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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_051121 Special Mtg Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, May 11, 2021, 3:30 - 5:30 PM Special Meeting ONLINE due to COVID Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health Members Present: Cindy Jayne, Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Shelley Jaye, Nicole Gauthier and Miranda Nash (Jefferson Transit), Kate Dean (BOCC), Dave Wilkinson, Diane McDade, Kate Chadwick (joined 3:45); Cara Loriz (joined 4:33) Absent: David Seabrook, Pamela Adams (City Council), Eric Toews (Port of PT), Vacant (Port Townsend Paper Corporation), Chris O’Higgins (JHC) Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Steve King, Wendy Clark-Getzin, JCPW Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Chair Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:33 PM. A quorum was present. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Chair Cindy Jayne requested amendments/approval of the agenda. Laura Tucker moved to approve. Second by Shelley Jaye. Motion passed. Chair asked for approval of February Minutes. Shelley Jaye moved to approve. Second by Jeff Randall. Motion passed. Laura to finalize February minutes and post to County website. Public Comment None. ICLEI Training Update Review and discuss forestry draft report: Cindy Jayne gave a PowerPoint presentation of the ICLEI Training Update. Focus has been on modeling carbon sequestration of Jefferson County forests. She covered protocols and report outline which will include policy recommendations. Local forests have high sequestration rate. Various modeling scenarios were run. For Jefferson County excluding National Parks and Wilderness, sequestration annual average from 2011-2016 was about 6x emissions. ICLEI noted, not surprising for rural areas. Key is to track trends. Draft report anticipated in June. Q&A ensued. Re-vote on approval of modified GHG Redux Report Draft GHG Reduction Report approved at last meeting. There were a few additional changes necessary. Jeff Randall moved to approve revised 4/5/21 GHG Redux Report; seconded by Diane McDade. Motion passed. Follow Up: Laura to post on County website. NODC Grant Update Kate Dean attended NODC meeting. Grant would implement strategies identified in previous NODC work, as well as work on climate mitigation, at the municipal level. Process is on track. RFQ is out. Regional meetings anticipated in Fall 2021. City and County both interested in being one of the municipalities selected for grant focus. Discuss Transportation Strategies from GHG Redux Report Discuss Transportation Strategies from GHG Redux Report and what actions your organization could take to further these. Given state and federal priorities, there may be grant opportunities available. Public Works staff from city, Steve King, and county, Wendy Clark- Getzin joined the discussion. 1) Electric vehicle promotion. Electric charging stations. Transit: upgrade electric charging stations at Four Corners, include 3-5 chargers at Haines Place transit center. Wendy asked how to incentivize EV chargers on public property while not running contrary to gift of public funds? How can we standardize to help with maintenance? Jeff Randall (PUD) each organization should consult their own legal counsel, however, there is some flexibility if you can demonstrate a public benefit/fits mission of organization (e.g., educating public, reducing noise, emissions). MRSC good source. Laura added supports tourism. Steve King: shared experience from Chelan PUD; PUD charged however, the bill was minimal, and others stepped up to pay (Plug in NW electric car group/City). Location of chargers is key. Consider barriers to low income households. Promote as tourism perk. County converting fleets. Electric bikes near ferry. Would grant pay price difference in purchase cost between fuel vs. hybrid/electric fleet? Jeff notes there are affordable electric cars when you look at lifetime operating costs. Next step – consider EV charger locations, consider distance your fleet travels daily and feasibility of charging for return trip, investigate potential grants. Transit as trunk – but how do we get rider to destination and vice versa. Affordability and convenience are key. Local 20/20 working on educational materials re: electric vehicles. Kate D noted legislature is looking for innovative rural transportation strategies. What will entice different audiences to choose transit? Rental electric bikes or vehicles at transit center? 2) Data driven community transit: Transit is currently doing long-range planning and looking at commuter data to adapt service standards/routes/frequency according to demand. Increase ridership. Transit campaigns. Making it fun. Currently free to ride. 3) Vanpool program, prior to COVID had two. Gov. Inslee recently lowered vanpool minimum # of riders. Jefferson Transit will revisit their program. 4) Commute reduction program: RideShareonline.com managed by WSDOT helps coordinate carpool/rideshare trips. Is there interest in rideshare coordinator for major employers? Another grant opportunity, to cover the cost of the administration of the program as well as providing incentives for drivers. Taming Bigfoot Report Local 20/20 Outreach ran competition in 2016 and 2021 “Recovering Greener”. Laura presented data from both competitions. 2021 transportation CO2 output significantly reduced during COVID. State Legislative Update Shelley gave State legislative update. In December 2020, the CAC sent 2021 Legislative Agenda seven recommendations to Council and BOCC. Several of the recommendations were reflected in bills during the State legislative session. Two bills related to addressing climate change in the GMA died in committee. Implementation of some of the new legislation is dependent upon passing a gas tax. Adaptation Review Cindy noted 2015 NODC Climate Preparedness Plan called for adaption measures. Status report from City and County requested. We are due for a report-out to Council and BOCC. Cindy to follow up with city and county on adaptation status. Consensus was it would be good to include forestry modeling in the report out as well. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for Climate Review? Jefferson Public Works – using EPA data to assess the carbon footprint of each type of recyclable item collected in Jefferson County. City SMP periodic review – draft document and hearing anticipated this summer. Local 2020 inventory ?? Six-year transportation improvement program (TIP)– Kate will check on status. Transit work on the TIP as well. Public Comment None. Other Updates Jefferson Transit – Kingston route survey in May. Cindy followed up with Eileen Quigley on rural energy efficiency program. Jeff Taylor of NWSC/MRC is working on a video project interviewing various individuals on how climate change is already impacting us. Local 20/20 published the results of its community visioning, many comments about sustainability and climate (l2020.org/survey). Next Steps and Agenda Planning Regular Meetings changed to second Tuesday of the month from 3-5PM. Next Meeting June 8; 2021; possible Agenda items: Forestry report, organizational goals, consider recommending updated community-wide goals with the new data; prep for report out to Council and BoCC, managed parking (presentation by Scott Walker). Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:29 p.m. Commented [C1]: I am not sure what this is?