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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_060821 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Wednesday, June 8, 2021, 3:00 - 5:00 PM ONLINE due to COVID Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health Members Present: Cindy Jayne, Shelley Jaye, Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Miranda Nash (Jefferson Transit), Diane McDade, Kate Chadwick, Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Chris O’Higgins (JHC), Cara Loriz, Dave Wilkinson, Kate Dean (BOCC), David Seabrook Absent:, Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Pamela Adams (City Council), Eric Toews (Port of PT), Vacant (Port Townsend Paper Corporation), Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Scott Walker, Steve King (City Public Works), Wendy Clark-Getzin (JCPW); Rebecca Kimball, Debbie Jahnke Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Chair Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:03 PM. A quorum was present. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Chair Cindy Jayne requested amendments/approval of the agenda and May Minutes. Shelley Jay moved to approve. Second by Cara Loriz. Motion passed. Kate noted additional items for future agendas: Forestry; report out to City Council and County Commissioners Laura to finalize May minutes and post to County website. Public Comment None. Continue to Discuss Transportation Cindy discussed possible sub-teams: EVs led by Steve King and VMT reduction led by Wendy Clark-Getzin Cindy will coordinate with Steve King and Strategies from GHG Redux Report and Next Steps. Motion by Chris O’Higgins -Authorizing the formation of two sub teams, one focused on GHG reduction through the use of EVs (electric vehicles) and one through VMT (vehicle miles traveled) reduction. The sub teams shall be tasked with gathering information to bring to the CAC with recommendations for goals in each area, potential projects, policies or grant opportunities, or other next steps. The Chair is authorized to make appointments to the sub teams. Composition may include individuals outside the CAC, but shall be limited to no more than 7 CAC members (i.e. Less than a quorum). These are advisory sub teams only. No official business will be conducted. Seconded by Laura Tucker. Motion passed. Cindy asked if there were volunteers/suggestions for the two sub teams? EV: Chris O’Higgins, Laura Tucker, Cindy Jayne VMT: Cindy Jayne, Nicole Gauthier, Shelley Jaye, Diane McDade Cindy noted other non-CAC individuals who may be interested. Kate noted NODC grant may align with the sub teams. Wendy asked about the time commitment – Cindy replied that it will be up to the subteams to determine what is feasible, and as the CAC meets every other month, the subteams may want to meet monthly. Transit shuttle to ferry - Kingston run: Jefferson Transit May 26 public meeting and presentation for pilot service on Kingston run. See Jefferson Transit website for the presentation. Public comment open until July 31. Target start date: October 25; however, depends upon ability to recruit drivers. High efficiency transit – In 2019, Jefferson Transit began fleet electrification study. Still in midst of study, coordinating with PUD on infrastructure requirements. Schedule would need to be adjusted to coincide with battery capacity. Some runs more Wendy Clark, and make other appointments as appropriate.- adaptable than others. Assessing costs to convert. Reviewing operational issues other electrified bus fleets are having. Comments: Wendy: Asked if Jefferson Transit would consider effectiveness of personal EVs vs. bus fleet since CAC’s GHG reduction strategies suggest personal EV better return on investment. Miranda replied, no, Jefferson Transit focused on fleet. However, long-term, they will consistently need to adjust service to adapt to demand/trends. Kate Dean: Much interest among Transit board members. Timely with the potential for grant funding. Incremental implementation is encouraged. Cindy – will Transit vans be considered for electrification? Miranda: It’s definitely on the table. Van pool laws and funding will change in September so we can expect vanpools to evolve. Will need to coordinate with insurance companies. Fully implement complete streets – transit supportive of complete streets. Individual’s ability to access transit is linked to architectural designs. Judy and Steve noted complete street design needs to be aligned with rural city/county funding capacity. Steve noted we will continue to apply for grants to provide non- motorized access (e.g., Discovery Road). Kate D: What can we do to encourage “share the road”? Steve: Education, paint on pavement. Judy noted City of Bainbridge signage for share the road. Steve, Kate D, Chris noted the concept of complete streets is valued however, may be cost prohibitive. Wendy and Steve noted looming deadline to finish ADA transition plans. Self-evaluation and strategy to overcome barriers. Kate C. – Can it be a cultural/behavioral shift (e.g. walking school bus) rather than a physical infrastructure improvement? Wendy- Jefferson County working on Safe routes to school program – reserving a portion of the grant for encouraging behavioral change. Goals – Community- wide and Organizational Goals Cindy discussed current City-County adopted goal of 80% of 1990 emissions by 2050; State goal 45% below 1990 levels by 2030 IPCC report, new inventory, forestry modeling and thoughts on revising the existing goal. How do members feel about updating our GHG reduction goal? Kate C. – Highly supportive, should revisit considering updated information. It was noted that having interim goals, not just 2050 goals, would be beneficial. Cindy agreed and noted the state goal has a 2030 goal that we could consider. There was discussion regarding goals for consumption emissions. Chair will investigate options for monitoring that aspect. Cindy shared CAC Organizational Goals 2019-2020 last updated August 2019; placed on hold during inventory update. She asked whether members saw value in updating the list. Laura and Kate D., Steve expressed support. Steve noted it helps with grants. Chris noted State Green Buildings Act will mandate certain goals for buildings of 50,000 sf or more, will put a heavy burden on hospitals, schools, etc. https://www.commerce.wa.gov/energy-blog/clean- buildings-e3shb-1257/ Dave Seabrook noted possible interest from Fire Districts in updating the goals. Evaluate opportunities for monitoring consumption emissions. Parking and GHG Reduction (Scott Walker) Guest Scott Walker presented a slide show. 66% of our local GHG is from transportation sector. Nationwide, suburban sprawl leading to longer commutes. VMT is increasing 3x faster than population growth. Parking supports that trend. Scott provided his background in transportation. Scott’s presentation highlighted the need for systemic changes to shift the trend to non-motorized and transit; get people out of their cars. Existing policy and parking requirements resulting in excessive area of land dedicated to under-utilized parking. Millard-Ball study from San Francisco studied cause and effect of parking to transit use. He cited additional studies. Suggested policy changes: 1) Rescind parking policies that lead to sprawl/institute parking maximums 2) rezone to encourage density 3) fee- based on-street parking management plan for dense commercial zones where demand is high; use revenues to subsidize transit. Scott noted City of Bainbridge adopted new climate action plan that includes similar recommendations. Q&A ensued. Kate noted Port Hadlock sewer provides opportunity to revisit land use pattern in that service area. Cindy suggested she continue to work with Scott to develop a draft recommendation to the city and county councils for the CAC to consider that summarizes the tie between parking policy and reduced VMT and GHG emissions, and recommends parking policy changes for GHG reduction, considering both zoning, and managed parking. ICLEI150 Cities Race to Zero - icleiusa.org/race- to-zero/ Cindy referred to materials sent previously (see link on agenda item). She shared the materials onscreen including the required pledge and commitment. County could meet Net Zero given Forestry is included in the calculation. She asked for comments on whether County should participate. Kate D. noted materials say “city”, but Cindy noted City or County and it makes sense to do it at the County level, as that is what the inventory is based on. It was noted that John Mauro and Pam Adams should also be included if the county wants to move forward, to discuss their potential role. Kate C. noted pledge requires revisiting emissions goals. Cindy, Kate D., city representative and staff to review more closely. What are the implications? Is there a timeline? Have other local communities signed on? Upcoming Organizational Judy noted Shoreline Master Program periodic review and Critical Ares Ordinance revisions in process. Plans & Documents for Climate Review? Public Comment None. Other Updates NODC grant – 5 RFQs. Cindy and Kate D on selection committee. City and County have requested to be the municipalities participating. Steve King – City in process of converting streetlights from high pressure sodium to LED lights. Collecting feedback on reducing lights. Reduces energy use by 30-50%. Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next Meeting: August 10, 2021 at 3PM. Agenda topics: Forestry report, Race to Zero, Parking recommendations, Organizational goals, EV and VMT sub-teams. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:02 p.m.