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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_120920 final Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, December 9, 2020, 3:30 - 5:30 PM ONLINE due to COVID Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health Members Present: Pamela Adams (City Council), Kate Dean (BoCC), John Bender (Jefferson Transit), Cindy Jayne, Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Cara Loriz, Shelley Jaye, Dave Wilkinson, David Seabrook, Chris O’Higgins (JHC), Diane McDade, and Kate Chadwick Absent: Eric Toews (Port of PT), Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Sam Jones (Port Townsend Paper Corporation) Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Wendy Clark-Getzin (Jefferson County Public Works); Becky Kimball, David Thielk, Cyndy Bratz Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Chair Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:34 PM. A quorum was present. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Chair Cindy Jayne requested amendments/approval of the agenda. Pam Adams moved to approve. Second by Shelley Jaye. Motion passed. Motion: Pam Adams moved to approve October 28 minutes; Shelley Jaye seconded. Motion passed. Laura to finalize October minutes and post to County website. Public Comment No public comment. Inventory Roll out Follow Up Diane McDade gave presentation recapping the two public outreach events 11/11 (35-40 participants) and 11/17 (12-20participants) including participants’ Diane will distribute the slides. questions. Kate Dean shared results of poll regarding actions that should be taken. Laura recapped the 12/7 Climate on Tap virtual meeting. She shared ideas generated at the meeting, questions, and comments. Several members noted the outreach meetings went well and thanked those who made it happen! Kate Chadwick noted the difficulty in finding relative examples for a rural community. Encouraged us to look beyond WA and the USA. Cindy noted the Local 20/20’s Jefferson CAN website is being updated. ICLEI Training Update Cindy noted that there are two different ICLEI modeling efforts in progress as follow up to the inventory - modeling potential emissions reduction strategies, and modeling carbon impact of our forests. The training for the emissions reduction was completed in Sept, the Forestry training is in process. Emissions modeling: Cyndy Bratz, David Theilk and Cindy Jayne presented an overview of the emissions reduction modeling results. - Slides covered various strategies modeled and their potential CO2e Reductions in 2030 and by 2050 vs. Business as usual; assumptions and conclusions. Q&A: 1) Transitioning to EV Standards would net a 37% reduction by 2050, as a percent of of total 2018 inventory emissions. 2) Modeling was based on sectors rather than consumption based. This should be added to the draft report. 3) Any bicycle policies? Complete streets. Cindy: Next meeting Agenda will include motion to approve the report. Please send any edits or suggestions to Cindy. Forestry Modeling: trying toget better estimates on tree canopy changes; improve ICLEI web-based tool by adding local data; and checking to see if any of the categorizations (automatically done by satellite imaging) need correction, etc. Legislative Agenda Shelley Jaye: 2021 WA State Legislative Agenda – Shelley has reviewed upcoming legislative agenda regards climate change. She provided a draft letter to Council and BoCC recommending they emphasize specific legislative agenda items and a presentation summarizing the various items. Kate D noted that there is a proposal for adding to the Growth Management Plan that climate change shall be addressed in all levels of planning, and that funding be provided. The current proposal exempts smaller jurisdictions. Consider adding that proposal to the letter. Dave Seabrook noted that the legislative agenda was mainly focused on mitigation, not adaptation, except for the last two items. Diane noted we should consider how the general public can help as well. Motion: Diane McDade moved to approve the letter to City Council and BOCC recommending inclusion of seven measures on their 2021 legislative agenda- adding an additional measure that the GMA be amended to require climate action in all comprehensive plans. Second by Dave Seabrook. Motion passed. Cindy will send letter. Next Steps on Emissions Reduction Charrette/NODC Grant – can we leverage the NODC grant to help with the proposed charrette? Grant is underway; now is the time for municipalities to express their interest. Grant includes both Jeff. and Clallam Counties, mitigation and adaptation. Dave Wilkinson asked if 3.2 of scope is limited to municipal planning or does it include other regulations like the municipal code? Cindy believes it includes both. Judy noted 3.2 “planning toolkit” seems duplicative of state works. What about vulnerability assessment? Cindy believes vulnerability assessment is under 3.3 Local Plan integration. How do we see us best using the grant? She shared a draft letter to BoCC and Council suggesting they express interest in the grant and recommending 3 ideas: 1) convene region-wide strategy focused on Cindy to final and send letter. rural transportation; 2) identify specific transportation strategies in a Jefferson County-focused meeting; 3) gather a local group of CAC organizations to determine how to leverage the grant for further adaptation work Moved by Dave Seabrook, second by Cara Loriz. Motion passed. All – if interested in participating in NODC grant, contact Cindy. Upcoming Organizational Plans & Documents for Climate Review? Judy Surber noted recent meeting with Ecology to discuss SLR in Shoreline Master Program. Kate D and David W noted work continues with the County SMP. Cindy: Wille Bence at Jefferson County is updating Hazard Mitigation Plan. Cindy plans to attend meeting Friday. Dave Seabrook is also involved. Laura: Jefferson County updating Solid Waste Plan. Al Cairns is the Solid Waste Manager and is considering changing accepted recyclables based on carbon footprint Public Comment Judy suggested estimating VMT saved through conducting virtual meetings. Other Updates Taming Bigfoot Competition 2021 – Laura shared application form. More info will be posted on Local 20/20 website. Shelley Jaye participated in Citizen’s Climate Lobby with Rep. Kilmer today. Group was urging carbon tax. Cindy –attended a webinar with sustainability organizations in San Juan County. Orcas Power and Light Co noted that they have developed a used EV grant program, as well as a “switch it up” program for transitioning customers from fossil fuels to electricity for transportation and housing. They self-funded rebates for fuel switching to heat pumps. They also got a grant for an electric school bus. Citizens climate assembly to propose legislation on climate change. Peoplesvoiceonclimate.org. Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next Meeting of February 24; 2021; possible Agenda items: Elections, Eileen Quigley guest speaker; NODC grant status; EV transition; legislative report (Kate D). Cindy will work with Port and PUD on meeting conflicts. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:28 p.m.