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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017.02.01 CEAP Minutes Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee February 1,2017 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE & ENERGY ACTION PLAN ad hoc COMMITTEE Wednesday, February 1, 2017 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Councilor Rich Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 3:32 p.m. Committee members Roxane Biegel-Coryell, Bryan Sohl, Jim Hartman, Claudia Alick, Louise Shawkat, Isaac Bevers, and Claire Prior were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Committee members Marni Koopman and James McGinnis arrived late. Committee members Stuart Green, Cindy Bernard, and Greg Jones were absent. 2. Icebreaker Group did a teambuilding icebreaker answering the question, "If you had unlimited funds, what's one thing you would do for this community?" 3. Approval of Minutes The minutes of January 18, 2017, were approved as submitted. 4. Public Input Huelz Gutchen— stated that measuring Ashland, the County, and the world's carbon numbers is challenging he figures it's roughly 490 parts/million. Adding in methane and other gases he fears we will hit 600 parts/million and that we will never see anything below 500 parts/million no matter what we do but we need to do all we can to keep it down. The best vision of the future is how many renewable energy projects we create each year. He also stated that we need to measure kilowatt hours in all proposed actions. Committee member Koopman arrived 3:38 p.m. Allie Rosenbluth—thanked the group members for all their hours of work. Stated that community members she's spoken to are also thankful for the effort. She is concerned the implementation plan still states ordinance or resolution, not just ordinance. The community has said many times why an ordinance is important so that should be changed in the plan. Hanks stated that he thought all those instances of"resolution"had been removed but if not, they will be by the final version. James Stephens— stated if he had unlimited resources he would electrify everything. He informed the group that at the February 9th Transportation Commission meeting they will be talking about public transit and discussing lots of options for Ashland. He thinks the proposed Nevada Street bridge is a bridge to nowhere and that if people care about climate issues they should be paying attention to this project. He stated that Sharon Javna sent an e-mail to some members of the committee regarding whether or not the committee wanted to make a statement on the in-progress Transportation System plan. Committee member McGinnis arrived 3:42 p.m. Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee February 1,2017 Page 2 of 3 Group agreed that if there was time they would discuss the request to make a statement to the Transportation Commission regarding the Transportation System Plan. 5. Recap of Council Study Session Rosenthal gave an overview of the meeting and the process moving forward. Group discussed some of the concerns expressed by the Council at the study session. Group also expressed concerns with whether or not Council understands that this plan will be the most aggressive plan in the nation. 6. Updated Draft Plan Group discussed each action which had been recently edited and let Hanks know if the edits were acceptable or if additional edits were required. Group discussed some ways the implementation plan actions are already incorporated in on- going projects and staff work and ways in which those not included may be in the future. Group also discussed the desire to have footnote s/endnote s with all citations. Bevers raised concerns that the plan contains lots of numbers, but has very little story-telling to engage people who have not been a part of the process. Group discussed ways they could make the plan more engaging. Bevers agreed to write a "day in the life in 2050" for the group to consider at the next meeting. Group raised concerns that the Thought Experiment section doesn't connect at all with the actual goal. Rosenthal wondered if section should be removed and replaced with the vision story Bevers will be writing. Group discussed ways Cascadia could instead alter the numbers to connect with the plan, including explicitly stating the 8% goal. Some in the group raised concerns that the central idea of the section is not clear. Some wanted it to be used to make it clear that the current goal is beyond our current capabilities. Others wanted it to be used to set a more positive spin on what we can achieve. Others in the group wanted the section to clearly lay out all how much needs to be done now to achieve any reduction. Group did not agree on a direction, but requested edits by Cascadia to clarify the section. Group discussed other edits to the document, including the need to include the word, "disability" in the equity sections. 7. Implementation Budget Preparation Overview Hanks gave an overview of the upcoming budget process and how it will incorporate some of the Phase I actions but others, like the FTE position, will be incorporated as add packages. Staff is also working on showing the "soft dollars" (like staff time)needed for the plan, so Council has a clearer picture of the work involved with implementation. 8. Transportation System Plan Statement Consideration Group discussed whether a statement to the Transportation Commission was appropriate. Rosenthal stated that while it's appropriate for individual committee members to attend those Minutes for the Climate and Energy Action Plan ad hoc Committee February 1,2017 Page 3 of 3 meetings and express their personal opinions, it's not a great idea for a committee to make recommendations unrequested on a plan not yet completed. Group agreed. 9. Next Meeting The upcoming meeting schedule is as follows: February 15, 5:30 p.m. final plan recommendation and vote March 7, 7:00 p.m., Council Business meeting 10. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 5:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet, Executive Assistant