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Agendas and Minutes

Conservation and Climate Outreach Committee (View All)

Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission

Agenda
Wednesday, October 23, 2019

MINUTES FOR THE CONSERVATION AND CLIMATE OUTREACH COMMISSION

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Siskiyou Room, 51 Winburn Way

1. Call to Order

Chair James McGinnis called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Commissioners Risa Buck, Larry Cooper, Drew Gilliland, Marion Moore, Jamie Rosenthal, and staff member Stu Green were present. Commissioners Bryan Sohl, Marni Koopman, David Sommer, staff member Adam Hanks, and Council liaison Julie Akins were absent.

2. Consent Agenda

2.1. September 25, 2019 Meeting Minutes

Cooper/Moore moved/seconded to approve the September 25, 2019 minutes as written. Further discussion: none. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

3. Announcements

3.1. Next Regular Meeting: November 13, 2019

3.2. Upcoming Sub-committee meetings

Moore announced that the next Outreach Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for November 14.

3.3. Other Announcements from Commissioners

Cooper updated the Commission on the approval of the final engineering for the Water Treatment Plant by the City Council. He stated that the Council discussed the climate impacts of the plant’s operations, but not its construction. He also highlighted that when accounting for water conservation efforts of residents the Water Treatment Plant is proposed to be much larger than needed. McGinnis suggested to set aside ten minutes at a future meeting to discuss how the Commission can look into upcoming Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) in order to be able to make recommendations to Council beforehand more effectively.

Buck announced that Councilor Stef Seffinger informed her of a neighborhood group with a Halloween parade entry based on plastics.

4. Public Forum

Huelz Gutcheon – also talked about the size of the proposed Water Treatment Plant being larger than conservation efforts show needed, potential ban on new connections for Natural Gas, electric vehicle (EV) ready wiring, and the new net zero cottages with a shared electric car. Gutcheon expressed concern over staff and some of the Council not focusing on climate efforts.

Erin O’Kelley Muck – a local website designer who was inspired by the Climate Strike to take action. She has been looking into possible city-wide challenges including werenew.net and the Eco Challenge. She is also interested in a centralized website that can serve as a hub for Climate related groups and topics.

Louise Shawkat – was concerned that there is no Council liaison on the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission (CCOC) and will reach out to the Council about this.

Carol Voisin – was concerned about Water Treatment Plant’s final engineering approval by Council. She hopes the Commission will contact the Council about why their input was ignored. Voisin also has been working with Oregon for Safer Technology which educates the public about 5G technology and its effects on the environment. She requested to have ten minutes at a future meeting for the group to present.

5. Reports/Presentations

5.1 Carbon Sequestration

Due to a scheduling miscommunication, this item was skipped.

5.2 Council and Administration Update

Green gave an update on the Rogue to Go pilot program. The containers are currently being produced and the next step will be to market the program. Green has also been researching home energy mortgage products with local lenders to make energy efficiency upgrades for feasible for residents. Green is also working on getting a consumption emissions inventory specifically for Ashland from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. McGinnis updated the Commission on the annual report given to Council.

5.3 CPAC Staff Liaison Update

6. Old Business

6.1. Commission Monthly Column in Sneak Preview

• Approve Article

Buck and former Commissioner Roxane Beigel-Coryell wrote the article announcing the Rogue to Go pilot program. Rosenthal recommended to change the p.s. at the bottom to just a footnote. Rosenthal/Cooper moved/seconded to approved the article with the changes discussed. Further discussion: none. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

The next article to be run in December’s Sneak Preview will be “Senate Bill 90, The Straw Situation, and What to Know” written by Rosenthal. January’s article will be a joint Commission article between the CCOC and the Climate Policy Commission (CPAC) written by McGinnis and CPAC Chair Tonya Graham. February’s article will be an article accompanying the Actions for Individuals to Mitigate/Adapt to Climate Change handout written by Moore. Moore also requested to add an article on what happens to recycling to the to be determined list.

6.2. Sub-committee updates

6.2.1 Water

None.

6.2.2 Waste Prevention

Rosenthal stated that the SB 90 Straws article will be in the Conservation Corner and City Source for December. The next step is to contact businesses about the new law in December with a follow up later on. Suggestions for outreach were to attend Chamber of Commerce greeter meetings and also seeing if the Chamber of Commerce also had a directory of restaurants for the outreach.

6.2.3 Air Quality

None. Buck reiterated the ACE Hardware event and opportunities for the Commission to work with ACE for future events to get people to fuel switch. Buck also suggested to call the outreach “Making the Switch”. Discussion surrounded having future demonstrations with Southern Oregon University (SOU) and/or Ashland School District (ASD), possible incentives, and including “Making the Switch” in the neighborhood outreach.

6.2.4 Marketing and Outreach

Moore announced that the last meeting had a large attendance from the public. The Subcommittee reviewed the Climate and Energy Action Plan (CEAP) neighborhood presentation. Cooper is still editing the first climate video and it was requested to have the final video shown to the Commission when complete. The next meeting will be held on November 14 at GEOs Institute.

6.3 Approval of Actions to Mitigate/Adapt to Climate Change Handout

Moore announced previous updates and asked for additional ones which included:

• Changing the title font color to green;

• Adding an URL for the Commission or a source;

• Combining the paperless lines to one;

• Adding the Conservation Commission’s logo;

• Reducing the title lettering for more room; and

• Changing the bullet points to check boxes.

Buck/Rosenthal moved/seconded to adopt this climate change action handout with the changes recommended by the Commission. Further discussion: none. All Ayes. Motion passed unanimously.

6.4 Neighborhood Presentations

Moore stated that the presentation was previously reviewed by the Marketing and Outreach Subcommittee. Edits from the entire Commission included:

• Updating accomplishments to date;

• Changing the title on slide three to “How was Ashland’s climate plan created?”;

• Making the slides and references to the plan consistent; and

• Adding 50% less to slide five instead of -50%.

Suggestions for outreach also included looking at setting up a class through the Ashland Food Co-Op or North Mountain Park for the presentation. Other organizations to present to included local churches and service clubs. This item will be brought back for approval at the November meeting.

7. New Business

7.1. Electric Equipment/EV Drive Event Format

This item was discussed under Air Quality Subcommittee update.

7.2. Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission – Charter

Green reviewed the history of the change from the Conservation Commission to the Conservation and Climate Outreach Commission, the formation of the Climate Policy Commission, and both of their charges. Discussion surrounded having a non-official liaison to attend CPAC to help build communication between the two.

8. Wrap Up

8.1. Review of Action Items

Moore announced the action items. In-progress items include:

• Electric landscaping equipment outreach (McGinnis)

• Displaying outreach materials on City TVs (McGinnis)

• Updating the Commission webpage (staff with Commission input)

• Researching grants for Tool Library (Cooper and Koopman)

• Creating a spreadsheet for outreach activities (Green and Moore)

• Checking with Ashland School District about getting a new representative (McGinnis)

• Checking with local landscapers about using electric tools (McGinnis)

• Referencing the Drawdown book for importance of various actions for neighborhood meetings (Moore)

• Researching locations for presentations (Moore)

• Sending out dates of upcoming neighborhood meetings (Moore)

Completed items include:

• Marketing and Outreach Subcommittee reviewing the neighborhood presentation

8.2. Items to be added to next agenda

• Debrief on State Laws (after legal review)

• Multifamily Recycling Ordinance Review (TBD)

• Senate Bill 90/Straws on Demand article (TBD)

• Upcoming Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) Review (TBD)

Items to be added to the November meeting include the neighborhood presentations, scheduling for Spring 2020 and a report on the ASD representative. Chair McGinnis adjourned the meeting at 8:01 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Elizabeth Taylor