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HomeMy WebLinkAbout040208 Climate Task Force Minutes.pdfMinutes of the Climate Protection Task Force Bozeman, Montana April 2, 2008 Meeting Location and Time: Bozeman Public Library, 626 E Main Street, 6:00PM CPTF Members In Attendance: David Boggeman, Mel Kotur, Scott Bischke, Molly Cross, Steve Bruner, Pat McGowen, Matt Madden, Peter Belschwender, Otto Pohl, Collin Moore Absent: Martin Knight, Mark Johnson, Greg Pederson Other Attendees: Natalie Meyer, new Grants/Climate Protection Coordinator for the City of Bozeman, staff liaison Hattie Baker, minutes taken by Lea T. F. Warden I. Public Comment None Hattie: goal of tonight’s meeting is to finish going through recommendations from last meeting and then go over the proposed format for the CAP report Discussion of CAP Timeline: The BZN CAP has been placed on the agenda for the May 14th Bozeman City Commission Policy Meeting; the final draft needs to be ready for that meeting ; if not finalized then an executive summary should be provided; there are no more sub-committee meetings scheduled; committees need to submit individuals reports to Hattie to merge. April 9th is the date when draft recommendations will be sent to input people for review and comment Scott: the purpose of the review is to make sure facts are correct not to solicit opinions II. Natalie Meyer: new Grants/ Climate Protection Coordinator Natalie received a BA in Global Resources from the University of Idaho, her BS in Forestry from the University of Montana, and is completing an MS in Land Rehabilitation at MSU. Her commitment to climate protection along with her experience in the field will be a valuable resource to the City. Among other things Natalie will be responsible for implementing, monitoring, and ensuring the progress of the Bozeman CAP. III. Continuation of Recommendations Review and Rating Exercise --Planning, Building and Energy Energy Manager Otto: explained what this person would do He met with school energy manager who provided him with charts developed from tracking energy usage; charts help depict anomalies due to system malfunctions as well as how energy reductions strategies are working; records help back the goals and overall purpose of the energy manager; the data can be used for grant writing or policy making Hattie: Bozeman currently monitoring energy usage each month; she met with finance department and when bills are paid that amount of energy used is recorded Steve: this shows that there doesn’t have to be a separate energy manager; there is data already being generated Peter: school energy manager does a lot of other things than track energy usage Mel: someone or dept ultimately needs to have the responsibility for tracking Group decided that recommendation should rather state that someone be assigned to monitor energy usage instead of hiring a separate person and also specify the areas to be monitored Energy Fund Otto: money saved from upgrades put into pool to use for further energy saving measure etc. ; tracking savings important to realize and be rewarded Mel: this places costs/savings on the budget to make issue visual Peter: important to point out low hanging fruit to produce savings which could be used towards items that have higher upfront cost Molly: this recommendation could be placed in category requiring further research; it is a strong idea that would help other recommendations progress; recommendation should also include that the city agree to reinvest money saved Otto: should we expect recommendations to be budgeted? Hattie: recommendations should include costs and proposed savings --Transportation and Land Use Following recommendations will be passed on to community task force Pat : community recommendation should also include support for farm land Road completion with bike lanes and sidewalks David” recommendation is to change how road improvements are paid for; system should moves away from developer only as well as protect landowners from being unfairly charged when development impact their land Connectivity important to increase pedestrian access One idea is to have the City pay for areas not in developer’s zone; money would be paid back when land sold Carpool lane recommendation: decided this idea for 19th is impracticable and therefore removed Bike lanes and roundabouts Positive recommendations; Roundabouts eliminates lights and less idling City now considers roundabouts to improve efficiency but should also view it in regards to decrease co2 Gas tax to pay for enhancements County would ultimately be responsible for implementing this recommendation which the CPTF would support Increase support for public transit An increase city funding for Streamline could be used as leverage to get more federal funds Hattie: energy fund for reduce emissions or reduce costs David: more ridership less road usages and expansion Otto: more of a social value than carbon cost Molly: there would be a net reduction in co2 and costs Encourage hybrid and alternative fuel though tax incentives Hattie: one incentive could be free parking or hybrids; however new garage will be free; it was paid for with federal funds David: city does not tax vehicles so recommendation is a drain on budget; city should charge for parking Natalie: should include fuel efficient cars as well not just hybrids County or State could produce incentives since they handle vehicle registration Recommendation is to examine opportunities to give incentives for hybrid and fuel efficiency Light rail opportunities Population would need to increase for this to be sustainable; concept is too far out in the future to include in CAP Bike rack: increase and update Increase and move away from ribbon racks to newer racks Studies have shown that if racks and proper facilities exist more people will ride Group thought all the above community orientated recommendations, except for the car pool lane idea, are positive. --Waste Water and Recycling Increase CITY/MSU connection and collection of recycling Group decided this was more of a community recommendation Waste segregation for co-use: Collecting combustibles and composting 33% of waste is organic Possible to set up system to announce to potential buyers what is available for sale Using waste stream as renewable resource Create landfill exchange process for compost and wood waste Keep resources local Adopt a zero waste policy Goal would be to set date and then reduce waste production Specifically for municipal waste Can be used as an educational tool and model IV. Review Municipal CAP outline Discussion of CAP Outline Provided by Hattie Scott offered to help Hattie with Section IV Format of recommendations should follow outline presented by Scott Where applicable recommendation should indicate the input person who provided information Hattie Hattie will be able to insert numbers to enhance recommendations Section V Part d. Education and Outreach Recommendations will include: a)hire a full-time sustainability coordinator, and b)plan events such as national conversation and earth day Scott: recommendation should also require that employees read the plan and also post CAP on web site Section VI. Implementation Strategy What is the Implementation Strategy? Who will have the responsibility and authority? Hattie: city must state that heads have responsibility to implement recommendations Steve: has to come from top down Peter: CAP should recommend that a mandate be issued to implement CAP Scott : City has signed on to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, is this enough? Hattie: yes but perhaps there needs to be more specific statement; one person cannot oversee all the departments Implementation strategy should include the creation of an advisory board Implementation timeline should focus on 2020 deadline Benchmarks are important so ideas are not delayed Important to indicate timeline for individual CAP recommendation throughout report along with a overall/encompassing timeline Scott: important to repeat and point out when recommendations are to be started Molly: section VI should emphasis advisory group/watchdogs to monitor progress Include yearly reporting schedule for departments Have to consider time involved and implementing strategies for department to follow and gather data Hattie: perhaps report every two years Pat: at minimum every two years; but important to show results Hattie: Hopefully in 2009 tracking systems will be in place Scott: should say every year to emphasis the importance of the information and person/time needed Strain will show and changes will have to be made CPTF agreed that recommendations will be for yearly progress reports Scott volunteered to write implementation section Send second draft on May 1st to group to review prior to may 7th meeting Concluding Remarks April 26th clean up day booth available for info not retail Hattie and Scott are going to Missoula next weekend to speak at the American Public Works Association meeting Op-ed piece Otto will meet with editors to write article about CPTF and CAP V. Meeting Adjourned at 8pm