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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016.10.26 Conservation Commission Minutes Minutes for the Conservation Commission October 26,2016 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION Wednesday, October 26, 2016 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Chair Bryan Sohl called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Commissioners Mark Weir, Jaime Rosenthal, Risa Buck, Roxane Beigel-Coryell, Marni Koopman, Cara Cruickshank, and James McGinnis were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Council liaison Rich Rosenthal was absent. 2. Consent Agenda Weir/Buck m/s to approve the minutes of September 28, 2016 as presented. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. 3. Announcements The next commission meeting will be December 14, 2016. Sohl stated he e-mailed the Ashland School District Superintendent, who replied she would be appointing a representative to the commission soon. November 9, 2016, from 6:30— 8:00 p.m. will be the next Low-Impact Living class at North Mountain Park. This class is regarding waste prevention and costs $5. McGinnis encouraged the group to listen to the Tom Ashbrook episode of the On Point podcast regarding the future of electric cars. This year's annual leaf drop-off will occur on November 6 and December 11 from 9:00 a.m. — 4:00 p.m. at the Ashland Recycle Center. Talent's leaf-drop off day is November 13th Additionally, leaf-bags can be purchased at Recology until November 4th 4. Public Forum Jeff Sharpe—observed that the CEAP is doing great work but seems overwhelmed. He thinks its too overwhelmed to do anything about implementing the 1 Ox20 ordinance and so he would like this Commission to take on that role. Group discussed the status of the l Ox20 ordinance—that it is currently in the hands of the City Council and until such time as Council decides to assign work to either staff, or a commission or committee, this group has no role. Hanks suggested the group attend or watch the Council discussion of on November 2nd. He additionally agreed to send links to the agenda packet for Council's discussion when it has been posted. 5. Reports/Presentations/Updates City Conservation Programs and Operations—Hanks showed the group the new residential conservation program and new construction handouts. Commercial conservation and solar information handouts are in the process of being created. Minutes for the Conservation Commission October 26,2016 Page 2 of 3 Downtown Recycling Pilot Program Update—Beigel-Coryell stated they are looking at a "soft" expansion of the program while still looking into ways to do a permanent program through the City, Recology, or Parks & Recreation. Hanks informed the group there will be an ad in December's Sneak Preview thanking the current basket sponsors and encouraging others to join in. SOU Quarterly Update—Beigel-Coryell gave a list of acknowledgements recently received by SOU, including (but not limited to): Sierra Magazine's list of"cool schools", the Princeton Review's list of green schools (SOU scored 97 out of a possible 99 points), and an honorable mention in the Climate Leadership awards. The SOU Sustainability program has a new website - sustainability.sou.edu. The site contains lots of news and information. She updated the group on the current progress of new construction and/or remodeling occurring on campus and the LEED certifications each building is seeking. Beigel-Coryell handed out information on SOU's greenhouse gas emissions tracking and discussed the challenges they have encountered in obtaining actuate information. Group asked some questions for clarification on the numbers presented. Grey Water Subcommittee—the subcommittee members requested that the name of this group be changed to the Water Subcommittee, as it more accurately reflects the variety of topics they wish to cover. They met on the 20th of October and came up with a list of goals they want the group to approve, alter or add to. The goals are as follows: 1) start discussion/engagement with Public Works staff(Mike Faught and Julie Smitherman) about existing programs related to water conservation (grey water, catchment, etc.) 2) set a goal for doubling the number of grey water systems in town by October of 2017 3) update/refresh the grey water information page on the city's website with the assistance of Public Works staff 4) add a grey water information class to next year's list of Low Impact Living classes 5) add a water catchment information class to next year's list of Low Impact Living classes Cruickshank stated she is also interested in adding a goal of finding ways to incentivize new grey water systems. Beigel-Coryell stated this seems to be a natural part of the discussion with staff regarding existing programs. Beigel-C oryell/Koop man m/s to approve the five goals of the subcommittee as presented. Discussion: Beigel-Coryell stated she is glad the subcommittee started this process. Sohl wondered how their efforts will tie into the CEAP process, particularly as water has been discussed so little in that process. Buck gave an overview of the previous grey water class and how it resulted in many of the current systems in Ashland. Cruickshank reiterated her desire to include finding incentives in the list of goals. Cruickshank moved to include incentives discussion to the list of goals. Motion failed for lack of a second. Voice Vote on original motion: All Ayes. Motion Passes. 6. Old Business Sneak Preview Column—Group praised Rosenthal for her well-written article. Beigel-Coryell/McGinnis m/s to approve the article for the December edition of the Sneak Minutes for the Conservation Commission October 26,2016 Page 3 of 3 Preview as presented in the packet. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Group discussed the schedule of articles for the next several months. They would prefer to see a January article regarding the science-based targets CEAP just approved, a February article regarding Energy Efficiency Programs by Weir and Hanks, and a March article regarding the final plan presented to Council in February. Beigel-Coryell/McGinnis m/s to donate the January and March Conservation Commission Sneak Preview space to the Climate and Energy Action Plan Committee. Discussion: Buck asked the group how it knows the CEAP will use the spots? Sohl stated that since a good number of CEAP members are also Conservation Commission members, he's comfortable that the CEAP will use the space. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Climate &Energy Action Plan —McGinnis gave an overview of the October 15th meeting, which included discussions on the 1Ox20 ordinance, an approval of science-based goals and targets. He stated that the group ran out of time to discuss a Vision Statement so Councilor Rosenthal is drafting one by compiling all the suggested statements from committee members. Koopman stated the targets discussion was a particularly difficult decision and the group did not make its decision lightly. McGinnis stated the group also recognized that it won't be possible to achieve the targets without either purchasing offsets or coming up with some creative thinking outside the box options. Group discussed ways in which the CEAP may affect the Conservation Commission (or, at the very least, the Commission's Powers and Duties). Earth Bowl—Weir stated he reached out to Rogue Climate, who informed him they are unable to assist in this project. He is meeting with SOCAN on October 28, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. to see if they are interested in assisting with the event. He will update the group at the next meeting with any progress. 7. New Business Electric Department Cost of Service Study—Hanks informed the group that this will be presented and discussed at the Council Study Session of October 3Is'. He gave an overview of the process leading up to the study and how it will likely set the table for rate designs in the next few years. Group raised concerns that there is no information regarding the LEAP and Hanks stated that the CEAP started after this study was contracted, so it hasn't been taken into consideration. 8. Wrap Up Group requested that the following topics be on the upcoming agenda: • Water Subcommittee update • Biomass change to the Boardman power plant Meeting adjourned at 8:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet Executive Assistant