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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-09-13 SSC Minutes /WANP^ ..r�� CITY OF CHUTA VISTA REGULAR MEETING OF THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION Meeting Minutes September, 13, 2021, 5:00 p.m. Virtual, Via Teleconference Present: Commissioner Baugh, Commissioner Guevara-Gluyas, Vice Chair Korgan, Commissioner Richeson, Commissioner Rodriguez, Commissioner Legaspi, Chair Mathias Also Present: Chief Sustainability Officer Gakunga, Environmental Sustainability Manager Wisniewski, Environmental Services Manager Medrano, Secretary Rodriguez Pursuant to the Governor of the State of California's Executive Order N-29-20, and in the interest of public health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Sustainability Commission and staff participated in this meeting via teleconference. All votes were taken by roll call. 1. CALL TO ORDER A regular meeting of the Sustainability Commission of the City of Chula Vista was called to order at 5:01 p.m. via teleconference. 2. ROLL CALL Secretary Rodriguez called the roll. 3. CONSENT CALENDAR 3.1 APPROVAL OF REGULAR�IE� TING MINUTES OF AUGUST 9, 2021, I Commissioner Richeson requested the minutes reflect comments made by the commissioners for presentation 5.1 Commission approve minutes Moved by Commissioner Baugh . Seconded by Vice Chair Korgan Motion to include commissioner comments and feedback in the minutes for item 5.1 Yes (4): Commissioner Baugh, Vice Chair Korgan, Commissioner Rodriguez, and Chair Mathias No (2): Commissioner Richeson, and Commissioner Legaspi Abstain (1): Commissioner Guevara-Gluyas Result:Carried (4 to 2) 3.2 WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Commission approve absence Moved by Commissioner Baugh Seconded by Commissioner Richeson Yes (6): Commissioner Baugh, Commissioner Guevara-Gluyas, Commissioner Richeson, Commissioner Rodriguez, Commissioner Legaspi, and Chair Mathias Result:Carried (6 to 0) 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chair Mathias called for a two-minute pause to allow members of the public to submit any final electronic comments. Secretary Rodriguez announced that four comments had been received. 5. PRESENTATIONS 5.1 CALIFORNIA SOLID WASTE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY LANDSCAPE IN THE TIME OF CHALLENGE AND CHANGE Senior Advisor White presented on California Solid Waste Legislative and Regulatory Landscape in the Time of Challenge and Change. He started by giving an introduction of who is Manatt. Manatt is a law firm with 2 several locations around the United States who primarily served entertainment and health services but has expanded to energy and environment with government and regulatory aspect. He continued to share what some of the challenges and changes facing California are; fees, taxes, budgets, wildfire protection, housing and homelessness, water supply and climate change is a list of just a few of the challenges. He continued to provide information of California's recycling progression from AB939 to SB 1383, disposal of organic waste. to which local government is responsible for compliance and becomes effective on January 1, 2022. Some of the "significant" options available to comply with SB1383 are, source reduction, food recovery, composting, land application, biomass conversion and new and advanced technologies. In November of 2022 there will be a California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act in the ballot. If passed this would have manufacturers make all single-use plastic packaging and food-ware items recyclable or compostable by 2030. There is also another bill AB38, which is a beverage container recycling program that replaces the existing bottle bill. Commissioner Legaspi asked if there was any legislation that would provide commissions or city employees detailed reports of the plastics being collected by the local haulers. Mr. White said everything currently is reported to CalRecycle. He was available to answer other questions from Commissioner Baugh and Korgan. Chair Mathias called for a two-minute pause to allow members of the public to submit any final electronic comments. Secretary Rodriguez announced one comment had been received. 5.2 UPDATE ON NET ENERGY METERING (NEM) 3.0 Founder and Chief Environmental Officer Hammond, Climate Justice Policy Advisor Gonzalez and.Co-director of Policy Vasilakis presented on Net Energy Metering (NEM) in California. The California Public Utilities Commission is currently looking at the rules for the future of rooftop solar. They spoke on the current climate emergency the state is currently experiencing and how Californians need the tools to lower their energy bills. Benefits of rooftop solar were shared and included improving air quality, providing local power, reducing the risk for cyber-attacks on the grid and a cost-effective way to move to 100% clean energy. A description of Net Energy Metering (NEM) is was provided. NEM is a billing arrangement that allows for residential and commercial solar customers to receive a bill credit for the excess energy that they provide to the grid. Current arguments from the utilities are that this will create a "cost shift" 3 that burdens non-solar customers and is causing higher rates but the "cost-shift"calculation excludes many NEM benefits. Utilities oppose NEM to boost their profits as they make their profits by building transmission lines and that is why electric bills are so high. Ways to help advocate for equitable access to solar were shared. Commissioner Korgan requested that local data be provided regarding solar energy usage. Chief Environmental Officer Hammond stated that there is state data available for solar and solar installation by zip code. Chair Mathias requested the following action be placed on the October agenda; Recommendation be made to City Council to support rooftop solar. Chair Mathias called for a two-minute pause to allow members of the public to submit any final electronic comments. Secretary Rodriguez announced that one comment had been received. 6. ACTION ITEMS 6.1 REVIEW DRAFT CLIMATE EMERGENCY DECLARATION Commissioner Baugh shared the draft for the Chula Vista Climate Emergency Declaration and provided the background of how the sub- committee was formed last fall in 2020. Commissioner Baugh requested feedback from the commission in order to take the resolution forward to City Council. Commissioner Legaspi thanked Environmental Sustainability Manager Wisniewski and Commissioner Rodriguez for their help and support in drafting the resolution. Commissioner Richeson shared his concern of how he does not see anything with substance in this draft and how the master fee schedule should include higher fees for residents installing/making less efficient measures. Chair Mathias requested a sustainability audit. Chair Mathias called for a two-minute pause to allow members of the public to submit any final electronic comments. She announced that four comments had been received in support. Chair Mathias tabled this item for next meeting to allow for feedback and edits from commissioners. Commission provide input and recommend to City Council 6.2 ELECT NEW SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSIONER REPRESENTATIVE TO THE MEASURE P CITIZEN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE 4 . i Environmental SustainabilityManager Wisniewski provided a background 9 P 9 of the Measure P Citizens Oversight Committee and Commissioner Korgan expressed his interest in representing the Sustainability Commission. Chair Mathias nominated Commissioner Korgan. Chair Mathias called for a two-minute pause to allow members of the public to submit any final electronic comments and she announced no i comments were received. Moved by Commissioner Richeson Seconded by Commissioner Legaspi Motion to select Commissioner Korgan as the Sustainability Commission representative in the Measure P Oversight Committee. Yes (6): Commissioner Baugh, Commissioner Guevara-Gluyas, Commissioner Richeson, Commissioner Rodriguez, Commissioner Legaspi, and Chair Mathias Abstain (1): Vice Chair Korgan Result:Carried (6 to 0) OTHER BUSINESS 7. STAFF COMMENTS Conservation Specialist Downs gave an update on San Diego Community Power, phase two has been completed. Environmental Sustainability Manager Wisniewski shared with the commission a list of the current working groups and the ad hoc subcommittees. She also shared that October 6th is Clean Air Day and Bikes on Broadway is scheduled for October 2nd. Environmental Services Manager Medrano shared that Beautify Chula Vista is taking place on October 23rd with two sites, Marina Vista Park and Discovery Park. He also shared that the Zero Waste Plan is available for public comment until September 30th. He also briefly spoke on the City Council meeting taking place on September 14th. Chief Sustainability Officer Gakunga shared that what is being presented in the City Council meeting is the beginning of the prop 218 process and no action will be taken by council and the commission will be able to discuss this in the October meeting. He also shared that in October, a grant approval request will be 5 taken forward for the Chula Vista Community Shuttle. The shuttle will operate six electric vehicles for seniors free of charge. He answered questions from Commissioner Legaspi, Richeson and Korgan regarding the franchise agreement with Republic Services. 8. CHAIR'S COMMENTS Chair Mathias shared that with the completion of the Republic Services construction the commission would be having a tour of the facility soon. She also shared information for an upcoming Youth Climate Strike taking place on September 24th and Coastal Clean-Up Day is on September 18th at Marina View Park. 9. COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS Commissioner Korgan had a question regarding the Brown Act. He also requested that if a commission meeting is going beyond ninety-minutes there should be a recess of at least three minutes taken. Commissioner Legaspi asked Chief Sustainability Officer Gakunga about the Bloomberg Global Mayor's Challenge and why Chula Vista was not selected. 10. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m. Minutes prepared by. Monica Rodriguez, Secretary Monica riguez, Se ret 6.