Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Monday, May 16, 2016 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Paton called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 5 - Chair Bruce Paton Vice Chair Amit Srivastava Commissioner Brian Glazebrook Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Petya Kisyova Absent: 2 - Commissioner Gerald Glaser Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Commissioners Glaser's and Zornetzer's absences are excused. Commissioner Glazebrook left at 8:10 p.m. Council Liaison – Jim Davis (absent) ORAL COMMUNICATIONS CONSENT CALENDAR 1 16-0516 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of March 21, 2016 Commissioner Kisyova moved and Commissioner Glazebrook seconded a motion to approve the March 21, 2016 meeting minutes as submitted. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final May 16, 2016 Yes: 5 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Glazebrook Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kisyova No: 0 PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 16-0512 Draft 2015 Urban Water Management Plan Mansour Nasser, Water and Sewer Division Manager, presented key highlights from the Draft 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). The presentation included a review of the new state requirements for UWMPs; updates on Sunnyvale’s historical, current, and projected water supply and demand; Sunnyvale’s accomplishments relative to regulatory targets; and new permanent water conservation measures incorporated into the 2015 UWMP. The UWMP will be finalized by July 1, 2016 as required by the State Water Board. The Commission asked clarification questions regarding the UWMP and data presented. Vice Chair Srivastava asked how the Sustainability Commission could assist in further supporting water conservation efforts in the City. Mr. Nasser indicated that the City has made good progress on water conservation efforts and that the best approach is to continue working with regional partners, such as the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency. Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. No comments were provided by the public. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. No action was taken by the Commission on this item. 3 16-0513 Draft Peery Park Specific Plan and EIR Amber Blizinski, Principal Planner, provided an overview of the Peery Park Specific Plan (Plan) as well as the draft Environmental Impact Review (DEIR) prepared for this Plan. Her presentation included an overview of the proposed land uses in the Peery Park Area; sustainability-focused elements of the Plan (connectivity for vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic, and transportation demand management [TDM]); and the draft environmental impact analysis of Plan. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final May 16, 2016 Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. Kristel Wickham, resident of Sunnyvale, noted that the addition of a significant amount of commercial space, as well as the additional 215 units of housing, included under the proposed Plan have traffic and other impacts on the existing residential area adjacent to Peery Park. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. The Commission asked clarification questions about the Plan and the DEIR. The Commission provided the following comments on the Draft Peery Park Specific Plan: (1) Reliance only on a TDM approach likely underestimates the challenge of commutes to the area from the East Bay; (2) Plan should study connectivity of bicycle lanes between Plan area and Caltrain or light rail; (3) Plan should require, and not only encourage, native plants in areas beyond just parks; (4) Plan should incorporate a residential buffer on the South side, similar to the one on the East side; (5) Plan should consider requiring the creation of a shuttle service that would also serve the residents in Peery Park; (6) Plan should study and incorporate paid parking requirements; (6) Plan should address affordable housing needs beyond those required by regulations; (7) Plan should incorporate quantifiable goals for green building (such as energy efficiency) rather than a general statement encouraging green building and associated development incentives; (8) Plan should include urban canopy targets; (9) the plan for the interior parts of the parcel is exceptionally well-conceived in terms of optimizing use of space and creating an integrated campus. The Commission noted that they were not all able complete a detailed review of the DEIR and they hoped that the DEIR included the following: (1) an evaluation of the impacts of the proposed Mary Avenue extension project, which could aggravate congestion problems related to the Moffett and Peery Park areas; (2) a discussion of sea-level rise impacts. 4 16-0515 Annual Review of the City Manager’s Recommended Budget Full budget available online at: <http://sunnyvale.ca.gov/Departments/Finance/BudgetDocuments.asp x> Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. No comments were provided by the public. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final May 16, 2016 Chair Paton, Vice Chair Srivastava, and Commissioners Kisyova and Hafeman concurred that they had not had adequate time to review the City Manager’s recommended budget. Vice Chair Srivastava moved and Commissioner Kisyova seconded a motion to postpone this public hearing item until a later date. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Glazebrook Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kisyova No: 0 John Stufflebean, Director of Environmental Services, clarified that the Commission’s comments would have to be provided to City Council by May 26, 2016 for them to be considered in the final budget adoption (scheduled for June 28, 2016).The Commission unanimously proposed scheduling a special meeting on May 23, 2016, should a quorum be available for that date. Staff will follow-up with the Commission to schedule this meeting. 5 16-0514 Initial Scoping of Sustainability Speaker Series Chair Paton reviewed the guidelines of the budget issue No. 7 on the Sustainability Speaker Series. Vice Chair Srivastava noted that the Commission should obtain data from Sunnyvale Cool on a similar speaker series that they had put together to get a better sense of which topics and speakers drew the biggest audiences in Sunnyvale. Commissioner Hafeman noted that the Commission should also consult TransForm and the Greenbelt Alliance for suggestions of topics and/or speakers. Commissioner Kisyova and Chair Paton proposed Zero Net Energy for commercial and residential buildings and climate change resilience, respectively, as tentative topics. Chair Paton directed the Commission to send suggestions of topics and/or speakers to Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, for discussion at the next regular meeting. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES Vice Chair Srivastava shared that the Cities of San Francisco and Palo Alto had City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final May 16, 2016 taken bold actions to require the consideration of renewable energy for all new developments. He proposed that he would draft a study issue on consideration of the energy footprint of a building for all new developments in Sunnyvale. Commissioner Kisyova requested staff to clarify whether a study issue that had been rejected in the previous study issue cycle can be re-submitted as is in the subsequent cycle. Staff will provide clarification at a future Commission meeting. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Kisyova asked whether it was possible for Bloom Energy, a Sunnyvale-based manufacturer of fuel cells, to utilize methane from the Sunnyvale landfill. John Stufflebean clarified that all methane generated by the Sunnyvale landfill and by the digesters at the Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) is already used for generating electricity for the WPCP. Commissioner Hafeman shared information on Arcadia, a nationwide company, that offers 100 percent renewable energy from wind based on purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs) by local utilities. Vice Chair Srivastava asked whether the City can take advantage of the ongoing purple pipe construction along Wolfe Road to also fix any water line leaks, as Mr. Nasser had noted in his presentation that this can be a source of significant water loss for the City. John Stufflebean responded that none of the water lines along that route were in poor condition and, therefore, additional maintenance was not needed. Chair Paton reported that at a recent conference organized by TransForm, there was a detailed discussion of whether the focus of Bay Area Rapid Transit’s (BART) and the Valley Transportation Authority’s (VTA) efforts should be on high ridership lines or on better coverage of the geographical area served. He also noted that a key modification proposed for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) would entail assessing significant impact on transit in terms of vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which favors the development of TDM systems and is already reflected in the Peery Park Specific Plan. -Staff Comments Nupur Hiremath noted the proposed items for the June agenda per the Commission’s Work Plan, which include, among others, recognition by Mayor Hendricks of Commissioners whose term ends this year. City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final May 16, 2016 John Stufflebean announced that the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority (SVCEA) has appointed a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a 3-year term and is currently determining the fee structure for the community. He also noted that the first major contract (Package 1) of $6 million for Primary Treatment System at the WPCP would be presented to Council on May 17, 2016. John Stufflebean also noted a key accomplishment that the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) station was now recovering 30 percent of the garbage received at the facility. He also noted that a proposal for a city-wide residential food waste collection program would be presented to Council in six weeks. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:51 pm. City of Sunnyvale Page 6