Environmental Sustainability Council

Environmental Services Council Agenda Thursday, October 17, 2013 7:30 - 9:30 pm Dogwood Room, G Corridor 1. Call to Order 2. Public Comments 3. Approval of Minutes (Sept 2013) 4. New Business • Discuss inviting newly elected Councilmembers to future ESC meeting 5. Old Business • Stormwater Credit System Update & Discussion of new timeline 6. Discussion items • WABA Spokesperson • Proceeds from potential sale of Water Utility 7. Informational Items • EPA Green Power Community Challenge Celebration Date • ESC state legislation program update • Bike rack at Burke & Herbert Bank 8. Set Next Meeting • Magnolia Room, 7:30 p.m. November 21, 2013 9. Adjournment The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability call (703) 248-5456, (TTY 711).  Environmental Services Council – Draft Minutes Thursday, October 17, 2013 7:30 - 9:30 pm Dogwood Room, G Corridor Minutes by Peter Adriance 1. Call to Order Present: Peter Oppenheimer, Peter Adriance, Ray Arnaudo, Tim Stevens, Sarah Bayldon City Staff: Allison Lohrenz Absent: Bill Schellstede, Suzanne Updike Guest: Katie Mandes (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, PEW, in charge of community engagement) She is potentially interested in involvement with the ESC. 2. Public Comments - none 3. Approval of Minutes (Sept 2013) – approved with corrections 4. New Business • Discuss inviting newly elected Councilmembers to future ESC meeting – elections will occur November 5; new council convenes first of year and makes assignments to the committees. Johanna Barry is not running for re- election, so we will have a new council liaison. DECISION: after election, Tim will send an invitation to those who are new to the Council to attend our November or December meeting. 5. Old Business  • Stormwater Credit System Update & Discussion of new timeline – There is a lot of confusion on this issue. Tim reviewed how this has evolved. The council has created a storm water utility with a fee that is tax deductible and includes non-profits. The task force is charged with recommending the fee structure. A lot still needs to be worked out. In December, the City will send around the GIS info on impervious surfaces. Bills will appear in June. Avg. homeowner will be billed $200-300/yr. Not many are aware of the specifics. This may be one of the first things on the new Council’s agenda. Churches with big lots will be charged about $5-6,000. The system needs to be fair to float with residents. Good communication is essential. Arlington hired a firm to work on communications for their plan. A new customer service representative has been hired for stormwater. DECISION: The ESC recommends that communications on this project should be a top priority. We will invite the new customer service representative to our next meeting and exchange thoughts on a good outreach strategy. • Stormwater ordinance – Tim distributed our draft comments from the last meeting. The ordinance codifies stormwater provisions. As technology has developed, the limits on impervious coverage have become somewhat obsolete. ESC urges the Council not to remove the language from City code. 6. Discussion items • WABA Spokesperson – Peter O. has done outreach to a representative of WABA to see if he could share with us area experience on practices encouraging biking. The city will revisit the bike/ped plan in about a month. (They want to take out recommendations on sidewalk installations that would eliminate street parking and substantial landscaping.)  DECISION: We will hold off for now on inviting the WABA spokesperson pending developments on the bike/ped plan. • Proceeds from potential sale of Water Utility – Public information sessions have been interesting, but there has not been a lot of attendance. The sale will likely pass. The city will receive about $10mm net profit from it. 30% of the land acquired can be used for commercial development. We should be aware of this for future agendas. 7. Informational Items • EPA Green Power Community Challenge Celebration Date – Several businesses pitched in, following appeals from citizens to help push this to the top. The new celebration date is Monday Oct. 28, 7:30PM. Tim will speak briefly. Attendance is encouraged to show support for green energy in the city. • ESC state legislation program update – Tim has spoken with Dave Snyder and Phil Duncan. Nothing new to report. Adjacent communities are interested in collaborating with Falls Church on legislative recommendations. • Bike rack at Burke & Herbert Bank – Dan Sze sent a note directly to a manager he knows. They agreed to install a bike rack, which is on order. The City should generate publicity with this and encourage its spread. • Other – • ESC filed comments on the S. Washington small area plan. • Speaker opportunities:  • Northern VA Conservation Trust – still waiting to hear • LEAP – an umbrella group dealing with energy efficiency, energy audits, etc. is working with Arlington. They act like a neutral third party, recommending contractors, etc. Peter O. invited them to speak with us, sometime after the new Council is elected. • Dominion has an environmental report; we could have someone speak to us about their practices and how smart meters might be used most effectively. DECISION: We will invite them to speak with us early next year. New Director of Public Works: Michael Collins has been hired to start Dec. 9 as Director of Public Works (Bill Hicks’ replacement). He managed Arlington County road maintenance and fleet, plus their design dept. 8. Set Next Meeting • Magnolia Room, 7:30 p.m. November 21, 2013 9. Adjournment