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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 08/13/2014Minutes City of Fort Collins Economic Advisory Commission August 13, 2014 CIC, City Hall 11:00am–1:30pm For Reference Blue Hovatter, Chair 493-3673 Karen Weitkunat, Mayor & Council Liaison 416-2154 SeonAh Kendall, Staff Liaison 416-2164 Dianne Tjalkens, Minutes 221-6734 Commission Members Present Commission Members Absent Blue Hovatter, Chair Jim Clark Denny Otsuga Michael Kulisheck (Mike) Linda Stanley Glen Colton Sam Solt Ann Hutchison Michael Rechnitz Guests Staff Present Staff Absent SeonAh Kendall, Business Retention Strategist Dianne Tjalkens, minutes Susie Gordon, Senior Environmental Planner Meeting called to order at 11:12am. Logistics Approval of minutes Linda moved to approve the July 16, 2014 minutes. Glen seconded. Motion passed unanimously, 5-0-0. Mike, Ann, and Michael arrived after vote. Public Comment—None. Commission Member Updates • Glen attended the second meeting of the Climate Action Committee (CAC). They discussed how greenhouse gas emissions are measured. The City measures how may are created within the City’s boundaries, plus source power from Rawhide. RMI report discusses large contributors such as heating, electricity, transportation, etc. They also discussed where the City is now and where the City will be if we do nothing more than what is already in the pipeline. Retrofitting existing buildings, replacing coal fired electricity with wind and solar, and more efficient transportation are all strategies. The process is well defined. Glen asked the CAC about population growth, which is a large driver of increased emissions. The consultants don’t want to go down the track of reducing population growth. He asked about the environmental impacts of the construction of electric vehicles, wind turbines, etc. • Linda said our carbon emissions are looking better because much of our manufacturing has moved to China. We are still using the products. There is a lot of embodied energy. There is mining to get palladium which goes into the manufacture of electric cars. We must discuss demand for products. • Glen said the consultants would like to be able to separate population growth from climate change through technology and behavior change. • Mike asked if Fort Collins is defining itself as a leader in climate change. Glen said yes. The City is positioning itself as a leader. Mike said if Fort Collins is more efficient, it is better for people to move here rather than Loveland, for example, because their carbon footprint will be reduced here. • Denny said the people who don’t care about the environment may remain outside of the community. We might want to bring them here so they adopt a more efficient lifestyle, which would be better for the environment. He added that this is a planet-wide issue and the impact of the City on the world is minimal. We should not skip over the issue of population, though, when we all know it needs to be discussed. • Linda said she has been part of a group working on a ballot measure to extend the County open space sales tax. The commissioners have added a ballot item that the group supports. Studies show that natural areas and trails have positive economic benefits. She is the campaign manager and is seeking donations and volunteers. Glen is the treasurer. Staff Updates—MOR— • SeonAh gave the following updates: o She will create drop box once City manager’s recommended budget is complete. o There is a tentative project that is currently confidential which may be requesting a business assistance package. The Economic Development office is doing due diligence including an economic impact analysis. If all goes well, it will go before Council October 7. Would like to give a presentation to EAC September meeting. o September 30 is the Workforce Symposium. Economic office is sponsoring and has seats available. Presenting labor force study data at the event. Also seeking panelists. o Accelerate Colorado is holding a showcase on technical manufacturing sponsored by Loveland, Oct 1–3. Free. o URA is still working on the mall and investigating a possible North College technology park.  Denny would like to see a City web page with economic development related events. SeonAh said that does not exist right now, but there is a City event calendar and she is happy to send information to the commission as it comes in. SeonAh added that Workforce 2020 will have a calendar of all workforce events. o SeonAh will share state demographer’s population data via email. The demographer will be presenting at the breakfast meeting at the symposium with SeonAh. Agenda Item 1: Disposable Bags—Susie Gordon, Senior Environmental Planner Susie said staff started working on this project two years ago. Council requested an ordinance for paper and plastic bags for grocery stores. They both have a heavy environmental footprint and 60% of bags come from grocers. Staff has followed a path taken by other communities that have had great reductions in use of disposable bags. Staff has involved the community, including businesses in the process. May 2014 staff went to Council with a 10 cent per paper or plastic bag ordinance. The proposal is that the grocer keeps all the revenue, and must apply 50% toward giving away durable bags. The main idea is to encourage reducing waste at the source. It is part of the Road to Zero Waste. This program will divert waste from the landfill; reduce greenhouse gas emissions, etc. In July there was a public meeting and since then Council has come back with its own proposal. Council would like the ordinance applied to all retailers in Fort Collins, not just grocers. Temporary food vendors, such as farmers markets and restaurants, would be exempt. Council would also like retailers to all provide on-site recycling. Also the grocers can charge the actual cost per bag, and additional costs for complying with the ordinance, and list the charge on the sales receipt. Disposable bags would only be provided upon express consent under the revised ordinance. Retailers/grocers would have to keep records as well. Council wants to see the City reduce its use of plastic bags. We have trash can liners in parks and natural areas, as well as pet waste bags. The ordinance would sunset in one year. Comments/Discussion: • Blue asked the effect on the retailers and shoppers. Susie said Council has requested more survey information. Staff has surveyed businesses in other communities where bag ordinances have been put in place. Businesses have not lost any business. Individuals would have a cost of about $20 per year. The data for other communities shows that people use 340 bags per year. Another question has been about a disproportionate impact on low income people. Other communities have not observed problems in this area. • Blue asked about the economic impact on the City for its own bag use. Are there alternatives? Susie said the City inventories all its uses. When you have a liner in a trash can it is an alternative to washing the can each time it is emptied, which uses water and transportation fuels. There is an ethic of minimizing use in the City. Others have asked about compostable bags for dog waste, however, there is no compost facility that takes dog waste. In another community she saw an anaerobic digester at a dog park that generated methane to run a streetlight. • Sam asked if there is a way to recycle existing bags. Susie said paper can go in curbside and plastic can go to grocery store recycling bins, and more stores are beginning to offer this of their own volition. The inference is that they only want their bags back, but that is changing as well. The City would like to ask the grocery stores to add better signage that shows what kinds of materials that can be taken. Any clean, dry plastic film can be recycled. There are manufacturers that pay up to 16 cents per pound for the material. • Sam said you can recycle through the vendor, but there is no way to recycle bags through the City’s recycle center. Susie said staff has worked to demonstrate how this would work in an open unmanned recycle center. The bags get blown around and fill the containers quickly. She has researched equipment to contain the bags at the site. Currently, the best option is to take plastic bags, bread bags, etc. to the grocery store. Grocery stores are a customer service industry and are having to adjust to similar ordinances around the country. • Sam said there should be more of an effort to collect bags at the recycle center. Susie said it is most difficult at an unmanned site. • Mike asked if the 10 cent per bag is gone since Council’s suggestion. Susie said Council must take action on the first ordinance to either adopt or decline. Mike asked about the changes Council wanted. Susie said it would be a new ordinance. Then Council can vote on it. Ann added that Council could add any of these items as an amendment to either ordinance. • Mike said the more complicated the program, the more work the City will have in auditing. He more strongly supports the 10 cent fee than a cost-based fee. He added that for retailer required on-site recycling, there should be some criteria on number of employees or square footage. • Susie said small shops will have a hard time finding space for the recycling. It is up to Council to determine if there are square footage requirements. • Ann added that we are creating another waste stream if we ask businesses that do not have access to recycling to collect them. They will throw them away. • Mike said there is an upside for a business to offer recycling, as it will attract business. • Linda said recycling plastic is not that efficient. Also, the second ordinance is missing out on finding an economic solution to changing behavior. She does not use plastic bags much and is not opposed to paying for them. We are trying to internalize externalities. She has seen it work elsewhere, and no one has an issue with it. Washington DC has done a nice job of marketing the program and the positive community impact it has had. We want people to start thinking about their decisions. • Glen asked if stores would also be charging for produce bags. Susie said it is only for checkout bags, not produce, bulk, or meat bags. Glen said these are a large source though. Susie said one of the objections is around hygiene and spreading germs through the reuse of bags. People must wash their reusable bags. No community has seen a correlation between disease and reusable bags. • Michael asked about the cost of biodegradable bags. Susie said they are more expensive. If the biodegradable bag goes into the landfill, you have done nothing. The landfill is designed to not biodegrade, specifically to prevent methane emissions. • Michael said the charge is punitive to change behavior. If the cost is 3 or 4 cents, he would rather pay 15 cents for a bag that is more readily recyclable, such as paper. Paper is more readily recyclable. Plastic is shipped out and we hope it is being recycled responsibly. He would like an end use that he can identify. • Denny said it is not clear what the goal is here. The staff goal may be different from Council, consumers, retailers, grocers, etc. Once you identify the goal—is it reducing the energy input to make the bags? Recycling?—It is difficult to come to a solution that meets all those goals. Susie said this comes from the Road to Zero Waste initiative, which says that source reduction is important in the hierarchy of waste management. It will help people learn to make changes they may apply to other parts of their lives. It gets people to think differently about single use items such as coffee cups and paper plates. • Linda said the recycling issue muddies the waters. We are trying to reduce use, but also increasing ability to recycle. It doesn’t seem punitive. • Michael said there is an alignment of goals; he is okay with the charge and that as a catalyst for change. He would like the product we are using to have a better end use than the bags we have been using. Many people will just accept the charge and not change habits. Where does it go after its single use life? That is not being taken control of. • Mike said the goal is to use fewer bags in Fort Collins. There has been an 80% reduction in use in other places. The punitive method works; complicating it with other things gives communities that want to replicate the program a number of reasons not to. Research shows charging 10 cents per bag works. The recycling issue can be a next step. The first step is simple. • Blue added that the over-and-above the cost is to create a program to give away durable bags. There could be a program like the ones where you earn points for gas, where you earn points toward a reusable bag. The concept is Zero Waste. Perhaps Council should enact option 1 as a trial for a study period for one to two years. People want to see the results. There needs to be an endpoint where we can look at whether it worked and how to expand if it did. Option 2 offers too many places to poke holes in the ordinance. He is disappointed in lack of economic impact numbers. Susie said at 10 cents per piece it generates a lot of money the first year, but becomes a declining source of revenue as the program becomes more effective. • Glen said he would like the ordinance applied to all retail stores, even if it is option 1. He wonders at the intention at giving out durable bags. Susie said durable bags should last at least 70 uses. Glen said retailers should be buying down the cost of the fabric bags with the income. Susie said the grocers will use their own discretion to distribute the durable bags. • Mike asked how it would work at Target. Susie said it would apply to Target and Walmart as well. • The commission discussed that the economic impact is not negative. It will not hurt business. Linda said it is a micro-economic issue. Ann said the Chamber has not taken a stand on this issue because it was hard to wrap their arms around the business aspect of the ordinance. • Ann said the onsite recycling requirement is challenging to businesses. • Mike added support for having control over what happens with the revenues. Michael added that option 2 lets grocers charge whatever they want and use the revenue for whatever they want. Grocers have added the cost of bags into the cost of their products already, so an additional charge would be profit above and beyond. • Glen said option 1 is most effective in reducing the use of disposable bags and has no percent- able economic impact. He wonders if we could do a friendly amendment to include retailers based on size, such as Home Depot and Best Buy. Mike agrees, but wonders if there is value in proposing we would support going that direction without it effecting the whole recommendation. • Susie added that calling out a sunset clause at three to five years would be beneficial. Staff has modified the recommendation to request a three to five year sunset clause. Michael said you can start with grocery stores and expand later. Glen said it’s better to do it all at once. • Linda suggested writing a memo that suggests expanding the ordinance to larger retailers that are not grocers that use a lot of plastic bags. • Denny said if the goal is behavior change, the notification of the customer that is noted in option 2 will be effective. Mike moved and Linda seconded the following motion: The Economic Advisory Commission prefers Ordinance 2014-099 (Option 1) of the disposable bag ordinance. We believe it to be the more effective of the two options at reducing the number of disposable bags used in Fort Collins, as identified in the Road to Zero Waste. It would have no perceivable negative impacts on the local economy. Additional Comments: If Option 1 were to be modified the EAC would support the expansion to include all retail stores, the notification requirements for the consumer, and a 3-5 year sunset period for a review of the ordinance. The EAC also believes that Option 2, as it stands, could have negative economic impacts on smaller businesses, especially the requirements for onsite recycling facilities at all businesses. We also feel there should be clear direction on the use of proceeds collected by the stores to provide a solution to the problem area. Motion approved 8-0-0. Agenda Planning/6-Month Agenda Planning Calendar • September Agenda: 2015/16 BFO (15 minute discussion), Labor Force Study, Economic Development/Business Assistance Package. Meeting Adjourned: 1:15pm Next Meeting: September 17, 2014 11:00am–1:30pm, City Hall, CIC Room Approved by the Board on September 17, 2014 Signed ______________________________________ 9/27/2014 Dianne Tjalkens, Administrative Clerk II Date