Loading...
04-20-2023_Corrected FINAL MINUTES MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION lul April 20, 2023 CUPERTINO Final Minutes The meeting was called to order at 4:15 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Sonali Padgaonkar, Steve Poon, Vignesh Swaminathan (C), Anna Weber (VC) Absent: Meera Ramanathan Staff: Andre Duurvoort, Staff Liaison Others Present: Victoria Morin, Outreach Coordinator APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Minutes from March 16, 2023 Special Meeting Vice Chair Weber noted the motion for Item 2, 2023 CREST Awards Sustainability Champion of the Year item should say 2023, not 2022. MOTION: Vice Chair Weber moved, second by Commissioner Poon to approve the minutes as amended. MOTION PASSED: 4-0, Ramanathan Absent POSTPONEMENTS No Postponements ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None STAFF AND COMMISSION REPORTS Commissioner Padgaonkar spoke with the Principal of Kennedy Middle School, and he agreed to have an assembly assigned to Sustainability; this meant a planned meeting where a representative from Sustainability would talk with a large group of children at the school. She 1 Sustainability Commission Regular Meeting April 20,2023 also suggested a pre-audit regarding the eight-grade graduation before the event happened to consider better ways to use resources or discuss better ways to recycle at that event. Vice Chair Weber asked if the Sustainability representative for the school assembly was going to be someone from the Sustainability Commission (Commission). Commissioner Padgaonkar said once she got the date, she would let the Sustainability Division know and then the Commission could talk about what could be discussed. Commissioner Poon clarified if a staff member would be asked to discuss sustainability education or was it to be someone from the Commission. Vice Chair Weber inquired if the eighth grade graduation in question was this year's or next. Commissioner Padgaonkar clarified if there was not enough time this year, then next. Generally, the preparation started in February or March. She suggested speaking at the Fall Festival as well. Andre Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager said the objective of the Sustainability Division was to do outreach, and assemblies were good because many people were reached in a short amount of time;he generally prioritized events like these. Chair Swaminathan announced that Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) was having their outreach for the Valley Transportation Plan and the Visionary Network. This was an opportunity to define Capital Improvement Plans (CIP)until 2050. He mentioned Via Cupertino (now called Silicon Valley (SV) Hopper) to VTA and many did not know about the service. He was part of the VTA Plan 2030 and 2040 and there was a substantial change in what people asked for. For example, in the last few years people were asking for highway expansion but this year it was more about density and transit access. Chair Swaminathan was hosting the Youth Light Rail Day. He was going to be leading some youth on the light rail and teaching them how to use the transit systems. He planned to talk about infrastructure as well. It was for people 18 and older but there may be some 16-year-olds. Mr. Duurvoort recalled the Commission requested an update on the Landfill Agreement. This was going before the City Council on May 2. There needed to be a Request for Proposal (RFP) for landfill services and a discussion of the various options, which included disposal to landfill, processing, disposal of construction and demolition debris, etc. There was also going to be a discussion on material recovery of organic and other recyclable materials from the waste stream. He wanted to bring this to the Commission before developing a final staff recommendation to City Council. Mr. Duuvoort mentioned there was a recruitment for a Management Analyst to support the Sustainability Division. He was looking for someone to do a lot of the administrative work, budget,being a liaison for this Commission, and other special projects. 2 Sustainability Commission Regular Meeting April 20,2023 Mr. Duuvoort announced there was a Brown Act training in March. The recording was distributed to those who were not able to make it so people could view it on their own, and then submit a certificate stating they viewed the recording to the Clerk's Office. OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS 2. Chair Election Andre Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager went over the duties of the Chair. Commissioner Padgaonkar wondered if there was a limit on how many times a person could be Chair. Mr. Duurvoort said no. Chair Swaminathan was the Chair for the last two years. Vice Chair Weber inquired if Chair Swaminathan was open to being Chair a third year. Chair Swaminathan said yes but he was not able to attend as many other meetings; he promised to train the Vice Chair on Chair duties. Vice Chair Weber was open to being Chair. Chair Swaminathan inquired when the new commissioner onboarding would be, as he was going to be termed out next year. Mr. Duurvoort said typically new commissioners came in January. NOMINATION: Vice Chair Weber, seconded by Commissioner Poon nominated Chair Swaminathan as Chair of the Sustainability Commission for 2023. NOMINATION FOR CHAIR SWAMINATHAN AS CHAIR FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION FOR 2023 PASSED:4-0, Ramanathan Absent 3. Vice Chair Election NOMINATION: Commissioner Poon, seconded by Vice Chair Weber nominated Commissioner Padgaonkar as Vice Chair of the Sustainability Commission for 2023. NOMINATION FOR COMMISSIONER PADGAONKAR AS VICE CHAIR FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION FOR 2023 PASSED: 4-0, Ramanathan Absent Chair Swaminathan let Vice Chair Padgaonkar know that she would need to take over some meetings that the Chair would attend, like the Mayor's Meeting. Andre Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager said it was not necessary for just the Chair to attend those meetings, that could be rotated amongst all the commissioners. 4. 2023 Earth and Arbor Day Vice Chair Padgaonkar wanted to volunteer at the 2023 Earth and Arbor Day. Andre Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager explained that since there were already two commissioners volunteering, and they were going to be discussing sustainable City of Cupertino business, there were no more than two volunteers allowed. Other commissioners were welcome to join 3 Sustainability Commission Regular Meeting April 20,2023 the event as a guest, but they should not discuss City business with the other two commissioners volunteering. Victoria Morin, Outreach Coordinator gave an overview of 2023 Earth and Arbor Day. Commissioner Weber wanted to know which streets were blocked off for the festival. Ms. Morin said Torre Avenue from City Hall and Pacifica Drive. Vice Chair Padgaonkar asked for a map as a PDF. Chair Swaminathan inquired if there was going to be social media posts and what other departments were going to be represented. Commissioner Poon said he wanted to know which booths belonged to who so he could direct people to appropriate booths when they had questions. Ms. Morin debuted a waste sorting game that was going to played at the festival. Chair Swaminathan asked when the volunteers needed to show up. Ms. Morin said the first shift was 8:30 to 12:30 p.m. and the second shift was 12:30 to 4 p.m.;the event ended at 3 p.m. NO ACTION TAKEN 5. Fiscal Year 2023/24 Sustainability Division Budget Update Andre Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager gave a presentation on the budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY). There was an audit between a "certain employer" in the City of Cupertino regarding online sales tax revenue and how those funds were dispersed. Chair Swaminathan recalled the previous City Council felt the revenue from this "certain employer" was enough to sustain the City, that they wanted to hinder housing and development projects, and not receive revenue as a result of new developments. They wanted to limit the growth in the City to artificially inflate the housing value, but that turned out to not be the case. He felt the City should have a sustainable economy that allowed people from here to live here and stay here. Chair Swaminathan thought there was going to be a lot of changes because of this decision, such as staffing reductions. Mr. Duuvoort commented that the budget forecast was dramatic. Some of the other things built in the budget assumption was a period of slower economic growth. (1:28:38) Management staff was tabling all options at this point to get ideas going. Commissioner Poon asked about the "certain employer" paying back some of the rebate. Mr. Duuvoort explained that the Council could vote to file an appeal once the official letter was received from the State of California. Some reductions that were more reliable were reducing expenditures and increasing revenues in different ways. Looking at reducing expenditures, there were budget balancing strategies. The City made some good financial decisions over the years, such as fully funding a pension trust and having an economic uncertainty reserve. The main expenditure reduction was called vacancy control. This meant leaving any vacant positions open as people retired or resigned from the City. 4 Sustainability Commission Regular Meeting April 20,2023 Commissioner Weber asked if the new Management Analyst was still going to start. Mr. Duuvoort said he still had approval to move forward. There was a grey area because there was a need to keep some positions open if someone were to leave, such as some budget positions. Chair Swaminathan read about the possible sale of the Byrne House and the Municipal Water System. Mr. Duuvoort agreed that the City does own a Municipal Water System, and currently it was being leased to San Jose Water;this was a very big asset. Mr. Duuvoort commented on sustainability and revenue generation and said there were a few things that had potential for revenue generation, such as connecting sustainability to a proposed tax measure. Another thought was to increase sponsorships received for the Earth Day Festival. Another thought was a Use Tax on the energy system. The thought was to discourage gas use by taxing it a little more. These were all ideas. Mr. Duuvoort wanted to shift focus by coming up with some solutions or ideas, prioritizing those ideas with the Sustainability Commission's (Commission) help, and focusing staff time on getting funding for those ideas from the outside. Chair Swaminathan thought there were a lot of revenue generating things that could be done that met the Climate Action Goals, such as the installation of charging stations. He felt this was an opportunity to help the City come up with ideas to make money. Mr. Duuvoort wanted to get thoughts from the Commission about the value of the Climate Action Plan (CAP) so this could be presented to the Council because a lot of items in the CAP were going to cost money and required staff time to execute. This was going to be a challenging few years for the City Council. Mr. Duuvoort discussed what the cuts were going to be from the Sustainability Division. He requested a new staff person, which he thought would not be proposed next year. The Climate Victory Garden, not a cheap program, he suspected might be moved to another bucket of funds called Special Projects. Commissioner Weber asked what the funds would go toward if they were granted. Mr. Duuvoort explained they would go toward the continuation and operation of the program and providing property owner assistance to take out lawns. Commission Poon commented that there was a rebate. There were still ways to reconfigure that program so there was less of an impact to the General Fund. Mr. Duuvoort discussed the Council dates and when the next budget discussion was but ultimately it was going to be the Council's decision as to what was going to get cut. Vice Chair Padgaonkar asked if there was a recommendation as to what to say to the Council. Mr. Duuvoort wanted to stay neutral but said there was support for the CAP and we hope for ways to execute on that plan. Chair Swaminathan commented that Sustainability was about reducing cost and waste, and there were also ways to make revenue by means of sustainability, so a lot of the things in the CAP saved the City money. 5 Sustainability Commission Regular Meeting April 20,2023 NO ACTION TAKEN FUTURE AGENDA SETTING Andre Duurvoort, Sustainability Manager said the last time there was discussion on agendas. Chair Swaminathan said the 4 p.m. time was a little hard for him; he preferred a 6 p.m. start time. He wanted to know what the other commissioners thought. Commissioner Poon said he needed to be somewhere at 7 p.m. Commissioner Weber preferred a later time. Vice Chair Padgaonkar preferred 5 p.m. Chair Swaminathan and the commissioners agreed on 4:30 p.m. start time for the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 6:49 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: Victoria Morin, Staff Liaison Note: Any attachments can be found on the Cupertino Website https://www.cul2ertino.org/our-city/agendas-minutes 6 Sustainability Commission Regular Meeting April 20,2023