Policy Committee Annual Summary, 2008

Sustainability Alliance of Southwest Colorado

• General. Develop the mechanics of addressing the multiple components of this broad mission.  This includes procedures for coordinating with other committees and with other groups to identify the most effective group to lead efforts on specific policy issues. 
  
  Most of the policy activity of the committee has been simply to track developments concerning sustainability initiatives by the City of Durango, La PlataCounty, and the Four Corners Office of Resource Efficiency (4CORE), though most of the 4CORE involvement has been undertaken by the Smart Energy Committee (SEC). 
  
  
• Specific: Address issues on the public agenda in 2008.
  • La PlataCounty emissions inventory and action plan, preferably undertaken jointly with Durango and other jurisdictions.
    
    The emissions inventory was completed, but with substantial uncertainties identified in its largest component, emissions from oil and gas production. The county is continuing to work with the industry to supply the relevant data. Revision of the County oil and gas regulations offers a vehicle for mandating data submission (see below). In October, 4CORE convened the first meeting in an expected year-long effort to formulate a climate action plan. Many SASCO members, especially from the SEC and Policy Committees, are taking active roles in this effort. 
    
    
  • La PlataCounty strategic plan. 
    
    The La Plata County Compass reflects input from SASCO members at public meetings in 2007. Four members of the Policy Committee attended one or another of the three roll-out public meetings. The Board of County Commissioners is using this as a decision-making tool in reviewing county government and making budgetary decisions.

• City and County sustainability plans, preferably undertaken jointly.
  
  SASCO hosted Board discussions with new City Manager Ron LeBlanc and with new County Manager Shawn Nau. The County appointed Walt Serfoss as Sustainability Coordinator. In this role, he as attended several SASCO meetings. The City Council identified sustainability as one of their top priorities for 2009. Accordingly, the proposed 2009 City budget would make several administrative and financial rearrangements to facilitate sustainability efforts. Both governments have internal teams reviewing internal operations. The County convened a meeting of representatives from all governmental entities in La PlataCounty to discuss development of a common approach to sustainability. The County Community Development Department, now headed by former SASCO Board member Erick Aune, has conducted a number of workshops and engaged consultants to address sustainability issues. At the invitation of Erick Aune, Dick White (substituting for Lisa Mastny) participated in interviews for the new long-range planner position subsequently filled by Jason Meininger.
  
  Members of SASCO, usually members of the Policy Committee, have attended most of the county-sponsored meetings. In particular, Dick White and SASCO Secretary Lisa Mastny participated in the Southwest Colorado Community Design Academy, where Dick also made a presentation on sustainability. Dick and SEC Chair Kim Herb joined County Commissioner Wally White, Community Development Director Erick Aune, and Sustainability Coordinator Walt Serfoss attending the annual meeting of ICLEI: Communities for Sustainability at Albuquerque in June. At the meeting, Commissioner White accepted an award for La PlataCounty having completed its greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Since then, the City of Durango has joined ICLEI.
  
  Early in the year, the Policy Committee developed a concise set of “sustainability decision-making parameters” that might be useful to public officials, but it has not pursued this idea further.

• Region 9 update of Operation Healthy Community indicator study.
  
  It proved to be too late to make contributions to the 2008 study. This is an important item to consider when the study is updated.
  
  
• 4CORE start-up.
  
  4CORE incorporated as a non-profit, formed a Board of Directors, and hired Aileen Tracy as Executive Director (beginning in June). In addition to spearheading the development of a Climate and Energy Action Plan, it has succeeded in attracting several grants from the Governor’s Energy Office and played a key role in submitting a proposal to the Department of Local Affairs that garnered the award of $1.4 M for La PlataCounty governments and organizations under the New Energy Communities program. SASCO Board hosted Aileen for a conversation in July.
  
  
• Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission rule-making.
  
  Many community members, including some from the committee, attended the COGCC public meeting in Durango. The Committee did not submit comments. In local rulemaking by the BOCC, SASCO submitted a recommendation from the SEC that would mandate oil an gas industry reporting on greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. [Fill in subject to outcome of BOCC discussion on 11/17.]
  
  
• Implementation of County Land Use Code (now suspended pending other issues)
  
  The Land Use Code is still on hold.
  
  
• 2008 County and Congressional elections.
  
  The Sustainability Alliance participated in formulating questions for the CountyCommissioner candidate forum sponsored by the San Juan Citizens Alliance.
  
  
• Specific: Consider broader and/or longer term issues.
  • Potential SASCO budget requests to City and County for 2009.
    
    SASCO submitted proposals to La PlataCounty for supplemental funding in 2008 and for ongoing funding in 2009 from the Sustainable Local Economic Development Committee (SLED) to support development of a coupon book for La Plata Organizations Collectively Advocating Local (LOCAL). See SLED section for details.
     
  • Policy initiatives to facilitate work by other SASCO committees.
    
    The Policy Committee found no need for this in 2008.
    
    
  • Sustainability education initiatives in the schools.
    
    The Education and Outreach Committee is undertaking an effort to develop a sustainability competition for high school students, one goal of which would be to encourage a larger sustainability component in the school curricula.
    
    
  • Sustainability analysis of City and County budgets.
    
    No effort was made on this very substantial task.
    
    
  • Establishment of Durango as a national “Center of Excellence” in sustainability.
    
    Some would argue that the Twin Buttes development, for which the Durango City Council voted approval of a conceptual plan in November [verify], is a step in this direction. Owing to divisions within the Committee and the larger organization, however, the Committee recommended that SASCO take no formal position on this project. Individual SASCO members spoke on both sides in the approval debate, agreeing on the systematic development of sustainable community elements, but differing primarily over the suitability of the chosen site and potential impacts on wildlife. Former SASCO Board members Bliss Bruen and Roy Horvath, acting as members of the Grassroots Visioning Project steering committee, collaborated with City staff in convening a successful public meeting to provide a non-partisan forum for discussion the Twin Buttes project and possible alternatives.