Sustainability Committee

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Natural Resources and Sustainability Stewardship Advisory Committee held Thursday, April 25, 2019 at 3:30 p.m. at the Ogden City Municipal building, 2549 Washington Blvd., Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Members Present: Stephen St. Peter Joe Linford David Stevenson Rachael Ballard Bonnie Christiansen Heather Root Bill Hackett Julie Ray Pearl Marden Adam Toby (via phone) Members Excused: Chase Wilson Makenna Hill Ex-Officio: Jay Lowder Amy Mabey Leesa Brinkerhoff Guests: Anna Cash CALL TO ORDER / WELCOME Jay called the first meeting of the new committee to order. He went over the Council’s vision as it was presented in the Council Meeting on Tuesday, April 23rd. He presented the Mayor’s vision, which includes there being no limits for the committee and he wants them to consider all things related to sustainability. Jay added that he values the committee’s input. He expects that it will be productive and find ways of getting things done. Budget may be an issue, so look at the low hanging fruit for immediate wins. He wants metrics on accomplishments. And, he expects members to be patient with and respectful of each other. INTRODUCTIONS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Each committee member introduced themselves giving a short bio and their interests for wanting to serve on the committee. ESTABLISH COMMITTEE RULES OF PROCEDURES Mara Brown explained the city attorney’s culture. She went over a memo from the Ogden City recorder’s office. Committee members are subject to municipal ethic rules, which includes gift requirements. There are disclosure requirements for businesses regulated by the city. Committee members who fall into this category must complete the disclosure form by the next meeting. The committee must elect a Chair and Vice Chair, and appoint someone to work with her to form rules of procedures for the committee. She hopes to come to the next meeting with a draft of these rules. David Stevenson and Bill Hackett volunteered and were appointed to assist Mara with this. We provide training to our boards and committees. Mara may present trainings such as sexual harassment, drug and alcohol free policy, use of social media, city purchasing requirements, fund raising, events, etc. Leesa Brinkerhoff asked the committee when they would like to hold regular meetings. The committee voted to hold future meetings on the 4th Thursday of each month at 4:00 p.m. 1|Page OPEN DISCUSSION Jay Lowder reviewed a list of sustainability programs the city has implemented or is working on to date. After which, he opened the discussion to the committee asking them to share their objective(s). Jay Lowder • Establish the cultural attitude of the community and change as appropriate. Joe Linford • Education and Outreach Bonnie Christiansen • Take a sociological look at what works and what doesn’t with education and change. Bonnie referenced Doug McKenzie Moore’s website – Community-based Social Marketing.com (www.cbsm.com), and the book, Fostering Sustainable Behavior. • Revolving loan program like that at Weber State, which created greater energy efficiency and saved $11,000,000 in costs. • Bonnie shared her Carbon-Free City handbook. It’s published online by the Rocky Mountain Institute website at https://rmi.org/insight/the-carbon-free-city-handbook/. She also recommended the book, Fostering Sustainable Behavior, which is available online. • Asked if we can we park Lime Scooters at bus stops in partnership with UTA to close the gap on last mile transit. Wants a greater impact because of time. • Bonnie’s number one goal for this committee is to accomplish what is needed to make the largest impact for the future. Stephen St. Peter • Educate the community by showing them what Ogden has done and what steps they are taking toward sustainability. This will help gain credibility. • Partner with other cities/businesses. • City-backed programs such as the E2 business in Salt Lake City. • Look at Uber-type system for public transport, such as the one Park City has in place. David Stevenson • Educate around specific projects. • David asked if the state, city, or county has an award program, i.e. pollution prevention or sustainability award. Other states/cities have these types of programs that are useful as an incentive and motivator. • Funding sources such as EPA awards and others. Maybe the committee can figure out the few things we can do that don’t require funding or require minimal funding. • Implement energy audits for the municipality and look at how we can incentivize businesses to reduce energy. Identify what opportunities there are. • There are a lot of other communities in Utah that have sustainability committees in place. Maybe they can tell us what low hanging fruit to start with. • Check into Governor’s Energy Office programs. Amy suggested we ask Senator Buxton to address this at our next meeting. Jay agreed. • Assist CED in bringing business and people to this community. Look at the bigger picture to determine what we’re going to be in 5 or 10 years. 2|Page  • We need documentation that supports the city’s total carbon footprint for residential and commercial. • Give 5 minutes per committee member each meeting to educate with their expertise. • If we can’t change something, let’s lobby it. Jay said he can forward bills during the legislative session to committee members for their review and input. Anna Cash • Businesses to be LEED certified for sustainability, such as flags or window stickers that state “certified sustainable by Ogden City”. Stephen St. Peter agreed, stating that Salt Lake City has a program like this in place. • Jay asked Anna what interests Council Member White expressed to her while they were working to form the committee. Anna said she was interested in electric, comprehensive recycling, LEED certified program for businesses, and identify what businesses can bring to the city. • Utah State has free transit downtown. Perhaps look at this for Weber State. • Make vendors use aluminum or compostables for large outdoor events, and have giant recycle bins for paper and glass. Heather Root • Climate change and identify what the one thing is that we can do in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the city. David agreed, saying it’s one of the most important things to him. He will contact Dr. Moench with Utah Physicians for a Clean Environment to see if he can give us suggestions for low hanging fruit. • Understanding Ogdenites behavior - why they do the things they do. Perhaps through a survey. • Build pride in the community about sustainability. Bill Hackett • Breaking fragmentation. Bill used the example of comparing Canadian air quality programs, approaches, and successes with the U.S. Many successes were realized in Canada, but were not in the U.S. because of fragmentation. The Canadians found by facilitating bringing people together toward common goals and tapping their expertise broke down fragmentation. Perhaps we can facilitate bringing in people on a regular basis who are successful in putting these programs together. Julie Ray • Public Transportation – Work with UTA to identify what it can to do make intercity transportation more practical. Amy Maybe • The council discussed the committee working on an idle-free ordinance and ultimately determined a desire for the committee to more broadly provide a general education campaign on air quality. More information will be provided for this in the coming months. Other • Implement a city energy audit. • Hire an energy manager to have on site. NEXT MEETING Thursday, May 23, 2019 in the council work room, #310 3|Page DELIVERABLES FOR NEXT MEETING 1. Send an email to the committee defining objective and scope – Jay Lowder 2. Check with Senator Buxton to see if he can present at the next meeting – Jay Lowder 3. Scope ideas - Come back with priorities and how to, including sub-committees – All committee members 4. Voice vote for chair and vice chair – All committee members ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. _______________________________________________ Jay M. Lowder Ogden City Public Services Director Date Approved: 05-23-19 4|Page