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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014.02.26 Conservation Commission Agenda Packet ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION MeetingAgenda February 26, 2014 Community Development Building, Siskiyou Room 51 W i n b u rn Way 1. Call to Order 2. Consent Agenda / Reports (5 min) 2.1. Minutes Dec 18t" and January 22nd Commission meetings 2.2. Minutes of January 27, 2014 Fourth of July sub-committee 3. Announcements (10 min, 1 minute per member) 3.1.Next Regular Meeting: March 26, 2014 3.2.Upcoming Sub-committee meetings for March • Sustainability • Conservation Competition/Awards • BYO B 3.3.Other Announcements from Commissioners 4. Public Forum (10 min to be evenly divided by public wishing to speak) 5. Reports / Presentations 5.1. Council - Councilor Morris (5 min) 5.2. City Operations — Hanks (5 min) 5.3. Quarterly Report— SOU/Beigel-Coryell (5 min) 5.4. Recycling Center Ad-Hoc — Beam and Beigel-Coryell (5 min) 5.5. Sustainability Sub-Committee (5 min) 5.6. Fourth of July Sub-Committee — Buck (10 min) 6. Old Business 6.1. Conservationist of the Year Awards Committee — Buck, Koopman, Gould (10 Min) 6.2. Ashland Garden Club—Sponsorship Recommendation Request(10min) 6.3. Rogue Valley Earth Day—Sponsorship/Participation Request (10 min) 7. New Business 7.1. Commission Goals Review 8. Wrap Up 8.1. Review of goal assignments (5 min) 8.2. Items to be added to next agenda (5 min) 8.3. Adjournment (8 PM) ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION Meeting Minutes December 18, 2013 Community Development Building, Siskiyou Room 51 W i n b u rn Way 1. Call to Order Commission Chair Weir called the meeting to order at 6:00. In attendance were Commissioners Gould, Hartman, Buck, Silverberg, McGinnis, Biegel-Coryell and Koopman. Commissioner Beam and Council liaison Rosenthal were absent. Staff Hanks was also in attendance. 2. Consent Agenda / Reports Meeting minutes from the November 20t" Commission meeting were approved unanimously by motion/second from Gould/Hartman. 3. Announcements Commission Chair Weir noted that the next Regular Commission meeting is scheduled for January 22, 2014. Upcoming Sub-committee meetings for Jan/Feb include the BYOB sub-committee and the sustainability sub-committee Other Announcements from Commissioners: Weir noted that he would like to alter the agenda to move up the City staff report on the Ashland Storm Drain System that is under new business to immediately follow Public Forum. 4. Public Forum Misty Munoz, who spoke at the November meeting inquired about funding availability for her potential compost project as part of her graduate work at SOU. Hanks stated there wasn't a process for the Commission to approve or recommend funding for that type of activity. 5. New Business Ashland Strom Drain System — Beam and City Staff Hanks noted that the original intent was to have the Public Works/Engineering staff present an overview of the City's storm drain management plan and operations after Commissioner Beam described the downtown pilot project that he and City staff had conducted, but that Beam was not able to attend but Rob Morris from the Public Works Dept who is responsible for the City's storm drain system management plan and regulations was able to attend and will be providing the overview of the system and Commissioner Beam will present the pilot project at the following Commission meeting. Rob Morris presented an overview of the City's Storm Water Management Plan which is made up of the following six components: 1. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination a. Implement and enforce IDDE program i. Non-stormwater discharge ordinance ii. Incident tracking system—code compliance log b. Stormdrain system mapping i. Drainage basins ii. SD outfalls iii. SW treament facilities 1. Constructed wetlands, bio-swales, structural treatment c. Inform public, businesses of hazards associated with illicit discharge 2. Construction Site Stormwater Runoff Control a. Require DEQ permit for disturbance of>1 acre b. "No track-out" ordinance c. Site plan review for SWPPP d. Erosion and Sediment Control training for inspectors 3. Post-Construction SW Management in New Development a. Mitigates hydromodification resulting from impervious areas b. LID requirement for>2500 s.f. of hardscape c. Require maintenance of private water quality features 4. Pollution Prevention in Municipal Operations a. O&M plan for city facilities b. Pollution prevention included in employee training i. Park and landscape maintenance ii. Fleet and building maintenance iii. General construction S. Public Education and Outreach on Stormwater Impacts a. Contracted out to Regional Manager—RVCOG b. Distribute educational materials to the community i. Targeted stormwater brochures 1. Concrete, painting, landscaping c. Conduct outreach activities on SW pollution impacts i. Tabling at local events, watershed model 6. Public Involvement and Participation a. Provide opportunities for the public to become involved in program development and implementation—Storm drain markers The Commission expressed their appreciation for Rob's presentation and followed up with several questions including: 1) Wastewater Treatment Plant fish kill — Morris noted it was determined to be herbicide but not know who applied it. 2) Day to day education efforts — Buck suggested more pro-active efforts, including possibly using the sides of the street sweeper for educational efforts. 6. Reports / Presentations Council - Councilor Rosenthal Moved to next meeting Recology Quarterly Report Buck provided a report of Recology related activities for the previous quarter including the following: 1) Leaf Diversion : Free Leaf drop Nov.17t" — 11 boxes & Dec. 15t" — 3 boxes 2) Pre-paid leaf bags sold 239 total sets of bags at a cost of $1,076. Conservation Commission contributed 67sets for $300. Public Works 103 sets for $464. RASS 69 sets for$312 3) DEQ's 2050 Vision switching to materials management for Oregon. Created (3) different work groups. I am on the materials management work group to strengthen recycling options- possibly change Opportunity to recycle act. Consider expanding the solid waste management plan 4) Jackson Co. diversion rate for 2012 was 49.3% 5) Hand out Recology Strategic Plan for 2014 -2018 6) Roll out of trash carts for the city early January 2014 Recycling Center Ad-Hoc Hanks noted that the Committee was approved for formation and the Mayors appointments were confirmed by the Council on December 17, 2013. Staff will be coordinating with the members to being meetings. 7. Old Business Conservationist of the Year Awards Committee The Conservation Awards sub-committee (Buck, Koopman and Gould) presented the results of their meetings and proposal for a modification to the previous awards format with the goal of involving more people in the community, getting more submittals to select from and using the program for education and awareness in addition to recognition. The proposal is an all schools sustainability competition with several categories, one being a class award for a project, program or activity that displays innovative work in sustainability with measurable results. The other is a performance based award for a song, play, or other performance based product with a sustainability theme/objective. The Commission supported the concept and discussed a variety of potential program details. Commissioner Gould motioned to give the sub-committee approval for the general concept and to return to the full Commission for formal approval of the final product. McGinnis provided the second and was approved unanimously. Sustainability Sub-Committee Request Chair Weir allowed for the addition on the agenda for the sustainability sub-committee to present a memo drafted to be included in the City Council goalsetting packet tentatively scheduled for February 15, 2014. The goal of the memo is to inform the Council of the progress and work being done in developing a framework for a community sustainability plan and to offer to address any issues the Council may have. Biegel-Coryell motioned to approve the memo for submittal. With a second from Silverberg, the motion passed unanimously. 8. Wrap Up Items to be added to next agenda Januar Ashland School District Report Storm Drain Pilot Presentation Recycle Center Committee Update BYOB sub-committee update Conservation Awards update February SOU Report Conservation Awards update Goals Review Earth Day Plans Fourth of July sub-committee report Ashland Garden Club sponsorship recommendation Weir adjourned the meeting at 8:00 ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION MeetingAgenda 6:00=8:00pm — January 22, 2014 Community Development Building, Siskiyou Room 51 W i n b u rn Way 1. Call to Order Chair Weir called the meeting to order at 6:00. In attendance were Commissioners Buck, Weir, Beam, Biegel-Coryell, Hartman, Silverberg, Gould and Koopman, Staff Liaison Hanks. 2. Consent Agenda / Reports Minutes for the December 18t" meeting were deferred to the February 26t" meeting 3. Announcements Next Regular Commission Meeting is February 26, 2014. Upcoming Sub-committee meetings includes the Sustainability sub-committee on the first and third Wednesdays at 2:00 in the Siskiyou Room, the Conservation Competition/Awards subcommittee (time TBA) and the BYOB sub-committee on February 5 at 3:45 at Recology offices. Other Announcements from Commissioners — Buck noted that the Master Recycler class registration is open for 2014. 4. Public Forum Louise Shawcat spoke about the storm drain report to the Commission from the December meeting noting that improved education to the public on not sweeping leaves and other materials into the street would be helpful. She also noted that the schedule for street sweeping in residential areas could be increased and parked cars pose an obstacle. Shawcat also noted that water conservation efforts such as not offering water at restaurants and signage for showers at the YMCA would be helpful. 5. Reports / Presentations Council Report- Councilor Rosenthal- Councilor Rosenthal was not in attendance and Chair Weir noted that the new Council liaison appointments had been made by Mayor Stromberg and Councilor Mike Morris is the new liaison for the Conservation Commission. Gould motioned (Buck second) to send Rosenthal a card of appreciation for his time and efforts with the Commission. The motion was passed unanimously and Weir noted that the Commission really appreciated Rosenthal's time with the Commisison. Road Diet Update Report Public Works Director Mike Faught provided an overview of the Road Diet report utilizing the materials provided in the Commission's meeting packet that was originally provided to the City Council as part of their discussion and ultimate approval of maintaining the land configuration at their meeting on December 3, 2013. Faught reviewed the original criteria, the public input processes used to assist the Council in their decision making and noted that the project was funded with $15,000 of City funds and the remainder from a State grant. Among discussion with Commission members, Faught noted that a design criteria was that no permanent structures be installed to give the City maximum flexibility/temporary re-configuration of the use of the road for events, emergencies, etc and also noted that Council directed Staff to incorporate a few modification to the existing configuration to address some of the concerns from the public as part of the public process that Staff also agreed were improvements. City Operations — Hanks Deferred to February Quarterlyport —ASD/Hartman Deferred to February Recycling Center Ad-Hoc— Beam and Beigel-Corgi Hanks noted that the Committee is scheduled for their first meeting February 6 at 3:00 6. Old Business Conservationist of the Year Awards Committee — Koopman provided an update/overview of the sub-committee development of the awards competition for 2014 and provided the Commission with a draft flyer to approve for distribution. Koopman noted that they have agreement with OSF to give the awards and have the winning entry present their event at the "Green" Green show in June along with an OSF selected short event relating to sustainability. Koopman noted that she will work with Hartman to ensure distribution of flyer to the schools. Koopman also outlined a proposed budget for the awards of $500 to OSF for the Green Show $200 for the ice cream party to the winning class $150 for printing of materials $50 for the plaque for the winners on the Conservationist of the Year Awards board. Gould motioned for approval of the budget (Buck second). Approved unanimously. Gould motioned for approval of the flyer (Hartman second) with edits as discussed and submitted to staff by Koopman with the Green becomes mainstream or without, depending on final staff determination of its allowable use. Motion passed unanimously. 7. New Business Ashland Garden Club—Sponsorship Recommendation Request— Chair Weir suggested that the Commission review the Commission ideas for "next step" actions for the Garden Club to agree to complete in conjunction with a Commission recommendation for the even sponsorship being requested. Hanks noted that he would pull the minutes from last year's request and include them in the February meeting packet for the Commission's review and final decision. Ashland Storm Drain Downtown Pilot— Commissioner Beam described the six week downtown storm drain inlet inventory and study. The project consisted of three curbside storm drain inlets where fabric filters were installed to collect materials that would otherwise enter the storm drain system and ultimately into Ashland and Bear Creeks. Beam noted that all materials were collected each week with the assistance of Public Works — Street Division staff and provided the Commission with photos of the weekly collections. Beam concluded that the primary tool utilized to successfully minimize material infiltration of the storm drain system is the weekly street sweeping done by the City and lauded the City's efforts in that regard. Commissioner Gould motioned to have Beam present the study to Mayor Stromberg and to repeat the study in summer to identify any possible seasonal differences. Buck second, all moved in favor. Fourth of July Sub-Committee — Commissioner Buck asked the Commissioners to volunteer for the sub-committee to prepare for the Commission's involvement in the annual parade and celebration. Commissioners Buck, Biegel-Coryell, Weir and Silverberg volunteered to serve. Buck announced the first meeting would take place January 27. Buck also asked for the Commission to confirm their support for the 2014 compost class so she could coordinate with the Parks Dept for inclusion in their quarterly class guide. After Commission discussion of different class types, Commissioner Koopman motioned to approve four compost classes and recommended funding to offset instructor costs of $150. Beam provided the second and all voted in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 i Adam Harks i From: Miriam J Pippl [lepipswife@charter.net] Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 1:17 PM To: adarn@ashland.or.us Subject: Request to be on agenda Dear Mr. Hanks � I would lice to be included are your January 29th, 2014 agenda for the Conservation-Commissi n. We would like t request endorsement from this commission to the city council again this year so that we can hang our banenr for our Spring Garden Tour, scheduled for Sunday, June 8th. Last year was the first year we received an endorsement from the Conservation Commission. Because f that endorsement we have made some revisions to our garden tour policies such as requiring each garden on our tour to have a wateraudit done by Julie Smith rmarn. This was done for our 2013 tour. I have also been following the monthly meetings and believe there are more things we can work together on such as-composting classes. I've emailed F Mannar Sim es to inquire as to if and when she will have a class again this year. Thank you for considering my request. I'll be waitingto hear from you. Sincerely, Mimi Pip l UW Garden Tour Chair Sent from my Pad i r } r r } r