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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes_020122 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 8, 2022, 3:00 - 5:00 PM ONLINE due to COVID Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health Members Present:, Dave Wilkinson, Cindy Jayne, Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), David Seabrook, Kate Chadwick, Owen Rowe (City Council), Kees Kolff (JHC), Eric Toews (Port of PT), Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Miranda Nash (Jefferson Transit) Absent: Kate Dean (BOCC), Diane McDade, Cara Loriz, Vacant (Port Townsend Paper Corporation), Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Sophie Degroot, Willie Bence (Jefferson County), Mike Kennedy, Cyndy Bratz, Scott Walker (VMT working group) Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:01 PM. A quorum was present. There was a round of introductions. Eric Toews announced Commissioner Carol Hasse has been appointed as the Port’s Representative to the CAC. Staff to update Rosters and add Carol Hasse to distribution lists. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Cindy requested amendments/approval of today’s agenda and December 14, 2021, minutes. Kate Chadwick reminded the group that equity in climate planning was identified as an item for a future agenda. Kate Chadwick moved to approve; Second by Laura Tucker. Motion passed. Laura to finalize December minutes and post to County website. Public Comment None. Elections for Chair and Vice Chair for 2022 Chair Cindy Jayne called for nominations for Vice Chair. Cindy nominated Kees Kolff, seconded by Laura Tucker. Motion passed. Kees called for nominations for Chair. Laura nominated Cindy. Seconded by Owen. Motion passed. Laura and Judy to update rosters to reflect Chair Jayne and Vice Chair Kolff. Vote on Approval of Forest and Tree Greenhouse Gas Inventory (Cindy) Been in discussion since August 2021. The report was sent out for review as indicated in the report. Chair Jayne introduced Cyndy Bratz, co-author of the report. She thanked all volunteers and ICLEI for their support. She called for questions/comments on the report. Kees Kolff moved to approve the February 1, 2022, Forest, and Tree Greenhouse Gas Inventory report. Second by Kate Chadwick. Motion passed. Like GHG inventory and GHG Redux report, Cindy suggested presenting to BOCC, Council, and public. Moved to approve Cindy working with co-authors of the report on presentation materials. Second by Dave Seabrook. Motion passed. It was noted that the city and county libraries may be good partners for the public presentations. Like the GHG opportunities report, Cindy suggested a small working group be tasked with fleshing out recommendations of the report and bringing back recommendations to the full CAC. Kate Chadwick, Cindy Jayne and Cyndy Bratz volunteered. Laura will post final version to County website. Next steps: 1) Present to BoCC and City Council 2) Public outreach Cindy will work with Commissioner Dean and Councilmember Rowe on scheduling and presentation finalization. Hazard Mitigation Plan Climate Section (Willie, Cindy) Willie Bence provided an outline of the Jefferson County Hazard Mitigation Plan. The Plan is a FEMA requirement and makes the county eligible for grants. It requires periodic updates. This update is focused on a refresh rather than a full update. Cindy Jayne, Kate Chadwick, and Dave Seabrook have provided Willie input on the climate change impacts section. He asked the CAC to review the climate change impacts section/ideas for projects to address potential impacts. The public comment period ends 2/14 but he can incorporate edits until April. Q&A ensued. Comments included: Jeff heard there was a proposal for pursuing use of Kah Tai for stormwater overflow during King Tides? Neither Willie nor Eric Toews were aware of such a plan. Eric noted the Port is reviewing stormwater management at the Boat Haven as well as boatyard expansion and wetland mitigation. Jeff asked if there were plans for Mountain View to be Cindy to review Table CC- 1 to add timeframes for each type of impact if possible. Change predictions to projections. Add wind impacts if supporting research identified. Forward to Willie. All members to consider possible projects related to climate impacts. designated as a resiliency/emergency center? Willie replied, per city request, it was included in 2016 plan but funding has not come to fruition yet. Kees inquired about Jefferson Health Care participation. Willie will loop back with Kees. Owen inquired about food resiliency. Willie replied, they are working with Dave Seabrook. Willie noted that FEMA prefers amendments be limited to the 5-year schedule but plan can be updated more frequently if changed conditions. Kees noted revisiting the plan more frequently than once/5-years may be warranted, and there was general agreement that every 2 years may be appropriate.. Kate Chadwick noted she and Cindy had focused their comments on the Climate section, but other chapters may benefit from the CAC’s review. Willie noted that other volunteers were heading up the different sections. Cindy noted that the climate section attempted to include any new information on climate science related to any of the hazards Cindy shared her screen and briefly ran through proposed edits to climate change impacts section. Kees provided comment on Table CC-1. Kees suggested there may be new information related to wind impacts. Cindy noted USGS and Ian Miller working on study for Bellingham on coastal storm modeling, called COSMOS. Kees moved to approve climate section revisions to the Hazard Management Plan with revisions to Table CC- 1 and addition of wind erosion (if appropriate) as discussed. Laura seconded. Motion passed. At 3:29 pm, Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Miranda Nash (Jefferson Transit) joined the meeting during Willie’s presentation. VMT Redux Working Group Update (Diane) Diane was unable to join the meeting. Cindy gave a brief update on the group’s ideas (e.g., Car Free Day), and will discuss vanpools at their next meeting Laura added Students for Sustainability also interested in collaborating on the “car free day” building on their successful proclamation on June 1 made by the City in 2019. Diane is CAC representative to the Chamber Tourism Sustainability Task force, and that group isworking with Transit on promoting bus-ferry connection pilot. EV Working Group Update (Cindy) A couple of grants in process by others that would include City/Co EV chargers. PUD and Energy NW partnering with City on a location in City. Owen reported City Council approved last night. Looking primarily at fast chargers but potentially Level 2 chargers as well. Federal Investment Act will offer funding for EV chargers. Strategies for low income: EV cars, car sharing. In the NODC grant, Cascadia consulting provided info on EV charging stations. Chris O’Higgins joined meeting – he noted Hospital Master site plan process will consider EV charging stations. Cindy and Kees noted Representative Mike Chapman had advised that any EV strategies address equity issues, particularly for low income citizens Parking Proposal for Approval (Cindy, Scott) A draft memo was circulated to CAC with a proposal to City Council/BOCC. The VMT Reduction Working group recommends that the CAC recommend the city actively research a managed parking strategy in downtown, where the excess revenues are directed to further reduce VMT and increase equity, such as using the funding to enhance transit service, bicycling, and walking infrastructure, as a way to reduce VMT in Port Townsend and achieve other social and economic benefits. Eric and Jeff noted potential impact to surrounding areas and businesses. Cindy and Scott recognize there are broader issues to be considered beyond GHG reduction. Kees moved that CAC forward the VMT group memo to Council with 2 changes. Last line: If excess revenues are generated, that they be directed to transit, and second that we understand the potential for broader impacts including overflow parking. Seconded by Owen. Kees moved to amend earlier proposal to read: Based on the above, the CAC recommends that the City of PT actively research, develop and implement a managed parking strategy in downtown, primarily to reduce GHG emission in Jefferson County. Potential excess revenues could be directed to further reduce VMT and increase equity, such as using the funding to enhance transit service, bicycling, and walking infrastructure. We understand that there are impacts on the community, such as additional parking in other areas which will need to be considered. Laura seconded amendment. Motion Passed with Jeff Randall abstaining. Call for the question on the original motion to forward the recommendation to City Council. Motion passed. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for Climate Review? Cindy sent updated draft goals and asked each agency to review/add. Review Public Comment None. Other Updates Climate on Tap (Laura) scheduled for Wednesday 3/2 will focus on transportation. Students for Sustainability will host at Finn River from 7-8:30PM. 5 speakers will be present. Jefferson Transit #14 Kingston express (Miranda) starts 2/22/22! Promotional fare for the first month - to and from Seattle for free. 7:15am and 2:45pm from Haines Street. (Seattle Kingston fast ferry does not currently have Saturday service.) Cindy noted that Al Cairns – County Public Works is creating a task force to replace solid waste transfer station. A 2–3-year process. Owen, Laura, and Miranda are on the committee. ICLEI webinar (Cindy) – Cindy attended recent webinar on ICLEI expanded services/tools. Jefferson Chamber - Cindy (as an individual) wrote a brief overview of climate change for Chamber. Chamber board has approved Arlene serving on the CAC. Chair and staff will need to check into process to have Arlene appointed. King Tide Monitoring Project – Dave Wilkinson reported both Clallam and Jamestown S’Klallam are interested in possibly expanding the project to other MRCs around the Sound. MRC has internship position available. If interested in serving on the task force, contact Cindy. Chair and staff to check into process to have Chamber rep. appointed to CAC. Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next Meeting April 12. If you have recommendations on Equity Speaker, contact Cindy. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:11 p.m.