Sustainability Commission

SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SAC) Meeting Minutes: February 3, 2022 Attending: Jason West (Director of Sustainability, non-voting), Gabriella Cebada Mora (Secretary, Water), Laura Gulfo (Office of Council), Andre Lake (Environmental Equity), Bill Trudeau (Police Dept Traffic Engineering), Zach Powell (Planning Department, filling in for Poulomi Sen), Scott Kellogg (Urban Agriculture), Harriet Lewis (Transportation), Joe Coffey (Water Department), Tina Lieberman (Vice Chair, Zero Waste), Randy Milano (City Engineer), Daniel Kirk-Davidoff (Chair, Outreach), Violetta De Rosa, David Hochfelder, Jackie Gonzales (Environmental Equity, Outreach) Non-members: Zach Powell, Ed Brennan, Mark Schaeffer Absent: Frank Zeoli (DGS) 1. Regular Business – 10 minutes ● Call to Order and roll call – Commissioners, please send designee if unable to attend o Daniel Kirk-Davidoff called the meeting to order at 6:10 pm. ● Review/Approval of January 6, 2022 minutes o Motion to accept the January 6, 2022 minutes approved. - Minor changes to spelling and grammar, removed Pete Sheehan from attendance ● Public Comment Period (Approx. 3 minutes per comment) o Public comment period (meeting was open to the public via the Mayor’s Office of Energy & Sustainability Facebook page and the Sustainable Albany Facebook page and via emails to sac@albanyny.gov or Sustainability@albanyny.gov): No comments. 2. New Business –80 minutes ● (30 min) Zach Powell, Senior Planner at City of Albany Dept of Planning and Development will be speaking about choosing priority projects to implement from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. o Bicycle and Pedestrian Mater Plan update o Plan overview - Plan started March 2020 - Less public engagement due to COVID but achieved multiple demonstration projects - Goals a. update 2009 Bicycle plan and create a Pedestrian Master Plan 1  b. Align Plan with City’s equity agenda c. Reviewed mapping of proposed biking and pedestrian networks i. Route networks scoured using different criteria (safety, equity, fills in gaps, demand, connects to a park) o Next Steps - Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) critical component a. Skyway b. Improvements to Clinton Ave c. CFA Award from DEC for Complete Street improvements on Brevator St d. South End Connector Improvements – Phase 2 (increase user friendliness) i. Phase 1 completed this past year e. Upcoming Traffic Engineering Improvements on Henry Johnson Blvd – beacon and crosswalk improvements - Potential Future Projects – looking for smaller wins with big impact a. Design uniform wayfinding and branding materials i. Would facilitate incorporation of Bicycle Boulevards and public engagement ii. Recommended project in Downtown Revitalization Initiative plan but had not received funding at that time iii. 2013 signing and wayfinding was developed with Capital District Transportation Authority, new signage would complement b. Bicycle Boulevards i. Focuses on smaller roads, areas that can more quickly be implemented to improve bicyclist and pedestrian use/ access while larger/more involved designs are progressed on more car intensive streets c. Small pedestrian and bicycle connections - Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan available here: https://www.albanyny.gov/1889/Bicycle-and-Pedestrian-Master-Plan - Questions and comments to dpd@albanyny.gov 2 - Q&A a. Can Washington Park be made car free on weekends? i. Not part of scope in current traffic study, portions are closed to vehicles in winter time b. Any areas where bike lane at curb and parking lane at street side can be used for a protected bike lane? i. Not as successful as sounds, sometimes vehicles encroach into cycling area. Don’t currently have this specific type of protected lane in city or locally c. Public input phase for Brevator project? i. Just had meeting with local Councilmember, looking to identify time for a public input meeting d. Comment on Paper Street e. Comment on previously held public meetings f. Confirmed that the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan will review the potential of having an automated walk signal set to predetermined cycle foregoing need to push button to cross street (“beg buttons”) – assessing this method for other potential traffic complications i. Have consulted with the community to ensure equitable accessibility for people who are blind, use a wheelchair, people with a disability, people with an injury etc that impact their use of street crossings. Elements that can assist in this area include curve ramps, sidewalk panels etc, g. Consultant reviewing study to connect Nine Mile Waterworks to waterfront h. CDTA looking into idea of bus lanes on Central ave. i. Plan’s larger component is to create traffic calming and awareness through signage and wayfinding, in addition to other solutions j. How can we help with funding? i. Get word out, engagement to help identify priorities, CFA process, city budget ii. Easier once strategy identified for signage and wayfinding 3  k. Protected lanes – what cities can we emulate where these lanes have been shown to be successful? i. There are some options that have shown success, but protected bike lanes using a parking lane as protection have not been as successful –support other types of protected bike lanes ii. A lot of good examples to pull from as long as they meet NYS regulations iii. Pilot protected bike lane as a demonstration project? 1. Working with schools to do demo projects, short demo project for Play Street and temporary demo at Black Lives Matter Park a. Madison Ave project took about 8 yrs to complete and requires significant funding iv. NYC could be a good model to follow for biking plans - ● (5 min) SUNY Interns – updates (Tina, Jackie, Dan) o Dan has met with Energy efficiency intern o Tina is interviewing two potential interns to help organize SAC tents for public outreach, focus on Tulip Fest tent ● (10 min) Some ideas from activists for legislative action by the Common Council with relevance to our work (Dan) o Louise Aguirre Torres, Energy Manager in Ithaca – Dan spoke with him today along with additional Albany community members and will connect him with Jason - Mr Torres will share slides, YouTube talks, and willing to present to SAC - Community members have spoken with some Albany Common Councilmembers who are eager to take similar action to Ithaca to address city energy needs o Ithaca has received $50M to do home and building electrification - Additional $250M in soft commitments - Follow-up conversations to understand finances 4  o Dan will update Jason and pass resources around to SAC members (currently no Energy Chair for Subcommittee) ● (15 min) Update on Clean Energy Community Campaigns – 3 campaigns (Energy Efficiency/Heat Pumps, Community Solar and Electric Vehicles) approved by NYSERDA on 10-18-2. (Tina, Jason, Jackie) o CDRPC thinks we achieved 10 heat pump installations to apply for second grant (need to confirm installation date on one heat pump to verify) - Passed first milestone of Community Solar registrations with 77 sign ups - Working on outreach to neighborhood associations, getting on agendas to do quick presentations at meetings - Energy Subcommittee member working with AWD staff to have a flyer added to water bill (flyer on community solar) ● (20 min) Director of Sustainability, Commissioners and Subcommittee Chairs: Updates o Joe Coffey (Water Dept)– no updates o Jason West (Director of Sustainability)– - Climate Justice Fellow, Michelle Rogat, (yr long paid internship) starts Monday - Energy Audits of 27 biggest energy consumers in city through NYPA, starting this Spring, reaching out for info to Randy o Bill Trudeau (Traffic Engineering)- no updates o Randy Milano (City Engineer) – no updates, looking forward to working with Jason on Energy Audit o Andre Lake (Equity Subcommittee)– Equity and Outreach had joint meeting a few weeks ago, looking for approval to pay $350 for documentary - Motion to approve $350 for videographer and producer, motion passes – first expenditure from $2000 budget a. Laura Gulfo was working with Andre on contract for videography to follow city procurement guidelines - WAndre is working with Eva Bass, President of AVillage - Dan and Tina will share job description for treasurer, need to set intention and plan for budget costs o Jackie Gonzales (Outreach Subcommittee)– Clean Energy campaign, will do joint meetings with equity, focusing on social media outreach with UAlbany intern 5  o Harriet Lewis (Transportation Subcommittee) – meeting on Feb 28th and looking for info from parking commissioner and CDTA on climate impacts o Scott Kellogg (Urban Agriculture Subcommittee)– things are slow, did walk around with city forester to identify 50 new spots for tree planting in Mansion and South End to address urban heat island o Tina Lieberman (Zero Waste Subcommittee) – met with Frank Zeoli and Scott to discuss community compost drop-off sites, have green light to develop plan to collect food scraps at City events, have budget to hire a person to organize and coordinate, budget for processing, looking at capacity for composting, developing signage as part of outreach and education. Need to start planning large sustainability tent at tulip fest. Passage of county polystyrene ban requires containers be locally recyclable or compostable – but we need to only allow compostables that don’t have PFAS. C, county law thatalso says plastic straws/utensils should be only on demand. Food donation and food scrap recycling law (producer of 2 tons per week or more) states that commercial producers of food scraps of 2 tons/week or more must donate edible food to food pantry and select list most many must find composting facility if within 25 miles of location o Gabriella Cebada Mora (Water Subcommittee) – UAlbany intern to work with Albany Water Dept (AWD) staff to help with outreach materials for lead pipe replacement, reviewing and having follow-up conversation with Jason on CSC/CEC actions applicable to AWD - Gabi and Jackie will connect on outreach work for interns - Gabi to share CSC matrix w SAC members ● Anything else? o Set next meeting for zoom and Laura Gulfo will update members of any changes to Public Meeting Law 3. Next meeting –Thurs. March. 3, 2022 at 6 pm. 4. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm. Minutes prepared by Gabriella Cebada Mora February 3, 2022 6