Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Monday, July 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 7:02 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 Stephen Joesten Commissioner Kristel Wickham Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Absent: 1 - Commissioner Petya Kisyova Council Liaison – Jim Griffith (present) PRESENTATION 1 17-0738 Tour of Intelligent Transportation System 7 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Carmen Talavera, Senior Traffic Engineer, Department of Public Works, led a tour of the City’s state-of-the-art Intelligent Transportation System, which uses real-time data to monitor traffic flows and minimize congestion in select parts of the City. 3 17-0740 Commissioner Presentation - Best Practices on Funding CAP Implementation Commissioner Wickham presented information on best practices on funding climate action plans (CAPs) taken from leading cities, drawing from the Urban Sustainability Directors’ Network’s (USDN’s) Financing Sustainable Cities Scan and Toolkit. She presented an overview of funding sources, metrics considered when evaluating City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 17, 2017 financing options, and future CAP funding options for the City. Chair Paton opened the public comments. Tim Oey, Sunnyvale resident and Commissioner on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC), noted that much of the information in the presentation overlapped with BPAC’s purview and that there should be opportunities for collaboration between BPAC and the Sustainability Commission, particularly for proposing Study Issues on related topics. Elaine Marshall, Environmental Programs Manager, clarified that Commissions typically propose individual Study Issues following which staff may determine whether they should be combined. Chair Paton asked for additional clarification regarding whether Commissioners from BPAC and SC could collaborate if they each restricted themselves to less than four members. Chair Paton closed the public comments. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 2 17-0744 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of June 19, 2017 Vice Chair Srivastava moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Kisyova Abstain: 1 - Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Joesten abstained as he was not present at the June meeting (as his City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 17, 2017 term did not commence until July 1, 2017). PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 4 17-0745 Nominate a representative to the El Camino Real Plan Advisory Committee (ECRPAC) Chair Paton announced that Commissioner Kisyova had resigned from the Sustainability Commission effective July 26, 2017 due to a change in her primary residence to San Jose, which deems her ineligible to serve on the Commission. Given her role as the Sustainability Commission’s nominated representative to the ECRPAC, the Commission would now need to nominate a new representative. Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, clarified that there would be no restriction for the same nominated representative to serve on both the ECRPAC and the CAP 2.0 Advisory Committee unless otherwise determined by the Commission. Commissioner Hafeman expressed his willingness to serve as the Commission representative if it did not preclude him from consideration for also serving as one of the representatives to the CAP 2.0 Advisory Committee. Vice Chair Srivastava moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded the motion, to nominate Commissioner Hafeman as a representative to the ECRPAC. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Kisyova 5 17-0739 Election of Officers Chair Paton opened nominations for the office of the Chair. Commissioner Zornetzer nominated Chair Paton to serve another term as Chair. Chair Paton accepted the nomination. Chair Paton closed nominations for the office of the Chair. The Commission voted as follows: City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 17, 2017 Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Kisyova Chair Paton opened nominations for the office of the Vice Chair. Commissioner Hafeman nominated Vice Chair Srivastava to serve another term as Vice Chair. Vice Chair Srivastava accepted the nomination. Chair Paton closed nominations for the office of the Vice Chair. The Commission voted as follows: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Kisyova STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 6 17-0743 Draft Study Issue: How to improve Traffic Flow through the City of Sunnyvale? Commissioners Joesten and Hafeman noted that a study of traffic flows cannot be conducted without accounting for flow between Sunnyvale and its neighboring cities. Commissioner Zornetzer observed that the potential SI as proposed is already being addressed by the City’s Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) that (toured earlier during this meeting) within the staffing and budget available. For these reasons, the Commission decided to drop this potential Study Issue. 7 17-0741 Draft Study Issue: Encouraging Heat Pump Water and Space Heating Commissioner Wickham outlined that the proposed Study Issue on heat pump City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 17, 2017 technology would examine its costs, savings, incentives needed, and impacts on community and the environment. The Commission discussed how such a Study Issue could inform the development of incentives (e.g., streamlined permitting process, reduced permitting fees) to promote more widespread adoption of heat pump technologies. Elaine Marshall shared that Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) is considering developing incentive programs, a pilot study, or model ordinance related to heat pump technology; staff will provide further information on SVCE’s plan, when it becomes available in early August, to the Commission. Commissioner Wickham requested early staff feedback on the Study Issue. Commissioner Hafeman moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, to sponsor the proposed Study Issues, pending further information on its overlap with SVCE’s proposed programs or pilot studies. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Kisyova 8 17-0742 Proposed Study Issue: Lower speed limits on all Arterials and El Camino Real to 30mph or less Commissioner Hafeman explained that the motivation for this potential Study Issue was that Sunnyvale is the only City where the speed limit on El Camino Real is 40 mph. The proposed Study Issue would examine the impact of lowering the speed limit to 30 mph on all Sunnyvale streets and arterials to make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. Commissioner Wickham inquired whether the ECR Corridor Plan considered modifications to speed limits. Chair Paton opened the public comments. Tim Oey, Sunnyvale resident, noted that in addition to the streets previously noted City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 17, 2017 by Commissioner Hafeman, Fremont Ave and Mathilda Ave south of El Camino also have speed limits of 40 mph. Chair Paton closed the public comments. Commissioner Hafeman asked for preliminary staff feedback on this potential Study Issue and requested that the potential Study Issue be added to the August meeting agenda for further discussion. New Potential Study Issue Topics Chair Paton moved, and Commissioner Wickham seconded, a motion to add a discussion of a potential Study Issue to examine sea level rise impacts on Sunnyvale to the August meeting agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Kisyova Chair Paton also volunteered to give a Commissioner Presentation on Sea Level Rise at the August meeting. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Zornetzer announced that the second Sustainability Speaker Series event, a talk on electrification of transportation systems by Rod Diridon, Sr., would be held on August 2, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. Commissioner Hafeman commented that the new Google Headquarters construction along Stevens Creek trail appeared to be built below the level of anticipated sea level rise. Commissioner Zornetzer noted that Google’s strategy is to mitigate sea level rise itself and is planning to add nearly 11 feet of fill dirt. City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final July 17, 2017 Commissioner Wickham reported that she went to an informative talk by Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown, on the top 100 solutions to climate change; she shared that it was her intention to review and rank the 100 solutions as they apply to Sunnyvale. She also shared that she attended the Silicon Valley Energy Summit at which alternate models for investing in energy and transportation were discussed. Vice Chair Srivastava reported that the City’s State of the City event on July 29, 2017 would have a Meet-and-Greet event for Commissioners. -Staff Comments Councilmember Griffith announced that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SVCE was leaving September 1, 2017. The SVCE Board is identifying an Interim CEO and will be recruiting for a permanent replacement. Nupur Hiremath provided feedback that while the Sustainability Commission may not be able to play a formal role in guiding the 2017 Study Issue on Housing Strategy (CDD 17-09), staff would share the results of the Study Issue with the Commission when available. Ms. Hiremath also reported that the City had begun soliciting applications for the CAP 2.0 Advisory Committee and that Sustainability Commission would need to nominate two representatives to this Advisory Committee in August. Commissioners who were not nominated as Commission representatives may apply in another category; however, the Council Subcommittee tasked with appointing members will be looking for individuals with diverse backgrounds to serve on the Advisory Committee. Ms. Hiremath announced that the State of the City event would be held on July 29, 2017. The City also recently rolled out the new website, logo, and a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Ms. Marshall shared that the new brand and logo is designed to convey a spirit of “bold sustainable innovation” thereby incorporating sustainability as part of the City’s core. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7