Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Tuesday, January 21, 2020 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 7:01 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 Vice Chair Kristel Wickham Commissioner Stephen Joesten Commissioner Douglas Kunz Absent: 3 - Commissioner Shana Padgett Commissioner Murali Srinivasan Commissioner Steven Zornetzer Council Liaison - Russ Melton (present) Commissioner Padgett’s, Srinivasan’s, and Zornetzer’s absences are excused by general consent. PRESENTATION 20-0194 PRESENTATION - Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) Programs Update Aimee Bailey, Director of Decarbonization and Grid Innovation, and Don Bray, Director of Account Services and Community Relations, from Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE), presented an update of SVCE’s progress implementing decarbonization programs over the past year. The Commission asked questions and SVCE staff provided clarifications. 20-0197 PRESENTATION - FoodCycle and Solid Waste Programs City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 21, 2020 Update Karen Gissibl, Environmental Programs Manager, and Bailey Hall, Environmental Programs Specialist, presented an update on the FoodCycle program. The presentation highlighted the results of a recent survey of 3,200 Sunnyvale households, which polled residents for participation, perspectives on food waste awareness, and barriers to participation. Jim McHargue, Solid Waste Programs Division Manager, presented an update on the solid waste franchise agreement. Christine Jiang and Cameron Kostigen-Mumper, Environmental Engineering Coordinators, presented an update on the food waste co-digestion pilot study at the Water Pollution Control Plant (Plant). This pilot assesses the feasibility of feeding food scraps “mash” into anaerobic digesters at the Plant to generate additional biogas to power Plant operations. Staff highlighted how the pilot study would reduce natural gas consumption, decrease emissions from transportation of waste, and enhance diversion away from landfills. The Commission asked questions and staff provided clarification. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 20-0225 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2019 Commissioner Joesten moved, and Commissioner Kunz seconded, a motion to approve the minutes on the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Kunz No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Zornetzer PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 21, 2020 20-0198 Rank 2020 Study Issues Nupur Hiremath, Environmental Programs Manager, provided an overview of the nine Study Issues and the Study Issue ranking process. The Commission discussed and asked clarifying questions about the Study Issue papers. The Commission discussed its strategy to prioritize Study Issues that aim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector, as transportation makes up over half of the City’s communitywide GHG emissions, and Study Issues that can easily be implemented. Chair Paton opened the Public Hearing. No public comments were made. Chair Paton closed the Public Hearing. Commissioner Wickham moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion to drop the following Study Issues: CDD 19-08, CDD 19-09, ESD 19-02, and CDD 18-09. The Commission agreed that these Study Issues are being addressed in current initiatives (e.g., Reach Codes) and the adopted Climate Action Playbook’s Game Plan 2022, as noted in the staff recommendations. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Kunz No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Zornetzer Commissioner Kunz moved, and Commissioner Joesten seconded, a motion to defer Study Issue CDD 20-04 until SVCE had developed its proposed Building Decarbonization Joint Action Plan, following which its implementation could be passed to City staff. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 21, 2020 Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Kunz No: 0 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Zornetzer The Commission did not defer or drop any of the remaining Study Issues. The Commission discussed the remaining four Study Issues. Each Commissioner ranked the Study Issues individually. Staff consolidated the results and provided the final consolidated ranking to the Commission. Commissioner Joesten moved, and Vice Chair Wickham seconded, a motion to accept the following final consolidated ranking: Rank 1 – ESD 17-01: Eliminate the Use of Chemical Pesticides on City Owned or Leased Property Rank 2 – DPW 20-09: Subsidized Public Transit Rank 3 – DPW 20-08: Create a New City Board and Commission or Staff Advisory Committee Focused on Mobility Issues, Especially Commutes Into and Out of the City Rank 4 – DPW 20-01: Reducing the City of Sunnyvale’s Fossil Fuel Infrastructure and Equipment The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 4 - Chair Paton Vice Chair Wickham Commissioner Joesten Commissioner Kunz No: 0 City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 21, 2020 Absent: 3 - Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Zornetzer Ms. Hiremath shared that the final ranking would be provided to Council at the Study/Budget Issue Workshop scheduled for February 27, 2020. STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES None. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Chair Paton announced a zero-waste brunch panel was being hosted by Global Shapers Palo Alto on February 1, 2020 in Sunnyvale. He shared that he attended an induction cooktop presentation at Livable Sunnyvale and noted the power of highlighting the cooking experience with live cooking and sharing food samples. Additionally, Chair Paton announced that his house is now all-electric. Commissioner Kunz shared that SVCE demonstrated induction cooktops and made hot cocoa with his Cub Scout den in December 2019. He noted that sharing food is an effective way to market induction cooktops. Additionally, he shared the Cumberland Elementary School parent-teacher association (PTA) passed a resolution calling for the California PTA to support legislation requiring schools to develop and implement climate action plans to reduce GHG emissions at school sites. Commissioner Joesten observed that the metrics Ad Hoc Subcommittee of the Sustainability Commission met the previous week to analyze the metrics other municipalities are utilizing in their climate action plans. Preliminary observations suggest that GHG emissions are the primary measurement, with programs designed to support GHG emission reductions. He also observed that many California municipalities still do not have climate action plans due to the cost to develop them and required technical expertise, and noted the need for templates that could be shared between cities. Vice Chair Wickham announced that the next Sustainability Speaker Series event will be held the following Wednesday evening on January 29. She encouraged City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 21, 2020 Commissioners to attend and publicize the event. -Staff Comments Nupur Hiremath, Environmental Programs Manager, announced upcoming Sustainability Speaker Series events on January 29 and March 11, 2020. The Gourmet Earth Day celebration will be on April 18, 2020, and will feature local food, zero waste, and induction cooking, while also including a home electrification component. Additionally, staff is working to create an induction cooktop loaner program to be housed at either the Sunnyvale Library or the Environmental Services Department office at the Sunnyvale Office Center. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 20-0232 2020 Annual Master Work Plan ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:34 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6