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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 08/24/19990 • �11�-0%-�Z- CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING 281 N. COLLEGE AVE. August 24, 1999 For Reference: Eric Levine, Chair 229-5225 Scott Mason, Council Liaison 226-4824 Brian Woodruff, Staff Liaison - 221-6604 Board Members Present Eric Levine, Mandar Sunthankar, Raymond Sons, Nancy York, John Schroeer, Jim Dennison Board Members Absent Harry Edwards, Dave Gallup, Chris Kavanaugh Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Brian Woodruff, Terry Klahn, and Lucinda Smith Advance Planning Department: Clark Mapes Guests None The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m. Minutes With the following change the minutes from the July 27, 1999 minutes were approved: Levine: Page 3, 3rd paragraph, number 1, change "form" to "from" Review and Update Action List 1. Done. 2. Pending — Should be available for the September or October meeting. 3. Pending - To be sent late August or early September. 4. Done. 5. Pending - Available in September. 6. Done. 7. Pending — Will be forwarded when/if any information becomes available. 8. Done. Review Council six-month planning calendar • October 26 — Mason Street Transportation Corridor Design • November 16 — Cities for Climate Protection to be adopted • November 23 — Boards and Commissions Discussion • November 23 — Campus West Subarea Plan • January 11 - Mason Street Corridor Conceptual Design Air Quality Advisory Boma August 24, 1999 Page 2 of 5 Agenda Planning • October - Greenhouse Gases Local Action Plan • November - Air quality criteria for development review • Eric Levine requested a presentation or explanation relating to the graph and statistics on the second page of packet item 4 — City of Fort Collins Population. • John Schroeer said that Dr. Jerry Gallagher will present an update on the Clean Screen Program at tomorrow's I/M subcommittee meeting, everyone is welcome. Short Discussion Items Council's Policy Agenda Discussion postponed to the September 27 meeting. Update on Council's response to rapid VMT growth Eric Levine, acting as a private citizen, sent a letter to Mayor Martinez and City Council members expressing concern over the growth rate of VMT in Fort Collins. At the Mayor's request, City Manager John Fischbach responded — a work plan, staffed by the LUTRAQ (Land Use, Transportation, and Air Quality) will be developed over the next couple of weeks. The plan will attempt to identify the gaps and barriers to effectively reducing VMT growth. The AQAB's involvement in the project will be discussed in September. Select representative to Citizen Committee on the Smoking Ordinance Postponed to the September 27 meeting. Dave Gallup, the Board's favorite for the job, has resigned from the AQAB. Per the City Clerk the position will be advertised in September and Council will make the appointment in December. Update on Clean Screen Program, Lucinda Smith Smith distributed a hand out and provided an update of the program, and the Regional I/M committee's involvement in the program. The Department of Health sent out the RFP in mid -June. The Department of Health did another evaluation of the air quality impact and lowered their assessment from a 4% loss in CO to 1%. The RFP specifies that the contractor must provide $30,000 to the North Front Range for public outreach. Twenty percent of that money must be spent educating repair technicians. There's also annual funding for continuing education and identification of high -emitters. Only one company has bid on the RFP. A Department -of -Health committee, of which Smith is a member, will evaluate the proposal — there are some questions that need to be clarified. So far, there has been no decision to accept or reject the proposal. If the proposal is accepted, it is unclear when clean screening would actually begin. Discussion • John Schroeer explained that approximately 1/3 of the people who drive the cleanest of the clean vehicles would not have to go to the emissions center. Those people will be sent a letter advising them they can mail in the $15.00 and receive a sticker. Air Quality Advisory Board August 24, 1999 Page 3 of 5 • Eric Levine said it sounds confusing and is an incredible example of how government shouldn't work. • Ray Sons pointed out the Board had previously recommended against this program. He continues to feel that this is a convenience to drivers that degrades the air quality. • Brian Woodruff predicted that there would be some bad press about the clean screen program. Brian Woodruff reminded board members of the joint meeting of the North Front Range Transportation & Air Quality Planning Council and the Upper Front Range Regional Planning Commission on Thursday, September 2 at 6:00 in Windsor. There will be a presentation on the North Front Range Transportation Alternatives Feasibility Study. Anyone interested in attending should contact Brian to make carpool arrangements. Woodruff handed out two memos that responded to air quality questions raised by Councilmember Mike Byrne. Intersection traffic count data and cost estimate for additional CO monitoring Levine Levine said the estimated average daily volume at the twenty listed locations would correlate to air quality. The Laurel/Mason intersection is ranked IOth-highest, while highest intersection, College and Horsetooth, has 63% more traffic. John Schroeer said we're missing the boat on where we're monitoring. Mandar Sunthankar feels there should be a second monitoring location in the south end of town. Jim Dennison asked what the Clean Air Act requires. Woodruff responded that in cities with a population over 50,000, there must be at least one monitor located near an intersection representative of highest volume intersections in the town. Woodruff said the Department of Health has been asked to evaluate the Laurel/Mason site and render a judgement. If an additional monitor is suggested, there are different funding combination possibilities. The possibility of a new monitor was identified in the budget process. NEW BUSINESS Campus West Sub -Area Plan, Clark Mapes Advance Planning Department Clark Mapes said the Campus West Sub -Area Plan really is not amenable to air quality analysis. The main reasons for the project are community design and pedestrian issues. The vision is to create a more pedestrian -friendly pattern, which would elevate alternative modes of transportation. Discussion • Levine: The area is very unfriendly, sidewalks suddenly stop in huge parking areas. • Mapes: It's in the middle of a square mile that has the highest number of housing units. A lot of that housing is people who have a need to use that area. • Schroeer: Is it a fact the people want the area changed? Mapes replied the general message is they don't mind if the City spruces up the right-of-way. There's no strong opposition. There's not a huge problem; it's not urgent to fix it tomorrow. It's Air Quality Advisory Boa. , August 24, 1999 Page 4 of 5 mainly for the pedestrian environment. If the area has a chance to improve, there will probably be parking structures involved. Schroeer said the population of the area is fairly pedestrian. The net need may not be _there. He sees an area, that from a student's perspective, may be an attractive area, even though there may be a need to look at sidewalks and safety issues. • Levine: A major retrofit would be challenging. The board is interested in following the process of what's happening. Mostly interested in alternative transportation and a decision to build parking lots and structures. • Woodruff: Under what circumstance would a parking structure become important? Can you have an "urban village" without a parking structure? • Mapes: In general, the reality of the car is pervasive. Even where developers are doing urban villages they are providing parking structures. Vail has a huge use of alternative modes — walking and free transit. It's completely pedestrian —oriented, but you have to have parking for people who are arriving. • Sunthankar: One thing that's missing in the area is trees and green patches. That should be low cost and shouldn't be too difficult. Also need to look at underground parking. • Woodruff: Does the board want to do anything more with the subarea plan, such as make a recommendation? Levine said he feels the area is a mess now and would favor these types of improvements. The board could look at this and see where the real improvements could be. Jim Dennison agreed and said it would be a shame to go through this planning and miss an opportunity to make a difference in the ability to use alternative modes. OLD BUSINESS CO Redesignation. Brian Woodruff Postponed to the September meeting - the committee didn't meet. Nancy York asked to have a report "Global Warming Is Here: The Scientific Evidence" copied and distributed in the next board packet. Effect of Mobility Report Card data on air quality projections Brian Woodruff Woodruff discussed the memo to Council in resins to Scott Mason's request that air quality projections in the Air Quality Action Plan be update based on the Mobility Report Card data, which show VMT increased 25.8% from 1995 to 1998. Woodruff explained the analysis makes the simplistic assumption that VMT would continue to grow at the same rate through 2015 — taking the recent trend and projecting it into the future. He said he doesn't have the analytical tools to assess what is pushing the growth. Jim Dennison asked if the state demographer's office might have additional information. John Schroeer asked if the state demographer might be able to come and answer questions such as, "What's the population going to be in 2015 and how did you arrive at that conclusion?" and "What's the VMT growth rate going to be?" Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 9:38