CCMIN081611 - Laserfiche WebLink

partnership with the Chamber of Commerce where the City reached out to businesses and saved 1.2 megawatts. He noted the way the City was accounting for emissions reductions was not cumulative out to 2020. Because of this, it will buy the City an additional buffer or it will relax the pressure to show that community engagement is not doing so much of the"heavy lifting". Mr. Smith said there are many strategies throughout the plan, and transportation accounts for 55% of the GHGs produced in town, and this is the largest source to address with the least control. They can control some of the land use by having high density development close to BART which is walk and bike-friendly to reduce total vehicle miles traveled and by providing electric charging stations and incentives for hybrids. However, not a lot of what the City controls with existing, built-in environments will come from land use and transportation. Mayor Hosterman referred to goals. She indicated there is a real opportunity to look at the potential for light rail through Pleasanton and hoped to begin Council discussions for this. Mr. Smith noted that because most of the City's environment is already built, it needs to retrofit what already exists by making it more energy efficient. He discussed what has not been successful such as the City enacting a RECO (Residential Energy Conservation Ordinance) and CECO (Commercial Energy Conservation Ordinance). When properties are sold, property owners are required to upgrade energy efficiency prior to the sale. The only city doing this right now is Berkeley, which has not been successful because it makes it virtually unsellable and no one has staff to do it. Therefore, staff recommends the City not do this. Alternatives for RECO include the California Youth Energy Services, PG&E programs, Energy Upgrade California, the large scale energy efficiency program which should start in the next month, the Streamline Solar Permitting process, water conservation programs, and realtor advertising participation to promote programs. Alternatives for CECO include the PG&E Outreach Program, the Energy Upgrade California, and the same California programs. The piece missing or lacking is financing, and hopefully the City will have a program of its own to move forward. The CAP's goal is to establish a zero waste by 2020 for municipal and 2025 for the community, which means a 90% diversion rate through recycling. This is where a good amount of GHG reductions occur, and the City is currently at 73%. Councilmember Sullivan noted the City was at 53% prior to its source separation program and he asked if this is the gain from the program or the difference because of the way they measure, or a combination of both. Jeff Caton stated the CAP uses 2005 as the base year, which is business as usual from the 53% mark. The City has made great progress thus far, going from 53% to 73%. He said gains are the result of the program implemented since 2005. Councilmember Thorne asked if the cost benefit analysis extend to recycling, as it costs more energy to recycle. Mr. Smith said there is a cost benefit analysis in the plan and it does talk about residential and commercial, as well, although there are certain things in the waste stream that are not recyclable. Mr. Smith noted the primary goal for water and wastewater is to save in residential, businesses, and municipal operations. Also very important is development of the recycled water program. He announced that State and federal grants were approved by the Council earlier on the Consent Calendar and staff received word that the City was awarded the federal grant and they expect an answer soon on the State grant. He then reviewed community engagement, which he said has been the most effective thing the City has done. They partnered with the Pleasanton School District in the Earth Fair; the CAP video has been popular; they continue to host programs such as the Solar City Program; Food for Thought Program; Family Earth Festival; the Pleasanton Green Team with Hacienda Business Park, and others, and said youth outreach is their hope for the future. Adaptation is part of the plan given the effects of drought, black-outs, wild fires, floods and unseasonal weather, and the plan talks about steps on how to plan and deal with this. The plan also provides for annual reports to track progress and in 2020 the City would City Council Minutes Page 5 of 18 August 16,2011