HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-19-14 Bozeman Climate Partners Communications Working Group MinutesBozeman Climate Partners
Communications Working Group
Meeting Minutes
February 19, 2014, 9:00am-10:30am, 121 N. Rouse Ave., Bozeman City Hall, Madison Room
Members Attending:
Kristen Walser, Kathy Powell, Jay Sinnott, Natalie Meyer (Staff Liaison)
Guests Attending: Thaddeus Orosz, Elliot Dale
1) Call to Order -9:00am
2) Changes to the Agenda-None
3) Public Comment –
a) Kristen Walser announced that on Saturday, April 26th there will be nine rallies across the
state titled Montanans for Climate Solutions. A march would start at 1pm following
Bozeman Clean Up Day.
b) Jay Sinnott announced that the State of Washington will be completing a full Environmental
Impact Statement on the impact of exporting coal. EIS would include an evaluation of the
full impact, not just a review of the train traffic and ports.
Approval of Minutes – Powell clarified that the 1/15 minutes, 5)a)iii, about the NW Energy Carbon
Offset Plan RFP references that the Dave Gates generating facility is not a coal fired gas plant, but a
natural gas peaking station. Powell also wanted to add that the RFP funding will be geared toward a
few larger projects rather than numerous small businesses. Minutes were approved with these
modifications.
4) Non-Action Items
a) Bozeman Business Energy Program
i) NWE Coordination. Meyer met with NorthWestern Energy’s efficiency program
representatives and KEMA to describe program, outline workflow, and sharing of
information/release of information between the City and NorthWestern Energy. The
City will have a single point of contact at NWE and they will be hosting a site from which
we can exchange application information. The goal is to make a simple, smooth process
for participating businesses.
ii) ICLEI’s Green Business Challenge & YBP’s UnCommon Sense. Meyer coordinated with
Heather Higinbotham from YBP on the ICLEI Green Business Challenge to compete for a
$20,000 support package to implement the Bozeman Business Energy Program. Meyer
noted that ICLEI has not awarded this package to communities with populations under
100,000. They tried to highlight the regional significance of Bozeman. ICLEI should
announce the winners on February 21st.
iii) Energy Conservation Technician. The City received 30 applicants and the screening
process has begun. Meyer believes there are lots of excellent candidates and expects to
start interviews within the next two weeks.
b) Energy Smackdown
i) Website. Kendra Callantine and Company has been working on website upgrades and
they are nearly finished.
(1) Powell reported difficulty logging on. Group attempted to logon and had difficulty
entering a new user.
(2) Orosz suggested that there should be an opportunity to log data further back to
provide a better baseline and account for annual variability that can occur due to
weather. He also had questions about the bar graph labeling and pointed out typos.
Meyer noted that some spelling errors are embedded deep in the coding and cannot
be located by the web programmer.
(3) Dale noted that the competition is a good start, but would like to see something
available for renters or people who move around more frequently. The Energy
Smackdown is better suited to settled home-owners. Sinnott noted that HUD likely
has programming to address lower income renters and we should look into their
programming. Group discussed the split incentive between renters and owners.
(4) Meyer said that she would contact the web programmer to review the website
issues. Once resolved, a big media push was planned with a bill insert, press release,
online advertising, and their Bozeman Climate Partners Newsletter. Walser and
Powell suggested that the focus should be on next year’s competition, rather than
the tail end of the 2013/2014 challenge.
(5) 750 Energy Smackdown Door Hangers went out north of campus the first week of
February. These were distributed by the MSU Office of Community Involvement.
c) FY15 Climate Action Goals
(1) Group reviewed the draft FY15 Climate Action Goals prepared by Meyer. Goals
incorporate existing priorities, new priorities identified during the Commission’s
goal-setting session, and ongoing obligations. Items are roughly listed in order of
priority.
(2) Sinnott thought the goals could be grouped into categories according to sector to
make it easier to read.
(3) Powell asked for clarification on what the Commission had prioritized. Meyer
clarified that the Commission placed the Climate Action Plan on their ongoing list of
priorities, but specifically called out LEDs, solar permitting in historic districts, and
building commissioning.
(4) Meyer believes we need a more clear definition around the expectations related to
building commissioning. She believes an educational piece around commissioning
could be included in the Bozeman Business Energy Program.
d) FYI/Discussion
i) Investment Grade Audit
(1) Launch meetings with city departments underway. They are setting up building
tours and beginning data logging. Work is going well.
ii) LEDs
(1) Meyer gave a presentation to the Commission on our LED streetlight pilot and
shared the summary table of results. Mayor Krauss indicated his support for a new
LED development standard for parking lots. This was not an action item, but each
Commissioner spoke favorably of this idea.
iii) 4-H Climate & Environmental Summit
(1) The final four students were selected to go to Rutgers: two from Gallatin County, one
from Denton, and one from Cut Bank. The group also received funding to send Lisa
Lone Fight to attend the summit as a mentor and chaperone.
iv) Sweet Pea Water
(1) City will likely order a mobile water station that can be used at Sweet Pea and other
public events.
v) Next Regular Meeting March 19th
vi) Meeting adjourned at 10:40.