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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8-22-18 CAC MinutesJefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, August 22nd, 2018, 3:30 - 5:30 PM Jefferson County Public Health, Port Townsend, WA Members Present: Sonja Hammer, Chris O’Higgins (Jefferson Healthcare), Cindy Jayne, Deb Stinson, Jeff Randall, Kate Dean, David Wilkinson, Sarah Crouch (Jefferson Transit), Kate Chadwick Absent: Eric Toews, Scott Walker, Tammi Rubert, Darren Wilson (PTPC Environmental Manager) Staff: Laura Tucker, Jefferson County Guests: Lou Johnson, Jefferson County Fleet Manager Scribes: Jeff Randall and Cindy Jayne Topic Recommendation/Action Call to order 3:32PM. Did brief introductions.  Approval of Agenda & Minutes Motion to approve agenda by Deborah Stinson, second by Kate Dean, approved. Motion to approve May 23, 2018 minutes by Deborah Stinson, second by Kate Dean, approved.  Public Comment No comments.  Old Business Judy Surber – City of Port Townsend City of Port Townsend Stormwater Plan – update on hold due to other city priorities. Deb Stinson - Sept. 10, 2018 – CAC presentation planned to city council. CAC will be asking Council for a contribution to buy software to do greenhouse gas emission inventory. Also ask to get Climate Change mitigation and adaptation into various city plans. Cindy Jayne – We will also be asking city to look for revenue opportunities for reducing carbon emissions. Also looking to collaborate with the city in looking for grant opportunities. Deb Stinson – At NODC meeting tomorrow, she will ask about possible joint use by Clallam and Jefferson Counties of the ICLEI software and possible NODC covering the cost of that software.   Old Business Judy Surber – City of Port Townsend City of Port Townsend Stormwater Plan – update on hold due to other city priorities. Deb Stinson - Sept. 10, 2018 – CAC presentation planned to city council. CAC will be asking Council for a contribution to buy software to do greenhouse gas emission inventory. Also ask to get Climate Change mitigation and adaptation into various city plans. Cindy Jayne – We will also be asking city to look for revenue opportunities for reducing carbon emissions. Also looking to collaborate with the city in looking for grant opportunities. Deb Stinson – At NODC meeting tomorrow, she will ask about possible joint use by Clallam and Jefferson Counties of the ICLEI software and possible NODC covering the cost of that software.  Proposal for Monitoring Key Carbon Footprint Parameters Jeff Randall – indicated that the PUD has created a release form so that the CAC participants can ask for the electricity usage for 2017 for all their accounts and the PUD will compile and provide the data. Kate Dean – Asked about our recycling rates. Laura Tucker – Provided some information about how the recycling program works and how the recycling versus waste stream is measured. Laura explained, the Jefferson County Transfer Station sends three trucks per day to the Klickitat County landfill facility, one contains recycling, one food waste, and one actual landfill material. Klickitat PUD collects methane gas from the landfill which is converted into electricity. Cindy Jayne – stated that the monitoring would include gasoline, propane and electricity use. Also interested in total amount of kWh provided to the County served by the PUD from BPA as well as the total amount of power generated by local renewable energy systems. Discussed if we could use calendar year 2017 as the baseline to measure, and group agreed. Motion: Laura made the motion and Kate seconded to approve the proposal for monitoring key parameters of organizational greenhouse gasses. Unanimous approval.  New Sea Level Rise (SLR) Report and SLR/SMP workshop  Cindy Jayne – New report was released on 7/30/18. Includes projections. 1% probability of a 5 feet rise in sea level by 2100 applying to east Jefferson County. Very similar to the one done by NOPRCD, but the new report has more areas of Jefferson County covered, and there is a slight difference in vertical land movement for Port Townsend in the new report. It also has projections for 2150, and has a 0.1% probability projection. (Previous reports had 1% chance as the lowest probability.) Cindy Jayne – Attended a workshop for addressing sea level rise in Shoreline Master Programs put on by the Puget Sound Climate Preparedness Collaborative. Also learned about Ecology grant programs planned for climate adaptation to address sea level rise. King County has changed their flood hazard plan to require new construction in flood hazard areas to be 3 feet above the base flood elevation (not just 1 foot). As a result residents get a 40% reduction in their flood hazard insurance. David Wilkinson – discussed historical and high tide measurements and presented information on a slide. One anomaly is that the FEMA 1% base flood elevation level of 8.14 ft for downtown Port Townsend; while the mean higher high water mark is 8.52 ft. Judy noted she would follow up with Tyler at the City to investigate further.   New Sea Level Rise (SLR) Report and SLR/SMP workshop  Cindy Jayne – New report was released on 7/30/18. Includes projections. 1% probability of a 5 feet rise in sea level by 2100 applying to east Jefferson County. Very similar to the one done by NOPRCD, but the new report has more areas of Jefferson County covered, and there is a slight difference in vertical land movement for Port Townsend in the new report. It also has projections for 2150, and has a 0.1% probability projection. (Previous reports had 1% chance as the lowest probability.) Cindy Jayne – Attended a workshop for addressing sea level rise in Shoreline Master Programs put on by the Puget Sound Climate Preparedness Collaborative. Also learned about Ecology grant programs planned for climate adaptation to address sea level rise. King County has changed their flood hazard plan to require new construction in flood hazard areas to be 3 feet above the base flood elevation (not just 1 foot). As a result residents get a 40% reduction in their flood hazard insurance. David Wilkinson – discussed historical and high tide measurements and presented information on a slide. One anomaly is that the FEMA 1% base flood elevation level of 8.14 ft for downtown Port Townsend; while the mean higher high water mark is 8.52 ft. Judy noted she would follow up with Tyler at the City to investigate further.  State Policy on Alternative Fuel Requirements Luke Johnson – Luke, staff with Jefferson County Public Works, reported the County uses 20% biodiesel. Also looking at ultra clean diesel which significantly reduces particulate emissions, which is different than biodiesel. Deb Stinson – It would be good to know who the vehicle fleet managers are for each jurisdiction, what the fuel and vehicle purchasing policies are. Also noted that volume purchasing for EVs by municipalities is available through a nation-wide organization. Cindy noted she will send out an email to CAC organizations asking for the contacts and share that with all the organizations.  CAC Goals for 2017 Progress and Goals for 2018 Finalize and Vote on 2018 Goals for CAC: Cindy Jayne – Went over 2018 CAC goals: document 3 – 5 selected King Tide events; start tracking greenhouse gas emissions, explore ramped up education and outreach materials to share among organizations; develop a plan to highlight what is happening on a periodic basis at government and other member organizations; define and monitor organization goals for CAC member organizations in 2018; and prepare for doing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for Jefferson County in 2019. Deb Stinson – Discussed idea of creating a marketing campaign for what individuals, businesses, and organizations of what they can do to reduce climate emissions. Creating a badge or label for organizations that commit to specific actions, a common branding. Also remind people about the Climate Action Plan, and note that we will be updating it. Jeff Randall – Outreach should be focused on the goal to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. What are our major emissions and what can individuals and organizations do, and encourage them to do it. Laura Tucker – asked each member to go back to their organization and ask what our goals are for our constituents and what the best way to communicate with the public. Kate Dean – Talked about the primary goal of the CAC is to coordinate our member organizations and provide support to each other. Judy Surber – Indicated one of the major goals of the CAC is to inform and motivate citizens to reduce their climate emissions because less than 1% of our emissions come from government agencies in Jefferson County. Motion: Kate, seconded by Deb to approve list of 2018 CAC goals. Approved unanimously. Review 2017 Organizational Goal Progress and Discuss Organizational Goals for 2018: Sarah Crouch – Jefferson Transit has installed their EV chargers, implemented idling policy, using biodiesel, and have bike barn for bus riders. Chris O’Higgins – Going to all LED lighting at the hospital. Every department is doing something. Will follow up and provide a list. Kate Dean – replacing lighting at Memorial Field with LED systems, will save $5k per year in electricity. Upgrading Courthouse boiler to be more efficient. In general discussion, agreed that given we meet quarterly, setting these goals for a 2 year cycle may be more efficient. So we will view the existing goals as 2017/2018 goals, unless an organization chooses to add more detail for each year.   CAC Goals for 2017 Progress and Goals for 2018 Finalize and Vote on 2018 Goals for CAC: Cindy Jayne – Went over 2018 CAC goals: document 3 – 5 selected King Tide events; start tracking greenhouse gas emissions, explore ramped up education and outreach materials to share among organizations; develop a plan to highlight what is happening on a periodic basis at government and other member organizations; define and monitor organization goals for CAC member organizations in 2018; and prepare for doing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for Jefferson County in 2019. Deb Stinson – Discussed idea of creating a marketing campaign for what individuals, businesses, and organizations of what they can do to reduce climate emissions. Creating a badge or label for organizations that commit to specific actions, a common branding. Also remind people about the Climate Action Plan, and note that we will be updating it. Jeff Randall – Outreach should be focused on the goal to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. What are our major emissions and what can individuals and organizations do, and encourage them to do it. Laura Tucker – asked each member to go back to their organization and ask what our goals are for our constituents and what the best way to communicate with the public. Kate Dean – Talked about the primary goal of the CAC is to coordinate our member organizations and provide support to each other. Judy Surber – Indicated one of the major goals of the CAC is to inform and motivate citizens to reduce their climate emissions because less than 1% of our emissions come from government agencies in Jefferson County. Motion: Kate, seconded by Deb to approve list of 2018 CAC goals. Approved unanimously. Review 2017 Organizational Goal Progress and Discuss Organizational Goals for 2018: Sarah Crouch – Jefferson Transit has installed their EV chargers, implemented idling policy, using biodiesel, and have bike barn for bus riders. Chris O’Higgins – Going to all LED lighting at the hospital. Every department is doing something. Will follow up and provide a list. Kate Dean – replacing lighting at Memorial Field with LED systems, will save $5k per year in electricity. Upgrading Courthouse boiler to be more efficient. In general discussion, agreed that given we meet quarterly, setting these goals for a 2 year cycle may be more efficient. So we will view the existing goals as 2017/2018 goals, unless an organization chooses to add more detail for each year.  EnviroStars Presentation Postponed  Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for Climate Review? Kate Dean – Public review of County Comp. Plan update is done.  Other Updates  Laura Tucker - $4 million of state money for climate change education. New educational materials being provided for 4th, 5th, middle and high school. Jeff Randall – PUD applied for community solar project  Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:39 p.m.  Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next meeting is scheduled for November 28, 2018, 3:30-5:30 pm At the Cotton Building, 607 Water Street, Port Townsend. Possible agenda items include the Decision Support Tool, and Envirostars program.   Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next meeting is scheduled for November 28, 2018, 3:30-5:30 pm At the Cotton Building, 607 Water Street, Port Townsend. Possible agenda items include the Decision Support Tool, and Envirostars program.