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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAC Minutes_Final 121322 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, December 13, 2022, 3:00 - 5:00 PM ONLINE due to COVID Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health Members Present: Cindy Jayne, Carol Hasse (Port of PT), Dave Wilkinson, Owen Rowe (City Council), Dave Seabrook, Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Kate Dean (BoCC), Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Kate Chadwick, Kees Kolff (JHC), Michael Clea (PTPC), Arlene Alen (Chamber of Commerce) Absent: Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Cara Loriz, Diane McDade Staff: Judy Surber (City of Port Townsend); Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Vicki Bennett, Lara Gaasland-Tatro (Jefferson County Public Health), Dave Luckenbach, Donna Frostholm (Jefferson DCD), Jon Waggoner, Cyndy Bratz (Forest Working Group), Kat Holmes of WEC/WCV, Brent Butler (Jefferson DCD), Josh Peters (Jefferson DCD) Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Introductions Cindy Jayne called the meeting to order at 3:02 Participants introduced themselves During guest introductions: Vicki Bennett noted her experience with climate mitigation work with Salt Lake City, Utah Jon Waggoner noted his experience as a coastal engineer interested in the Port Townsend sea level rise report. Cyndy Bratz is on the forest working group Approval of Agenda & Minutes Approval of Agenda and 10/11/22 Minutes. Motion to approve Agenda and minutes as presented, by Kate Dean, 2nd by Owen Rowe, motion passed. Laura to post on County Website Public Comment None. EV Working Group Update Cindy gave an update on the two EV grants, both approved and moving forward. Low-income car share proposed location was moved from hospital to new OlyCAP Seventh Haven low- income housing site. EV care share will also be at Chamber Visitor Center. EV Expo. Event received good feedback and exposure including an article in Leader. EV group meets tomorrow. Energy NW will speak on future grant opportunities. Jefferson County Forestry Workshop Update 11/30 BOCC hosted a Workshop re Forestry that included a presentation on the county project to manage county forest lands for various goals, as well as summarizing DNR’s Carbon pilot project. The DNR Carbon pilot proposal currently includes 3,911 acres in Jefferson County. Kate Dean tagged on with DNR Carbon project status, BOCC approved a letter to DNR expressing interest in the carbon project and appreciation that they are trying to change the model. . Forest Working Group Update CAC reviewed the Draft letter prepared by the Forest Working Group (provided in the packet) to be sent BOCC (cc: City Council). Letter indicates CAC support of the BOCC in affirming local government support for including the Jeff. County in the Phase II Carbon Pilot Project. Cindy asked for motion approving the Draft Letter. Carol Hasse moved to approve the draft letter, seconded by Owen Rowe, motion passed. Forest working group continues work on a set of draft sequestration goals for city and county consideration, and is researching examples from other communities and other data. October Forests and Trees GHG Inventory report public presentation had a good turnout. Cindy Jayne and Cyndy Bratz attended the Carbon Friendly Forestry Conference hosted by Washington Environmental Council, and heard Commissioner Heide Eisenhower present the work being done in Jefferson County. Thurston and Whatcom county commissioners also presented, and were working on similar issues. They heard support for Jefferson County’s forestry program. They also shared that one presentation discussed a model that modeled the impacts of extended rotations on carbon, timber volume, and net present value, and results demonstrated that it is possible to achieve good outcomes for both carbon and local economies. Legislative Updates (WEC) Guest: Kat Holmes of WEC/WCV Washington Environmental Council (WEC) Washington Conservation Voters WCV Environmental Priorities Coalition includes multiple NGOs. https://wecprotects.org/our-work/areas-of- work/environmental-priorities-coalition/ 2023 Four focus areas: 1) Climate Action including investment of revenues from the WA State Climate Commitment Act which begin in 2023 2) Salmon Habitat 3) Planning for Climate Friendly Future (local governments’ responsibilities under the GMA). 4) Support WA Recycling and Packaging Act (WRAP) Cindy noted CAC can recommend Council/BoCC support certain state legislative priorities. Kate Dean: BoCC doesn’t adopt a legislative agenda. Owen Rowe: Council adopted a legislative agenda about a month ago. Climate action was included. County Sea Level Rise Project (SLR) Donna Frostholm (Jefferson DCD); County received $74,000 grant to conduct SLR study. Grant includes all of Jefferson County (not within city limits). Consultant, ESA, retained. Study to assess vulnerability, communicate hazards, identify solutions. Stakeholder and public outreach meetings in process. Using 1% exceedance rate, High (RCP8.5 emissions model) for Years 2040, 2060, 2100. Report due April 2023. Members provided input and requested clarifications. Port Townsend Sea Level Rise Report – vote to endorse Cindy, Steve King, Dave Wilkinson presented to Council last night. City planning on looking for mitigation funding as a next step. Cindy asked for a motion to endorse the report previously provided in the CAC packet. Kees Kolff moved to endorse the Cascadia SLR report, second by Dave Seabrook, motion passed. County Implementation of C-PACER – vote to endorse Brent Butler and Cindy gave overview of Commercial – Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resiliency program (C-Pacer). Multi-family also eligible. A loan agreement between private lender and property owner. The unique part is that the county records the loan as a lien on the property. Examples of projects that can be financed using C-Pacer include energy and water efficiency, renewable energy generation, EV charging, flood readiness etc. Brent Butler had asked for CAC to endorse the program. Cindy shared a draft endorsement letter, previously provided in the CAC packet, and asked for a motion to approve the letter. Kees Kolff so moved, second by Carol Hasse, motion passed. Brent Butler is in process of onboarding a C-Pacer specialist. Program guidance and forms will be on the County website. Roles and Election for Chair / Vice Chair in February Cindy shared official roles and informal duties of Chair and Vice Chair in advance of 2023 elections. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Documents for Climate Review? Cindy encouraged members to send in updates on their progress toward their organization’s goals. And if other organizations want to add goals, that is welcome. Upcoming Documents/Plans? • County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan – Brent noted they received no response from a recent RFP. Dave Seabrook will reach out to EJFR Chief and let him know of CAC interest. Public Comment None Other Updates Laura and Cindy gave presentation to Jefferson County Board of Health – slides were shared in CAC packet. Kees noted the Board of Health will focus on climate change health impacts over next 6-9 months. LT: Climate on Tap is scheduled for Jan. 12th from 7- 8:30PM and will focus on the outcomes of the recent COP27 meeting. It will be a virtual meeting Lara Gaasland-Tatro of Jefferson County Public Health received WA state Environmental health grant for planning for emergency response to climate health. Collaborating with Department of Emergency Management. Cindy – Recent Energy Resiliency workshop good discussion including community solar and battery backup. Heard there was some work in the county related to microgrids. Judy suggested repository for the numerous climate related reports being generated by our community. Possibly at County library? Electronically on the CAC web site? Cindy will follow up on microgrid contact at county, for possible future CAC meeting. Cindy and Laura to investigate Next Steps and Agenda Planning & 2023 Dates Discussed 2023 schedule, and continuing same meeting date/time worked (2nd Tuesday of even numbered months). Next Meeting February 14, 2023, 3-5 PM. Upcoming CAC Meetings and possible agenda items: • Will hold election of chair/vice chair at Feb meeting, per committee resolutions. • Possible items include Solid waste update, NODC Disaster Resiliency Planning Final Report, Organizational Goals, Climate Decision Tool update, Climate Impacts Outreach Second Tuesdays every other month: April 11, June 13, August 8, Oct. 10, Dec. 12 Laura to send calendar invites including zoom link. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:02 p.m.