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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission Agenda Packet - November 2024 SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA www.palmspringsca.gov/services/sustainability-and-recycling November 19, 2024 5:30 PM MEETING AGENDA Palm Springs City Hall Large Conference Room Ken Alexander Don Barrett Erin Boyd Roy Clark, Chair Kathy Cohn Max Dirdah Andrew Forster Michael Frick Bernard Rottner, Vice Chair Prema Walker City of Palm Springs Vision Statement: Palm Springs aspires to be a unique world-class desert community where residents and visitors enjoy our high quality of life and a relaxing experience. We desire to balance our cultural and historical re- sources with responsible, sustainable economic growth and enhance our natural desert beauty. We are committed to providing responsive, friendly, and efficient customer service in an environment that fosters unity among all our citizens. To view/listen/participate in the meeting live, please contact Lindsey-Paige McCloy at lindsey-paige.mccloy@palmspringsca.gov or the following telephone number (760-323-8214) to register for the Zoom meeting. There will be an email with Zoom credentials sent after registration is complete to access the meeting and offer public comment. Any person who wishes to provide public testimony for an item on the agenda is requested to file a speaker card before the Public Testimony portion of the meeting. You may submit your public comment to the Subcommittee electronically. Material may be emailed to lindsey-paige.mccloy@palmspringsca.gov. Transmittal prior to the start of the meeting will help ensure that your correspondence is fully considered. Any correspondence received during or after the meeting will be distributed to the Subcommittee and retained for the official record. Office of Sustainability staff representatives: Lindsey-Paige McCloy, Director; Christian Wheeler, Climate and Sustainability Specialist; Benito Villa, Senior Program Coordinator; Juliet Shane Agtang, CivicSpark Fellow Please MUTE OR TURN OFF all audible electronic devices for the duration of this meeting. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS (5 MINUTES) ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA PUBLIC COMMENTS: This time is for members of the public to address the Commission on agenda items and items of general interest within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission. The Commission values your comments but it cannot take action on items not listed on the posted Agenda. Three (3) minutes are allowed for each speaker PRESENTATION (0 MINUTES) None Sustainability Commission Meeting November 19, 2024, 5:30 PM - Page 2 CHAIR’S COMMENTS (5 MINUTES) Chair Clark SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS (20 MINUTES) 1. Standing Subcommittee on Waste Reduction – Co-Chair Rottner 2. Standing Subcommittee on Climate Action – Chair Clark 3. Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Bird Strikes – Commissioner Frick 4. Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Leaf Blowers – Chair Clark, Commissioners Cohn and Frick 5. Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Measure J Projects – Commissioners Alexander and Boyd, and Co-Chair Rottner DIRECTOR’S REPORT (10 MINUTES) Director McCloy APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES – October 15, 2024 Regular Meeting (5 MINUTES) OLD BUSINESS (20 MINUTES) 1. Energy-Efficient Upgrade Ordinance – Director McCloy 2. Food Ware Ordinance – Director McCloy NEW BUSINESS (10 MINUTES) 1. Recommendation Letter for Measure J Community Project from The Center – Director McCloy 2. Proposed Fulfillment Center – Chair Clark COMMISSIONER COMMENTS AND DECEMBER AGENDA ITEMS (10 MINUTES) Commissioners have two (2) minutes to provide requests for future agenda items or input on other Commis- sion-related items of interest. ADJOURNMENT - The meeting of the Sustainability Commission will adjourn to December 17, 2024, at 5:30 pm, unless otherwise noted . It is the intention of the City of Palm Springs to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in all respects. If, as an attendee or a participant at this meeting, you need special assistance beyond what is normally provided, the City will attem pt to accommodate you in every reasonable manner. Please contact the Office of the City Clerk at (760) 323-8204 at least 48 hours prior to the meeting to inform us of your needs and to determine if accommodation is feasible. Pursuant to G.C. Section 54957.5(b)(2) the designated office for inspection of records in connection with the meeting is the Office of Sustainability, City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. Agenda and staff reports are available on the City’s website www.palmspringsca.gov. If you would like additional information on any item appearing on this agenda, please contact the Office of Sustainability at 760 -323-8214. AFFIDAVIT OF POSTING: I, Lindsey-Paige McCloy, Director, Office of Sustainability of the City of Palm Springs, California, certify this Agenda was posted at or before 5:30 PM on Thursday, November 14, 2024 as required by established policies and procedures. Lindsey-Paige McCloy, Director, Office of Sustainability City of Palm Springs, Office of Sustainability To: Sustainability Commission From: Lindsey-Paige McCloy, Director, Office of Sustainability Re: November Updates to the Sustainability Commission Meeting Date: 19 November 2024 The Office of Sustainability would like to provide this update on activities since the last Commission meeting to help speed discussion at the in -person meeting. The following items can be discussed in more depth at the meeting, if desired by the Commission. Upcoming Meetings and Events • Next Council meeting topics: o November 21: Consent item to accept Safe Streets for All (SS4A) federal funding o TBD: Tree ordinance, buildings reach code, greenhouse gas emissions update, expanding foodware ordinance to include styrofoam coolers; update on foodware ordinance compliance • Next Subcommittee meeting dates: o SSCOWR: December 5 (may conflict with a local conference) o Climate Action: December 11, to be rescheduled to 2pm • Recurring events o Next Farmers’ Market table: sometime in December o Next shredding and e-waste event: January 18 • Upcoming special events o Public outreach meetings for road reconfiguration projects, all at Demuth Community Center at 5pm: ▪ Nov 18 – South Palm Canyon project ▪ Nov 19 – Racquet Club east of Palm Canyon project (sorry!) ▪ Nov 20 – Little Tuscany project o Airport Master Plan Open House – tentatively scheduled for December 5 o REACH Inland Empire on December 5 – if you attended or wanted to attend the CCEC Conference at Margaritaville, this is put on by the same group and will be held in Morongo with a focus on the IE. See here for more information. Commission Administrative Matters • We are no longer permitted to email personal email addresses for Commission matters. If you are still having trouble with the email address, please email ithelp@palmspringsca.gov and let them know that you are a Sustainability Commission member. • A reminder from our City Clerk’s office: Commissioners are encouraged to minimize absences. Commissioners with three consecutive absences are subject to removal from the Commission. Updates on Ongoing Work I am presenting an abbreviated version of this list this month since we’ve been highly focused on a few major topics. Water, Turf Conversion, Batteries, GHG Inventory, Air Quality No updates this month. Events Benito worked with the Public Arts Commission, Desert Highland -Gateway Estates, and the James O Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center to host an event alongside our city’s first Asphalt Art project on Saturday, November 9. We encourage Commissioners to check out the piece at the intersection of Tramview Road and Granada St. Waste and Foodware Kudos to Benito and the PSDS team for another successful shredding event! We will share total material volumes in the staff discussion in the meeting. PSDS President Chris Cunningham presented a report on their first trial of electric waste hauling trucks over the summer at the SSCOWR meeting. Early results are promising! Airport As mentioned in the Upcoming Special Events section, the next open house for the Master Plan process is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, December 5. More details will be posted on the Master Plan website when they are available. EV Charging Stations Current status of the stations is as follows: - Museum Station: 6 of 7 Level 2 (medium speed) chargers functioning, 4 of 4 DCFC fully functioning! - City Hall Station: Both DCFC fully functioning; both L2 functioning - Village Green/Belardo stations: both functioning - Convention Center stations: 2 functioning, 2 not functioning. Thanks to a federal formula grant from the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, we were able to request off-grid EV chargers for our fleet vehicles. We anticipate we’ll install those sometime in the first half of next year. Transportation We will support Engineering with their second round of public engagement for the road reconfiguration projects. The dates for those projects are listed in the Upcoming Special Events section. We will be working on grant agreements for the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant program and our Heat and Shade study this month. Urban Environment Christian is currently attending the Urban and Community Forestry conference in Chicago! Community Garden The Garden opened applications for this season on October 1 and closed at the end of the month. All but one of the plots is currently occupied! Buildings and Energy Efficiency We have been working hard on the energy efficient reach code this month, as you will hear more about this evening! Some key actions that Juliet has completed this month have included: • Receiving feedback from the City Attorney team to refine the ordinance • Working with the Building and Safety Department to prepare for implementation • Hosting an outreach session with ONE-PS to begin socializing the concept • Supporting David Freedman (DCE/IREN) on a presentation to the CVAG Energy and Sustainability Committee to explore a possible model ordinance Upcoming work will include: • Creating support documentation to help building owners and professionals navigate the ordinance • Working with stakeholders to understand concerns and build consensus Fleet Electrification and City Emissions Reductions We are working closely with the Public Works department to identify a project approach to upgrade many of our buildings. We also received a preliminary roadmap from I-REN on our City building performance. Some takeaways: • Due to the interesting setup we have with our building energy (based on our cogen facility), the data for electricity usage is a little off. We’re hoping to get a second draft that updates this • Our pool, despite using an interesting chiller system that recirculates the water to keep it cool, is one of our largest users of natural gas We are also meeting with the Fire Department this month to identify some possible upgrades and retrofits to their buildings as part of ongoing capital improvement processes. Team Updates We have finally posted our positions for hire! We will be looking for one specialist to sit with our team and potentially a second to sit at the Airport. Please feel free to circulate the posting via the City’s jobs portal. The posting will close at the end of the mon th. Our team competed in our first Department Halloween Competition. According to unofficial inside sources, we likely placed second! City of Palm Springs Sustainability Commission November 2024 Upcoming Agenda Items for City Council, Commission, and Subcommittees - Targeted Food Ware Ordinance (styrofoam coolers prohibited) City Council – Tbd (possibly November 21) Commission – November 19 SSCOWR – November 6 Energy-Efficient Upgrade Ordinance (Attorney’s review completed) City Council – January 23 Commission – November 19 Climate Action – November 13 Smoking Ordinance City Council – February (first reading) Commission – December 17 (discussion); January 21 (vote) Tree Ordinance City Council – March (first reading) Commission – February Greenhouse Gas Reduction City Council – April Commission – February and March Commission November • Reach codes and energy-efficient upgrade ordinance • Food Ware Ordinance • Measure J projects (ad hoc subcommittee report) SSCOWR November • Parks Task Force – collection of landfill, recycling, organics • Battery recycling TBD • Review of reuse projects and policies across CA/region • Clarification about composting pails (Commissioner Alexander’s suggestion) • CA water regulations Climate Action November • Energy-efficient upgrade ordinance Upcoming Agenda Items and Guest Presentations - Unscheduled Commission • Tree ordinance (to City Council) • Food ware ordinance (to City Council, before end of 2024) • Turf conversion statistics (from DWA) • Cool roof • Pool heaters • Dark Sky ordinance • Scholarships provided by the City (e.g., leaf blowers) • Solar on/in City buildings; Director McCloy’s report • Shade structures and trees; collaboration with Parks and Recreation Office/Commission • Cannabis/large building ordinance update (staff request) • Air quality • Digital media/education • Ban on use of glue traps and rodenticides—Prescott Reserve request • Dog/waste pickup stations SSCOWR • Waste enforcement Climate Action • Heat and shade study and “Safe Routes for All” study (Sustainability Specialist Wheeler) • Greenhouse gas emissions analysis • Social media – Air Quality Monitoring • Airport expansion, regional connectivity to PSP • City buildings – emissions reduction Additional suggested agenda items from Feb 20 Commission meeting • Collaboration with other cities on sustainability; form committee (Commissioner Walker) • Increased effort with respect to community gardens (Vice Chair Barrett) • Trash container labeling (Commissioner Cohn) • Shade structures and trees; work with Parks and Recreation Office/Commission (Commissioner Dirdah) • Getting away from natural gas; education of companies doing work (+ CivicSpark Fellow Agtang’s work) (Commissioner Rottner) → Climate action subcommittee Waste-Reduction Subcommittee Report PRESENTED FOR COMMISSION MEETING DATE: 11.07.24 SUBMITTED BY: Bernard Rottner, Vice Chair SUBCOMMITTEE NAME: Waste-Reduction SUBMITTED DATE: SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING DATE: 11.07.24 NEXT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING DATE: 12.05.24 Subcommittee Meeting Goal: Facilitating resident participation in waste-reduction Summary: Staff Comments/Reports 1) Shredding Event Shredding event was held on October 19th at the Palm Springs Convention Center Parking lot. The new location was a success with improved room for coordination of traffic and material drop off. Potential improvements for the next event: add additional signage and staffing for traffic coordination. 5.8 tons of paper along with 20 tons of large items. Pre-event paper drop off at City Hall (30 waste carts of paper) was very successful and a request to add locking containers for next year. Desert Arc may be able to provide them for next year. 2) Community Clean Ups Coordination of events are ongoing, and staff are targeting the first clean up event for the beginning of 2025, January 11th, as a potential date. Sr. Program Coordinator Villa is finalizing location and community outreach 3) SB 1383 (Composting) update: PSDS reported high compliance with compostable separation by SFR (single-family residences) but continued compliance problems at multi-unit housing complexes. Multi-unit housing complexes are starting to respond after failed audits. To encourage public acceptance, PSDS agreed to work with the Office of Sustainability on creating appropriate social media statements about compliance. 4) Turf and Water Staff work continues with DWA on implementation of new State mandated water rules. Staff working to develop alternatives/options when replacing lawns with drought tolerant planting. Staff working to develop pollinator garden templates to make a smooth transition from lawns. DWA has good resources. Lush and Efficient is one good guide to help. Desert Straw house nursery is also a great place to obtain native plantings. DWA rebate program has been on hold but will be restarting shortly. It was noted that overseeding projects should be managed better to reduce the amount of blowing dirt and debris. 5) Reuse Projects & Policies (State Landscape - Director McCloy) - No Updates 6) Extended Producer Responsibility - No updates 7) Food ware Ordinance Updates on final ordinance wording and being finalized and s/b ready for Commission approval and potential for a November City council meeting. 8) Parks & Recreation Communication: Staff completed a site visit audit of the Village Fest to assess waste containers. Staff noted that many existing street bins were hidden behind vendor booths and hard for the public to access. There is a need to communicate the locations of bins and improve accessibility. Staff will look to continue to assess/audit at large city events and then develop reports on recommendations for improvements. It was noted that the Parks and Recreation is looking to provide (require that?) compostable packaging for snacks provided at public events like movies. Chair Clark reported there were no new updates since the last Parks and Recreation task force meeting. The next meeting will be held on November 19th. Sustainability staff and Parks and Recreation staff will work on the Parks and Recreation master plan consultants’ recommendations on Sustainability regarding: 1. New waste/recycling and trash collection in parks. 9) Battery Recycling: Staff working to finalize battery recycling contracts and looking at alternate organizations with R2 certification that can handle shipments and recycle and process batteries. 10) Food ware Enforcement: Assessments on going. Staff will be following up with restaurants that have made improvements and looking at ways to recognize their efforts to improve and comply with city ordinance. 11) Green Business Strategies: Staff will revisit in January 2025 PSDS Updates - Chris Cunningham 1. SB1383 Compost Compliance PSDS continues to work with multi-family housing complexes and HOA’s. Audits have been ongoing for apartment complexes and HOA’s and continue to help bring into compliance. Challenges continue with older developments that have limited space to add additional containers. Staff asked the subcommittee if creating a grant/funding to assist in helping expand space for storage bins. 1. It was discussed that a potential trial be developed to help a potential non-profit or low-income housing development. 2. The city of Indio has a grant program to help businesses to expand space for waste/compost/ recycling bins. Potential programming ideas that could be incorporated for Palm Springs. 2. Electric Trash Truck - Trials Chris Cunningham reported that PSDS tested an all-electric trash truck in October. While there were some challenges with the initial trial, (summer heat, battery life) PSDS will continue to look at other manufacturers as well as hydrogen fuel to help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from trash truck service. 3. Hazardous Waste - KESQ A news article that was presented on KESQ about hazardous material disposal was discussed. Subcommittee members brought the article up to ask PSDS if there were areas for improved communication to the public to increase awareness on proper disposal of items that are considered hazardous waste. PSDS includes fliers in billings in the quarterly newsletter. Suggestions about additional online communications and potential earth month events were discussed. It was noted that there is a large uptick in improper disposal of hazardous waste in Palm Springs at the end of season. Recommendation/Request None at this time ACTION ITEMS REQUEST TO COMMISSION None at this time ACTION ITEMS REQUEST TO OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY POTENTIAL FISCAL IMPACT/REQUEST IF ANY: None at this time 1 Meeting Report: Standing Subcommittee on Climate Action PRESENTED FOR COMMISSION MEETING DATE: 19 November 2024 SUBMITTED BY: Roy Clark, Chair SUBCOMMITTEE NAME: Standing Subcommittee on Climate Action DATE SUBMITTED: 6 November 2024 SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS: Roy Clark, Kathy Cohn, Bernard Rottner, Prema Walker NEXT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING: 13 November 2024 SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING DATE: 9 October 2024 Subcommittee Goal: Develop and recommend policies and plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the City of Palm Springs by 40% from 1990 levels by 2030. (Reference: Palm Springs Climate Action Roadmap, dated 28 October 2021) and develop and recommend policies and plans to assist Palm Springs residents adapt to ongoing climate change. Summary of meeting Sustainability Specialist Wheeler announced that there would be a meeting of commissioners with the Zoning code consultants Thursday morning October 17, at 9:00 (subsequently changed to 10:00). He also announced that CVAG had developed a valley - wide greenhouse gas survey. He encouraged commissioners to reply and forward the survey to other people who live in the valley. Presentation: Energy-Efficient Upgrade Ordinance, Juliet Shane Agtang, Sustainability fellow sponsored by the Inland Regional Energy Network (IREN). David Freedman, CVAG/I-REN Program Manager and former commissioner was present. • The presentation gave a preview of a City ordinance that would require single family buildings built before 2011 which are undergoing remodeling or alterations or are having additions to make certain energy -efficient upgrades. The objective is to get older homes in Palm Springs to get as close as possible to the current energy code. • Reduction in the use of fossil fuels is also an objective. • The ordinance will include reach codes, local building energy codes that “reach” beyond existing state minimum requirements. • Examples of types of building projects that ordinance would apply to were provided in the presentation and in a staff report distributed prior to the meeting, • Examples of energy-efficient upgrades were also provided. • Financial assistance would be available to low-income homeowners. • There was discussion about specific upgrades and the need to identify and train local energy auditors. • Over a 10-year period this ordinance would result in approximately a 1% reduction in greenhouse gas emission from the estimated 2020 levels in the City. • The ordinance is still under review by the legal department. The expectation is that it will be available for review at the November 13 Subcommittee meeting and the November 19 Commission meeting. • The target is to present the ordinance to the City Council for a first reading at the second meeting in January. 2 Recommendations/Requests to Subcommittee Continue to prioritize presentations to the subcommittee on organizations and on-going activities, internal and external to the City Airport expansion (Ref: Jan 25, 2024, City Council Meeting) (Airport General Manager) Convention Center Bicycle routes (Sustainability Specialist Wheeler and Engineering) City fleet electrification (Director McCloy) Sustainable transportation planning and EV charging Parks Master Plan New, as of March 13, 2024: Energy-efficient construction, include LEED Training to do energy audits, such as interface with the College of the Desert Sustainability education program Vehicle maintenance program with the College of the Desert New as of May 8: Commissioner Walker requested that the Office Sustainability look into potential community change grants under the Inflation Reduction Act Request To Commission Read this report and tell Subcommittee what you would like discussed in more detail in Commission meeting Request To Office of Sustainability Expand outreach and education to City Council, City staff, and other commissions; meeting notices and written messaging; integrate sustainability with other organizations Support new activities: Perform GHG inventory, 2020 update and new 2022 (CVAG and PlaceWorks) Identify the number of houses in the City with solar panels Identify the number of electric vehicles registered in the City by recent year Survey how EV drivers in the City charge their vehicles Investigate EV rideshare programs to serve disadvantaged areas and Navigation Center Potential Fiscal Impact/Request Unknown Could be a lot of money required in the long term to implement strategic activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions