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Home My WebLink AboutCAC Minutes_082724 Draft 2 Jefferson County/City of Port Townsend Climate Action Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, August 27, 2024, 3:00 - 5:00 PM Hybrid Meeting Hosted by Jefferson County Public Health 615 Sheridan Street; Pacific Room; Port Townsend Members Present: Cindy Jayne, Dave Wilkinson, Owen Rowe (City Council), Laura Tucker (Jefferson County Public Health), Kees Kolff (JHC), Jamie Duyck, Krista Myers, Dave Seabrook, Crystie Kisler, Kate Dean (BoCC) Absent: Nicole Gauthier (Jefferson Transit), Sara Peck (Jefferson Transit alt.), Kate Chadwick, , Micheal Clea (PTPC), Eric Toews (Port of PT alt.), Jeff Randall (PUD No. 1), Carol Hasse (Port of PT) Staff: Judy Surber (City of Port Townsend); Laura Tucker (Jefferson County) Guests: Adrian Smith (City of PT), Barb Jones (JCPH), Lara Gaasland-Tatro (JCPH), Donna Frostholm (JC DCD), Alyse Wright (Jefferson Healthcare), Emma Bolin (City of PT), Aren Murcar (SCJ Alliance), Robin Hill (City of PT) Scribe: Judy Surber Topic Recommendation/Action Follow Up Items Call to order Introductions Chair Kolff called the meeting to order at 3:00. Approval of Agenda & Minutes Approval of June 25 Minutes as presented, moved by Cindy Jayne, 2nd by Jaime Duyck, motion passed. Motion to approve Agenda with minor amendment by Owen Rowe to delete “Action to discontinue EV Workgroup being under the CAC” as this was acted upon at the June 25th meeting, 2nd by Cindy Jayne, motion passed. Laura to post on County Website Public Comment None. Coastal Flooding Alert Planning Meeting Dave Wilkinson – Carol Hasse contacted Dave Nakagawara, Port of PT Capital Projects Engineer, to ensure they had the information that would help them prepare for high tide/King Tide events. Dave Wilkinson, Dave Nakagawara, and Cindy Jayne corresponded via email. Dave Nakagawara proposed to have a meeting with King Tide team, the Port, and also with Jefferson Department of Emergency Management. Cindy asked if other organizations would like to participate. Plan to meet in the fall. They will discuss how to identify possible flooding events and how to communicate the information. They suggested Port prepare a high-resolution topographic survey of Port properties. Judy suggested that Steve King be included and possibly Main Street. Kate Dean noted that Willie Bence was the best contact for DEM. Updated Climate Activities for 2024- 2025 & Outreach Cindy: Still need 2024-25 goals from the County, PUD, Port and PT Paper. Jeff Randall had requested a presentation to the PUD Commissioners. Cindy asked if anyone would like to join Cindy in making that presentation. Kees will assist. Work Group Updates VMT- Cindy – Heads up to Education & Outreach Group, VMT is working on a proposal regarding support of increased densities in city and Port Hadlock UGA as a means to reduce VMT. Also, an outreach opportunity re: hauling of waste, and benefits of riding the bus. Food Systems- Crystie- Cindy, Dave and Crystie have invited potential interested parties to join the workgroup. Kees added that Farmer’s Market fundraiser raised $33k of which $15k will go to support food access for senior citizens and WIC participants. Crystie added Farmers commenting on degradation of crop systems due to excessive rain while they had prepared for excessive heat – acknowledging the challenge of farming in extremes/unpredictable conditions. Education & Outreach – Krista Myers – Group discussed desire to do an outreach event. But first want to update the webpage structure and content. Laura expects to circulate a draft of proposed content. Dave Seabrook suggested adding Citizens Resources. Forestry - No Report Judy to resend “Welcome to the CAC” to whole group. Upcoming Organizational Plans and Climate change in City Comp Plan- update on the climate planning process. Adrian Smith and Aren Murcar presented. SCJ retained to assist city in Climate Resiliency Plan to be part of the Comp Plan. Required per HB 1181: Climate resilience is the ongoing process of Documents for Climate Review anticipating, preparing for, and adapting to changes in climate; minimizing negative impacts to our natural systems, infrastructure, and communities. During Public Participation in the Fall, they will ask participants to consider how climate impacts (11 Priority Sectors) will play into each of the three land use scenarios being considered and how each will meet the overall climate resiliency goals. Q&A ensued. Preservation and density do not need to be opposing concepts. Emma noted the need to define “preservation” “small town character” as we move forward. Other thoughts: Water supply, marine trades. Kate Dean noted Joint Grown Management Steering Committee adopted population allocation with 80% of anticipated growth going to urban areas (City of PT, Port Hadlock). Agenda Suggested Action: Assign a subcommittee of CAC members to work with City staff on the Climate Resilience Element of the Comprehensive Plan update; report back to full CAC. Another option is to expand the scope of the County Comp Plan subcommittee (Krista, Crystie, Cindy, Kees, Carol, Kate Chadwick) Action: Expand the scope of the County Comp Plan Subcommittee to include both the City and County Comp Plan on the Climate Resilience Element of the Comprehensive Plan update; report back to full CAC. Moved by Owen. Second by Cindy Jayne. Motion passed. Cindy: Anticipated SLR of 1-1.5 feet in next 20 years, which is within the 20-year planning horizon of comp plan. She will raise at the subcommittee meeting . Cindy will schedule. Resources/reference list Dave Seabrook presented. He suggests ways to help CAC members stay informed by creating a climate education resource for the community. He noted how rapidly climate change information is developing. How do we keep abreast of the numerous reports? Submissions could be suggested by CAC members/public; someone in CAC would vet submissions and perhaps prepare a brief synopsis to be posted online. Cindy noted this is a challenging task. There are several websites that do this already. Krista noted City of Santa Cruz web page as a possible model for our more user-friendly and comprehensive web page: https://www.cityofsantacruz.com/government/city-departments/city- manager/climate-action-program/climate-educational-resources Judy to send Dave’s slides out with Minutes. Cindy noted that the site has some overlap with the JeffersonCAN.org site that Local 20/20 manages. Dave noted Summary of Policy Makers from IPCC and other reports that he feels CAC members should be familiar with. Education and Outreach Committee to discuss further. Public Comment None Other Updates EV update- Cindy reported fast charges at old Chambers are now installed. Following up with an issue with Chevy Bolts. Plans to have 120V outlet for E-Bikes to charge. Will look at Nissan Leaf connector. The two ZEV Coop cars each have roughly 7,000 miles. Cindy has flyers for anyone interested. Momentarily lost connection with in-person attendees at JCPH City Shoreline Master Program 2025 update - Judy received materials from the consultant today; should have a report out for October. She noted a new USGS tool of interest to the group: https://www.usgs.gov/apps/hera/ Next Steps and Agenda Planning Next Meeting 10/22 Climate change in County Comp Plan Initiative 2117, to repeal the Climate Commitment Act. Laura is coordinating speakers on both sides. Judy noted City has asked for guidance from legal counsel to ensure compliance with RCW 42.17A.555 Jefferson Transit 9/17 Open House at American Legion to get input on their Climate Action Plan and comprehensive operational analysis. Chimacum Work Horse Project – open invitation to visit just contact Dave. 9/14 Farm Tour Weekend Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 4:58 p.m.