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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/10/2013 - CITY TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE DECISION-MAKING PROCESSDATE: September 10, 2013 STAFF: Bruce Hendee, Lucinda Smith, Brian Varrella, Bonnie Pierce Pre-taped staff presentation: available at fcgov.com/clerk/agendas.php WORK SESSION ITEM FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION City Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Decision-Making Process. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this work session is to seek City Council feedback on interim plans to provide “Triple-Bottom Line” assessments of items coming to Council for work sessions. The City of Fort Collins Utilities began using a Triple Bottom Line Analysis Map (TBLAM) in 2008 to internally evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of projects from the economic, environmental and social (community and workforce) perspectives. Since 2010, Utilities have been assisting departments across the entire City organization in completing the TBLAM brainstorming process. This year, City Council has requested that more information about the TBL aspects of projects be provided during the Council review process. Starting in October 2013, staff will complete a TBLAM and Synthesis for major projects coming to City Council for work sessions. This is viewed as an interim approach allowing the City to gain more experience with the TBLAM and the Council to evaluate the utility of the information provided. Staff has submitted a 2014 budget offer to further develop a robust TBL Decision-Making Framework, a list of qualitative and quantitative tools, and guidance about when to apply which tools. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED 1. Does City Council have any feedback on the interim approach of providing Triple Bottom Line qualitative assessments of major projects in City Council work session packet materials? BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Sustainability is a core philosophy at the City of Fort Collins; one that underpins every City effort, from the smallest of daily tasks to the largest multi-year initiatives. The central premise of any sustainable operation is that it considers human, economic, and environmental factors in decision- making and management. This approach is nothing new to Fort Collins; it has been a part of the City’s culture for years. Economic, environmental and social sustainability are vital to our community’s success, and our residents expect that we will be responsible stewards of our financial, natural and human resources. Knowing this, the City has steadily worked to advance its capacity in “Triple Bottom Line” (TBL) decision-making over the years. September 10, 2013 Page 2 TBLAM and TBL Team (2008 – present) As part of the Utilities for the 21st Century initiative, in 2008, the Fort Collins Utilities formed a TBL Team and evaluated tools from across the nation and the world to aid in formulating a TBL decision-making process and practices guide. The Team identified and adopted a model in use at the City of Olympia, WA, called the Triple Bottom Line Analysis Map (TBLAM) (see Attachment 1). The objective of the TBLAM has been to facilitate a broad, interdisciplinary brainstorming process used to inform a decision-making process of all potential environmental, economic and societal benefits and detriments at project onset. Best practice dictates that this brainstorming should be done at the beginning of a project, not at the end. Structured similarly to a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, TBLAM exercises are most effective and informative when attended by people with a breadth of expertise. This information is then synthesized into immediate observations, conclusions, and recommendations on future process and intended outcomes. The Utility TBL Team was tasked at inception with embedding TBL processes into daily practices and strategic visions. Benchmarking communities from across the globe provided invaluable direction for jump-starting the effort, but experience over a period of two or three years has led to an effective evolution of practice. Through much trial and error, the TBL Team has successfully developed a training program, a TBLAM tool, a synthesis platform, and a full spectrum of examples for others to follow. The Team is most excited to share and exercise its 10 Best Practices developed from feedback from customers, staff, and colleagues from across the nation. Recently the Utility TBL Team realized that if it was to evolve into new avenues of thought and innovation, and if it desired to offer services across the organization, it would have to expand its volunteer force into new departments outside the Utility. The call for diversity was met by new members from five offices across the organization, including Social Sustainability, Finance, Planning Services, Economic Health, and Performance Excellence. The TBLAM tool and associated synthesis are qualitative efforts; they do not generate a final number or score to assess the overall sustainability strength of a project and they do not make the decision. The synthesis that follows a TBLAM, however, is intended to provide identify areas for research, outreach, analysis and other technical and non-technical efforts necessary that may strengthen a project. If completed early in a project, a TBL brainstorm and synthesis are valuable because they can reveal: • Any fatal flaws before they affect budgets and schedules • Areas where more research, engagement or data may be needed • Key indicators for the forward progress of a project, policy, strategy or proposal • Opportunities for improvement in one sphere without negatively impacting benefits in another sphere. Outputs from the process can reveal opportunities to modify projects, policies, strategies and proposals to maximize their net benefits and mitigate negative aspects. The TBL Team gained invaluable experience with this model internally, and since 2010, has been working to build the TBL mindset by offering a TBL 101 class to groups across the organization. The Team regularly meets one-on-one for various internal and external customer groups as September 10, 2013 Page 3 requested. The Team has completed an average of 1 TBLAM brainstorm per month internally and externally to aid the City in considering all aspects of a project and optimizing the triple bottom line. The TBLAM and synthesis exercise have been used to assess projects ranging from Stormwater Master Plan Best Management Practice Selection, Use of Corn Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel for City Fleets, Landscaping Guidelines, Poudre River Standards; City iPhone Selection, Recycling Options for Electric Meters, Strategic Planning, Transportation Corridor Vision Planning for College Avenue, and programmatic changes to floodplain policies. TBL in Council Agenda Materials (2009-2010) From November 2009 through approximately May 2010, City staff provided short qualitative analyses of agenda items in an Agenda Item Summary section titled “Sustainability: Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts”. Ultimately, City Council indicated these short summaries were not useful in its decision-making and the practice was amended to provide only economic and environmental impacts, but not social impacts. TBL Decision-Support Tool (2010) In 2010, a Triple Bottom Line Decision Support Tool was commissioned to help support the Plan Fort Collins process. The tool, an Excel spreadsheet, was intended to help evaluate the "Triple Bottom Line" economic, environmental, and human impacts of key policies, strategies, and/or projects specifically associated with Plan Fort Collins. It was intended to guide the evaluator in integrating outputs from individual Plan Fort Collins modeling efforts (e.g., transportation, cost recovery, etc.) with other available quantitative and qualitative information and considerations so that policies, strategies, and/or projects could be evaluated with a broad systems perspective. It included sustainability indicators for Plan Fort Collins. While it is a useful complement to the TBLAM itself, it still requires a significant amount of research and data compilation on the part of the evaluator. TBL in City Plan (2011) City Council is also interested in ensuring the organization is considering the TBL aspects of policies, plans, strategies and projects. Sustainability and TBL were key drivers in the 2010/2011 Plan Fort Collins process. With the adoption of City Plan in 2011, City Council adopted a sustainability policy to “act sustainably: to systemically, creatively, and thoughtfully utilize environmental, human, and economic resources to meet our present needs and those of future generations without compromising the ecosystems upon which we depend.” Three main tenets of sustainability (systems thinking, continuous improvement, and triple bottom line analysis) were integrated into the Plan Fort Collins process. Consequently, City staff increasingly includes information about the economic, environmental and social ramifications of a project in the materials provided to City Council. However, to date, staff are only aware of three TBLAMs that have been provided to City Council. In 2009, a TBLAM on Poudre River floodplain regulations was provided to City Council. This resulted in negative feedback from the Council; it was felt the TBLAM itself was not useful. To address this concern, the Team developed the synthesis document (see Attachment 3), which takes the raw information from the TBLAM and draws out key indicators. In 2013, the disposable bag issue had a TBL analysis completed by a consultant on alternative approaches to addressing disposable bags, and that September 10, 2013 Page 4 was shared with the public and Council. In April 2013, a TBLAM was completed for the Foothills Mall Redevelopment Project (Attachment 2). Staff recognizes that it is not in keeping with the true spirit of the TBL process to complete a TBLAM towards the end of the project, yet it could still be useful to simply reveal alternative perspectives on a topic City Council is considering. 2013 Efforts to Increase Organizational Capacity in TBL-Decision Making Short Term To respond to City Council’s interest in increasing organizational capacity in TBL decision-making, the City is planning, as an interim step, to provide City Council with the results of a TBLAM brainstorming analysis and synthesis for major projects that come before Council for a Work Session, starting in October. The products that staff envisions providing in Council Work Session packets are: • The TBLAM tool • A short summary synthesis of the TBLAM exercise that may include a staff summary of observations, potential indicators, and recommendations. In providing both the TBLAM and synthesis, staff will be increasing transparency by providing Council with an unfiltered brainstorming exercise and a staff summary of the process. Throughout the remainder of 2013, staff will gain experience with the TBL process and seek feedback from City Council on the utility of this information. This will be viewed as an interim step until a more complete set of tools and approaches evolve for use and application at the City. Longer Term Knowing that there are a variety of approaches that could support informed decision-making, a scoping meeting was held in April of this year with staff from multiple departments to discuss what tools and approaches would be needed to move the organization to the next level in TBL decision- making. Would it be the development of a Fort Collins-specific tool or spreadsheet? Would it involve generating a quantitative analysis and rating of a project? Would any of the quantitative tools that already exist and are gaining use elsewhere in the country be useful for Fort Collins? This staff group recommended that no single TBL decision support tool will meet all needs across the organization for evaluating the sustainability benefits and tradeoffs associated with organization- wide decision-making. Instead, staff believes that the best course is to develop an overarching TBL Decision Framework to guide development of organization-wide policies, plans, strategies, and projects, and to create a toolbox of TBL tools. The toolbox would consist of various existing TBL tools designed for specific applications that have been evaluated and selected for use by the City. The overall aim of the TBL Decision Framework is to facilitate progress towards the City’s major sustainability goals. It should reveal synergies (win-wins) between the TBL spheres or, as a secondary aim, it should demonstrate that improvements are possible in one sphere with small or no negative impacts in the other two bottom lines. In some circumstances it might make clear tensions between different objectives and highlight the tradeoffs. It should support active decision- making and engagement with complexity, rather than a status quo approach. September 10, 2013 Page 5 The Framework will help encourage early collaboration and integration across departments and should address a range of policy priorities, e.g. climate change impact assessments, poverty impact assessments, etc. Another desired feature for the TBL Decision Framework is that it be scalable so that it can be used for relatively simple proposals, e.g., developing a green-purchasing policy, and for complex proposals, e.g., major new infrastructure project. It should also be easy to update or change the Framework (and associated tools) as necessary. A critical part of the Decision Framework is the primary asset supporting any TBL process; the human capital invested by the motivated and passionate staff that perpetuate the mindset. The TBL Team has expanded the City organization’s expertise with TBL thru training and assistance. It is expected that TBL will become a standard operating procedure across the City organization, supported by an interdepartmental staff team. In order to develop this TBL Decision-making framework and tool box envisioned here, a 2014 mid- cycle BFO offer is being developed. If funded, staff anticipates having a more robust process to evaluate the TBL completed later in 2014. ATTACHMENTS 1. Triple Bottom Line Analysis Map 2. Recent Mall Redevelopment TBLAM provided to Council 3. Example of TBLAM Synthesis Document 4. Powerpoint presentation Triple Bottom Line Analysis Map (TBLAM) Evaluated by: Adapted from the City of Olympia and Evergreen State College Sustainable Action Map (SAM). Economic Notes: Environmental Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats Project/Decision: Social Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats Community Municipal Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats ATTACHMENT 1 Triple Bottom Line Analysis Map (TBLAM) Evaluated by: Adapted from the City of Olympia and Evergreen State College Sustainable Action Map (SAM). Economic Notes: Environmental Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats Project/Decision: Social Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats Community Municipal Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats Strengths Limitations Opportunities Threats - increased consumer choice - improved Youth Activity Center - 2 major community gathering space is an area of town lacking these types of gathering spaces (East & West Lawn) - increased community pride - Increased consumer opportunities - XXX construction jobs supported - Catalyst project for Midtown; may precipitate additional investment in the area - Maximizes productivity of a large retail site (few if any remain undeveloped in the City) - Defends against future retail development outside of City Boundary - Increased General Fund revenue (after sales tax increment utilization) - Increased Dedicated Fund revenue (KFCG, BOB, Open Space, Streets) - One-time increase in use tax and capital expansion fee revenue - Recycle highest % of waste by weight possible: iron and metals, concrete, copper, steel beams, etc. - Reuse of existing buildings and infrastructure - Addition of stormwater water quality for 100% of site - Proximity to transit = reduced carbon emissions - Fewer carbon emissions than greenfield development - Redevelopment in a Targeted Infill and Redevelopment Area - May increase costs to other taxing entities - May reduce the availability of low cost consumer goods - Requires public investment in the form of financing assistance - May increase retail competition in specific store categories - Higher rent rates at new facility may displace some existing businesses at the site - Pledge of 100% of sales tax increment = Page 1 of 1 TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE ANALYSIS Derived from a TBLAM Brainstorm on ONE PLANET PROGRAM INCENTIVES In Collaboration with the One Planet Team Purpose: To extract key triple bottom line information from a TBLAM, and use that information to assist in decisions for selecting businesses for One Planet program incentives I. General Observations from TBL Analysis Map (TBLAM): A. The TBLAM indicated incentives for One Planet were heavy on strengths. B. Limitations were few, and tended to be repetitive between all columns. C. The greatest strength in the program incentives appears to be for our workforce. D. Environmental considerations have anomalies. 1. It was anticipated the TBLAM brainstorm would be highly environmental since the One Planet program is highly environmental, but that was not the case. 2. Most environmental considerations were business-related, and fell into economic categories simultaneously. II. Conclusions Offered: A. One Planet program incentives appear to be highly positive. B. Limitations are largely based on perceptions or anticipated perceptions. C. The incentive program for this environmental effort is highly beneficial socially and econocmically. 1. The TBLAM indicates One Planet incentives cross into all 3 TBL arenas simultaneously. 2. Based on the previous conclusion, the One Planet program is a TBL superstar. D. The strongest key indicators should be selected first from brainstorm topics that fall into multiple TBLAM columns. 1. Others should be selected case-by-case based on One Planet goals and needs. 2. Further analysis is warranted and anticipated from One Planet leadership. III. Potential Key Indicators Suggested: A. Businesses should be selected locally to support our community, its economic vitality, and its commitment to serving our local workforce. B. Businesses should be given selection preference when they support our Utility programs (i.e. Climatewise, sprinkler audits, energy audits, etc.). 1. This promote the efforts of our workforce. 2. It also promotes the environmental and economic benefits offered to the local community through results obtained following these programs. C. Businesses should be selected as close to alternative transportation areas as possible to promote and reward wellness and to showcase the economic benefits of trail systems and transportation corridors in the community. D. Businesses in fair or poor standing with the Better Business Bureau should be removed from consideration. ATTACHMENT 3 1 City Triple Bottom Line Decision-Making Process City Council Work Session September 10, 2013 ATTACHMENT 4 2 • Utilities TBL Team (2008) • TBLAM (Triple Bottom Line Analysis Map) and staff trainings (2008+) • Experiment with including TBL in AIS (2009) • TBL Decision-Support Tool Project (2010) • TBL Embedded in City Plan (2011) Triple Bottom Line (TBL) History at City of Fort Collins 3 Brian Varrella, P.E., CFM Utilities TBL Team Lead Floodplain Administrator 970-416-2217 office bvarrella@fcgov.com Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Evolution 4 Part of 21st Century Utilities Initiative • 2008; started by Brian Janonis, Utilities Ex. Dir. – Delegated to a TBL Team • Task; embed TBL into daily practices & strategies – Benchmarked communities worldwide – Collaborated with City of Olympia, WA Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Evolution 5 Start with why; why a 3-fold bottom line? • How do we give the environment equal consideration with public safety? – Utilities Mgt., 2008 • How do we factor political will into a decision? – City Mgt., 2010 • How do we make public safety a community indicator? – Plan FC team, 2010 Start With Why 6 Implementation of the 21st Century Utilities Initiative • Response; developed tools and methods – TBLAM brainstorming tool • Reveals key indicators & fatal flaws • Identifies non-quantifiable value – Established 10 Best Practices – Training materials & in-person training – Synthesis tool(s) & analysis Sustainable Roots at Utilities 7 Sustainable Roots at Utilities 8 TBL is . . . • A thought process • A brainstorm • Exploring options • Intended to inform • A vision for today and for the future • Creative + Innovative TBL is not . . . •A form • A spreadsheet • A set of rules • Intended to decide • Historic justification for decisions already made • Strict + inflexible Sustainable Roots at Utilities 9 Refining the Vision & Learning from Mistakes • Recent Developments – New focus on brainstorm synthesis – Diversified team membership • Fresh ideas needed from other departments • More useful City-wide if TBL Team is represented across the organization – Merging efforts with Office of Sustainability Svcs. Sustainable Roots at Utilities 10 TBL Synthesis; Analysis & Next Steps • TBL Synthesis – Observations summarized – Conclusions offered – Suggestions on next steps Sustainable Roots at Utilities 11 The TBL Crystal Ball • Future; transitioning City-wide through OSS – Part of long-term evolution outside Utilities – Growing through diverse membership – Meeting needs of the 2013 Council directives Sustainable Roots at Utilities 12 “act sustainably: to systemically, creatively, and thoughtfully utilize environmental, human, and economic resources to meet our present needs and those of future generations without compromising the ecosystems upon which we depend.” City Plan Policy on Sustainability (2011) 13 • For City Council work sessions (excluding updates) • Provide : – TBLAM – Staff Synthesis Interim Approach (2013) 14 • Seek Council feedback on information provided to date • Seek 2014 funding to develop a TBL Decision-Making Framework and Toolbox – Overarching framework to guide staff through TBL process and choice of appropriate TBL tools – Research and develop a TBL toolbox of existing qualitative and quantitative tools Longer Term Approach (2014+) 15 Does City Council have any feedback on the interim approach of providing Triple Bottom Line qualitative assessments of major projects in City Council work session packet materials? Council Direction Sought short-term utilization of General Fund increment for public financing of project - A net increase in carbon emissions over current use - Increased carbon emissions during construction and increased impact to road infrastructure from construction - Not all buildings may include commissioning (refurbished buildings may not need to comply with all aspects of the new energy code) - XXX new retail jobs; specifically in a transit accessible location - new housing in proximity to transit and in response to market demand - increased revenue (Keep Fort Collins Great) for human services funding - increased revenue for Open Space - XXX new retail jobs supported by the increase in retail business - Reduce the leakage of Fort Collins resident spending elsewhere - Attract additional non-resident spending - Encourages retail development along the Spine and in the Core of the community; consistent with SMART growth principals - Project protects the existing sales tax revenue base; absent redevelopment this may have declined - Potential positive impact on retail sales leakage and inflow - Decreased Vehicle Miles Traveled regionally by Fort Collins residents (due to fewer shopping trips outside of City) - Compact pattern of development in core of community - Increased funding for Open Space - Enhanced bicycle and pedestrian access (Underpass and College Ave. improvements) - Perceived negative impact from traffic (reality = marginal increase in traffic between proposed and high water mark for the site) - Increase in retail jobs could place increased burden on social systems - Investment of public money does not net the anticipated return - Transfer of retail sales from elsewhere in the community - Pledge of revenue for 25 years may increase the utilization of sales tax increment if a significant economic downturn occurs - Increased site specific traffic (marginal compared to high water mark of existing site) - May increase Vehicle Miles Traveled regionally by non-residents (additional shopping trips) - New housing may create additional environmental pressures: natural resource consumption, increase H2O and energy Foothills Mall Redevelopment Lucinda Smith (Environmental), Beth Rosen (Social), and Josh Birks (Economic) ATTACHMENT 2