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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017.01.18 CEAP Minutes Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee January 18,2017 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLAN ad hoc COMMITTEE Wednesday,January 18, 2017 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Councilor Rich Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Committee members Greg Jones, Cindy Bernard, Jim Hartman, James McGinnis, Isaac, Bevers, Marni Koopman, Claudia Alick, Claire Pryor, Louise Shawkat, Roxane Biegel-Coryell, Stuart Green, and Bryan Sohl were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Rosenthal gave an overview of upcoming meeting dates and the remainder of the committee's work. 2. Icebreaker Group did a teambuilding icebreaker answering the question, "what is one positive thing you've experienced or witnessed recently?" 3. Public Input Huelz Gutchen— stated the Department of Energy is developing an artificial leaf for photovoltaic, as well as other advanced science. He stated it is more important to grow and use real plants than create a chemical variety. Asked the group to consider what one thing would make real climate change occur. Ray Mallett— stated the newest draft of the plan had good visual improvement. He is hoping that in the final version there will be a gantt chart regarding implementation so that everyone will know when things will be starting. Ken Crocker— stated he appreciates the work that has gone into this process. He is looking to see if there is a way to help everyone envision what our community will look like when we are carbon neutral. People not involved in this process won't have a good understanding of what this plan is doing without a good vision of the future. He looked at the current Comprehensive Plan and noticed there is no mention of climate change, and no action from this group to update it. Does this mean the two plans are at odds with each other? The Transportation Plan has one minor section regarding being climate-wise but nothing else. Robert Block-Brown—thanked the group again for their work. Stated he appreciated seeing the letter from RVTD and some of the issues they bring around converting their fleet from natural gas to electric. He also appreciated their request for membership on the new commission and thinks that's a good idea. He stated that the implementation plan is still not clear about the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy, especially in the residential sections. This will take a long time, and people need to start planning for those changes now. 4. Approval of Minutes The group accepted the minutes of December 14, 2016, and January 4, 2017, as presented. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee January 18,2017 Page 2 of 3 5. Implementation Plan Group discussed the four questions in the memo from Hanks: 1) Is the implementation plan consistent with the primary plan document and associated draft ordinances? Group gave Hanks some edits to grammar, to match the implementation plan with the draft plan, and to match the implementation plan with previous discussions. 2) Do the Phase I and Phase II tables make sense? Group generally agreed that having it broken down in phases makes more sense than the previous "near-term" and"far-term." 3) Are there any suggestions for particular points of emphasis to ensure the formatting assists the reader in absorbing/understand the document? Hartman raised concerns that there isn't a clear high priority to transition away from natural gas. Some in the group agreed that the accountability and enforcement section was too weak. They also mostly agreed that using "household equivalent" or similar as a way to convert metric tons into something easier to grasp would be useful. 4) If the committee agrees with the "top three" call out, it will need to determine what the top three are. Green suggested calling out a top three in each of these areas: building, household and transportation. Group agreed to this suggestion, and also agreed they should be a mix of mitigation and adaptation. This "short list" should also be used as a way to easily help the public understand the plan, maybe by using icons to represent each area or creating a one-page handout. Rosenthal asked the group if they were interested in taking up Mr. Crocker's idea regarding a vision for what Ashland would be like as a carbon-neutral city. Group wondered if it would be possible to use some of the information submitted at the various open houses, including the Geos kick-off event. Bevers agreed to see if he can create a rough draft of what daily life might be like, based on some of this recent European travels. Hartman/McGinnis m/s to add a priority action in the Buildings and Energy section to switch from natural gas to electric in buildings for heating and cooking. Discussion: Biegel- Coryell wondered if there should be an exception for using land-fill created natural gas. Hartman/McGinnis agreed to amend the motion to add the words, "fossil-fuel based" before, "natural gas." Discussion continued: Group agreed that the term, "switch"was unclear and should be replaced with "transition." Hartman/McGinnis agreed to amend the motion to replace, "switch" with, "transition." Discussion continued: McGinnis stated that this is a good start to understand the need for non- fossil-fuel based options and for people to understand there are alternatives. Bevers wondered Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee January 18,2017 Page 3 of 3 why we were limiting it only to electricity when there are other technologies in place now besides either natural gas or electricity. He proposed adding, "or other clean energy sources." Hartman/McGinnis agreed to add, "or other clean energy sources." Motion now reads, Hartman/McGinnis m/s to add a priority action in the Buildings and Energy section to transition from fossil-fuel based natural gas to electric or other clean energy sources in building for heating and cooking. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Alick recommended that a call out box be added to the implementation plan regarding what is considered "clean energy," since it is only defined in the draft plan. Group agreed to this suggestion. 6. Council Presentation Rosenthal stated the Chair (him), Vice Chair (Biegel-Coryell), and Staff(Hanks) will be presenting. They will walk Council through the plan, ask Council to respond to policy questions, and make sure Council has any questions they may have about the plan answered. Group discussed some concerns regarding whether Council would need an additional presentation to understand the 8% goal. Hanks reminded the group that this is not Council's last opportunity to view the plan, it's just the first and an opportunity, and we need to focus on getting policy questions asked in order to move forward. 7. RVTD Letter Rosenthal stated he would like to see if the group has any comments or concerns regarding the letter received from RVTD regarding the draft plan (in packet). Group agreed they were glad RVTD was engaged in this process. Group discussed ways to engage other groups. Group discussed some of the challenges regarding transportation issues with both local population and the visitor population. Shawkat stated that the Transportation Commission has been discussing this for a long while. They would like to do a shuttle but need to identify where funds would come from for not just the purchase of vehicle(s)but for staff, maintenance, etc. She stated there has been lots of thoughtful discussions and many on that commission understand both the need to reduce carbons and the challenge of limited available resources. 8. Next Meeting The upcoming meeting schedule is as follows: January 23, 5:30 p.m. preview of plan at Council Study Session February 1, 3:30 p.m. committee meeting March 7, 7:00 p.m., Council Business meeting 9. Adjournment Meeting adj ourned at 7:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet, Executive Assistant