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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016.11.02 CEAP Minutes Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee November 2,2016 Page 1 of 4 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLAN ad hoc COMMITTEE Wednesday, November 2, 2016 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Councilor Rich Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. Committee members Louise Shawkat, Jim Hartman, Stuart Green, Greg Jones, Cindy Bernard, James McGinnis, and Marni Koopman were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Committee member Roxane Beigel-Coryell arrived late. 2. Public Input Allie Rosenbluth—thanked the group for their hard work. Urged the group to include equity in the vision statement. It is important to say at the beginning so that equity is always at the top of everyone's mind. She stated that it is confusing in the proposed composition of the commission whether the representatives listed for specific areas are in addition to the citizen members, or are included in the total of citizen member numbers [Hanks clarified it is in addition to]. She questioned the need for a chamber of commerce representative on the commission. She also highlighted a few things that currently aren't matching between the implementation plan and the ordinance. Robert Block-Brown—(see attached statement) stated the group needs to listen to and follow the science. This process will require a strong cultural shift. He described an e-mail he had sent to Hanks regarding the need for an administrator-level position to lead the plan. He believes that if a cost/benefit analysis was done it would show that this level of a position is as valuable as it is important. This is the most difficult plan the city has ever undertaken and we need a high authority level with management skills. He is also concerned about not having this staff member be the chair of the future commission and is concerned with current policy that staff members can only be ex-officio, non-voting members of commissions. James Stephens— stated that at last night's Council meeting he was encouraged by the Mayor's positive statements regarding the 1Ox20 ordinance. He stated there seems to be some confusion as to how to define the 10% in the 1Ox20 ordinance. The definition to him is 10% of all power consumed by Ashland, annualized over a year. As for the definition of clean power, the group intended that this be any renewable energy source. He did an internet search and, unfortunately, the natural gas consortium has managed to label themselves as a renewable energy source and was the first resource to pop up in the search. He wants to make sure the group understands this was not the intention of 1 Ox20. The intention was any non-greenhouse gas producing renewable source. Roy Mollett— stated as we look into the amount of solar energy production, it's increasing rapidly. Even Tesla is doing a new solar project. With all the new ways to integrate solar panels with roofing, this seems to the be away we will be going in the future. He believes that using this technology makes everything look more plausible. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee November 2,2016 Page 2 of 4 Dave Helmich— stated it is important to understand that the cost of solar installations has to come from somewhere and some people in town do not have roofs to install panels. His idea for 1 Ox20 has always been an industrial solar farm. There is currently a source of money for this project from rate payers and it is time to build this project. 3. Icebreaker Question Group did an icebreaker question regarding their favorite Halloween candy. 4. Vision Statement Rosenthal explained how he came to create the draft, "Ashland is a sustainable, resilient, carbon- neutral community that embraces equity, protects healthy ecosystems and creates opportunities for future generations." Roxane Biegel-Coryell arreived 3:50 p.m. Group discussed whether they wanted the statement to be related to a specific time ("In 2050 we are..."). They determined it may be useful as a narrative point of view,but they want parts of the statement to be true far before 2050 (like equity, for example). Group discussed whether using the term `carbon-neutral' was appropriate when the term `greenhouse gases' can be used as a teaching tool. Most agreed that carbon-neutral is an effective short-hand to grasp the more complex terms surrounding greenhouse gases. Hartman/Biegel-Coryell m/s to approve the vision statement, "Ashland is a resilient community that strives for zero-net greenhouse gas emissions, that embraces equity, protects healthy ecosystems and creates opportunities for future generations." Discussion: Green stated that he still like's the version Marni presented in the packet. McGinnis stated he thinks that the term, "strives for"waters down the intent. Hartman/Biegel-Coryell agreed to change the term "strives for" to "has" in their motion. Voice Vote: 6 ayes, 2 nayes. Motion Passes. 5. Implementation Plan Hanks requested feedback on the proposed commission ordinance. He stated that none of the proposed members are set in stone, they are just suggestions based on previous group discussions. Group discussed the total number preferred to have a functional group. There was concern that nine voting members was too large a number but also concern that at a lower number not all the necessary groups would be represented with enough citizen members. Group also discussed whether a chamber of commerce representative was necessary. Most of the group agreed that as the plan calls for actions relating to consumption a business connection is vital. Group discussed ways to have the broadest cross-section of the Ashland population represented, including low-income, youth, seniors, etc. Hanks stated that those desires could be included in the citizen representative descriptions. Group discussed both the desire to have lots of youth representation and the challenges of keeping students engaged in the long-term. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee November 2,2016 Page 3 of 4 Hartman/Green m/s to have two of the nine voting members under the age of 25 at the time of appointment. Discussion: None. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Group continued to discuss the proposed representative organizations. They generally felt comfortable with the organizations listed. Group discussed the role of the commission. Rosenthal stated that, "and Council" is missing in the statement, "Assist and provide recommendations to City staff[and Council] in the review and analysis..." Group agreed this needs to be added. Group discussed whether the new commission would have a role in the process for hiring the staff member who will handle the action plan. Due to timing, this probably isn't likely, but there has been precedent for a community member to participate on an interview panel (depending on the level of the staff member—i.e. department heads have had citizens on panels, lower on org chart staff have not). 6. Overarching Strategy Hanks informed the group he started doing stakeholder interviews and has received good comments and feedback on the strategies so far. Group discussed potential edits to the strategies including: • Removing numbers so that people don't automatically think they are ranked • Separating water from energy section to lessen confusion • Add"callout"boxes for definitions of terms • Edit so that it doesn't sound like this is a plan to increase diversity and equity but rather the plan will take into considerations the ways in which it may have an effect or may be effected by diversity and equity • Add a clear introduction paragraph/summary of how we are filtering the options to help decision making by Council, staff, and future committee members Bernard raised concerns that the scope of work for this group stated it was to focus on "measurable actions"but by continuing to include consumption as part of our goals and strategies we're introducing things not measurable. 7. Open House Plan Group discussed the proposed outreach plan and proposed some ways to reach more residents. McGinnis expressed the desire to have a time in the program where people interact/have round- table discussions of the plan. Group generally agreed this would be a good addition to the open house. Koopman expressed the desire for a few members of the group to explain the difficulty in choosing the goals—that the decision was not made lightly. Group agreed this would be important. 8. Next Meeting Topics for discussion at upcoming meetings include the December 7 open house, and Conservation Commission responsibilities overlap with proposed new commission. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee November 2,2016 Page 4 of 4 The upcoming meeting schedule is as follows: November 16, 5:30—7:30 p.m. Open House December 7, 5:30— 7:30 p.m., Stevenson Union at SOU January 4, 3:30— 5:30 p.m. —tentative meeting, if next phase of plan document is ready. 9. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 5:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet, Executive Assistant As I have stated before, I come at this issue from a position of stewardship moving us to a Right relationship with the earth and living organisms.To get there we need to listen to and follow the science.This is a bold action for the City and in turn will require strong value based leadership by the City to redirect the community to a culture of regeneration. There seem to be 3 main concerns with the proposed concept and ordinance language that I sent to each of you. 1) while cost/benefit is always an important consideration when we spend the peoples money,this may be the most difficult challenge we have ever taken on as a community.we need the best leadership we can afford to guide us through this cultural change. Z] If the right duty statement is developed and the right person is selected,the placement of this position in the office of the City Administrator gives it the level of authority needed in oversight of all department directors and gives this position a place at the table with the existing decision makers. It is not necessary to also establish a new staff level position,although that would be best for the work load all the current staff carry. 3] There apparently is current practice/requirement that City staff may only be appointed as ex-officio members of citizen's commissions and a chair must be appointed as voting member. If this is the case the position could serve as ex-officio on the Commission and chair the City staff team. Robert Block-Brown