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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda_Steering Comm Mtg 8-10-2017Steering Committee of the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Thursday, August 10, 2017, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Emma J. Harvat Hall Iowa City City Hall 410 E. Washington Street Meeting #2 Agenda: 1. Call to Order a. Review of Previous Meeting Minutes 2. Introductions and Project Updates - 20 minutes a. Goal(s) for today’s meeting b. General communication rules and Basecamp review (City Attorney’s Office) c. Stakeholder interview recap d. Document review recap 3. Community Engagement - 40 minutes a. Selection of Community Meeting Dates o Late October 2017 o Late April 2018 o Review of project timeline b. Community Engagement Plan o Recap from last meeting o Review o Discussion 4. Short Break - 10 minutes 5. Vision Statement - 10 minutes a. Themes 6. Evaluation Criteria Discussion - 30 minutes a. Strategy overview and examples b. Criteria discussion and ranking o How should we define impact? 7. Meeting Recap and Next Steps - 5 minutes a. Summarize takeaways b. Establish responsibilities and/or tasks c. Identify resource needs d. Other 8. Administrative Tasks - 5 minutes a. Next meeting: Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 10 a.m. at City Hall b. Other 9. Adjourn – 12:00 p.m. If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate in this meeting, please contact Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator, at 319-356-6161 or at brenda-nations@iowa-city.org. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time to meet your access needs. Meeting Minutes Steering Committee of the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan Thursday, June 29, 2017, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Emma J. Harvat Hall Iowa City City Hall 410 E. Washington Street Members in Attendance: Members Absent: Matt Krieger Charles Stanier Martha Norbeck Melissa Jensen Anne Russett Katie Sarsfield City Staff Present: Ingrid Anderson Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator Eric Tate Ashley Monroe, Assistant City Manager GT Karr John Fraser Consultants Present: Eden DeWald Lindy Wordlaw, Elevate Energy Ryan Sempf Toni Ornelas, Elevate Energy Jesse Leckband Caty Lamadrid, Inova Energy Others Present: Public audience. Sign-in sheet not collected. No comments from audience. 1. Call to Order Meeting called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Jim Throgmorton, Iowa City Mayor. Mayor Throgmorton gave introductory welcome and explanation of background behind Iowa City climate efforts. Ashley Monroe, Assistant City Manager, provided a welcome, followed by Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator, who spoke about the selection of the Committee and planning process contacts. 2. Introductions Lindy Wordlaw, of Elevate Energy, began with introducing herself and asked the group to introduce themselves. Wordlaw described her expertise as energy efficiency, climate, neighborhood planning. Antonia Ornelas of Elevate Energy and Caty Lamadrid of Inova Energy introduced themselves. Two primary team members Jen McGraw, of CNT and Bill Haas of Inova Energy, were not present. Monroe explained her experience in writing a sustainability plan and working with multiple municipal departments on sustainability projects. Matt Krieger, of Neumann Monson Architects, has attended conferences, has specialties in indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Martha Norbeck, CWise Design, specializes in LEED projects and has considerable experience in energy efficient building design. Anne Russett, Cedar Rapids City Planner, focused on transportation, outreach, and long-range planning. Katie Sarsfield, of Oral B, assessed herself as someone who can take complex ideas and sell them to others. Ingrid Anderson, representing the University of Iowa, introduced herself and emphasized the value of bicycling in the community. Eric Tate, University professor of engineering, said that the holistic view held by the community is important, where people consider impacts of actions on others. GT Karr, representing the Greater Iowa City Home Builders Association, is invested in sustainable small construction projects. John Fraser, has continued to study, network, and create change beyond grassroots level, understands that it will take business people with money and influence to fully initiate and implement change. Fraser recommended two books: Getting to Green and The Climate of Hope. Eden Dewald, the selected student representative, is heavily involved in environmental programs, interns at the University’s Sustainability Office and has expertise in water quality and sustainability education. Ryan Sempf introduced himself as the governmental affairs representative of the Iowa City Area Chamber and said that he will help to communicate with the business community. Jesse Leckband introduced himself as Senior Environmental Analyst for MidAmerican Energy, works with impacts on wildlife, wind, water. Leckband had experience in Des Moines with flooding, mapping, and infrastructure responses to climate change. Nations, Sustainability Coordinator, addressed the group, shared her science background and experience with climate issues. 3. Discussion Overview and Purpose - Iowa City Commitments Nations walked the group through the City's history in climate change effort, describing various campaigns and City data collection. Iowa City was the first city in Iowa to complete a GHG Inventory, using the ICLEI program. She explained the steps within the last year that supported moving forward with these projects. As part of Covenant of Mayors, the City is required to create a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Review of Project Timeline/Consultant Role/Steering Committee roles and responsibilities Wordlaw led the group through the project timeline and explained that the purpose of this meeting is to introduce the group, the project, and define the process. The group will talk about what the public engagement meeting looks like at the August meeting or using the online platform. Strategy prioritization will take place in fall/early winter. Plan drafting will begin at that time and brought to the Committee in February, with approximately a month to review before going public. Nations would like to include students in the final public meeting; therefore a public rollout will occur in April or May. Fraser asked if there will be a point where members can address groups of people or service organizations. Wordlaw confirmed this. As a draft of the plan is developed, public input is desired and they encourage Committee Members to present. She added that they could provide the Chairperson and Members presentation materials to assist in community presentations. Consultant plans to add committee work to timeline. Fraser clarified that Committee will talk to business people and those somewhat opposed to climate issues, rather than only to people who will attend public meetings. Wordlaw responded that we need to see how much time we would like to spend on trying to educate and work with climate deniers, rather than just working with people who accept climate change philosophy. Ornelas noted that there are other benefits and ways to provide information to the general public that go beyond climate change concepts, including financial benefits and avoiding risk, community improvement. Nations agreed that the livability issues can be helpful. Anderson and Krieger said that community input is needed from different voices at an earlier point. Russett asked about the schedule and prioritization, whether modeling will be possible to see how strategies meet targets. Nations confirmed that the Plan will be designed to have all strategies meet the desired targets. Norbeck echoed Fraser's statement regarding collecting public input more formal assistance to collect that input from a variety of community groups. Wordlaw said that the committee can figure out a way to formalize or create a particular approach to working with the community. Sarsfield said that she is prepared to fulfill this role at her workplace. Lamadrid said that the group can do this type of work between meetings, create a discussion board for the committee members to communicate about what community groups need to be reached and how the committee will go about doing that. Nations explained that community outreach is key to success of the project. City GHG makes up only about 5% of community. Tate said it would be helpful to know what was defined as included in the community, who the committee is missing, within our stakeholder groups and what does the engagement look like before they get too far down the road. Wordlaw said that engagement will look different, depending upon who we are working with. DeWald said a specific audience with students is essential and she is happy to help. Norbeck noted that the Iowa City School District is not represented on the Committee. Russett, said that if the City, as cause of 5 % GHG emissions, is on board in taking action as example, needs to show what is being done so that the community can match that effort. Nations responded that City is working on assembling that info. Monroe said that City is planning to present, hopefully this fall. Selecting a Chairperson Group initially considered for chairperson Fraser, Tate, Sempf. Stanier's interest discussed but unknown. Co-chairing was mentioned as an option. Anderson volunteered as Chair. Russett made a motion to accept Ingrid Anderson as Chairperson, second by Fraser. 11-0 Aye. 4. Break Break held from 11:25 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 5. Inform Committee a. GHG Summary Wordlaw walked through slide presentation. Sarsfield asked when the 2016 numbers come out. Nations responded that they come out in June/July and are then calculated; she will provide to Steering Committee. b. Climate in the Heartland summary Lamadrid explained Climate in Heartland report as a peer-to-peer report, with Iowa City as the lead. The report looks at 100 years of climate and meteorological data to see how climate change is evolving. Full report will be posted online. c. Overview on Iowa City’s commitment to social equity Ornelas presented social equity slides, definitions and concerns. Monroe further summarized department use of the toolkit and what City hopes to gain from use; will present to Council results. d. Mitigation vs. Adaptation and e. What is the “wedge theory?” Wordlaw explained last slides, representing climate as a bathtub. If can stop adding or to reduce carbon emissions, will stabilize the world, by creating a "wedge" of 1 billion carbon reduction. Slides demonstrated the mix of strategies possible, showing more than one strategy to accomplish goals. 6. Recap Wordlaw asked the Committee Members to share in one word how they felt after the day’s meeting. Words used to describe meeting: engaging, anxious, challenging, organized, positive, interesting, finally, progress, rushed/productive. 7. Administrative Tasks a. Using Basecamp Wordlaw introduced the group to the Basecamp tool. All info will be stored in this platform. She showed the home screen and what to look for when Committee Members receive invitations. Wordlaw requested that members identify why items are being posted or explain what to look at within the document they’ve posted. Tate requested that the consultants identify documents that can and cannot be shared with others. Nations and Lamadrid clarified that they would. Fraser told the group that there is a Basecamp app. Lamadrid explained how to edit preferences for alerts to reduce the frequency of emails. Lamadrid will do a review at the next meeting of everyone’s roles and the process. b. Determine preferred method of public comment Monroe requested that the Committee decide how they would like to take public comment. The group agreed that the public should be permitted to observe and provide any comments to the Committee in writing to Brenda Nations (brenda-nations@iowa-city.org). The City will package all written public comment and provide it to the Committee and public with the next meeting agenda. 8. Adjourn Meeting Adjourned at 12:11 p.m. © Elevate Energy 2017 1 Community Engagement Plan Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan August, 2016 Elevate proposes a planning process resulting in a shared vision of the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan that can be embraced by numerous stakeholders across the community and reach far beyond previous environmental and climate related planning efforts. We will conduct five different types of stakeholder engagement activities to gather input and ideas that result in an actionable plan for Iowa City. Below is a draft overview of the logistical details of these activities. 1. Steering Committee Meetings 2. Public Meetings 3. Stakeholder Interviews 4. Ongoing individual and group meetings 5. Online Presence 1. Steering Committee Meetings: Meetings for key stakeholders/community leadership to provide input, ideas, and expertise on the planning and engagement process; this group will convene a minimum of five times in during the planning process and will also be engaged in regular communications to share ideas and input. A. Timeframe: - Meetings: June 29, August 10, September 21, December 7, February 8 - Online information depot: Basecamp Platform, ongoing July 2017 through May 2018 B. Location/Duration: - Iowa City City Hall, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. C. Materials: - Brief PowerPoint presentation, if necessary - Other discussion tools and materials as needed D. Attendees: - The Steering Committee is comprised of key leaders and representatives of important stakeholder groups across Iowa City.  University of Iowa; Ingrid Anderson, Environmental Compliance Specialist (Chairperson)  Greater Iowa City Home Builders Association representative; GT Karr, 2nd Vice President  Oral B; Katie Sarsfield, Site Engineer Leader  MidAmerican Energy Company; Jesse Leckband, Sr. Environmental Analyst  Kirkwood Community College; Melissa Jensen, Emergency Services and Campus Security, Sr. Director  Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce; Ryan Sempf, Policy Assistant  Certified Architect/Neumann-Monson Architects; Matt Krieger, Neumann-Monson Architects At-Large  John Fraser; Management Consultant  Charlie Stanier; Associate Professor, Engineering, University of Iowa  Martha Norbeck, Architect, C-Wise  Eric Tate; Associate Professor, Dept. of Geographical & Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa Community Engagement Plan – Iowa City © Elevate Energy 2017 2  Anne Russett; City Planner, City of Cedar Rapids Student Representative  Eden DeWald; Student, University of Iowa E. Steering Committee Engagement: The Steering Committee is comprised of a variety of community leaders that will advise the planning team throughout a series of Steering Committee meetings and regular communications while also providing vital assistance in broader outreach and engagement across Iowa City. Tasks may include the following  Actively participate during 2017/18 in the development of a shared vision to create a consensus-based Climate Action and Adaptation Plan for Iowa City to meet reduction goals for 2025 and 2050.  Lead or participate in specific task groups (various times during the process).  Communicate (informally and formally) within the community and its organizations to gather ideas and to validate on-going work throughout the duration of the project .  Work as a group to prioritize the list of actionable measures that can be taken by the community to reach reduction targets.  Coordinate efforts with Iowa City’s consultant team, using the Committee Chair as the key contact for communication between the Committee and consultant.  Participate in organizing, seeking, and considering public input.  Act as a conduit between the Climate Action Planning process and the agency they represent in order to better facilitate community participation and implementation.  Review and provide feedback on the draft of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, which will incorporate the Committee’s priorities and input.  Participate as a co-presenter of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan to entities and organizations for endorsement (1-2 months before the unveiling).  Participate in unveiling the Plan to the community as a whole. 2. Community Meetings: Two large scale, community-wide public meetings will be held. The first meeting will introduce the planning process underway and gather input and ideas through carefully selected interactive activities. A second meeting will present the near-final draft of the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and identify immediate “plug -ins” or action steps for people and organizations across Iowa City. Meetings will provide a short presentation and an open house format. A. Timeframe: - Late October 2017; Late April 2018 - Weekday early-evenings (or other days/times as deemed appropriate by the Steering Committee) - 2-3 hours each B. Location: - TBD C. Materials: May include some of the following: - Brochure handout with overview of the project (Meeting 1) - Handout with synopsis of plan deliverable (Meeting 2) - Brief PowerPoint presentation, if necessary - Flipchart and markers and other discussion tools - More as needed Community Engagement Plan – Iowa City © Elevate Energy 2017 3 D. Attendees: - Mayor and other City Officials - Steering Committee - Everyone! Residents, business owners, and community leaders are welcome to attend E. Outreach Plan: - Personal invitations from City Officials/Staff; Steering Committee - The Steering Committee and their organizations will promote the event to their memberships and networks - With Elevate’s assistance, city staff/officials and community organizations will promote through their communications channels (newsletters, web, social media, email distribution lists, etc.) - Gather contact info via a sign-in at the meeting to ensure documentation and keep people engaged F. Other: - Light refreshments? - Children’s activities? G. Steering Committee Engagement: There are a variety of capacities in which Steering Committee members can engage the public and ensure a successful community meeting. Below are some examples of ways the Steering Committee may be asked to participate. - Serve as greeters at entrance to meetings - Run registration/sign-in tables - Assist in pre-planned meeting activities as discussed and determined in prior Steering Committee meetings - Assist in gathering feedback by encouraging survey completion, participation in activities 3. Stakeholder Interviews: The Elevate Team will interview key city officials and community stakeholders that offer important insights for specific or broad elements of the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. A complete accounting of interview notes will be provided to the City, and a full list of interviews with overall summary notes will be prepared for inclusion in the plan appendix. A. Timeframe: - Face-to-face Meetings: August, September 2017 - Phone Interviews: July 2017, August 2017 - Email Interaction: August 2017 B. Location/Duration: - TBD/no longer than 30 minutes each C. Materials: - TBD (do we need an IC-CAAP factsheet?) - Prepared questions D. Attendees: - Elevate Team - 1 to 2 Steering Committee members, if desired, for external stakeholder interviews - Interviewee(s) E. Outreach Plan: - City Officials: email introduction by Brenda Nations, Sustainability Coordinator; follow-up email, interview scheduling by Elevate - Community Stakeholders: email introduction by TBD (City or Steering Committee member; follow-up email, interview scheduling by Elevate Community Engagement Plan – Iowa City © Elevate Energy 2017 4 F. Steering Committee Engagement: - Assist in identifying external stakeholders (organizations and key individuals) for interviews - Introduce Consultant Team to stakeholders when necessary - Participate in external stakeholder interviews as needed, desired - Review overall interview summary notes 4. Ongoing Individual and Group Meetings: Throughout the planning process, the Steering Committee will help broaden the reach of our community engagement by conducting outreach beyond the two public meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to continue to gather more input, support and participation across Iowa City, since not everyone can necessarily attend (or wants to attend) public meetings. It is anticipated that each Steering Committee member will initiate 1 to 2 of these meetings, or more if desired. A. Timeframe: - September 2017 – May 2018 - Some ideal times for outreach may include, but are not limited to a. Prior to the Community Meeting b. Shortly after the Community Meeting c. After the holidays to provide an update on progress and what to expect in the coming months d. Prior to the last Community Meeting e. Before City Council plan adoption B. Location/Duration: - TBD, but will likely include standalone meetings/calls as well as short interactions within the context of other meetings (e.g. a brief presentation at an already-scheduled neighborhood meeting, Chamber of Commerce meeting, etc.) C. Materials: - Project Factsheet - PowerPoint presentation and/or prepared talking points provided by the Elevate Team with input gathered from the Steering Committee. (These prepared items will differ based on when you’re meeting with individual/group; and may include a slightly different “ask” or key engagement goal based on this timing of approach.) - Other materials TBD as needed D. Attendees: - Steering Committee Members (1-2 per meeting, or as determined necessary) - Staff (if necessary or if adds support) - Individuals and Leadership:  Residents and business leaders  Environmental/climate advocates  Individuals that target key populations (e.g. youth, seniors, college, low income , special populations)  Others TBD with assistance from Steering Committee - Community Organizations: Organizations with already-established networks in which community members in Iowa City gather to receive information and weigh-in on important issues  TBD with assistance from Steering Committee - Local Businesses: Large employers as well as small businesses, financial institutions, and others involved in economic development in the City of Iowa City  TBD with assistance from Steering Committee Community Engagement Plan – Iowa City © Elevate Energy 2017 5 - Other Organizations working in Iowa City: Other stakeholder groups that may or may not be located within the community or whose reach spans beyond the city limits, but do work and have constituencies in Iowa City. It is important to coordinate with partners to strategically communicate with these organizations and keep them updated on our activities. These may include but are not limited to  Johnson County  Metropolitan Planning Organization of Johnson County  MidAmerican Energy  Iowa City Community School District  Others TBD with assistance from Steering Committee E. Outreach Plan: - Steering Committee members self-select assigned engagement targets - Steering Committee members send email/make phone call using text/talking points development by the Elevate Team to set up meeting/conversation/invitation to public events F. Steering Committee Engagement: - Identify opportunities for meeting with people about the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (e.g. church group; social club; neighborhood meeting; etc). These are people who may not otherwise participate in learning about or providing input in the development of the plan. - Determine goal of encounter: Inform? Gather input on specific topic/strategy? Surveys? - Schedule short presentations or discussions with group; attend - Report back to Steering Committee (e.g. number of people reached; goals met; etc) 5. Online Presence The City will use its existing online presence to engage the public on the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. To that end, Communications will develop a standard name/font with set colors for use in posting news releases, social media, and website postings. A. Timeframe: - September 2017 – May 2018 B. Outreach Plan: Website: Within the City’s existing website (www.icgov.org), Communications staff will develop a landing page for the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. Items may include the following: - Content from the project factsheet about the Iowa City Climate Action and Adaptation Plan - Steering Committee names, dates of Steering Committee meetings - Community Meetings information –date/location/time - Link to online survey (when they are available) - Survey results (once a survey period of time is complete) - Draft plan (when available) - Final plan - Other ideas TBD Social Media: The City will use its existing social media to continue to engage the public between meetings. Ideas for engagement may include the following, but not limited to: - Facebook Live feed introducing the open house and inviting people to attend. - Content to increase participation at upcoming public events where Steering Committee or staff is presenting the plan - Increase participation online, or at upcoming meetings - Fun and informative posts (e.g. “Did you know that the average household in America uses up to X% extra electricity each year just by keeping cell phone chargers, coffee makers (etc.) plugged in, even when you’re not using them?” with corresponding educational website. These kinds of posts are meant to 1) Community Engagement Plan – Iowa City © Elevate Energy 2017 6 educate/inform 2) suggest an alternative and 3) drive general awareness to the climate action planning process and potentially their future involvement - Other ideas TBD C. Steering Committee Engagement: - May submit ideas for social media content on timely and topical ideas to the Elevate Team (consultant) or City (Brenda) at any time