Environmental Sustainability Council

Environmental Services Council Agenda Thursday, December 19, 2013 7:30 - 9:30 pm Dogwood Room, G Corridor 1. Call to Order 2. Public Comments 3. Approval of Minutes (Oct & Nov 2013) 4. Welcome • Welcome Marybeth Connelly to the City Council 5. New Business • Leaves o Current practices, current struggles, potential opportunities, national examples • City Center letter 6. Old Business • CC/EE letter to request staff resources • Consumer disposable bag legislation 7. Discussion items • ESC 2013 annual report • Green Fire viewing 8. Informational Items • Stormwater Ordinance • Daylighting meeting 9. Set Next Meeting • Dogwood Room, 7:30 p.m. January 16, 2014 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). 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  DRAFT Minutes Falls Church Environmental Services Council Thursday, November 21, 2013 7:30 - 9:30 pm Magnolia Room ESC Council members: Peter Adriance, Raymond Arnaudo, Sarah Bayldon, Peter Oppenheimer, Tim Stevens, Suzanne Updike, Bill Schellstede Present: Tim Stevens (Chairman), Peter Adriance, Sarah Bayldon, Peter Oppenheimer, Suzanne Updike, Bill Schellstede, Ray Arnaudo, Allison Lohrenz – City Staff Liaison Visitors: Karen Oliver, City Council Member Elect, Andreas Reese, Land Conservation Specialist, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust; Jason Widstrom - City Staff Tim Stevens and the ECS members welcomed Ms Oliver to the meeting and thanked her for expressing interest in the work that we do. We expressed our hope that we could be useful to her and her colleagues in the coming year. Technical Briefing: Conservation Easements and NVCT Ms Reese provided interesting background and technical details with regard to placing land into conservation trusts to protect that land from development. Such codicils to property deeds prevent subsequent owners from making changes to the land that would threaten its ecological properties; NVCT enforces such provisions. NVCT manages conservations trusts throughout Northern Virginia, including property in Falls Church, for example, the Boy Scout lodge. Ms. Reese stated that she would continue to reach out in the Falls Church community to build partnerships and help look for conservation opportunities in our area. Additional, Ms. Reese is willing to set up a viewing of “Green Fire” if there is interest. Old Business Stormwater Credit Task Force - Tim Stevens updated the ESC on progress in implementing the Stormwater Credit System. The committee charged with defining the incentive scheme for encouraging the adoption of BMPs has completed its work. Credit on the stormwater fee will be granted on the placement of certified BMPs at a rate of 30% for reduction in the quantity of runoff from a lot, 30% for improvement in the quality of that runoff, and 10% for SWIPs (Storm water implementation plans), aimed mostly for residential lots. In order to apply the more stringent requirements of the Plan on the several large developments slated to begin in the near future, Bill Schellstede moved that the Chair be authorized to communicate to the City Council that the ESC strongly recommends that the date for the inception of the requirements be advanced to January 1, 2014; a majority of the ESC approved the motion. Stormwater Ordinance- Jason Widstrom briefed the ESC on the progress to date and plans for the near future in the adoption and implementation of the Storm Water Management Plan. Jason informed us that the Council is unlikely to vote on the Stormwater Ordinance until early next year; there is still discussion about removing the 35% limitation on impermeable surface and replacing it solely with the 0.41 lb./acre/year limit on phosphorus pollution. There was some opinion in the ESC that the simple statement of a 35% limitation was easier for all to understand and was therefore desirable, especially before the restatement of that limit in zoning language has not yet be accomplished. At the same time, the strictly environmental implications in the argument remain are not at all clear. Streambed restoration- Jason also briefed the ESC on progress toward two projects for natural streambed restoration, one on Coe Branch, the other on Pearson Branch, both small tributaries to Tripps Run. The improvements will stabilize the channels and mimic natural streams. The $1.8 million cost includes matching funds from the City's new stormwater fees; the matching funds from a federal grant must be expended by end April, and thus construction must be completed in 90 days. Design of the projects included participation of area residents. The Coe Branch project includes daylighting some of the stream. Some 400 trees will be removed to make way for the construction; replacements will include hundreds of trees and other plantings. The ESC applauded the initiation of these projects and will act in support of their completion. Legislative Recommendations Tim Stevens reported that both the recommendations the ESC made to the City Council - recommending the approval of community net metering and permitting local jurisdictions to regulate the use of plastic bags - were forwarded to Richmond by the City and will be submitted to the legislature. Budget – Allison explained the budget process. The initial budget discussions begin in November, ends for staff in January and after multiple discussion between the City Council and School Board, is adopted in April. It was then realized the overall goal of the budget discussion was when is the appropriate time to ask the City Council for more staff or staff resources. It was decided that the earlier the better, summer would be the ideal time with multiple letters ending in December. Adjournment – 9:15 p.m. Next meeting is Thursday, December 19, 2013.