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measurable issue. Staff can measure developer fees and can forecast when those will dry up, and can plan for offsetting income. When you look at all the other areas: air quality, biodiversity, energy, climate change, ozone depletion, food, etc., we don't have to reinvent the wheel. There are many, many cities that have implemented sustainable plans. We need to talk about the needs of Pleasanton specifically. With regard to the energy strategy, we are in the middle of an energy crisis. Her utility bill was $460. She felt many people will be surprised by their utility bills. An energy study won't give a quick fix, but will allow us to take control of our own destiny and future. She has talked to several people about an energy study for Pleasanton, in particular representatives from the Northern California Power Agency. She has received some material for review and related information regarding "public power". The citizens and Council can't review these things until we have a study. She believed the reason for having a sustainability plan is to measure where the city is going. She asked Council to 1) undertake an energy study immediately and 2) to give serious consideration to an environmental commission/committee. She believed these issues went hand in hand. There were no further speakers. Ms. Dennis appreciated people coming to the meeting to discuss this. She agreed there is a crisis in energy. This is an opportunity to take up the issues. We are fortunate we live in Alameda County because it has wonderful resources and she believed there were more things that can be done with regard to habitat conservation plans, etc. When the items listed in the San Francisco sustainability plan are reviewed, all those things interact. Having worked with agencies that generate these things and that have developed plans for businesses and residents, it is no small task to develop the goals and benchmarks as well as the programs mentioned. It takes thousands of hours. It is worth it, but even though the Planning Commission may be assigned the task, it will need staff and consultants. It is necessary to quantify what we want to do. There are many out-of- the-box tools to use, but to develop Pleasanton's goals and priorities is a good idea. To give an idea of the resources in Alameda County, she had heard a lot about Santa Monica's plan and noted it visited Alameda County when it put its plan together. It is a big job and much of it has been done. We can implement some of that in our own community. The business community will be a strong ally because businesses are aware of the value of resources savings and energy conservation savings and it is part of their jobs to find those. She was excited about what we are doing, but we do need to consider how big a project we want to undertake. What we can do is limitless and even implementing a small portion takes a lot of time. She agreed there should be outreach and information from the community. She will share materials from the County. She supported the staff recommendation to prioritize this. Ms. Ayala thanked the Planning Commission for its work. It has shown it has taken a lead in this area. She felt the energy crisis is not just in the City of Pleasanton. To form a committee to take care of this is absurd. The elected officials have to address the energy crisis and it can't be done just by the City alone. It has to be a regional project. Emphasis should be on Council to discuss issues with surrounding cities. It Pleasanton City Council 19 02/20/01 Minutes