Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2024-02-26City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes February 26, 2024 Page 1 of 5 CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes February 26, 2024 Approved Call to Order / Roll Call Jay Hamachek called the February 2024 meeting of the Sustainability Advisory Board to order at 8:31 pm. Members Present: Buzz Chandler, Jay Hamachek, Kara Orvieto, Robin Palao, Mark Puhlman, Whitney Street, Nathan Chen, Margaux McCloskey, Jeanne Enders (Alternate), Matthew Coleman (Alternate) Members Excused/Absent: Matt Schaeffer Staff: Councilor Trudy Corrigan, Amanda Watson Public: None Approval of Minutes Jay made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 27 joint meeting with corrections (several comments by Kara Gapon were misattributed to Kara Orvieto). Buzz seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously. Public Comment None. Regular Business A. City Council Update Councilor Corrigan is SAB’s Council liaison for 2024. She provided updates on City Council’s work over the past month: • Adopted 2024 City Council Goals • Ended partnership with EPCOR for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project and will pursue a competitive bidding process for a design-build-operate contract • Examined closing East End Urban Renewal Area, expanding Lake Grove Urban Renewal Area to potentially accommodate a community center, and starting over with Foothills Urban Renewal Area • Approved funding for engineering on group 2 pathways projects • Continued lease of the Iron Worker’s Cottage • Held a hearing to adopt a supplemental budget • Study session on Urban Community Forestry Plan B. Youth Member Updates Nathan Chen is working on a research project focusing on how to improve the output of solar panels by looking into options to reduce heat of panels. When they heat up, they decrease in efficiency. City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes February 26, 2024 Page 2 of 5 Margaux McCloskey is working with other students at Lakeridge High School, Green Teams and Sustainability Clubs, to start a composting program. The school now has a greenhouse, and they would like to implement a three-bin compost system that uses food waste from the school cafeteria to provide the greenhouse with compost. C. Managing the Health of Oswego Lake Jeff Ward, General Manager of the Lake Oswego Corporation (LOC), gave a presentation on practices the Lake Corp uses to manage the health of the lake. One problem is the continued increase in average water temperature; climate change is the biggest challenge going forward. There is not a lot of freshwater input and outlet in the summertime, and the lake’s water sources (incl. Tualatin River, Lost Dog Creek, Spring Brook Creek) are high in phosphorous, so it is vulnerable to the growth of cyanobacteria (“blue-green algae”) in the summer. Phosphorous comes from wastewater treatment plants along the river, overtaxed septic systems, road runoff. LOC’s water quality committee has gotten better at controlling phosphorous in the lake over the years but it remains a challenge. Currently they use alum to bind to the phosphorous so it is no longer bioavailable. They test lake water weekly for phosphorous, dissolved oxygen, and temperature at different levels. Typically they see a cycle where a cyanobacteria bloom starts in July, and a second bloom starts in late August. Amanda asked what residents can do to support water quality in the lake. Jeff replied that using phosphorous-free fertilizer helps; SAB and residents can also support the City’s efforts in updating the stormwater code periodically, which can add expense to a new home but helps slow down and prevent pollutants from going into the stormwater system. 65% of stormwater in the city goes into the lake. Matt asked if there is any difference in how tree removal is managed for shoreline or shoreline-adjacent trees. Jeff noted that shading from trees is more impactful for water quality in creeks than the lake, but LOC still tries to preserve trees as much as possible; property owners have to apply for a permit to remove a tree on LOC property and they have a development committee that reviews permit requests. Jeff explained that the original Oswego Lake was called Sucker Lake, and it was very small, about 180 acres. Part of the expansion of the lake was a power generation facility. The Lake Corp generates power to maintain the level of the lake, and draws it down 10 feet every 3 years. Excess power is sold back to PGE. Margaux asked how the lake refilling impacts phosphorous levels. Jeff explained that it varies; if there is a lot of heavy rain in the winter that still brings in a lot of phosphorous from the watershed from sediment washing in. Robin asked about possible industrial processes that could help reduce the phosphorus. Jeff said people have promoted the idea of a floating marsh in the canal, but the canal is also a floodway that can’t be impeded. LOC has looked at bioactive materials like clay that absorbs phosphorous, but it builds up on the lake bottom. D. 2024 Board Priorities Work Planning Amanda led the Board in a discussion to develop work plans for the Board’s 2024 priorities. The Board’s 2024 priorities were: • Sustainable transportation, in particular improving safety and infrastructure for walking and biking. • Continuing work on the Urban and Community Forestry Plan update, and next steps to ensure a healthy and resilient urban forest. • Education for residents and homeowners about what they can do to meet community climate action goals, especially on energy efficiency and clean energy. During City Council’s goal setting retreat, Council also directed SAB to continue looking into the issue of gas-powered landscaping equipment (GPLE). The City of Portland has proposed restrictions on gas- City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes February 26, 2024 Page 3 of 5 powered leaf blower use citywide, and City Council would like SAB to watch how that policy unfolds and is implemented if it is adopted, see what lessons learned might be applicable to LO, and keep the pulse on what Lake Oswego residents would like to see. Sustainable Transportation: • Buzz: We should keep the concept of a 15-minute city as a goal going forward, where people can meet their daily needs within a 15- or 20-minute walk. There is an example of this with the small commercial area in Westlake. • Jay: There have been discussions with the Chamber and School District about Lake Grove being redeveloped into a new urban center. Would like to understand what is the 5-, 10- 15-year vision for transportation in the city, including for walking and biking infrastructure. SAB then can be an advocate. • Amanda will work with staff to arrange a briefing for SAB on what is in the Transportation System Plan. She thinks the plan will be updated in the next year or two. • Buzz: It would be good to get a map on established and planned pathways. • Matt shared that in his experience, biking in Lake Oswego is less safe than in Portland; there aren’t designated lanes for bikes or signage like in other major cities. • Jay would like to better understand the relationship between the City and ODOT re: Highway 43 and any other state roads that go through LO, and get an update on current status of the tolling conversation and projected impacts. • Kara: Parks Plan 2040 discussions have touched on connecting parks to each other; safe bike routes could play a role, especially for youth to get there, since there is not transit connectivity. • Mark: Sidewalk connectivity is an issue; when properties are being developed they are supposed to have sidewalks out front, but they are not contiguous; this is a land use issue and maybe something SAB could engage with the Planning Commission on. • Matt: Having a bus that could connect parks would be great. • Mark: A circulator is something that the city has had in its plan; would that be TAB? This could be something SAB could spearhead; maybe the city can apply for federal funding for this. • Robin: Some of these strategies to increase connectivity through sidewalks or a circulator bus will have economic multipliers; can’t do everything at once but by planning in phases the end result will be better. SAB should look to drill down on just a couple goals, to focus on getting them done. • Jay: We need to get educated first, we have a lot of good ideas but need to understand what to focus on, the specific, actionable opportunities to make change. • Amanda will reach out to staff for TAB to let them know what SAB is interested in, and learn what TAB’s 2024 goals are to identify opportunities to work together. Urban and Community Forestry Plan: • SAB had a joint meeting with PRNAB to provide input on the draft plan in January, project staff appreciated their input. • The report will be completed in spring/summer 2024. • SAB wants to support implementation and next steps, will wait to hear from staff how they can help. • Jay: there are opportunities during the Farmer’s Market and other outreach events to be talking about the UCFP Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency: City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes February 26, 2024 Page 4 of 5 • Board members noted this topic is relevant in the context of increasing PGE rates and power outages during the recent storm. Solar + storage systems increase resilience during outages. • City Council adopted a goal very similar to SAB’s. • Amanda is working on the EV Charging Strategy, and engaging PGE on the Community Green Tariff program; will be bringing both of those back to PGE for additional input this year. • Robin noted several states are changing net metering programs, and PGE is proposing to change theirs; this is something important for SAB to understand. Amanda will see if it might be possible to get a briefing from PGE if there is opportunity for public comment. • Board members discussed developing outreach materials, a “travel toolkit” that SAB members can use when at events, including things like handouts on the state’s heat pump rebate program. o Robin: It’s more effective when we can provide people with numbers, specific case studies such as how much someone invested in solar panels and what that meant for their electricity bill. o Buzz: We can recruit a couple of residents who have actually done it to share their experience, what the challenges were, what went well; could be in the form of short Youtube videos online. o Whitney: We could do something similar to OLWC’s Tree Summit, where they bring in experts on a particular topic and have residents discuss and share their experiences. • Board members discussed online resources. Kara suggested a user-friendly web portal. Mark noted that LOSN has a good website with resources. Amanda is planning updates for the city’s website with information on clean energy incentives; somewhat limited in format, but would like to get SAB’s input on content. • Board members discussed additional ideas for outreach on clean energy and energy efficiency: o Kara: Something she’d like to add as part of the Sustainability Resource Fair in the future is a green home tour o Kara: This could be a good topic for a future Mayor’s roundtable o Buzz: Could we advertise one of our meetings to the public that we’d like to hear from them, what people already know, what they are concerned with, what they are looking for, to guide SAB’s work. o Robin: The Library visioning project did a good example of this o Members brought up the EcoHome LO program; Amanda had been discussing with LOSN some updates needed to the program; SAB could help reinvigorate the program. o Mark suggested the City could sponsor an environmental science program or competition. Jay noted the rotary club has an excellence in education competition for a small scholarship. Margaux said it would be great to have something similar that is focused on sustainability or environmental sciences. Nathan is competing at the regional NW Science Expo, there are not that many resource competitions locally. SAB could work with high school sustainability clubs, who would like to learn more and have access to more sustainability information. o Jeanne asked about programs to help educate people about climate change more generally. There might be more SAB can do to help people understand what’s at stake and embrace solutions. Is that something we have a responsibility to offer or is it too fear-based and would it have only negative effects? Amanda explained she does this in her work at the city, SAB can continue to help people connect the dots, connect solutions and actions people can take with the bigger picture. Gas-Powered Landscaping Equipment: City of Lake Oswego Sustainability Advisory Board Minutes February 26, 2024 Page 5 of 5 • Councilor Corrigan noted that City Council is especially interested in leaf blowers, they have heard a lot of complaints from the public about gas-powered leaf blowers, and that’s what the City of Portland is looking to regulate. • Mark: It would be interesting to have someone from City of Portland present on their proposed ordinance. He would also like SAB to support LOSN’s application for a community grant. LOSN has asked for $8000 to do a citywide landscape electrification campaign including 2 citywide mailings and a workshop for landscape contractors in 2025 with the American Green Zone Alliance. • Jay: It would be good to focus in on what California is doing, since they have a big influence on the market. • Amanda asked the Board to consider what they might be able to do for additional proactive engagement on the idea of the City taking action to address GPLE, following on from the 2022 survey, to help the City prepare for a future policy discussion. At the City Council goal setting retreat, the point was made that Council doesn’t hear from people opposed to regulations on GPLE, but this may be because the City hasn’t indicated they are going to take citywide action. • Robin: The City will need a good communications strategy, clearly setting out expectations about where the City wants to go and where they are looking for feedback. We would also still like a discussion with the City budget office about possible financial incentive programs to support the transition. • Kara: We could have an event in a City parking lot where residents can come and try out electric landscaping equipment. • Mark: LOSN is looking to do this at their fall electrification fair. E. 2024 Co-Chair Selection Buzz is the outgoing co-chair, Amanda thanked him for his leadership. Jay and Whitney both volunteered to serve as a co-chair for 2024. Buzz made a motion to vote to confirm Whitney and Jay as the new SAB co-chairs. Mark seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved. Buzz noted that Mayor Buck and City staff held a training for Board & Commission chairs for the first time, he participated, as did Whitney to learn more about the role. F. Staff & Board Updates • The Sustainability Resource Fair will be on April 20 from 10-1pm at Lakeridge Middle School. Kara and Whitney are SAB representatives on the event steering committee. • Boards & Commissions recruitment is coming up; applications will be accepted April 1 – May 13. Amanda will reach out to members whose terms are expiring and encouraged members to share information with their networks. • Amanda applied for Farmers Market dates for SAB in May and September, waiting to hear back on results. Meeting adjourned at 8:37 pm. Respectfully submitted, Amanda Watson Sustainability Program Manager