Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Tuesday, February 19, 2019 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Vice Chair Wickham called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the West Conference Room. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Vice Chair Wickham led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 5 - Vice Chair Kristel Wickham Commissioner Dan Hafeman Commissioner Douglas Kunz Commissioner Stephen Joesten Commissioner Shana Padgett Absent: 2 - Chair Bruce Paton Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Council Liaison – Michael S. Goldman (present) Chair Paton’s and Commissioner Zornetzer’s absences are excused by general consent. PRESENTATION 1 19-0283 PRESENTATION - Commissioner Presentation: Community Engagement and Behavior Change Vice Chair Wickham provided an overview of community engagement strategies that the City could use to enhance participation in climate action and behavior change, including Community Climate Solutions or CCS (used by cities of Palo Alto, Fremont, Menlo Park, and Los Altos), Cool Blocks (used by cities of Palo Alto, Davis), and Community Resilience Challenge (Contra Costa County). Guest speaker Lisa Altieri of Community Climate Solutions (CCS) presented information on City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 19, 2019 the CCS tool and its effectiveness at engaging the community in climate action. The Commission asked questions and discussed the highlighted community engagement strategies. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 2 19-0285 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of January 22, 2019 Approve the Sustainability Commission Minutes of January 22, 2019 as submitted. Yes: 5 - Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Hafeman Commissioner Kunz Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Padgett No: 0 Absent: 2 - Chair Paton Commissioner Zornetzer Commissioner Padgett abstained as she was not present at the January 22, 2019 Commission meeting. STANDING ITEM: CLIMATE ACTION PLAN (CAP 2.0) UPDATE Nupur Hiremath, Environmental Programs Manager, provided an update that Draft Climate Action Playbook (CAP) development is still underway and that the Playbook would likely be available for public review next month. Staff would hold a Joint Info Study Session of three Commissions (Planning, Sustainability, and Bicycle and Pedestrian) to provide an overview and highlight its elements. Public input would be collected at community meetings and via an online platform. Staff is tentatively scheduled to hold a Study Session with City Council to review the Draft Playbook at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. Commissioner Hafeman requested staff to consider holding the Study Session in Council Chambers rather than West Conference Room, given the anticipated high public turnout at this meeting. Staff will consider the Commissioner’s request and revise the location accordingly. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 19, 2019 STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES 3 19-0284 Evaluate Potential for Greater Implementation of Complete Streets Policy Commissioner Hafeman shared information on a Mercury News article on the Complete Streets policy being applied in Bay Area cities. He noted that the Complete Streets covers pedestrian, mass transit, bicycles, and automobiles. The City of Fremont evaluated fatalities and observed that the fatalities were on streets with higher speed limits. Based on this, Fremont lowered the speed limits on several streets. The Commission discussed this topic and requested that staff clarify whether Sunnyvale publishes an annual report with data on fatalities by location and associated speed limits, whether specific streets and strategies have been identified for lowering fatalities, and whether the City is able to lower the speed limits on streets with more fatalities. Commissioner Hafeman shared that Senate Bill (SB) 127 (proposed in 2019) will require all state highway upgrades that pass through cities to follow the Complete Streets program, including bike and pedestrian facilities. Commissioner Hafeman raised the issue of whether it was appropriate to propose a Study Issue on how to power and fund an annual report on traffic accidents in Sunnyvale. Melody Tovar, Regulatory Programs Division Manager, commented that the City has been working on the Vision Zero Plan for the last many months and had a robust webpage for information. She noted that many of the documents posted on this webpage could potentially address the Commission’s inquiries. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Hafeman shared that he participated in a conference call with Earth Justice. Commissioner Kunz shared that he had recently switched his home’s space heating to a heat pump system and was happy with its performance. -Staff Comments Ms. Hiremath noted that the main agenda item for the March meeting was the Green City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final February 19, 2019 Building Program Update and the presentation on the Heat Pump Study Issue would be moved to April as a joint Study Session with the Planning Commission. The April agenda item of the Climate Action Plan/Playbook would be presented as a part of the Joint Info Study Session previously mentioned. In addition, Ms. Hiremath noted that staff was aiming for the 2019 Sustainability Speaker Series Proposal Report to Council (RTC) to be presented to Council on March 26, 2019. Ms. Hiremath also provided the following clarifications in response to the questions regarding Budget Issues and Study Issues discussed by the Commission at the January 22, 2019 meeting: (1) The Commission can propose a Budget Issue using the same process and timeline as a Study Issue. Budget Issues are not prioritized but Council votes whether or not to support them. If Council prioritizes a Budget Issue or Study Issue, it will be considered as a Budget Supplement. (2) To fulfill its general duties of advising Council, the Commission can: (a) propose a Study Issue, (b) have a Commissioner speak at a Council meeting representing himself or herself; and (c) appoint a Commissioner to represent the SC’s perspective at a Council meeting. (3) To engage the community, Commission can: (a) interact with community without representing the view of the Commission; and (b) attend community meetings without restriction. Further questions about the Commission’s duties can be directed to the Mayor, the Council Subcommittee on Bylaws, or the full Council. Ms. Tovar clarified that the Commission does not have to distinguish between a Budget and a Study Issue while proposing, but that this determination would be done by staff. She noted that the Climate Action Plan 2.0 (CAP 2.0) was a Budget Issue proposed in 2018. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 4 19-0291 Updated 2019 Annual Master Work Plan ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:22 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 4