Climate Action Plan Standing Committee

CAP Standing Committee Meeting Online via WebEx January 20, 2021 In Attendance Committee Members: Hilary Lindh, Karin Hilding, Robin Paone, Kate McMahon, Ben Davis, Casey Lewis, Liz Records, Ryder Delaloye Public: Jen Bernosky A. Meeting was called to order at 5:35 pm B. Approval of Minutes – December minutes unanimously approved. C. Committee agreed that instead of appointing a secretary, members of the Committee would take minutes on a rotating basis. Hilary to send schedule around. D. Committee Status Updates • Public Works Update – Karin Hilding provided an update on transit. The City is working on transit plan with KLJ Consulting. Eagle Transit is rebranding to Mountain Climber and will be updating its web site. Transit will be a separate County department. Currently, it is part of the Council on Aging. The Mountain Climber is transitioning from a fixed route to an on-demand. This is partly in response to Covid and it has been popular in Kalispell. They are going to put out an RFP for software to manage the on-demand service and it will include a mobile app. They will still run a large bus for fixed route service from Kalispell to Whitefish. Local routes within the cities will be smaller on-demand vans. There is a plan to purchase hybrid vans which will reduce emissions. Also considering issuing an RFP for a planning grant. - Hilary noted that the US 93 Corridor plan will be completed in the spring. There was interest in the corridor plan for a hop-on/hop-off bus service. This should be coordinated with the on-demand Mountain Climber service. - As part of city’s transportation plan, there will be a tri-city meeting in March to coordinate on transportation planning. The plan will also look at park-n-ride locations. - EV – Public Works is developing a cost estimate of charging stations at Depot Park. The estimate will be for two “Level Two” charging stations. Also trying to get information on charging stations at Town Pump. - City Budget: The CAP agenda for February will have a discussion item regarding the city budget. Karin, Hilary, and Liz will compile suggestions by department and CAP committee can help prioritize. 1  • Parks Update – Zero Waste Events - Liz provided an update on Parks discussions since last CAP meeting. There is interest in potential zero waste events like what was done for the Farmer’s Market. This would entail purchasing bear proof containers and pickup from Dirt Rich. A shed is needed to store compost bins. Potential location at recycling site. Alternatively, the City could issue an RFP for regular compost collection program. Costs and other details are necessary before such an effort can be undertaken. Can the committee work on cost estimate for presentation to city council? - Ben noted that City Council has discussed this issue. There is a difference between zero waste for special events and a central drop-off site. There is general support of the idea, but it is complicated by the procurement process for the central drop-off site. To proceed, a compost program would need to be considered as part of the council goals lists. The recycling center is a top priority that needs to be dealt with first. Ben suggested creating an action plan for community composting would be useful and Kate volunteered to bring one to the February meeting. - Liz will work on cost estimates for a special event storage shed and net zero events. - Kate will compile list of grants that may be potential funding sources. • School District Update - Ryder said the school district did some research and there is no comparable compost program for a city of Whitefish size. The case studies they reviewed were usually a county-wide program, county-city partnership, or a city/private partnership. He recommended starting with an education campaign to build awareness and support for a larger program in a couple years. Ryder shares their report with Hilary, who will forward to the Committee. - Karin noted that Missoula has a compost facility at wastewater treatment plant, and this might be a worthwhile future field trip for the City Council. • Other Committee Updates - Casey gave Climate Smart Glacier Country update. - Karin and Casey participated in Flathead Basin Committee Education and Outreach meeting. There is discussion on basin wide water quality campaign. - Kate suggested adding planning for Earth Day to the February agenda. Liz will find out what the Parks department is doing to mark the occasion. - Robin asked about CAP milestones and how to offset emissions reductions if the solar array at the wastewater treatment plant is too expensive to install. Karin said the biggest emissions in the valley are related to transportation and heating buildings, which is why the City is focusing now on transit improvements and building efficiency. The CAP also did not credit the City with conservation/preservation of the Haskill Basin easement, which would change the emissions calculation results in the plan. F. Public Comment – none. G. Adjournment – Meeting adjourned at 6:35 pm Next meeting: February 17 2