Sustainability Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Sustainability Commission Tuesday, January 18, 2022 7:00 PM Telepresence Meeting: City Web Stream CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to Government Code Subdivision 54953(e), the meeting was conducted telephonically; pursuant to state law, the City Council made the necessary findings by adopting Resolution No. 1089-21 on October 26, 2021, reaffirmed on January 4, 2022. Chair Wickham called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. via teleconference. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Chair Kristel Wickham Vice Chair Douglas Kunz Commissioner Shana Padgett Commissioner Kristina Pistone Commissioner Murali Srinivasan Commissioner Tonya Veitch Commissioner Justin Wang Council Liaison – Councilmember Hendricks (present). Chair Wickham, Vice Chair Kunz, all Commissioners, and Council liaison attended via teleconference. PRESENTATION 22-0230 PRESENTATION - Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) Program Updates Don Bray, Director of Account Services and Community Relations, and Justin Zagunis, Manager of Decarbonization and Grid Innovation Programs, presented an update on SVCE’s decarbonization programs and their goals for the coming year. Commissioners asked clarifying questions, and SVCE staff provided responses. 22-0231 PRESENTATION - Review of Proposed Project Ideas for City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 18, 2022 Clean California Local Grant Program Application Nupur Hiremath, Environmental Programs Manager, and Christina Raby, Environmental Programs Specialist, presented on the proposed project ideas for Clean California grant program. Ms. Hiremath and Ms. Raby shared details of the grant program and gave a summary of the proposed projects planned for inclusion in the grant application. Staff sought input from the Commission and members of the public on the proposed project ideas. Commissioners provided suggestions. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. CONSENT CALENDAR 21-1156 Approve the Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes of November 15, 2021 Commissioner Wang moved, and Commissioner Pistone seconded, a motion to approve the consent calendar. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7 - Chair Wickham Vice Chair Kunz Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Pistone Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Veitch Commissioner Wang No: 0 PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS 22-0234 Rank 2022 Study Issues Chair Wickham provided an overview of the ranking process for Study Issues. Commissioners asked clarifying questions regarding the process and staff provided answers. Ms. Hiremath provided an overview of six Study Issues. Mansour Nasser, Water and Sewer Division Manager, provided an overview of Study Issue ESD 22-01. Commissioners asked clarifying questions, and staff responded. Chair Wickham opened Public Hearing. City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 18, 2022 No public comments were made. Chair Wickham closed Public Hearing. Chair Wickham opened the floor to discussion of the Study Issues. Vice Chair Kunz moved, and Commissioner Pistone seconded, a motion to drop Study Issue CDD 20-04 titled Encourage Decarbonization Readiness During Electrical Upgrades. Vice Chair Kunz recommended dropping this Study Issue as the City and Silicon Valley Clean Energy were already taking the actions described in the Study Issue elements. Commissioners generally agreed. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7 - Chair Wickham Vice Chair Kunz Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Pistone Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Veitch Commissioner Wang No: 0 Vice Chair Kunz moved, and Commissioner Wang seconded, a motion to drop Study Issue DPW 20-01 titled Reducing the City of Sunnyvale’s Fossil Fuel Infrastructure and Equipment. Vice Chair Kunz moved to drop this Study Issue because its broad scope was unlikely to get support. He noted that the Commission should prioritize smaller projects within this scope. Commissioners generally agreed that they would like to prioritize a reduction in fossil fuel use, and to focus on DPW 22-01, which covers a subset of this Study Issue. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 18, 2022 Yes: 7 - Chair Wickham Vice Chair Kunz Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Pistone Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Veitch Commissioner Wang No: 0 Vice Chair Kunz moved, and Commissioner Padgett seconded, a motion to recommend deferring Study Issue ESD 17-01 titled Eliminate the Use of Chemical Pesticide on City Owned or Leased Property. Vice Chair Kunz applauded staff for coming up with a creative approach to potentially moving this Study Issue forward. He would like to defer the Study Issue in line with the staff recommendation. Commissioners generally agreed. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7 - Chair Wickham Vice Chair Kunz Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Pistone Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Veitch Commissioner Wang No: 0 The Commission discussed the potential impacts and feasibility of the remaining four Study Issues. Commissioners Wang, Veitch, Padgett, and Srinivasan expressed their support for prioritizing recycled water for long-term water resilience and increasing tree canopy, without which meeting the targets in the Urban Forest Management Plan may not be feasible. Commissioner Pistone voiced support of sustainable landscaping and holistic approaches, with a goal of addressing leaf blowers. Vice Chair Kunz and Chair Wickham expressed their support for focusing efforts on the reduction of fossil fuel use. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 18, 2022 Each Commissioner ranked the Study Issues individually. Staff consolidated the results and provided the final consolidated ranking to the Commission. Commissioner Padgett moved, and Commissioner Veitch seconded, a motion to accept the following consolidated ranking: Rank 1 – ESD 22-02 Complete a Comprehensive Update of the 2013 Feasibility Study for Recycled Water Expansion Rank 2 – DPW 22-04 Street Tree Repopulation with an Equity Lens Rank 3 – DPW 22-01 Fleet Planning for Electric Vehicle Transition Rank 4 – ESD 22-02 Promotion and Assessment of Sustainable Landscaping Strategies The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7 - Chair Wickham Vice Chair Kunz Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Pistone Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Veitch Commissioner Wang No: 0 Vice Chair Kunz moved, and Commissioner Veitch seconded, a motion to nominate Chair Wickham to represent the Sustainability Commission’s rankings to City Council during the Study Issue workshop. The motion carried by the following vote: City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Sustainability Commission Meeting Minutes - Final January 18, 2022 Yes: 7 - Chair Wickham Vice Chair Kunz Commissioner Padgett Commissioner Pistone Commissioner Srinivasan Commissioner Veitch Commissioner Wang No: 0 STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES No new Study Issues were submitted. NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS -Commissioner Comments Commissioner Veitch shared that there is a collaborative effort between some regional organizations to provide a Reach Codes for beginners webinar series, which started on January 15, 2022. She also announced that Acterra is hosting a webinar on February 4, 2022, at 12 p.m. titled “Climate Action 101.” Chair Wickham encouraged Commissioners to watch the recording of “Code Red for Humanity: What Municipalities Can Do,” a webinar event hosted by Acterra on January 14, 2022. -Staff Comments Ms. Willett reminded the Commissioners that January 27, 2022, City Council would hold their Strategic Session workshop starting at 8:30 a.m. She also announced the launch of both the Sustainability Speaker Series FY 21-22 program and the Drive Electric 2022 program. INFORMATION ONLY REPORTS/ITEMS 22-0232 Updated Annual Work Plan January 2022 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6