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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Citizens Sustainability Committee 05/26/2011MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2011 CALL TO ORDER CITY COUNCIL ACTION APPROVED f�!'NIF,D Ms. Grisa called the meeting to orderXUCV Om -FT ROLL CALL MEETING DATE AYES: Members Present: NOES: N001 Bruce Kassler ABSENT: acne_ Luke Taylor ABSTAIN: - 1-1_une- —_ John GreenwoddERIFIED BY: Ellis "Cleve" Lafi*fdal on File with City Clerk's Office Robert Leo Eric Freed arr at 10:10 a.m. David Koller Members Absent: Ralph Raya, Joe Norbeck Staff Present: Missy Grisa, Assistant Planner Tony Becker, Administrative Secretary Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Mark Greenwood, Director of Public Works Amy Lawrence, Administrative Secretary Lisa Ream, Recycling Technician CITY CLERK SWEARING IN OF MEMBERS/SELECTION OF TERMS City Clerk, Rachelle Klassen, swore in the new members. The members then chose their individual duration of terms out of a hat. Two- three- and four-year terms were possible. The results of that drawing were: Mr. Koller: 3 years. Mr. Langford: 2 years, Mr. Freed: 4 years, Mr. Greenwood: 3 years, Mr. Leo: 2 years, Mr. Taylor: 2 years and Mr. Kassler: 4 years. Ms. Klassen drew for the MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE May 26 2011 two absent members and Mr. Norbeck will serve for 3 years and Mr. Raya will serve 4 years. IV. INTRODUCTION TO THE BROWN ACT City Attorney, Dave Erwin, gave a brief introduction to the Brown Act and how it would affect the committee members and committee meetings. He informed them about potential conflicts of interest as well as preferred methods of communications without violating the Brown Act. Ms. Grisa stated that it would be best if the members were to use her as a point of contact for communications among the membership. V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS NONE VI. NEW BUSINESS A. STATUS UPDATE PRESENTATION ON ADOPTED SUSTAINABILITY PLAN AND RELATED ACTIVITIES BY MISSY GRISA Ms. Grisa orally presented a brief PowerPoint Presentation on what came to pass to create the Sustainability Committee. She began by discussing the topics of AB 32 and SB 375 and how it affects the community. Details were discussed on the six greenhouse gases measured, the seven categories of measurement, and the category percentages of where the city's emissions exist as of 2008. She informed the committee members that the City Council is seeking to reduce the Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and energy usage within the City of Palm Desert to 7% below 1990 levels by 2012 using the year 2008 as a baseline. Community outreach was performed and a core sustainability team was formed to further detail City Council and community goals. The Environmental Sustainability Plan represents three phases of implementation. Phase I is utilization of low to no -cost measures that can be taken to reduce environmental impact (energy efficient lighting, composting, etc.). The Phase II goal will require a greater investment to achieve higher efficiencies and in Phase III final goals and mandates will be achieved. Ms. Grisa explained the seven categories of the Sustainability Plan and what they represent. The Sustainability Plan is organized into Principals, Goals, and Actions. The committee's role will include the 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE May 26, 2011 review of staff prepared reports and to review and offer comments on proposed City Council actions regarding potential sustainability issues. She concluded with a status update of the timeline of events to date. B. OUTDOOR LIGHTING ORDINANCE REVISIONS PRESENTATION BY RALPH RAYA-SUBSTITUTED BY AMY LAWRENCE AND LISA REAM FROM SPECIAL PROGRAMS Ms. Lisa Ream began her PowerPoint presentation discussing the City's recycling program. AB 939, passed in 1989, stated that over 50% of a city's landfill had to be diverted to recycling. Not only did the City of Palm Desert meet this goal, but it also surpassed it reaching 73% in 2009. The City's 2012 goal is 75% diversion of City waste through recycling. To meet this goal, the City has been instrumental in starting or continuing the following programs: 1) At-home hazardous waste pick-up program (HHW) 2) Mail -in sharps program 3) Solid Green Waste 4) Christmas Tree/ greeting card recycle 5) Tire Amnesty 6) Oil Filter recycle 7) Bag -in -a -bag program 8) E-waste pick-up Ms. Ream continued by talking about AB 32, which requires all cities in California to require businesses within their jurisdictions to recycle by the year 2012. Palm Desert has been aggressively pursuing this goal. All Palm Desert businesses are offered free recycling. Palm Desert residences have recycle bins as part of their trash pick-up from Burrtec. Ms. Ream entertained questions. Mr. Freed asked what the theoretical maximum increase is on these goals. Ms. Ream stated that it could be as high as 80-85% if more apartment complexes and larger businesses got on board. The education process is slowly moving forward —some places still don't yet know about the recycling available to them. Mr. Freed wanted to know what the cost per ton was to the city and/or Burrtec for landfill. Ms. Ream didn't know; Ms Riddle indicated that it costs $34/ton. Mr. Freed said that he asked because the City of San Francisco was paying the same and discovered that they brought back in nearly $26/ton in recycling. When those facts were 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE May 26 2011 presented to the City Leadership, they whole-heartedly endorsed more recycling programs. Mr. Leo wanted to know how all of this information was being distributed. Ms. Ream indicated that the City employs a number of ways to get the word out: PSA's, brochures, going from business to business and the most popular being word of mouth. She indicated that many people hear about these events from a neighbor or from the City at another event. Mr. Langford wanted to know if the City had any food diversion programs. Ms. Ream wasn't certain as to what he was referring. Mr. Langford explained that his company takes food waste from large companies and restaurants and turns it into cattle feed. Ms. Grisa stated that this is a good example of an idea that the committee needs to discuss and decide whether or not to promote this type of project to the City Council. Ms. Amy Lawrence spoke about Community Gardens in the City of Palm Desert. There were two original gardens constructed in 1999 as a pilot program. The program is so popular today that there are now two gardens with long waiting lists and plans for two -three more to be constructed in the future. The gardeners pay a fee for a plot that ranges in size from 4 x 8 — 4 x 14. Each owner is responsible for his or her plot and the produce that comes from it is their property. The City landscaping staff will maintain the water and common area maintenance. Also, these plots are organic, so no pesticides or other chemicals are allowed. Ms. Lawrence stated that there are two more gardens to be opened in the future: one at the Hovley soccer park and another one in the University area park. All gardens are open to anyone. Ms. Lawrence maintains the list of people and their plots; she fields any complaints and takes in any suggestions to keep all plots active. With that, she offered to answer any questions. Mr. Kassler wanted to know if the City pays for the garden maintenance from their budget or if there is an off -set that this money comes from. Ms. Lawrence stated that the gardens are budgeted every year as part of the budget cycle. Mr. Kassler clarified by asking if this program breaks -even or is a money maker. Ms. Lawrence stated that, no, it was not designed to be, just to be a way for the citizenry to come together and enhance nature and their neighborhoods. Mr. Freed wanted to know if any of the big box -19 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE Mav 26 2011 stores are fostering any or if they are even required to put in gardens, or set aside space/easements for gardens. Ms. Lawrence and Ms. Riddle stated that we do not require that. Mr. Freed said many big box stores are being required in other locales that they set aside some of their parking lots or spaces behind their stores that would be under -used for a garden as part of their building requirements. This also reduces the 'heat island' effect that a parking lot or a large store facility would otherwise create. The ancillary benefit to this is that many 'big box' stores also sell gardening tools and supplies and therefore create more business for themselves while helping their environment. Mr. Freed wanted to know if the gardens in any way affected the GHG survey. Ms Aylaian stated that at the time the survey was completed, the community gardens hadn't been constructed yet, but she didn't think that they would have affected the survey even if they had been constructed. C. REVIEW OF COMMITTEE BYLAWS, INCLUDING ESTABLISHING REGULARLY OCCURRING MEETING DATE/TIME Ms. Grisa briefly mentioned that Mr. Raya was to have presented information regarding outdoor lighting. She wanted the committee members to look in their packets at the available information about this issue and how it relates to the City's "dark skies" ordinances. Some of the lighting technology available today is much different than when the ordinance was passed. Therefore, the committee should look to see if the ordinance coincides with available technologies, and also to look around the City for likes and dislikes of lighting, duration of illumination —is it too long or short, too bright or not bright enough ... etc. Ms Grisa briefly discussed the bylaws with the committee and highlighted the information the committee needed to know. She indicated that she would create a staff report to the City Council stating the bylaws and the duration of meetings for formal approval. The meetings will be quarterly, and last about two hours in length. The committee decided that they would meet the second Wednesday of the month at 10:00 am. Ms. Grisa will provide a list of emails and contact information for the group, but urged the group to use her as a conduit for information so as not to accidentally violate the Brown Act. 61 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE May 26 2011 As a final order of business, the committee decided on who should be chair and vice -chair. Mr. Langford volunteered to serve as the Chair and with no objections from the other committee members was duly elected. Mr. Leo volunteered to be Vice -Chair. He was duly elected without any objections from the committee. VII. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS AND INITIAL SUGGESTIONS Mr. Freed commented that he wanted to see more mandatory diversion from construction waste reaching 85% in the future and also that he would love to see the other cities getting on board with many of the things that were discussed here today. It seemed to him that many of the cities pit against each other and if they would work in tandem, then more things could be accomplished. Mr. Freed also suggested that cool roofs are mandated and big -box retailers set -aside space for community gardens. Mr. Greenwood stated that he would like to see more information on site - orientation, energy influences, mixed use development and how that affects sustainability and building heights. Mr. Leo wanted to have more communication and education with the younger generation. There are many high school and junior high school kids out there that don't even know about this, but are very eco-conscious. He suggested that the youth advisory committee that the City promotes would be the best way to start that process. Mr. Kassler stated that he wanted to explore methods that require the least amount of change for the least amount of money for businesses and residents to change habits in their everyday lives. These behavioral changes should save money or require a short return on investment. He mentioned that by just changing light bulbs or turning off computers at night, these minor steps will change the overall energy bill and the environment over time. Mr. Taylor wanted to reiterate Mr. Leo's point about education. He feels that there is so much to be done and so much information to give local residents and contractors. How it is implemented will be key. He also wanted to see more information on private backyard gardens. Mr. Koller commented that there is a direct relationship between water and energy. The State Water transfer system is the largest consumer of power and there are certainly ways to reduce both water consumption and power consumption simultaneously. Ground shrink and the lowering of the water 0 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE May 26 2011 table causes building and sidewalk defects. Mr. Kassler indicated that he would like to know what CVWD's inventory is on well sites, electricity usage, and how it's changed over the past four years. Mr. Langford indicated that he would like to see a more unified valley through communication and the use of alternative forms of energy. The committee's recommendations would need to take into account being cost- effective in the long run. He also wanted to see more restaurants and large stores get involved in food -waste diversion where food waste could either produce profit or recover costs through diverted material Mr. Greenwood stated that we should foster partnerships with new agencies to highlight necessary educational information. He additionally requested population data, demographics, number of households and geography. Vlll. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m. ANTHONY BECKER Recording Secretary *These minutes, prepared by Tony Becker, have been reviewed and approved by Missy Grisa. Any meeting attendee wishing to address a concern regarding the minutes must do so in writing to Tony Becker within five business days of the issuance of the minutes. Otherwise, these minutes are considered final VA