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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes final 041222 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 12, 2022, 3:00 - 5:00 PM ONLINE due to COVID Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health Members Present: Cindy Jayne, Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Owen Rowe (City Council), Dave Wilkinson, Carol Hasse (Port of PT), Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Cara Loriz, Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Diane McDade, Kate Dean (BoCC) Absent: Kees Kolff (JHC), , Vacant (Port Townsend Paper Corporation), Miranda Nash (Jefferson Transit), Kate Chadwick Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Cyndy Bratz, Sophie Degroot of Food Bank Growers, Richard Dandridge Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:06 PM. A quorum was present. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Cindy requested amendments/approval of today’s agenda and February 8, 2022, minutes. Nicole requested VMT Redux update be moved to after Potential Grant Opportunities. Owen Rowe moved to approve agenda as revised and February 8 minutes as is; Second by Dave Wilkinson. Motion passed. Laura to finalize minutes and post to County website. Public Comment None. Hazard Mitigation Plan Mitigation Cindy shared proposed new strategies compiled from members and pulled from the NOPRCD Climate Preparedness Plan. Members commented on proposed new strategies. There was consensus that the two Strategies and Projects (Cindy) suggested by Jefferson Transit are laudable for mitigating GHG but did not appear to address hazard mitigation. Discussed use of buses for evacuation; Nicole noted that Transit already has an agreement with Jefferson Department of Emergency Management. Jeff anticipates, based on a recent failed bill, that utilities will be required to plan for wildfire in near future. Jeff suggested checking in with Sam Trone at the PUD on Chimacum aquifer supply strategy. Laura Tucker moved to approve suggested new strategies as amended and forward to Willie Bence for inclusion in the Hazard Mitigation Plan. Second by Owen Rowe. Motion passed. Potential Updated Community Goals Cindy recently reviewed a $1million grant from ICLEI Google for non-profits. The grant would have required updated science-based community goals. ICLEI provided science-based goals for consideration using 2018 as baseline year. We can expect that future grants may have similar requirements. Now that we have the forestry report, the CAC may want to recommend revised GHG goals. If so, this could be broached in the Forestry presentation to Council/BoCC. Questions arose regarding workplan, community input/sensitivity, staff resources, what type of effort would be necessary if more stringent goals are adopted, what factors were considered in the modeling? Cindy noted 3 aspects to consider: Emissions goal, sequestration goal, consumption inventory. For the emissions goal, Judy suggested asking BoCC /Council to task CAC with reviewing and vetting the ICLEI target. For sequestration goal, Cindy suggested CAC ask the Forest working group to draft sequestration goal. There was consensus. Regarding the consumption goal, Cindy suggested tasking Dave Wilkinson and herself to draft a consumption goal for the CACs consideration. Cindy would like both the sequestration and consumption goal for discussion at the next meeting. Carol suggested collaboration with Jefferson MRC on kelp sequestration. More discussion to come at next meeting. Judy to reach out to Jefferson MRC – would they be interested in collaborating re: kelp sequestration? Equity – Ideas on Speakers, Etc. Cindy asked for ideas for speakers. Judy reached out to Commerce. Laura will reach out to her contacts. Forest/Tree Presentation CAC previously approved the Forestry report. Cindy gave an overview of the outline for the planned Judy to follow up with Cindy and Cyndy. Outline for BOCC and City Councils and Forest Working Group Update presentation. BOCC wrote letter to State Board of Natural Resources re: forestry management. Kate Dean noted that this prompted discussion with County and State. On April 25, County will meet with state. Point being, timing is good. Cindy and Cyndy presented outline and next steps from the report. JS asked for clarification on city next step: “permanently protect city owned forest land” 80-acre property by Rainier Street. (pg. 43 of approved report). JS stressed different policies for in a UGA vs. in County (e.g., a list of recommended landscape trees suitable for changing climate/good for sequestration vs. preserve forest). Forestry group meets monthly and wants to prioritize next steps (pg. 40 of the report). How would the CAC prioritize the next steps? Diane suggested more education and outreach needed before recommending policy. Cindy suggested present to BOCC/CC then to public outreach, then back to BOCC/CC with suggested policy. Moved by Diane and second by Dave Wilkinson to authorize Cindy and Cyndy to develop presentation and present to City and County council and public. Motion passed. Owen and Laura to coordinate presentations to the BOCC/Council agenda Mid-May on. Future Meeting Format Members had participated in a poll regarding future meeting format (remote, in person, hybrid). Laura reported that Jefferson County Public Health does not have the ability to make these “hybrid” meetings. Cindy suggested 2 in person and 4 remote. Meeting space is also an issue as prior space is tight. There were questions about COVID protocols, current COVID status, should we table? Carol offered to explore use of Port equipment for hybrid meetings. Item was tabled. Carol offered to explore use of Port equipment for hybrid meetings EV Working Group Update WSDOT announced grant for EV charging infrastructure. It has been presented to City Council. Steve King will be working on an agreement for EV infrastructure at Visitor center. Energy NW working with the PUD on a location in the county. New WSDOT grant focused on low-income. Working with OlyCap and Dove House and Bayside on possible interest on EV car share. Also looking at e-bike shares. Presentation from Chamber to the group on sustainable tourism. Group inventoried EV charging - 24 Level II chargers in the county; but estimate we will need about 200 in next five years. Potential Grant Opportunities ICLEI grant opportunity is good reminder that we need to watch for and be poised to apply for future grants. VMT Redux Working Group Update / Car Free Day (Laura/Nicole) Currently “Car-free day” focus. Nicole reported June 1, 2022. Background: City passed a Proclamation in 2019 for Car-free day at the behest of Students for Sustainability. Steve King and John Mauro have committed to City participation. Group, in concert with Students for Sustainability, has been working on possible City-County competition, logo, prizes, radio interview, website and newspaper announcements, tracking, working with Chamber. Owen suggested a city proclamation (form on website) and contacting with Co-op. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for Climate Review? None. Public Comment Sophie advocates remote or hybrid meetings which facilitate public input. Richard Dandridge noted WA State considers e-bikes as EVs. Other Updates Cindy offered to share more info on ICLEI services and trainings if anyone is interested. NODC has 2 different active grants. 1) Climate Change Strategies - Two components: Regional workshops and local vulnerability assessment focus with Port Townsend. May 26 workshop 9-1 to further develop strategies 2) Climate and Disaster Planning – invitations were sent to stakeholders for April 29, 9- 12. Contact Cindy if interested in attending April 29 or May 26 workshop Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next Meeting is June 14: Agenda Items- goals, presentations update, equity. Owen asked about status of Chambers application for membership Judy and Laura to follow up on status of Arlene’s membership application. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 4:53 p.m.