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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015.12.16 CEAP Minutes Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee December 16,2015 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLAN ad hoc COMMITTEE Wednesday,December 16, 2015 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Roxanne Beigel-Coryell called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m. in the Siskiyou Room. Committee members Bryan Sohl, Louise Shawkat, Greg Jones, Stuart Green, James McGinnis, and Claudia Alick were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Committee member Rich Rosenthal was absent. 2. Appointment of Vice Chair Hanks stated that when Chair Rosenthal realized he would be unable to attend he requested that the group consider appointing a Vice Chair. Group agreed this would be important. McGinnis/Alick m/s to appoint Beigel-Coryell as Vice Chair of the committee. Discussion: Green stated that if she is uninterested in being Vice Chair is willing to take on the job. Beigel- Coryell stated that she is comfortable with either decision. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. 3. Approval of Minutes Shawkat/Green m/s to approve the minutes of December 2, 2015, as presented. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. 4. Public Forum Matt Hunter—thanked the group for their service. Stated he is a builder with Ashland Post and Beam. He would love to see make sure it is easier for people to do green building. He stated that he isn't talking about making it cheaper to do so, but instead having the process easy so more people are encouraged to do so. He wanted the group to know that there is a stringent building standard called the Living Building Challenge and that Julia Grable(sp?) in town can give them information on this standard. Because this standard is so strict, it frequently runs into challenges with municipal codes. Group has a brief discussion with Mr. Hunter regarding the types of municipal code conflicts he is referring to. Hannah Sohl— stated that the meeting time of this group is particularly difficult for students and working people to participate. She suggested that the group have some 4:00 p.m. or evening meetings. Hanks stated that when the schedule for this committee was set, the idea was for all the administrative type decisions to occur in the daytime meetings, but that during the public process Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee December 16,2015 Page 2 of 3 most of those meetings will occur in a wider variety of meeting times, including evenings, for wider participation. James Stephens— stated that at the Climate Challenge event he understood one of the speakers to say that 70% of our energy comes from coal-fired plants. He has since discovered that this is not 100% accurate. We purchase power from BPA, which gets lots, but not all, of its energy from water. It is important to pay attention to where our power is coming from as most in Ashland would rather not purchase from coal, even if it's just in terms of accounting. When we talk about what electrons are being used, we need to be clear where they are generated. His understanding is that lots of our energy is from natural gas plants in Klamath Falls, which is not renewable. He wants to see more renewable energy production, but really would be happy if we would just not get any power from coal. He stated that when the group breaks out into smaller groups he would be happy to participate. Additionally, there is no reason for vehicles not to be run off of renewable resources like solar. Huelz Gutchen— stated that, in response to Mr. Stephens, where the actual electrons come from requires lots of interesting study. It doesn't really matter where we purchase our energy from, what it boils down to is how quickly those electrons arrive here and that ones created closer get here first. Which means that what we really need is to create our own using solar panels. He discussed some of the things agreed to in the recent Paris climate talks and stated that they agree we need to increase both solar panel installations and the use of electric cars. 5. Climate & Energy Action Plan RFP Hanks reviewed the previous motions regarding the appointment of the selection panel and stated that the City Attorney determined that executive session laws allow for an appointed committee to convene under executive session for the review of documents such as would be in the RFP selection panel process. This means we can add more members to the selection panel. However, neither he (the city attorney) nor the purchasing agent think that's a good idea. Adding more non-staff members creates a higher level of risk to the process in order to maintain compliance with public contracting law. One such risk is confidentiality. He also stated that seven responses to the RFP were submitted on-time. Group reviewed the timeline for the process. Group discussed whether the selection panel numbers should be increased. Some felt that it would help everyone who participates to get a better understanding of the process, as you can learn things, even from the contractors not chosen. Some felt the risk was minor. McGinnis/Stuart m/s that each member of the committee who wants to be involved be allowed to participate. Discussion: Group requested clarification regarding whether, after the contractor is selected, all the submittals would be available for review by the rest of the group. Hanks confirmed that all submittals would be public record, and therefore available to everyone, after the selection. Sohl stated that he understands this is an unusual situation, but as this is supposed to be a community-based process, having more members of the community participate Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee December 16,2015 Page 3 of 3 seems appropriate. Claudia stated she doesn't feel her skills would be best used in being on the panel. Group agreed that if she would rather use her skills in other, more creative, parts of the process that would be appropriate. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. McGinnis was the only committee member who wanted to be added to the selection panel (Shawkat requested of staff after the meeting adjourned to be added as well). Alick stated that she is trying to gain a better understanding of the group and was curious to know if the group considered running a paperless system a group value. Group agreed that, when possible, they want to minimize use of paper. Hanks stated that, unfortunately, some things (like the RFP selection process) can't be paperless yet due to meeting regulations, but that he would try to limit the use of paper otherwise. 6. Schedule and Agenda for Upcoming Meetings The next regular meeting of the group will be on January 20th the main topic of conversation for that meeting will be the greenhouse gas inventory report. The selection panel will meet on January 11 th 7. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 3:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet Executive Assistant