Sustainability Committee

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Natural Resources and Sustainability Stewardship Advisory Committee held Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. via electronic web conferencing in accordance with Utah Code 52-4-202. Pursuant to a written determination by the Committee Chair finding that conducting the meeting with an anchor location presents a substantial risk to the health and safety of those who may be present due to the infectious and potentially dangerous nature of COVID-19 virus. Members Present: Heather Root Adam Tobey Bonnie Christiansen Bill Hackett Joe Linford Pearl Marden Chase Wilson Members Excused: Rachel Ballard Stephen St. Peter David Stevenson Pearl Marden Ex-Officio: Jay Lowder Leesa Brinkerhoff Ex-Officio Excused: Amy Mabey Guest: Mara Brown – Ogden City Attorney CALL TO ORDER / WELCOME / ROLL CALL • Heather welcomed the committee members and called the meeting to order. • Leesa called the roll. APPROVAL OF June 25th MEETING MINUTES • Heather asked if there were any recommended changes to the June 25th meeting minutes. There were none. She asked if someone would like to motion to approve. Joe moved to approve, and Adam seconded the motion. The meeting minutes were approved unanimously. OGDEN CITY SUSTAINABILITY NEWS – JAY LOWDER • Jay turned the time over to Mara Brown. • Mara reviewed and explained the ordinance regarding representation of the committee: o Service on the committee does not prohibit members from speaking in an individual capacity or participating in government as members of the general public. In so doing, committee members shall clarify that they are speaking or acting in their individual capacity and not on behalf of the committee. Public statements regarding committee action shall only be expressed with prior authorization being granted at a regular or special meeting of the committee. The Chair will speak for the committee when and as directed by the committee. o It’s okay to be identified with the committee as a member, but if you haven’t been authorized to express the position of the committee, we ask that you clarify that you are speaking in your individual capacity. • Mara reviewed and explained the attendance requirements of the committee: o Members are expected to attend the meetings. The committee may recommend to the Mayor that a committee member be removed for unexcused absences for three (3) consecutive meetings or attendance below seventy five percent (75%) of scheduled meetings over an eighteen (18) month period, or fewer than 13.5 meetings. Generally, an excused absence is when a member notifies staff or the chair in advance of the meeting that they cannot attend. Mara suggests having the chair reach out to such members to find out the reasons for the absences, adding that sometimes people just get busy or are experiencing extenuating circumstances. 1|Page  • Jay said that Adam asked him to address some concerns with the committee regarding recent recycling publications in the newspaper: o It’s a very complicated situation. The article was very unfair, making it a cost situation as to why we stopped recycling. Cost was not the reason. Rather, it was a compliance issue, whereas they were not complying with city law in their special use permit. o Jay explained the history of the city’s recycling program and the facts of the situation with Recycled Earth. • Jay said the city has been talking to a company called Herhof, in Germany, who recycles everything. Heather said she has some concerns with them and asked if the committee will have an opportunity to provide input into the decision making. Jay said yes, and the committee would be involved to vet it to determine if it would work for Ogden City. Bonnie said she would like to have the information necessary for the committee to provide input in sustainability issues, as in the case of Herhof. COMMITTEE OPEN DISCUSSION • Heather asked if there are any members who have items they’d like to discuss. • Leesa said Jay received an email from Michelle Briones, a student at Ben Lomond High School, who would like to be involved in sustainability activities throughout the city. • Heather said she, Adam, and Joe have been working on the committee sunset report. The report entails the accomplishments of the committee throughout the previous year, including goals for the coming year. Heather will present it to council when a date is confirmed. • Heather said she feels the committee is still figuring out what they can do and what information they have available to them to become more effective, and to set it as a goal. Mara suggested Heather and Adam meet with Jay and Leesa to discuss how they can obtain this by putting together a strategic plan to move forward in the committee’s role. She would like to be involved as well. • Bill said he feels that the committee should be involved in providing input for this. • Mara reminded the committee that with the Open and Public Meetings Act, we can’t communicate as a committee as a whole without it being a public meeting. A subgroup can be put together of committee members who are interested in helping with the report and communicate without a quorum, then they can present it to the full committee at the next meeting. • Heather verified that there can be no more than 4 members in the discussion, as more would be considered a quorum. She asked Bill if he would like to be the fourth in the discussion. He said yes. • Bill said his view of the committee is activities and he feels that an assigned staff leadership from the city can facilitate them and take on more of the complex ones. Otherwise, we are not likely to operate on all cylinders. He acknowledged that these are tough financial times for adding new staff, but the time is always right for putting new ideas out on the table that may be viable for the future. • Adam concurred, adding that it’s one of the things Jen Bodine mentioned when she met with our committee. Different options in terms of grant writing opportunities were discussed, but haven’t been brought up since then. He’s not sure what avenue these things should or can go. It would be helpful information. If there isn’t an avenue at the moment, then he doesn’t know how to create one for this and other things. Perhaps we need to have a small group come together for that particular issue. • Jay said that he and Leesa are the staff to get things done for the committee, so if there are roadblocks, such as the Education and Community Outreach subcommittee was experiencing, let Jay know so he can clear them. 2|Page  • Jay suggested to Heather that one of the goals this year could be to research and advise on electric car charging stations. • Heather said that, in no disrespect to Jay and Leesa, she feels the same as Bill and Adam, that the single most useful thing that Ogden City can do to promote sustainability is to have a person whose full time job it is to oversee this. She asked what the process to recommend this would be. In particular, Heather and Bonnie and the Air Quality and Climate subcommittee have thought what the best thing to tackle air quality would be. In order to know that, they need more information and data than the public committee is most likely able to get, and that staff are more likely able to access. Heather asked what the process would be to make it a reality in the next year. • Jay said that we’ve actually talked with Weber State to see if they would pay half for a person to run our sustainability. It would be the cheapest alternative, and we have the funds through Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) where we may be able to find funding for a whole position. • Leesa asked Jay if it could be a committee function to research grant opportunities and advise based on their findings. Jay said yes. • Heather said she agrees with what Leesa is saying, but it’s not about the time, it’s about the lack of information such as budget, negotiations with WSU, etc. This is what we’d need to be able to figure it out. • Bill said it doesn’t seem to help us right now. This would be the responsibility of the leader in a role like that to steer the committee along and put them on a path. • Heather said, if the committee is going to recommend a sustainability person, we need to get with Jen Bodine to find out what we need to know to start to make that happen. And, we need to starting thinking about putting together a suggestion that includes possible resources for funding. She asked if there is anyone willing to take the lead on it to help it move forward. Bonnie said she could do it. Chase said he would be willing to help her with it. SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATES • Heather asked if there were any subcommittees that would like to report. Government and Private Partnership • Nothing at this time. Air Quality and Climate • Bonnie said they are in the final process of their recommendations to the City Council. She will be sending out the final draft to the subcommittee this next month. She asked members of the subcommittee to please be sure to look at it. She expects to have some proposals put together by next month. Water Quality, Supply and Conservation • Nothing at this time. Solid and Hazardous Waste Reduction and Recycling • Nothing at this time. Sustainable Energy • We’re reviewing the request from Dominion Energy’s Joint Cooperation Statement and doing research on it. They’ve found some good information about cities with user agreements and how they’re using them. 3|Page  • The other area of focus is we want to understand where we are in our next steps with the renewable energy act to see if there’s anything the subcommittee can so to ensure low income residents in Ogden will benefit from the act, if it moves forward. Open Space • Nothing at this time. Education and Community Outreach • Chase was experiencing technical difficulties, but reported that Adam met with Jay and Leesa to determine the process to post. Postings will be sent through Jay and Leesa, who will, in turn, submit them to Mike McBride, Ogden City’s marketing manager. Adam and Chase met to talk about what would be useful for the committee to be posting at this point. They drafted a couple of posts that they plan to share with the committee at the next meeting. One was to introduce the committee and its purpose, including how to join in the meetings. The second one is a little more detailed for concerned citizens and how they can be a part, if they choose to do so. He told the committee that subcommittees who want to post, to contact he or Adam to walk them through the process. DELIVERABLES FOR AUGUST 27TH MEETING • All subcommittees to continue their work and report on their progress. • Air Quality and Climate subcommittee to email air quality advisory proposals to the committee for their review prior to presenting it at the meeting. ADJOURNMENT • Heather asked if anyone was willing to motion to move into a closed session. Bill motioned to move, and Joe seconded it. It was approved unanimously. • With no further business, Heather adjourned the meeting at 5:09 p.m. NEXT MEETING Thursday, August 27, 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: 08/27/20 4|Page