Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Wednesday, October 24, 2018 7:00 PM Community Center - Neighborhood Room, 550 E. Remington Dr., Sunnyvale Special Meeting CALL TO ORDER Chair Paton called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. in the Community Center - Neighborhood Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Paton led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Bruce Paton Vice Chair Kristel Wickham Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Douglas Kunz Commissioner Stephen Joesten Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Absent: 1 - Commissioner Shana Padgett Council Liaison – Gustav Larsson (present) Commissioner Padgett’s absence is excused. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 18-0936 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of September 17, 2018 Vice Chair Wickham pulled the minutes of the September 17, 2018, noting a typo that referred to her as a Chair instead of Vice Chair under agenda item 18-0735. City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 24, 2018 She also noted a correction in the minutes that her comment about this agenda item was that her proposed Study Issue idea was redundant with the other Study Issue on greenhouse gas emissions reduction from all residential and non-residential construction. Commissioner Joesten moved, and Commissioner Hafeman seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar as amended. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kunz Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Padgett PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 18-0937 2019 Sustainability Speaker Series Recommendations The Sustainability Speaker Series Subcommittee, consisting of Vice Chair Wickham and Commissioners Kunz and Zornetzer, presented the 2019 Sustainability Speaker Series Proposal (hereafter “Proposal”). The Proposal included six topics and recommended speakers for some of them. Commissioners individually ranked the six topics in order of priority. Based on the written prioritization, each Commissioner prioritized the topics as follows: Commissioner Hafeman: Electric Vehicles; Parking; Recycling; Water; Youth focused – Carbon Footprint; and CAP 2.0 Commissioner Joesten: Electric Vehicles; Parking; Water; Youth focused – Carbon Footprint; Recycling; and CAP 2.0 Commissioner Kunz: Electric Vehicles; Youth focused – Carbon Footprint; Parking; Water; Recycling; and CAP 2.0 Chair Paton: Electric Vehicles; Parking; Water; Youth focused – Carbon Footprint; City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 24, 2018 Recycling; and CAP 2.0 Vice Chair Wickham: Electric Vehicles; Youth focused – Carbon Footprint; Water; Parking; Recycling; and CAP 2.0 Commissioner Zornetzer: Electric Vehicles; Recycling; Water; Parking; Youth focused – Carbon Footprint; and CAP 2.0 Staff tabulated the prioritization and provided the following ranked list of topics: 1. Electric Vehicles 2. Youth focused – Carbon Footprint 3. Water 4. Parking 5. Recycling 6. CAP 2.0 Vice Chair Wickham moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, to approve the 2019 Sustainability Speaker Series topics as prioritized. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kunz Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Zornetzer No: 0 Absent: 1 - Commissioner Padgett 18-0939 Draft 2019 Annual Master Work Plan The Commission discussed the Draft 2019 Annual Master Work Plan. Chair Paton encouraged the Commission to identify leading edge topics of interest and volunteer to give Commissioner Presentations on them, so that these could be added to the Work Plan at the November meeting. The Commission discussed and added various items to the Draft 2019 Work Plan, with the intention of finalizing it at the November meeting. STANDING ITEM: CLIMATE ACTION PLAN (CAP 2.0) UPDATE Vice Chair Wickham and Nupur Hiremath, Sustainability Coordinator, provided an City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 24, 2018 update on the status of the Climate Action Plan (CAP 2.0). CAP 2.0 document is currently being developed by staff and consultants, with a target date for late November or early December release for public review. Staff will present CAP 2.0 at a Joint Study Session of the Sustainability, Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory, and Planning Commissions in early December. Melody Tovar, Regulatory Programs Division Manager, the Heat Pumps Study Issue topic, which is related to CAP 2.0, would be presented to Council at a Study Session on November 27, 2018 and that CAP 2.0 would be presented to Council at a Study Session on January 29, 2018. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 18-0734 Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy Ramana Chinnakotla, Director of Environmental Services, shared an update that staff has just started working with a consultant on an update to the City’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy (EP3). The consultant has developed similar policies for other cities and will be identifying successful best practices from those cities that may be appropriate and applicable for Sunnyvale. He noted that staff will review the Sustainability Commission’s recommendations, as listed under this Study Issues, for potential inclusion in the City’s updated EP3. Vice Chair Wickham requested that staff consider whether the EP3 should be expanded to apply to contract services, including construction. Based on the information provided by staff, the Commission agreed not to pursue this Study Issue further. 18-0826 Addressing Non-Recyclables in Recycling Carts Ramana Chinnakotla shared that Solid Waste Division staff had been working to release a list of “dirty dozen” items that frequently contaminate recycling carts. He noted that staff is aware of the challenges and degree of contamination in recycling carts and is working on a plan to address this issue through better education and outreach. The Study Issue process, he noted, was intended to focus on policy issues, whereas addressing non-recyclables in recycling carts is an operational issue that staff is already looking into. Chair Paton requested that staff provide the Commission with a presentation on waste characterization data and that the Commission will add it to its 2019 Work Plan. Based on the information provided by staff, the Commission agreed not to pursue this Study Issue further. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final October 24, 2018 NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Kunz commended Environmental Services Department staff for providing an outstanding tour of the Water Pollution Control Plant. He also shared that the Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) Customer Programs Advisory Group (CPAG) that he serves on will continue to meet and provide guidance to SVCE through December 2018. Commissioner Joesten shared that he had toured a waste-to-energy facility in Pennsylvania and would like to explore the possibility of a representative from that company presenting to the Commission. He also shared that the Moffett Park Business Group is working with the City on a Business Emergency Response Collaborative (BERC). Vice Chair Wickham announced that the next Sustainability Speaker Series event “Home Energy – Taking Charge!” would be held on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 7 p.m. at City Hall. She also announced that she attended the second Green Building Program outreach meeting and the Sunnyvale Technology Expo. She shared that she is a part of the new Map Your Neighborhood program launched by the City’s Department of Public Safety and Sunnyvale Emergency Response Volunteers (SERV), which is a block-level program to engage the community on emergency response. She noted that is analogous to the Cool Blocks program in Palo Alto and which was submitted as a possible ideas for CAP 2.0. Chair Paton also shared that he attended the second Green Building Program Update outreach meeting and some insights from others who provided comments at that meeting. -Staff Comments Melody Tovar shared that she was appreciative of the strong community representation at the Green Building Program outreach meetings and noted one of the most important barrier to address for building electrification was switching gas cooking to induction cooking. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 5