Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Monday, December 18, 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 7:00 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 4 - Chair Bruce Paton Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Stephen Joesten Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Amit Srivastava Commissioner Adriana Imbre Commissioner Kristel Wickham Vice Chair Srivastava’s, and Commissioners Imbre’s and Wickham’s absences are excused. Council Liaison – Jim Griffith (present) PRESENTATION 17-1177 PRESENTATION - Review and Provide Feedback on Civic Center - Draft LEED Checklist Kent Steffens, City Manager, and consultants (SmithGroup JJR and Atelier Ten) presented information on how the proposed Civic Center Master Plan ranked according to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Sustainable Sites (SITES) standards. The proposed Civic Center aims to achieve a LEED-Platinum rating and a SITES Gold rating, and incorporates input provided by City Boards and Commissions as well as by the community. The current City Hall and surrounding buildings will continue to operate while the new City Hall is City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 18, 2017 constructed. The Commission acknowledged that its feedback on the design had been incorporated well and that the proposed design was truly pushing towards an ambitious sustainability target. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 17-1174 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of November 20, 2017 Commissioner Hafeman moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Imbre Commissioner Wickham PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 17-1175 Review and Rank Study Issues Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, reviewed the five Study Issues to be ranked by the Commission. The Commission discussed and asked clarifying questions about the Study Issue papers. Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. Tim Oey, resident of Sunnyvale and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commissioner, expressed his support for Study Issues CDD 18-06, ESD 17-01, and ESD 18-01. He noted Study Issue DPW 18-09 was redundant in part with the El Camino Real (ECR) Corridor Plan, which proposes a more holistic approach for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements along this street, although the ECR Corridor Plan does not entail lowering the speed limit. Mary Brunkhorst, a representative of the Sunnyvale Urban Forest Advocates City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 18, 2017 (SUFA), expressed SUFA’s support of Study Issue DPW 16-10, noting that priorities identified in the City’s Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) had not been incorporated into the City’s codes and policies. She also observed that tree removal fines were not typically used for supporting tree replacements. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. Commissioner Zornetzer moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion that the Commission drop Study Issue DPW 18-09 because bicycle and pedestrian safety was already being considered as a part of the ECR Corridor Plan (as noted by Mr. Oey). In addition, they cited that the City had limited purview over revising the speed limit on ECR, for which the speed limits were set by CalTrans, and that the City was limited in its ability to truly change the speed limit, as it can only be revised within 5 miles per hour above or below the median speed identified through speed surveys. Commissioner Hafeman did not support the motion because he strongly believed that bicycle and pedestrian safety is affected by how fast cars drive along a shared roadway. The motion failed by the following vote: Yes: 2 - Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer No: 2 - Chair Paton Commissioner Hafeman Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Imbre Commissioner Wickham Commissioner Joesten moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion that the Commission drop Study Issue CDD 18-06 as stormwater management is already being addressed through the City’s current building codes. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 18, 2017 No: 0 Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Imbre Commissioner Wickham The Commission did not defer or drop any of the remaining Study Issues. The Commission discussed the remaining Study Issues. Commissioner Joesten requested a staff update on the net number of trees replaced, which is tracked as a part of Climate Action Plan (CAP 1.0). Each Commissioner ranked the Study Issues individually. Commissioner Zornetzer moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion to accept the following final consolidated ranking: Rank 1 – ESD 18-01: Encouraging Heat Pump Water and Space Heating Rank 2 – ESD 17-01: Eliminate the Use of Chemical Pesticides on City Owned or Leased Property Rank 3 – DPW 16-10: Consider Sunnyvale Municipal Code Amendments to Clarify, Strengthen and Enforce Tree Preservation and Tree Planting Requirements within Right of Way and Public and Private Property Rank 4 – DPW 18-09: Lower Speed Limits on City Streets Including El Camino Real to 30 Miles Per Hour or Less The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Imbre Commissioner Wickham City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 18, 2017 17-1173 Approve the 2018 Annual Master Work Plan The Commission reviewed and discussed the draft 2018 Annual Master Work Plan prepared by staff in consultation with Chair Paton. The draft reflected topics prioritized by the Commission during its November meeting. Chair Paton encouraged Commissioners to do a deeper dive into specific topics by preparing Commissioner Presentations, which were intended to educate the rest of the Commission on that topic. Commissioner Hafeman inquired when staff anticipated giving the Green Building Code Update presentation (listed in the Work Plan but unscheduled) to the Commission. Staff clarified that the presentation would likely be later in 2018 as the City had just hired the needed staff to support the Green Building Code update. Chair Paton and staff stated that in the meantime, staff would share information on webinars, online trainings, or other resources on green building codes and state policies so that the Commission can build its knowledge in this area. Chair Paton also suggested that former Commissioner, Petya Kisyova, might be amenable to presenting on this topic as a guest presenter. Commissioner Hafeman requested a staff update on leaf blowers, given the recent data on the greenhouse gas impact of leaf blowers made available by the California Air Resources Board. Commissioner Joesten noted that the electric or battery-operated leaf blower technology has evolved significantly in the last few years and many communities had banned them. Melody Tovar, Interim Director of Environmental Services, clarified that the City had conducted a Study Issue considering a ban on leaf blowers, the conclusion of which had not led to a ban but rather to Council direction to staff to increase awareness of leaf blower emissions and a trade-in program for gas leaf blowers. Any recommendations for staff to revisit this topic due to availability of new technologies, she noted, would be through the Study Issue process. The Commission made revisions and requested staff to reschedule some topics; staff will reschedule the topics after confirming availability of staff or external presenters. Commissioner Hafeman moved, and Commissioner Zornetzer seconded, a motion to approve the draft 2018 Annual Master Work Plan as amended. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 18, 2017 Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 3 - Vice Chair Srivastava Commissioner Imbre Commissioner Wickham STANDING ITEM: CLIMATE ACTION PLAN (CAP 2.0) UPDATE Nupur Hiremath read an update on the CAP 2.0 Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting provided by Commissioner Wickham via email. She announced the next two meetings of the CAC would be held on January 25 and February 1, 2018, respectively. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Joesten shared that he and Commissioner Wickham attended a Zero Net Energy workshop, at which he learned that PG&E transformers were not designed to support moving the high electricity load generated from local rooftop solar back to the grid; the recommendation from the workshop, therefore, was to reduce energy use by improving the building envelope and to develop energy storage systems. He also observed that Beijing, China, had effectively promoted widespread adoption of community bicycles to reduce congestion and emissions. Commissioner Hafeman shared an update from his participation in the ECR Corridor Plan meeting. The ECR Plan names four major nodes at which parcels are larger to promote mixed use developments. He noted that the City is making significant effort to preserve the auto dealerships along ECR as these are a source of revenue. Chair Paton shared that he and Commissioner Wickham had attended a No Drop Left Behind conference on water conservation organized by Sustainable Silicon Valley. -Staff Comments Ms. Hiremath announced that a CAP 2.0 Ideas Workshop would be held on Saturday, March 3, 2018 at the Senior Center. Staff is working with the consultant to plan the details of the workshop, which is intended to be a large City of Sunnyvale Page 6 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 18, 2017 community-oriented event to engage residents and business in brainstorming ideas for CAP 2.0. She also provided a reminder that the first Sustainability Speaker Series event, a talk by Chad Frischmann of Project Drawdown, would be held on January 31, 2018 in Council Chambers. Ms. Hiremath also shared that Kent Steffens had been selected by City Council as the City Manager, pending salary negotiation and a background check. Ms. Tovar shared that she had attended an Urban Sustainability Director’s Network (USDN) meeting in San Diego in October and had learned many new sustainability ideas from communities outside California that were similar to Sunnyvale and also some useful tips on marketing sustainability. She also noted that the Wolfe Road recycled water pipeline would become operational in December and that the eventual vision is to send recycled water to the percolation ponds in Los Gatos to support indirect potable reuse. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 7