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2023-12-07 Climate Protection Committee MinutesCity of Edmonds - Mayors Climate Protection Committee ("CPC") December 7, 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, (Minutes), David Shafer and newly appointed members - Nick Maxwell, Niall McShane, Bill Phipps City Staff: Tristan Sewell, Sarah Brinkley (beginning of the meeting) Citizen: Georgina Armstrong, Tom Hartford Zoom: Committee Members: Steven Cristol, Hank Landau Citizen: Nancy Johnson 1. Call to Order, Review of Agenda, & Introductions a. The meeting was called to order at 11:03 am. 2. November Meeting Minutes a. The November meeting minutes were approved without changes. 3. Public Comment and CAB Update a. Georgina shared CAB update. CAB is promoting community attendance at neighborhood meetings. The comprehensive plan incorporates the Climate Action Plan. The neighborhood meetings are open to all Edmonds residents. Meetings are held in the Edmonds Plaza room. The remaining schedule follows: Highway 99 (December 7th), Firdale (December 11th, and the Bowl December 12tn b. The CAB is developing an implementation plan for the CAP task items. The CAB researches potential activities in support of CAP tasks and then finds a lead organization to execute the event. One example is the Sierra Club is taking on "Electrifying Everything" education topics. c. Angela and Georgina attended the Bellingham Climate Week activities. Georgina shared that the wildfire speaker was excellent. d. CAB will be announcing the next meeting of the Climate 50 group. CPC members are automatically invited along with local climate organizations leaders, the mayor, director McLaughlin, and Tristan. The City Council will also be invited. e. Niall asked about the impact of not receiving 2024 funding for a Climate Action Manager. Georgina stated that the city does not have a community engagement plan for climate action, and 98% of the CAP tasks are non -municipal. The ability of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 is unlikely without leadership in community engagement. Tristan shared that without a CAM, that work that will fall to Tristan who already has a full-timejob as a city planner. 4. Council Update a. No update. 5. Staff Updates a. The public art project depicting the impacts of sea level rise is under contract and targeted for spring commission. b. The solar grant is waiting for the permit application to be completed. c. The comprehensive plan neighborhood meetings are being held this month. Climate impact is a part of the Comprehensive Plan. d. The Green Building Incentives program forum follow-up is tentatively scheduled for January 10tn e. State building and energy code will finally be adopted March 15, 2024. This will be a dramatic change for builders. f. Climate code update consulting under contract with BHC. BHC will be responsible for creating draft code in support of CAP tasks and will research best practices and model code. Target completion is Q1 next year. g. Deb Powers, the city's urban forest manager, has left the city. Tristan will be absorbing the workload for now. h. Planning Manager position is currently not filled. Job offer was not accepted due to familial reasons. Georgina asked about the absence of wildfire management in the CAP. Tristan confirmed that the CAP can be amended, and wildfire management may also belong in the comprehensive plan. Bill asked if the city is seeking a replacement for Deb Powers. The city is looking to hire a short-term contract arborist. 6. 2024 Calendar Activities Prioritization a. See attachment "2024 Calendar Activities". b. David wants to wait to see the direction of the mayor -elect's priorities before taking on a project lead. Cynthia and Angela will be meeting with the mayor -elect in the next few weeks. They will invite Mayor -elect to the CPC meeting sometime next year. c. Georgina asked if the city could initiate communication to homeowner if a building permit is pulled to replace a gas furnace. Contractors initiate the gas furnace building permits. Niall recommended pulling permits for gas furnaces that are nearing end -of - life to contact homeowners regarding heat pump consideration. 7. Grant Opportunities a. Steven Identified 8 different grant opportunities for sea rise and reviewed the options with the committee. He eliminated 4 of them because we are long shot. Those that are viable are: i. Urban Sustainability Directors Network — Partners in Place Grant. They have co -funded sea rise level for other communities. There are three qualifications: 1) Project Team must include 3 partners: 1 local government sustainability director, 1 frontline community group, and 1 place -based funder (a Snohomish non-profit), 2) require a 50% match participation from the place - based funder (Snohomish non-profit), 3) a 501 c3 non-profit must be identified as the grant recipient. Deadline is February 27th ; a January 17th webinar on grant application is available.. Virtual Planet, the sea rise modeler, has a kit to plug into a grant application. ii. American Geological — money in September. iii. Coastal Quest are looking to broaden funding outside of California. iv. Washington Department of Commerce Climate Planning Grant. 8. Committee Roles & Responsibilities Follow Up a. Discussion handled in other agenda items. 9. January 4th Agenda & Action Items a. Robert Knolls, PSE will speak at the January meeting. b. Department of Commerce grant status —will city be pursuing grant. c. Meeting procedures and the use of Robert's rules. 10. Announcements and General Public Comment a. The tree board is giving out free tree saplings at the December 9th Winter Market. b. Georgina asked about EV charging for multi -family buildings over 5 units. Tristan responded that the permit application required the charging vendor participation. The meeting adjourned at 12:37pm.