Environmental Sustainability Council

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY COUNCIL (ESC) and ENERGY TRANSITION SUBCOMMITTEE (ETS) Thursday, October 21, 2021, Virtual Meeting via Microsoft Teams, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. MINUTES 1. Attendees: ESC Members: Andy Young (Chair), Mike Trauberman, Jon Ward, Andy Crawford, Joseph Schiarizzi, Sarah Bayldon. Student Member: n/a. City Council Member Liaison: Debbie Hiscott; Planning Commission Liaison: n/a. City Staff: Kate Walker, ESC Staff Liaison. ESC/HRTG: Amy Crumpton; Guests: none announced. 2. This meeting was held via electronic communications using ‘Microsoft Teams.’ This meeting was held pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-3708.2 and state and local legislation adopted to allow for continued government operation during the COVID-19 declared emergency. 3. Public Comments: None 4. Founders Row II review Deadline for ESC comments is immediately after the November 18th ESC meeting. Joseph reported the latest proposal includes electric vehicle charging at 5% of spaces and 50% will be capable of hosting EVs later. The runoff rate from a 10-year 24-hr storm will be reduced by 20%, and tree canopy has received attention. It will be LEED Gold v4 Multi-Family Mid-Rise certified with energy efficiency 20% better than code. He noted there was no clean connection to the W&OD bike trail that is only 250 yards away. He said parking ratios would be 1.3 per housing unit and the builder had said utilization rates in comparable developments were closer to 0.9. Joseph and Debbie noted that money not invested for parking spots could be put to other benefits, such as affordable housing units. Jon said the project would add up to 2% to City electricity use, so rooftop solar could cut that slightly; that may entail a trade-off versus green roof area. Mike and Andy C. noted various types of requests that could be made regarding rooftop PV. Mike noted that a 10-yr 24-hr storm cited in regulations is currently 4.8”, but that a more realistic value from NOAA-sponsored studies, which may make into updates in a few years, is 5.7”. So the 20% runoff reduction may roughly offset the increase that is already occurring.  ACTION ITEM #1 [ALL]: Send comments to Joseph by November 10th. Joseph and Andy will draft a summary letter for the developer’s representative ahead of the November ESC meeting. 5. Legislative Agenda Jon summarized recommended items from the Energy Transition Subcommittee for inclusion in ESC’s memo to City Council on legislative priorities in the General Assembly in 2022. These related to preserving electricity net-metering and WMATA funding, not watering down energy efficiency provisions in building codes, and facilitating the implementation of Dominion’s Shared Solar programs. Kate highlighted draft priorities from Arlington’s County Board. These included broadband access to support telework and giving localities more zoning authority. Debbie said 1 Falls Church could highlight some of Arlington’s priorities. Based on talks with Cindy Mester, Kate said some emphasis on stormwater was likely.  ACTION ITEM #2 [ALL]: Kate will distribute last year’s ESC input and Arlington’s latest draft. Send recommended items to Jon by October 26th. Jon will aggregate and forward to Kate and Andy Young. 6. Meridian High School Tour: Meeting Minutes Minutes were approved unanimously. 7. Subcommittee Reports Energy Transition Subcommittee (ETS): Jon Ward The Local Energy Alliance Program (LEAP) has done a walk-through of 4 City-owned affordable housing quadplex buildings. The City is working with LEAP to see what LEAP and the City can each undertake to improve the efficiency of those buildings. He asked for ESC volunteer(s) interested in collecting and conveying lessons learned there to other landlords with similar buildings. ETS is reaching out to FCCPS to ask them to reconsider decisions to delay rooftop PV on the middle school, and to consider asking City Council for financial support if that would make the projects financially justified. Education Task Group (ETG) Sarah Bayldon – Operation EarthWatch Activity Sheets for October were printed and distributed. Habitat Restoration Task Group (HRTG): Amy Crumpton About 12 volunteers attended a habitat restoration event in Cherry Hill Park on 10/16; another was planned for 10/30 in Herman Park and 11/6 at Cavalier Trail; another November event at Crossman Park may be planned. City green-space management staff shortages persist. 8. Other updates Chair: Andy Young noted the opportunity for the ESC to provide input to FCCPS’s Strategic Plan. It is not obvious that FCCPS has a person tasked with sustainability from an operations and capital planning standpoint. Andy and Stacey will work on input to FCCPS and circle back to the ESC.  ACTION ITEM #3 [Debbie H.]: Provide clarity on the School Board’s schedule for accepting input. ESC Action Priorities Updates: Green Building Policy: Andy C. and Mike are preparing a discussion paper for one of the next 2 ESC meetings. Bikeable City: Park Ave. Great Street Plan is basically a beautification project and will not include bike lanes, but staff is willing to work on other options. Staff Liaison Report: Kate Walker hopes one or more ESC members would want to draft ESC memos in support of: the Stormwater Task Force’s letter advocating the formation of a Stormwater Advisory Board; the UFC’s request to fully staff urban forestry and green space positions. Tim Stevens’ requested that the City Retirement Board divest City pension funds of fossil fuel investments. Kate cited a few reasons for the Board’s lack of enthusiasm, but the topic is still out there if the ESC is interested. 2 Kate and Amy reiterated that “green space” has no legal meaning in City Code and that staff is working toward useful metrics, definitions, and goals related to open spaces, open soil, and tree canopy, as well as what is privately vs. publicly accessible. Amy said that under code for Mixed-Use Residential, streetscape trees cannot be counted towards canopy coverage, but recent major developments request rezoning into categories that allow counting of street trees, which can lead to much lower overall canopy. Andy affirmed ESC’s interest in this topic and noted that working through the Special Exception process can meet goals in the absence of code changes. 9. Review and Approval of September 2021 ESC Minutes: Minutes were approved unanimously. 10. Adjourned 9:30 p.m. 3