Sustainability Committee

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Natural Resources and Sustainability Stewardship Advisory Committee held Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. at the Ogden City Municipal building, 2549 Washington Blvd., Ogden, Weber County, Utah. Members Present: Joe Linford Bill Hackett Bonnie Christiansen Heather Root Kenna Hill (via phone) Pearl Marden Chase Wilson Rachael Ballard David Stevenson Members Excused: Stephen St. Peter Julie Ray Adam Tobey Ex-Officio: Jay Lowder Amy Mabey Leesa Brinkerhoff Guests: Kevin Emerson – Utah Clean Energy (via phone) CALL TO ORDER / WELCOME / ROLE CALL • Joe welcomed the committee members and called the meeting to order. • Leesa called the roll. COMMITTEE QUORUM VOTE ITEM #1 APPROVAL OF AUGUST 22ND MEETING MINUTES – Committee • Joe asked if there were any changes to the August 22nd meeting minutes. There were none. Bill moved to accept. It was approved unanimously. COMMITTEE QUORUM VOTE ITEM #1 RESCHEDULE NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER MEETINGS – Committee • The upcoming November and December meetings conflict with holidays. Joe said he is open to suggestions. Chase and Bonnie said they prefer moving to another day during these months. Joe proposed the November meeting be moved from the 28th to the 21st and the December meeting be moved from the 26th to the 12th. Bonnie motioned to accept. It was approved unanimously. BRIEFING – OGDEN CITY/UTAH ENERGY WISE COMMUNITIES GRANT PROJECT – Kevin Emerson • Kevin Emerson of Utah Clean Energy (UCE) explained UCE and his role. UCE has a strong interest for state and local government through policy, advocacy, to utility regulators as well as working in partnerships with local government and industry to achieve energy solutions. • He explained how UCE’s initiative, Utah Energy Wise Communities (UEWC) relates to HB 411. • Utah Energy Wise Communities (UEWC) works with the governor’s office of energy development. Its purpose it to use a competitive grant available to work with communities on energy savings goals and measurements. Ogden City was selected for this grant and will involve the City Council, community members, and city staff. • The first part is to develop an energy base line for the community by working with city staff to accomplish an analysis t det4ermin current energy usage levels city-wide. UEWC then works with city staff in gathering feedback for possible goals and soliciting feedback from the community through outreach. We are trying to solicit feedback for the goals the community would like to see by the end of this month. Then, we’ll develop goals to achieve this by the end of 1st quarter of next year. After that, the focus will be on an implementation plan. This 2 year project is to be completed at end of next year. 1|Page  • Kevin asked if there were any questions. • Bonnie commented on the survey in that it doesn’t seem to have much of an impact. She is concerned with sending the survey to the community with goals that may misrepresent the actual possibilities and what’s achievable. She’s also concerned about putting the survey in a “Yes/No” answer format for people who don’t understand energy. • Bonnie asked Kevin if UEWC is reaching out to Weber State University’s energy manager and other local experts as goals are being made. Kevin said some are and some aren’t on the list and thanked Bonnie for asking. • Kevin invited others to attend the steering committee. There are some limits to the scope of the energy savings focus on the program. He encouraged comments be formally known through the survey. It’s important to follow the process, but will present comments/concerns deemed appropriate. • Joe asked if there is a community education component to this, so the community is better educated on the feedback they are giving. People are giving feedback without knowledge of energy. He suggested that perhaps it should use experts who can offer expertise. • Kevin said they have been educating the steering committee members, businesses, and organizations, but don’t have anything on the website to educate. • Joe asked Kevin if UEWC focuses on reducing energy consumption, whereas HB 411 focuses on supply. Kevin said yes. • Heather asked how the 2 year program would dovetail in timing with implementation of HB 411, such as will people see an increase in energy rates. She asked if UEWC can help our citizens by working together with HB 411 by offsetting any financial burden to them. • Kevin doesn’t have the ability to do a direct analysis, due to project scope and resources, adding that timing wouldn’t work out through this initiative. The focus is on best practices for the businesses and residents, and could include a discussion about the program implementation plan. He recommends decision makers come up with funding for further analysis. There’s probably a higher level analysis that can be done to provide potential estimates, but it won’t offset costs for HB 411 initiatives. • David said he’s a little confused as far as the scope of the grant and how much is available to our city or the scope of the services that we might recommend in a survey. He asked Kevin if there’s something he can provide to know what the scope of the grant covers so we know what we can recommend. Kevin said he can put a one page scope together that explains what the grant is for. • The grant for the project covers the time for the team to do an analysis, community goal setting, and a community implementation plan. • Bill commented that it seems to him that there are clear synergies between the two programs and he encouraged Kevin to integrate schedule wise and otherwise to the extent possible to achieve greater clarity. • Joe thanked Kevin and said he looks forward to the document addressing David’s question. COMMITTEE QUORUM VOTE ITEM #1 RECOMMEND HB 411 RESOLUTION TO CITY COUNCIL– Committee • Joe asked if there was any discussion by the committee before the quorum vote on the HB 411 resolution. • Bonnie said one of our top goals for the Air Quality and Climate subcommittee was to encourage the council to adopt and move forward on HB 411. • David said to move forward, we should make the recommendation and propose it to council. Bill seconded it. The vote was unanimous. 2|Page  • Amy said the council’s agenda was published today for the October 1st work session. The resolution recommendation is included in this. After the work session, the next steps will be outlined to prevent any delay to complete the process by the end of the year. • Joe is planning to address the council work session. • Amy said it’s a tight work schedule for that evening. She will present an outline of the HB 411 process and requirements. She told the committee that her role is to provide unbiased information to the council. She told Joe that his presentation should include what the committee’s process is and how it came to this recommendation. • Bill pointed out item #5 on the proposed resolution, where there’s a need to check off favorable or unfavorable. Amy said it will be changed to favorable for presenting it. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES – Committee Education and Community Outreach Subcommittee • Chase said Adam has updated the goals and timelines in OneDrive to the subcommittee. He has a list of 9 goals and the timeline which goes through April of next year. He’s also putting together a sustainability pledge for businesses and organizations to sign on to. • Heather asked if we could consider making green business a part of the Government/Private Partnership Subcommittee. Chase said he thought it was a good idea. Government/Private Partnership Subcommittee • Joe said he made some attempts to get together, but was unsuccessful due to scheduling conflicts. Air Quality and Climate Subcommittee • Bonnie said they identified 2 priorities: 1. Anti-idling Policy – 3 goals 1) Reduce the idling behaviors of motorists in our community 2) Improve the air quality and relay the health impact 3) Introduce Ogden residents to awareness and practices that promote a healthy and sustainable city The timeline to complete this is from now until May of 2020. We will be researching some ordinances that exist in other communities so we can make a suggestion to the City Council. We are looking at working with other groups and facilitating partnerships including the Outreach Subcommittee and other people who are interested to move it forward. We’ll gather materials that are already out there and make them available for people who want to work on it. We will also seek grant funding for educational activities. 2. Climate Action Plan – priories are to create a community climate action plan 1) Plan and prepare our infrastructure, businesses and households for expected climate change impacts 2) Reduce the effects of climate change by reducing Ogden city-wide emissions by 45% by 2030 3) Bring people together around the common purpose of growing and maintaining the quality of life for residents of Ogden City now and into the future The timeline goes from this October and going out 18 months to 2 years. We have a list of partners to support these things. We want to make sure all committee members are in support of this, then we’ll will post it on the shared drive. Water Quality, Supply and Conservation Subcommittee 3|Page  • Bill said soon after the previous meeting Leesa provided him with Justin Anderson’s contact information, but busy schedules for all has prevented meeting. • After talking with a few people, it appears there is no pressing issues with water quality and quantity. Ogden has superior water rights to other entities in the area and works with entities needing water. The infrastructure is set up for delivering it to the city and other entities calling for it. • Bill suggested that efforts toward conservation should be our priority. His purpose in trying to contact people is to ask the question if there’s anything we can help them do in their operations to help facilitate bringing issues forward. Bill will consult with Joe and Bonnie to discuss priorities. Jay told Bill to contact Matt Haack, our Water Conservation Specialist. Solid and Hazardous Waste Reduction and Recycling Subcommittee • Joe said he and Dave spoke about the outcome of the meeting held during his absence. One of the things discussed in the meeting was public outreach efforts to help residents participate in recycling and reduce their waste. Gina Hughes, the solid waste supervisor at the city, will provide recycling training to the subcommittee. Looking for opportunity to get with the private sector in working with the Government/Private Partnership subcommittee. A lot of waste is generated by businesses. We need some type of incentive program like a Mayor’s waste and pollution reduction award for businesses. Jay said all subcommittees can use our marketing department as a resource. Sustainable Energy Subcommittee • Bonnie said their priority is a highly energy efficient and primarily renewable energy powered city which works in conjunction with the Ogden community in the action plan mentioned earlier. The 3 goals established are: 1) To encourage the city to adopt a 100% renewable energy goal by 2030, i.e. supporting HB 411, and to collaborate with them as they move forward with it to support as we can. 2) To collaborate with Ogden City staff, Utah Energy Wise and other experts working on the long term energy planning to ensure actionable and supported goals. 3) Utilize the Carbon Free Cities handbook to identify highly impactful steps supporting the Ogden community climate action plan. We feel collaboration is the best way to move forward. Open Space Subcommittee • Chase said there’s nothing to formally report yet. He talked about gathering intel of organizations in the city to help expand on the work they are already doing to achieve goals. The subcommittee set a soft deadline of January to gather intel and establish more concrete goals. Joe encouraged subcommittees to work on common goals together to leverage each other’s efforts. PUBLIC COMMENT Linda Zeveloff – Ogden City Resident • Said thank you and confirmed next week’s council work session, asking if the Council expects to vote. DELIVERABLES FOR NEXT MEETING • Tour of the treatment plant. Leesa will get with the plant supervisor to arrange for a plant tour. The committee will meet in the municipal parking lot at 4:00 p.m. on October 24th and take the city’s 15 passenger van to the plant. After the tour, the remainder of the meeting will be held there in the board room. 4|Page  • Government/Private Partnership, Water Quality Supply and Conservation, and Open Space subcommittees to present updates. • Look at the materials provided by the subcommittees to present ideas for goals for the entire committee. OTHER DISCUSSION • Bonnie said WSU has Sustainability Tours next week on Wednesday at noon to 1:30 p.m. and Thursday at 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. Anyone is welcome to attend. Bonnie will send out information. ADJOURNMENT • The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m. NEXT MEETING Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. Treatment Plant Tour __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Jay M. Lowder Joseph Linford, Chair Ogden City Public Services Director Date Approved: 10/24/19 5|Page