Minutes - Environmental Policy Board - 11/18/2019

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Board Member Hiatt referenced the policy that allows a residential developer to financially contribute to the City's tree fund if all the trees cannot be replaced onsite. He asked if that would be a potential for commercial/industrial development as well. City Planner Anderson noted that while that could be a discussion, he suggested that the City should still look at its requirements. Board Member Moore asked if the number of trees removed to construct the site is considered in terms of landscaping requirements or is that calculation simply based on the calculations discussed. City Planner Anderson provided details on the tree preservation requirements for industrial sites. He noted that in this instance there were not tree preservation calculations because of the lack of significant trees on site. City Planner Anderson confirmed the consensus of the Board is to bring back additional information for the Board to discuss related to industrial landscaping requirements for further discussion. 5.02: Consider Participation in a Nationwide Water Conservation Challenge City Planner Anderson presented the staff report. He explained that the purpose of this case is to introduce the EPB to an interesting and friendly nationwide water conservation challenge sponsored by the Wyland Foundation. The Wyland Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on providing environmental awareness, with an emphasis on water. The Wyland Foundation hosts a National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation in April each year. The challenge intends to simultaneously engage and educate residents on water conservation and provides simple tools to implement water conservation in various aspects of everyday life. There is a lot of good information about the challenge on their website: https;//mywaterpledge.com. Chairperson Valentine asked if this would go through the City Council as well. City Planner Anderson confirmed that Staff did connect with the Mayor on this topic before placing on the agenda so that he was aware of it and to see if there were any immediate concerns, which there were not. He confirmed that this would also go through the City Council. Chairperson Valentine confirmed that it would make sense to participate but noted that he would not want there to be a conflict with the City Council, referencing a past dispute over GreenStep Cities. City Planner Anderson confirmed that this would go forward to the City Council, explaining that there would be no obligations. Board Member Hiatt asked how much more difficult it would be for a community that has a greater percentage of private wells to compete with cities that rely solely on City water. City Planner Anderson explained that there is a calculator that asks a number of questions to determine the footprint. He was unsure if there was a way to track water reduction for those using private wells. Environmental Policy Board/November 18, 2019 Page 4 of 6