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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018.02.28 Conservation Commission Agenda Packet ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION Meeting Agenda February 28, 2018 — 6:00 PM Community Development Building, S iskiyou Room 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order 2. Consent Agenda January 24, 2018, Commission Meeting Minutes February 7,2018 Renewable Energy Sub-Committee Minutes February 21, 2018, Waste Prevention Sub-Committee Minutes 3. Announce me nts (5 min) 3.1. Next Regular Meeting: February 28, 2018 3.2. Upcoming Sub-conanittee meetings 3.3. Other Announcements from Commissioners 4. Public Forum (10 min to be evenly divided by public wishing to speak) 5. Reports 4.1 Council Liaison Update -Darrow 4.2 Southern Oregon University Quarterly Update —Beigel-Coryell 4.3 City Operations/Administration - Hanks 6. Old Business (25 min) 6.1. Commission Monthly Column in Sneak Preview (5 min) April—Conservation Commis s ion Goals —Weir May—CEAP Implementation Committee —Hanks/Green June—Water Related article—Weir/Cruikshank July—Summer Sustainability Tips—Beigel-Coryell 6.2. Sub-committee updates (30 min) • Energy C onservatio n • Renewable Energy • Water • Waste Prevention 7. New Business (10 Min) • Commission Representation on Ashland Canal Piping Project Advisory Group • CEAP 2.0 Committee Update • Film Funding Request—Buck 7. Wrap Up 8.1 Items to be added to next agenda CITY 0, F 11qxL S F"-1 L AN Minutes for the Conservation Commission January 24,2018 Page 1 of 3 MINUTES FOR THE ASHLAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION Wednesday, January 24, 2018 Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way 1. Call to Order Chair Marni Koopman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Commissioners Risa Buck, Mark Weir, Roxane Beigel-Coryell, Cara Cruickshank, and James McGinnis were present. Staff member Adam Hanks was present. Commissioner David Sommer arrived late. Commissioner Jamie Rosenthal and Council Liaison Traci Darrow were absent. 2. Consent Agenda McGinnis/Buck m/s to approve the minutes of December 13, 2017, as presented. Discussion: None. Voice Vote: Five Ayes, One Abstention. Motion Passes. 3. Announcements The next commission meeting will be February 21, 2018. Buck stated that waste-reduction baskets have been installed in five new downtown locations. McGinnis stated the new ad hoc Climate Action Plan Implementation Committee meetings will be held every third Thursday from 5:00—7:00 p.m. in the Siskiyou Room. Beigel-Coryell stated that next week is SOU's Waste Week. Go to www.sustainability.sou.edu for information on all the events. Weir stated that May 23rd, from 9:00 a.m. —4:00 p.m. will be DEQ's regional hazardous waste training for businesses. There is limited space, but the program is free. Commissioner Sommer arrived 6:08 p.m. Sommer stated the school district has recently contracted with a new carbon-reduction company and are already seeing results, particularly thanks to new LED bulbs. Hanks stated the City is likely following suit with a contract with a similar contract. 4. Public Forum Neil Clayton— stated he was an SOU student who came to learn about the commission. Louise Shawkat— stated the Master Climate Protector classes will be starting in February. She encouraged the commissioners to submit comments for the Clean Energy Jobs Bill being considered by the state legislature while there is still time. She stated she is concerned by the number of cigarette butts lying around downtown as there are no disposal containers and the no- smoking ban isn't always observed. Huelz Gutchen— stated that the world bank has begun to divest itself from fossil fuels. He stated that Lloyds of London is also dropping out of the coal markets. These are both really good signs. He stated that Governor Brown recently signed an executive order requiring that all new residences be solar ready by 2023. Garret Graves— stated he's an SOU student. He asked what the top three things either Ashland School District or the City of Ashland are doing to reduce carbon use in their major building systems. Minutes for the Conservation Commission January 24,2018 Page 2 of 3 Sommer and Hanks both gave information about HVAC system improvements, insulation, and LED bulb replacement projects. 5. Old Business Sneak Preview Column—Koopman and Cruickshank passed out copies of their article for the Sneak Preview. The group discussed minor grammatical edits. Buck/McGinnis m/s to approve the Personal Action Plan article by Koopman and Cruickshank with edits based on the discussion. Discussion: None. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Group discussion upcoming Sneak Preview deadlines in relation to the Commission's meeting schedule. Beigel-Coryell/McGinnis m/s to pre-approve the Conservation Commission Goals article to be written by Weir, so long as it is reviewed and edited by Koopman and City staff prior to submittal. Discussion: None. Voice Vote: All Ayes. Motion Passes. Group discussed potential future article topics and agreed to the following: • May—give slot to CEAP Implementation Committee in order to introduce Stu Green to the community and give an overview of the committee's work plan—written by staff and reviewed by McGinnis • June—Water related article—written by Weir and Cruickshank with assistance by Julie Smitherman • July— Summer Sustainability Tips—written by Beigel-Coryell Subcommittee Updates Energy Conservation—Beigel-Coryell stated they discussed ways to leverage the City's utility bills to educate people on their usage versus average usage. Hanks gave an overview of the upcoming billing system and on-line payment portal. He discussed ways in which the commission can tie into the review of the new bill formats. Renewable Energy—Koopman stated that the group talked with members of the community who expressed an interest in a broader community conversation about 1Ox20 (she noted this occurred prior to the recent Council study session on the topic). The subcommittee discussed ways to facilitate such a discussion. Hanks gave an overview of the recent study session. He reminded the group that they can't facilitate such a discussion as the Commission (or a Subcommittee) without express permission from the Council. He also stated an event such as this might be better handled by the CEAP Implementation committee. Water—Julie Smitherman is working with Laura Allen to do a water catchment workshop. The subcommittee will be working with Ms. Smitherman on organizing the workshop. Waste Prevention—Beigel-Coryell stated they are working on a plastic straw ban pilot program. They would also like to screen the film, "Plastic China" and requested there be a discussion at Minutes for the Conservation Commission January 24,2018 Page 3 of 3 the next meeting about whether the Commission is interested in paying the fee for the screening. Group agreed this topic should be added to the agenda. 6. New Business CEAP Implementation Committee Update—McGinnis stated that the ad hoc committee met for the first time last week and agreed to meet on the third Thursday of every month. He gave an overview of the first meeting, which was mostly about orienting new members to the Action Plan. He also gave an overview of the committee members. Group raised concerns about whether the CEAP Implementation Committee had plans to actively engage under-represented populations in the community. McGinnis gave an overview of the proposed discussions of that issue, which will be on the next committee agenda. 7. Wrap Up Group requested that the following topics be on an upcoming agenda: • SOU Quarterly Update • City/Council update • Plastic China film funding request Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diana Shiplet Executive Assistant 4-4 ct r4 ................. ct rNllmomo 5 ct IS u t-I CN III $ao -ci ct 4-3 � _ }� 78 1-4 COO CA 0 ' � o a Qn 111111[,�))Jjjjjjjl) 4-0 Ct 't� 71 ct ct CA1 vi) will) ...........�\ cn cn 4-5 M ct A Ct 5 C) -C�ol Clio 4-4 ct M 4mo UCt $aiiiii N ct 4-4 ct Clip �-4 ct ct ct ;......... .......... N c� 0 •� N Ln o ♦, N � � o C° ct O O O 41 ct U vi N � N M 0 i O i —• a� 4� � � O U � O O O •� � � � cn ct Ln cn N p pip 4� N U p rz 4-4 cn M t Ln4-4 �� � � vim, O � � �'-� N � � i •� � i �-+ CIA 4-4 v 4-4 ct ct 7S Ct � Q � Q � � U N 0 c� r••i � ,� bA U '� U, � O U � U � O Ct ►� o0 0 p p ►� ►� pj kn ° y NO w O p ` 4� Q �.. 'w 0 %) O .Q p �4-'.+ pftl y c� ; ct 4-4 M tR � %) � ct U I ct ct O ct 4-; p y �' G 4-4 CN ct 4-4 ra� ct 4 ; v� ct O i U �--jCt Qn ct 4-j ct 55 • ; �., O ++ , °II II III II I�I� ( �. CY) o w 2 . Conservation Commission Waste Prevention subcommittee mtg 2/21/18 Members present: Roxane, Jamie, Risa. Marni absent. Community present: Louise * The possible screening of"Plastic China" was discussed. Jamie will find out whether Earth Day week at Science Works might wish to partner with us to show film. * The "state of recycling" and efforts to reach out to public were discussed. We will continue this conversation * General discussion about OUTREACH to public about topics and what works. We will have a brainstorm about this at our next subcommittee mtg. * "Straws on Demand" pilot. SOU student working on materials to hand out to the interested businesses. The launch date is April 22nd(Earth Day) * Louise shared with us about the "Draw Down" movement and group meeting in Ashland * We will make another meeting date at the upcoming C.C. mtg. and share those details promptly with Ms. Shiplet! Respectfully submitted by Risa Buck CITY F ASHLAND February 21, 2018 Dear City Commissioners/Liaisons and members of the public, As you know,water is one of Ashland's most precious resources and the City of Ashland takes its responsibility as a steward of our region's water and watersheds very seriously.This Stewardship includes improving water quality and conserving water quantity within the Ashland (TID) Canal and Ashland Creek, the outlet of the Ashland Canal. As part of the City's 2012 Water Master Plan,which was vetted by the Ashland Water Advisory Committee and approved by City Council,the City will pipe approximately two miles of the front section of the Ashland Canal from Starlite Place to Terrace Street. A map of the proposed section to be piped can be found here. The City of Ashland Public Works Department would like to invite one representative from your Commission to participate in the recently formed Ashland (TID) Canal Advisory Group (ACAG). By serving on this committee, members will have the opportunity to help guide the Ashland (TID) Canal Piping Project and serve in an advisory role to City Staff. ACAG Responsibilities: • Attend dedicated ACAG meetings to discuss project specifics and review progress. (Meeting frequency will be dependent on project phases; once every other month or as deemed necessary by City staff) • Provide constructive feedback on project development, constraints, and public outreach. • Participate in review of preliminary plans and preliminary reports. • Attend introductory meeting on March 1, 2018 at 51 Winburn Way in the Siskiyou Room 5:30- • We hope to keep your involvement through the final engineering phase, estimated to be complete in late 2019. Ashland Canal Piping Project Overview The goal of the piping project is to replace the open-channel irrigation canal with below-ground pipe(s)to improve the water quality in Ashland Creek and to assist the City's goal for overall water conservation. The City receives a portion of its water supply from Talent Irrigation District (TID). This water is delivered via the Ashland Canal as a source of seasonal irrigation water. In years when water supplies are limited, the Ashland Canal is used as a supplemental water source. The water is treated to drinking water standards at the City's Water Treatment Plant (WTP). Raw water in open canals is vulnerable to contaminants from a variety of sources. These contaminants increase treatment costs at the WTP and reduce water quality in Ashland Creek. Additionally, open canals are susceptible to water losses through seepage and evaporation. More information can be found here: Council Staff rt .............................................................................................................................................. Engineering Tel:541/488-5347 20 E.Main Street Fax:541-/488-6006 Ashland,Oregon 97520 TTY: 800/735 2900 FFAI&I www.asNaind.oir.us ................................................................................................................................... CITY F ASHLAND Project Status: The preliminary engineering phase (survey and field work)will begin February 2018 and is expected to take eleven months. Construction is not anticipated until 2020. Phase Action Date 1A Preliminary engineering phase (survey and field Current work).This phase is currently underway. 1B Public outreach, obtaining permits, easements and December 2018—June 2019. construction work agreements 2 Final engineering June 2019—December 2019 3 Construction of piping project 2020 Please consider our invitation and let us know of your decision no later than February 28, 2018. We look forward to hearing from you and appreciate your consideration.Additionally, we have scheduled a neighborhood meeting for residents living adjacent to this portion of the canal to answer any questions or concerns they may have.The meeting is scheduled for March 6th in room 319 at Southern Oregon University in the Stevenson Union from 4-6 p.m. You are welcome to join us at this meeting as well. Please don't hesitate to call 541-552-2062 or email J... ...li ...®...........!r ...o.. . .............ir,irk..............!!�....... ........................... ..�..............!!................®...............ir... . , if you would like additional information or have further questions. We hope you will join us in this important work! Thank you, C Prz: 'e-,ct-St-aff Kevin Caldwell, Project Manager, City of Ashland Julie Smitherman, Conservation Analyst, City of Ashland Steve Walker, Water Quality Distribution Supervisor, City of Ashland Dan Scalas, Project Engineer,Adkins Consulting Engineers ShanRae Hawkins, Public Relations, StingRay Communications Engineering Tel:541/488-5347 20 E.Main Street Fax:541-/488-6006 Ashland,Oregon 97520 TTY: 800/735 2900 FFAI&I ashIaindooir.0 s. ...................................................................................................................................