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Approved Minutes - 2010-05-17 City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes May 17, 2010 CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL Co-Chair Bruce Brown called the May 17, 2010 meeting of the Sustainability Advisory Board to order at 6:33 p.m. in the Yamhill Room of the West End Building, 4104 Kruse Way, Lake Oswego, Oregon. Members present: Co-Chair Bruce Brown, Co-Chair Grant Watkinson, Dorothy Atwood, Matt Briggs, Ron Gronowski, Paul Lyons, Gregory Monahan, and Amin Wahab. Guests: Gary Bachofner, Gordie Borrows, Daniel Gottlieb, and Ray Phelps. Staff: Susan Millhauser, Sustainability Coordinator/Staff Liaison; Sidaro Sin, Senior Planner; David Donaldson, Assistant City Manager; and Justin Bates, AmeriCorps/Sustainability Outreach Specialist. MINUTES (None) ANNOUNCEMENTS Wahab reported that the Second Look Task Force had concluded its work and forwarded its recommendations. Gronowski planned to arrange for SAB members to tour the 12W LEED Platinum building. Monahan was putting together the draft sustainability policy he had volunteered to fashion. Brown had lobbied for refunding the toilet rebate at a Budget Committee meeting. He had also attended a presentation by Andres Duany. Lyons had encouraged the City Council to look at smaller footprint development in Lake Oswego. PUBLIC COMMENT (None) REGULAR BUSINESS Comprehensive Plan Update / Vision Sidaro Sin, Senior Planner, distributed Planning and Building Services Department Memorandum, “Comprehensive Plan Update (PP 10-0007),” dated April 30, 2010. He asked the SAB to offer comments on the draft vision statement He asked them to select a representative to serve on a Comprehensive Plan update advisory committee. Briggs read aloud the comments related to the vision statement that he had circulated to SAB members via email: By 2030 Lake Oswego would have a 100% triple bottom line. It would be a collection of sustainable, mixed-use, neighborhoods with services within walking distance. Building codes had improved each year leading to a 2030 living building standard. There was 100% non-carbon burning transportation. There was an Amsterdam-level bike system and vehicle charging stations. Higher density development was mixed with expanded open space. Diverse development allowed smaller footprint houses. The City thought in terms of eco- systems. There was 100% green chemistry. The City cleaned up as much global warming gasses each year as it produced. The City thought of itself as a part of nature and not outside of it. There were many recreational and cultural opportunities and diverse entertainment. The City was financially stable; employees were fairly paid; and police and fire services were City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes of May 17, 2010 Page 2 of 4 adequately funded. Infrastructure was part of nature. Water was captured from the sky. Buildings had skins and systems that reacted to the weather. Fees for roads and utilities were based on the level of use. The city deposited all public funds into a new Oregon State Bank. Leverage was limited to 15%, which was focused on the local economy. There was more money for education, health care, and right-size government. Other SAB members added their own comments, as follows: Sustainability policy should be at the beginning of the document and say that everything in the Comprehensive Plan was to be viewed through a sustainability lens. The vision should talk about local agriculture, resilient infrastructure and distributed infrastructure. It would stress that in 2030 the City would be radically different. It would talk about preparedness and resiliency to respond to natural disasters, such as earthquakes and more frequent, serious weather events. The vision should be updated every five years. It should talk in terms of specific, measurable goals. Briggs agreed to incorporate the others’ comments into his document and circulate the final draft of SAB comments to the other members via email. Both Lyons and Gronowski had expressed an interest in serving on the Comprehensive Plan update advisory committee. Lyons wanted to see the charge statement and learn more about the schedule before he made a commitment. Gronowski’s SAB term was ending soon so he was interested in serving in an at large position. Sin related that the staff was considering recommending that the number of at large positions be expanded from 3 to 5 so board representatives whose term on his/her board was ending could continue to serve. He said the charge statement would be ready to distribute in a couple of days. Monahan moved that any SAB members who stepped forward to serve on the Comprehensive Plan update advisory committee would be supported by the SAB. During the discussion period the Board discussed the suggestion that more at large representatives were needed to give the process a broader base. Sid suggested they were considering this. Briggs seconded the motion and it passed (9 in favor, 0 opposed). Progress Report: City Sustainability Plan Millhauser presented the City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Plan Progress Report, May 13, 2010 Discussion Draft and asked for SAB feedback. The report listed ways the City had made progress toward its 2012 targets in four action areas: Energy & Transportation; Water Conservation; Waste Reduction & Recycling; and Procurement. (See the link below.) http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/plan/Boards_and_Commissions/Sustainability_Advisory_Board/Mee ting_Materials/2010_Meeting_Handouts/Sustainability%20Plan%20progress%20report%2005- 13-10%20discussion%20draft.pdf Millhauser announced the Northwest Service Academy had just approved the City’s request to have another AmeriCorps worker next fall. The Board suggested that the City normalize how energy use was measured and consider the fact that the W est End Building’s systems were at the end of useful life as an opportunity. They observed that almost 80% of City emissions was due to electricity use and 50% of that use was for water treatment. Millhauser pointed out street lighting was the next biggest use of electricity. The City of Gresham was conducting an LED streetlight pilot project with PGE. They were waiting for an Allied Waste audit to round out the waste reduction and recycling section. They were looking for a way to have one common measure to use to measure waste, rather than use different measurements of gallons, tons, etc. City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes of May 17, 2010 Page 3 of 4 The report listed a number of actions to be taken in 2010-2011. One of them was to look at a green building policy for City facilities. Brown advised the City standard should be LEED Platinum and should strive to meet the Living Building Challenge. Briggs suggested the City work toward using sustainable biodiesel for vehicles. Millhauser reported the City had formed an employee involvement and education team to develop measures and targets and staff sustainability training. The City hoped to form another team to look at chemicals and toxins. Atwood advised the City to ask each individual department about the best way to deliver training to that department. Millhauser invited the board members to email her with any other suggestions. Update: Sustainability Action Month Bates reported that over 900 persons had participated in Sustainability Action Month events so far. Watkinson had counted over 100 persons at Briggs’ movie. Bates reported that at least 30 riders were signed up for the bike ride. Atwood had counted over 80 persons at the last Chamber networking event. Bates shared that Jean Bauman had 15 people at her event. 250 people had signed up for the Historic Home Tour. Lyons reported that 15 people had attended the right-sized housing forum. City Council / Board and Commissions Coordination Watkinson said the City Council study session on June 8 would be about water conservation. The Mayor had asked the SAB to talk about each potential area for conservation. Brown suggested when the SAB knew what other boards and commissions were working on they could look for ways to help them. He related that TAB was looking at the pathway system. Lake Oswego Parks Pesticide / Herbicide Use. Donaldson reported that the City was using an undocumented integrated pest management program that was going to be formally documented. Parks was using sustainable practices such as planting tall blue fescue around trees instead of bark and using hot water to kill weeds. It used phosphate-free fertilizers. Parks did a lot of hand weeding that was very labor intensive and costly. He related that Portland had found using volunteers for that work had mixed results. It took staffing resources to manage volunteers and the areas they worked in were spotty. He reported they used Roundup sparingly, as a last resort. The Parks Department would address use of chemicals in their written plan. Director Gilmer had told Millhauser that the department used very little insecticide and fungicide; used herbicides sparingly; and used phosphorus free fertilizers. They tested samples at the Golf Course to see if it really needed fertilizer. When Atwood asked, Donaldson said he thought City maintenance of school fields was mainly mowing. She recalled Lake Oswego had used goats in the past. She reported that Engineering staff had reduced the area of the Trolley right-of-way they kept free of weeds. ADJOURNMENT The next meeting was scheduled on June 21, 2010. There being no other business, Co-Chair Brown adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Millhauser Sustainability Coordinator City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes of May 17, 2010 Page 4 of 4 L:\Boards & Commissions\SAB\Minutes\2010\LO SAB2010 05-17 APPROVED.doc