HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Futures Committee - 08/10/2015 -
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MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
FUTURES COMMITTEE MEETING
Date: August 10, 2015
Location: CIC Room, City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave
Time: 4:00–6:00pm
Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent:
Wade Troxell, Chair
Kristin Stephens
Gino Campana
City Staff:
Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer
Darin Atteberry, City Manager (arrived 5:07)
Jeff Mihelich, Deputy City Manager (arrived 5:00)
Dianne Tjalkens, Admin/Board Support
Katy Bigner, Environmental Planner
Lucinda Smith, Environmental Services Director
Lisa Rosintoski, Utilities Customer Connections Manager
Carol Webb, Water Resources/Treatment Operations Manager
Invited Guests:
Community Members:
Kevin Jones, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
Dale Adamy, citizen
Wade Troxell called meeting to order at 4:07pm
Chairman Comments: Wade explained Futures Committee perspective to presenter. Focus is
horizontal, and checking the vector rather than near term.
Approval of Minutes:
Gino moved to approve the July minutes as presented. Kristin seconded.
Motion passed unanimously, 3-0-0.
Future Agendas Discussion: None.
Think Tank Item 7-2015: Climate Resilience—Katy Bigner
Focus on mitigation since the late 90s and global response to reduce GHG emissions. Looking at
what actions can be taken to minimize impacts of climate change—adaptation. Resilience is
capacity to survive, adapt, and grow despite stressors and shocks, including economic
downturns, terrorism, natural disaster, etc. Looking at how communities
can adapt to climate change impacts already experiencing or likely to
experience in the future. State of Colorado likely to release adaptation
plan this fall, with large focus on water planning. Resiliency is both bouncing back and bouncing
forward: stronger, healthier community. Seven key resiliency assets developed by Rockefeller
Institute: reflective, resourceful, inclusive, integrated, robust, redundant, and flexible. Resilience
scorecard allows communities to review policy, information, organization, social, economic, etc.
aspects of disaster event resilience. Ex: 2013 floods—stormwater system performed as designed.
Fort Collins climate is ideal now. Preparation helps to protect quality of life in future. Key areas
of vulnerability include: our homes, natural environment, ability to recreate, outdoor workers,
children and elderly, and business challenges. Projected climate changes include warmer
summers, declines in snowpack, earlier spring runoff, declines in soil moisture, declines in water
availability and quality, poorer air quality, and potential for less precipitation. Intensity and
severity of severe storms is likely to increase, with greater chance of extended droughts and
severe wildfires. Businesses and residents rely on water supply, natural amenities and local water
features; low income and vulnerable populations will have less capacity to deal with challenges
of extreme events and long term changes. Urban Land Institute did study on building resilience
resulting in three main recommendations to communities: 1. Building resilience: regional
approach to land use, infrastructure, housing, aggressive floodplain management; 2. Financing
Resilience: reclamation of floodplain, emergency assistance structures, infrastructure finance,
integrated economic development strategy, small business preparation; 3. Leading Resilience:
regional working group, annual summit, hardening and creating redundancies for regional
communication, education and engagement with stakeholders. The City already is seeking
additional water storage (Halligan), collaborating regionally on fire related issues, creating
wildfire response plans, implementing low impact development practices, has an ongoing
stormwater program, has office of emergency management that cooperates with regional
partners, and is participating in regional and national dialogues, and integrating and adaptation
strategies into the Climate Action Plan Implementation (additional consideration). Next
Steps/Needs: we have identified areas of vulnerability and risk, in good position to move to
implementation. Opportunities to fold adaptation into asset management. Extreme event planning
this fall for wildfire smoke and extreme heat. Developing collaborative relationships with
Larimer County, PSD, UCH, Health District, etc. Staff will continue to monitor the climate
science for improved modelling and projections.
Comments/Q & A:
• Compliments to river health scorecard at leadership meeting. How to expand this across
sustainability? Scorecard may be way to accomplish this. Holistic view of city.
• Take aways from climate resilience task force?
o Task force was charged with providing guidance to federal government specific to
this area. Collaboration. Strong need for infrastructure; water will be greatest
climate change impact. Those recommendations folded into what was given to
federal government.
• Broad brush of climate change has lost impact. How does it relate to Fort Collins?
Implementation plan. Resilience is sensitivity analysis. Don’t design just for X, but many
other criteria. Likelihood of things happening. Could also not happen, or be worse.
Increase “Air Bands.” CSU has NIST resilient communities grant around infrastructure.
Also, performance standards as opposed to code standards. Related to water, NSF urban
water data. Water Innovation Cluster: how to do demonstration projects? Ag to Urban,
grey water demos, etc. In near term move toward resilient infrastructure.
o Finer details of planning include scenario planning. Utilities is familiar in
planning for extremes, thresholds, etc. Thresholds are good for looking at
impacts, best management practices, infrastructure, services, projects, etc.
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o Communication is important. Also important to have
science and engineering backup. River Health report has a
lot of modelling for backup. Need robust modelling to do
what-if analysis, which supports decision making.
• What do we need to do better? Ex: 6° hotter summers.
o Fort Collins will be more like Albuquerque. How do we think of our vulnerable
communities if mid-90°s become more average summer temperatures? Haven’t
had many extreme heat events. Could also happen in May or June before people
are acclimated to summer temperature change. Can also be related to fire events.
Climate change likely to exacerbate existing issues. Ex: Not having housing for
emergency personnel who then have to commute. Will have greater challenges if
don’t address issues now.
o Where do we start? How do we express this to the public without being too
doomsday? How do we get them on board to be more resilient?
Tendency to jump to an answer as opposed to understanding more. Create
a platform for demonstration. Ex: Network that instruments the Poudre
River watershed. If instrument and look at various parameters and get
ground truthing, modelling for climate change is not grounded in
testifiable data. How do you verify? Create platform that does monitoring
of trends based on critical parameters of this community. Have rain gauge
network throughout community. Partner with John Van de Lindt, and
Bruce Ellingwood.
Social context is where some of biggest gaps in data collection are. Ex:
How many people going to ER with heat related illness? No one is
collecting that data. Collaboration to help City and organizations for
planning and responding for air quality and health impacts. Don’t have a
lot of influence.
• Look at objective behind notion of resiliency. Brilliant because pulls out of weeds;
objective is to save lives and money. Be multidimensional. Difference between resilience
and climate change. When focus on climate change have fall-off of people who don’t
align with that discussion. If we want to be resilient versus vulnerable, most people will
agree that is best. Climate change data isn’t there. Not sure want to spend time on climate
change issue. Framework for resiliency is good. Ex: Designing road with more than soil
conditions and weight bearing in mind. If include redundancy, flexibility, etc. then you
build a better road/become better engineer. Most solutions are grass roots and not being
shared between communities. Federal government could be collaborator to fund meetings
to share design ideas. Responsibility to share our learning with other communities that
may be struggling. Designing for resiliency is exciting. Climate change derails
conversation.
o Engineers need to change design processes to accommodate TBL. Design
charrette framework. That is practice that will yield outcomes. Seeing that with
LEED building designs, etc.
Regional meeting with CDOT for grants included discussion of affordable
housing. How is that part of grant for interstate? They are trying to be
more holistic in designs. Metrics and real data are used to make decisions.
How do you get out of your silos to look at this from a resilience
perspective? Ex: How is the bus stop installed so you have a low stress
walk to the bus stop? How is Nature in the City impacted by a new road?
o If we start losing the idea of climate change are we burying our head in the sand?
Need to mitigate and prepare for what may happen.
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If climate change is component of resiliency, still
accomplish goal of saving lives and money and
begin resilient community. Are we trying to do
better design or convince people of temperature changes?
• Other venues for discussions outside of action.
• Make sure Fort Collins is part of Civil Infrastructure conversations.
o Can compare our innovation and design of stormwater system, which was
designed to be resilient.
Need to envision what the possibilities are to design for resilience.
• How much have we worked with PSD, etc.?
o Have preparedness plans and regional engagement.
o Ex: Need for greater dialogue, in 2012 fires had air quality advisory. Parks and
Recreation struggled with making decisions on cancelling programs. How do you
make decisions around reducing liability, informing parents, etc.? Focused
workshop this fall to talk about extreme heat and fire as a service provider. Need
to coordinate with whole organization. Also opportunity to work with PSD for the
programs they are offering.
• If apply seven design principles, all of these apply. Adds dimensions to how problems are
solved. How do you apply at onset of a program, at roll out?
o Opportunities at onset of projects. Programs harder because ongoing. Continuous
improvement. Opportunities in Sustainability Assessment Tool.
o Have Climate Action Plan. Talked to CMAP group on campus. Point was to
recognize the engagement the group has with the City to bring awareness. Have
other activities like ClimateWise which engages businesses.
• What do we need to do for vulnerable populations for extreme events, etc.?
o Challenge for extreme events is less than optimal buildings now. Make home
safer. Weatherization is important for more severe or intense storms. Larimer
County Conservation Corps has programs to help citizens weatherize. Quantity of
housing is another issue. Have opportunity to offer programs that assist residents
and businesses in these events. Hotter summers have challenges; weatherization
will help with that too.
• Effect on affordable housing?
o When first responders don’t live in community serving and have to commute,
makes community vulnerable. Don’t live there because of affordability issues.
So not affordable housing, but housing that is affordable.
• True, spectrum. But if not keeping up affordable housing, have
hazards.
o Review design of these structures, not number of structures.
When take too big of a swath, gets diluted. Looking at objective of saving
lives and dollars. Example of people in community who are first
responders makes sense. But don’t want umbrella too big.
• Social side is not crystal clear and is newest area of focus. At land
use level probably specific actions to address, like district heating,
water reuse, block scale; closer view includes building codes. Get
concrete. Lower income and affordable housing discussion around
manufactured housing to create zone district for manufactured
homes. Would like richer housing stock, less temporary. Another
community is doing tiny homes. (Colorado Springs). Land use
level changes.
o This framework looks at inclusivity and integration. Every CAP team has
someone from each pillar of Sustainability.
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Manufactured housing project on Harmony: apply
these principles. Is it reductant? No. Only one way
in and out. So how do we get first responders in?
How robust is water/sewer system? Apply this lens to affordable housing
stock we have. Still struggling with how we use this to drive the number
of affordable housing units we have in the city. How do you make that
stock resilient?
• What about homeless families? They will be very vulnerable
during extreme events.
o How do we have redundancy to aid them?
o TBL is important. Framework test this.
Having high quality affordable housing makes our community more
resilient.
• And saves us money.
• Impacts community if housing stock cannot weather a storm.
• Redtail Ponds is good example of quality affordable housing.
DO: Next Steps
• Explore River Health Scorecard as relates to metrics, sustainability, CAP
implementation.
• Use scorecard and 7 key elements to revise SAT.
• Follow up with John Van de Lindt, and Bruce Ellingwood at CSU and water utilities for
resilient infrastructure.
• Combine with EHO on innovation, adaptation, and resiliency.
• Metrics around resilience: data, thresholds, monitoring (social, economic, environmental)
• Bolster regional collaboration. (Katy will send ULI study via Dianne)
• Framing resilience—balance preparedness and resilience with climate change.
• Share our designs and successes with others.
• Lucinda working with Boulder. Recipient of 100 resilient Cities. Exchange opportunities.
Future Agenda Items
• Jeff Mihelich will take over staff liaison role for Jackie Kozak-Thiel for the September
and October meetings. Calendar for 2015 includes:
o September: Smart Cities and SUAS
o October: Broadband removed, replaced by Art of Neighboring; Periodic Review
Process/Citizen Engagement Strategies
o November: Volunteerism (new coordinator); 2016 Agenda Planning
o December: no meeting
o January: Arts and Culture
o February: Diversity and Inclusivity
• If any requests around upcoming topics, points want speakers to be prepared to talk
about, send to Jackie.
• For the Love of Cities author, Peter Kageyama is coming to Fort Collins. Could Futures
Committee meet with him? (additional meeting)
o Darin and Jackie will coordinate meeting.
o Seed ideas for 2016 meetings from discussion with Peter.
Meeting adjourned at 5:32pm.
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