Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Monday, April 17, 2017 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 7:03 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Bruce Paton Vice Chair Amit Srivastava Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Petya Kisyova Commissioner Kristel Wickham Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Council Liaison – Larry Klein (present) ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 1 17-0446 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of March 20, 2017 Commissioner Hafeman moved, and Commissioner Wickham seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final April 17, 2017 Abstain: 2 - Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Kisyova Vice Chair Srivastava and Commissioner Kisyova abstained as they were not present at the March meeting. PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 2 17-0442 Approve 2017 Annual Master Work Plan Chair Paton noted that the approval of the Work Plan was delayed by one month. Councilmember Klein clarified that this delay was due to the timing of Council’s prioritization of Study Issues. Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, explained that one Study Issue “Eco-district Feasibility and Incentives” (ESD 13-05C) had been added to the Commission’s Work Plan for consideration in October 2017. The Commission generally agreed that developing a Work Plan earlier in the year was more valuable. Chair Paton commented that the Work Plan should reflect the Commission’s involvement in the Climate Action Plan (CAP) 2.0 update. Councilmember Klein clarified that such input would depend on the timing of the CAP 2.0 development process as determined by staff. Ms. Hiremath clarified that agenda items on CAP 2.0 could be added to monthly agendas as needed even if these were not included in the Work Plan. Vice Chair Srivastava inquired about the proposed timing for staff’s recommendation to Council regarding the formation of the CAP 2.0 Advisory Committee. Melody Tovar, Regulatory Programs Division Manager, stated that this recommendation would be a part of the budget supplement that staff is currently preparing for Council’s review in May. Therefore, adding CAP 2.0 to the Work Plan was challenging given the uncertainty in the timing and scope of the Commission’s role. The Commission would remain informed about CAP 2.0 through regular updates from: (1) staff; and (2) Commissioners who would likely represent the Sustainability Commission on the CAP 2.0 Advisory Committee. The Commission reviewed the draft Master Work Plan and considered new topics for the Work Plan, including: CalTrain electrification, no smoking ordinance, traffic light coordination and control (to minimize stop-and-go traffic), transportation demand management, and the Mary Avenue extension. The Commission requested staff updates on these issues. Ms. Tovar noted that staff could provide brief written updates or could identify related sections of the audio recording of City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final April 17, 2017 Council’s Annual Strategic Plan Workshop for the Commission to listen to, in lieu of presentations when appropriate. Based on the discussion, the Commission added the following scheduled topics into the Work Plan: a Commissioner Presentation on leading edge practices to fund CAP implementation; a presentation of the City’s sustainability webpage (once updated); and the draft 2018 Annual Master Work Plan. The Commission also agreed to add the following items as unscheduled items to the Work Plan: CAP 2.0 Briefing/Updates, Transportation Strategic Program/Traffic Impact Fees, and Traffic Coordination. Commissioner Kisyova requested that staff presentations be aligned with Commissioner leading edge presentations on the same topics so as to add value to the Commission’s discussion on those topics. Ms. Hiremath acknowledged that this would be done depending on staff availability. Commissioner Wickham inquired why the Study Issue ESD 17-01 “Eliminate the Use of Chemical Pesticides on City Owned or Leased Property” was not reflected in the Work Plan. Councilmember Klein explained that this Study Issue was prioritized for funding FY 2017/18, but was not scheduled due to limitations in staffing, which may prevent its completion within the fiscal year. If not completed this year, this Study Issue would automatically be forwarded for Council's consideration in the next Study Issue cycle. Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. No comments were provided by the public. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. Commissioner Kisyova moved, and Vice Chair Srivastava seconded, a motion to approve 2017 Annual Master Work Plan as amended. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final April 17, 2017 3 17-0480 Sustainability Speaker Series Per Chair Paton’s request, Councilmember Klein provided an update on Council’s review of the Commission’s 2017 Sustainability Speaker Series proposal. Councilmember Griffith had commended the Commission’s proposal, but requested that the Commission to think beyond sustainability issues that the City was already implementing programs for (e.g., food scraps collection). Commissioner Wickham offered that the current proposal did take the City’s programs to the next level by considering building electrification and zero waste. Chair Paton reflected that the Series would need to balance actionable topics with cutting edge ones. Commissioner Hafeman cautioned that selected topics should be of interest to the broader community to ensure they had an audience. Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. Tim Oey, a Sunnyvale resident, was excited to hear about the Sustainability Speaker Series. He noted that he has made significant strides in reaching zero waste at his home. He inquired about volunteer efforts related to zero waste in the community. He also noted that he was available to be a speaker. Susannah Calvin, Apple Inc., shared that younger generations are likely to be interested in hearing not only about current sustainability topics but also those that would be considered cutting edge. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES Ms. Hiremath provided guidance on how to use the Standing Item on Potential Study Issues. She explained that ideas for potential Study Issues could be briefly proposed under this agenda item, but would then need a vote to be added to a subsequent meeting agenda, at which point a longer discussion of that Study Issue could occur. Commissioner Kisyova moved, Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion that the Commission consider sponsoring a potential Study Issue related to ways to improve traffic flows in Sunnyvale. Vice Chair Srivastava expressed a preference to hear from staff on this topic before proceeding with proposing a Study Issue to ensure it is not duplicative of current efforts. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final April 17, 2017 The Commission agreed that this item should be added to the Commission agenda for a later month, as the May agenda was already full. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Kisyova Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Abstain: 1 - Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Hafeman abstained. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Hafeman commented that a contractor who was maintaining prune trees in his neighborhood had wasted large amounts of adhesive tape on street signs, which conflicted with the City’s zero waste goals. Commissioner Kisyova noted that this was related to the Commission’s recommendation to have sustainability incorporated into every aspect of City operations. Commissioner Wickham shared some items of interest: (1) a book entitled “Drawdown”, which documented 100 most-substantive solutions to global warming; (2) a documentary entitled “Water and Power: A California Heist” about water wars in California; and (3) a documentary entitled “Time to Choose” about existing technologies to address climate change. Chair Paton shared that he had attended the Council meeting on the Land Use and Transportation Element (LUTE), at which Council had expressed concerns about housing, jobs, and associated traffic impacts. He observed that current transportation solutions focused on micro-strategies, like transportation demand management, rather than on a comprehensive regional strategy. The Commission subsequently discussed the housing to jobs ratio and its pros and cons. Chair Paton announced a tour of the Baylands restoration project on April 21, 2017. City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final April 17, 2017 Vice Chair Srivastava announced on the event, The Future of El Camino Real in Sunnyvale, at the Sunnyvale Community Center from 7:00-9:00 p.m. on April 26, 2017. -Staff Comments Ms. Tovar announced that Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) had successfully launched its first phase of service starting on April 1, 2017 to nearly 70,000 customers, with an opt-out rate of less than 1 percent and an opt-up rate (to 100% renewable) of about 2 percent. Customers opting out cited concerns about future costs and displeasure with automatic enrollment. Phase 2 will launch in July. SVCE also convened a roundtable of sustainability managers who would advise SVCE staff. The CEO report section of SVCE’s monthly meeting minutes contains helpful updates. Ms. Hiremath provided an update on the first Sustainability Speaker Series event on May 31. She also shared the following: (1) the City’s application for funding from the California Energy Commission for $700,000 to support CAP 2.0 planning and other energy efficiency programs was not selected for award;(2) we are still awaiting a decision on the selection of finalists in the Georgetown University Energy Prize; (3) the Mayor recently signed on to an open letter to the President, with 54 other cities, opposing the rollback of federal climate policies; and (4) the City Council adopted a proclamation recognizing April as Earth Month. Councilman Klein noted that Council recently approved plans for a new office building in Peery Park, for which it required parking garage solar panels. He announced that the Mary Avenue Extension project draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) would be available in July for a 90-day comment period. Commissioner Wickham asked about the timing for hiring the Environmental Services Department Director. Ms. Tovar stated that applications were due in May and encouraged Commissioners to provide input through an online survey available on the City’s website. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6