, 1996 regular meeting were approved as written: Eric Levine said that on Page 4, Master Streets Plan, he had asked for a breakdown on the price and staff responded that they had no idea of the cost. He questioned how a recommendation could be made on the plan without knowing the cost. John Fooks noted that on Page 4, Master Streets Plan, he queried if any air impact studies had been done and the answer was that they had not. Harry Edwards asked for clarification on whether approval of the minutes also provided approval of the motion made by Lynne Baker on the City Structure Plan and the Master Street Plan. Fooks responded that it will have to be a separate agenda item. He added it under "Old Business". Eric Levine asked if the board will get to review the revisions to the Master Street Plan. Fooks said it will be put on the agenda for the August meeting. Fooks said that he is concerned about the way information is coming to the Board and the time allowed to make recommendations. He added that he will discuss this with the Chairs of the Natural Resources Board, the Planning and Zoning Board and the Transportation Board. Working with departments early on could provide a solution. He said that he would like to have the Board commit to focus workshops in addition to the regular monthly meeting. Nancy York said that she is also concerned that there is not enough discussion of issues. She suggested meeting with the Transportation Board and holding public hearings to get a fuller grasp of different viewpoints. Levine suggested that a work session is needed to catch up. Brian Woodruff said that on transportation related issues he concurred with York on the need to meet with the Transportation Board or interconnect with the work that they are doing. He said that there are not enough nights in the week to go over all the issues on transportation and air quality. A better connection on these issues is needed as they relate to VMT growth and he has not figured out how to do it. Pete Perkins suggested forming teams to focus on air issues and interface with other boards. The team can then report back to the Air Quality Board. Fooks said he will work with other boards on this issue. Review and Update Action Loe See attached. Discuss 1997 Planning Retreat This will be on September 10 from 8:00-3:30 at the Platte River Power Authority Rawhide Facility. Susan Caplan will arrange for a van. Fooks distributed an Air Quality Policy Plan Review Checklist and asked that it be returned at the August meeting. COMMITTEE REPORTS Benchmarking Committee Perkins explained that the objective is a formal benchmarking proposal to look at how other cities are doing, understand customer needs and compare metrics to other groups. The committee met last week and determined that most of the work will have to be done by staff in the Natural Resources Department (NRD). The committee will meet with Tom Shoemaker, Director of the NRD, and get a tactical plan on implementation. Woodruff will arrange the meeting. Perkins said that this study is in the very initial stage of action. Fooks asked if there is funding for this now. Woodruff said that there will be funding next year. It will become more clear after meeting with Shoemaker. He noted that a new NRD staff person is being hired. Perkins asked for input from the Board on what kind of message to get to Shoemaker as far as urgency. He added that he felt it is urgent to have better resource sharing and to stop reinventing the wheel. Woodruff noted that this is a rudimentary technique already used by staff, networking with counterparts along the Front Range and across the country. He will ask Shoemaker if time should be spent on benchmarking or on actual projects in order to better meet air quality goals. Perkins stated that ultimately benchmarking will work. He added that it takes months to establish rapport with other communities. Fooks noted that the EPA Leadership Program can bring a lot of money to the City that is best of class. Susan Bilo noted that if Fort Collins is best of class and on the leading edge, we can share that information with other communities. Fooks added that it can be an economic benefit to the City. Harry Edwards said that he is joining Woodruff in being skeptical. He would like to see a timeline as there should be some expectation in terms of delivery date. Fooks said that periodical review of the Air Quality Policy Plan and the Air Quality Action Plan is required and there are specific steps to follow. The question is how to get it done. Perkins suggested telling Shoemaker that this is high priority and have him prepare an action plan for Board approval. Woodruff asked if the Board was comfortable with the committee coming up with a plan of action in the work plan with deliverables. This was agreeable to the Board. Raymond Sons suggested that the committee could ascertain Shoemaker's feelings and get a reading on that. Fooks invited the new members to join any of the committees. Woodruff suggested that the CO Augmentation portion of the agenda be postponed. Fooks said that could be determined later. New Source Review No report. Brown Cloud No report. Old Business VMT and Land Development Guidance System Woodruff said that Eric Bracke, Transportation Engineer, had suggested looking at how VMT reduction measures are implemented through land use and the development review process. He referred to the draft of the Transportation Impact Analysis Guidelines. This is a report used to guide developers proposing something that generates a lot of traffic and impacts at intersections. The City can then analyze the impact on traffic. Woodruff distributed copies of the Level of Service (LOS) Criteria Manual. He explained it is a separate project in the Master Transportation Plan that is intended to bring up -to -speed the level of service criteria for alternative modes and ensure that other modes of travel have service criteria that will be implemented through the Land Development Guidance System and impact guidelines. He noted that the Air Quality Board is taking an early look at this. Ruth Clear, a local traffic engineering consultant, said that proposed changes will take the Traffic Impact Guidelines and use them for the developer when doing a traffic analysis for a project. Intersections will be ranked for traffic, bikeway, pedestrian and transit systems. Levine asked how LOS is measured for pedestrians. Clear said that LOS criteria is different for pedestrian and bike. It is more qualitative. She added that it will look at on -site design in transportation analysis. There are grey areas in bike and pedestrian interpretation; it is not definitive. Levine asked how a large parking lot in front of stores would rate. Clear said there is a section in the guidelines that looks at site design and whether it is bike or pedestrian friendly. Levine asked if guidelines are common. Clear said that this is the cutting edge; Boulder does not even require this. Clear explained the analysis, the impact on intersections and how they will operate. She noted that this is the first cut and staff has not commented on the guidelines. Levine said that if the impact is mitigated in a development, it would have air quality benefits to the whole City. Woodruff noted that the air quality goal has to do with reducing overall VMT growth. Clear said that there is no good answer to reducing VMT on an individual basis. She is struggling with how to do that. This will help to a certain degree and will show if there is an opportunity to walk, bike or have transit available. She noted that transit is easier to put in place; adding bike lanes is more difficult. Levine asked if there is any feedback historically where projections are matched against reality and compared. Woodruff said that is not a bad idea. Staff is beginning a process of how to implement the vision and cannot rely on guidelines alone to do the job. He noted that Council is having a work session on implementation in October. With this introduction, the Board is in a 40 good position to ask questions. Edwards suggested picking specific examples and bringing in the evaluation criteria in a systematic way. Clear said that she will be doing that. David Gallup asked if there is a plan to integrate evaluation factors to come up with a composite to look at standards for individual modes. Clear responded that two different on -site review analyses applying criteria and development are being done for bikes, pedestrian and transit. Gallup asked if this allowed for averaging. Clear responded, no: the developer has control over on -site; it is different off -site. There will be an analysis of intersections surrounding the area and identifying the area of influence. She added that nowhere in the country is there impact guidelines for bikes, pedestrian and transit. Gallup suggested that, instead of creating designs and evaluating the impact, the City should emphasize positive features, e.g., reducing VMT and encouraging pedestrian and bikes, into the early stages of design. Clear said that was a good point and added that this needs more work. Fooks said that he will get further documentation to the Board as this develops. Wood Smoke and Radon Ordinances Linda Devocelle, Environmental Education Specialist, explained that staff will be seeking guidance and direction on the ordinances at the July 23 Council Study Session. She said that she is also seeking a recommendation from the Air Quality Advisory Board on whether to proceed or not. Devocelle said that the Air Quality Advisory Board has requested ordinances that require radon testing of all new construction at Point of Sale (POS), with test results provided to the buyer, and the upgrading or dismantling of all fireplaces and wood stoves at POS. Committees were formed to look at the options, research issues and develop findings as the first part of the public process. Devocelle explained that there has been a decrease in woodbuming units and a reduction in CO emissions since 1990 due to increasing non-use and changing attitudes. She added that the ZILCH (zero interest loan) program and the Complaint Line for woodsmoke complaints during the winter season has helped. There have been 250 ZILCH loans made and 69 complaints taken. Devocelle reviewed the recent wood smoke survey. Four percent of residents say wood smoke is a problem. She noted that gas use is on the increase and 50 percent of woodburning fireplaces are not being used. She summarized that there has been a decrease in woodsmoke emissions and a turnover in woodburning units. Devocelle said that the staff recommendation to Council is to enhance the ZILCH program to prioritize turnover of wood stoves and inserts, increase the use of the complaint line and review and revise the existing ordinances. She added that the City is restricting wood -smoking restaurants. Fooks said he was concerned about the comment about restaurants. He felt the focus needs to be on consumption of wood and the use of control devices in the facilities. This could not be an issue with control devices. Devocelle said that the City does allow for wood flavor, but as sole source, it is unclear. She said the present ordinances will be studied more closely. Fooks questioned how the CO was netted out on the data projecting a 4,000 decrease in overall woodbuming units. Susan Caplan explained that the survey tried to estimate how many fireplaces, wood stoves and inserts there are in Fort Collins, and to calculate the amount of CO and PM-10 emissions. Edwards asked for a review of the Board's charge to staff regarding the matter. He said that his memory is that the Board passed a measure to direct staff to prepare an ordinance to regulate woodburning appliances. He is seeing something different that is high quality but not responsive to the Board's decision. He asked for clarification on what the Board voted on. Woodruff said that the recommendation to Council was to adopt an ordinance as stated. Staff has complied with the Board request. At issue is that the staff s recommendation is not consistent with the Board's recommendation. Bill Eckert, former Air Quality Advisory Board member, said that he requested a POS ordinance five years ago. He does not feel it is necessary now since attitudes are changing rapidly. He added that real estate agents have called him saying that they do not want another layer of bureaucracy and paper. Fooks said that reports have been focusing on wood smoke and radon ordinances and on public review and continent. The Staff recommendation is to now go to Council. He noted that the Board expected process on this earlier in the year. Edwards said that when staff disagrees with the Board's recommendation, they should be direct about it. Susan Bilo noted that there were several meetings where staff expressed concern about such an ordinance. Edwards asked about what action should be taken. Fooks said that a motion could be made if the Board feels that this is the way to go, or board members could lobby Council and iterate their position. Doug Fogg, Citizen, said that he is president of his homeowner's association. The homes in his area have no natural gas. He said that staff investigated the facts and came up with a recommendation that is totally acceptable. If somebody is in violation, something should be done about it and not penalize everybody. He added that the ordinance is reasonable and is in line with doing that. Harry Edwards moved to endorse the four recommendations offered by staff on wood smoke. John Scanlon seconded the motion. York said that she did not know that there was a complaint line. Woodruff noted that this will be publicized more to actively encourage people to call the City. Devocelle said staff wants to enhance existing programs. Perkins suggested tracking the success of existing metrics and if there is no continued decrease, to readdress the issue. Devocelle noted that a recommendation of the continual reevaluation of the program is located on Page 4 of the Summary. Woodruff noted that reevaluation will be done every two years as part of the Air Quality Policy Plan. Levine said that he will abstain on the vote. He would like to see a breakdown of recommended strategy as opposed to the actual ordinance. He asked who the committee members were. Devocelle responded that the committee included Bill Eckert (Air Quality Advisory Board), Linda Devocelle (NRD), Mike Gebo (Building & Zoning Dept.) and Margaret Phillips, a private citizen. Levine said that he felt that the committee was not inclusive enough to study the issue and to provide good public process. York called for the question. The motion passed by a vote of 8-0, with one abstention (Levine). Devocelle noted that the public outreach to date has included the Building Review Board, the Affordable Housing Board, and several service groups. It is scheduled to go the Natural Resources Advisory Board, the Board of Realtors and other service groups. Woodruff noted that time was exhausted on this item and the radon ordinance remains to be discussed. He asked if the Board would consider extending the length of the meeting. Fooks said he could not stay but suggested scheduling a work session and reconvening later to discuss the remaining agenda items. Devocelle expressed concern that this issue has been tabled twice and it is important for the Board to weigh in on the recommendation before it goes to the study session next week. Woodruff suggested that the meeting continue with the Vice Chair in charge. It was determined that a quorum would be able to stay. Levine said that he was not comfortable that two long term members were leaving the meeting and the two new members were going to be responsible for the vote. It was decided to schedule a special meeting for Monday, July 22 at 4:00 p.m. Staff will arrange for a meeting room. CO Augmentation Fooks suggested that board members read the minutes, and that questions on CO could then be answered by Woodruff. The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m.