Sustainability Committee

Minutes of the regular meeting of the Natural Resources and Sustainability Stewardship Advisory Committee held Thursday, September 23rd, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. at the Ogden City Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Blvd., 7 th floor conference room, Ogden, Weber County, Utah and via electronic web conferencing in accordance with Utah Code 52-4-202. Members Present: Adam Tobey Bill Hackett Bonnie Christiansen Joe Linford Aimee Urbina Makenzie Truong Riley Allen Heather Root Members Excused: Bridget Barkema Ex-Officio: Jay Lowder Ross Watkins Leesa Brinkerhoff Mara Brown Meggin Hill Guests: Jenn Bodine, Ben Bittner, Briana Olsen, Camila Becerril, Sadie Abrams WSU Jason Utgaard & Lexi Passmore Momentum Recycling CALL TO ORDER / WELCOME / ROLL CALL Adam welcomed the committee members and called the meeting to order. Meggin called the roll. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 26TH MEETING MINUTES Bonnie asked for one correction be made under committee open discussion where she states she has a study to pass on to the committee. The minutes state that she did the research on cost of energy for low-income households, however the information was found in a Lazard study on cost of energy in general, not specifically for low-income households. This change will be made on the finalized minutes. Bonnie made a motion to amend and approve the minutes and Heather seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. FORMAL INTRODUCTIONS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS All current and new members introduced themselves and explained why they joined the committee. MOMENTUM RECYCLING PRESENTATION Jason Utgaard from Momentum Recycling gave a PowerPoint presentation on their services. They are currently doing a glass recycling program for commercial businesses in Ogden and are looking to provide a residential program, possibly next year. The cost would be $8.00/month with a one-time activation fee of $25.00. There would be no contracts/month to month. This presentation will be shared with the committee for future reference. EV CHARGING STATIONS WSU STUDENT FEASIBILITY STUDY QUESTIONS Jennifer Bodine and students from WSU shared the outline of their EV charging station study project and some of the questions they will be answering in their study. These questions will be shared with the committee for future reference. The students asked for feedback and any further questions the committee may have. The main question to answer is where EV stations should be installed and what type of charging stations should be installed. Mara 1|Page  stated that question 8, regarding transitioning city fleet to electric vehicles should be put into a separate project for another semester. The city currently has several natural gas vehicles and transitions to electric vehicles yet. The students asked what type of format the city would like the report in. The committee suggested a written report with a PowerPoint presentation as well as a map with charging station locations. This report could be sent electronically with hyperlinks to the background information. first part of December. Aimee asked if the committee could give input into this study. Jenn stated they would welcome any input. Mara asked that any input be sent to her, Jay, and Meggin so they could compile the information and communicate back to the committee and WSU. Jenn stated that this might be a project that will take two semesters. The first semester could answer what type of charging stations and funding sources and the second semester could answer where the charging stations could be located. STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE Bill left the meeting early so the strategic plan update could not be discussed. Adam made a motion to accept the input from the new members as part of the strategic planning process. Heather seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously. Bill and Adam will now work on solidifying the strategic plan, which will then help with the subcommittee restructuring. SUBCOMMITTEE RESTRUCTURING DISCUSSION The committee agreed that this should be postponed until the strategic plan is in place to provide direction to the subcommittees. HB 411 UPDATES Riley conducted a survey at her high school regarding opinions on HB 411 and she found that most city regarding the opt out program, and they were also concerned about the financial components of the program. The committee agree that HB 411 for people to make an informed decision. January 31st is the deadline for the city to decide on whether they are going forward with HB 411. The city has contracted with a survey company to create and distribute the survey to see what the public interest is. Aimee asked who was creating the survey and if the committee will have input into those questions. Jay stated that Qualtrics will be the outside vendor creating the survey and that input on the questions will come from this committee and the diversity commission. Adam asked what the timeline was for those questions coming to the committee. Jay stated they have only had one meeting so they are only in the initial planning phase. The survey must be completed before January 31 st. The committee is concerned that there is not enough information or time to conduct a survey and that The committee would like more time spent on this survey, so it is done right. Mara gave an update on the Community Renewable Energy Board. Councilwoman Choberka and Mara sit on this board and the city is on the low-income planning committee and the program design committee. The program design committee is the critical committee that will evaluate the costs of the program. Mara understands the committees concerns about the timeline of the survey; however, everything is being worked on simultaneously and the City Council has made the decision to move forward with the survey to be completed before January 31st. Bonnie asked if in addition to having input on the questions, would the committee get the methodology behind the questions as well. Ross stated that he would make a note to get that information to the committee. 2|Page  Riley asked if outreach was going to include education, along with the survey questions so the public can be educated on HB 411. Ross stated they do have avenues to provide education to the public including press releases, social media, and the survey company will have some knowledge on education ideas. Riley suggested using audio/visual aids such as podcasts, instead of reading large amounts of information. Adam suggested putting together a one-page summation of HB 411 to help with education. Aimee asked if it would be appropriate for the committee to bring ideas to the next meeting on outreach for HB 411 and input for the survey questions. The committee agreed this would be appropriate so it will be put on the deliverables for the next meeting. Bonnie was concerned the committee would not be able to weigh in on the survey questions since the committee only meets once a month. but that the committee could hold a special meeting to review the questions if needed. Mara and Jay will work on getting a timeline to the committee. COMMITTEE OPEN DISCUSSION Meggin informed the committee that Rocky Mountain Power would be presenting their Blue Sky Program to the City Council on October 5th and they are welcome to attend virtually or in-person. The committee talked about combining November and December meetings into one meeting that will be held either in November or December. Meggin will send a survey out to the committee to decide on a day that the meeting will be held. PUBLIC COMMENT No public attended for comment. DELIVERABLES FOR NEXT MEETING Prepare ideas on HB 411 outreach as well as input on survey questions - Committee Timeline for survey questions being sent to committee- Mara & Jay Survey for combining November & December meetings - Meggin Strategic Plan Process Update Adam & Bill Set-up strategic plan meeting with Jay & Mara Adam & Bill ADJOURNMENT With no further business, Adam adjourned the meeting at 6:12 p.m. NEXT MEETING Thursday, October 28th, 2021, at 4:00 p.m. __________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Jay M. Lowder Adam Tobey, Chair Ogden City Public Services Director ________________________________________________ Mara A. Brown Ogden City Management Services Director th Date Approved: October 28 , 2021 ________________________________ 3|Pa ge