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Home My WebLink AboutCFE agenda 011419 AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment January 141", 2019 7:30 p.m. West Campus Office Building, Room 302, 131 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough Time Item Title 7:30 I. Call to Order 7:32 II. Additions or Changes to Agenda 7:35 III. Approval of Draft Minutes — November 12t" 2018 The CFE will consider approval of minutes from the last meeting.Action needed(Attachment 1) 7:40 IV. CFE Officer Election Members will elect Officers to serve until November 2019. 7:55 V. BOCC Agenda Abstract Environmental Impact Staff will lead a discussion concerning options to recommend to the BOCC for consideration of environmental impacts on agenda abstracts. 8:25 VI. Committee Meetings CFE Committees will meet to discuss issues and indicators for the 2019 State of the Environment report. 8:55 VII. Updates and Information Items Staff and/or CFE members will provide updates on the following items: ➢ Continuing Action Items from previous CFE meetings: o Divestment Resolution Update o Idle Reduction Petition Update ➢ Updates: o Calendar of 2019 Meetings(Attachment 2) o Adopted Pollinator Resolution (Attachment 3) ➢ Any other new information from CFE members and staff 9:00 VIII. Adjournment • Next Meeting; February 11 th,Southern Human Services Center,2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill CFE Meeting Ground Rules (Adopted 9112111) 1. Keep to agenda topic under discussion 2. Share relevant information 3. One person speaks at a time after recognition by the Chair 4. Everyone is invited to participate in discussions/no one person should dominate discussions 5. Strive to reach consensus first before voting Activities the CFE expects to carry out in 2018: • Continue to plan for and prepare the 2019 State of the Environment report • Continue to prepare articles on environmental issues of importance to Orange County, including climate change, energy conservation, and other important topics. • Recommend ways to reduce the County's "carbon footprint" and ways to implement the County's Environmental Responsibility Goal (BOCC Priority#10) • Participate in a County effort to identify and preserve important landscape corridors that connect significant natural areas and open space (BOCC Priority#1) • Co-sponsor the annual DEAPR photography contest (The Nature of Orange). • Participate in the County's annual Earth Evening event. Concerns or emerging issues the CFE has identified for 2o18: • Water Supply— Strive to educate county residents about their source of water, especially those residents utilizing groundwater for their supply. • Request the BOCC sign on to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, which includes committing to completing a greenhouse gas inventory within a year. Upon signing, the committee will assist staff, as appropriate, with the associated Greenhouse Gas inventory update and climate action planning. • The CFE will continue to learn about environmental justice matters and incorporate relevant information and considerations in the next State of the Environment report (2019) and its other activities. • Develop plan for researching potential environmental impacts of the rural buffer. • Develop methodology for monitoring changes in forest cover/land cover in Orange County and also tie into the "No Net Loss of Tree Canopy" petition. Attachment 1 Orange County Commission for the Environment Meeting Summary November 12, 2018 Richard Whitted Building, 300 Tryon Street, Hillsborough Present: Bradley Saul (Chair), Bill Ward, Jim Eichel, Jeremy Marzuola, Jody Eimers, Lynne Gronback, Matt Crook, Carrie Fletcher Absent: Bill Kaiser (Vice Chair), Alan Parry, Kim Piracci, Laura Doherty, Will Stanley, Bill Newby Staff: Brennan Bouma, Kim Livingston, David Stancil I. Call to Order— Saul called the meeting to order at 7:35. II. Additions or Changes to Agenda — None III. Approval of Draft Minutes from October 8, 2018 — The minutes were approved unanimously following a motion to do so as offered by Eichel and seconded by Eimers. IV. CFE Annual Report and Related Items Staff led a discussion on the draft annual report and opportunities for CFE members to serve as liaisons with the Orange County Orange Unified Transportation Board (OUTBoard) and Intergovernmental Parks Work Group (IPWG) advisory boards, as well as the annual election of CFE officers in December. Gronback expressed interest in serving as the IPWG liaison, which meets twice per year. Marzuola expressed interest in serving as one of the OUTBoard liaisons, which meets monthly, if there can be more than one representative who shares the responsibility. Livingston will report back in December on the rules for liaisons. Marzuola asked how many terms the Chair and Vice Chair can serve. Livingston reported that the Chair and Vice Chair can serve three consecutive terms. Both the current Chair and Vice Chair could serve again if elected. V. BOCC Agenda Abstract Environmental Impact Consideration Staff led a discussion concerning the BOCC request for consideration of the possible environmental impacts of agenda items. Stancil gave an overview and explained that each agenda abstract contains a financial and social impact of the agenda item and now the BOCC is requesting each item be evaluated for its Attachment 1 potential environmental impact. Stancil stressed that the evaluation needs to be concise to fit within the two page agenda item abstract. Bouma reviewed attachment 5 and explained that the CFE needs to come up with a model example, a few sentences for BOCC abstracts, five or six environmental impact measures, and a short narrative explaining the measures. Bouma suggested that it should be in open response format, thematic or qualitative in nature, and usable for the layperson. Crook suggested that there could be a liaison for each department who is trained in environmental impacts. This liaison could then serve as the support staff for each agenda abstract drafter in the corresponding department. The CFE could train the liaisons and serve as support for that staff person. Stancil suggested that the template prompt could say "further the environmental goal by..." as to not create a list that could be cut and pasted to the agenda abstract, which BOCC has said they do not want. Saul suggested that an item could have a negative impact. He further suggested that a checklist could be used as a first cut that follows with a more informative narrative. Gronback offered that she liked a decision tree approach. Eichel suggested that the agenda abstract could have referendum references with more information. Marzuola stated that he liked Attachment B of the agenda Attachment 5 because it provided the most useful information. Bouma suggested the CFE review a draft of the environmental impacts at the December meeting. Bouma will run test with the draft environmental impacts with sample agenda items. VI. SOE 2019 Update Staff led a discussion concerning the updated SOE timeline, event planning and possible partners, and in-house graphics capabilities. Gronback and Fletcher agreed to be on the SOE events committee. Livingston explained that the SOE rollout event could possibly be in collaboration with other entities such as Triangle Land Conservancy, Eno River Association, and the Eno-New Hope Conservation Collaborative. The event could go beyond the SOE and include such things as the Eno-New Hope Landscape Corridor Plan. Livingston described the types of graphics Orange County could provide for the SOE report which includes a printed booklet, infographics, and brochure. Multiple CFE members expressed their interest in wanting the SOE to be an interactive webpage with imbedded links to more content rather than printed materials. Attachment 1 VII. Committee Meetings CFE Committees met to discuss the 2019 State of the Environment report. Committees discussed their indicator issue selections and progress by the assigned committee members on the indicators related to these issues. VIII. Updates and Information Items Staff and CFE members provided updates on the following items: Continued action items from pervious CFE meetings • Orange County Legislative Message • Rural Buffer Research/Community Viz • Divestment Resolution • Idle Reduction Petition Updates: • 1-40 Widening Project Public Comment Period • IGPCC Report Executive Summary • Draft OWASA Approach for Management of Forested Lands IX. Adjournment — Saul adjourned the meeting at 9:12 following the unanimous approval of a motion to adjourn the meeting which was offered by Crook and seconded by Fletcher. Orange County COMMISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (updated December 20,2018) DATE OF APPOINTMENT TERM TELEPHONE TOWNSHIP NAME POS# COMMITTEE ENDS E-MAIL OF HOME ADDRESS (Representation) RESIDENCE Jody Eimers #1 02/06/18 919-245-8442 3120 Landeau Dr. Water Resources 12/31/20 Eno Hillsborough NC 27 (At Large) Joleslie98 anaol.com Laura Doherty #10 02/06/2018 919-260-8808 612 Sugarberry Road Air& Energy Resources 12/31/20 Iidoherty(o)earthlink.net Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (At Large) Lynne Gronback #14 3/17/15, 12/15/15& 12/18/18 919-219-3219 2420 Sunnyfield Court Land Resources 12/31/21 Lgronback(o)gmail.com Bingham Hillsborough,NC 27278 (At Large) #5 (Water Resources) 12/31/21 Jeremy Marzuola #11 12/13/16& 12/4/17 510-435-9685 705 W.Main Street, Unit D Land Resources 12/31/20 jlmarzuola(a�gmail.com Chapel Hill Carrboro, NC 27510 (At Large) William Newby #2 5/20/14& 12/13/16 919-541-5296 2821 Becketts Ridge Road Air& Energy Resources 12/31/19 newby.william007(@gmail.com Hillsborough Hillsborough,NC 27278 (Air Quality) Will Stanley #7 10/3/2017 919-714-9455 201 Alabama Avenue Water Resources 12/31/19 Chapel Hill Carrboro, NC 27510 (At Large) stanlwi ,gmail.com Kim Piracci #9 12/4/17 919-260-3686 101 Flamingo Rd. Air& Energy Resources 12/31/20 piraccika(�gmail.com Eno Durham, NC 27705 (At Large) Alan Parry #6 12/13/16 919-523-7521 210 Oxford Hills Drive Air& Energy Resources 12/31/19 aparry(o)ptwfirm.com Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (At Large) Bradley Saul(Chair) #15 10/3/2017& 12/18/18 707-360-8511 1329 Beechwood Lane Land Resources 12/31/21 braille sy aul@gmail.com Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27516 (At Large) Carrie Fletcher #8 5/1/18 919-304-0666 6420 Sykes Glen Trail Land Resources 12/31/19 Carriefletcherl@yahoo.com Bingham Mebane, NC 27302 (At Large) #3 12/31/20 (Land Resources) Matt Crook #13 3/7/17& 12/18/18 704-965-5406 105 Barrington Hill Rd Air& Energy Resources 12/31/21 crookm@gmail.com Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27516 (At Large) James Eichel #12 5/1/18& 12/18/18 919-818-7622 621 Tinkerbell Lane Air& Energy Resources 12/31/21 jimeichel@gmail.com Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27517 (Engineer) Bill Ward #4 11/02/17 919-960-2587 107 Forest Ridge Drive Air& Energy Resources 12/31/19 Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (Biological Resources) sandbward(a mindspring.com David Stancil 245-2522 Director,Dept.of Environment,Agriculture,Parks&Rec. dstancil(a�orangecountync.Qoy Tom Davis 245-2513 Water Resources Coordinator tdavis(@orangecountync.goy Brennan Bouma 245-2626 Sustainability Coordinator bbouma(CDorangecountync.Qoy Kim Livingston 245-2514 Land Resources Manager Klivingston(d)orangecountVnc.Qoy 12/20/2018 RE5-2018-085 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS RESOLUTION Adopt Best Management Practices for Roadsides and Utility Rights-of-Way that Benefit Pollinators and Native Plants in Orange County, NC WHEREAS, in a 2012 resolution the BOCC committed "to the conservation of roadside wildflowers along the roadways of Orange County;" and WHEREAS, the roadsides and utility rights-of-way of Orange County support numerous plant species that only occur in these open habitats such as the locally rare Indian paintbrush and yellow-fringed orchid; and WHEREAS, the vegetation in roadsides and utility rights-of-way are an important resource for maintaining biodiversity in native pollinators such as wild bees; and WHEREAS, many scientific studies support the conclusion that wild pollinator biodiversity enhances agricultural productivity; and WHEREAS, improper vegetation management, such as poorly timed or indiscriminate use of herbicides may harm some rare plant species, reduce pollinator and wildlife habitat, and detract from the aesthetic value of our colorful and extraordinary roadsides; and WHEREAS, best practices for maintaining habitat and safe roads are available such as the "Roadside Best Management Practices that Benefit Pollinators" publication by the Federal Highway Administration and Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Orange County Board of Commissioners recommend that all roadsides and rights-of-way be managed using best practices that benefit native pollinators and native wildflowers, such as minimizing the use of herbicides, and do hereby authorize the Commission for the Environment and County staff to work with the North Carolina Botanical Garden to encourage the NC Department of Transportation, utility companies, and property owners to plan, implement, and study such roadside and rights-of-way anagement practices. This the 11t"' day of December, 2018. l Pe ich, C it 7; ❑r ge an ty oard of Commissioners Don a Baker, Clerk to the Board