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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes_Final 061422 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, June 14, 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), Kate Dean (BoCC); Kees Kolff (JHC), Cara Loriz, Dave Wilkinson, Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Michael Sheehan (PTPC); Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Absent:, Carol Hasse (Port of PT), Diane McDade, Miranda Nash (Jefferson Transit), Kate Chadwick, Arlene Allen (Jeff. Chamber of Commerce) Staff: Judy Surber (City of PT), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Marty Brennan (ZGF Architects consultant on Jefferson Healthcare campus expansion); Nick Nachbar (PTPC), Lara Gaasland-Tatro (Jefferson County Health), Emilie Uemura 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. New PTPC member Michael (Mickey) Sheehan introduced himself and General Manager Nick Nachbar Approval of Agenda & Minutes Cindy requested amendments/approval of today’s agenda and April 12th, 2022 minutes. Two minor edits were recommended for the minutes. Owen Rowe moved to approve agenda and April 12 minutes as amended; Second by Jeff Randall. Motion passed. Laura to finalize minutes and post to County website. Public Comment None. Equity – Topics for August Speakers Laura asked members for questions/topics we’d like the guest speaker Elise Rasmussen of State DOH to address on the topic of equity in climate change and health. Cindy noted it would be helpful to have some proposed ways to include equity language in both mitigation and adaptation aspects of community goals, and to generally share with us the key equity considerations related to climate mitigation and adaptation. Kate Dean noted the equity aspects of health and climate change, and how to engage folks not at the table, would be useful. Guest: Marty Brennan with ZGF Architects working on Jefferson Healthcare expressed interest in equity topic. Forest Inventory Presentations Cindy reported the Forestry Inventory was presented to: City Parks Recreation and Tree Advisory Board on 5/24 and BOCC on 5/16. Kate Dean noted BOCC sent letter to DNR expressing County interest in DNR management of forest lands. She will keep the group updated on discussions. Councilmember Rowe and Cindy discussed options for presenting the Forestry inventory to Council. Councilmember Rowe will check into getting on Port Townsend City Council Agenda Forestry Working Group Update Cindy reported the Forest working group discussed process for community goals and grant opportunities, and provided input to Kate Dean regarding BOCC workshop related to forestry. Potential Community Goals (Cindy) Currently adopted GHG reduction goals were based on 2005 inventory. Now we have updated inventories. We may want to propose to City and County that they consider updating community goals. One model based on IPCC reports would be for a 59% reduction of 2018 emissions by 2030; and net 0 emissions by 2050.. That same model could apply for both the sector based inventory as well as the consumption based inventory (e.g., what we purchase). Kees suggested, whatever the goal, provide graphic display. Cindy’s suggested strategy is to further research goals set by other municipalities, as well as state, federal and international goals, and bring back to this committee. Judy and Kees noted that previously City and County set emission goals so that they could lead by example. Kees noted how policy and champions at all levels can help reduce emissions (e.g., PTHS “no idling” and HSN infill development). Kate suggested organization’s annual commitment to implementing strategies to reduce/adapt to climate change are more important than adopting specific city and county goals. Guest Marty Brennan noted being selective about supply chains (e.g., concrete, lumber) as means to reduce emissions. Following up on the request for Jefferson Marine Resource Committee (MRC) to collaborate on kelp sequestration modeling, Judy noted MRC staff, Monica Montgomery, is interested. Monica will inquire with MRC members. VMT Redux Working Group Update The group’s focus had been on supporting the June 1 Car Free Day efforts. Cindy shared results including: 91 participants and 1200 miles saved! Saturday’s PDN article summarized the results. Nicole noted that Jefferson Transit had new riders that day. Judy noted that there were several competitions running at the same time and wondered about insurance credits? Kees noted that the Recyclery worked with Insurance carriers to get credit for employee participation. Kate Dean suggested having champions in each organization to promote. EV Working Group Update Cindy provided update on three grant applications that were submitted by other organizations that included aspects in Jefferson County. 1. WSDOT Fast Chargers for PT Visitor Center and for Quilcene have been applied for, have not heard yet. 3. WSDOT Zap Carshare program (with a focus on low-income participants) – applied for 2 locations – one at PT Visitors Center and one at Jefferson Healthcare. Jeff Randall spoke to the high EV infrastructure capacity needs for the federally funded EV chargers. State Commerce grants may be more flexible and geared for rural areas. EV group met with Cascadia Consulting (working with NODC) to get input on EV strategies for the Olympic Peninsula. PUD Update (Jeff Randall) Continuing work on Broadband. They have received $25 million in committed funding for broadband. PUD estimates $90 million to provide broadband throughout the County. Struggling with equipment availability (e.g., transformers). Met with Eron Berg at Port to consider collaboration on Level II EV chargers. Jeff also looked at Jefferson Hospital looking for potential locations for EV chargers. Laura noted equity issues with lack of broadband for low- income individuals. Also pursuing on-bill financing for energy efficiency upgrades to help address equity. Will install solar at 4 corners facility. Solar equipment costs are rising. Considering reaching out to tenants at Port regarding benefits of EV charging station. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for Climate Review? Judy Surber noted deadline for next City and County Comprehensive Plan GMA update is June 2025. Start gearing up in 2023. Kate Dean noted first section of pipe for Glen Cove sewer was installed under recent sidewalk project. She noted significant cost of installing sidewalks – need to explore options for non-motorized transportation. Public Comment None. Other Updates Laura noted Dan Galpern is collaborating with Dr. James Hansen (a pioneer in climate change formerly with NASA) with an initiative to the EPA to reduce fossil fuel use. Dan is riding his bike across the nation (CPR Climate Emergency Tour) to promote the initiative and he will stop at Finn River 6/22 at 6PM for Climate on Tap. Looking for letters of support to the EPA. Kees highly recommends Joanna Macy’s webinar Climate Change as Spiritual Practice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBgH8pjD1Q and her book – Active Hope. Lara Gaasland-Tatro of Jefferson Co. Public Health - received a grant for Climate Health Adaptation Mitigation Partnership (Champ). Working with NEHA, DOH, and ECY to work on equity in climate change and health. Creating Climate and Health webpages on JCPH website. Also working on a wildfire smoke response including a media campaign. Kate Dean mentioned that Puget Sound Partnerships – Puget Sound Action Agenda update was approved just a few days ago. It includes climate change strategies. Associated funding strategy will be announced in July. Cindy reported on city NODC grant work on SLR vulnerability assessment. Next Steps and Agenda Planning Upcoming CAC Meetings and possible agenda items: August 9. Agenda items: T-Lab presentation; Equity in climate change; JCH Master Plan energy efficiency October 11 Agenda items: Jefferson County Health CHAMP update Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.