Environmental Sustainability Council

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL (ESC) Thursday, September 20, 2018, Library, Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. DRAFT MINUTES 1. Call to Order: Members: Cory Firestone Weiss (Chair), Jon Ward, Chris McCloud, Andy Young, Andy Crawford, Thomas Cash, Tim Stevens (ETS Chair). City Staff: Kate Walker (Environmental Programs Coordinator). City Council Member/Liaison: Dan Sze. Public: Andy Sakallaris, Anu Gupta (Operation Earthwatch program coordinator). 2. Public comments: None (see Presentations below) 3. April, May and July 2018 ESC Meeting Minutes: Approved unanimously April 6, 2018 ESC Leadership planning meeting: Approved unanimously Notes of Capitol Riverfront tour (May 3, 2018) and Local Motors tour (May 11,2018): Approved unanimously 4. Founders Row: It was noted that the Founders’ Row presenters from Mill Creek (July ESC meeting) had not provided the ESC with the information they had promised in that meeting. ACTION ITEM #1: Thomas Cash will repeat the request to Mill Creek. 5. Comprehensive Plan Update, Environmental Chapter. Kate Walker reviewed the purpose and schedule for updating Chapter 5 of the City’s Comprehensive Plan. She highlighted the issues of greatest concern from the August public outreach event at the middle school:  Trees and Green Space, especially green space in the built environment  Community Engagement She then scrolled through all the public comments from the August event. 6. ESC input to Comprehensive Plan, Environmental Chapter (Ch. 5). Attendees divided into groups to begin developing Goals, Strategies, and Actions to address three of the five ESC priority areas for the Comp Plan: Climate & Air, Water, and the Built Environment.  Climate & Air: Goal: support City’s 2020 and 2050 greenhouse gas reduction targets. Strategies: transition to renewables (e.g. Solarize); improve energy efficiency; reduce CO2 from transportation (EV chargers, grants, ride sharing), and Chapter 5 can leapfrog the previously updated “Mobility for All Modes” chapter. ACTION ITEM #2: Andy Crawford, Tim and Tom will consolidate and add to notes, using the template that Cory provided, and post no later than Oct 11 for additional input by all ESC members.  Water: Goals: Improved stormwater management; Reduced water consumption. Strategies: Ensure sewer capacity supports future growth and increased rainfall intensity (more pervious surfaces; reduce residential runoff; more detention and rain gardens; convert floodplain properties to parks / buffers). It was questioned whether the stormwater fee is high enough to drive any behavioral changes by property owners. ACTION ITEM #3: Chris will consolidate and add to notes, using the template that Cory provided, and post no later than Oct 11 for additional input by all ESC members.   Built Environment: Goals: Zero solid waste by 20___(TBD); All new buildings support the 2050 goal of 80% greenhouse gas reduction; Resilient against climate change effects (make developments livable and functional with increased number of excessive heat days and intense rain events); City should take regional leadership role, per City’s Vision Statement. Strategies: Incentivize low Energy Usage Intensity (EUI; energy use per gross square footage); Encourage C-PACE uptake ACTION ITEM #4: Jon will consolidate and add to notes from Cory, using the template that Cory provided, and post no later than Oct 11 for additional input by all ESC members. ACTION ITEM #5: Cory & Kate will test Google Docs methods for tracking who added which edits to the online Chapter template. 7. Operation Earthwatch (OEW) Update. Anu reported on OEW’s efforts to identify potential management partners to take over financial management so that the donation and budget reconciliation processes will no longer be City functions. Cash flow is only about $1800/yr. The ESC urged the OEW to explore structural workarounds that might allow the elementary PTAs to take over, yet still keep St. James School as a funded participant. The ESC agreed with the decision criteria that OEW developed to help guide decisions about the new management partner. 8. Miscellaneous:  Kate noted that Habitat Restoration Group needed a new liaison from the ESC.  Dan said the ESC members need to stay involved in the WFC projects to remind the City and developers that we are still interested in the projects’ features and performance that we advocated for during the ‘Request For Proposals’ and approval processes. ESC members were encouraged to attend the Sunday 9/23 GMHS public meeting but told that the contract is signed and the building is designed, so few issues may be left to influence (e.g., parking).  Kate reported that the City was the first Virginia locality to receive a SolSmart Silver rating for policies and processes that make it easier to install solar energy equipment. The City also won the Virginia Municipal League (VML) President’s Award for composting, and VML’s GoGreen Platinum rating for the City’s sustainability initiatives. 9. Subcommittee Reports:  Energy Transition: Tim Stevens reported that the Energy Transition Subcommittee was working on: preparing a presentation for the City Council on the greenhouse gas inventory; C- PACE legislation; a Solar Freedom Bill with elements ready to be pushed up to the state legislature; and street light LED conversion pricing (Kate to meet with Dept of Public Works 9/21 to advocate for this energy efficiency investment). Tim said that Erika Myers of the Smart Electric Power Alliance will speak at he October 4 ETS meeting. 10. Next Meeting  Thursday, October 18, 2018. MEH Library, 7:30 p.m. Abbreviations / Terminology:  C-PACE: Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy  GMHS: George Mason High School