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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015.12.02 CEAP Minutes Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee December 2,2015 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLAN ad hoc COMMITTEE Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Chair Rich Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 2:02 p.m. in the Siskiyou Room. Committee members Bryan Sohl, Stuart Green, Roxane Beigel-Coryell, Louise Shawkat, and Greg Jones were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Committee member James McGinnis was late. Committee member Claudia Alick was absent. Rosenthal wanted to note that it is December 2nd and the temperature outside is currently 61 degrees, he believes this is a good indication of the importance of this group and that we need to move forward with this process. He gave information regarding the upcoming Paris Climate talks and read a quote from an article in The Economist regarding adaptation. Commissioner McGinnis arrived at 2:08 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes Beigel-Coryell/McGinnis m/s to approve the minutes of October 21 and November 4, 2015, as presented. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. 3. Public Forum Barry Thalden—Recommended the book, "Don't Even Think About It: Why our Brains are Wired to Ignore Climate Change". He stated that it gives good details regarding why people have ignored science and ways we can communicate with the community. McGinnis asked for a summary of the book and Mr. Thalden gave an overview. Huelz— Stated that people who don't want to learn about mitigation or adaptation strategies should leave them to the experts. The past data can no longer dictate the future. He gave some calculations he estimated regarding city buildings versus what staff is saving. He stated that at the Paris talks there are lots of people wanting to reduce carbons only but there are other who want lots of innovations in technology and use of resources. Both are interested viewpoints. Jeff Sharpe— Suggested that the group give 10—20% extra in the RFP scoring to local applicants due to the local multiplier effect on the economy. James Stephens— Stated that he is part of a group (Southern Oregon Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Association) dedicated to increasing electric vehicle use. He stated that since so much energy is consumed in transportation they recommend the use of electric vehicles. His group always recommends that a family's second vehicle be electric. A gas vehicle can be used for long trips, but for short ones, an electric vehicle is preferable. He believes that all energy should be produced in sustainable ways. He stated that he was feeling good about the electricity source for Ashland, thinking it was all hydro but learned at the Climate Plan Kick-off event that isn't the case. He believes we need to refocus on getting our energy only from renewable sources. At the request of Rosenthal, Hanks gave an overview of where Ashland and the region get their Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee December 2,2015 Page 2 of 3 electricity. Hanks confirmed that the City of Ashland purchases its power from the Bonneville Power Administration, which is produced primarily by hydro from the Columbia and Snake River dams. The generation mix is roughly 80-85%hydro, 8-10% nuclear, 5-7% wind/solar and the remaining 1-3% fossil fuel (coal/natural gas). In the direct accounting method, the City of Ashland's power is very low carbon, but that is only one way that the carbon intensity is measured. A regional factor is also used to measure any particular community or entity's carbon emissions, which accounts for the mixture of energy generation sources throughout the regional transmission grid that Ashland receives its power as there is no ability to allocate power once it is on the grid a the electron level. He stated that more of that information will be part of the Greenhouse Gas Inventory. 4. Climate Plan Kick Off Event Rosenthal stated that most of the group was part of the debrief which occurred at the Conservation Commission. Group agreed this event went very well and appreciated the work of those involved in planning it. The deliverables required of Geos Institute should be done in January. Rosenthal asked if Geos and Rogue Climate had held an debrief regarding the community comments gathered at the event. Marni Koopman of Geos was present and stated that they had not yet, but that they had held one regarding what overall had worked and didn't work. She agreed that it would be good to get the whole planning group together to debrief, especially as this will keep them engaged in the process. She gave details of what form the deliverables will likely be in and the ways Geos will quantify some of the results, as the questions ended up being so broad. Group thanked Geos and the planning group for their efforts. 5. Climate and Energy Action Plan RFP Hanks stated the RFP has gone out and thanked those who help distribute it to interested parties. He clarified that there cannot be a local preference in the scoring per State of Oregon statues. Our municipal code also follows those statutes but does say that, if two or more applicants score equally high, we are free to choose the local applicant. We cannot, however, give local applicants any extra points or other scoring preference. Hanks handed out an updated timeline, as proposed by the City's Purchasing Agent. Group discussed the new timeline. It has more steps involved than the one in the packet, but the starting time of the contractor is basically the same. McGinnis wondered if it would make sense to extend the timeline by two weeks, as the review period is occurring during the holidays. Shawkat stated that there is a certain amount of urgency in this process and if we delay now, we delay everything which risks not finishing by the January 2017 City Council deadline. Group agreed that the timeline as proposed by our purchasing agent is acceptable. Sohl/Beigell-Coryell m/s to approve the purchasing agent's timeline as submitted in the packet. Discussion: It is better to get this process done sooner rather than later. However, if there is an excessive amount of submittals the Group agreed that they can consider an alteration to the schedule. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee December 2,2015 Page 3 of 3 Group discussed which committee members would participate on the selection panel. All members of the committee were interested in participating, with the exception of Rosenthal who cannot due to other work commitments. Group determined that it would be best to have four members of the committee on the selection panel, and requested that Hanks work with the Legal Department to see if there can be an executive session (or similar)to allow all members of the committee to participate. Group discussed whether, as Chair of the Conservation Commission, Beigel-Coryell should be on the selection panel. Sohl/Shawkat m/s that the Ashland community would best be served by having the Chair of the Conservation Commission as a member of the selection panel. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Rosenthal drew names out of a hat for the other members of the selection panel. Beigel- Coryell/Green m/s to appoint committee members Sohl, Green, and Jones to the selection panel, pending a determination by the City Attorney regarding executive session allowance for all members to participate. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Group discussed whether there is a need to have an alternate member selected, in case one of the members is unable to complete the selection process. Group determined that with four committee members plus two staff members on the selection panel there are enough participants to handle any emergency. 6. Schedule and Agenda for Upcoming Meetings The group agreed to hold their regularly scheduled meeting on December 16th as a check-in on the RFP selection process. They will cancel the January 6th meeting, as most members will be working on review of the RFP. The selection panel will meet on January 1 lth. They will hold their next regular meeting on January 20th. McGinnis departed meeting at 3:1Op.m. 7. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Update Hanks stated that he has a conference call with the contractor tomorrow as some of the early numbers seem skewed. He and the contractor have been working to clean up those calculations. The city operations side is nearly complete and the community side is about 80% complete. They are waiting on the final information from ODOT to complete the community side. The report should be available to the group for the January 20th meeting. He stated that they have been keeping track of who, how, and when data is created so that the process can be replicated or updated in the future. 8. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 3:29 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet Executive Assistant