2023-06-01 Climate Protection Committee MinutesCity of Edmonds - Mayors Climate Protection Committee ("CPC')
June 1, 2023
Mission of the CPC is to (1) Encourage citizens to be a part of the solution, (2)
Encourage City staff and citizens to conserve current resources, (3) Work with the City
Council to implement ideas, and (4) Effectively address the future impacts of climate
change.
In Attendance:
On -Site (Brackett Meeting Room):
Committee Members: Cynthia Pruitt (Chair), Angela Winzen (Vice Chair), Pam
Tauer
City Staff: Susan McLaughlin, Tristan Sewell, Sarah Brinkley
Council Rep: Susan Paine
Citizen: Nick Maxwell
Zoom:
Committee Members: Steven Cristol, Dawna Lahti
Citizen: Georgina Armstrong, Nancy Johnson
City Staff: Mayor Nelson
1. Call to Order, Review of Agenda, & Introductions
a. The meeting was called to order at 11:05am.
b. Angela requested the CPC address the committee meeting time. Cynthia
recommended we discuss under committee roles and responsibilities.
2. May Meeting Minutes
a. The May meeting minutes were approved.
3. Mayor Nelson:
a. Mayor Nelson thanked the committee for their work and support of the Climate
Action Plan (CAP). The CAP is a foundational document key to meeting the city's
climate goals.
b. What's next? The city is working on a list of code amendments that will help to
support the CAP. Needs CPC support to speak out and support the amendments and
to discuss with City Council.
c. The city is working on Green Building incentive programs. CPC can help promote.
d. Pam asked if we could incentivize the move to electric heating for single-family
homes. The mayor explained that this approach is not allowed by state, only for
multi -family homes.
e. Susan M. responded that the legislation regarding multi -family electrification
legislation is on hold.
f. Tristan talked on the natural gas pricing model that may be changing. Currently,
natural gas hookups are free or very cheap. That may be changing with natural gas
front loading costs. This may dissuade new hookups.
g. Susan M. said the city will be using incentives to encourage home electrification.
h. Cynthia asked the committee if they had other thoughts and questions for the mayor
regarding CPC roles and responsibilities.
i. Mayor said CPC needs to help raise awareness and promote incentives. Educating on
the incentives helps the city get the word out.
j. Susan M. stated that the CPC needs to continue with the Climate Champions series.
k. Cynthia brought up questions regarding by-laws, relationships to other committees,
and codification.
I. Pam asked about the implementation strategy — are we ready to help?
m. Susan M. said we can be a sounding board for legislation. Example, heat pumps are
not allowed in the setback. This is a real deterrent. Climate package is one of the
items.
n. Tristan shared we want to streamline the planning process.
o. At next month's CPC, the city hopes to provide a list of legislative actions for 2023
and 2024.
p. Pam asked about tracking CAP project.
q. Susan M. responded that the consultant provided a tracking tool, and the thought is
to use this tool to track progress every 3 years. The consultant will be responsible for
using the tracking tool.
r. Mayor admitted he is frustrated with the lack of substantive actions available to the
CPC. Creating the CAP is easier than the implementation. The code amendments and
incentive programs probably are not going to happen as fast as we would want but
they will be permanent changes.
4. Council Update:
a. Susan P. shared that the city's Public Works Department is working on MMOF
planning and funding to include sidewalks, bike lanes, and trees with new
development projects.
b. Susan M. shared the Complete Streets vision. Now, transportation development
budgets can focus on more than paving. Trees can be a part of the infrastructure. The
city has hired a new planner to perform complete streets assessments which also
should identify potential grant funding.
c. Susan P. shared that the City Council has a liaison with PSE, Robert Knowles. PSE is
doing a lot of electrification. Robert is available to come and speak to us.
d. Susan P. would like to get Rewiring America in to talk about the IRA.
e. Pam shared that Rewiring America could participate in the Climate Champions.
f. Susan P. added that John Venzina, WA Dept. of Transportation, would also be a good
person to bring in.
S. Committee Roles and Responsibilities:
a. Cynthia would like to see a meaningful commitment from members regarding
committee roles and responsibilities. Her draft discussion topics are:
i. Adding more members
ii. Public Comment— beginning, end, and duration
iii. Options to meet longer — do we change day/time
iv. How to focus on our most important role
v. Do we put time limits on agenda topics
b. Angela asked to include, "what are our expectations?" She would like to see fairness
regarding time and commitment.
c. Dawna agreed it is a good idea to have the whole committee work on projects.
d. Steven shared his large commitment on his last committee. Steven wanted to clarify
his position. Steven can assist in prioritization, a skill he uses in his professional help.
e. Cynthia stated there are no limits to adding new members to the committee. She
recommends we ask the mayor to advertise for new members. Passed unanimously.
f. Cynthia brought up the need to ensure diversity in our membership, to include
youth. She wants us to be more aggressive.
g. Susan M. shared that the meeting time does not allow for diversity — i.e., youth.
h. Pam shared that 1 1/2 hours meeting length would work if enough time were spent on
prioritized items. She would support meetings twice a month if others were
interested.
i. Angela shared she supported longer meetings or twice a month.
j. Steven shared we could have a lack of continuity if we go twice a month; some
members may not be able to attend both meetings.
k. Susan M. stated the city would prefer a single day and a longer meeting due to
resourcing.
I. Dawna shared that she leans towards to a longer meeting in the evening.
m. Angela would like not to be beholden to time -bound agenda topics.
n. Susan M. shared the CPC does not have to abide by the OPMA and that we have the
flexibility to choose what works for the members. It is at our liberty what we want this
to be. We have full discretion over how we operate.
o. Angela asked why the city does not have a codified Climate committee?
p. Susan M. stated the structure of OPMA meeting can be so confining, rather than
operate as we need to be nimble. The city staff could not support another codified
committee.
q. Angela asked how we have public comment in the meeting.
r. Susan M. responded that the public can be commenting throughout the meeting. It
is up to the committee to determine how we operate.
s. Tristan and Cynthia recall that the mayor's office requested that public comment be
added to the end of the meeting.
t. Susan M. said the city will clarify with Carolyn where the request for public comment
at the end of the meeting came from and whether it is required now.
u. Susan P. shared her perspective on the OPMA — it is a weight. She thinks we are a
high functioning group because we are not under OPMA. We are advisory, that is
why we are not required to be under OPMA.
v. Susan M. stated that continuing with structured agendas is important.
w. Cynthia weighed in on meeting day and time. She would rather move meetings to
the evening, preferring or late afternoon. She feels strongly we maintain a structured
agenda.
x. Angela highly recommended we use an agenda packet to capture all documents
associated with our meeting.
y. Sarah — meeting times, consider when the public would come.
z. It was recommended to continue committee discussion on meeting day/time in
email. We can use Doodle to vet potential meeting times. The topic of public
comment will also be vetted in email.
The committee's informal consensus was 1 meeting per month, 90 minutes length, moving to
late afternoon, using a structured agenda with topic times with the flexibility to extend or change
topic time frames as needed.
6. Tree Code Amendments — no discussion
7. Public Comment
a. Georgina Armstrong shared that it is hard to listen to the meeting today via Zoom.
She recommends that the meeting minutes should be complete and not a summary.
She asked whether the committee wants the public comment to be meaningful?
When public comment is at the end of the agenda, she finds she is watching the
clock. Generally, meetings topics run late and there is not much time or interest in
public comment. Georgina stated that agenda packets would be helpful. In reviewing
the meeting archives, public comment was sparse through the history of the CPC. Is
the intent of public comment to be collaborative or a one-way conversation? She
shared her idea to create a Condo Alliance. This would be a way of communicating
regarding electrification.
b. Nancy Johnson shared her congratulations for CAP adoption.
c. Nick Maxwell said that it was a great meeting.
8. July Agenda — time ran out, Cynthia and Angela will work together on the July agenda.
9. Action Items
a. Tristan will talk to Mayor's office regarding requirements on public comment and
meeting minutes, and the request to recruit additional members.
b. Cynthia will send out an outreach email to CPC members regarding 1) meeting
length 2) meeting days, 3) meeting structure, 4) CPC member expectation, 5) Climate
Champions next steps, 6) public comment.
c. Steven asked to get input on how well it works to have interactive public input.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:32pm.