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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021.05.13 Climate Policy Minutes Minutes for the Climate Policy Commission May 13, 2021 Page Iof5 MINUTES FOR THE CLIMATE POLICY COMMISSION Thursday, May 13, 2021; Held Electronically 1.Call to Order (item starts at approximately 00:21 on the video) Chair Rick Barth called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. Commissioners Bob Kaplan, Ray Mallette, Gary Shaff, and Jeff Wyatt were present. Council Liaison Tonya Graham and staff members Bridgette Bottinelli and Stu Green were also present. Commissioner Chris Brown arrived later in the meeting. 2.Consent Agenda (00:24) 2.1. April 8, 2021 Minutes Barth corrected under section 5.5 Buildings—Natural Gas Emissions Reductions that the user is breathing in combustion by-products not natural gas. Shaff/Kaplan moved/seconded approval of the minutes. Further discussion: none. Ayes: Barth, Graham, Kaplan, Mallette, Shaff, and Wyatt. Nays: none. Motion passed unanimously. 3.Announcements 3.1. Next Meeting: June 10, 2021 3.2. Council Update (1:20) Graham stated that the Council is focused on the budget. Mallette asked if the Council gave any feedback on Green's Climate and Energy Action Plan (LEAP)progress report presentation. Graham stated no, but Council will need to review and approve the USDA grant when available. 3.3. Staff Update (3:00) Green announced he received a letter of intent from the USDA regarding funding for the home energy retrofit loan program expansion. Council will need to approve a resolution allowing the City to submit an application by July 6. Chris Brown arrived 4:04 p.m. Barth asked how the Commission could support this project. Green answered that he will have more details when a revised program document is set. The Commission could also help with gathering support with the Council and community. Green also stated that Bottinelli has provided new content for the website. A new incentive program for induction cook-tops will launch soon. The City will be buying induction cooktops for the Jackson County Library of Things and encourage Ashland residents to try induction cooking as part of the incentive promotion. 3.4. Other Announcements from Commissioners (9:27) Mallette thanked Green for his report to Council stating the report was important to see the trends. Barth has reached out to the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission (APRC) regarding the pool, but they have delayed the project due to lack of funding. Kaplan added that one of APRC's top goals is environmental sustainability and creating a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory. Shaff gave an update on the following: • 20's Plenty has been reformatted to a vision zero approach focusing on the transportation system not allowing fatalities and serious injuries in all modes of travel. The Climate Minutes for the Climate Policy Commission May 13, 2021 Page 2 of 5 Policy Commission (CPC) might be asked to endorse vision zero to Council, but CPC might not need to be involved as vision zero does not relate to climate. • APRC will likely start with their GHG inventory before phasing out their gas-powered landscape equipment. Shaff hopes that APRC will set a date to start phasing out the equipment soon, but nothing has been decided yet. • Shaff is still waiting to hear feedback on the urban, land use, and transportation LEAP update and implementation plan from the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission (CCOC) and the Transportation Commission. Graham stated that APRC would use the GHG assessment as a first step in assessing their systems and plans for moving forward. Shaff asked if anyone had contacts with the Ashland School District (ASD) or Southern Oregon University(SOU)to talk about phasing out their gas-powered landscaping equipment. 3.5. Reports from Representatives of Other Commissions None 4.Public Forum None 5.Old Business 5.1. Action Items Volunteer(18:08) Mallette was the action item keeper for this meeting and Shaff volunteered for the next meeting. 5.2. Commissioner Recruitment (18:22) Barth announced that there are now two vacancies as Julian Bell did not reapply. 5.3. Formal Planning (19:10) Mallette announced that the Talent Ashland Phoenix Intertie (TAP)Master Plan and the Storm Drain Master Plan are both scheduled for Council approval in July. CPC has provided input on both plans, but a draft on the TAP Master Plan is not available yet. He will move the APRC pool to the to be determined category as the project is on hold. The ten-year Electrical Study is planned to start after the budget process is over. Barth asked Graham when the budget will be finalized by Council. Graham stated that the new fiscal year starts on July 1, 2021 and the budget will need to be adopted by Council before then in June. Barth asked if the next CPC meeting on June 10 would be too soon considering the budget might not be adopted. Green added that the budget might not be formalized then, but the Commission will have a better idea of funding for the study by June. 5.4. Eugene Fossil Gas (22:21) Wyatt stated that environmental activist groups including Breach Collective, the Sierra Club, 350 Eugene and other groups sent the letter to the Eugene City Council that is included in the packet materials. He summarized the letter which states that Eugene has existing regulatory authority to limit or prohibit natural gas infrastructure outside of the franchise agreement. The authors of the letter encourage Eugene to move forward in the short term by enacting a moratorium on natural gas connections for new structures. The authors also hope that in the long term the City of Eugene will ban or limit natural gas connections and infrastructure based on the City's authority to regulate health and safety, such as indoor air quality and hazards from Minutes for the Climate Policy Commission May 13, 2021 Page 3 of 5 explosions. Wyatt will be notified if any changes occur. Currently, the City of Eugene has not moved forward on any of these recommendations. Barth asked if Breach Collective would still be willing to present to CPC and if the Commission is interested in a presentation from them. Wyatt said the offer is still available. Mallette said that the presentation might not cover details beyond what Wyatt has reported and would like to see what the City of Eugene does first. Barth said he will defer the offer for now. 5.5. Path Off of Natural Gas (27:19) Mallette asked if the five elements listed in the packet were enough to move forward. Wyatt added that the first four elements were to collect and collate information. The fifth element is an implementation plan. Both asked if there were issues with any of the five elements. Discussion included: • Large Projects Assistance Barth was concerned that Commissioners would overcommit to large projects like the fossil gas inventory. Mallette agreed that other individuals outside of the Commission would be brought in to help with these large projects. • Timelines for Projects Shaff asked to see timeframes for these projects similar to the LEAP Implementation Plan outline. Mallette agreed that the elements would include multi-year timelines. • Element#2: Legal Authority Graham stated this would be covered by following Eugene's progress. • Element#3: Fossil Gas Inventory Graham said this should be focused on now along with engagement. Green added the City overall data on gas usage overall, but having a policy in place would help working with larger users. • Element#4: Electric Grid Capacity Graham stated this would be covered with the utility planning process. According to Green's calculations, Ashland going all electric (including all electric vehicles) would double the electric load. Covering this is possible especially with added conservation measures that the City has and will continue to provide incentives. Shaff wanted this to be incorporated into engagement as Avista is saying otherwise. • Affordability Green asked to incorporate affordability in the plan as that is a major element to helping get people off natural gas. Mallette and the group plans to work with Green on the inventory data after he is done working on the USDA funding application. Wyatt said the group will put together a table for current status or progress on each one to show status. 5.6. Climate Resilient Ashland (47:10) Graham gave an overview of having a coordinated campaign between CPC, CCOC, the Transportation Commission and the Wildfire Safety Commission which could start in August 2021. The campaign would consider using CERT volunteers to help spread the word. Discussion included: • Extended Time Frame Minutes for the Climate Policy Commission May 13, 2021 Page 4 of 5 Mallette suggested having two or more months for a message to help with outreach. Graham agreed and said that certain topics could have a block of months where multiple issues are mentioned like wildfire safety for the spring. Chris Brown left at 4:54 p.m. • Expanded outreach channels Wyatt suggested using Firewise neighborhoods and local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce in addition to the City's channels to help spread the word. Kaplan added that working with students would be a good addition. Shaff wanted to partner with SOU, ASD, the hospital, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and other large organizations for getting the word out. Graham agreed and added that the Wildfire Safety Commission has been doing a lot of community outreach with displays at grocery stores, local news releases, etc. Since CPC was in support, Graham will meet with the Commission Chairs to discuss content and a plan for the year as well as current outreach channels for City and commissions. 5.7. Climate Action Community Leadership (1:06:13) Barth commented that this outlined ways to help entice voluntarily changes by the community without needing to go through the traditional government process. Discussion included: • Holding Stakeholder and Neighborhood Interviews Shaff suggested this since there are similarities with land use planning and gets away from one- way communication. Barth commented that this was similar to the community coalition proposed. Graham stated that all three efforts could be used for outreach. The coordinated campaign could cover Shaff s idea for person to person neighborhood interactions. • Coalition Creation and Responsibility Kaplan agreed with having a coalition and asked if formal approval from Council would be needed. Barth answered that updates to CEAP coming from a coalition would need to be formalized by Council. Some discussion with the Legal Division would need be had regarding this coalitions influence and abilities to affect City policy. Graham stated that the coalition would help bring together organizations that also had climate commitments. Mallette asked to look at what others are doing. Barth stated that there was a list of Oregon community coalitions in the packet. The coalition would also help with education on voluntary switches by tabling events and giving induction cooking demonstrations as an example. Barth was concerned that trying to do outreach on voluntary actions could take up too much time. Having a coalition to take over the outreach would be helpful especially when dealing with stakeholders. Kaplan suggested having a coalition for different topics that could change members based on their expertise on a certain topic. Barth stated that the action team concept also touches upon this. Graham also emphasized that a coalition would be started by CPC, but then taken on by other community members. • Traditional Approach Wyatt stated there seemed to be skepticism on the option one traditional approach. Barth stated that for a traditional approach consultant are usually brought in which takes time and money. Shaff expressed interest in continuing the traditional approach by making recommendations to the Council, Council holding a public hearing, and adopting, refining, or rejecting the proposal instead of pushing for voluntary change. Graham mentioned that the City has limited authority on some matters and having a community coalition to help encourage voluntary change would be beneficial. Minutes for the Climate Policy Commission May 13, 2021 Page 5 of 5 Barth will bring back this item to the next meeting and allocate more time to cover concerns. Mallette asked if Commissioners should send examples of actions listed for the next meeting and Barth agreed. 5.8. CEAP Update Strategy This item was moved to the next meeting. 6.New Business 6.1. DLCD Climate Friendly and Equitable Communications Rule - Transportation (1:45:50) This item will be moved to the next agenda and Shaff will include interpretation of the housing goal to add in for the next meeting. Shaff also expressed interest in adding the coalition concept as a part of the CEAP update. 6.2. Vice Chair Election (1:47:50) Barth asked for nominations. Wyatt asked what the Vice Chair duties were. Barth answered the formal duty is to run the meeting when the Chair is unable, but he would like the Vice Chair to also be involved in forming the agenda. Wyatt volunteered to be Vice Chair. Graham/Shaff moved/seconded to nominate Jeff Wyatt to serve as the Vice Chair. Further discussion: Graham thinks Wyatt will do a lovely job and thanked him for volunteering. Ayes: Barth, Graham Kaplan, Mallette, Shaff, and Wyatt. Nays: none. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Wrap Up (1:50:03) Mallette asked if Commissioners should send their ideas on the CEAP update to Barth before the next meeting and what is the frequency of the update. Barth agreed and Green stated that every three years a review of CEAP must be done. Kaplan emphasized that because a review is asked for the plan might not need to be updated. Barth wanted to document progress for reports to Council on CEAP. Graham stated that the Commission should focus on content brought to Council and decide if more details to the implementation plan be added and adaptation plan to be developed. Barth asked for all to write down and submit ideas to him before the meeting. Kaplan agreed that the focus should be on content instead of the structure of the update. Chair Barth adjourned the meeting at 5:5 5 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth Taylor