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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem B: City Council Goal - Sustainability Initiative Action Plan ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: City Council Goal - Sustainability Initiative Action Plan Meeting Date: July 9, 2007 Agenda Item Number: B Department: Planning and Development Staff Contact: Susan Muir www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 682-6077 ISSUE STATEMENT This is a work session to discuss the new Sustainability Initiative City Council Goal and for the council to provide guidance on the draft action plan. BACKGROUND In January 2007, the City Council met to develop strategic priorities for the community. Ten goals were identified including the new Sustainability Initiative. The focus of the initiative is: Develop Office of Sustainability and Sustainability Commission that supports broad sustainable practices and create a tool chest of things needed to support businesses that produce sustainable products or provides or utilizes sustainable practices. Following the adoption of the Sustainability Initiative, an interdepartmental team was established to develop the draft action plan to implement this important council goal. The action plan covers a 3-5 year planning period, with particular emphasis on the first 18-24 months. RELATED CITY POLICIES This action plan supports and builds on the numerous sustainability resolutions that council has adopted. On February 28, 2000, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 4618, adopting a definition and statement of intent regarding the application of sustainability principles to the City of Eugene, and affirmed the commitment of City elected officials and staff to uphold these principles. To further this commitment, the City Council adopted resolutions 4884 and 4887 in the summer of 2006 regarding sustainable buildings policy for the City-owned and occupied buildings. In November 2006, Resolution No. 4893 was adopted, publicly committing the City to sustainable practices and to businesses that produce sustainable products and services. COUNCIL OPTIONS The council may: 1.Approve the action plan as recommended. 2.Approve the action plan with changes. 3.Postpone approval to a later date. L:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M070709\S070709B.doc CITY MANAGER’S RECOMMENDATION The City Manager recommends Option 1, approval of the action plan as recommended by the sustainability initiative team staff. SUGGESTED MOTION Move to approve the Sustainability Initiative Action Plan as recommended. ATTACHMENTS A. Sustainability Initiative Action Plan FOR MORE INFORMATION Staff Contact: Felicity Fahy Telephone: 682-5017 Staff E-Mail: felicity.m.fahy@ci.eugene.or.us L:\CMO\2007 Council Agendas\M070709\S070709B.doc ATTACHMENT A Sustainability Initiative Draft Action Plan At its January 2007 retreat, the Eugene City Council adopted the Sustainability Initiative with the following focus: Develop Office of Sustainability and Sustainability Commission that supports broad sustainable practices and create a tool chest of things needed to support businesses that produce sustainable products or provides or utilizes sustainable practices. This action plan will cover a 3-5 year horizon, with particular emphasis on the first 18-24 months. A. Planning Horizon and Focus Implementing the Sustainability Initiative will require a two-phased effort. The first phase (18-24 months) will focus on launching the Office of Sustainability and the Sustainability Commission and developing related programs and activities. The second phase (3-5 years) will emphasize progress on the significant behavioral and cultural change necessary to achieve measurable improvement in the sustainability of our community. B. City Council Goal Outcomes Intermediate Outcomes (within 18-24 months) ? Defined scope of the Office of Sustainability ? Sustainability Commission in place with a work plan approved by the City Council ? A visible resource to help businesses and others improve their sustainability ? First community sustainability performance report Overall Outcomes (by the end of 3-5 years) ? The City organization and the business community develop greater understanding of and support for the value of sustainability ? Triple-bottom-line (environment, economy, equity) analysis is explicitly imbedded in the City’s decision making ? Improved triple bottom line in the City organization and the community C. Progress to Date The City has a long history of extensive sustainability work. More detail about some of those efforts can be found on the City’s website (http://www.eugene-or.gov/sustainability). Recent actions related to the Sustainability Initiative include: ? The City Council adopted Resolution 4884, "a sustainable buildings policy for buildings owned and occupied by the City." The resolution requires that principles of sustainability, and specifically the LEED standards, be applied to the siting, design, construction, operation and maintenance of buildings. ? The Eugene City Council adopted Resolution 4893, “publicly committing the City of Eugene to sustainable practices and to businesses that produce sustainable products and services.” ? The City Council passed Council Bill 4942, an ordinance creating a Sustainability Commission, and designing the structure and composition of the commission. ? A sustainability manager has been recruited; the manager is currently in the process of doing background research and setting up the office. ? The City Council approved a position that will focus on external green building; duties will include providing consultation support to residents, designers and others considering residential, commercial and industrial remodels and new construction. ? The City has completed an inventory of community-wide greenhouse gas emissions, which is the first step in developing a comprehensive climate action plan. D. Action Plan The following steps will be undertaken to help achieve the Sustainability Initiative outcomes. Action steps to be competed within 18-24 months: Defined scope of the Office of Sustainability ? Hire and orient sustainability manager ? Perform a scan of sustainability activities, including: Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI) recommendations, existing City activities, existing expectations (e.g. budget, council direction), previously identified needs ? Complete gap analysis Sustainability Commission in place with a work plan approved by the City Council ? Recruit sustainability commissioners ? Orient and train commissioners ? Prepare and submit work plan to council A visible resource to help businesses and others improve their sustainability ? Assess community needs ? Develop strategic communication plan ? Set up educational and technical support programs ? Enhance best practices recognition program First community sustainability performance report ? Develop City performance measures and community indicators ? Develop tools to measure performance ? Gather and analyze data ? Prepare and disseminate report Action steps to be competed by the end of 3-5 years: The City organization and the business community develop greater understanding of and support for the value of sustainability ? Implement strategic communication plan ? Work with internal and external stakeholders on education and outreach Triple-bottom-line (environment, economy, equity) analysis is explicitly imbedded in the City’s decision making ? Create a triple-bottom-line analysis tool ? Provide training on use of tool ? Implement use of tool broadly throughout the City organization Improved triple bottom line in the City organization and the community ? Use recognition and incentives to motivate behavior change ? Track progress in City performance measures and community indicators E. Resource Needs Sustainability is a new council goal, but there are many activities that are undertaken throughout the City that contribute to sustainable outcomes in social equity, environmental enhancement and business prosperity. Resource needs will be identified with more precision as work plans are developed. Education and outreach are essential components of the success of this goal to help the City and community develop and embrace new ways of living and working. Education will need to be focused on city staff as well as community-wide initiatives. The desire to improve our internal and community sustainability is not unique to the City; we will not be undertaking this work alone, but rather we will work with community, business and governmental partners in developing and delivering essential education, training and resources. One of the primary resources required is staff time and expertise. Many staff members have built up broad practical expertise in their respective fields that will be increasingly called upon to maintain and develop new sustainability projects. Time and training will also be required to develop new competencies in staff as the range of sustainable projects within the City increases. While there is much expertise within City staff, there are likely to be resource costs for consultants over the course of scoping and delivery of the action steps detailed in this plan. Resources will be required to recruit, train and support the Sustainability Commission, including meeting costs, staff time and budget for projects. Budget is required for the development and implementation of community and business incentives and rewards. More detail will be available when the scope and nature of the program is finalized. There are resource needs in the development and delivery of education and technical support for sustainable businesses. This will be undertaken in conjunction with partners as noted above but the City will be required to support part of the costs of items such as development or adaptation of tools and web support. F. Monitoring and Evaluation Progress on the Sustainability Initiative will be evaluated using measures directly related to the intermediate and long-term outcomes and the milestones outlined in the action plan. The City Council will receive a written quarterly report that includes information about progress since the last report, major challenges encountered, and relevant data. As the details of the Office of Sustainability are still being defined, the process of developing measures will continue after the adoption of this action plan. The measures below serve as a starting point, and will be added to and modified as the Sustainability Initiative takes shape. Intermediate Measures ? Sustainability Commission work plan adopted by City Council. ? Number of commercial and residential green building consultations provided to public. Final Outcome Measures ? Number of sustainable businesses in Eugene. ? Community survey rating of the importance of the City engaging in environmentally sustainable practices. ? Community survey perceptions about how well the City engages in environmentally sustainable practices.