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Home My WebLink AboutAir Quality Advisory Board - Minutes - 06/17/2019AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR June 17, 2019 5:30 – 8:00 pm Colorado River Room, 222 Laporte Ave. 6/17/19 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER 5:35 pm 2. ROLL CALL ● List of Board Members Present − Karen Artell − Harry Edwards − Arsineh Hecobian, Chair − Matt Tribby ● List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused; if no contact with Chair has been made − Greg Clark, Vice Chair − Jim Dennison − Jakob Lindaas − Jason Miller ● List of Staff Members Present − Cassie Archuleta, Staff Liaison − Lindsay Ex, Climate Program Manager − Jason Komes, Senior Environmental Sustainability Manager − Lucinda Smith, Environmental Services Director ● List of Guests − Julie Pignataro, Council Liaison − Nick Francis, representative of Fort Collins Partners in Climate Action (PiCA) − Mark Houdashelt, representative of PiCA − Alan Braslau, representative from the Energy Board 3. AGENDA REVIEW ● The agenda was revised to accommodate guests’ schedules. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ● Allen Braslau expressed the Energy Board’s interest in developing more stringent building codes to promote energy efficiency. He noted that the creation of new metro districts for impending developments may be a good opportunity to advance City AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/17/19 – MINUTES Page 2 building codes towards increased sustainability. The Energy Board has sent a memo to Council and has extended an invitation to the AQAB to act as well. ● Nick Francis stated that PiCA would like the City to set minimum standards for energy efficiency for homes in new developments with an emphasis on the construction of affordable housing. PiCA is a citizen action group with several sustainability and environmental interests. Working plans for the group can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/focopica/home. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Board Member Introductions, 5:45 – 5:55 Board members introduced themselves to new Council Liaison, Julie Pignataro. b. Council Alignment Discussion, 5:55 – 6:30 Julie Pignataro joined the Board to discuss Council priorities and alignment with the AQAB work plan. She is new to City Council and chose to support the AQAB out of concern for the air quality along the northern Front Range. She is available to Board by email and welcomes discussion with members regarding air quality concerns. In addition, Cassie provided and outline of air quality priorities from Council’s retreat and summarized work that staff are involved in related to radon, ozone, particulate matter, and oil and gas. Council’s priorities are well-aligned with the AQAB work plan. − The Board discussed how to effectively coordinate with Council and City Staff members to progress toward increasing radon mitigation rates, particularly in the rental community. Members would like Council to promote more financial incentives to ease the burden of mitigation; they will provide Councilmember Pignataro with a copy of the letter they recently drafted for Council along with supporting data on mitigation rates. − Members expressed concern with the results of the FRAPPÉ study which indicated that an ozone sensor located near CSU should be relocated; however, the process is complicated as the State will require EPA approval for relocation. Councilmember Pignataro suggested that the AQAB draft a letter to Council to draw attention to this matter. In addition, AQAB offered to aid Council in drafting a letter to the RAQC to address the issue. − The Board discussed oil and gas encroachment into Fort Collins and whether the issue suggests a need for the City’s regulations to be updated. The City expects to receive a re-completion permit applications for a site on the north side of town, and is in discussion with the COGCC and the operator now. Councilmember Pignataro offered to notify Cassie and Arsineh if oil- and gas-related topics come up before Council so that she can advocate for the AQAB. − Members discussed community-based particulate monitoring which employs inexpensive, easy-to-operate sensors in the hands of citizens to collect real-time AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/17/19 – MINUTES Page 3 particulate matter data (ex. https://www2.purpleair.com/). c. Climate and Energy Planning, 6:30 – 7:30 Lindsay Ex, Climate Program Manager, provided an overview of the planning processes that will be developed over 2019 – 2020 and requested Board feedback on the proposed engagement processes to develop plans. − The City is updating its Climate Action Plan (CAP), Energy Policy and Road to Zero Waste all in one planning process with a focus on equity. The current planning process is based on determining which technical solutions are right for our community and properly aligning timeframes amongst the three plans to achieve 2030 goals. − The planning process has been broken into numerous phases with an emphasis on community engagement, data synthesis and stakeholder mapping; a draft outline will be presented to Council on 7/23/19 with hopes that the final plan will offer diversity and a variety of pathways to achieve emission reduction goals. − The Board brainstormed ways that the City could engage residents and businesses throughout the planning process, and how to select initiatives to reach 2030 goals. Ideas for resident engagement included: • Working with established/trusted community leaders and engaging citizens at non-CAP-related community events • Diversifying engagement (e.g., include more Spanish speaking groups) • Providing a platform that allows citizens to engage in the easiest way possible by streamlining main points • Engaging with property management companies to include the renter community in programs and incentives • Providing mail-in rebates Ideas for business engagement included: • Engaging with business groups at forums and networking meetings • Providing resources to help businesses align their priorities with the City’s • Engaging businesses with on-site interviews • Organizing focus groups with environmental managers to help align goals and values Ideas for selecting initiatives included: • Providing tools for people to prioritize better • Providing more financial incentives/initiatives • Generating metrics to evaluate impact • Selecting initiatives based on cost-effectiveness 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES ● Harry moved and Matt seconded a motion to approve the May 20, 2019 minutes as AIR QUALITY ADVISORY BOARD TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR 6/17/19 – MINUTES Page 4 revised. Motion passed, 3-0-1. 3. UNFINISHED BUSINESS ● N/A 4. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS Member Reports − Matt noted that the RAQC has already issued action ozone alerts in the first few days of June. − Karen noted that the RAQC will begin broadcasting meetings with Adobe Connect starting in August. − Harry noted an article from the May 23, 2019 issue of Chemical and Engineering News that indicated air pollution (PM2.5) may impair children’s memory and cognitive abilities. − Arsineh noted that the Larimer County Oil and Gas Force will hold its first meeting on Thursday, June 27, 2019. She will provide and update at the next AQAB meeting. 5. OTHER BUSINESS − The Board shifted several items on their agenda for the next three months. Notably, they will utilize their work planning and issue index to provide recommendations to Council regarding implementation of priorities. Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will provide a written summary of the recent changes to State legislation. Staff Follow-Up: Cassie will report back to the Board on what topics will be discussed at August’s super-board meeting. 6. ADJOURNMENT 7:40 pm