Sustainability Committee

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Natural Resources and Sustainability Stewardship Advisory Committee held Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. via electronic web conferencing in accordance with the Executive Order 2020-5 Suspending the Enforcement of Provisions of Utah Code 52-4-202 and 52-4-207 due to Infectious Disease COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus issued by Governor Herbert on March 18, 2020 Members Present: Bonnie Christiansen Bill Hackett Joe Linford Pearl Marden Heather Root Adam Tobey Chase Wilson Members Excused: Rachel Ballard Stephen St. Peter David Stevenson Ex-Officio: Jay Lowder Amy Mabey Leesa Brinkerhoff Guest: Raina Ellis – Dominion Energy CALL TO ORDER / WELCOME / ROLL CALL • Heather welcomed the committee members and called the meeting to order. • Leesa called the roll. APPROVAL OF May 28th MEETING MINUTES • Heather asked if there were any recommended changes to the May 28th meeting minutes. There were none. She asked if someone would like to motion to approve. Chase moved to approve and Bonnie seconded the motion. The meeting minutes were approved unanimously. DOMINION ENERGY / OGDEN CITY JOINT COOPERATION STATEMENT – RAINA ELLIS • Heather introduced Raina Ellis and turned the time over to her. • Raina said she wanted to talk to the committee about setting up a joint cooperation statement, which is a recognition that both Dominion Energy and the City of Ogden see sustainability as a priority, and an acknowledgement that they will be working together to further their goals. • The form that Raina sent over has a section that lists Dominion Energy’s goals and a section to list Ogden City’s goals. They can be specific or they can be general. Then it has a section to include directives needed to achieve these goals. It could include something like community data reporting, referrals to other renewable energy resources, including education. • Heather asked Raina how the document we have has come about. • Raina said it’s an opportunity to collaborate with the city on the importance of renewable energy to both parties and give the opportunity to take action on it. It’s acknowledging it more formally, in writing, but not having it be a binding agreement, rather it’s a recognition that Dominion is here for the city and wants to serve the city as a resource. • Heather asked how Dominion sees the committee’s role in helping to facilitate this. • Raina said they’d like to see a listing of Ogden City’s goals. She has visited the city’s webpage and found some general goals. They could list them in the statement, but they really want to know what they can do for the city in terms of helping it to meet its goals. Dominion has a $5,000 Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship grant opportunity for schools or up to $25,000 for individual projects that improve access to the outdoors. Knowing the city’s goals and collaborating will help Dominion stay in the know on how to help. 1|Page • Jay said it almost seems redundant in our work with Energy Wise Cities project. Raina asked if it’s with ThermWise, because it’s a separate program, but it’s part of an opportunity for Dominion to provide education on our different energy saving programs and energy saving tips. • Amy said it’s a little broader than ThermWise because we’re doing this with Utah Clean Energy for Energy Wise Communities pilot program, which Dominion has been a partner all along with it. Raina said this is something that we may want to include in this as well. • Leesa asked Raina if she could share some of the things that other cities have listed on theirs. Raina said Salt Lake City specifically asked Dominion to send them energy usage data on their community as a place to start. They have a section in their agreement of what kind of information they are looking for. They also have a program that lists the outline of one of their other efficiency programs and what it is they would like done for them in assisting to promote the program. If Ogden City has any programs they’d like to have Dominion help them promote, they’d like to include them as well. • Bonnie said she’s glad to see them doing benchmarking as she thinks it very important to for people to know where they’re at. She asked Raina, if repurposing biogas and biomethane, will the benchmarking be able to allow for a seamless transition from Dominion’s data to Portfolio Manager so that people can easily benchmark their business or organization energy usage. Raina said she thinks it would be a possibility, as they’re working with a city to remove the information and provide it directly into their software on a monthly basis. • Bonnie said she went to the Dominion website and found that they are working with some states to provide renewable energy to many different homes. She asked Raina if they are taking these different communities and lumping them together for their Net Zero by 2050 plan, and if they are breaking them out by local communities, as there are benefits in doing so. Raina said the goal is to be company-wide so everybody benefits. With natural gas specifically, they are working on generating renewable natural gas. They would catch the methane from landfills or animal farms. It goes through a scrubbing process and they’re working really hard to get that into their system. • Bonnie read a recent article in the Standard Examiner that said Dominion would be net zero if they introduced 4 to 5% methane into the system. She said this didn’t make sense to her. She asked Raina if that was a mistake or what the thinking was. Raina said that 4% seems incredibly low, but when you consider how much natural gas is used on a system, it actually ends up being quite a bit. Raina said she will look into to see if she can find some more supporting information that would help explain it a little better. • Adam said he was reading through the energy efficiency portion of the document on page 2. There is a comment on a having particular focus on traditionally underserved populations when it comes to promoting energy efficiency. He asked Raina if she could give an example or two of how that’s worked and some of Dominion’s goals for it. Raina said helping underserved communities also falls within their energy efficiency area, because that’s where some of the money goes for helping those communities through their REACH and HEAT programs. They also want to reduce their energy by 25% by 2025. • Adam said he assumes that a good portion of the underserved communities aren’t homeowners, rather they’re renters. He asked if there has been conversation of incentivizing landlords to increase their energy efficiency, because it seems like that would be where the need might be if we’re trying to create energy efficiency to underserved communities. Raina said she believes they have something through their ThermWise program to incentivize landlords, but she’ll have to confirm it. • Heather asked Raina if she’s hoping to add some of the city goals to the statement. Raina said, yes, they want to add these and the more specific the better. • Joe asked Amy if the City Council would like to be involved in this as well. Amy said usually administration will send it on to council because there are council members who are very interested in it. 2|Page  • Bonnie said the agreement states that it’s a 4-year period until rescinded by both parties. She asked what the legal nature of the document is, in the event one party wants out. Joe said he noticed some of that language, but is less concerned because it’s a non-binding agreement. He feels the more specific language the better. Raina said she sees no issue with it, adding that it may be better to specify it for the term of the committee. • Heather asked Raina what kind of timeline we’re looking at, so we know how to approach it. Raina said sometime before the end of the year would be great. • Bill said it will be useful to know all the programs that are available to citizens from Dominion. Raina said she will put together a list and send it over. • Heather told Raina that she feels the next step is to send it over to the Sustainability Energy subcommittee for review, then as group, it can be discussed at our next meeting. • The committee thanked Raina and she was excused from the meeting. OGDEN CITY SUSTAINABILITY NEWS – JAY LOWDER • Jay said the city has been pretty aggressive in the past few years in trying to save money. They’ve realized that there is money to be saved in energy usage. The council is always interested in how we can save money. • This last year, we saved a lot with the ESCO Project in updating electrical, AC units, and boilers in our buildings. We’ve just about recommissioned most of our major buildings. • This past year, our water division received $47,000 in energy savings through all of our water facilities. • We are just finishing up converting all of our streetlights that we own to LEDs. • We completely revamped Lindquist Field lighting to LEDs. This will save about 88% in energy costs. • All of our garbage trucks have been converted to natural gas. We have looked at converting our fleet to natural gas, but it doesn’t pencil when you consider the conversion rate of a normal vehicle is approximately $7,000, which can’t be recouped. We buy our natural gas wholesale. • Our gas stations have been converted to the Gas Man program which is managed by the state. It also allows us to fuel up at any gas station at a discounted rate and reduce fuel emissions by not having to travel to our pumps. • When we re-did our filter plant, we put in all energy wise fittings. We have upgraded our pumps with new technology at the filter plan and our well field, saving about 80% in power usage. • Heather asked Jay what is being done with the money saved and can we use it to do more things. Jay said we are looking at taking the water savings and putting it back in the facilities to save more. We will be reporting to council where we feel that money can best be spent to save more energy. Savings with the ESCO Project have to go toward paying for the improvements we’ve done for the next 10 years. • Heather said she asked Jay and Leesa for the results of the Make Ogden survey because she is wondering what kind of planning is happing that the committee may be able to help with in establishing a sustainable component. Jay said the time for input was during the public meetings, but the committee can be involved in the community planning that takes place every 5 years. He has reviewed the rough plan for Make Ogden and said there is sustainability in it. Heather asked Jay if he would bring up sustainability opportunity plans when they come up. Jay said yes. • Amy said they do have 2 meetings, one is a community meeting, the other is a public hearing with the council. She is happy to send information on these to the group as they come out, so they can participate in the meetings. • Joe said most of the initiatives that Jay mentioned took some upfront funding. Costs are recouped in both short term and long term. One of the things our committee can be useful for is educating the public and law 3|Page  makers of money that can be saved. Perhaps, our Education and Community Outreach subcommittee can help with educating the public and policy makers that we can save a lot of money in the long run. • Bonnie said she read an opinion article in the New York Times that stated the climate disaster tax bill is coming due, which has cost all taxpayers about $1,000 each over the last couple of years. She said we mostly think about our budgets in terms of what is happening now, but we should look at how climate impact will affect our future budgets. This is laid out in the 2018 Climate Assessment that it’s not inexpensive and a lot of the cost is expected to come down to local government to pay for it. • Jay said it’s an easier move if he can link it to a financial savings, as he can get buy-off from administration, the council, and citizens. • Heather thanked Jay and asked him to report monthly on any new things that come up. NOMINATE AND VOTE FOR NEW HIGH SCHOOL MEMBER • Heather said we have 4 applications that were submitted. She asked the committee if anyone would like to discuss them or make nominations. • Bonnie said she thought all of the application looked good, but she really enjoyed Riley’s application because she was very specific in her skill set and many are what we can use. She also liked how she already has engagement with her community. She likes the fact that Riley is 15 years old, which means she will be in high school as she serves on this committee. • Chase said he agrees with Bonnie on Riley’s application for the same reasons, adding that she seems pretty impressive and we would mesh very well. With her potential tenure, it can really solidify what a position for a high school student means for this committee. • Joe said he was interested in her because she is so young and so accomplished. He feels someone with her initiative would be good to serve on this committee. • Heather asked Amy and Leesa if any of the applicants are from under represented areas of the city and if that should be taken under consideration. • Leesa said it would be preferred, but won’t be a determiner. • Amy said often times we don’t get a representative from District One to participate on a committee. It’s definitely something to take into consideration, but not required. • Jay said we want to be cognizant of it. • Leesa said the position is open until July 15th or until closed, so there is flexibility in selection. • Amy said we don’t have a quorum to vote, but it may be considered to email all of the committees with a recommendation to approve Riley and ask if there is any opposition, and then move forward. • Heather said she feels it’s okay to wait until next time. KENNA HILL RESIGNATION • Anna Cash is on record as being an alternate member. Leesa said because of this, Anna must be offered the potion first. Leesa reached out to Anna on Monday. Anna said she would contact her back by Thursday morning with her interest. Leesa said, as of this time, Anna hasn’t contacted her. • Joe said he remembers Anna and feels she has a lot to contribute as a member and would like to give her a chance. • Heather said, if we don’t hear back from her by the end of the week, it’s reasonable to put out a broader call for applications. 4|Page  • Bonnie asked if the applicants from the initial posting can be considered and notified that a position is open. • Heather asked if the committee can review the previous applications. • Jay said he feels it would be perfectly fine. • Amy said she has electronic copies of the applications and will forward them to Leesa. • Bonnie asked if people who live outside the city, but work in the city can be considered. Amy said the City Council wants the members to live in the city. • Joe said another thing to think about is that Kenna was the chair of our Sustainable Energy subcommittee. He asked if anyone would be interested in stepping up to head it now, or wait until we get the new person on board. • Heather said she feels we need to replace that subcommittee chair soon. • Bonnie volunteered to be the interim chair. Heather and Joe said they agree. Heather asked Bonnie if she will follow up with Raina. • Amy said she feels it may be a good idea for staff to follow up with Raina because of the confusion of the crossover with the Energy Wise Communities project and see if this can somehow fold into that, as not to duplicate efforts. • Bonnie asked if the Dominion agreement is private or public document. Jay said, normally, it’s not a public document until the council adopts it. Amy agreed because legal still needs to work out some of the terms for it. Bonnie said it would be helpful to know if documents are public or private when being emailed. • Joe said one thing to consider is our meetings are public meetings and anyone that would have been here would have seen the document. He feels that bouncing ideas and concepts off of other people are okay, as long as the document isn’t shared with them. Amy and Jay agreed with Joe. • Jay said he would personally like to thoroughly vet out Anna Cash. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES Government and Private Partnership • Stephen was absent. Joe said he and Stephen haven’t been able to get ahold of each other, so there are no updates at this time. Air Quality and Climate • Bonnie reported that one of the things they’ve been working on is the air quality request from the city. They’re working on vetting out a couple of things such as telecommuting, EV charging stations, anti-idling, biking, urban forestry, getting information on point source emissions, and looking at the possibility of closing 25th Street as a pilot project during the COVID outbreak. • They’re talking about putting together a one-page document for each of these different ideas, which would include a rationale, if they’re actionable now, if they have been done before, if they’re impactful, and if they are relevant to our structure. They’re also looking at if these have co-benefits in addition to reducing air pollution and increasing air quality. They have a template that they’re working off of. • There are a couple of other things that they’ve been working on since we last met. Many cities are closing down some of their streets during this time to make more walkable space. Heather said she brought this to Bonnie because when she visited Boise, their downtown streets are closed and the cross streets have stall parking, so that people can pick things up from restaurants. All of the restaurants have their tables out on the main streets to seat all of their customers. When Heather looked at the Make Ogden Survey, this was one of the ideas that had come up. She asked the committee if it’s something they should continue to think about. 5|Page  • Bonnie said she and Bill met are very much in favor of, at least, exploring it. She has spoken with some people about it and found there will be some businesses who are in favor of it and some that are not. Maybe we look at the businesses that may be interested. • Chase said it’s a really interesting idea and worth exploring, especially with the amount of restaurants that are down there. It may be a boom for them because they could seat more customers and not have 2-hour waiting times. The outdoors is good in mitigating the spread of COVID. It may be good to reach out to Boise to find out how they did it, so that it can be presented. • Bonnie said the nice thing about doing it now, is there would be no expectation that it would be done again, because we we’re doing it for COVID. It’s an opportune time for a pilot. • Heather asked Jay and Amy how they think city staff would feel about this. Amy said, during the first of COVID, a similar idea was brought forth, so there may be an interest in discussing it. • Jay said that we’ve moved quickly with the onslaught of COVID-19 to make stalls where restaurants could have pick up, just to keep our businesses surviving. He doesn’t know if taking this away from businesses would be well received. • Heather said that, in this scenario, parking stalls will be at the crosswalks. The parking stalls in front of the business would now we filled with table space for seating. She asked Jay how to go about getting their buy-in. He said she could ask them. Water Quality, Supply and Conservation • Bonnie said there are no updates at this time. Solid and Hazardous Waste Reduction and Recycling • Joe said there are no updates at this time. Sustainable Energy • Bonnie said there are no updates at this time. Open Space • Chase said he spoke with Monte Stewart, Ogden City Parks and Cemetery Manager. Monte told him that there is a city committee called the Ogden Trails Network and they’re really on the ball with trail digs and maintenance. They’re currently digging a new trail by the botanical gardens near Monroe Blvd. They have monthly meetings and monthly trail digs. Chase suggested that, in the future, it may be worth it to partner with them to learn what they’re doing and amplify it, if they needed it. • One of the things Monte mentioned that the committee may do something on is the park strips. The ordinance states that they must be 75% covered. Perhaps we can suggest that they can include gardens. Chase feels this is one of the things we can have some influence on. • Monte told Chase that there are different open spaces, whether it’s city owned and slated for development, or city owned and not slated for development. It would take looking specifically into each lot to see what it may or may not be already slated for. • Monte also mentioned that the city is in the middle of putting together a Recreation Master Plan. Once it’s available publicly, he will get Chase a copy of it. • Heather asked Chase if he could use some help in getting into the park strip concept. He said he feels it would be worth a discussion with the subcommittee, so he will set something up in the next week or so. 6|Page Education and Community Outreach • Now that Kenna has resigned as chair, the subcommittee proposes that Chase take the chair position. • Adam had to leave and asked Chase to report that they are still having difficulty in reaching the social media folks at the city. He also wants the committee to have their own platform with everything being approved. Jay told Leesa to set up a meeting with him, Chase, Adam, and Mike McBride. Chase said that would be good to be on the same page about expectations. COMMITTEE OPEN DISCUSSION • Heather asked if there were any items the committee would like to discuss. • Leesa pointed out that the next meeting is on July 23rd, which is the day before Friday, the 24th. Heather asked the committee if anyone would like to move to reschedule that meeting. The committee said they would like to keep that meeting date. Heather asked Leesa to remind the committee of the holiday date and importance of attending to form a quorum, when emailing the committee. DELIVERABLES FOR JULY 23rd MEETING • All subcommittees to continue their work and report on their progress. • Vote for new chair of the Education and Community Outreach Subcommittee. ADJOURNMENT • With no further business, Heather adjourned the meeting at 5:37 p.m. NEXT MEETING Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. HEather Root __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ HEather Root (Oct 28, 2020 11:21 MDT) Jay M. Lowder Heather Root, Chair Ogden City Public Services Director Date Approved: 07/23/20 7|Page