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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 10/22/1997MINUTES CITY OF FORT COLLINS AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD REGULAR MEETING NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES CENTER 405 CANYON AVE. OCTOBER 22,1997 For Reference: John Fooks, AQAB Chair - 229-5225 Scott Mason, Council Liaison - 226-4824 Tom Shoemaker, Staff Liaison - 221-6263 Board Members Present Mandar Sunthankar, Harry Edwards, Nancy York, John Fooks, John Schroeer, Raymond Sons, David Gallup, John Scanlon and Eric Levine Board Members Absent None Staff Present Natural Resources Department: Tom Shoemaker, Brian Woodruff, Sally Maggart Streetsi Larry Schneider Ci y Manager's Office: Frank Bruno Adv ce Pl nnin2: Ken Waido Guests Dr. Harvey Cutler, CSU The meeting was called to order at 7:07 p.m. Approval of Minute With the following changes, the minutes of September 24, 1997 were approved as written: John Schroeer noted that his last name has one "o" and two "e's". Nancy York said that under Propose Items for Next Meeting on Page 4, an "s" was omitted from "sweeping". Review Action LQg* 1. Tom Shoemaker suggested waiting until after the November election to draft the parking garage letter. The boardmembers agreed. 2. In the October packet. 3. Shoemaker will provide this at the retreat. *It was noted that this is a "List" on the Agenda. Review Council Six -Month Planning Calendar ► Fiscal & Environmental Impact Model: October 28 ► City Plan Performance Indicators: November 4 ► Transportation Alternatives Feasibility Study: November 25 Air Quality Advisory Board October 22, 1997 Page 2 2020 Regional Transportation Plan: December 16 (Vicky McLane, Transportation Planner, will be invited to give a presentation at a future board meeting). Fiscal Model: Frank Bruno. Assistant City Manager Frank Bruno, Assistant City Manager, introduced Dr. Harvey Cutler, CSU professor, and asked him to describe the model that he and Dr. Davies developed. Bruno explained that this project occurred as a result of Hyundai looking for an opportunity to build a plant in Fort Collins 2-1/2 years ago. He said that the City was hindered by not having enough information to measure cost benefits associated with that type of development. Bruno noted that the model will be presented to City Council next Tuesday. John Fooks suggested that Dr. Cutler focus on the air quality aspects of the model. Dr. Cutler explained that the model is divided into twelve sectors, and data was collected on employment and output levels. He noted that data collection was very time consuming. Dr. Cutler said that the cost of congestion, travel times and vehicle miles traveled were identified to compute the average automobile emissions and get an estimate of actual pollutants emitted. He said that because there is no local study on health costs associated with vehicle miles traveled, a Los Angeles study done three years ago was used. He said that the study determined three cents extra in health costs for every mile traveled. Dr. Cutler added that Fort Collins is probably lower because of a less dense population, but the three cents was used in this simulation. He said that health costs associated with increased pollution averaged out at $15.00 per person a year resulting from an additional 6.5 hours a year spent in a car due to a Hyundai -type addition. Harry Edwards asked if this presentation was in response to questions at the last meeting on growth and VMT. Tom Shoemaker responded that the Board asked for an overview on the development of the Fiscal Model and the air quality implications. David Gallup asked if cost was factored in related to reducing air pollutants as a result of VMT in order to remain the status quo or improve air quality. Bruno responded that there will still be a lot of value judgements that will look at what this is costing the community. Eric Levine asked if the model took into account the economies of scale. Dr. Cutler responded yes. Edwards asked what the conclusion is relative to Hyundai using the simulation. Dr. Cutler responded that the wage distribution was $12,000 lower than the existing factory wages in Fort Collins, and that hurt Hyundai's cost/benefit ratio. He added that the City would have come out ahead in tax revenues by about $2 million. Levine said that he is concerned about big chains coming in and putting out local businesses. York asked if the model could be used as a planning tool to weigh in on a Super WalMart. Dr. Cutler responded that it could. Air Quality Advisory Board October 22, 1997 Page 3 Edwards asked what the predicted impact is in terms of air quality. Dr. Cutler responded that a formula does not exist to measure the impact. Edwards said that he questions the assumption of using the Los Angeles health care cost percentages. He noted that Fort Collins does not have an ozone problem. Dr. Cutler responded that particulates, CO and NOX were looked at, and noted that hydrocarbons were small in the Los Angeles test. Bruno emphasized that this is a dynamic, not static, model. He said that it can be refined with additional data and made a more effective tool. Mandar Sunthankar asked if the past could be studied to see how it relates to the future. Dr. Cutler said that past data could be collected; he noted that it took six months to synthesize data for one year. Gallup said that he is supportive of using the system as a tool of the buyer, rather than seller. He suggested looking at the impact on air quality as a positive and integrating what steps an employer can take to improve air quality before it becomes a health issue. AQAB Retreat This will be held on October 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Tamasag Conference Center. David Gallup said that he would not be able to attend. John Schroeer said that he will provide a van and will leave 281 N. College at 8:40 a.m. Street Sanding and Sweeping: Lara Schneider, Streets Superintendent Larry Schneider, Streets Superintendent, said that the progress of the Streets Department in improving air quality is hard to measure. He noted that last year the City started using Ice Slicer, a mineral mined in Utah, in place of sand and salt for snow removal. Schneider said that it contains sodium chloride and hard clay, and is not environmentally disturbing. Schneider presented information to the Board about deicing materials and equipment, street sweeping procedures, and management systems for materials application. He noted that the Streets Department researches innovations and new products with safety and cost as a priority. Schneider added that the City participates in the Regional Air Quality Council Street Sanding Committee. Projected Population Growth: Ken WaidoChief Planner Ken Waido, Chief Planner, explained that the population projection for City Plan was obtained from the North Front Range Transportation and Air Quality Planning Council's Regional Transportation Plan done in 1992 by the Denver consultants, Coley, Forest, Inc. He added that the projection was also used in the Congestion Management Plan for consistency. Waido cited the sources used for the projection: U.S. Census data/trends, employment data/trends, local Chamber of Commerce, State demographer forecasts, local governments and major employers. He noted that the average annual change in the household and employment projection calculates at a 2.2 percent compounded growth rate. Air Quality Advisory Board October 22, 1997 Page 4 John Fooks said that he is interested in knowing what VMT is actually going to be. Waido responded that the VMT number comes out of the transportation model based on estimates of housing units and jobs distributed through the transportation analysis zones. John Schroeer questioned the percentages. Waido explained that the growth cycles are derived from building permit information. He noted that the growth rate this year is three percent. Levine asked what the mechanism is for a reality check and balancing figures based on reality. Waido said that the mechanism, as called for in City Plan, is to monitor the effectiveness. Levine said that the wrong number got into City Plan in the first place, it should have been 2.8 instead of 2.2. Gallup expressed concern that using a non linear model might result in taking less of an approach because the problem does not appear as bad today and next year as we think it is. Edwards noted that the real issue is for the Board to come to grips with what is in the future and it is critical whether the model used is linear or exponential. Edwards asked how Waido arrived at the 78,697 figure. Waido explained that it came from the 1993 model. Edwards asked if Waido is comfortable with the prediction. Waido said that he was comfortable in 1995, but the comfort level is waning. He added that he is concerned about relationships with the County in maintaining the growth management area. Levine said that he is uncomfortable with all of it and he is concerned that with the projection model there is a need to build in a self-correcting formula to see if it is following reality. He added that there is a need to change the number in the model used for plans if the assumed number is not mirroring reality. Shoemaker explained that the purpose of the City Plan indicators is a reality check. He added that it is meant to be an opportunity to look at what is going on and ask questions. Propose Items for Next Meeting ► Transportation Funding ► Monitoring and Concentration ► Global Warming Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.