Board Minutes – April 12, 2007

Minutes submitted by Lisa Mastny

 

 

Durango City Councilor Doug Lyon and Councilor-Elect Leigh Meigs joined the group for the first half of the meeting. In introductions, Doug noted that he is on the steering committee for the new college union building at FLC, and that his biggest interest in sustainability issues is in green building. Leigh noted that she is concerned especially about social impacts—i.e. how our impacts on the Earth ultimately impact us. She said she is interested in the long view, and getting infrastructure in place now for the future though achievable, cost-effective solutions.

 

Tom West noted that he moved to area years ago, is a retired chemist, and works part time at the Adult Education Center. He said he was at the meeting for general interest. Linda said she was very interested in environmental issues.

 

Dick distributed and read copies of the SASCO mission statement and provided background on the organization, noting that a driver for the city and us is the Durango Comp Plan. He acknowledged and thanked Greg Hoch and Michael Lauer, and the Citizen’s Review Committee, for all the work put into it. He described SASCO’s input into the sustainability plan, Strategy 19, and the group’s desire to build the concept of sustainability into the community.

 

Leigh said she was very interested in the issue of how far the city should extend—to Bayfield, or to some type of perimeter. She expressed preference for the latter, and raised the question of whether this should be an agricultural perimeter, natural lands, or rural lands. She said she is interested in preserving such a perimeter, as a way to tie into local agricultural goals. This would make this perimeter not just scenic and touristic, but also functional. She said she has already mentioned this idea at a breakfast with La Plata County commissioners. She also brought up the issue of meeting development goals, and the concept of transferable development rights. She emphasized the need for a cooperative solution.

 

Leigh noted that she also has ideas/concerns about transit—such as the issue of routing traffic, and whether local roads will become major highways. She said this all requires extensive planning, and getting CDOT involved. She said changes like these will affect our lifestyles—how the area looks and feels.

 

Rebecca mentioned the efforts by Katy and others to preserve food security in the region. She said it is a necessity to preserve growing rights, and that the region needs to plan for land that will grow local food. If not, she said, the region will use up its water, and water is needed for local food security.

 

Tom brought up the possibility of having all new city trees be fruit trees along the sides of the streets. He said the fruits/produce could be sold at the farmers’ market, observing that this is one way to use public space in a productive way.

 

Bliss noted that the SASCO Ambassador’s group is thinking of sponsoring a summit on sustainability. She pointed to Portland as good example. She said the Grassroots Vision Project (GVP) will also have some kind of vision fair next year. She said this sort of activity is an obvious next step for SASCO, as a way to raise awareness and spread the word.

 

Werner noted that is important that the county and city work together. He mentioned the workshop planned for October 27, which would then feed into a summit in May. He also mentioned his involvement in meetings on conservation-based development. He said it is important to identify what certain land consists of, and to use it for the best purpose. He noted that agricultural land is not the best for residential development.

 

Erick brought up the issue of best practices. He said it is important to get a sense of what tools and resources are out there for landowners who want to preserve certain elements or uses of the landscape. He brought up the idea of putting together an index, engaging landowners, and figuring out other net benefits. He mentioned taking ideas like conservation easements and other tools and putting them into a package for landowners.

 

Doug noted that these are all interesting points. He said a key point is the need to compensate landowners for leaving their land as agricultural, pointing out that land is a big asset, with many in the county being “land rich and cash poor.” He said landowners may find it irresistible in the long term to monetize that asset, and that state law requires dividing land into 35-acre parcels. He noted that transferable development rights was a major buzz word a few years ago, and there was talk of adding it into the 1997 comp plan for Grandview. He explained that the idea was that if someone wanted to do something with certain land, a landowner could transfer his/her right to develop to someone else’s land and be paid for it. He said the reason this was not implemented is because there is no underlying zoning in the county, so it was not clear what rights would be transferring.

 

Jim noted that this is an important discussion, and that we need to look at the multiple benefits of agricultural land. He also pointed to such initiatives/ideas as local gardens, buying local, edible gardens, all of which can help to ensure that residents have access to healthy, local, and culturally appropriate food.

 

Sue mentioned the GVP session on health care, and noted that so much of the discussion came back to affordable housing—i.e. people won’t fill a prescription because they can’t afford it, so they end up in the ER. She said there is not enough disposable income and that we need to attract more qualified physicians to the area.

 

Dick observed that the solutions we need can’t look at, for example, “health care” alone, but that we need to look at the whole system (as well as the external system we’re surrounded by). He asked, “Can we use a larger systemic view of how all the pieces fit together, and find leverage points where you can really make a difference.” He agreed that the city and county need to work together, that problems don’t end at the city limits. He said it is a unique time right now for the city and county to work together, in terms of political will.

 

Jim mentioned the Healthy Lifestyles grant to the city, which will allow for greater investment in local food efforts. He said we need to look at this in a holistic way, and that the grant’s objective was to have an intergovernmental commission to link efforts between the city and county. But he said maybe the recent political change obviates the need for this.

 

Dick said there needs to be a connection forged between rural landowners and the community need for affordable housing. He raised the possibility of allowing development of land in such a way where those that are poor but land rich get cash value, while also meeting a community need. He noted the need for win-win-win solutions and systems thinking, and gave a plug for the upcoming talk by Scott Huffman. He mentioned the example of creating an ecopark in the industrial park near the airport.

 

Sue raised the issue of the city hiring a sustainability manager. Werner said he has contacted Greg Hoch, who said the city would wait on this until the new City Council takes office. Werner described the San Miguel county initiatives and brought up the idea that SASCO could act on behalf of the city or county to fill a similar sustainability function.

 

Doug said the city plans to do an energy audit to fill obligations under the Mayor’s Agreement on Climate Change. He said the county will do the same thing, and maybe the college. He said one possibility was to have the same consultant to do both, with this person being compensated out of three different budgets.

 

Dick said he had met with Michael Scannell and others to discuss the scope of the audit—which could range from covering just city and county buildings to a full Southwest Colorado sustainability plan. He mentioned the need to measure the community footprint of greenhouse gas emissions. He said he would want to see the emissions inventory go forward while larger elements of the sustainability plan also move forward—that there is no need to delay.

 

Julie mentioned that Region 9 is conducting an economic drivers analysis, using the M-plan model. They plan to hire a consultant from Denver. She said one component of this work is looking at local multiplier effects—not just in the community, but also secondary effects, such as looking at the money going into road construction and job creation, and then seeing the effect on what people eat, etc. She said it would look at second homes as an industry as well. The idea is to go three levels deep.

 

Doug said these are interesting and important topics. He raised the question—if office workers spend X, and those who live downtown spend Y, does office space or residential generate more economic vitality?

 

Julie said that with the Region 9 work, we will start to get a grasp on what sort of policies we need, and get data to back up those policies.

 

Tom brought up the idea of local investment fund, (1) to support sustainable business, and (2) to create a local mortgage fund—with the ideas that money is invested in homes here, and the mortgage payment stays local. He said this could provide money to people doing green buildings, and other things that standard banks won’t support.

 

Julie said there is also interest in creating a mechanism so that individuals could invest in the local community as well. Dick noted that Coop America runs a program on community investment funds, with the idea that 1% of people’s investments should stay local. Bliss mentioned that discussions on these kinds of issues began in 2003, and that Joe Colgan was involved and had a big interest in getting the city pension fund to be local.

 

Rebecca noted that regardless of where in the conversation on resource depletion and climate change one is, it is an incredibly exciting time. She said there is no reason the city and county can’t be models. They could develop a solar industry, become self-sustaining. She noted the urgency from the future loss of coalbed methane, the local energy economy, and said we need to have something in line to take its place.

 

Leigh said SASCO should keep in touch, and noted that she had a lot to learn and to prioritize. She said it ultimately comes down to people’s choices, and that you need to make things really attractive to people. She pointed to the Green Business Roundtable, and the clear public desire for action in the community.

 

Doug noted that there are so many different things that can be done, and that the discussion hasn’t even touched on buildings, light fixtures, energy efficiency, etc. He said that over the last 12-18 months, he has seen an incredible rise in interest in these issues. He noted that he creates educational materials for Business Week articles every week, and comes across all kinds of small yet profitable changes that can help us tread more lightly. He agreed that it has to be attractive to people to get the widespread acceptance, noting that CFLs are getting attractive, because there is no loss in functionality.

 

Dick noted that the board approved the minutes from the March board meeting. He also

read the e-mail update from Alan Rolston, on the Global Warming Discussion course, noting that it is still scheduled for late April but that more participants are needed.

 

Tom noted that there is no real change in the cash balance.

 

Lisa noted that the e-mail list now has 208 subscribers. She also informed the group of her purchase of a new HP 1600 color laser jet printer, at a cost of $239. In addition, Lisa purchased a $60 warranty package that would enable SASCO to either replace the printer or receive a full refund for upgrading it if anything breaks in the next three years. The total for everything was $334.47.

 

Lisa said she tested out the new printer by making about 160 copies of the brochure and experienced no glitches whatsoever, and that the print quality was excellent.

 

The board agreed that this was a wise choice.

 

Julie raised a concern about not supporting local printing businesses, and noted that Jim Henley at ColorQuest has donated printing in the past. She said the printer purchase was a lot of money for a small organization like this.

 

Bliss said that at the next retreat, we should develop a budgetary context for such decisions. She also agreed it was important to build relationships with local businesses.

 

Dick asked whether the board would approve charging SWCRES for printing. The board expressed general agreement. Lisa agreed to work with others on establishing a fair charge.

 

 

The board debated whether to keep the acronym SASCO or to change it to SASCO. Lisa noted that a fair branding effort had already begun with SASCO and that a retrofit would be troublesome.

 

Tom West asked whether there were any copyright issues with the acronym.

 

Bliss noted that there had been a discussion about wording in the past, and thought we had already agreed on SASCO. Roy said he through the “CO” has a connotation of Colorado, not a corporation.

 

Dick said there are images on the website that would need to be altered if we don’t continue using “SASCO.”

 

Sue proposed keeping SASCO. Werner seconded. Rebecca opposed. The resolution passed.

 

Dick concluded that it was good to have the discussion. He added that we still need to review the logo, brochure, and website with a view to our final audience.

 

Bliss mentioned that the New Plateau book, put out by the Northern Arizona University Center for a Sustainable Environment, would be a good source for brochure photos.

 

July said that Region 9 is moving forward with economic multipliers study, and that there is $42,000 to cover the five countries of SW Colorado. The group is doing La Plata County first and hopes to have results by the end of the summer. They then plan to move more into local investment fund planning.

Rebecca submitted the following report via e-mail:

 

Rebecca noted that Christ the King has offered us meeting spaces to hold movies, the summit, etc. She said that her meetings with religious groups are ongoing and empowering, and that “everybody wants to know more.”

 

Jim noted that all 10 elementary schools now have salad bars, and that two new school gardens are being planned. There are also offshoots of the school breakfasts.

 

He mentioned that the Healthy Lifestyles Grant will allow for more work with restaurants and stores, and a greater “Buy Local” campaign. They hope to do more public education and use new marketing outlets. Katy reported the Growing Partners grant proposal was submitted and
included approximately $375K in matching funds from the community. She expressed kudos to Dick for writing the SASCO letter of support. She said they will hear on the grant by June and could get funding as soon as October.

 

Jim noted that while environmental “gloom and doom” can be hard on young people, in the area of food and agriculture, there are many positive things people can do. He says this work is having a good psychological impact.

 

Werner mentioned Sue’s message that Three Springs has offered to pay for graphic design and printing of a SASCO-sponsored sustainability resource guide, at the estimated cost of $1 per copy. Werner said he has e-mailed Marcus Renner suggesting possible collaboration with the EC. He suggested forming a subgroup for putting this together.

 

Bliss said she liked the idea of putting on our website a list of positive, inspiring things. Jim said we would need to flesh out the issues of what to include in a resource guide. Dick noted that we still need to address the issue of what resources we want to offer on the website. Katy, Werner, Sue, and Lisa expressed interest in exploring the guide issue.

Werner mentioned the upcoming talk/membership event by Scott Huffman on Thursday, April 26. Dick noted that he had reserved city council chambers for the event.

 

Werner noted that a fall sustainability network meeting is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, October 27, with a back up date of Saturday, November 3. He said this would be an opportunity to invite all essential groups working on sustainability issues, and could also lead to a May 2008 Sustainability Summit that would replace the OHC Summit. He said we still need to discuss what we want to achieve, and who to invite—core groups, maybe church representatives. He said we need an organizing committee.

 

Tom said it would be good to work with GVP to help organize this. Julie noted that there is a shell group planning an OHC summit, with Laura Louis from Region 9. She said she would track down details. Werner said he would make a list of potential groups to be involved. Bliss said the Ambassadors committee should feel around to gauge outside interest in a summit.

 

Dick mentioned he is working on the Focus the Nation climate discussion on January 31, 2008. He said the event will need be coordinated with FLC and interested students. He described his involvement with the effort and said there should be a focus effort in every legislative district. He said he would like to enlist SASCO as a civic partner in Durango. He also mentioned the upcoming Step it Up! events on April 14.

 

Werner noted that the April membership meeting would be Scott Huffman’s presentation, and that June could be ag-related, with Katie and Jim as the speakers. He said we still need to set a date. He said the meetings could maybe be bimonthly, with films open to the public at the Abbey. Werner said he would contact Tom Bartels and Tom Merlino, the Abbey owner, but that another location could be FLC. The idea would be to hold presentations every two months, on Mondays, starting in August, though dates and times need to be finalized.

 

Julie mentioned the fall film festival at the EC, and that we should try to coordinate with their fundraiser. Werner noted that he had sent the E&O agenda to Marcus at EC. He said he would also welcome suggestions for movies and presentation topics, and that maybe Denise has some. Katy raised the idea of using the DNF parking lot to screen outdoor movies and said she would investigate.

     

Werner passed around a calendar for all SASCO events and went through the dates. He noted that SASCO events are now listed on the Durango Downtown website. He recommended that board members review it and provide comments. He said the next E&O meeting would be Thursday, May 3.

 

Dick suggested having a full-day board retreat in January 2008.

 

 

Lisa said she would send out a sheet with board contact info and solicit updates.

 

Dick mentioned the idea of having Dan Olson, Kris Holstrom, or Julie Holden from Rico come to a future SASCO meeting. He said we will continue to invite councilors to meetings and should also try to meet with county commissioners and others.