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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.01.2021 MinutesCITY OF OSHKOSH SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD Minutes February 1st, 2021 PRESENT: Virtually: Pat Dwyer Hallquist, Michelle Bogden Muetzel, Bradley Spanbauer, Bob Poeschl, Vic Oliver, Lisa Marone, Margy Davey EXCUSED: Ken Osmond ABSENT: None STAFF AND OTHERS: Brandon Nielsen (Staff Liaison), Steven Wiley (Associate Planner), Scott Williams (Oshkosh Media), Zach Berzolla (MIT Student), Christoph Reinhart (MIT Professor), Kate Hancock-Cooke (Citizens’ Climate Lobby), I. Call to Order Chair Margy Davey called the meeting to order and a quorum was declared present. II. Approval of Minutes, January 4th, 2021 Chair Davey asked if anyone on the board would like to make a motion to accept the minutes as written; Bob Poeschl moved to accept, Brad Spanbauer seconded. The board approved the January 4th minutes 7-0 (Poeschl/Spanbauer). III. MIT Student Project Professor Reinhart started the presentation with an introduction of himself explaining he is a faculty at department of architecture at MIT from the building technology program where they work on different methods to both improve the resource efficiency of the built environment in general, and to make buildings healthier and more efficient. He began explaining their study of carbon reduction strategies for the City of Oshkosh, which included building an energy model specific to Oshkosh to run different “what if” scenarios through. At approximately 6:11PM Board Member Michelle Bogden-Muetzel joined the meeting. Prof. Reinhart explained that they initially applied the Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM) to the City of Boston, and then to a number of other large cities; such as, Chicago, Dublin, Kuwait, Lisbon, and Singapore, with Oshkosh being their first small city. He explained that Oshkosh was selected because they had completed ICLEI Milestones 1 and 2, which included a carbon inventory from 2013 and set future goals related to carbon reduction. He explained that in order to decrease carbon emissions in the next thirty years the world needs to increase their annual retrofitting/renovation rate from 1% to 5% and all new construction needs to be carbon neutral by 2030. These numbers can be used to see what the City of Oshkosh needs to do in comparison to the world. Mr. Berzolla showed a graph and explained that according to the ICLEI documents and their UBEM, the 2007 residential carbon emissions was 262,000 tons of CO2 and in order to meet the 2035 carbon emission reduction goals, the city needs to commit to a target of installing approximately 116 megawatts of solar plus energy star upgrades in every home. Mr. Berzolla recapped stating that in order to meet the 2035 goal 45% of all rooftops will need solar along with a renovation (weatherization) rate of 7% and in order to meet the 2050 goal, which is an 87% reduction from todays emissions, state-level action is needed to make Wisconsin’s energy grid cleaner. Pat Hallquist asked for clarification on the term heat electrification. Prof. Reinhart explained that term is in relation to moving off of oil or gas to electricity by use of a heat pump. The board discussed how this data could be used and expressed interest in trying to set up a local case study to document and show the cost savings from one year to the next after adding weatherization and solar items to a home. Mr. Poeschl asked city staff if the city funded loan programs, such as the owner occupied program, have the ability to fund weatherization type of projects. Associate Planner Steven Wiley, who runs the city loan programs, explained that weatherization and energy upgrade type of improvements are eligible with the city loan programs. IV. Citizens’ Climate Lobby: Carbon Fee & Dividend Act Margy Davey explained that this resolution is to urge the United States Congress to enact the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. She further explained that the SAB cannot tell the U.S. Congress what to do as local advisory board but they can advise the City Council to pass this resolution to show support of said bill, which can then be forwarded onto the U.S. Congress. Ms. Davey then read a few of the whereas statements from the proposed resolution. Ms. Davey also stated that, since the City of Oshkosh established the SAB and the SAB created a Sustainability Plan, which states in chapter three that shifting away from fossil fuels has the significant benefit of avoiding pollution that negatively impacts health and increases greenhouse gases while encouraging greater use of locally produced renewable energy resources, and since the Carbon Fee and Dividend Act addresses many of those issues, SAB would like the City of Oshkosh to urge the U.S. Congress to enact this bill. There were no questions regarding the resolution. Pat Hallquist moved to advise the City Council to pass this resolution and Bob Poeschl seconded the motion. The board voted (8-0) to pass the motion. (Hallquist / Poeschl) V. Social Media Vic Oliver shared with the board that January’s Facebook posts did see some interactions and that she plans on producing more content for February. Ms. Oliver asked that the ‘get to know your SAB’ questionnaire be sent to all board members again in hopes to highlight each member on the FB page to show the community who they are and why they are involved with SAB. VI. Fossil Fuel Divestment Ms. Davey explained that she spoke with the Director of Finance about the Fossil Fuel Divestment Resolution and that a few words were removed so the Long Range Finance Committee could be more comfortable with said resolution. Ms. Davey asked if there were any questions and if not if there was anyone who would like to make a motion to approve it as written. Ms. Hallquist asked what changes were made to the resolution. Ms. Davey explained that the whereas statement saying ‘direct ownership of any public equities and corporation bonds of companies connected with fossil fuels within five years’ is the new language. Ms. Hallquist questioned the word ‘direct’ and its intent. Ms. Davey explained that she took the wording from the Finance Director and that if he found it acceptable then the board should be okay with it. Ms. Hallquist again questioned what it meant. Brandon Nielsen explained that, in watching a previous council meeting regarding this resolution, it was his understanding that municipalities cannot directly invest in any equites or bonds. Mr. Nielsen asked if the SAB’s council member liaison, Mr. Poeschl, had anything to add. Mr. Poeschl concurred in that municipalities cannot own bonds that relate to utilities and other items like that. He added that by state code, the argument at council was, what SAB was asking the council to do already could not happen legally. Mr. Poeschl said that he believes this agreement to revise to the resolution shows a willingness from the Finance Department to look into the city’s investments into greater detail. Mr. Poeschl motioned to move the divestment resolution forward to the city council and Ms. Bogden Muetzel seconded. Mr. Poeschl made a point of order to address that the board should make a motion first and then discuss the topic. Ms. Davey acknowledge the point of order and asked if there was any further discussion needed. The board voted (8-0) to pass the motion. (Poeschl / Bogden Muetzel) VII. Green Tier Scoresheet Mr. Wiley, the previous SAB staff liaison, began going over the Green Tier Scoresheet. He explained that the Green Tier Legacy program operates through the Wisconsin DNR and Oshkosh has opted into this program for a number of years. Mr. Wiley explained that the program requires the city to set a baseline for where the city stands in terms of sustainability and its sustainability initiatives, and the city uses the scoresheet to grade themselves each year. Mr. Wiley went through the scoresheet, showing different examples of what the scoresheet consisted of. Ms. Davey requested that Mr. Nielsen send the scoresheet to all the board members for their review and input and asked if there were any questions regarding the scoresheet. No questions were asked. VIII. Goals Ms. Davey asked if the board had reviewed the goals document and if anyone would like to speak on an item. Ms. Hallquist requested that the naming of action item number 8, under government action, be changed to read “Carbon Fee and Dividend Act.” Ms. Davey explained that if more than two people would like to work on an item together that a subcommittee needs to be formed and their meetings will need to be noticed. Mr. Poeschl suggested that action item 7, under government action, would be a good goal to start working on because four members are interested in that topic. Mr. Spanbauer explained that a group of UWO College of Business students are going to be working within this goal space, reaching out to local businesses about composting, so he would be happy to meet with other SAB members on this topic. Ms. Davey asked if anyone would like to become the chair of this potential subcommittee and Mr. Poeschl agreed to take on that role. It was again noted that any meeting of three or more will need to be noticed. Ms. Bogden Muetzel asked that Vic Oliver be included in that subcommittee because the same individuals, plus her, are listed in another goal and the two goals correlate with each other. Mr. Poeschl will facilitate the subcommittee for both goals as of now. IX. Agenda Items for Future Meeting Duck Ordinance Salt Usage Mr. Nielsen provided an update on what he found in researching other communities chicken and ducks ordinances regarding the total number allowed per lot and whether or not chicks are allowed in the home during their incubation timeframe. X. Next Meeting, Monday, March 1st, 2021 XI. The board voted 8-0 to adjourn (Poeschl / Oliver) Recorded by: Brandon Nielsen, Assistant Planner