Arvada Sustainability Advisory Committee
November 13, 2013 Minutes
Arvada City Hall
Meeting called to order at 6:35pm by, Nancy Ford, chair
In attendance: Ken Anderson, Chuck Clark, Natalia Ekberg, Nancy Ford, Tara Kent, Doug Magee, Jackie Raehl, Kevon Storie and Jessica Prosser
Absent: Allen Best, Christopher Rose and Don Allard
October 9, 2013 Meeting Minutes: Minutes approved with minor revisions
Review Meeting Agenda: No revisions made
Public Comment: None
Report from Staff / City Council Liaisons
· Arvada Comprehensive Plan:
i. Edits suggested by ASAC on preliminary vision and goals were made to the document
ii. Implementation strategies for the plan coming in January or February 2014
iii. Two additional city board / commission meetings also to occur next year
iv. Discussion about the comprehensive plan included the type of document it is, clarification on the Focus Arvada document and Sustain Arvada Performance Measures.
· Healthy Places grant:
i. Arvada received $1 million over the next three years
ii. Program kickoff first part of 2014
iii. Program designed to “get people moving”
iv. $150,000 available the first year; Arvada hiring a grant coordinator to oversee
v. Cactus Marketing Communications and other vendors hired by Colorado Health Foundation to support the program
vi. The elements of the program include: 1) A programmatic piece (activities like yoga in the park, festivals, etc.), 2) An infrastructure piece (such as sidewalk and bike lane improvements), and 3) Active living.
vii. Colorado Health Foundation also funding separately a $10 million Colorado Fresh Food Financing program.
· Smart Growth conference:
i. In Denver in 2014; Jessica attending
ii. Advocating to have some ASAC members attend
· Jessica’s job now includes additional City Manager’s office tasks; still ASAC staff liaison
Finished Business
· Kudos to Natalia, Robert and Doug on completion of city’s new interactive recycling guide
Unfinished Business
· Review of Arvada’s 2013 Legislative Agenda and ASAC’s advocacy role
i. Two possible advocacy roles for ASAC – Legislative and internal operations
ii. ASAC could develop position papers addressing either role
iii. Reviewed draft of Sustainability section for 2014 Legislative Agenda
a. A fourth item added to the section for 2014
b. New item deals with green building incentives
c. ASAC discussed and suggested rewording the item on drought response planning and water storage
d. Discussion about Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and ASAC’s role if any
· Review of Sustain Arvada Work Plan (dated April 2013)
i. Review of ASAC accomplishments
a. Energy – Launch of Resource Smart Arvada, and Every Trip Counts programs
b. Education / outreach – Inaugural Sustain Arvada Festival and articles in Arvada Report
c. Waste – Recycling guide revisions, eWaste event and adding recycling efforts to city festivals
d. Community vitality – Implementation of Garden-in-a-Box and Slow-the-Flow programs
e. Land use – Participation in comprehensive plan revisions
ii. Review of proposed 2014 ASAC milestones
a. 2014 milestones contain seven items such as:
1. Hosting the Sustain Arvada Festival
2. Adopting the 2015 International Building Code (IBC) and International Energy Code
3. The Healthy Places grant
4. Waste hauling
b. Discussion and questions about IBC and the city wanting ASAC help on community outreach about building codes; city currently using the 2009 IBC having skipped adopting 2012 update
c. Discussion about energy efficiency issues such as adding an energy audit when a house is sold and energy audits that are part of Resource Smart program
d. Suggestion to add agricultural land as a focus / milestone, especially pertaining to agriculture uses in city parks
e. Questions and discussion about water conservation programs and species of trees planted in Arvada
f. Questions and discussion about ASAC focusing on topics (2013 approach) or goals
g. Jessica to organize milestones by person and reach out
h. Committee members identified topics of interest as follows (area of focus where ASAC member gets educated on a topic):
1. Ken – Water and land use
2. Tara – Waste / recycling and water
3. Kevon – Building codes and energy efficiency
4. Chuck – Energy efficiency, water and education / outreach (Sustain Arvada Festival)
5. Nancy – Sustain Arvada Festival and community agriculture
6. Jackie – Parks plan update and community agriculture
7. Natalia- Waste/recycling
8. Doug – Transportation (Gold Line development) and education (Sustain Arvada Festival)
iii. Discussion of committee members’ time commitment to help achieve milestones
a. Items discussed included wanting to see committee progress; regularly presenting accomplishments to City Council; identifying events to work on (Sustain Arvada Festival, Kite Festival, Trails Day); collaborating with other committees (Transportation, Parks), having key / consistent sustainability messages and adapting targeted messages for various events / time of year; participating at farmers’ markets; ASAC members working and meeting outside of monthly meetings; and, reaching out beyond supporters to expand the conversation about sustainability issues
iv. Discussion of December 2013 meeting as a fun committee social event, a pot luck, and team-building exercise
v. Article in next Arvada Report dealing with sustainability will cover home energy audits
Reports from Committee Members: None
· 2014 Sustain Arvada Festival
i. Scheduled for May 10, 2014, Wolff Park, 10 AM – 3 PM
ii. The park is adjacent to Arvada K-8 that has a leadership group of 7th & 8th graders that want to be involved in the event
iii. Any new vendor ideas should be sent to Brenda Berg at the city
Agenda Items for Next Meeting: None
Adjournment 8:40pm
Respectfully submitted,
Doug Magee, Secretary
Arvada Sustainability Advisory Committee – November 13, 2013 Minutes Page 3