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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2021-11-08 CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes November 8, 2021 Call to Order / Roll Call Kathleen Wiens called the November 8, 2021 meeting of the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB) to order at 6:30 p.m. over Zoom. Members Present: Buzz Chandler, Stephanie Glazer, Jay Hamachek, Susan Mead, Mark Puhlman, Matt Schaeffer, Anna Wallin, Kathleen Wiens, Councilor Verdick, Kara Orvieto, Kim Roeland Members Excused/Absent: Olivia Reinhart Staff: Amanda Watson, Sustainability Program Manager Public: Duke Castle, Rick Cook, Stephanie Wagner, Dan Purvis Announcements from Board and Staff Amanda: City is working with community partners to hold a “No Ivy Day” event on Saturday, November 20th, 10 am – 12 pm at Springbrook Park. Jay noted that event at Iron Mountain Park will begin at 1 PM, not 10 AM. Community partners include Friends of Springbrook Park, Oswego Lake Watershed Council. Approval of Minutes October meeting minutes were approved, with a couple typographical edits from Stephanie. Public Comment Rick Cook would like SAB to consider working with other advisory bodies (HRAB, Transportation Advisory Board, PARKS Board) and community partners to start up a “Friends of Pecan Creek” coalition, and potentially get Metro bond dollars for watershed protection. Shared his concerns about Rassekh Park project, including: there are no funds from the $5m budget dedicated for enhancement of the protected sensitive lands (20% of the Rassekh property); impacts to the wildlife corridor along the creek from entrance to the park and parking lot being on the west side of the property; field runoff could impact drinking water quality downstream, and he would like the City to consider using recycled water at the park. Jay pointed out that that Pecan Creek is already getting funding through the Habitat Enhancement Program and Parks has been carrying out restoration work. He asked why the map Rick provided showing sensitive lands overlay on the Rassekh property did not match with the City’s website; Rick’s map was from the 2012 Luscher Area Master Plan and Parks has since updated the map. Buzz asked what are some things that additional funding could be spent on in the wildlife area? Rick would like to see some funding from the project spent for a trail with interpretive features, as described in the Luscher Area Master Plan. Stephanie Wagner, Oswego Lake Watershed Council: The Mayor asked her to help come up with a natural resource goal for Council for 2022; she would like SAB to consider partnering on this. Currently the City does not have a coordinated effort to take care of citywide natural resources, including ensuring urban forest remains a functioning ecosystem. Ideas include supporting development of natural City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes November 8, 2021 Page 2 of 3 resources management plan for City-owned properties; tree permit improvements, other ideas that have come from Planning and DRC; annual State of the Forest report. Jay noted that Parks & Rec just started working on a natural area management plan; Stephanie would like to see this completed and adopted by Council. Duke Castle, LOSN: LOSN will be holding a forum on Wednesday, November 17 with the engineering firm PAE focused on living buildings, going beyond net zero. PAE designed the new Lakeridge Middle School. Duke would like SAB to include pilot project for pole-mounted EV charging as a 2022 goal. Dan Purvis: Shared concerns about gas-powered lawn equipment (noise, health, environmental impacts). He would like to see solutions to help reduce use in residential areas, incentives to make it easy for people to make the switch. Kathleen noted SAB has been working on this issue for quite a while, as has LOSN, and they would like to work with him. Regular Business A. Review Agenda Amanda reviewed the meeting agenda. B. City Council Update Councilor Verdick shared that Council is continuing to look at the WWTP project, and got an update on the Rassekh Park project design. The skate park has full Council support, although has not been officially approved – still getting details on how much it would cost. Hopes everyone can make it to No Ivy Day on 11/20. C. SAB 2022 Goal Setting Exercise SAB used the online platform Mural for a goal setting exercise to determine the SAB’s 2022 goals. The group started with an icebreaker, then shared thoughts on the SAB’s mission and the functions they would like to focus on (advising City Council on policy, community engagement, implementing the SCAP). Stephanie then led the group through a review of the SAB’s 2021 goals, status, and next steps for each goal or action. In Mural, group members indicated which of these actions they would like to carry forward for 2022, then discussed which were highest priority and assigned SAB members to the goals they would like to focus on. • Jay asked whether the City had a general set of sustainability design guidelines that were used for projects like the new WWTP and Recreation and Aquatic Center. Amanda said there is a SCAP goal to update the 2015 High Performing Building Guidelines, which staff used to guide the new City Hall project but is not a formal policy. Could be an opportunity to institutionalize those guidelines further by formalizing them. Councilor Verdick noted it’s always better to formalize, but for new buildings, City Council is looking for LEED certified design standards or equivalent. • Stephanie asked if there is room and will for us to put urban tree canopy back into the CAP. Amanda will need to explore that with Parks and Planning, the departments at the City that have the regulatory tools and programs related to urban forest. Natural resources, urban forest will come into play in the work to update the resilience and adaptation section of SCAP. Jay has been seeing a lot of discussion about how tree codes don’t apply to redevelopment. • Amanda shared that she is looking into actions related to addressing buildings and transportation emissions, including alternate modes of transportation (walking and biking). City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes November 8, 2021 Page 3 of 3 • Councilor Verdick noted that City Council is very supportive of sustainability initiatives, and encouraged the group to consider opportunities to move policy and initiatives that would need Council support forward in the next year. • Jay noted that the WWTP is a significant source of emissions and opportunity to increase greywater opportunities for the future, and this year is a unique opportunity to work on this – decisions being made will determine outcomes for next 30 years. • Buzz observed through conversations between residents on Next Door three hot-button issues of importance to community members that overlap with SAB’s work: gas-powered lawn equipment, tree canopy, and resiliency (prompted by bad weather). • To organize an Earth Day event, SAB need to start planning early (ASAP), including to publicize via channels like HelloLO. • Matt and Jay noted that SAB’s goals should be SMART. • Stephanie reemphasized the recommendations to think about items that are timely, because of projects currently underway like WWTP or if they are policy items that we can get momentum on, even if they will take longer than a year. Goals that rose to the top (high importance, with SAB members who would like to champion them) were: • Provide input on Wastewater Treatment Plant project • Improve resiliency and enhance climate adaptation; review this section of the SCAP • Evaluate options for limiting use of GPLE in Lake Oswego (develop 1 – 3 year strategic plan) • Advocate for electric vehicle adoption in Lake Oswego • Protecting urban tree canopy • Earth Day celebration/community engagement event (April 22, 2022) • Continue to review information and policy around green buildings in Lake Oswego, through reviewing the demolition tax, City building projects, and advocating for the expanded use of high-performance building principles Board members agreed that the 2022 goals memo should include a progress report on this year’s goals. Stephanie will write a first draft of the memo and share with the group for feedback. At the December meeting, will review the memo to finalize by December 31 deadline to submit. Wrap Up & Adjournment Stephanie proposed moving the December meeting up a week, from December 20 to December 13, to ensure there would be sufficient time to finalize and submit the memo in advance of the deadline. All members agreed with this proposal. Kathleen Wiens adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Amanda Watson Sustainability Program Manager