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Home My WebLink About02-23-17 BCP Meeting MinutesBOZEMAN CLIMATE PARTNERS MEETING MINUTES FEBRUARY 23, 2017 A. CALL MEETING TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Bozeman Climate Partners Working Group was called to order at 2:00 PM on February 23, 2017 in the Gallatin Room of City Hall. PRESENT Natalie Meyer, Jerrod Bley, Carson Taylor, Jay Sinnott, Joan Montagne, Mahima Giri, Kristen Walser B. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA None. C. PUBLIC COMMENT None. D. MINUTES The minutes from 1/26/17 were not submitted or approved. E. FYI/DISCUSSION 1. FY18 SUSTAINABILITY BUDGET & PRIORITIES N. Meyer shared the Sustainability Budget presentation that she presented to the City Manager on 2/21/17. The request included minor reductions for website maintenance, workshops, and video case studies, while adding funding for a Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment. The Assessment would involve hiring a consultant to compile the best available climate data, convene key stakeholder groups, and help identify relevant climate related risks and evaluate the needed performance response. If funded, the Vulnerability Assessment work could begin as early as July 1, 2017. C. Taylor commented that he would like to evaluate a variety of city maintenance activities and the approach to funding, including the practice of maintaining outdoor ice rinks as temperatures warm reducing our ability to maintain the ice. The FY17 budget totaled $51,940 and the FY18 budget request totals $59,640. 2. SPRING MEETING SCHEDULE Bozeman Climate Partners will again convene for a regular meeting on March 23, 2017. There will be no regular meeting on April 27 or May 25 to accommodate N. Meyer’s maternity leave. H. Higinbotham, however, will send out email updates on these two dates. Bozeman Climate Partners will continue their regularly scheduled meetings again on June 22. 3. LEGISLATIVE UPDATES C. Taylor discussed the uphill battle for a gas tax bill, noting that City of Bozeman support may be counter- productive in the legislature where the urban and rural divide is prevalent. N. Meyer highlighted the net-metering bills that have been supported and opposed by the Montana Renewable Energy Association (http://montanarenewables.org/policy/#halftimereport ). SB 78 would revise the retail net metering rate downward to reflect the wholesale rate. This passed out of the Senate Energy & Telecommunications Committee and will be heard in the House Energy, Technology, and Federal Relations subcommittee on March 8. Other bills, such as SB7 and SB154 would also roll back net-metering and received support in the Senate Energy & Telecommunications Committee. SB 219 is another bill presented by Zach Brown that would grandfather in rates for existing net-metering customers and establishing a trigger for a cost-benefit study when net metering systems reach 1% of the public utility’s total electric sales. Meyer was unsure if this bill would advance given that an earlier bill involving grandfathering in of existing net-metering customers at the retail rate had diverse support, but was tabled. The PACE bill sponsor Chas Vincent, introduced his bill, but a hearing has not yet been scheduled. M. Giri noted that the solar industry is growing and there is now a company in Bozeman that offers solar leasing arrangements. 4. CITY STRATEGIC PLAN COMMENTS C. Taylor described the City Strategic Plan process that includes seven vision statements that were developed based on extensive public input. These visions describe the long-range visions and values of the community. Now the organization is working on a five-year plan detailing the strategies that the city will pursue to achieve the vision. There will be a Commission and Staff retreat on March 10 & 11 to work on the strategies and fine-tune language. With input from staff and other agencies, Meyer submitted comments to C. Taylor and City Manager Kukulski on the visions, strategies, and actions. C. Taylor included these changes and added an action related to monitoring of the NorthWestern Energy PV installation. He also wanted to clarify that we would explore community solar opportunities on city properties, including the landfill. J. Bley asked if there was a recommendation related to retrocommissioning and if the city had pursued it for our buildings. N. Meyer responded that the City completed an investment grade audit, which included recommendations for retrocommissioning, but the price was prohibitively high and never would have penciled out. Generally, we support retrocommissioning and view it as a future stage in our sustainability programming. The market may need to develop further in Bozeman. C. Taylor invited the group to comment on N. Meyer’s recommendations. Any input should be submitted within the next several days in order to be included in the first draft. There will also be future opportunities to provide public comment on the Strategic Plan. 5. SOLSMART COMMUNITY GRANT APPLICATION The Montana Renewable Energy Association (MREA) invited Bozeman to participate in a state-wide collaboration to apply for Department of Energy SolSmart technical assistance. The DOE SolSmart program helps participating communities identify opportunities to reduce the soft costs associated with solar installations and the technical assistance program would bring a DOE designated SolSmart advisor to Montana and help communities receive the DOE “SolSmart” designation. The designation indicates that we are following all the best practices related to planning and permitting of solar. The designation is a good way to recognize the good work we have already done and highlight areas where we might be able to improve. A description of the program can be found here: http://www.thesolarfoundation.org/policy-research/solsmart/ Bozeman would not be competitive receiving technical assistance if we apply as an individual city, which is why the Montana Renewable Energy Association is acting as the lead applicant. Their goal is to work with up to eight Montana cities or counties on the SolSmart program (Missoula, Missoula County, Whitefish, L&C County, and Red Lodge have signed on already). If MREA is awarded technical assistance, there is no financial transaction that will occur with MREA or the participating cities. Our only requirement is staff time to complete the intake form. If awarded, the intake form process would start in May and continue through October. There is a short turn-around for the application, so Meyer is working quickly to get the necessary approvals and complete the letter of support. F. UPCOMING EVENTS 1. PK-Style Stories of Sustainability, March 1, 6:30-8:30pm, Library Community Room (Tabling Volunteers Needed). a. Everything is in order for the event. Outlaw Brewing may be donating beverages. There has been a good response on Facebook. J. Bley plan to arrive around 5 and will be filming the event. M. Giri indicated that she would be able to help starting around 5:15. 2. Odyssey Day, Electric Vehicle Car Show and Worskhops, April 14, 3-6pm, Locationa TBD (EVs needed). a. J. Bley mentioned that the MREA Clean Energy Fair included an EV Car Show and we may be able to contact the ED if we need help finding more EVs. 3. Bozeman Cleanup Day, April 22, 8-10am, Library Community Room (tabling volunteers needed) 4. Fix-it Clinic, May 6, 10-3p, Location TBD (volunteers needed) G. NEXT MEETING March 23, 2017 H. ADJOURNMENT Meeting was adjourned at 3:40 PM by Natalie Meyer. The next regular meeting will be at 2:00 PM on March 23, 2017. Minutes submitted by: Natalie Meyer