[00:00:02]
[CALL TO ORDER ]
WE HAVE A QUORUM.SO I'M GONNA CALL OUR MEETING TO ORDER.
DO WE HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION? NO.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
MEETING MINUTES.UH, I, I DID MAKE A FEW SUGGESTED EDITS THAT, UH, THANK YOU LIDDY, FOR SENDING THAT AROUND.
UM, SO IF FOLKS CAN ACCESS THAT ONE BY EMAIL FROM THIS AFTERNOON, OR I CAN SHARE IT IF THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
OR ACTUALLY JUST DO YOU HAVE THE UPDATED VERSION WITH THE RED LINE EDITS? HE DOESN'T HAVE IT.
YOU DON'T, DID YOU LIKE ACCEPT MY EDITS BEFORE YOU SENT IT AROUND OR SOMETHING? NO.
UM, YEAH, YOU COULD DOWNLOAD IT.
DO THE DOWNLOAD, NOT THE PREVIEW IS WHAT I'M HEARING IF TO SEE WHAT I ADDED.
I JUST ADDED A, A COUPLE DETAILS IN THERE.
I THINK THERE WAS ONE THING THAT I STRUCK, 'CAUSE I THINK IT WAS JUST LIKE A LITTLE OFF IN TERMS OF THE SOLAR FOR ALL PROGRAM.
IT SAYS THAT THE MEETING TOOK PLACE AT AUSTIN ENERGY HEADQUARTERS AND IT WAS CITY HALL.
WE SHOULD DEFINITELY, I DIDN'T CATCH THAT.
YOU CAN JUST ADJUST THAT LATER.
IT SAYS THAT THE MEETING TOOK PLACE AT AUSTIN ENERGY HEADQUARTERS, BUT IT TOOK PLACE AT CITY HALL.
DOES ANYBODY WANNA MAKE A MOTION ON THE MEETING MINUTES? HAS EVERYBODY HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK? I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
UM, I, I HAD CHRIS HERE ON THE DAIS MOVING AND THEN HEATHER, YOU'LL BE THE SECOND.
UNLESS THERE'S ANY DISCUSSION OR, UH, OTHER EDITS OR ANYTHING, THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND VOTE.
UH, EVERYONE IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY AYE.
UM, YEAH, PROBABLY THAT'S NOT, BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER.
I WAS NOT AT THE SEPTEMBER MEETING, AND IT'S NOT SHOWING AS ANYONE IS ABSENT.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ACTUALLY IS SIGNIFICANT, BUT I DID WANNA CALL THAT OUT.
YEAH, THAT, THAT'LL BE UPDATED.
IT WAS THE PERFECT AWKWARD MOMENT OF ME SLOWLY RAISING MY HAND AS YOU CALLED FOR A VOTE.
FEEL FREE TO JUST, UH, YEAH, COME OFF MUTE.
I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST LIKE, LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH
[2. Presentation on low-carbon concrete – Johanna Anderson, EPA. ]
UP, UM, DO WE HAVE JOHANNA ON? YES, I'M HERE.WE HAVE, UH, JOHANNA ANDERSON WITH THE EPA TO TALK TO US ABOUT SOME OF WHAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING ON LOW CARBON CONCRETE, WHICH WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING HERE TOO,
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FEEL FREE TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF, UH, IN IN MORE DEPTH IF YOU WANT, AND TAKE IT AWAY.AND EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME OKAY? YEP.
I'M WITH THE US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.
UM, I'M A REMOTE EMPLOYEE BASED, BASED THROUGH THE HEADQUARTERS OFFICE IN DC BUT I LIVE IN PORTLAND, OREGON, AND I THINK SOME OF YOU HEARD ME SPEAK, UH, THROUGH MY PREVIOUS ROLE AT THE SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, UM, ABOUT, UH, SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT.
SO, UM, NICE TO SEE SOME OF, SOME OF YOU ALL AGAIN.
UM, AND I TRANSITIONED TO THIS NEW ROLE AT THE EPA IN JANUARY WHERE I'M WORKING ON THE LOW EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS PROGRAM, WHICH IS, UH, WHAT I'M PRESENTING ON TODAY, BUT I ALSO STILL WORK IN THE MORE GENERAL SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT WORLD THROUGH OUR TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM.
SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME TODAY.
I HAD A REALLY GREAT CONVERSATION WITH KABA, UM, AND ANNA, UH, AND SCOTT, UH, IN, IN PREP FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF INTEREST IN DIGGING MORE DEEPLY INTO SOME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS AROUND THINGS LIKE LOW BODY, CARBON CONCRETE, AND YOU'RE REALLY EAGER TO, TO GET SOME ACTION HAPPENING, UH, AT THE CITY.
UM, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A HIGHER LEVEL VIEW OF OUR LOW BODY CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS PROGRAM TODAY.
UM, SO I'LL TOUCH ON SOME OF THOSE THINGS.
UM, BUT I REALLY WOULD LOVE TO, TO GET SOME MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS FROM YOU ALL, AND THEN WE CAN COME BACK AGAIN WITH OUR CONCRETE EXPERT OR ASPHALT EXPERT, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU WANNA DIG IN, UH, TO ANSWER SOME MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS IN THE FUTURE.
SO I CAN, I CAN TAKE THOSE QUESTIONS TODAY AND THEN WE CAN COME BACK FOR A BETTER DISCUSSION ON THOSE THINGS.
AND LET ME MINIMIZE MY VIEW HERE BECAUSE I CAN'T, ONE SECOND HERE.
LET ME SEE SO I CAN SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
SO, UM, SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS SO CRITICAL TO, UM, SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT AND, UH, DRIVING LOW AND BODY CARBON CONSTRUCTION.
SO OUR PURCHASING POWER HAS HUGE INFLUENCE.
UH, SO IN TERMS OF SETTING A POSITIVE SUSTAINABILITY EXAMPLE, BUT ALSO TO MOVING THE MARKET TOWARDS MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE OPTIONS, WE ARE THE SINGLE LARGEST PURCHASER IN THE WORLD, UH, OVER $760 BILLION ANNUALLY SPENT ON GOODS AND SERVICES.
UM, WE MANAGE OVER 350,000 BUILDINGS, 600,000 VEHICLES, AND NEARLY ONE IN EVERY FIVE ACRES OF, UM, OF LAND IN THE US.
SO, UH, WE SPEND A LOT OF MONEY, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE A HUGE POWER TO DRIVE THE MARKET, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT LEVERAGING OUR PURCHASING POWER FOR, FOR THIS WORK.
SO, UH, IN 2022, YOU MAY BE AWARE, UH, CONGRESS PASSED THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND THAT ACT AMONG MANY OTHER THINGS THAT I'M SURE YOU ALL ARE WORKING ON, UH, DIRECTED THE EPA TO DO THREE DIFFERENT THINGS RELATED TO EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
SO THE FIRST WAS WE WERE DIRECTED TO, UH, DEVELOP INTERIM GUIDANCE ON WHAT ACTUALLY CONSTITUTES A LOWER EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL.
AND THAT INTERIM DETERMINATION ALLOWED OUR PARTNERS AT THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AND THE FEDERAL HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT TO START SPENDING THEIR INFLATION REDUCTION ACT MONEY, UM, ON LOWER AND BODY CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
SO THAT WAS THE FIRST THING WE HAD TO DO.
UM, AND THEN, UH, I'M GOING TO TOUCH MORE ON THE, UH, THE NEXT TWO THINGS THAT WE WERE DIRECTED TO DO THROUGH THAT INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, WHICH IS TO PROVIDE GRANT FUNDING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, UH, TO INCREASE AND ALSO TO IMPROVE ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATIONS, AND ALSO TO CREATE A LABEL THAT WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR PURCHASERS OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TO BOTH IDENTIFY AND PURCHASE THOSE LOW AND BODY CARBON MATERIALS.
SO, UM, OUR, OUR INFLATION REDUCTION ACT RESPONSIBILITIES ARE REALLY TARGETED AT SUPPORTING FEDERAL PROCUREMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
BUT, UM, AS YOU KNOW, UH, THE WORK THAT WE DO IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BENEFITS THE MARKET MORE BROADLY.
SO THAT'S WHY I'M HERE TODAY TO SHARE A BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
SO, I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW MORE ABOUT EMBODIED CARBON, UM, BUT I'M GOING TO BACK
[00:10:01]
US UP A BIT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE AND TALK A BIT ABOUT WHY WE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT EMBODIED CARBON.AND THAT'S BECAUSE, UM, EMBODIED CARBON REPRESENTS THE COLLECTIVE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, UM, WITH THE ENTIRE LIFE CYCLE OF A PRODUCT.
SO THAT'S WHAT THIS GRAPHIC IS SHOWING HERE.
UM, AND AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, UH, CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS THAT ARE USED IN BUILDINGS, UM, AND OTHER BUILT INFRASTRUCTURE ACCOUNT FOR MORE THAN 15% OF ANNUAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
SO HUGE OPPORTUNITY FOR EMISSIONS REDUCTION HERE.
SO WE ARE FOCUSED, UH, SPECIFICALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED THAT EMBODIED CARBON IS THE ENTIRE LIFECYCLE OF PRODUCTS, BUT, UM, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE FED AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WE'VE SET A REALLY SIGNIFICANT GOAL OF REDUCING OUR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 50% BY 2030 AND ACHIEVING A NET ZERO EMISSIONS ECONOMY BY 2050.
SO WE'VE GOT SOME BIG GOALS AHEAD OF US, AND WE ARE FOCUSING SPECIFICALLY ON THE UPSTREAM IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
UM, AND WE'RE DOING THAT BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE THE MAJORITY OF IMPACT EXISTS FOR CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
UM, AS EVERYONE KNOWS, UH, THE SUCCESS AND GROWTH OF OUR AMERICAN ECONOMY RELIES REALLY HEAVILY ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE ROADS, HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES, BUILDINGS, UM, AND IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT WHERE WE WORK, BUT HOW WE GET THERE.
SO, IN ORDER TO GROW THE ECONOMY AND SUPPORT A THRIVING ECONOMY, WE HAVE TO BUILD ALL THIS INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH MEANS WE ALSO HAVE TO PURCHASE BILLIONS OF TONS OF THINGS LIKE CONCRETE, ASPHALT, STEEL, AND GLASS.
THE PRODUCTION STAGE IS REALLY WHERE THE LION'S SHARE OF THOSE IMPACTS ARE HAD.
UM, AND IN ADDITION TO THE FACT THAT THE IMPACTS LIE IN, IN THAT, IN THE PRODUCTION STAGE, UM, IT'S ALSO WHERE THE STATE OF THE SCIENCE IS STRONGEST.
SO DATA AVAILABILITY IS A REALLY BIG CHALLENGE, BUT THERE, THE DATA QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY IS BEST IN THAT PRODUCTION STAGE.
SO THERE ARE A WHOLE VARIETY OF WAYS THAT WE CAN REDUCE EMBODIED CARBON IN CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
SO ON THIS SLIDE, YOU SEE THAT THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES TO, IM IMPROVE MATERIAL EFFICIENCY, TO INCREASE THE RECYCLED CONTENT OF THE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, UM, ACTUALLY JUST SOURCE LOWER CARBON INPUT MATERIALS.
UM, AND OUR WORK AT THE EPA REALLY REPRESENTS JUST A SMALL PIECE OF THAT BIGGER PICTURE.
UM, THERE'S A REAL NEED FOR STANDARDIZATION IN DISCLOSURE AND MEASUREMENT AND VERIFICATION APPROACHES ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN.
UM, AND THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING THE EMBODIED CARBON OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS WELL BEFORE THEY EVEN ARRIVE AT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE.
AND ONE OTHER THING TO NOTE BEFORE WE MOVE FROM THIS SLIDE IS THAT SOME OF THE DECISION MAKING THAT HAPPENS IN THE PLANNING AND DESIGN STAGE, UH, NEEDS TO BE FOCUSED ON RIGHT SIZING THE DESIGN.
SO IN ADDITION TO ALL THESE STRATEGIES, UM, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT OVER-ENGINEERING THE DESIGN OF THESE OF THESE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
SO WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY SPECIFYING THINNER WALLS OR BY SPECIFYING CONCRETE WITH A 3000 PSI VERSUS A 4,000 PSI.
SO WE DO ENCOURAGE TAKING A WHOLE BUILDING LIFECYCLE APPROACH, BUT AS YOU'LL HEAR, AS I SPEAK MORE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS, UM, WE'RE FOCUSED MORE ON, ON THE, THE LOWER CAR, LOWER EMBODIED CARBON MATERIALS PIECE.
SO BEFORE I MOVE, MOVE FURTHER INTO DESCRIBING OUR PROGRAMS, I DID WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I GET SOME DEFINITIONS OUT OF THE WAY HERE.
I KNOW I'VE USED SOME OF THESE TERMS ALREADY AND, AND I KNOW SOME OF YOU MIGHT NOT BE AS FAMILIAR WITH THEM.
UM, AND THESE ARE IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF OUR PROGRAM.
SO THE FIRST IS ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATION OR EPD.
SO AN ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATION IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT THAT PROVIDES QUANTIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL DATA, UM, USING THESE PREDETERMINED PARAMETERS, UM, AND WHERE RELEVANT SOMETIMES OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION.
AND AN EPD MIGHT INCLUDE OTHER THINGS LIKE COMPANY NAME OR COMPANY INFORMATION, OR OTHER PRODUCT INFORMATION.
SO WE KIND OF LIKEN IT TO A, A NUTRITION LABEL FOR A CONSTRUCTION PRODUCT.
YOU'LL ALSO HEAR ME USE THE TERM PRODUCT CATEGORY RULE, OR PCR, AND I'M MENTIONING THIS HERE ON THIS SLIDE ABOUT EPDS, BECAUSE EPDS ARE BASED ON PRODUCT
[00:15:01]
CATEGORY RULES.THE PRODUCT CATEGORY RULE IS A SET OF RULES OR REQUIREMENTS OR GUIDELINES THAT, UM, KIND OF LAY THE, LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR HOW TO DEVELOP AN EPD FOR A SPECIFIC PRODUCT CATEGORY.
SO WITH THOSE DEFINITIONS OUT OF THE WAY, HERE'S A HIGH LEVEL VIEW OF OUR LOW AND EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS PROGRAM ELEMENTS.
ON THE FAR LEFT OF THE SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE WE HAVE, UH, WORK ON, UM, THE GRANT PROGRAM, WHICH I'VE MENTIONED ALREADY.
UM, PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF EPDS AND ALSO IMPROVING DATA QUALITY AND STANDARDIZATION OF EPDS.
ALL OF THOSE, UH, ELEMENTS ARE GOING TO HELP SUPPORT THE MARKET FOR ROBUST, WHAT WE CALL ROBUST EPDS.
AND THOSE ARE REALLY EPDS THAT, UM, WE CAN TRUST, UM, TO GIVE US THE RIGHT INFORMATION ABOUT A PRODUCT.
IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS CHART, YOU'LL SEE WE HAVE A FOCUS ON SETTING THRESHOLDS FOR WHAT DETERMINES A LOW EMBODIED CARBON MATERIAL.
UM, AND THAT'S GOING TO BUILD ON GETTING MORE AND, AND BETTER EPDS IN THE MARKETPLACE BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE MARKET IS IN TERMS OF LOW EMBODIED CARBON, UM, AND WHAT THE THRESHOLDS CAN BE TO DEFINE, UM, WHAT IS, WHAT IS TRULY LOWER AND BODY CARBON.
AND THEN MOVING FURTHER TO THE RIGHT OF THIS, OF THIS DIAGRAM, YOU'LL SEE WE'VE GOT OUR LOW AND BODY CARBON LABEL PROGRAM.
UM, AND THAT ULTIMATELY IS GOING TO FACILITATE PURCHASERS AND IDENTIFYING AND BUYING LOW AND BODY CARBON MATERIALS, UM, AND THEN ULTIMATELY LEADING TO THAT REDUCTION IN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
SO THAT'S THE BIG PICTURE VIEW OF OUR, OF OUR PROGRAM.
I'M GOING TO MOVE QUICKLY, UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE, TO TELL YOU MORE SPECIFICALLY ABOUT EACH OF THESE PROGRAMS. AND THEN I WANNA JUST STOP TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, OUR GRANT PROGRAM, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SHARE THAT THE EPA ANNOUNCED, UM, EARLIER THIS YEAR SELECTIONS, UH, FOR $160 MILLION TO REALLY SUPPORT THOSE, THE, THE MARKET FOR ROBUST EPDS.
UM, SO THIS GRANT FUNDING IS GOING TO, UM, AMPLIFY EPD EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES.
IT'S GOING TO SUPPORT INDUSTRY IN DATA PREPARATION AND REPORTING AND ANALYSIS.
IT'S GONNA PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND ALSO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO DEVELOP EPDS OR UPDATE EPDS, VERIFY EPDS.
THESE ARE ALL REALLY CHALLENGING THINGS FOR MANUFACTURERS, AND WE'RE REALLY PUTTING MONEY OUT, UM, INTO THE INDUSTRY TO, TO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THOSE EPDS.
UM, IT'S GONNA DO A LOT IN TERMS OF STANDARDIZATION AND VERIFICATION FOR PCRS, WHICH AS I JUST MENTIONED, IS REALLY THE FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG EPD, UM, REALLY DOING A LOT OF GREAT WORK.
AND IF YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE THAT I PULLED OUT, UH, THE GRANT SELECTIONS THAT, UH, HAVE SPECIFIC TOUCH POINTS WITHIN TEXAS, SINCE I KNOW YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN KNOWING, UM, MONEY THAT'S FLOWING INTO YOUR STATE.
UH, WE HAVE A GRANT SELECTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS IN AUSTIN, AND THAT'S FOCUSED ON SALVAGE MATERIALS.
SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT BECAUSE THAT'S A REALLY UNDERDEVELOPED AREA FOR LOW AND EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION.
UM, AND THAT PROJECT IS GONNA REALLY DRIVE IMPROVEMENT IN THAT AREA.
BUT THERE'S THREE OTHERS THAT HAVE TOUCHPOINT WITHIN TEXAS, AND I KNOW YOU HAVE A COPY OF THESE SLIDES, SO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO, UH, CLICK THAT LINK OF SELECTED PROJECT SUMMARIES TO READ MORE ABOUT, UH, WHAT THOSE PROJECTS ARE COVERING.
I DON'T WANNA SPEND REALLY MUCH TIME ON THIS SINCE I DID KIND OF TOUCH ON IT IN THE, IN THE FIRST SLIDE ON THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
BUT, UM, AS I MENTIONED THEN, UH, THE EPA SO FAR HAS ISSUED AN INTERIM DETERMINATION, UH, THAT SETS A DEFINITION FOR WHAT LOWER EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MEANS.
UM, AND THAT HAS BEEN, AS THE NAME IMPLIES, THIS INTERIM APPROACH THAT HAS ALLOWED GSA AND FEDERAL HIGHWAYS TO BEGIN BUYING MATERIALS THAT THEY CAN CALL LOWER AND EMBODIED CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS.
BUT THAT REALLY WAS, WAS MEANT TO BE AN INTERIM APPROACH.
UM, WHERE WE'RE GOING AT THIS POINT, UM, IS FOCUSED ON THESE INITIAL FOUR FOCUS MATERIALS.
SO STEEL, ASPHALT, CONCRETE, AND CEMENT, AND FLAT GLASS.
AND THAT THESE ARE THE FOCUS MATERIALS FOR THE FEDERAL BUY CLEAN EFFORTS.
THESE WERE CHOSEN, UH, FOR A VARIETY OF FACTORS.
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IS THEIR HIGH EMBODIED GREENHOUSE GAS INTENSITY.UM, THEY PRODUCE A LOT OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, UM, ALSO FOR THE AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND REPORTING FRAMEWORKS LIKE EPDS, UM, IN THE MARKET FOR THESE FOUR MATERIAL TYPES.
UM, IN ADDITION, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUYS A LOT OF THESE MATERIALS.
SO, UM, SO WE WANNA FOCUS ON, ON THE MATERIALS THAT REPRESENT THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY.
UM, WE'RE ALSO, SO IN ADDITION TO THESE FOUR MATERIALS, WE ARE ALSO LOOKING AT THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SALVAGED AND REUSED MATERIALS BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THOSE HAVE REALLY SIGNIFICANT BENEFITS.
UM, AND WE WILL BE, UH, WE HAVE A, AN APPROACH WHERE WE CAN ADD ADDITIONAL MATERIALS OVER TIME, BUT WITH THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME WE HAVE TO SET UP OUR PROGRAMS, WE'RE FOCUSING ON THESE FOUR FIRST.
SO HERE IS THE LABEL PROGRAM APPROACH FOR, UM, EPAS LABEL PROGRAM, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE THINGS WE WERE DIRECTED TO DO WITH THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
UM, AND I'M JUST GONNA HIGHLIGHT A FEW KEY ELEMENTS ABOUT THIS.
UM, WE ARE FOCUSING AGAIN ON THE PRODUCTION PHASE WITH OUR LABEL PROGRAM.
SO THAT'S THE EXTRACTION, THE TRANSPORTATION AND MANUFACTURING OF THOSE MATERIALS.
UM, AGAIN, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE DATA IS BEST, UM, AND STRONGEST.
UM, AND IT ALLOWS US TO DRIVE TO TARGET THE MOST MEANINGFUL IMPACTS.
SO WE MIGHT CONSIDER TARGETING OTHER STAGES LATER, BUT AT THIS POINT, WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE PRODUCTION STAGE.
WE ARE ALSO PLANNING TO, UH, USE A TIERED FORMAT FOR OUR THRESHOLDS, UM, THAT WE RECEIVED A LOT OF PUBLIC, UH, COMMENTS ON SETTING THIS TIERED APPROACH THAT WILL ALLOW US TO, UM, REALLY IDENTIFY THE TOP PERFORMERS, UM, IN THE MARKETPLACE.
UM, WE'RE ALSO, UH, TAKING A PHASED APPROACH.
SO THIS IS GOING TO ALLOW US TO, UM, ENSURE LONGEVITY AND REPLICABILITY OF THE PROGRAM, BUT IT'S ALSO GOING TO BE ALLOW US GOING TO ALLOW US TO, UH, ADD ADDITIONAL MATERIALS OVER TIME SO THAT MATERIALS CAN BE ADDED AS THEY'RE READY TO GO.
LET'S MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE SO THAT WE CAN GET THROUGH THIS.
I'M ALMOST DONE WITH MY SLIDES.
SO, UM, THIS IS A, A MORE DETAILED LOOK AT THE PHASES FOR THE LABEL PARTNER APPROACH.
SO EACH MATERIAL WILL MOVE THROUGH THE PHASE AT DIFFERENT RATES.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, IF ONE MATERIAL IS MORE READY IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF EPDS THAT ARE IN THE MARKETPLACE, UM, AND THE PCR THAT MEETS OUR CRITERIA, THEY MIGHT MOVE THROUGH QUICKLY AND OTHER MATERIALS MIGHT MOVE MORE SLOWLY.
SO IN PHASE ONE, WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON IMPROVING THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATIONS.
SO, AS YOU MENTIONED, THAT'S OUR GRANT PROGRAMMING AND SOME OTHER EFFORTS.
WE'VE ALSO ISSUED CRITERIA FOR PCRS, UM, AND THAT WAS ISSUED ON AUGUST 7TH.
UM, AND WE'RE SETTING UP A SYSTEM THAT WILL ALLOW US TO COLLECT THIRD PARTY VERIFIED EPDS THAT ARE PRO, UH, BUILT UNDER APPROVED PCR.
SO WE'RE REALLY BUILDING THIS INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WILL ULTIMATELY ALLOW US TO MOVE INTO PHASE TWO, WHERE WE'RE GOING TO BE DEVELOPING THAT TIERED THRESHOLD APPROACH, UH, THAT WILL BE BASED ON STAKEHOLDER INPUT.
AND THEN FINALLY, PHASE THREE OF OUR LABEL PROGRAM IS, IS THE REALLY THE LAUNCH.
UM, AND THAT IS GOING TO BE WHERE WE LABEL PRODUCTS UNDER OUR CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, IDENTIFYING THE PRODUCTS THAT ACTUALLY MEET ALL OF THE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.
AND THEN ONCE A PRODUCT ACHIEVES THAT LABEL, THEY'LL BE LISTED IN OUR PUBLIC REGISTRY, UM, THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE ONLINE.
SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO GO ONLINE AND SEE THAT THE CONCRETE THAT YOU'RE YOU'RE PURCHASING ACHIEVE THE EPA LABEL.
SO, UM, WE, AS I MENTIONED, WE'VE GOT THIS TIERED THRESHOLD SETTING APPROACH.
UM, SO YOU CAN ENVISION SOMETHING LIKE THIS, NOT, NOT GUARANTEED THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE THREE LABEL THREE LAYERS, AND NOT GUARANTEED THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE CALLED THIS, BUT AS AN EXAMPLE, THERE'LL BE A GOOD, UH, LABEL THAT WILL, UM, INDICATE THAT THE PRODUCT HAS, UM, AN IMPACT LOW EMBODIED CARBON THAT IS LOWER THAN THE IN INDUSTRY OR REGIONAL AVERAGE, AND THEN A NEXT LEVEL FOR BETTER.
AND THEN FINALLY, BEST LEVEL, UM, REALLY INDICATING THE KIND OF CUTTING EDGE, UM, LOW EMBODIED CARBON PRODUCTS THAT ARE AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET.
AGAIN, KNOWING THAT YOU ALL ARE EAGER TO TAKE ACTION, I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW DIFFERENT WAYS YOU YOU COULD START DOING THIS WORK, KNOWING THAT OUR LABEL PROGRAM WILL NOT BE ACTIVE, UM, TOMORROW,
[00:25:01]
FALL OF 26, WE SHOULD HAVE SOME LABEL PRODUCTS OUT THERE.BUT IN THE MEANTIME, UM, I WOULD RECOMMEND LOOKING AT THE GSA SUSTAINABLE FACILITY TOOL FOR EMBODIED CARBON PROCUREMENT.
IT'S A REALLY GREAT RESOURCE THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO YOUR, UM, TEAMS WORKING ON THIS STUFF.
UM, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU CHECK OUT THE FEDERAL HIGHWAYS LOW CARBON TRANSPORTATION MATERIALS GRANT PROGRAM IN KERA CITY.
HASN'T ALREADY TAKEN A LOOK AT THAT.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, YOU CAN CONTACT US.
UM, THE LINK HERE WOULD SEND YOU TO SUBMIT A QUESTION OR TO REQUEST TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RELATED TO EPDS.
SO THOSE ARE THREE WAYS I THINK YOU COULD TAKE ACTION NOW.
UM, THERE'S MORE OPPORTUNITIES ON THE LINK AT THE TOP HERE.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, SOME OTHER UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES TO GET INVOLVED.
WE'RE GOING TO BE LAUNCHING A FULL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM LATER THIS YEAR.
UM, IN THE SPRING, UH, WE'LL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT ON OUR FIRST DRAFT THRESHOLDS FOR OUR FIRST PRODUCT TYPE, AS WELL AS OUR DRAFT CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT SYSTEM.
THIS IS JUST, UM, MORE LINKS AND, AND WAYS YOU CAN GET IN TOUCH WITH US.
SO ANY QUESTIONS, UM, THAT I POSSIBLY COULD FEEL TODAY OR CAN TAKE BACK TO MY, MY TEAM.
UM, I'M, I'M GUESSING THAT WE WILL HAVE, HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS.
UM, TO START US OFF, I JUST WANTED TO GET A CLARIFICATION.
WERE YOU SAYING THAT, UH, THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY OR TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT IS ALREADY UTILIZING CONCRETE THAT'S LIKE IN THE TOP 20% OF LIKE BEST CAN, CAN YOU CLARIFY WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE? YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
SO, UM, SO THE FEDERAL, SO THE WAY I UNDERSTAND, AND I'M STILL FEELING RELATIVELY NEW TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT THE WAY I UNDERSTAND THE WAY FEDERAL FUNDING FLOWS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE, THE BUILDING OF HIGHWAYS IS IT GOES FROM THE FEDERAL HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT DIRECTLY TO STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATIONS.
AND THEN THEY USE THAT FUNDING TO, TO BUILD ROADS.
AND SO, UM, SO, SO THEY'RE USING TO SPEND INFLATION REDUCTION ACT MONEY, THAT, THAT THE STATE, I MEAN THE, THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RECEIVED THEN THAT THEY THEN DISPERSE TO THE STATE DOTS.
UM, IF THEY WANTED TO SPEND THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT MONEY ON LOW AND EMBODIED CARBON MATERIALS, THEY WERE USING THE EPAS INTERIM DETERMINATION, UH, DEFINITION FOR LOW AND BODY CARBON MATERIALS.
SO IT'S, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT IN YOUR STATE, IF A ROAD WAS BUILT USING INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FUNDS, THAT IT, THAT SOME OR ALL OF IT MET, UM, THAT THAT HIGH THRESHOLD.
UM, BUT I, I, I'M SURE THAT, I'M SURE YOUR STATE WOULD, WOULD BE SHARING THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, AND, AND CELEBRATING THAT
UM, SO I WOULD, I WOULD PROBABLY CHECK OUT YOUR STATE DOT'S WEBSITE OR EVEN MAYBE EVEN THE FEDERAL HIGHWAYS WEBSITE FOR, FOR SHARING OUT, UM, WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE ACROSS THE COUNTRY USING INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FUNDS.
AND SO, YEAH, I GUESS I'M JUST WONDERING, WITHOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DEC DECLARATIONS, HOW DID YOU DETERMINE WHAT THE BEST PERFORMING 20% IS? YEAH.
UM, I WASN'T HERE WHEN, WHEN THEY DID THE INTERIM DETERMINATION, BUT THERE ARE ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DECLARATIONS IN THE MARKETPLACE FOR, FOR THESE MATERIALS.
SO, UM, THEY'RE BASING IT OFF OF, UM, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT RESEARCH THAT WAS DONE, I THINK THROUGH OUR PARTNER AGENCIES AS WELL.
UM, BUT, BUT DOTS AND, AND, AND PURCHASERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR EPDS FOR QUITE A LONG TIME.
UM, IT, IT'S JUST, THERE'S, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH IN THE MARKETPLACE YET.
AND THEY HAVEN'T BEEN DEVELOPED IN A WAY, ALL OF THEM HAVEN'T BEEN DEVELOPED IN A WAY THAT WE FEEL, UM, IS, IS AS GOOD AS THEY CAN BE.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO INFLUENCE THE QUALITY OF THE EPDS IN THE MARKETPLACE THROUGH THE, UM, UH, PCR CRITERIA THAT WE ESTABLISHED AND ISSUED IN AUGUST.
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE OUT THERE, EPDS ARE OUT THERE, THERE'S JUST NOT ENOUGH.
SO I THINK OUR TEAM AND I GET, IF YOU, IF YOU'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT, I CAN, I CAN LEARN, I CAN GET MORE INFORMATION ON HOW THE TEAM, UM, ISSUED THAT INTERIM DETERMINATION.
BUT I, I, I BELIEVE IT WAS BASED ON THE EPDS THAT ARE OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE ALREADY AND RESEARCH THAT HAD BEEN DONE BY OUR PARTNER AGENCIES.
SO THEN I GUESS THAT WOULD IMPLY
[00:30:01]
THAT THE, THAT MONEY WOULD HAVE TO BE SPENT PURCHASING CONCRETE THAT DID FROM A SUPPLIER THAT DID HAVE AN EPD ALREADY? YES.APPRECIATE THE CLARIFICATION QUESTIONS I ASK A QUESTION? YEAH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I'M GONNA TRY TO CLUNK THROUGH MY QUESTION HERE, BECAUSE I KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT PROCUREMENT.
UM, I PROCURE FOOD WITH SCHOOLS AND, UM, HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING IN THE GOOD FOOD PURCHASING PROGRAM.
AND SO A LITTLE BIT FAMILIAR WITH UTILIZING PROCUREMENT AS A LEVER FOR CHANGE, UM, WITH SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES.
AND I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT, UM, HOW DO YOU IMAGINE PEOPLE UTILIZING THESE LABELS AND EPDS AND THINGS WITHOUT LIMITING FAIR AND OPEN COMPETITION AND MEETING ANY PROCUREMENT REGULATIONS THAT ARE REQUIRED? YEAH, GREAT QUESTION.
I MEAN, THAT IS ALWAYS A CHALLENGE.
THERE HAS TO BE, UH, ESPECIALLY WITH, UH, PUBLIC DOLLARS, UM, THERE'S A RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S, UH, MEETING ALL THE DIFFERENT REGULATIONS, UM, AND, AND NOT UNDULY BENEFITING ONE SUPPLIER.
UM, IT'S A GOOD QUESTION OF HOW, HOW INITIALLY THIS LABEL WILL, THE LABEL FOR LOW AND BODY CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS WILL BE USED.
UM, I THINK INITIALLY, UH, YOU MIGHT GIVE EXTRA POINTS FOR A PRODUCT THAT MEETS THE, THAT HAS THE LABEL.
UM, OR I MEAN, I THINK OF IT AS ANY THE WAY THAT ANY NEW SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT ENTERS THE MARKETPLACE, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT SET UP A SEPARATE AGREEMENT FOR THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT VERSUS THE LESS SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT.
UM, BUT I, I, I THINK WE'RE PRETTY EXPERIENCED AT THIS POINT IN THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE DRIVE TO THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT AND, AND REALLY PUSH THE MARKET TO, UH, SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WITH OUR OTHER, THE TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PREFERABLE PURCHASING PROGRAM THAT I'M A PART OF, WE HAVE A SET OF RECOMMENDED STANDARDS AND ECO LABELS THAT FEDERAL PURCHASERS USE.
AND WHEN WE RECOMMEND A LABEL, ONE OF OUR THINGS WE HAVE TO CHECK FOR IS MARKET AVAILABILITY.
UM, JUST BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF THE PURCHASER PROCESS.
SO I THINK PURCHASERS WILL HAVE TO DO THEIR DUE DUE DILIGENCE STILL.
UM, IF THEY WANT TO SPECIFY THAT PRODUCTS CARRY THIS LABEL, UM, AND I, IT'LL BE A, I THINK, SITUATION BY SITUATION BASIS.
UM, BUT IF YOUR ORGANIZATION HAS SOME FIRM, FIRM GOALS, YOU KNOW, LIKE A REDUCTION IN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS OF 30% BY 2030, UM, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE.
SO I THINK THERE WILL BE DIFFERENT WAYS AROUND IT IF, UM, IF IT TIES DIRECTLY INTO TO GOALS.
SO I THINK I, I GAVE THREE DIFFERENT ANSWERS,
YOU KNOW, I'M FAMILIAR WITH REQUEST FOR BID VERSUS A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.
MAYBE YOU USE A MORE FLEXIBLE PROCUREMENT TYPE.
UM, OR, OR FINALLY YOU DECIDE THAT YOU HAVE NO CHOICE.
YOU HAVE TO BUY A PRODUCT WITH THE LABEL BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY WAY YOU'RE GONNA MEET YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS.
DOES THAT, DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YES.
I THINK THAT'S A GOOD, GOOD QUESTION.
'CAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE CITY IS, IS HEADED.
UM, OR, OR WHAT, WHAT WE'VE BEEN TOLD SO FAR IS WORKING, WORKING TOWARDS THAT.
THAT IS A REQUIREMENT, I THINK.
UM, OTHER QUESTIONS? ALRIGHT, I, I DID HAVE, UM, I, I, I WENT TO THE WEBSITE ABOUT THE, UM, THE GRANT FUNDING, UM, FOR THE TRANSPORTATION MATERIALS.
AND I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT
[00:35:01]
I'M SEEING THIS CORRECTLY.IT LOOKS LIKE THIS GRANT CLOSES ON NOVEMBER 25TH.
IS THAT YOUR UNDERSTANDING? SO AN APPLICATION WOULD HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED BY THEN? YEAH.
ALRIGHT, I'M GONNA PASS THIS RIGHT ON
I'M HOPING, I'M HOPING THAT THEY WERE ALREADY AWARE OF IT.
I'M HOPING, I'M HOPING SO TOO, BUT, UM, YEAH.
DO YOU KNOW, IS IT SUPER ONEROUS OR IS THERE, IF THEY HAVEN'T HEARD OF IT, IS IT OUT OF THE REALM OF POSSIBILITY TO LIKE, GET SOMETHING TOGETHER IN A MONTH? IT, IT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
I THINK IT PROBABLY DEPENDS ON BOTH SIDES.
BOTH WHETHER THE APPLICATION IS ONEROUS OR YOUR CITY'S PROCESS FOR APPLYING IS, OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THERE'S MANY LEVELS OF APPROVAL BEFORE YOU HIT ZEN.
UM, I, I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEIR GRANT PROGRAM.
UM, BUT I, I KNOW THAT IN GENERAL WITH THESE PROGRAMS LIKE THE, THE PROGRAM, THE GRANT PROGRAM THAT WE JUST ISSUED, UM, OR THAT WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF AWARDING, UM, THERE'S A REAL INTEREST IN MAKING SURE WE REACH FOLKS WHO MAYBE ARE NOT PROFESSIONAL GRANT WRITERS.
UM, SO I WOULD ASSUME THAT THE FEDERAL HIGHWAYS GRANTS IS GOING IN THAT DIRECTION TOO.
UM, BUT I, I'M SORRY, I'M, BECAUSE I HAVEN'T APPLIED FOR ONE IN THE PAST, I'M NOT SURE.
YEAH, NO, THAT'S TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE.
UM, I'LL, I'LL PASS IT ON AND HOPE THAT, HOPE FOR THE BEST.
ANNA, I I HATE TO CALL YOU OUT, BUT I JUST, YOU KNOW, WANNA MAKE SURE
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THAT THEY, THAT, THAT WE, UH, ARE PREPARED FOR THE NEXT ROUND.
YEAH, I MEAN, I, I THINK THE, THE QUESTION I HAVE IS THE SAME ONE, WHICH IS RIGHT, LIKE, WHICH IS LIKE, HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT THIS AND HOW DO, HOW DO WE IMPLEMENT THIS FASTER? YEAH.
I MEAN, I THINK THERE ARE TOOLS OUT THERE ALREADY.
I THINK THE, UM, THE ONE THAT I SHARE, LEMME SEE, IT'S STILL ON YOUR SCREEN.
THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, UH, I THINK IT WAS HAD THE LINK TO THE SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES TOOL.
I WOULD SAY START BY TAKING A, IF YOU HAVEN'T YET, TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
UM, I KNOW IN, IN MY PREVIOUS ROLE, TWO ROLES AGO, WORKING FOR THE STATE OF MINNESOTA, LIKE IT WAS REALLY HELPFUL TO SEE WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS DOING.
UM, SORT OF, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE DOING IT TOO
UM, AND THAT, THAT SUSTAINABLE FACILITIES TOOL IS REALLY, UM, IT'S PRETTY AWESOME BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S SHARING SO MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S DOING AND, AND REALLY KIND OF CAN HELP YOU SET UP AN APPROACH.
UM, AND I THINK PROBABLY PRIORITIZING, UM, YOU KNOW, ON, ON A SPECIFIC PROJECT OR, UM, YOU KNOW, FINDING THE PARTNERS THAT ARE MOST WILLING.
UM, I KNOW THAT THE CITY OF PORTLAND WHERE I LIVE HAS BEEN REALLY SUCCESSFUL IN TESTING OUT LOW AND BODY CARBON CONCRETE ON SPECIFIC PROJECTS.
THEY'LL, THEY'LL BE SPEAKING TO US NEXT MONTH.
SO, UM, SO YEAH, SO I THINK, I THINK THERE ARE SOME GREAT EXAMPLES OF WORK THAT'S BEING DONE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, BUT ALSO AT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT LEVEL THAT, UM, I KNOW CAN SOMETIMES WORK TO KIND OF IMPEL ACTION.
BUT I THINK REALLY PRIORITIZING AND FINDING AN OPPORTUNITY THAT FEELS LIKE YOU HAVE A WILLING PARTNER.
UM, AND MAYBE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF WHERE IT'S WORKED BEFORE WOULD BE, WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO JUMP IN.
'CAUSE IT WAS GREAT THAT, UH, ANNA WAS ABLE TO GET THEM LINED UP SO QUICKLY.
IT SEEMED LIKE THEY WERE EAGER TO, YOU KNOW, TO SHARE.
UM, AND I THINK FOR, YOU KNOW, IF, IF YOU ARE ABLE TO COME BACK TO US AND SHARE ANY OF THOSE EXAMPLES THAT YOU KNOW OF IN OTHER PLACES, UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
UM, YOU KNOW, TO US AND, AND, AND ULTIMATELY TO THE CITY TO SEE LIKE WHERE THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, PAST AND ONGOING SUCCESS STORIES.
SO WE DON'T HAVE TO KIND OF FEEL LIKE WE'RE RECREATING THE WHEEL HERE, UM, OR CREATING IT.
'CAUSE WE, WE DON'T NEED TO, RIGHT.
AND, YOU KNOW, I GUESS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DEFINITELY WERE HEARING, UM, FROM THE CITY ENGINEERS AS WHEN THEY PRESENTED TO US, WHICH WAS I THINK LIKE FEBRUARY OR SOMETHING, UM, WAS THAT THEY WERE DOING A LOT OF TESTING AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE PRODUCTS THAT WE'RE USING KIND OF DIFFERENT CHEMISTRIES OR DIFFERENT, UM, THEY WERE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT THAT THEY STILL MET THE STANDARDS.
[00:40:01]
I THINK ANY INFORMATION THAT YOU COULD SHARE WITH US ABOUT HOW, WHAT, WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE ON THAT FRONT, YOU KNOW, IT, IT SEEMS VERY IMPRACTICAL FOR EACH CITY TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH, YOU KNOW, VERIFYING THAT EACH DIFFERENTAND SO I THINK ANYTHING THAT YOU COULD SHARE WITH US TO HELP SHORTCUT THAT PROCESS TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHILE STILL MAINTAINING INTEGRITY OF, YOU KNOW, OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENT.
AND I KNOW THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES IS FINDING NOT ONLY EXAMPLES WHERE IT'S BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN OTHER PLACES, BUT EXAMPLES THAT FEEL, UM, COMPARABLE TO, TO WHERE YOU ALL ARE.
BECAUSE I, I CAN TELL YOU
IT IMPACTS, YOU KNOW, A WHOLE BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT I'M NOT A CITY ENGINEER, I'M NOT THINKING ABOUT, BUT I, I KNOW THAT THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT.
SO, UM, HOW WE CAN BUILD UP THE, THE, THE LIBRARY OF, OF, UM, EXAMPLES THAT, THAT YOU CAN PULL FROM.
SO, UM, SO THE NAYSAYERS CAN'T JUST COME BACK WITH, WELL THAT'S, THAT'S DIFFERENT BECAUSE THINGS ARE DIFFERENT HERE.
UM, BUT I, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WHERE I USED TO LIVE IN MINNESOTA, THEY'RE A, A LEADER IN LOW AND BODY CARBON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS, AND THEY HAVE ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING CLIMATES.
SO, UM, IF THEY CAN GET A, GET, GET PAST, YOU KNOW, WELL, THINGS ARE DIFFERENT HERE,
UM, I THINK THAT THAT, THAT THE SAME CAN BE DONE FOR YOU ALL.
SO, UM, YEAH, I STILL HAVE THAT, THAT THOSE NOTES FROM OUR PLANNING CALL
AND, UM, AND I DEFINITELY, UM, PLAN TO TALK TO MY COLLEAGUE WHO SPECIFICALLY FOCUSES ON CONCRETE, UM, TO SEE WHAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE AND WHAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SHARE.
AND I, UM, I KNOW AT A, AN EVENT I WAS AT RECENTLY, THE, THE REQUEST FOR MORE STORYTELLING FROM THE FEDERAL BUY CLEAN EFFORTS, BECAUSE A LOT OF WORK HAS BEEN DONE THROUGH THE FEDERAL BUY CLEAN PROGRAM.
AND NOW AN EXTENSION OF THAT BEING PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE STATES, UM, WE NEED THOSE STORIES TO BE, TO BE PRODUCED SO THAT, UM, OR WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT TRYING TO REINVENT THINGS.
I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION, BUT I'M GONNA LET ANYBODY ELSE GO IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS ONE.
I'M JUST WONDERING, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU TALKED ABOUT THE STANDARDS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT DEC DECLARATIONS, SHOULD WE EXPECT, SO I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR CITY IS, I THINK SET A, I THINK NOW IT'S BEEN MOVED TO TO MARCH OF 2025 DEADLINE FOR THEIR SUPPLIERS TO PROVIDE THOSE.
UM, SHOULD WE EXPECT THAT THEY ARE AUTOMATICALLY WORKING ON THOSE, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY'RE ADHERING TO THOSE STANDARDS? OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD NEED TO BE SPECIFIED IN THAT REQUEST? LIKE ARE THEY REQUIRED TO FOLLOW THE STANDARDS? OR IS IT JUST GUIDANCE? YEAH.
UM, I THINK THERE ARE SOME BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR EPDS THAT YOU COULD ALREADY SET.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, A MAIN FOUNDATION OF OUR DATA QUALITY EFFORTS IS OUR CRITERIA FOR PRODUCT CATEGORY RULES OR PCRS AND E.
SO WHAT WE'RE AIMING FOR IS THAT ALL EPDS THAT, UM, ARE SUBMITTED FOR OUR LABELING PROGRAM, THAT THEY BE BUILT ON THE PC ON PCRS THAT MEET OUR PCR CRITERIA.
THE THING IS THAT PCRS TAKE A LONG TIME TO DEVELOP, AND THEY'RE UPDATED ON SPECIFIC DEVELOP REVISION CYCLES.
SO, UM, I, AND I THINK YOU GUYS ARE FOCUSING ON CONCRETE FOR THIS UPCOMING MARCH DEADLINE, IS THAT RIGHT? YEAH.
I'VE HEARD THAT CONCRETE, THE CONCRETE PCR, AND THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT CONCRETE PCRS, I GUESS.
BUT, UM, AT LEAST ONE OF THE CONCRETE PCRS IS IN REVISION RIGHT NOW, AND, UM, MIGHT BE CLOSER TO ADHERING TO OUR PCR CRITERIA, SO THEN EPDS THAT ARE PRODUCED AGAINST THAT PCR WOULD MEET OUR STANDARDS.
UM, BUT I WOULDN'T JUST EXPECT THAT ALL THE EPDS THAT ARE BEING SUBMITTED TO YOUR
[00:45:01]
CITY ARE MEETING OUR CRITERIA.UM, I DON'T THINK THAT'S A REASON TO JUST SAY UNACCEPTABLE.
UM, BUT, UM, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING, I'M GONNA TAKE A NOTE OF THAT, LIKE HOW, HOW CAN YOU TELL THAT AN EPD IS GOOD IN THIS INTERIM PERIOD WHILE PCRS ARE STILL BEING UPDATED? THANK YOU.
WELL, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU SHARING ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH US AND WILLINGNESS TO, TO COME BACK AND, AND SHARE MORE.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL DEFINITELY BE, BE BACK IN TOUCH AND, YOU KNOW, UH, TAKE, TAKE YOU UP ON THAT
YEAH, NO, IT WAS GREAT TO, TO GET A CHANCE TO SHARE ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS AND HOPEFULLY, UM, SOME OF THE IMMEDIATE WAYS TO, TO TAKE ACTION, UM, FEEL RELEVANT TO YOU ALL AND, UM, YEAH, LOOK FORWARD TO, TO THE NEXT CONVERSATION.
AND HAVE A GOOD REST OF YOUR EVENING.
ALRIGHT, SO I THINK THE TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS IS, ARE THEY MOVING TO THE NEXT AGENDA? YEAH, THEY'LL DO IT IN NOVEMBER.
[4. Presentation on Tree Regulations and Protections – Naomi Rotramel and Daniel Priest, Development Services Department.]
UM, MOVE ON TO OUR PRESENTATION ON TREE REGULATIONS AND PROTECTIONS.WE'VE GOT NAOMI AND DANIEL PRESENTING, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? ALRIGHT.
UM, WITH ME IS DANIEL PRIEST, HE'S ONE OF OUR STAFF, ENVIRONMENTAL, UM, COMPLIANCE SPECIALIST.
SO WE'RE GONNA KIND OF ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS AND, UH, PRESENT.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WANNA GIVE A LITTLE HISTORY, OVERALL HISTORY OF THE TREE ORDINANCE.
UH, IT WAS ADOPTED IN 1983 AND A COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, MARGARET HOFFMAN WAS THE CHAMPIONED, UH, PRESERVING TREES.
AND IT WAS OUR FIRST TREE ORDINANCE.
AND RIGHT OUTSIDE CITY HALL, THERE'S A PARK DEDICATED TO HER AND HER EFFORTS TO PRESERVE TREES, UM, FOR THE LAST 41 YEARS.
UH, LIKE I SAID, 1983 WAS THE PREVIOUS OR IS THE TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE.
AND THIS IS A GLIMPSE WHAT THE SKYLINE LOOKED AT THIS TIME.
UH, AND IN 2010, CITY COUNCIL PASSED THE HERITAGE TREE ORDINANCE.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS I WANTED TO BREACH ON THAT YOU GUYS PROBABLY KNOW, IS WHY DO WE PROTECT TREES? UH, TREES IMPROVE THE AIR QUALITY, UH, REDUCE FLOOD IMPACTS BY SLOWING AND FILTERING RAINWATER.
THEY CONNECT TO US WITH NATURE, UM, AND IMPROVE HEALTH OUTCOMES, UM, AND OVERALL ENVIRONMENT.
UH, TREES ARE GOOD FOR BUSINESS.
UM, THEY'RE ALL PUBLISHED RESEARCH STUDIES SHOW THAT SHOPPERS SPEND MORE TIME AND MONEY IN SHOPPING AREAS WITH GOOD TREE COVERAGE.
UM, TREE ROOTS HOLD THE SOIL IN PLACE FOR EROSION, UH, DURING RAIN EVENTS.
AND THE SHADE FROM THE TREES CAN COOL THE AIR UP TO EIGHT DEGREES, UM, CELSIUS.
SO MORE SO THAN EVEN OF A COVERED AREA, UH, THROUGH THE BIOLOGICAL PHYSICAL FUNCTIONS OF TREES, UM, THEY REDUCE ENERGY G USE AND, UH, PROVIDE SHADE AND PROVIDE HABITAT FOR WILDLIFE AND GIVE US A SENSE OF PLACE.
UM, SO TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY ANDRE OF OUR URBAN FOREST, UM, THE CITY STRIVES TO PLANT TREES, PRESERVE TREES DURING LAND DEVELOPMENT AND CARE FOR EXISTING TREES.
UM, ONE OF THOSE I MENTIONED IN OUR, IN ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS IS THE AMOUNT OF STORM WATER, UH, THAT A TREE CAN INFILTRATE AND, UM, AND SLOW THE AMOUNT OF RAINWATER TO THE GROUND AND REDUCE FLOODING.
UM, SO WE HAVE, AND I'LL GO INTO THE NEXT SLIDE ON THE LEVELS OF PROTECTION, A PROTECTED TREE IS 19 INCHES.
UM, SO THAT'S THE LAST SLIDE OF HOW MUCH WATER IS BEING ABSORBED THROUGH TREES.
THE TREE ORDINANCES ARE LOCATED IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE 25 B SUBCHAPTER 25 A, SUBCHAPTER B.
UM, THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND THE TREE ORDINANCE PROHIBITS THE REMOVAL OF A PROTECTED OR HERITAGE TREE WITHOUT A PERMIT.
UH, EIGHT INCHES AND GREATER TREES ARE PRESERVED
[00:50:01]
TO THE EXTENT FEASIBLE ON SITE PLAN APPLICATIONS.UH, THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND THE TREE ORDINANCE ALSO DEFINES REMOVAL, WHICH IS THE PHYSICAL REMOVAL OVER PRUNING EXCESSIVE ROOT DISTURBANCE.
IT ALSO CREATED IN 1983, THE POSITION OF THE CITY ARBORISTS TO IMPLEMENT THIS SUB-CHAPTER, UH, BE OF 25 8, UH, APPROVAL CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL.
UH, REASONABLE USE, REASONABLE ACCESS, OR DEAD DISEASE AND IMMINENT HAZARD.
AND IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE IN THE ORDINANCE, YOU ALSO HAVE THE ADMINISTRATIVE RULES, UM, WHICH WE'LL GO INTO, UH, LATER AT THE PRESERVATION CRITERIA, PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS MITIGATIONS.
AND IT ALSO SPEAKS TO THE VARIANCES AND APPEALS WHEN A PERMIT IS DENIED.
SO WHAT ARE THE TREE REGULATIONS SEPARATING OUT CODE, WHICH IS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL, AND THE CRITERIA MANUAL, WHICH AUTHORIZES THE CITY ARBORIST TO WRITE THE RULES ON PRESERVATION MITIGATION.
UM, SO WE HAVE IN 25 8 6 IS THE GENERAL PROVISIONS DEFINITIONS, UM, WHERE THE CITY ARBORIST AUTHORIZES THE RULES, UM, APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS, UH, PROTECTED TREES, APPROVAL CRITERIA.
AND THEN WE GO INTO DIVISION THREE, WHICH IS THE HERITAGE TREES, WHICH IS THAT 2010 ORDINANCE APPROVAL CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL AND VARIANCES.
SO WITHIN THE CRITERIA MANUAL, WHICH IS THE PRESERVATIONS, WE HAVE THE SURVEY REQUIREMENTS SURVEY AND PLANNED, UM, DEPICTIONS, HILL COUNTY ROADWAY ORDINANCE DESIGN CRITERIA AROUND TREES, PROTECTION AROUND THE TREES, MITIGATION AND PROTECTION.
AND SO THERE'S A COUPLE PATHWAYS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF WHERE THE TREES, UM, THERE'S THE, IF THEY'RE PRESERVED, THEY MUST MEET THE CRITERIA IN THE LAND DEVELOP IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA MILL MANUAL.
IF THEY REMOVED, THAT'S AFTER YOU PROVIDE REASONABLE USE AND ACCESS TO A TREE.
IT MUST FALL UNDER THAT SECTION OF CODE 25 8 6 2 4.
AND AGAIN, UH, THE CODE IS THE CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL, PREVENTS REASONABLE USE ACCESS TO THE SITE OR DEAD DISEASE, IMMINENT HAZARD.
AND THEN IN THE CRITERIA MANUAL, YOU SEE THE RULES FOR PROTECTING TREES, AND THAT'S WHERE WE GET INTO THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, WHICH DANIEL WILL BE GETTING INTO IN A BIT.
AND THIS IS A, A GRAPHIC FROM THE CITY ARBORIST WEBPAGE, UH, WHERE WE EXPLAIN KIND OF THE LEVELS OF ORDINANCE OF PROTECTION.
SO EIGHT INCHES AND LARGER ABOUT THAT BIG.
UM, A SURVEY IS REQUIRED ON COMMERCIAL SITE PLAN SUBMITTALS INCLUDING MULTIFAMILY, UH, 19 INCHES ARE PROTECTED.
THEN WE, THAT'S A CAPITAL P PROTECTED, UH, 19 INCHES IS RIGHT AROUND HERE FOR ME, AND THAT'S WHERE ALL SPECIES ARE PROTECTED.
AND A TREE PERMIT IS REQUIRED FOR REMOVAL OR IMPACT, UM, BOTH ON RESIDENTIAL AND PUBLIC AND COMMERCIAL.
HERE'S WHERE WE GET INTO THE 24 INCHES AND GREATER OF ONLY A CERTAIN SPECIES.
THESE ARE YOUR OAKS, YOUR ELMS, YOUR PECANS, YOUR WALNUTS, UH, YOUR, UH, BALD CYPRESSES, AND ONLY CERTAIN SPECIES QUALIFY ONCE THEY REACH THAT 24 INCHES.
A VARIANCE IS REQUIRED FOR REMOVAL OR IMPACTS THAT EXCEED CODE REQUIREMENTS.
VARIANCES CAN BE ADMINISTRATIVE, AND THEN THERE ARE GREATER FINANCIAL PENALTIES FOR UNPERMITTED IMPACTS.
AND THEN OUR LAST CORNEA TREES IS A 30 INCHES AND GREATER OF A SINGLE STEM.
UH, IF THE TREE IS NOT DEAD, DISEASED, IMMINENT HAZARD, ALL THE PROPOSED VARIANCES MUST GO THROUGH THE PUBLIC PROCESS, WHICH IS THE LAND, UH, USE COMMISSION COMPRISED OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
AND REGULATED TREES ARE INCLUDE ALL SPECIES INVASIVES HACK BERRIES.
UM, WE ARE REQUIRED TO, UM, THERE IS A REQUIREMENT, A REQUIREMENT FOR A PERMIT, EVEN IF THE TREE IS INVASIVE OR IT'S HAZARDOUS.
WE JUST NEED TO REVIEW, CONFIRM THE SPECIES, CONFIRM THE SIZE.
UM, SO ALL TREES ARE PROTECTED.
UM, CERTAIN SPECIES, AS I MENTIONED, ONCE ARE DESIGNATED HERITAGE TREES ONCE THEY REACH THAT 24 INCHES DIAMETER, PROBABLY AROUND LIKE THIS, MUCH TO VISUALIZE HOW BIG THEY ARE.
AND THEN PALM TREES ARE NOT REGULATED UNDER THE CITY OF AUSTIN ORDINANCE.
IT'S CONSIDERED A MONOCOT, A GRASS SPECIES.
[00:55:01]
GRAPHIC FROM WHAT WE LOOK AT WHEN WE REVIEW PLANS.THIS IS SINGLE FAMILY DEVELOPMENT.
UM, SURVEYS MUST INCLUDE THE SPECIES, TRUNK, DIAMETER, AND LOCATION ON THE PROPERTY.
UH, SURVEYS FOR SITE PLANS, COMMERCIAL SITE PLANS, INCLUDING ANY PUBLIC PROJECTS.
THEY MUST BE CERTIFIED BY A LAND SURVEYING PROFESSIONAL THAT CAN ALSO SURVEY ALL THE TOPOLOGICAL, UM, VARIANTS AND SUCH.
UM, SURVEYS ARE NOT REQUIRED ON RESIDENTIAL PRO ON SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL PRODUCTS AND DO NOT NEED TO BE SURVEYED BY A LAND SURVEYING PROFESSIONAL.
I'M WITH THE, THE CITY ARBORIST PROGRAM.
UH, SO MOVING INTO KIND OF FURTHER INTO THE CRITERIA MANUAL, UH, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT SECTION 3 5 2.
THIS HAS TO DO WITH THE PRESERVATION CRITERIA, AND THIS IS KIND OF THE HEART OF THE CRITERIA MANUAL.
SO YOU WANNA THINK IN TERMS OF YOU'VE GOT A TREE ON YOUR PROPERTY, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE DEVELOPING AROUND IT, AND THE INTENTION IS TO PRESERVE THAT TREE.
YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THAT TREE IS GOING TO SURVIVE OVER THE LONG TERM? AND THE CRITERIA MANUAL IS HOW WE ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UH, SO, UM, WE'VE GOT TWO SECTIONS, UM, HERE IN 3 5 2, WE'VE GOT THE STANDARD PRESERVATION CRITERIA, AND THEN WE HAVE SOME OPTIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE.
UH, BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT, I WANNA TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT WHAT IS A TREE.
UM, YOU KNOW, SO WE'VE ALL, YOU KNOW, HAVE THIS IDEA OF TREES, YOU KNOW, THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE UP ABOVE GROUND.
THE ROOTS GO DOWN BELOW GROUND, UH, KIND OF A MIRROR IMAGE OF EACH OTHER.
I KNOW I CAME ACROSS IMAGES LIKE THIS IN SCHOOL, UH, TALKING ABOUT TREES, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THAT'S NOT WHAT TREES ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE.
UM, KIND OF WHERE, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE REAL WORLD.
THIS RIGHT HERE IS A MUCH BETTER VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF HOW TREES, UH, ACTUALLY GROW.
UM, THE, LIKE IN A CONFERENCE YEARS AGO, I, UH, HEARD SOMEBODY DESCRIBE A TREE AS A WINE GLASS SITTING ON TOP OF A DINNER PLATE.
UM, AND SO IF YOU THINK THE STEM OF THE GLASS IS THE TRUNK OF THE TREE, THE CUP IS THE, UH, CROWN OF THE TREE, AND THAT DINNER PLATE IS THE ROOT SYSTEM.
AND, YOU KNOW, WON'T GET TOO MUCH INTO BIOLOGY, UM, HERE, GIVEN OUR LIMITED TIME.
UH, BUT THE TWO THINGS YOU WANT TO NOTICE ABOUT THAT DINNER PLATE ANALOGY IS HOW SHALLOW THAT DINNER PLATE IS RELATIVE TO THE HEIGHT OF THE TREE, AND THEN HOW MUCH FURTHER BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE DRIP LINE THAT A DINNER PLATE GOES.
RIGHT? THE ROOT SYSTEM CAN EXTEND THREE TO FOUR TIMES THE OVERALL SPREAD OF THE, OF THE CROWN.
UH, AND MOST OF THE REALLY CRITICAL FEEDER ROOTS ARE GONNA BE IN THE TOP 12 INCHES OF SOIL.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL HAVE SOME SINKER ROOTS THAT THE TREE WILL PUT DOWN FOR STABILITY.
UH, THERE'S SITUATIONS WHERE ROOTS WILL GO DEEPER, BUT WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE FEEDER ROOTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY ABSORBING WATER, ABSORBING AIR, ABSORBING NUTRIENTS OUT THE SOIL, THAT'S ALL GONNA BE UP IN THOSE TOP FEW INCHES OF SOIL.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON.
AND I'VE MENTIONED THIS JUST BECAUSE THIS INFORMS WHAT, WHAT THE ACTUAL CRITERIA ARE.
UH, AND SO WE REGULATE THIS BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T NECESSARILY GET AN IMMEDIATE SENSE OF WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES OF A PARTICULAR ACTION ARE WITH TREES.
YOU KNOW, TREES ARE LARGE, YOU KNOW, REALLY BIG ORGANISMS. THEY HAVE, IF THEY'RE HEALTHY, THEY HAVE A LOT OF AN INERTIA.
THEY CAN, UM, LAST A LONG TIME EVEN AFTER PRETTY SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT CAN TAKE THREE TO FIVE YEARS, UH, FOR THE, FOR THE IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION TO FULLY SHOW UP.
YOU KNOW, AND IN MOST CASES, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE, YOU KNOW, THE BUILDER HAS HANDED THE, YOU KNOW, THE KEYS TO THE, UH, NEW OWNER LONG BEFORE THAT, YEARS AFTER THE FACT.
YOU KNOW, THEY'LL, YOU KNOW, THEY'LL LOOK UP THE TREES DROPPING BIG BRANCHES, THEY CALL UP AN ARBORIST.
AND, UH, THE ANSWER TO WHY IS MY TREE DYING IS ACTUALLY YEARS IN THE PAST.
AND SO, ONE OF THE PRIMARY REASONS THAT WE HAVE THESE REGULATIONS, SAME AS WE HAVE ANY REGULATIONS FOR ANY OTHER TRADE THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH BUILDING, IS WE WANT TO AVOID THESE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
THERE'S VERY FEW PEOPLE LOOKING TO KILL TREES ON A SITE WHERE THEY'RE BUILDING A HOUSE.
EVERYBODY WANTS THAT TREE TO STILL BE THERE.
THE PROBLEM IS MAKING SURE THAT THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.
AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT DAMAGE TO TREES, OUR TERM OF ART, UH, THAT WE USE AS IMPACTS.
SO AN IMPACT IS ANYTHING THAT, UH, HAS THE POTENTIAL TO KILL OR HARM THE TREE.
WE CAN LOOK AT THIS AS EITHER PHYSICAL DAMAGE OR DISTURBANCE OF THE GROWING ENVIRONMENT.
UM, PHYSICAL DAMAGE IS PRETTY OBVIOUS.
IT'S THINGS LIKE BREAKING TEARING, BRANCHES, UH, DAMAGE TO THE BARK, UH, DAMAGE TO ROOTS EXCAVATION WITHIN THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE.
UH, THINGS THAT HAVE TO DO MORE WITH DISTURBANCE OF THE GROWING ENVIRONMENT WOULD BE THINGS LIKE SOIL COMPACTION, CHANGES TO THE SOIL DEPTH.
THERE'S A SOIL CHEMISTRY, UM, CHANGES TO DRAINAGE.
YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T WANT A BATHTUB AROUND THE TREE, BUT IF THE TREE IS USED TO A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF WATER, YOU ALSO DON'T WANT TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WATER AROUND IT.
SO, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL IMPACTS, WELL, SOME IMPACTS BY ITSELF IS ENOUGH TO, YOU KNOW, KILL THE TREE.
YOU KNOW, I'VE WORKED SITES WHERE, YOU KNOW, SOME, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY RUNS A TRENCHER, YOU KNOW, FOUR FEET FROM THE TRUNK OF A HERITAGE OAK AT THAT POINT.
THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT THAT.
THAT TREE IS PHYSICALLY UNSAFE.
UM, THERE'S NO AMOUNT OF REMEDIAL CARE
[01:00:01]
THAT THAT'S GONNA CORRECT THAT.BUT, UM, WHAT IS MORE SUBTLE IS YOU CAN KILL A TREE JUST AS EASILY WITH THE ACCUMULATION OF A, YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF SMALLER IMPACTS THEY ADD UP AND THEY STRESS THE TREE AND IT CAN LEAD TO THE DEATH OF THE TREE.
MOST, MOST DAMAGE TO TREES OCCURRED DUE TO DEVELOPMENT.
I CAN'T REMEMBER THE EXACT STATISTIC, BUT I'VE SEEN, YOU KNOW, THE NUMBERS THROWN AROUND BEFORE THAT, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE 75, 80% OF TREE MORTALITY IN AN URBAN CONTEXT IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO HUMAN ACTIVITIES SUCH AS DEVELOPMENT.
WE'RE THE, WE ARE THE INVASIVE PEST ON TREES IN A CERTAIN SENSE.
UM, SO WE PROTECT TREES IN THE CITY OF ARBOR PROGRAM THROUGH A REVIEW OF PLANS AND THEN OF ENFORCEMENT OF THE TREE PROTECTION ON ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION SITES.
UM, IF WE DON'T MEET THAT, THEN THE TREE IS AT SIGNIFICANT RISK OF PREMATURE DEATH, UH, WOULD COUNT AS A REMOVAL.
ONE OF THE REALLY STRIKING THINGS ABOUT OUR ORDINANCE IS THAT IT TREATS A, THE FULL REMOVAL, THE PHYSICAL REMOVAL OF THE TREE, THE SAME AS REMOVAL BY IMPACT.
THAT'S A TERM WE USE TO DESCRIBE A TREE THAT HAS BIT DAMAGED TO THE POINT THAT IN OUR PROFESSIONAL TECHNICAL JUDGMENT, THE TREE IS NOT GOING TO SURVIVE OVER THE LONG TERM, AND THERE ARE NOT STEPS THAT CAN BE TAKEN TO REMEDIATE THAT DAMAGE.
AND SO, THE, THE KIND OF, THE STARTING POINT FOR ALL OF THESE PRESERVATION CRITERIA IS THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE.
SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING DOWN ON A SITE, IT'S GOT A TREE ON IT, YOU WANNA PICTURE A CIRCLE DRAWN AROUND THAT, THAT TREE, THE RADIUS OF THAT CIRCLE IS GOING TO BE IN FEET, THE NUMBER OF INCHES THAT, THAT IS THE DIAMETER OF THE TRUNK.
YOU KNOW, WE TALKED EARLIER ABOUT THE THRESHOLDS FOR, UH, PERMIT, UH, REQUIREMENTS.
YOU KNOW, 19 INCHES, 24 INCHES, EIGHT INCHES, THAT SAME NUMBER IS GONNA INFORM THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE.
SO IF YOU'VE GOT A 20 INCH TREE ON MY SITE, UH, THAT TREE HAS A CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, 20 FEET OUT FROM THE CENTER OF THE TRUNK.
AND THAT, THAT CRITICAL ROOT ZONE IS THE BASIS OF ALL OF OUR RULES.
THERE ARE TWO SMALLER CIRCLES YOU WANNA PICTURE IN THERE.
THE HALF AND THE QUARTER CRITICAL ROOT ZONES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH HOW CLOSE YOU CAN GET TO THE TREE.
UH, THOSE TOGETHER ARE HOW WE ASSESS ROOT IMPACTS.
SO WE'VE GOT THREE CRITERIA THAT FALL WITHIN OUR STANDARD PRESERVATION CRITERIA.
THESE ARE THE THREE CRITERIA THAT IF YOUR PROJECT MEETS THESE THREE THINGS, YOU, YOU KNOW, THUMBS UP, YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE EXPECT THAT TREE TO SURVIVE OVER THE LONG TERM.
UM, IT'S NOT GONNA HAVE ANY ISSUES.
ONE, IT HAS TO DO WITH THE AREA, THE PERCENTAGE OF THE AREA OF THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, UH, THAT CAN BE IMPACTED.
UM, SO SOME, NOT ALL OF THESE UP HERE ARE, UM, WOULD BE APPROVABLE TO JUST UP HERE KIND OF FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, TO ILLUSTRATE.
UH, SO THE RED AREA, CONSIDER THAT AN IMPACTED AREA OF THE WHITE AREA WOULD BE, UH, PRESERVED OR PROTECTED.
UH, SO ON THE LEFT THERE, THAT'S WHAT 50% OF THAT CIRCLE WOULD LOOK LIKE.
IF YOU DREW A LINE RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE, RIGHT OF THE TRUNK, WE WOULD NOT APPROVE THAT.
THAT'S JUST THERE FOR, UH, ILLUSTRATION.
THEY'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING A LOT MORE LIKE WHAT WE SEE ON PLANS TYPICALLY, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN IMAGINE THERE ON THE BOTTOM, THAT RED AREA MIGHT BE A DRIVEWAY UP, UH, UP AT THE TOP YOU'VE GOT THE SIDE OF A STRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, A HOUSE OR A BUILDING.
AND, UH, CUMULATIVELY THEY ADD UP TO 30% IMPACT.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT A COUPLE OF BUILDINGS ON THE RIGHT AND THEN YOU'VE GOT THAT TRENCH, SOMEBODY JUST DROPPING THAT TRENCH RIGHT THERE.
AND, UH, EVERYTHING ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE TRENCH COUNTS AS IMPACT.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS THAT WHEN YOU RUN THAT TRENCH RIGHT THERE, YOU'RE SEVERING ALL OF THOSE ROOTS THAT ARE CONNECTED TO THE TREE THROUGH THAT POINT.
AND SO YOU'RE NOT ONLY IMPACTING THE FOOTPRINT OF THE TRENCH, YOU'RE IMPACTING EVERYTHING THAT'S COMING THROUGH THAT AREA TO KEEP, YOU KNOW, TO, UH, SUPPORT THE TREE.
UM, AND, UH, I MENTION THAT 'CAUSE WE'VE GOT SOME ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A MOMENT, UH, THAT CAN GET AROUND THAT.
UM, BUT THAT'S, THAT RIGHT THERE IS THE FIRST CRITERIA.
50% OF THE TOTAL AREA MAY NOT BE IMPACTED.
WE'RE GONNA COMBINE THAT WITH, UH, CRITERIA TWO CRITERIA.
ONE HAS TO DO WITH THE TOTAL AREA, UH, CRITERIA TWO HAS TO DO WITH PROXIMITY TO THE TRUNK.
UM, AND SO WHAT I'VE DONE HERE IS, UH, OVERLAID, UH, THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, UH, WITH, WITH, WITH THAT BIG CIRCLE.
AND SO NO IMPACTS WITHIN THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE OTHER THAN GRADE CHANGES OF LESS THAN FOUR INCHES.
YOU CAN TAKE AWAY FOUR OF SOIL, YOU CAN ADD FOUR INCHES OF SOIL.
ANYTHING BEYOND THAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED AN IMPACT.
UM, NO, NO IMPACTS OF ANY KIND ARE ALLOWED WITHIN THE QUARTER CRITICAL ROOT ZONE.
SO, YOU KNOW, ON THERE, ON THE LEFT, YOU CAN SEE WHAT A 20% IMPACT MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
UH, WHEN, IF IT'S OVERLAID WITH THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, THAT LITTLE CURVE AROUND THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, THAT MIGHT BE AN ACTUAL SHAPE OF THE STRUCTURE.
I'VE SEEN, YOU KNOW, I'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, PROJECTS WHERE THE, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE BUILDING IS ACTUALLY CURVED AROUND THE HALF CRITICAL.
UM, IT MIGHT MEAN THAT THE STRUCTURE IS SPANNING OVER THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN A MINUTE.
THERE'S A, A NUMBER OF OPTIONS AVAILABLE IN TERMS OF HOW TO ACCOMMODATE THESE REQUIREMENTS.
BUT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IN TERMS OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT, UM, THAT'S WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE.
SO THIS, UH, MIDDLE ONE, THIS IS WHAT WOULD LOOK LIKE IF YOU TOOK FULL ADVANTAGE OF YOUR 50% AREA FROM CRITERIA ONE AND OVERLAY IT ON THE HALF
[01:05:01]
CRITICAL ROOT ZONE REQUIREMENT.YOU CAN SEE YOU KIND OF GET MORE OF A C SHAPE DRAWN AROUND THERE.
UH, AND THEN HERE ON THE RIGHT, I THROW THIS ONE IN THERE BECAUSE IT'S A VERY COMMON MISTAKE THAT'S NOT APPROVABLE.
UM, BUT PEOPLE HEAR HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, UH, AND THEN THEY HEAR 50% OF THE ROOT ZONE AND THEY THINK, WELL, 50 AND HALF ARE THE SAME THING.
SO IF I PUT MY FENCE AT THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, I'VE PRESERVED 50% OF THE AREA, UNFORTUNATELY, AREA, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, THE AREA, UH, YOU KNOW, INCREASES THE SQUARE OF THE DISTANCE.
AND SO, UM, IF YOU PUT YOUR FENCE AT THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, YOU'VE ONLY PROTECTED 25% OF THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE.
FINALLY, UH, WE DO WANT TO MENTION THE ABOVE GROUND PART OF THE TREE.
UH, YOU MAY NOT REMOVE MORE THAN 25% OF THE LIVING CROWN.
UH, PRUNING HAS TO BE COMPLIANT WITH, UH, INDUSTRY STANDARDS.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU'RE, IT'S BEEN PRUNED CORRECTLY, BUT THE, THE STANDARD IS NO MORE THAN 25% OF THE LIVING CROWN.
SO, IF YOU CAN MEET THOSE THREE CRITERIA, UM, THE TREE IS, WE, WE EXPECT THE TREE TO SURVIVE.
AND, UH, YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA BE FINE.
UM, OUR REGULATIONS HERE, UH, ARE VERY, VERY CONSISTENT WITH KIND OF INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES.
YOU KNOW, YOU CAN LOOK IN BEST PRACTICE MANUALS, AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THE TERMINOLOGY IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, BUT IT'S THE SAME.
SO, MENTIONED ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE.
WE'RE NOT GONNA SPEND TOO MUCH TIME HERE, BUT THESE ARE ACCOMMODATIONS THAT WE CAN MAKE, UH, WHEN FOR SOME REASON, UM, A SITE EITHER ISN'T REALLY, YOU KNOW, HAS A LOT OF CHALLENGES, OR, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, TREES ARE, TREES ARE LIVING ORGANISMS JUST LIKE US.
THEY RESPOND TO STRESSES IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
IT'S NOT LIKE THE DAY YOU GO TO 51% IMPACT ON A TREE.
IT, YOU KNOW, SUDDENLY IT'S, WELL, NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT NOW.
THERE'S A LOT MORE WIGGLE ROOM THAN THAT.
AND SO, THE FIRST OF THESE REMEDIAL TREE CARE, UH, THIS CAN BE USED, UM, BOTH FROM A DESIGN STANDPOINT, IF A PROJECT REQUIRES TO GO A LITTLE BIT, UH, YOU KNOW, EITHER INTO THE HALF OR, YOU KNOW, EXCEED THE 50% A LITTLE BIT, UH, WE CAN SAY, WELL, IF YOU PUT IT UNDER THE CARE OF AN ARBORIST, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN TAKE SOME MEASURES TO ADDRESS THAT.
UM, THIS IS MORE FREQUENTLY USED THOUGH IN SITUATIONS WHERE A MISTAKE HAS BEEN MADE, RIGHT? THERE'S, UH, BEEN A, YOU KNOW, TREE PROTECTION HAS FAILED ON A PROJECT.
UM, SOMETHING HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, THAT, YOU KNOW, WASN'T, THE BUILDER DIDN'T ANTICIPATE A SUBCONTRACTOR DID SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY SHOULDN'T HAVE.
AND THE TREE HAS BEEN IMPACTED BEYOND WHAT WAS PERMITTED AND BEYOND WHAT IS, UH, ALLOWABLE UNDER THESE CRITERIA.
AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AT THE IMPACTS, AND IF YOU CAN SHOW US THAT THERE ARE REMEDIAL OPTIONS THAT WILL RECTIFY THE DAMAGE THAT WAS DONE, THEN WE WILL APPROVE REMEDIAL TREE CARE.
AND WE DON'T TREAT THE TREE AS HAVING BEEN REMOVED.
WE TREAT IT AS HAVING BEEN PRESERVED THROUGH ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE MEASURES.
UM, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF HOW THAT, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT ONE WORKS.
UH, THERE'S REAL, REALLY COOL, UH, TOOLS, UH, KIND OF, UH, AIR TOOLS.
AIR SPA IS KIND OF A, IS A COMMON BRAND NAME, UH, THAT YOU'LL HEAR THROWN AROUND.
BASICALLY, THESE CAN BE USED THERE, VERY EFFECTIVE AT BLOWING OUT AIR FROM AN AREA WITHOUT DAMAGING ROOTS OR INFRASTRUCTURE.
UH, THAT ONE PICTURE THERE ON THE LEFT IS A ONE I TOOK OF A UTILITY REPAIR, WHERE SOMEONE WAS ABLE TO ACTUALLY, YOU CAN SEE HOW EFFECTIVELY THEY WERE ABLE TO BLAST OUT THE DIRT AROUND THE ROOTS WITHOUT HARMING THE ROOTS AT ALL, AND THEN KIND OF SNEAK UNDER THERE AND, AND DO THEIR REPAIR.
SO THAT REALLY ALLOWS US TO APPROVE IMPACTS IN AREAS WHERE UNDER THE STANDARD CRITERIA WE WOULDN'T ALLOW IT.
AND SO IF YOU THINK BACK TO THAT, UH, SECOND, UH, CRITERIA IMAGE, OR HAVE THAT DOTTED LINE FOR THE TRENCH, IF YOU DIG THAT TRENCH WITH USING LOW IMPACT METHODS, EVERYTHING ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE TRENCH SUDDENLY TURNS WIDE AGAIN, RIGHT? IT'S NO LONGER CONSIDERED AN IMPACT BECAUSE YOU HAVE MAINTAINED THAT BRUTE BRIDGE ACROSS THAT GAP.
UM, ELEVATED FOUNDATIONS, I ALLUDED TO THIS A MINUTE AGO.
UM, THIS WOULD BE SITUATIONS WHERE YOU CANTILEVER OR SPAN AN AREA OF THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE WHERE IT WOULD, UH, NOT NORMALLY BE ALLOWED TO BUILD.
UH, WE DO HAVE, UH, WE ACKNOWLEDGE ALTERNATIVE CRITICAL ROOTS, ZONE CONFIGURATIONS, THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, YOU KNOW, OUR IMAGE OF THAT, THAT IS, DESCRIBE IT AS AN EDUCATED GUESS, BUT A VERY EDUCATED GUESS.
BUT IN AN URBAN CONTEXT, YOU KNOW, TREES ARE GROWING THEIR ROOTS WHEREVER THEY CAN FIND AIR, WATER, AND NUTRIENTS.
AND, YOU KNOW, IN AN URBAN CONTEXT WHERE WE'VE GOT A LOT, LOT OF PREEXISTING IMPACTS, A LOT OF PREEXISTING THINGS THAT CAN CAUSE THEM TO GROW IN A NONSTANDARD WAY.
THIS ALLOWS US TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT.
AND AGAIN, APPROVE, UH, APPROVES THINGS IN AREAS WHERE WE WOULDN'T NORMALLY BECAUSE WE DON'T EXPECT THERE TO ACTUALLY BE ANY HARM TO THE TREE IN THIS CASE.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, FOR LARGER TREES, UH, TRANSPLANTING IS AN OPTION.
IT'S A VERY EXPENSIVE OPTION, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, UH, THAT PEOPLE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AT, AT TIMES.
UM, AS LONG AS A TRANSPLANT IS CONDUCTED CORRECTLY, UM, THEN, THEN WE, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A REALLY, UH, HIGH SURVIVAL RATE.
THAT'S A REALLY SUCCESSFUL WAY OF PRESERVING A TREE.
SO, THAT IS ALL HOW WE ASSESS THESE IMPACTS IN, IN THE REVIEW STAGE.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE OUTCOMES FOR THE TREE TREE PROTECTION HAS TO DO WITH HOW WE MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS FOLLOWED.
[01:10:01]
AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU SEE ON CONSTRUCTION SITES, UM, FENCING IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT A TREE, RIGHT? THE, THE, THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO KEEP, UM, IMPACTS AWAY FROM THE TREE IS TO NOT LET ANYBODY GO THERE.AND SO, FENCING AT THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE IS REQUIRED.
UH, IT'S GOTTA BE ON FIVE FEET CHAIN LINK, UH, FIVE FEET CHAIN LINK FENCING ON EIGHT, UH, FOOT STEEL POSTS.
WE DON'T APPROVE, UH, YOU KNOW, NON-STANDARD FENCING OR FENCING THAT DOESN'T PROVIDE THAT SAME LEVEL OF PROTECTION.
UM, ANYTHING WITHIN THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE THAT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED FOR DIRECT IMPACTS, SUCH AS THERE'S A FOOTPRINT OF A, YOU KNOW, A STRUCTURE THERE OR THAT'S NOT NECESSARY FOR, UH, ACCESS TO THE WORK AREA HAS TO BE BEHIND FENCING.
UM, MULCH IS WHAT WE CALL OUR ALTERNATIVE PROTECTION.
SO, MULCH IS USED IN SITUATIONS WHERE THERE'S A SECTION OF THE CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, UH, THAT WE CAN'T FENCE, BUT THAT WE STILL NEED TO PROTECT BECAUSE IT'S SHOWN AS PRESERVED.
AND THE MOST COMMON, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, SITUATION WHERE THIS WOULD BE USED IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT I TELL PEOPLE IS IF YOU'RE BUILDING A, A HOUSE AND YOU PUT YOUR TREE PROTECTION FENCING RIGHT UP TO THE HOUSE, THE FIRST THING THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IS YOUR, YOU KNOW, YOUR SUBCONTRACTORS ARE GONNA TEAR THE FENCE DOWN 'CAUSE THEY'VE GOTTA GET AROUND TO ACTUALLY BUILD THE HOUSE, RIGHT? THERE'S, IT'S JUST NOT FEASIBLE, UH, OTHERWISE.
AND SO THE, THE, THE MULCH ALLOWS US TO LET PEOPLE HAVE A PATH AROUND, YOU KNOW, ACCESS PAST WHERE THEY NEED TO BE, UH, AND STILL, STILL ACHIEVE THE GOALS OF TREE PRESERVATION.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, TRUNK BRANCH WRAPPING.
UM, PEOPLE SEE THIS, A LOT OF TIMES WE ACTUALLY DON'T REQUIRE IT IN MOST SITUATIONS.
IT'S ONLY IF FOR SOME REASON, THE, UH, REQUIRED FENCING IS LESS THAN FIVE, FIVE FEET OR LESS, UH, IN PROXIMITY TO THE TRUNK, NORMALLY WE WOULDN'T APPROVE THAT.
BUT WHEN WE'RE UTILIZING ALTERNATIVE ROUTES ON CONFIGURATIONS, UH, THAT WOULD BE, THAT WOULD BE A SITUATION WHERE WE WOULD, UH, UH, REQUIRE TRUNK OR BRANCH TRAPPING.
SO THAT IS FROM A DESIGN STANDPOINT, UM, THAT IS WHAT YOU NEED TO, UH, DO IN ORDER TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOUR TREES ARE GONNA SURVIVE.
UH, THIS NEXT SECTION, UM, MITIGATION, THIS HAS TO DO WHEN WE APPROVE TREES FOR REMOVAL, OR TREES ARE REMOVED, UH, WITHOUT A PERMIT.
AND BOTH OF THOSE CASES THAT COME THE REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLIANCE ARE THE SAME.
UH, SO PRIMARILY WE ARE LOOKING AT PLANTING REPLACEMENT TREES, UH, WHEN, WHEN REGULATED TREES ARE REMOVED, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, AGAIN, DON'T WANNA GET TOO MUCH INTO, INTO THE DETAILS, BUT BROADLY SPEAKING, THE INCHES, THE NUMBER OF INCHES ON THE TREE THAT WAS REMOVED NEEDS TO BE MATCHED BY THE SIZE, YOU KNOW, THE CUMULATIVE CALIPER OF THE TREES THAT ARE PLANTED AS A REPLACEMENT.
WE HAVE REQUIREMENTS AROUND, UH, SPECIES DIVERSITY.
WE HAVE REQUIREMENTS AROUND, UH, MAKING SURE THAT THE SPECIES THEMSELVES ARE NATIVE OR, UH, WELL ADAPTED.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT PEOPLE PLANTING TREES THAT ARE NOT SUITABLE TO OUR ENVIRONMENT, OR CERTAINLY NOT PLANTING INVASIVES.
UM, ALTERNATIVE MITIGATION IS AVAILABLE IF THEY CAN SHOW THAT THE SITE CANNOT SUPPORT THE REQUIRED PLANTING.
RIGHT? UM, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POINT, IS THAT IN SOME JURISDICTIONS, THE WAY THEIR TREE REGULATIONS ARE STRUCTURED IS THAT IT'S MORE OF A NEGOTIATION.
IT'S KIND OF A GIVE AND TAKE ON, WELL, WHAT ARE WE GONNA PRESERVE? WHAT ARE WE GOING TO, UH, PAY, YOU KNOW, JUST PAY INSTEAD.
UM, THE WAY THAT, THE WAY THAT OURS IS STRUCTURED IS THE, UH, THE ASSESSMENT FOR REMOVAL, WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN GRANT APPROVAL, IS A COMPLETELY SEPARATE PROCESS FROM DECIDING MITIGATION.
SO WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT WHEN WE ARE DETERMINING REASONABLE USE, REASONABLE ACCESS IS NOT WELL, HOW MUCH MITIGATION IS COMING IN.
IT'S, WE MAKE THAT DECISION AND THEN WE ASSIGN MITIGATION.
AND SO THAT'S AN, I IT'S AN IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION ABOUT HOW AUSTIN DOES IT COMPARED TO SOME, UH, SOME PLACES WHEN YOU QUALIFY FOR ALTERNATIVE MITIGATION.
UM, THE RATE THERE IS $200 PER INCH OF, UH, MITIGATION THAT WAS REQUIRED.
AND WE USE THE URBAN FOREST REPLENISHMENT FUND, UH, TO SUPPORT A NUMBER OF TREE PLANTING, UH, TREE HEALTH INITIATIVES IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, OH, WAIT, I THINK WE TOOK OUT A SLIDE.
SO WE'VE GOT, UH, SOME NICE A ISD PROJECTS.
WE'VE PLANTED A LOT OF TREES ON SCHOOLS.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE PROVIDED GRANTS TO, UH, ORGANIZATIONS WHO, UH, DO TREE PLANTING OR PROVIDE TREE MAINTENANCE IN OUR PUBLIC PARKS.
UM, THIS IS MONEY THAT GET USED, GETS USED IN A LOT OF REALLY IMPORTANT WAYS.
AND SO, UM, IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF OUR RE OF THE, OF THE REGULATIONS HERE.
AND SO, FINALLY, JUST KIND OF TO SUMMARIZE ALL OF THIS, UM, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CITY ARBORIST TREE REVIEW, WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT THE PLANS CONFORM TO ALL THE CRITERIA THAT WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT.
YOU KNOW, ON RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS, UH, THE, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE REVIEWED ALONG WITH THE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GET YOUR BUILDING PERMIT, YOU'VE GOT A PLUMBING PERMIT TIED TO THAT.
YOU'VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PERMIT, AND IF YOU'VE GOT A REGULATED TREE, YOU'VE GOT A TREE PERMIT, JUST LIKE THE OTHER TRADE PERMITS FOR REVIEWING, FOR COMMERCIAL MULTIFAMILY SUBDIVISION PROJECTS, ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
UH, TREE REVIEW HAPPENS AS PART OF THE LANDSCAPE REVIEW, UM, IF WE'RE TALKING.
AND THEN THERE ARE SOME SITUATIONS WHERE THERE'S WHAT WE CALL A TORAH, A TREE ORDINANCE REVIEW APPLICATION.
THIS IS A FREE STANDING PERMIT, NOT TIED TO DEVELOPMENT.
UH, THE BIGGEST USE OF THESE IS FOR DEAD DISEASED OR IMMINENT HAZARD
[01:15:01]
TREES.YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE, YOU'RE JUST A HOMEOWNER, YOU'RE NOT BUILDING ANYTHING, BUT YOU'VE GOT A TREE THAT'S DYING IN YOUR FRONT YARD, THIS IS THE PERMIT APPLICATION YOU WOULD SUBMIT.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE SOME PERMIT CATEGORIES HERE FOR, UM, RESOLVING VIOLATIONS, UH, FOR SITUATIONS WHERE WE, AS THE CITY ARBORISTS, NEED TO REVIEW A SET OF PLANS, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S NOT A REQUIRED BUILDING PERMIT.
UH, AND THEN FOR EMERGENCY UTILITY REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT.
I MENTIONED, UH, DEAD DISEASE OR IMMINENT HAZARD.
UM, THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE EXEMPTS, DDI TREE APPLICATIONS FROM REVIEW FEES.
UM, THIS ALSO EXEMPTS ANY DDI TREE FROM MITIGATION REQUIREMENTS.
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S AT THE DISCRETION OF STAFF.
UM, ONCE WE MAKE THE DETERMINATION THAT A TREE IS, UH, DEAD DISEASED OR AN IMMINENT HAZARD, IMMINENT HAZARD IS DEFINED AS A HIGH RISK TO PEOPLE OR PROPERTY WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR, UM, ONLY THE CITY ARBORIST OR THEIR DESIGNEE CAN MAKE A, UH, DEAD DISEASED OR IMMINENT HAZARD, UH, DETERMINATION.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE A PRIVATE ARBORIST COME OUT AND ASSESS THE TREE, THEY'RE GONNA ASSIGN A RISK RATING.
THAT RISK GRADING IS, UM, KIND OF AN INDUSTRY STANDARD LANGUAGE.
THE D THE DDI IS AUSTIN SPECIFIC.
SO IT'S A, IT'S A REGULATORY TERM, AND IT'S ONLY A, UH, ONLY THE CITY ARBORIST CAN, CAN SPECIFY THAT.
UH, WE HAVE A GREAT ENVIRONMENTAL ENTRY INSPECTIONS TEAM, UH, WORKING IN OUR ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTIONS DIVISION.
UH, AND THEY MAKE SURE THAT THE TREE PROTECTION IS IN PLACE AT ALL TIMES.
THAT PRUNING DOES NOT EXCEED THE ALLOWED LIMITS, UH, SPECIAL CONDITIONS IDENTIFIED ON THE PERIMETER ON THE PLAN SET.
THIS WOULD BE THINGS LIKE USE OF, UH, AIR TOOLS FOR, UH, FOR DIGGING TRENCHES, THAT ALL THAT GETS FOLLOWED THROUGH ON.
BASICALLY, THEY'RE THERE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S NOT ANY TREES INTENDED FOR PRESERVATION.
THEY'RE GONNA, YOU KNOW, BE A SURPRISE THREE TO FIVE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD.
WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT, UM, THAT EVERYTHING THAT WAS APPROVED ON THE PLANS IS HAPPENING IN THE FIELD.
AND THEN FINALLY, THEY'RE MAKING SURE THAT THE MITIGATION THAT WAS REQUIRED ACTUALLY GETS PLANTED, AND THAT THAT MITIGATION PLANTING CONFORMS TO OUR CRITERIA FOR MITIGATION PLANTINGS, UM, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE QUALITY SPECIMENS THAT THEY'RE PLANTED CORRECTLY, UH, THAT ARE PROVIDED WITH IRRIGATION FOR THEIR SURVIVAL.
AND I THINK MY LAST SLIDE HERE, THERE HAD BEEN SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, ENFORCEMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A TREE DOESN'T SURVIVE WHEN IT WAS, WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO? UM, SO THERE ARE TWO TRACKS HERE.
UM, AND THESE ARE NOT, THIS IS NOT AN EITHER OR.
THIS IS A LOT OF TIMES A TREE WILL, ENFORCEMENT WILL PROCEED ALONG BOTH OF THESE, UH, KIND OF BOTH OF THESE WAYS.
SO, AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE QUESTION, UM, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE ADMINISTER, UM, THIS WOULD BE AN, THIS WOULD BE CALLED AN ENTERPRISE CODE VIOLATION.
YOU REMOVE A TREE THAT YOU WEREN'T ALLOWED TO, UM, AND NOW, WELL, YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE THE MITIGATION THAT WOULD'VE BEEN REQUIRED IF YOU HAD COME THROUGH AND, UH, GOTTEN PERMISSION TO REMOVE THAT TREE INITIALLY.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOT, THIS IS NOT A PENALTY, THIS IS A QUESTION OF CODE COMPLIANCE CODE SAYS IF YOU REMOVE A PROTECTED TREE, YOU NEED TO COME BACK WITH, YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH, YOU KNOW, THIS NUMBER OF INCHES PLANTED.
AND SO WE JUST MAKE SURE THAT THAT ALSO HAPPENS IN SITUATIONS WHERE THE REMOVAL WAS NOT INITIALLY PERMITTED.
UM, SO WE REFER TO THOSE AS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S MITIGATION FEES AS DISTINCT FROM FINES.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE REMOVAL OF A REG, OF A REG OF A PROTECTED OR HERITAGE TREE, UM, IS A MISDEMEANOR CITATION.
SO THAT'S ALL ADMINISTERED THROUGH OUR MUNICIPAL COURT.
OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ISSUE, BOTH ECBS AS WELL AS THESE MISDEMEANOR CITATIONS.
AND SO ANY FINES THAT ARE ASSESSED, ASSESSED THROUGH THE MUNICIPAL COURT, THAT WOULD BE MORE OF A PUNITIVE MEASURE, RIGHT? THAT'S, UM, SAME AS IF YOU GOT A TRAFFIC TICKET AND HAD TO, HAD TO PAY THAT.
IT'S THE SAME KIND OF SAME KIND OF IDEA.
I'M GONNA TURN IT BACK OVER TO NAOMI.
AND NAOMI WROTE TO MEL CITY ARBORIST.
UM, HERE ARE TREE PRESERVATIONS FOR THE PA NUMBERS FOR THE PAST, UH, FIVE YEARS.
UH, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE DATA, WE SEE THAT THERE'S A TOTAL OF 1 MILLION 397, 678 PRINT INCHES PRESERVE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THE PERCENTAGE OF WHAT WE LOOK AT AND WHAT'S, UM, PRESERVED.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS IS OUR, WE HAVE A TREE PRESERVATION ORDINANCE, NOT A TREE MITIGATION ORDINANCE.
AND SO THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT IN OUR PRESERVING OF TREES IN OUR QUALITY OF LIFE HERE IN AUSTIN.
NEXT SLIDE, UH, REPLANTING ON SITES WHERE IT'S DEMONSTRATED THEY CAN PLANT BACK AND HAVE THAT SPACE TOO.
OUR NUMBERS ARE, UH, GOING DOWN A LITTLE BIT, BUT, UM, WE'RE KEEPING AROUND THAT 30 TO 19% TO 18% RATE AT REPLANTING.
AND OUR LAST SLIDE IS JUST A COMPARISON ON THE PRESERVATION AND REPLANTING.
SO WE REALLY, REALLY STRESS PRESERVATION OF TREES ON SITE.
UM, AND AS WE GO BACK TO THAT CODE SECTION WHERE, UH, YOU'VE GOT TO PROVIDE US
[01:20:01]
DEMONSTRATE THAT A TREE PREVENTS REASONABLE USE AND ACCESS TO A PROPERTY.UH, AND SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, SUCH AS OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE CODE LANGUAGE IS WHETHER OR NOT THE REMOVAL OR NOT PREVENTS, YOU'VE GOT TO SEEK A WAIVER MODIFICATION, VARIANCE OR EXCEPTION FOR ANOTHER SECTION OF CODE.
SO, ON A SITE WHERE WE LOOK AT AN ENGINEERING, LIKE A COMMERCIAL SITE, WE NEED TO SEE WHERE THE DRAINAGE PONDS ARE GONNA GO, AND THAT THEY CAN'T HAVE A WAIVER OR MODIFICATION OF WHERE THOSE PONDS GO.
UM, THE, THE FIRE LANES, WE LOOK AT, WELL, WHERE, WHERE DOES THE FIRE LANE FIRE LANE NEED TO GO? CAN THEY SHRINK IT TO MOVE A LITTLE BIT MORE AROUND THIS TREE, UM, TRANSPORTATION, WHERE IS GONNA BE THE ENTRANCE AND EXIT THAT, THAT'S THE ONLY SAFEST PLACE TO GO.
SO WE LOOK AT, AND WE WORK WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT REVIEW DISCIPLINES IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, AND OF THE OTHER CRITERIA MANUALS TO ASK, CAN YOU GO TO FIRE, TRY TO GET AN EXEMPTION OR A WAIVER FROM TRANSPORTATION OR ET CETERA.
SO ON EVERY SITE THERE'S SITE CONSTRAINTS AND THERE'S OTHER SECTIONS OF CODE WHERE THEY MUST BE MADE MET, WHERE THE WATER UTILITIES ARE LOCATED, WHERE THE ELECTRICAL DUCK BANKS ARE LOCATED OR AND SUCH.
SO WE HAVE A GREAT PRESERVATION ORDINANCE.
UM, IT'S BEEN IN EFFECT FOR 41 YEARS, AND WE'RE KEEPING UP THE GOOD JOB ON MAKING SURE WE PRESERVE TREES.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'VE GOT.
UM, BEFORE WE JUMP INTO QUESTIONS, CAN WE MAKE SURE WE GET ALBERTA MOVED INTO THE PARTICIPANT? ALL RIGHT, COOL.
SORRY, ALBERTA, I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT HELP HAPPENED THERE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR WALKING US THROUGH THE TREE REGULATIONS THAT I FIRST HAVE A CLARIFICATION QUESTION.
UM, BASED ON THE DATA YOU PRESENTED, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I'M, LIKE INTERPRETING THE INFORMATION IN TERMS OF TREES REPLANTED AND TREES PRESERVED.
DOES THE DATA SUGGEST AND NET TREE LOSS OVER THE YEARS? UH, THAT'S HOW MUCH COMES INTO DEVELOPMENT REVIEW.
SO THAT CAN ALSO BE ANSWERED BY OUR, UM, OVERALL CANOPY ASSESSMENT.
UM, SO THAT'S WHAT THE PLANS ARE COMING THROUGH.
UH, WE DID LOSE MANY TREES, BUT NOT TOO MUCH ON THE, THE FREEZES OF 2021, UH, 2023, UM, THE WINTER STORMS. SO OVERALL, AS YOU CAN SEE, AUSTIN IS DEVELOPING, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON PRESERVING WHAT FEES EXTENT FEASIBLE FOR THE EIGHT INCHES AND GREATER AND FOR THE PROTECTED TREES AND THE HERITAGE TREES.
SO BASED ON, UH, THE DATA THAT YOU HAVE RELATED TO DEVELOPMENT, IT DOES SUGGEST IN NET TREE LOSS, IS THAT CORRECT? UH, WE'RE JUST REVIEWING THE PLANS COMING, IN FACT, I CAN FOR THAT.
THE, UM, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS THAT BECAUSE THE DATA RIGHT THERE IS SPECIFIC TO TREES THAT CROSS OUR THRESHOLD AND DEVELOPMENT, I DON'T ACTUALLY THINK THAT WE COULD DRAW URBAN FOR LIKE, KIND OF URBAN FOREST WIDE CONCLUSIONS BASED JUST ON THE DEVELOPMENT DATA.
UM, BUT THE, I KNOW, BUT WE DO KIND OF, UM, AERIAL SURVEYS OF THE URBAN FOREST KIND OF ON A, YOU KNOW, ON A PERIODIC BASIS.
AND, UM, I, YOU KNOW, I DIDN'T COME PREPARED TO SPEAK TO THIS QUESTION, BUT I KNOW THAT OVER THE TIME, UH, BETWEEN THE LAST TWO THAT I'M AWARE OF, THERE WAS ACTUALLY AN INCREASE IN WHAT, IN WHAT THEY SURVEYED.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT, DON'T TAKE THAT NECESSARILY TO THE BANK, BUT THE DATA THAT WERE PROVIDED IS SPECIFIC TO TREES THAT ARE, UH, INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, SO.
AND THERE, DOES THE, DOES THAT INFORMATION EXISTS SOMEWHERE PUBLICLY IN TERMS OF UNDERSTANDING? YES.
EMILY KING, OUR URBAN FORESTER UNDER TITLE SIX THREE WILL HAVE A PRESENTATION ON THAT.
AND THOSE, THERE WAS, UH, URBAN FOREST INVENTORY ANALYSIS DONE BY THE FOREST SERVICE IN 2014.
UH, THAT SOME OF THE DATA IS BASED UP IN SOME OF OUR NUMBERS.
IT TELLS YOU THE OVERALL CANOPY.
UH, BUT YES, THERE IS, UM, EMILY KING HAS A STAFF GIS ANALYST THAT OVERALL SEES THE OVERALL IMPACT.
UH, LIKE DANIEL MENTIONED, WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS, IS WHEN DEVELOPMENT PLANS COME THROUGH OUR DESK MM-HMM,
AND WHAT, WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR THE LOW PERCENTAGE OF REPLANTING SITE CONSTRAINTS? SO, FIRST, AND ALSO ON SITES, ESPECIALLY IN THE COMMERCIAL SIDE, THERE'S THE LANDSCAPE ORDINANCE, WHICH REQUIRES REPLANTING AS WELL.
[01:25:01]
ARE, ARE THE MOST, BUT OUR APPLICANTS HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO PLANT ON SITE.SO TO KIND OF FULFILL THE REPLANTING, I GUESS IT'S NOT A REQUIREMENT, BUT COULD SOMEBODY PLANT ELSEWHERE AND COUNT THAT TOWARDS THE REPLANTING? IT'S GOTTA BE BASICALLY ON THE SAME SITE.
SO WE HAVE TO KEEP TRACK OF, MAKE, MAKE A SITE WHOLE.
UM, AND IT'S, IT'S, IT'S ON THAT SITE, UM, UH, WE'VE BEEN ASKED, CAN WE PUT PLANT A PARK, UH, YOU KNOW, A TREE IN A PARK? UM, BUT WE HAVE TO KEEP EVERY SINGLE PLAN, EVERY SINGLE SITE WHOLE.
AND ONE OF THE CONSTRAINTS OF PLANNING ON THE PARK IS YOU NEED A PERMIT TO DO THAT.
THEY'VE GOTTA HAVE IRRIGATION, YOU'VE GOTTA GO THROUGH THEIR LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS AND GET PERMISSION AND SUCH.
SO OUR PROGRAMS, THE URBAN FORESTRY PROGRAM AND THE REPLENISHMENT FUND REALLY SUPPORTS LIKE THE TRAILS FOUNDATION AND PLANTING IN PUBLIC SPACES AND, UH, TREE MAINTENANCE, UH, FOR THAT.
SO IT'S GOTTA BE MADE WHOLE ON THAT SAME SITE.
IS THERE INFORMATION OR DATA AVAILABLE THAT SHOWS IF THE, THE FEES THAT ARE BEING PAID, YOU KNOW, WHEN THERE ARE SITE CONSTRAINTS AND THERE'S NOT AN ABILITY TO REPLAN ON SITE, IF THE FEES ARE BEING PAID ARE LEADING TO PLANTINGS THAT ARE OFFSETTING THE NET LOSS? IS THERE INFORMATION? YEAH, IT'S A ONE-TO-ONE CALIPER INCHES.
SO IF YOU REMOVE A 20 INCH, UH, TREE, UM, LIKE A LIVE OAK OR SOMETHING THAT'S MAYBE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROPERTY AND YOU'VE MM-HMM,
I WOULD ALSO, I WOULD ALSO SAY THAT THE, UH, OUR URBAN FORESTRY PROGRAM, UM, HAS A, MAINTAINS A REPORT OF WHAT THAT MITIGATION MONEY IS USED FOR.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT THE, IT'S NOT THE MITIGATION MONEY FOR A BIG CHUNK OF THAT IS ACTUALLY GOING RIGHT BACK INTO POINTED TREES.
BUT THEY'RE NOT SHOWING UP IN OUR, LIKE, IN THIS ASSESSMENT.
IT'S, UM, SO IT'S, AGAIN, IT'S HARD TO DRAW, YOU KNOW, FOREST WIDE CONCLUSIONS BASED JUST ON THE, ON, ON WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH DEVELOPMENT.
I GUESS WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT IS, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IF THE MONEY THAT'S GOING TOWARDS LIKE MITIGATION IS ACTUALLY RESULTING IN TREE PLANTINGS THAT ARE OFFSETTING THE NET LOSS AND THAT YES.
AND EMILY, EMILY WILL, WILL BE ABLE TO, EMILY KING OR URBAN FORESTER WILL BE ABLE TO, SHE WASN'T ABLE TO MAKE IT TONIGHT, BUT CAN, CAN REALLY ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS.
AND THEN LAST QUESTION, SORRY.
UM, HAVE YOU ALL CONSIDERED OR THOUGHT ABOUT OR SEEN EXAMPLES OF CITIES THAT HAVE DIFFERENTIAL REGULATIONS FOR AREAS THAT HAVE LOW TREE CANOPY? UM, IN OTHER WORDS, MORE RES, MORE, UM, RESTRICTIVE OR MORE STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS FOR AREAS THAT HAVE LOW TREE CANOPY? WELL, WE ARE ONE OF THE MOST PROGRESSIVE TREE ORDINANCES IN THE COUNTRY.
SO THERE ARE OTHER CITIES THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE STUDIED AT OTHER ORDINANCES.
UM, BUT IT'S, YOU KNOW, WHEN THE, WHEN, WHEN, WHAT EMILY'S GROUP ALSO DOES IS THEY LOOK FOR THEIR GRANTS AND FOR PROJECTS, THEY LOOK AT AREAS OF THE CITY ITSELF THAT HAS A LOW CANOPY SOCIOECONOMIC, UM, FACTORS.
AND THEY'LL, THEY'LL PRIORITIZE PLANTING AREAS WITHIN THE CITY THAT HAVE, UH, ARE DEVOID OR HAVE LOWER CANOPY.
BUT IN TERMS OF TREE PROTECTIONS, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL HAVE CONSIDERED.
WHAT I WOULD, WHAT I WOULD SAY IS, UM, IF YOU'RE TALK, IF WHAT YOUR QUESTION IS IS ABOUT WHEN WE APPROVE THE REMOVAL OF TREES MM-HMM.
SO THAT IS A, THAT BECAUSE THAT IS A, UM, IN THE CODE, ANY CHANGES TO THAT WOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH COUNCIL.
THEY'RE NOT, THAT'S NOT A CONSIDERATION.
WE HAVEN'T, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A DISCUSSION WE'VE HAD INTERNALLY 'CAUSE IT'S NOT REALLY WITHIN OUR, UH, WHEELHOUSE, BUT, GOT IT.
UM, COUNCIL WOULD HAVE TO BE THE ONES TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE ON ANY CHANGES TO APPROVAL CRITERIA.
SO LIKE THAT SLIDE WHERE WE HAD, WHAT IS THE CODE, UM, THAT SET BY COUNCIL AND WHAT ARE THE ADMINISTRATIVE RULES THAT CAN BE WRITTEN BY US? AND THAT GOES THROUGH A LARGE STAKEHOLDER PROCESS AND PUBLIC INPUT AND SUCH.
UH, WE DO HAVE, UM, IN OUR CRITERIA MANUAL, UH, FOR ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE THAT IF YOU REMOVE A TREE, IF YOU HAVE A 19 INCH TREE AND YOU'VE EXHAUSTED ALL YOUR DESIGN, UH, CONSIDERATIONS, AND
[01:30:01]
MAYBE IT'S IN POOR HEALTH, UM, YOU CAN USE THAT MITIGATION ON YOUR PROPERTY OF UNDER-REGULATED TREES.SO IF YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF LIKE 10, 17 INCH LIVE OAKS THAT YOU, IF YOU SHOW US ON THE PLAN THAT YOU CAN PROTECT IT ALL THROUGHOUT THOSE UNDER-REGULATED TREES ALL THROUGH ALL THROUGH CONSTRUCTION, THAT CAN BE USED AS MITIGATION CREDIT.
SO THOSE TREES ARE ALREADY ESTABLISHED.
THEY FIGURED OUT THEIR IRRIGATION, THEY'RE ESTABLISHED, THEY HAVE THEIR ROOT ZONE.
SO IF THEY PROTECT THAT, THAT'S ANOTHER GREAT INCENTIVE TO PROTECT MORE OF THE UNDER-REGULATED TREES, WHICH WOULD OTHER BE WIPED OUT ON THE SITE.
OTHER QUESTIONS? GO AHEAD CHRIS.
THANKS FOR THE GREAT PRESENTATION.
IT REALLY CLEARED UP A LOT OF MY QUESTIONS, BUT, UH, ONE QUESTION I HAVE IS SITE INSPECTIONS.
SO HOW DOES THAT OCCUR? UM, YOU KNOW, AFTER THE INITIAL TREE PROTECTION IS SET UP, UM, I KNOW LIKE FROM A STORMWATER STANDPOINT, YOU KNOW, YEAH, WATERSHED DOES INSPECT, BUT A LOT OF TIMES IT'S THIRD PARTY, UM, COMPANIES THAT ARE UPKEEPING THESE THINGS.
AND THEN, UH, DANIEL, BECAUSE DANIEL WAS AN INSPECTOR BEFORE HE CAN SPEAK TO THAT.
SO ONCE THE BUILDING PERMIT IS ISSUED, THAT GOES OVER TO, EXCUSE ME, THE ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTION DIVISION.
SO THEY'RE ALSO LOOKING FOR EROSION CONTROL, TREE PROTECTION UP THE WHOLE, UM, THE ENTIRE, IT'S NOT SUBCONTRACTED OUT, IT'S DONE BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTION STAFF, DANIEL, UM, JUST OF HIS EXPERIENCE IN ENFORCEMENT.
SO, UM, WE DON'T HAVE TREE SPECIFIC INSPECTORS.
WE HAVE ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTORS WHO DO BOTH TREE AND, UM, OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS.
UM, THEY HAVE A MONTHLY INSPECTION, ANYTHING WITH AN ACTIVE BUILDING PERMIT, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HITTING AT EVERY, YOU KNOW, AT THE EVERY MONTH DOUBLE CHECKING BOTH TREES AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, EROSION CONTROLS.
UM, WE DO HAVE A SMALL NUMBER OF CALLED TREE INSPECTIONS.
UM, SO THERE'S A, THERE'S A SITUATION WHERE IF YOU ARE, IF YOU HAVE A, UH, FOUNDATION COMING UP TO THE HALF CRITICAL ROOT ZONE, WE REALLY NEED TO PUT EYES ON THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE NOT ACCIDENTALLY DAMAGING THINGS.
SO THERE'S A, UH, THERE'S A CALLED PREPO INSPECTION THAT'S ALTERNATIVE ON THE PERMIT.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE THAT IN EVERY CASE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, YOU'VE GOT YOUR PRE-DEVELOPMENT, UH, TREE INSPECTION OR PRE-CONSTRUCTION TREE INSPECTION WHERE THEY DO THAT INITIAL ASSESSMENT.
AND THEN YOU HAVE YOUR FINAL, SO WE, IT'S A COMBINATION OF STANDARD MONTHLY AND THEN A AND THEN CALLED INSPECTIONS.
AND THAT'S, UH, THE CASE FOR BOTH COMMERCIAL AND CIP PROJECTS AND RESIDENTIAL.
AND THEN LAST QUESTION IS ON THE DEAD DISEASE, UH, PROCESS.
UM, YEAH, I'VE COME ACROSS MANY HOMEOWNERS THAT LIKE, UH, WINTER STORM URI WAS REALLY BAD ON ASH, I GUESS TREES.
AND, UM, IT JUST SEEMED LIKE, YOU KNOW, BIG TREES AND TAKING 'EM OUT.
DOES THESE THIRD PARTY, UM, TREE COMPANIES, DO THEY HELP THE HOMEOWNER THROUGH THIS PROCESS OF THE, THE PERMIT ISN'T THERE? YOU MENTIONED A PERMIT ABOUT BEING ABLE TO JUST TAKE OUT A DEAD TREE, RIGHT? IS THERE STILL A, A PERMIT FOR THAT? THERE IS ALWAYS A PERMIT.
UM, THERE, AN ARBORIST EE CAN SUBMIT THE APPLICATION MATERIALS, UH, FOR THE PERMIT.
UM, IN CODE THERE'S A 10 DAY BUSINESS DAY, UH, UH, WINDOW FOR US TO REVIEW AND APPROVE OR ASK FURTHER QUESTIONS.
SO ON A WIDESPREAD STORM, THERE IS A PROVISION IN CODE THAT WE CAN ISSUE RETROACTIVE PERMITS FOR SAFETY.
UH, WE JUST NEED PROPER DOCUMENTATION.
EVERYBODY HAS A CELL PHONE, THEY CAN TAKE A PICTURE, AND THEN YOU CAN SUBMIT THE PERMIT AT THAT TIME, UH, WHEN AFTER THE STORMS THAT WE HAD, WE REALLY RAMPED UP OUR STAFF ON THE REVIEW SIDE TO GET THOSE PERMITS FASTER THAN THE CODE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR HOMEOWNERS.
WE'VE UPDATED OUR WEB PAGE THAT YOU CAN JUST LOOK IT UP.
WE HAVE A, I HAVE A RESOURCE, UH, EMAIL ACCOUNT, CITY ARBORIST@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV WHERE HOMEOWNERS CAN REACH US AT STAFFED, UM, ALL THE TIME, MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
3 1 1 CAN ALSO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS.
SO WE REALLY MAKE IT EASY TO JUST GO THROUGH THE SIMPLE STEPS.
OUR PORTAL WHERE CITIZENS APPLICANTS SUBMIT THEIR MATERIALS, UM, IS VERY USER FRIENDLY.
SO WHAT WE REALLY ARE LOOKING FOR IS A PICTURE OF THE WHOLE TREE ROUTE TO CANOPY AND CLEAR PHOTOS NOT BLACKED OUT, NOT ATED, BUT WE CAN GET THESE REVIEWS BY FAST.
SO WE'RE HERE TO SUPPORT, UM, EVERYONE IN THE COMMUNITY AND SAFETY IS VERY PARAMOUNT TO US.
[01:35:02]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ALBERTA.YES, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND, AND I HAD A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
UM, ONE MAY BE BUILDING ON, UM, ANOTHER QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED.
UH, UH, SO, AND IT HAS TO DO WITH TREE EQUITY AND OR DISPARITY.
WE, UH, THE QUESTION WAS AROUND, UM, KIND OF THE, SOME PLACES HAVING A LOWER, UM, NUMBER OF TREES OR TREE CANOPY AND YOU, YOU, YOU KNOW, AND HOW THAT IS BEING ADDRESSED IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BECAUSE THIS DISPARITY GOES BACK MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS BECAUSE OF THE WAY, UM, SOME AREAS EAST AND WEST WERE DEVELOPED ON THE WEST SIDE.
IT, IT WAS VIEWED AS BEING PEOPLE WANTED YARDS WITH SHADE AND THE LIKE.
AND ON THE EAST SIDE, THERE REALLY WAS NO ATTENTION, MUCH ATTENTION PAID TO THAT THEY JUST ELIMINATED TREES AND PUT HOUSING THERE.
SO HOW IS THAT BEING ADDRESSED BECAUSE OF THE HISTORICAL DISPARITIES THAT EXIST? SO ALL TREES ARE PROTECTED ONCE THEY REACH 19 INCHES IN AUSTIN'S FULL AND LIMITED PURPOSE.
SO THE ORDINANCE DOES NOT, UM, DOES NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHERE A TREE IS, IT'S IF THEY'RE 19 INCHES OR PROTECTED NO MATTER WHAT.
UM, EXCUSE ME, THAT WAS NOT MY QUESTION.
MY QUESTION IS THE DISPARITY IN TERMS OF THE TREE CANOPY, BECAUSE THAT, THAT PLAYS INTO SOME OF THE THINGS WE SAW TODAY IN TERMS OF THE, THE, UH, BENEFITS THAT TREE PROV TREES PROVIDE IN TERMS OF HEALTH BENEFITS, YOU KNOW, UH, CLEANING THE AIR, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THE STORM WATER.
SO ON ONE SIDE OF TOWN YOU HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF TREES IN, IN THE RANGE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS MORE THAN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TOWN.
NOT ONCE THEY GET TO 19 INCHES THAT THEY'RE ALL PROTECTED.
SO, UM, AT THE, KINDA AT THE PROTECTED LEVEL, WE DON'T, OF COURSE WE DON'T DISTI THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING IN, IN, IN OUR PROCESS THAT DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN THE PART OF TOWN THAT'S REGULATIONS APPLIED TO EVERYWHERE, WHERE THE, WHERE THOSE HISTORICAL DISPARITIES ARE ADDRESSED IS THROUGH THE, UH, MITIGATION PROCESS.
SO OUR, UH, URBAN FOREST TEAM, UM, THEY'RE THE ONES WHO ACTUALLY KIND OF ASSESS THE GRANTS THAT ARE, UH, THAT ARE THE RESULT THAT KIND OF ARE FUNDED WITH THE MITIGATION PAYMENTS.
AND ONE OF THE PRIMARY TOOLS THEY USE IS THEY HAVE A, UH, COMMUNITY PRIORITIZATION MAP.
UM, AND WHICH REFLECTS, UM, IT, UM, IT REFLECTS WHERE THE ACTUAL CANOPY IS.
RIGHT? I MEAN, I'VE, UM, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE, I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.
I'VE SEEN THE, YOU KNOW, THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND MAPS SHOWING EAST VERSUS WEST SIDE, AND IT'S INCREDIBLY STRIKING.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE IT SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, JUST AS HARD TO CUT DOWN A TREE WHEREVER YOU ARE IN TOWN.
UM, BUT, UH, KIND OF WHEN IT COMES TO REPLANTING, UM, IT'S, OUR PROGRAM SPECIFICALLY DOESN'T WORK WITH THIS, BUT, BUT THERE ARE, UM, THAT IS ACTIVELY CONSIDERED IN TERMS OF WHERE WE PRIORITIZE, UH, THAT GRANT FUNDING GOING BACK TO PUT NEW TREES IN THE GROUND.
UM, YEAH, AND I APPRECIATE THAT ANSWER.
AND I, I'M, I'M HOPEFUL THAT MAYBE THIS COMMITTEE OR SOME OTHER COMMITTEE CAN PUT MORE OF A FOCUS ON, UM, KIND OF, UH, UH, ADDRESSING THAT DISPARITY ON IN A MORE ROBUST WAY.
UM, BUT I ALSO WANTED TO ASK ABOUT COMPLIANCE AND PENALTIES.
YOU MENTIONED THAT, UM, UH, THAT, THAT THERE, AND, AND I'M TRYING TO REPEAT WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THE PENALTY BEING SOMETHING AKIN TO A TRAFFIC TICKET IF YOU VIOLATE THE ORDINANCE, IT'S LIKE THAT.
SO DO YOU HAVE ANY DATA ON, UM, JUST HOW MANY, UH, TRAFFIC TICKETS WERE VIOLATIONS OF TREE ORDINANCE OR PROTECTION THAT ARE THAT, OR YOUR MOST RECENT DATA ON THAT? DO YOU, DO YOU TRACK THAT AND DO YOU HAVE THAT DATA? I, UH, I'M FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT DATA EXISTS, BUT BECAUSE THAT IS ADMINISTERED THROUGH OUR, UH, THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENTAL INSPECTIONS DIVISION AND THEN THROUGH THE MUNICIPAL COURT, UM, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE INTERACT WITH DIRECTLY.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE ARE LOOKING AT IT FROM A, WE FORWARD OVER THOSE CASES, YOU KNOW, TWO IN TWO INSPECTIONS.
UM, BUT I, YOU KNOW, I, I CAN TELL YOU THAT JUST ABOUT EVERY WEDNESDAY I HAVE TROUBLE GETTING IN TOUCH WITH OUR EN EN ENFORCEMENT INSPECTORS.
'CAUSE WEDNESDAY'S ENVIRONMENTAL DAY AT THE MUNICIPAL COURT, AND THEY'RE DOWN THERE, YOU KNOW, TALKING TO FOLKS.
[01:40:01]
NUMBERS, I THINK WE COULD PROBABLY, UH, WE CAN GET, WE COULD, UH, SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE.UM, BUT, UH, WE DON'T HAVE THAT DATA AVAILABLE TO US RIGHT NOW.
YEAH, I DON'T, IS IT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC? UM, IT SEEMS LIKE THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT DATA TO HAVE AND, UH, WOULD, UH, GIVE US AN IDEA OF HOW WELL COMPLIANCE IS WORKING.
SO DO YOU KNOW WHETHER THAT'S AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC? UH, I DO NOT KNOW, BUT, UH, WE CAN CHECK ON THAT FOR YOU AND WE'LL, YEAH, WE'LL GET BACK.
UM, ANOTHER THING, UM, I SIT ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND THERE WAS A DEVELOPMENT THAT CAME TO US, UM, IN, IN OAK HILL, UH, IN FOR A, A VERY LARGE DEVELOPMENT, UH, I CAN'T REMEMBER, MAYBE 600 APARTMENTS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND THEY SAID THAT THEY, UM, HAD A WAIVER, OR I DON'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS A WAIVER OR A GRANDFATHER CLAUSE TO CUT DOWN HERITAGE TREES.
SO MY QUESTION IS, HOW, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? UM, AND THEN MY SECOND QUESTION IS, UM, AT WHAT POINT DOES A DEVELOPER HAVE TO GET A, WHAT YOU CALLED A TREE PERMIT IS, DO THEY GET IT BEFORE THEY COME TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION? OR DO THEY GET IT AT THE POINT OF SITE, THE SITE DEVELOPMENT FILING? SO, SO THAT'S A TWO PART QUESTION.
UH, I'M JIM KOWSKI, I'M THE DIVISION MANAGER FOR THE COMMUNITY TREE DIVISION WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO TO YOUR FIRST QUESTION, UM, SO YOU HAD A SITE PLAN WITHIN THE CITY ZONING JURISDICTION.
'CAUSE YOU'RE SEEING IT AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION, AND THEY SAID THEY HAD A WAIVER, WELL, SOMETHING THAT ALLOWED THEM TO LEGALLY CUT DOWN HERITAGE TREES.
THAT WAS HOW IT WAS PRESENTED TO US.
SO IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE, UM, YOU HAVE A SITUATION OF VESTED RIGHTS, WHICH IS, UH, SOMETHING THAT IS OUTSIDE OF A, POTENTIALLY OUTSIDE OF WHAT THE CITY IS ABLE TO REGULATE.
SO IF THEY HAD A VESTED RIGHTS CLAIM TO AN EARLIER TIME OF A DEVELOPMENT, THEN WHAT THEY'RE SPECIFICALLY SAYING IS, IS THAT THEY'RE GOING BACK TO A CERTAIN TIME PRIOR TO THE HERITAGE TREE ORDINANCE.
AND IF THAT WAS APPROVED THROUGH THE REVIEW PROCESS WITH THE, UH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, THEN THEIR PROJECT FOR CERTAIN REGULATIONS MAY HAVE HAD CERTAIN ENTITLEMENTS.
AND I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT GRANDFATHERING.
THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE COMMON TERM FOR VESTED RIGHTS.
AND, AND THEN YOUR SECOND QUESTION AGAIN, I'M SORRY.
AND, AND THE SECOND QUESTION WAS, SO AT WHAT POINT IN THE PROCESS THAT A DEVELOPER IS TRYING TO GET A DEVELOPMENT, UH, REZONED, UM, IN PARTICULAR, OR, OR EVEN JUST PROVED THAT, DOES THAT DEVELOPER HAVE TO GET THE TREE PERMIT? OKAY, SO IN THE, IN THE ORDER OF PROCESS, THE ZONING CHANGE IS USUALLY DONE PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLANS BEING SUBMITTED.
SO IN THE CASE OF A SITE PLAN THAT, THAT YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION, UM, THE SITE PLAN IS THE ACTUAL TREE PERMIT, IT, THEY'RE NOT GETTING ANY OTHER STANDALONES.
SO, UH, IF THE ZONING CHANGE IS BEING DONE PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT PLANS BEING SUBMITTED, THEN THE TREE REVIEW IS THEN DONE BASED ON THE TYPE OF PROJECT THAT'S COMING IN.
AND IF THE ZONING CHANGE AFFECTED THAT, UM, BUT MOST OF THE TIME, I GUESS WE WOULD BE SEEING A LARGE SCALE SITE PLAN.
UM, BUT IT, THE TREE REVIEW WOULD BE DONE AFTER THE ZONING CHANGE WAS ALREADY MADE.
AND THIS ISN'T THAT LIKE PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE, IF, YOU KNOW, I, I'VE NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY IT'S DONE THAT WAY.
YOU GET, YOU, YOU GET THE ZONING CHANGE AND THEN YOU KNOW YOU CAN, SO THAT'S NOT PART OF THE CONSIDERATION FOR, UM, WHETHER OR NOT YOU DESERVE THAT ZONING CHANGE THAT MIGHT IMPACT THE TREES IN A VERY NEGATIVE WAY.
FROM A, FROM A TREE REGULATION STANDPOINT THOUGH, UM, DOES, IF IT'S CHANGING IN ANY WAY, BUT STAYING SOMEWHAT COMMERCIAL OR MULTIFAMILY IN THAT ASPECT.
'CAUSE WE WOULD STILL BE REGULATING DOWN TO EIGHT INCHES AND DOING TREE REVIEW BASED ON THAT.
UM, THE ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE YOU MIGHT FIND IS IF SOMETHING CHANGED FROM TRUE SINGLE FAMILY TO COMMERCIAL OR VICE VERSA, BECAUSE THE REGULATIONS FOR SINGLE FAMILY ARE ONLY 19 INCHES AND GREATER.
[01:45:01]
THOUGH ARE THESE LARGER DEVELOPMENTS THAT COME THROUGH, UM, THAT CERTAINLY ARE BEING BUILT, UM, WHERE THE ZONING CHANGES FROM SINGLE FAMILY TO MULTI-FAMILY, BUT THEN YOU HAVE THE A, UM, A DEVELOPMENT THAT THAT HAS OVER, YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS SUBUNITS.AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE IMPERVIOUS COVER, IT'S WAY DIFFERENT THAN HAVING A SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE ON THAT PROPERTY.
AGAIN, THE ZONING CHANGE HAPPENS PRIOR TO THAT.
AND NOW WE HAVE THE DENSITY BONUS 90 PROJECTS THAT WE'RE SEEING THAT GO UP 90 FEET AND ALSO GO OUT A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF, OF SPACE.
SO AGAIN, THE ZONING CHANGE COMES BEFORE ALL OF THAT.
I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW THAT COULD NOT IMPACT TREES THAT ARE EXISTING ON THAT PROPERTY BEFORE YOU, UH, GET THE TREE PERMIT PER SE.
AND, AND THERE IS THAT POTENTIAL, AND IN THAT PARTICULAR CASE, IT'S THE ORDER OF PROCESS THAT IS, IS WHAT IS INTERFERING, UM, BECAUSE YOU WOULD BE REVIEWING A POTENTIAL SITE PLAN, UM, PRIOR TO ACTUALLY CHANGING THE ZONING.
'CAUSE PRIOR TO THAT, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S ACTUALLY GOING ON.
EVEN WHEN THEY'RE CHANGING THE ZONING, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FINAL DEVELOPMENT IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
AND, AND THAT'S WHY I SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE MAKING THESE CALLS PRIOR TO GETTING THE SITE PLAN, UM, IN PLACE, AND THAT'S THE SAME WITH A LOT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND ISSUES AS WELL.
UM, BUT THE OTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE AROUND THE TREES IS ABOUT COMPLIANCE.
UM, SO DO YOU FEEL LIKE, UM, YOU SAID THAT AUSTIN HAS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE LIKE TREE ORDINANCE AROUND, UM, AND IT, IT, IT SEEMS THOUGH THAT IT HAS, WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR, LIKE IF YOU VIOLATE, LIKE YOU, YOU, YOU CHOP DOWN A HERITAGE TREE, WHAT, WHAT'S THE PENALTY? I MEAN, IS THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE? IN OTHER WORDS, IS IT SO LOW THAT YOU DO IT AND YOU PAY THE TWO OR $300? WHAT, WHAT IS, WHAT IS THAT EXCHANGE? UM, SO THE PENALTY FOR A VIOLATION FOR A TREE REMOVAL IS, AS DANIEL HAS ALREADY DISCUSSED, UH, SOME OF THE MONETARY AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE CIVIL SIDE OF IT.
UM, FROM THE REGULATORY SIDE, IT IS, UH, THE REQUIREMENT OF INCHES BASED ON THAT SIZE OF THE TREE.
SO IF YOU, IF A 20 INCH TREE IS REMOVED, 20 INCHES IS REQUIRED TO BE PLANTED OR PAID INTO THE FUND, AND THEN WHATEVER THE, THE CIVIL, UH, SIDE OF THE, UH, THE EQUATION IN THOSE COSTS ARE.
SO WE DON'T REALLY KNOW BY CODE, THAT'S ALL STAFF IS ABLE TO DO.
THAT'S THE WAY THE ORDINANCE IS.
I, I THINK THAT THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS.
I'M, UH, I'M, UH, THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD.
SO I, UH, INTERACT WITH EMILY KING, OUR URBAN FORESTER ON OCCASION.
UM, AND IN PARTICULAR WAS INVOLVED, UH, A TINY BIT WITH THE WORK THAT THE CITY IS NOW DOING TO DO A COMPREHENSIVE TREE INVENTORY THAT, UH, STAFF JUST UPDATED US ON AT THE PARKS BOARD THE OTHER WEEK WITH THE GOAL, I THINK, OF GETTING IT ONTO THE, UH, 2026 BUDGET.
I WOULD BE CURIOUS TO HEAR, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF THE CONVERSATION WE WERE JUST HAVING, HOW YOU SEE THAT COMPREHENSIVE INVENTORY IMPACTING YOUR WORK.
UH, IF AT ALL, I ASSUME THAT IT WILL IN SOME WAY, SHAPE OR FORM ON THE REGULATORY SIDE.
UH, IT'S NOT GONNA IMPACT OUR WORK.
IT'S DESIGNED FOR LAND MANAGERS.
UM, WE'RE STILL GONNA PROTECT 19 INCHES TREES.
UM, AS, AS A PERSONAL NOTE, UH, I HAVE A EIGHT YEARS OF BACKGROUND IN DOING THE LARGEST TREE INVENTORIES IN NORTH AMERICA FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO LA PARKS, VICTORIA, DENVER, SALT LAKE CITY.
THE LARGEST TREE INVENTORY IS BOOTS ON THE GROUND, UM, WALKING THE STREETS.
SO LOOKING AND ASSESSING AND MEASURING EACH TREE FOR MUNICIPALITIES TO MANAGE, UM, THEIR URBAN FOREST TO MANAGE THE RISKS, TO MANAGE
[01:50:01]
WHICH TREE NEEDS WHAT, UM, AND NATURAL AREAS YOU CAN USE OTHER LIDAR TECHNIQUES AND SUCH.SO THE SCOPE OF WORK IS STILL BEING DRAFTED.
UM, BUT IN TERMS OF THE REGULATORY SIDE OF THIS, UM, IT'S NOT GOING TO IMPACT THE, OUR WORK.
IT WILL DEFINITELY IMPACT LIKE, HARD WORK AND MAKING, UM, YOU KNOW, THEIR, THEIR LIMITED FUNDS GO MORE WHERE THEY CAN REALLY ADDRESS IF THERE'S STRUCTURAL ISSUES, IF THERE'S SAFETY ISSUES, UM, THEY CAN IDENTIFY AND, AND ALSO IN OUR RIGHT OF WAYS AND OUR PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAYS TO IDENTIFY THE, THE, YOU KNOW, GET THE CREWS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
UM, MAYBE SOME PROACTIVE INSTEAD OF REACTIVE, UH, MAINTENANCE AND TAKE CARE OF A LOT OF DEFERRED MAINTENANCE.
UM, THAT'S NOT REALLY MY SCOPE AND MY ROLE.
I CAN OFFER EXPERTISE OF, YOU KNOW, YEARS AND COLLECTING
I HOPE THAT HELPS, BUT THAT'S A LITTLE OUTSIDE OF MY REGULATORY CALC.
I MEAN, THAT, THAT WAS MY QUESTION.
I WAS CURIOUS IF IT WAS GOING TO HAVE ANY IMPACT, SO THANK YOU.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND I THINK MORE, MORE OF A COMMENT THAN A QUESTION IS JUST THAT I THINK THIS DISCUSSION HAS REALLY HIGHLIGHTED, UH, THE NEED FOR US TO, YOU KNOW, MAYBE BRING IN THE URBAN FORESTER AND TALK ABOUT THE TREE CANOPY, THE TRENDS THERE AND THE URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN, WHICH WAS DONE IN LIKE 10 YEARS AGO, HASN'T BEEN UPDATED.
SO I THINK A LOT OF THIS DISCUSSION WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE, ESPECIALLY AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT HOW DO WE ACHIEVE SOME OF THESE GOALS ON THE, ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN WITH REGARDS TO TREE CANOPY WITH REGARDS TO EQUITY ON THE EAST SIDE AND SOME OF THE, UM, DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES AS WELL.
SO, UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR BEING HERE AND, AND SHARING ALL THIS INFORMATION.
BUT I THINK AN, UH, A GREAT NEXT STEP WOULD BE URBAN FORESTRY TOO.
WE'LL TRY TO GET THAT SCHEDULED SOON.
UM, I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS, BUT DID ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY BEFORE I GO? YEAH, IF I COULD GIVE ONE QUICK QUESTION BEFORE YOU GO? ABSOLUTELY.
JUST BECAUSE JUST THINK THIS WILL BE FAST.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I DIDN'T MISUNDERSTAND.
UM, WHEN YOU WERE PRESENTING, I BELIEVE YOU MENTIONED THAT WE DON'T HAVE A TREE MITIGATION ORDINANCE, BUT WE DO HAVE A TREE MITIGATION PROGRAM.
SO AS I'M HEARING PEOPLE TALK ABOUT SORT OF SOME MISSING TEETH BEHIND, UM, I'LL SAY ENFORCEMENT.
COULD YOU, COULD YOU HELP ME? UM, COULD YOU CLARIFY THAT? YEAH, I'LL CLARIFY WHAT I SAID.
UM, LIKE OUR, OUR FOCUS ON TREE PRESERVATION AND ORDINANCE MM-HMM.
OUR FOCUS IS ON THE PRESERVATION ASPECT AND DESIGNING AND WORKING AROUND TREES.
SO IF THAT'S, UH, AND THEN YOUR SECOND, YOUR QUESTION.
THAT'S WHY YOU SAID WE DON'T HAVE A MITIGATION ORDINANCE.
BUT THEN I THOUGHT, I HEARD YOU SAY LATER IN YOUR, IN YOUR PRESENTATION THAT WE DO HAVE A MITIGATION PROGRAM, AND THAT'S WHERE I WAS A LITTLE CONFUSED, LIKE, IF THERE'S MITIGATION ELEMENTS TO YOUR PROGRAM, DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE AN ORDINANCE BEHIND IT? THAT'S, THAT'S SORT OF WHERE I WAS, WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THAT.
SO THE RATES OF MITIGATION ARE SPELLED OUT IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA MANUAL.
ONCE A TREE IS PERMITTED TO BE REMOVED.
SO THE MITIGATION, WHICH WILL BE PART OF THE URBAN FORESTER'S PRESENTATION, WILL PRESCRIBE WILL, SHE WILL PRESENT ON WHERE THE MITIGATION IS USED, HOW IT'S TRACKED.
UM, DO YOU WANNA ADD ANYTHING? YEAH, WE, AND I, I THINK THERE'S A QUESTION HERE JUST OF WHAT THE EMPHASIS IS.
THE, UM, OUR, THE CODE, OUR CODE, OUR ORDINANCE DOES REQUIRE MITIGATION WHEN A REGULATED TREE IS REMOVED.
WE TALK ABOUT IT AS NOT BEING A MITIGATION ORDINANCE, BECAUSE IN JURISDICTIONS THAT ARE PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON MITIGATION, THERE'S NOT REALLY AN APPROVAL PROCESS BEFORE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO CUT DOWN A TREE.
YOU JUST HAVE TO DOCUMENT HOW MANY YOU'VE CUT DOWN AND THEN ESSENTIALLY PLANT THAT MANY TREES OR RIDE THAT A CHECK AND YOU KNOW, THE SPECIFIED AMOUNT TO COMPENSATE FOR IT.
BUT THERE'S NOT, THE MUNICIPALITY DOESN'T HAVE A WAY TO TELL YOU
[01:55:01]
NO AS ABOUT THE REMOVAL OF ANY PARTICULAR TREE.AND SO WE DO HAVE MITIGATION, BUT IT'S IT THAT COMES IN AFTER WE'VE DONE THE REG, YOU KNOW, KIND OF THE REGULATORY WORK AROUND MAKING SURE THAT A GIVEN TREE QUALIFIES FOR REMOVAL ON NON MITIGATIVE GROUNDS.
SO IF THAT, I HOPE THAT CLARIFIES IT DOES.
AND BASED ON YOUR EXPERIENCE, IS THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO EXECUTE, TO ACHIEVE OUR GOALS? UH, IN TERMS, SO IN TERMS, IF THE GOAL IN QUESTION IS PRESERVING THE TREES, UH, YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO HAVE THAT REGULATORY KIND OF TEETH TO, YOU KNOW, TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM CUTTING IT DOWN.
THERE'S, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT IN MOST CASES, GIVEN THE OPTION OF GOING TO THE TROUBLE OF DESIGNING AROUND A TREE OR JUST PLANTING NEW TREES, UM, MOST PEOPLE FOCUS ON THE BOTTOM DOLLAR, ARE GONNA PREFER TO JUST PLANT THE NEW TREES.
AND IT'S VERY APPROPRIATE IN A LOT OF CASES TO CUT DOWN A TREE AND PLANT NEW TREES.
YOU KNOW, FOREST SUCCESSION IS IMPORTANT.
WE WANT TO HAVE A RANGE OF TREE AGES, BUT FOR WHAT WE, BUT FOR WHAT WE ARE FOCUSED ON, WHICH IS PRESERVATION, UM, I THINK THAT OUR MODEL IS DEFINITELY THE WAY TO GO.
IF WE WERE TO DE-EMPHASIZE THAT, UH, KIND OF REGULATORY, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, YEAH, THE PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM GETTING DOWN TREES AND JUST FOCUS ON THE MITIGATION.
UM, I THINK THE, YOU KNOW, THE OUTCOME ON OUR OVERALL URBAN FOR, UH, URBAN CANOPY WOULD BE, UH, NEGATIVE.
YEAH, THANK, THANKS FOR ALL THIS HAS BEEN VERY ILLUMINATING.
UM, AND YEAH, I STILL HAVE A FEW THINGS THAT SEEM A LITTLE FOGGY TO ME.
UM, STARTING KIND OF RIGHT AT THE TOP WITH REASONABLE USE AND REASONABLE ACCESS AND HOW ARE THOSE DEFINED? 'CAUSE I THINK THERE'S SOME OF US WHO MIGHT THINK HERITAGE TREE, THERE'S NOT REALLY A REASONABLE USE OR ACCESS LIKE, YOU KNOW, BUILD SOMEWHERE ELSE MIGHT BE REASONABLE.
BUT, UM, WHAT'S THE DEFINITION? IT'S ON A SITE BY SITE, CASE BY CASE BASIS, SITE LIMITATIONS, OTHER PROVISIONS, MEETING OTHER SECTIONS OF CODE, LIKE I MENTIONED, A DRAINAGE POND.
UM, THERE WAS A CRITICAL WATER QUALITY ZONE OR THERE, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY YOUR LIMITATIONS, YOUR ENTITLEMENTS, BUT PROVIDE US IF, IF THERE'S NO DESIGN ALTERNATIVES, UM, THAT, AND THE APPLICANT HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT.
UM, IT DOES ALSO INCLUDE THE HEALTH OF THE TREE, UM, FOR REASONABLE USE AND ACCESS TO THE PROPERTY.
IF, IF YOU'VE GOT A TREE THAT'S FALLING APART AND IS OLD AND IS IN POOR CONDITION, IS NOT EXPECTED TO LAST EVEN OUTSIDE OF THE DEVELOPMENT FOR, YOU KNOW, FIVE MORE YEARS.
UM, AND ALSO WE LOOK AT THE SPECIES TOO.
UM, BUT IT'S ON A CASE BY CASE, SITE BY SITE, UM, EVALUATION OF EVERY, EVERY PLAN, UM, FROM SINGLE FAMILY TO LARGE COMMERCIAL.
SO IS REDUCING THE SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE BUILDING OR, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER.
IS THAT, IS THAT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, UH, FOR US IN OUR REVIEW? YES, BUT THAT'S NOT THE, THE REASON TO GRANT THAT REASONABLE USE AND ACCESS.
I GUESS I'M ASKING, UM, YOU KNOW, IF THE TREE COULD BE PRESERVED BY MAKING THE BUILDING SMALLER, IS THAT, IS THAT OPTION A? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN TELL THEM THEY HAVE TO DO? THERE'S A LOT OF BUILDINGS, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU NOTICED, THAT HAVE NOTCHED OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, SECTIONS OF THEIR BUILDING MM-HMM.
SO IT'S NOT THE, THE, THE, THE WHOLE FACTOR, IT'S, IT'S MAYBE ONE OF THE CONSIDERATIONS FOR ALLOWING FOR A TREE TO BE REMOVED.
BUT OUR FOCUS IS ON THAT SITE BY SITE, CASE BY CASE TREE, TREE CONDITION, BY EVERY, YOU KNOW, ALL THE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS.
AND SO WHEN THE, IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, WHEN IT SPEAKS TO THAT, YOU'VE SOUGHT AND BEEN DENIED A WAIVER MODIFICATION, VARIANCE EXCEPTION FROM ANOTHER SECTION OF CODE, UM, LIKE, LIKE HOW I MENTIONED SPEAKING TO THE FIRE REVIEWER, SPEAKING TO THE DRAINAGE WATER QUALITY REVIEWER TAKING, LIKE, WHY, WHY DO YOU NEED TO PUT A POND RIGHT HERE? CAN IT BE PLACED HERE? CAN YOU PUT YOUR ROAD HERE? CAN YOU MOVE YOUR FIRE ACCESS OVER THERE? UM, FOR SINGLE FAMILY, SAME THING.
AND WE'RE GOING TO THAT 19 INCH, LIKE, CAN YOU MOVE THIS? HAVE YOU TALKED TO TRANSPORTATION? SO EVERYTHING, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE, THE SIZE OF OR THE SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE BUILDING, IT'S TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ALL FACTORS OF THE SITE SPECIFICALLY.
[02:00:01]
GUESS I JUST SEE SOME DEVELOPMENTS GOING UP WHERE THEY CLEARLY HAVE CUT A LOT OF TREES AND I MEAN, IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE PUTTING A GIANT BUILDING THERE.SO, UM, I THINK THAT HAS, THAT HAS TO BE A FACTOR.
UM, BUT I HEAR THAT AT LEAST IF IT'S ON THE EDGE, MAYBE THEY HAVE TO KIND OF NOTCH OUT A PIECE OF THE BUILDING OR SOMETHING, BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO FOREGO A WHOLE WING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
IT'S, IT'S JUST BASICALLY ON A SITE BY SITE.
UM, AND IT, THAT TREE DOESN'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE ON THE EDGE.
UM, IT CAN BE DESIGNED AROUND, AND THAT'S WHAT WE SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, WORK ON EVERY SINGLE CASE OF DESIGNING AROUND.
UM, I WAS WONDERING ON THE INCH FOR INCH, AND I REALIZE THAT'S JUST WHAT THE REGULATION IS, BUT I THINK PART OF OUR ROLE IS KIND OF EVALUATING IF, LIKE YOU SAID, IF COUNCIL, OUR ROLE IS TO ADVISE COUNCIL.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THAT KIND OF IN MIND, UM, JUST THINKING ABOUT LIKE IS INCH FOR INCH REASONABLE, UM, I'M WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY DATA ON HOW THAT, UM, CORRELATES TO CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND FLOOD MITIGATION.
YOU KNOW, AN INCH OF INCH IN DIAMETER OBVIOUSLY IS NOT THE SAME, IS A, YOU KNOW, CUBIC INCHES OF TOTAL TREE.
SO YEAH, I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THOSE TOPICS.
SO THERE IS, UH, ON THE NATIONAL BENEFITS CALENDAR, UH, OR, UM, NATIONAL BENEFITS CALCULATOR, UH, IT WAS PUT ON BY I TREE AND THE FOREST SERVICE THAT YOU CAN PLUG IN A DIAMETER, A TREE AND A SPECIES AND YOUR LOCAL ZIP CODE, AND YOU CAN GET THAT ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS FOR EACH TREE BY TREE AND WHAT LAND USE IT IS.
SO THAT DATA IS PUBLICLY FOR EVERY ZIP CODE.
UM, AND THAT, SO IF YOU PLUG IN DIFFERENT SIZE MM-HMM,
UM, SO IT'S REALLY A GRID GRASP ON WHAT EVERY INCH OF THE TREE BRINGS.
SO THAT'S LIKE ONE OF MY SLIDES WAS THAT 19 INCH TREE DOES THIS MUCH AMOUNT OF INTERCEPTING THE STORM WATER AND INFILTRATING.
UM, BUT IT ALSO HAS SLIDES ON EACH, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN CALCULATE THIS ON A NATIONAL LEVEL OR TO, AND THEN TO YOUR LOCALS ZIP GOAT.
UH, YOU SAID THERE WAS NATIONAL BENEFITS BENEFITS CALCULATOR.
I THINK THAT'S LIKE ONE OF THE FIRST SLIDES OR ONE OF THE FIRST SLIDES THAT WONDERFUL.
UM, I THINK I HAVE ONE OTHER QUESTION.
AND THEN ON THE 2014, FOREST INVENTORY ANALYSIS BY THE FOREST SERVICE, THAT IS ANOTHER GREAT DOCUMENT THAT PROVIDED ALL THE ECOSYSTEM BENEFITS OF EACH TREES.
THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE TREE COUNT AND THE TREE, UM, FOR EACH SPECIES, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH WE HAVE AND STUFF.
MY OTHER QUESTION WAS ABOUT, UM, IF A TREE IS REMOVED WITHOUT THE PROPER AUTHORIZATION AND PERMITTING, IS IT THE PROPERTY OWNER THAT IS LIABLE FOR THAT? OR IS IT THE COMPANY THAT TAKES THE TREE OUT? AND I CAN SPEAK TO THAT AS ENFORCEMENT? UM, SO AS WITH ANY CODE VIOLATION, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, TREE RELATED OR NOT TREE RELATED, PROPERTY OWNER IS ALWAYS ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE.
YOU KNOW, IN PRACTICAL TERMS, A LOT OF TIMES IF, YOU KNOW, A CONTRACTOR DOES THE DAMAGE, THEY DON'T WANT TO DEVELOP A BAD REPUTATION, THEY HANDLE IT.
BUT IN TERMS OF ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY, IT IS ON THE PROPERTY OWNER.
NOW, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE MISDEMEANOR CITATIONS, UM, FOR THE ACT OF REMOVING THE TREE AS OPPOSED TO GETTING THE SITE BACK INTO COMPLIANCE, THE CITATION IS ISSUED TO THE PERSON WHO ACTUALLY REMOVED THE TREE.
SO, UM, KIND OF DEPENDS UPON WHICH OF THOSE FORKS IN THE, IN, IN ENFORCEMENT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
BUT, UM, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THE MITIGATION, UH, OBLIGATIONS THAT'S ON THE PROPERTY OWNER.
AND, AND THAT'S WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, DURING A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT OR JUST LIKE IN OTHER, CORRECT.
YOU KNOW, IF IT'S DURING A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, UM, AND YOU REMOVE A TREE OR YOU IMPACT A TREE, UM, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PASS YOUR FINAL INSPECTION UNTIL YOU'RE BACK INTO COMPLIANCE.
SO IT, UH, KIND OF DEFACTO BECOMES THE PROBLEM, THE ULTIMATE PROBLEM OF THE BUILDER.
UH, BUT YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THAT'S THE BUILDER ACTING AS THE AGENT OF THE PROPERTY OWNER.
WHAT DETERMINES WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S ENFORCEMENT, UM, NOT IN A NON-CONSTRUCTION SITUATION.
UH, SO I MEAN, WELL, THE FIRST THING IS DOES IT GET REPORTED TO US? YOU KNOW, SOME, LET'S SAY YES, IT SOUNDS OBVIOUS, BUT YES, YOU KNOW, BUT
[02:05:01]
THERE'S YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF THE FIRST THRESHOLD THAT HAS TO BE PASSED.UM, BEYOND THAT, IT REALLY COMES DOWN TO, UH, WHETHER OR NOT OUR INDIAN, OUR ENFORCEMENT DIVISION, UH, THINKS THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO BRING IT TO, TO BRING IT BEFORE A JUDGE, RIGHT? LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S A CITATION, YOU KNOW, WE STILL HAVE TO PROVE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, UH, THAT THIS ACTUALLY OCCURRED.
RIGHT? AND WHENEVER SOMEBODY CUTS DOWN A TREE, IF WE DON'T HAVE DOCUMENTATION OF THE SIZE OF THAT TREE, IT CAN BE CHALLENGING, UH, DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, THE CIRCUMSTANCES TO ACTUALLY FIGURE OUT WHAT THE DIAMETER WAS AND TO DETERMINE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHETHER OR NOT THIS EVEN KIND OF FIT INTO THAT CATEGORY OR HOW TO PURSUE THAT.
AND SO THAT'S, UH, KIND OF A CASE BY CASE CALL THAT, UH, THE, OUR INSPECTIONS DIVISION MAKES.
AND, UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE LOOKING AT IT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF, ARE WE GOING TO BE ABLE TO PROVE THIS IN A COURT OF LAW? OKAY.
I'M ASKING THAT ONE BECAUSE MY HOA HAD A HERITAGE TREE CUT DOWN.
UM, AND AFTER MUCH DELAY, AN INSPECTOR DID COME OUT AND HE WAS RIGHT AWAY, LIKE, JUST BASED ON THE, YOU KNOW, THE STUMP WAS STILL THERE.
HE WAS LIKE, YEAH, THIS WAS DEFINITELY A HERITAGE TREE.
UM, AND THEN NOTHING CAME OF IT.
AND YEAH, I JUST, I, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE TREE, BUT IT JUST DID MAKE ME WONDER LIKE, IS THIS SYSTEM WORKING FIRST? 'CAUSE IT LIKE TOOK A LONG TIME TO FINALLY GET SOMEBODY TO COME OUT, AND THEN NOTHING HAPPENED, SO IT DIDN'T MAYBE GIVE ME THE MOST CONFIDENCE.
AND OBVIOUSLY WITHOUT KNOWING DETAILS, CAN'T REALLY SPEAK TO WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT PARTICULAR CASE.
I CAN SAY THAT OUR, UH, INSPECTIONS TEAM IS USUALLY RESPONSIVE WITHIN A FEW HOURS.
UH, MOST OF THE TIME IF I, IF I CALL SOMETHING OUT TO 'EM IN THE MORNING, THEY'VE BEEN ON SITE BY THE AFTERNOON.
UH, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN ALL THE TIMES AND THINGS OBVIOUSLY SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS.
BUT, UM, IN GENERAL, I GENERAL, THEY'RE, UH, AT LEAST AS RESPONSIVE AS I AM IS WHAT I'LL SAY.
THEY, UH, THEY, THEY DO A REALLY GOOD JOB.
EVA, I, I HAD ONE MORE QUESTION.
UM, AND THAT IS UNDER, YOU KNOW, UNDER THE, THE NEW LAND USE, UH, ORDINANCE THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE, WE, WE DID CHANGE, UM, UH, REGULATIONS FOR IMPERVIOUS COVER, FOR EXAMPLE, IS THE, UH, TREE ORDINANCE OR UNDER THE NEW HOME TWO, HOW DOES THE TREE ORDINANCE IMPACT THAT? ARE, ARE FOLKS STILL HAVING TO COMPLY WITH THAT, UH, FOR THEIR PROPERTY? YES.
THE TREE ORDINANCE IS NOT CHANGED BASED ON THE HOME AMENDMENTS.
SO THEY, THEY STILL WOULD BE REQUIRED TO PROTECT 19 INCH TREES AND LARGER? YES.
AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WHEN GOING THROUGH THE REVIEW PROCESS, UM, THEY PROVIDE REASONABLE USE AND ACCESS TO THE SITE, AND IT'S NOT NECESSARILY BASED ON THE MOST ECONOMIC GAIN.
SO THERE'S, YOU KNOW, THEY MAY NOT GET ALL THE HOUSES ON THE SITE, UM, THAT THEY'RE ENTITLED TO BASED ON A PROTECTED OR A HERITAGE TREE.
THERE'S NO CHANGE TO THE TREE ORDINANCE.
UM, IT'S 41 YEARS OLD AND NO CHANGE TO THE HERITAGE TREE ORDINANCE.
AGAIN, I JUST WOULD SAY THAT WHEN YOU CAN GET THE, WHEN THE ZONING CHANGE HAPPENS PRIOR TO THE APPROVAL OF THE SITE PLAN, THAT COULD BE AN ISSUE.
BUT THANK, THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME KNOW THAT.
OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE A LOT OF INTEREST IN THIS TOPIC HERE, SO I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU COMING AND PRESENTING AND, AND SHARING ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE WITH US.
AND, UH, YEAH, WE'RE DEFINITELY GOING TO ASK FOR THE URBAN FORESTER AS WELL, SO THANK YOU.
YOU YEAH, AS A, I'VE BEEN A CERTIFIED ARBORIST FOR 25, 24 YEARS, AND SO I'M HONORED TO WORK FOR THE CITY AND TO COME AND SPEAK TO YOU AND, UM, AND ADMINISTER THE TREE ORDINANCE.
[5. Discussion of agricultural land acquisition and potential Working Farms Fund pilot. ]
ITEM IS YOURS, CHARLOTTE, UH, DISCUSSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND ACQUISITION AND POTENTIAL WORKING FARMS FUND PILOTS.UM, THE NATURAL SYSTEMS WORKING GROUP, UM, AS YOU KNOW, ALONG WITH A SUB
[02:10:01]
QUORUMSO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAD DISCUSSED AS PART OF THIS, UM, SUB QUORUM WORKING GROUP WAS THE WORKING FARMS FUND, WHICH, UM, WORKING FARMS FUND IS PART OF THE CONSERVATION FUND.
AND IT IS A, A PROGRAM THAT SEEKS TO ACQUIRE FARMLAND AT THE EDGE OF METROPOLITAN AREAS.
THEY HAVE A, A, A PROGRAM IN ATLANTA.
THEY'VE GOT ONE OUTSIDE OF CHICAGO.
AND WHAT THEY DO IS, UH, ACQUIRE THIS FARMLAND AND MATCH IT TO, TO FARMERS WHO CAN BECOME STEWARDS OF THIS FARMLAND AND ULTIMATELY, UM, OWN IT.
AND THEN THEY PERMANENTLY PROTECT IT THROUGH CONSERVATION EASEMENT OR SOME OTHER LEGAL MECHANISM.
SO, UM, THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY HAD BEEN TALKING WITH THE WORKING FARMS FUND, UM, BACK, UH, A COUPLE YEARS BACK ABOUT WORKING ON A PILOT, UH, PROGRAM AND HAD IDENTIFIED THERE NEED TO BE FUNDING FOR THIS.
IT'S SOMETHING I THINK WE PUT IN OUR JSC RECOMMENDATIONS AS PART OF THE ENVIRONMENT ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO WE WANTED TO SURFACE THAT BACK UP TO, UM, TAKE IT TO THE, THE LAND ACQUISITION TEAM THAT'S TALKING ABOUT, UM, WHAT TO DO WITH THAT.
AND SO WE HAD ACTUALLY PUT TOGETHER A DRAFT RESOLUTION TO CREATE A, A $5 MILLION REVOLVING LOAN FUND FOR THAT PURPOSE.
UM, AND THEN AS WE WERE HAVING SOME CONVERSATIONS, I WAS TALKING WITH, UM, EDWIN MARTY, UM, SPECIFICALLY WHO HAD HAD SOME OF THESE, UM, CONVERSATIONS WITH THE WORKING FARMS FUND IS THE, THE LAND THAT IS OUTSIDE OR LIKE AT THE EDGE OF AUSTIN IS, IS ALREADY VERY EXPENSIVE.
IT'S, UM, PRICED AT KIND OF DEVELOPMENT TYPE OF, OF PRICING.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT ONE OF THESE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO $5,000 PER ACRE.
AND THE WAY THE WORKING FARMS FUND WORKS BEST IS WHEN YOU CAN ACQUIRE THE LAND AT THOSE SORT OF AGRICULTURAL APPRAISAL, UM, VALUES.
AND SO WE GOT TO TALKING ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OR RATHER KIND OF LACK THEREOF FOR THAT SORT OF A PROGRAM, UH, ANYWHERE NEAR SORT OF THE, THE CITY LIMITS OF AUSTIN, OR EVEN IN THE ETJ.
IT WOULD HAVE TO BE MOST LIKELY BASED ON, UH, LAND VALUES, SOMETHING PRETTY FAR OUT FROM THE CITY.
SO MY THOUGHT WAS TO BRING THAT, UM, CONVERSATION BACK TO THIS, UM, LARGER GROUP AND JUST KIND OF HAVE A DISCUSSION AROUND, UM, LAND ACQUISITION AND, AND THE, YOU KNOW, APPROACH OR, UM, SORT OF IDEAS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE TO, TO, TO SORT OF SHARE WITH THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THOSE FOLKS AND STAFF AND, AND THE CITY THAT ARE TALKING ABOUT THAT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF BRING THAT, UM, TO THE JSC AND ASK FOR, YOU KNOW, ANY, YOU KNOW, ANY THOUGHTS ON, YOU KNOW, ON WHERE WE ARE WITH THAT.
AND ANYONE FROM, UH, FROM THOSE DISCUSSIONS THAT, UM, WANTS TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT, UM, RODRIGO OR CHRIS OR, UM, OR ANYONE FEEL FREE YEAH.
WHO WANTS TO JUMP IN? I I CAN JUMP IN AND THEN MAYBE CHRIS, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT, UM, WAS KIND OF EMPHASIZING CERTAIN PRIORITIES WHEN IT COMES TO LAND ACQUISITION.
UM, I KNOW, UH, HEATHER HAD WORKED ON SOME LANGUAGE AROUND ADDRESSING KIND OF HEAT RESILIENCE ISSUES.
UM, AND, AND THEN CHARLOTTE IS TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LAND ACQUISITION FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.
AND THEN THAT JUST GOT US THINKING ABOUT SHOULD WE BE, UM, PUTTING TOGETHER LIKE A MORE COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH OR STRATEGY AROUND HOW TO ACHIEVE OUR CLIMATE EQUITY GOALS THROUGH LAND ACQUISITION AND ENSURE THAT WE'RE TACKLING CO-BENEFITS.
UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE LAND COULD BE, UM, USED FOR BUSINESS ACCELERATOR PURPOSES FOR GREEN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
IT COULD BE USED FOR COOPERATIVES, IT COULD BE USED FOR SEQUESTRATION PURPOSES, IT COULD BE USED FOR SO MANY DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, UM, COMMUNITY BENEFITS AND CLIMATE BENEFITS.
UH, BUT IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THERE IS A CONCRETE STRATEGY AROUND THAT, AT LEAST FROM, FROM THE CITY SIDE
[02:15:01]
OF THINGS.UM, SO I THINK IT JUST RAISED QUESTIONS FOR US.
UH, WE'RE CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT THAT PROCESS IS GONNA LOOK LIKE, UM, FROM THIS CITY STAFF PERSPECTIVE.
AND I PERSONALLY THINK THAT, UM, BECAUSE OF THE SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS OF LAND ACQUISITION, THE BENEFITS THAT WE COULD GET OUT OF THAT, UM, I THINK THERE SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IN THOSE DISCUSSIONS.
UM, I'M HOPING IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT, UM, IS KIND OF INTERNAL TO THE CITY, UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE NEED DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND, AND IF WE RELY ON, FOR EXAMPLE, I KNOW, UM, WE HAD HEARD FROM SUSTAINABILITY THAT LIKE REAL ESTATE IS GONNA PLAY A KEY ROLE, THAT REAL ESTATE DIVISION IS GONNA PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THAT CONVERSATION.
AND I'M, I'M JUST NOT SURE IF, UM, THEY HAVE THOSE OTHER CO-BENEFITS IN MIND OR HAVE THE EXPERTISE TO INTEGRATE THAT INTO A COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR LAND ACQUISITION.
THE ONLY THING, CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME OKAY? YEP.
SO THE ONLY THING THAT'S IN LINE WHAT YOU WERE SAYING WOULD BE, UH, JUST GETTING GJAC INPUT ON WHETHER, I THINK WE WERE KIND OF BRAINSTORMING ON WHAT WOULD BE A BETTER STRATEGY IN TERMS OF DRAFTING RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND THIS.
UH, WOULD IT, YOU KNOW, FOCUSING ON CRITERIA, FOR EXAMPLE, THE RECOMMENDATION THAT DRAFTED AND REGARDS TO SEE GETTING THESE IN THE INDIVIDUAL CRITERIA, UH, UH, RECOMMENDATION DRAFTED OR JUST KIND OF DRAFTING A COMPREHENSIVE RECOMMENDATIONS WHERE WE HAVE, UH, ALL THE PRINT, UH, CRITERIA EMBEDDED.
UH, YEAH, IF YOU GUYS KIND OF HAD ANY, ANY THOUGHTS ON THE BENEFIT BETWEEN ONE OR THE OTHER? DID YOU GUYS HEAR THAT? UH, OKAY.
CHRIST, YEAH, YOU WERE, YOU WERE BREAKING UP A LITTLE BIT, BUT THANKS SO MUCH FOR, FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
I THINK, UH, WHAT WE WERE WANTING TO BRING THE IDEA OF, UM, SORT OF INDIVIDUAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LAND ACQUISITION AS OPPOSED TO A, A HOLISTIC SORT OF LARGER COMBINED SINGLE RECOMMENDATION.
SO FOR ONE, ONE THING THAT HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT FARMLAND ACQUISITION, UM, WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT, UM, LIKE COOL CORRIDORS AND LIKE ALIGNING THE, THE ACQUISITION ALONG TRANSPORTATION ROUTES.
UM, AND SO THERE'S COULD BE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO, UM, TO APPROACH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LAND ACQUISITION.
SO WANTED TO GET THE COMMITTEE'S THOUGHTS ON, UM, TRYING TO, TO BRING SOMETHING HOLISTIC TOGETHER VERSUS, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE INDIVIDUAL RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THIS ISSUE OF, UM, HAVING TO PAY HIGH DOLLAR FOR AGRICULTURAL LAND IS, IS A DIFFICULT ONE.
YOU KNOW, I GREW UP ON A FARM MYSELF AND, YOU KNOW, I KNOW IT'S, IT'S NOT A HIGH DOLLAR ENTERPRISE, SO, UM, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S TOUGH.
UM, AND IT, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO WEIGH ALL THESE, UM, YEAH, THE DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT BENEFITS.
LIKE, WE'RE PROBABLY NOT GONNA GET THEM ALL OUT OF ANY PIECE OF LAND.
SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO PICK AND CHOOSE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I GUESS WITH TREES TOP OF MY MIND, UM, YOU KNOW, BUYING, BUYING LAND THAT IS FORESTED, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF, UH, CARBON BENEFITS, CERTAINLY THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK IS GONNA BE THE MOST BANG FOR OUR BUCK.
UM, AND THEN ALSO, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY HELPING TO MITIGATE, UH, THE WORSENING OF OUR HEAT ISLAND HERE, ESPECIALLY THE CLOSER IN IT CAN BE, WHICH PROBABLY MEANS IT'S EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE, BUT, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS GIVING US MORE QUALITY OF LIFE BENEFITS THAN SOME FARMLAND THAT'S FAR AWAY.
AND AGAIN, MUCH AS, YOU KNOW, MY, I I HAVE MY OWN GARDEN.
I, I LOVE, YOU KNOW, GROWING LOCAL FOOD AND ALL THAT, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE REALITY IS WE ARE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO SELF-SUPPLY OURSELVES HERE IN THIS CLIMATE.
SO IT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE A LITTLE, IT'S, IT'S A NICHE THING.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT DOESN'T HAVE VALUE, BUT, UM, YEAH, IT IS JUST LIKE TOUGH WITH LIMITED FUNDS.
LIKE HOW, HOW CAN WE GET THE MOST OUT OF THEM? I THINK THAT'S WHERE I WOULD PROBABLY
[02:20:02]
LEAN THOUGH, IS FORESTED LAND WITH, UM, THAT COULD ALSO YIELD LIKE WATER PROTECTION BENEFITS AND PERHAPS, YOU KNOW, HABITAT KIND OF BENEFITS.YOU COULD CHECK I THINK AT LEAST THREE BOXES THERE, CARBON MITIGATION, YOU KNOW, HABITAT PRE, UH, PRESERVATION AND WATER QUALITY, UM, WITH THAT STRATEGY.
SO I DON'T KNOW, I COULD BE CONVINCED OTHERWISE, BUT THAT WOULD BE MY INITIAL LEAN.
BUT I WOULD ALSO ADD TO THAT, THAT THE, THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF FORWARDED LAND, UM, THAT WE NOW KNOW THE SCIENCE IS, IS IN ON THAT.
AND THAT'S WHY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, SHADE EQUITY AND TREE DISPARITIES IN ONE COMMUNITY VERSUS OTHERS, AND WITH HEAT ISLANDS ALSO, UH, COMPOUNDING ALL OF THAT, UM, THERE, THERE IS REALLY A LOT OF SCIENCE BEHIND THAT ARGUMENT.
YEAH, I THINK ACTUALLY THAT, THAT MAYBE BRINGS US UP TO FIVE, RIGHT? BECAUSE I, I SAID CARBON SEQUESTRATION, BUT THEN I, I, I ALSO HAD MENTIONED THE HEAT ISLAND, YOU KNOW, HEAT MITIGATION AND THEN YEAH, THE MENTAL HEALTH.
WELL, AND HEAL HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES AS WELL, RIGHT? PHYSICAL ILLNESSES.
I FAILED TO INTRODUCE MYSELF EARLIER.
I'M, UH, COMING FROM THE FOOD POLICY BOARD AND I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF INTERSECTION HERE WITH THE FOOD PLAN.
AND I, UM, NOW KNOWING THIS IS BEING TALKED ABOUT HERE, I CAN KIND OF READ INTO THAT MORE ABOUT THE INTERSECTIONS, BUT I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO D 10 ABOUT, UM, LAND ACQUISITION.
IT DOES SEEM TO BE A PRIORITY.
AND IN MY LAST CONVERSATION WITH THEM, THEY ASKED, I ASKED, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR YOU TO ACT QUICKLY ON LAND ACQUISITION? BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE THEY ARE ALREADY PLANNING TO DO WHAT'S IN THEIR CONTROL TO ACQUIRE LAND, UM, FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.
AND IT SOUNDED LIKE THEY REALLY WANTED A LIST OF NONPROFITS WHO ARE WILLING TO MANAGE THAT LAND.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW THAT, I'M TRYING TO THINK ABOUT OUR SCOPE OF CONTROL AND WHAT RECOMMENDATIONS WE MAKE MAKE AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT JUST I WANNA THROW THAT OUT THERE AS ANOTHER, UM, OPPORTUNITY HERE BECAUSE WE ALL COME FROM, UH, WORLDS THAT MAY BE ABLE TO FILL THAT NEED TOO, WHICH WOULD ALLOW CITY TO ACT QUICKLY.
SO JUST WANTED TO THROW THAT OUT THERE.
SO JUST TO CLARIFY, YOU'RE KIND OF SAYING THAT PERHAPS THE CITY HAS ALREADY DECIDED TO SPEND THE MONEY ON, UH, AGRICULTURAL LAND AND WHERE WE CAN WEIGH IN IS HELPING THEM.
I, I MEAN, I THINK THERE ARE DEFINITELY NONPROFITS, BUT IS THAT, IS THAT THE NEED? IS IT, DO THEY HAVE SPECIFIC LAND IN MIND? THERE'S LAND IN MIND.
UM, I DO KNOW THAT LAND IS IN MIND.
UM, THEY'RE WORKING ON THE, UH, LOGISTICAL PIECE TO ACQUIRE THE LAND, BUT IN ORDER FOR THEM TO ACT QUICKLY, THEY WILL NEED SOMEBODY TO MANAGE THAT LAND IN A SIMILAR, UH, STRUCTURE.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE'S FAMILIAR WITH URBAN ROOTS.
UM, AND SO IN THAT SAME WAY, THEY WOULD NEED SOMEBODY KIND OF LINED UP BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA CONVINCE AND SAY, HEY, WE CAN MANAGE THIS LAND THAT WE ACQUIRE.
AND SO THAT'S HOW I BELIEVE WE COULD HELP THINGS MOVE ALONG MORE QUICKLY, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
LAND IS, HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED, I THINK WE'RE STILL CONVINCING, UM, LIKE, OR TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW, WHAT, HOW TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
BUT TO MOVE QUICKLY, WE'LL NEED SOMEONE TO MANAGE IT.
ARE YOU SAYING THAT HAS URBAN ROOTS RAISED THEIR HAND OR NO? NO, I HAVE NOT TALKED TO THEM.
DO YOU KNOW THE PRICE? I DON'T KNOW IF THEY'VE BEEN APPROACHED, SO, OKAY.
DO YOU KNOW THE PRICE TAG? NO, I DO NOT.
JUST, JUST TO CLARIFY, IS THAT IN RELATION TO THE 50 MILLION THAT WAS ALLOCATED IN THE PREVIOUS BUDGET, OR IS THIS A DIFFERENT POT OF FUNDS? I DO NOT KNOW.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THAT 50 MILLION WAS FOR BROADER CLIMATE PURPOSES, RIGHT? WAS THERE LIKE A SPECIFIC, UM, WAS THERE A SPECIFIC PRIORITY TAG TO THOSE 50 MILLION? I THINK THE RESOLUTION SAID, UM, FOR PARKLAND AND FOR, UM, UH, SOMETHING ELSE, BUT TO PRIORITIZE LAND WITH ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS INCLUDING HABITAT AND CLIMATE AND THOSE SORT OF THINGS.
[02:25:01]
I HAD A SIMILAR QUESTION THOUGH.I WAS ASSUMING IT, UM, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT LAND ACQUISITION FUNDS, FUNDS,
'CAUSE I WAS CURIOUS HOW MUCH MONEY WAS GOING TO THE LANDS THAT ARE BEING DESIGNATED FOR AGRICULTURAL, BECAUSE WE HAD TALKED ABOUT ALL THESE OTHER BENEFITS AND I THINK IN A, MAYBE IT WAS OUR JULY AND AUGUST MEETING ALSO THE QUESTION OF HOUSING CAME UP AROUND THIS.
SO AROUND LIKE THIS FUND'S DEPLOYMENT.
UM, SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE 50 MILLION HAS NOT ACTUALLY BEEN ATTACHED TO THE SPECIFIC LAND THAT THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED THAT'S COMING AND THAT 50 MILLION IS STILL UNDER DISCUSSION? SO I APOLOGIZE.
I I AM COMING IN WITHOUT A LOT OF CONTEXT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE $50 MILLION, WHICH IS PROBABLY PART OF MY, MY GAP HERE.
BUT I DO KNOW THAT THE CITY WAS, OR D 10 WAS EXPLAINING TO ME THAT THEY WOULD NEED TO ACQUIRE DEBT TO PURCHASE THE LAND THAT THEY ARE LOOKING AT.
SO IT WOULD BE A PART OF THE BOND PROCESS, I BELIEVE THE CLIMATE BOND NOW THAT I'M THINKING BACK TO THAT CONVERSATION.
AND SO IT WAS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY THIS PAST, UM, UH, BUDGET CYCLE.
BUT LOOKING AHEAD, IN ORDER TO ACT QUICKLY IN FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES WHICH ARE CURRENTLY BEING IDENTIFIED, THEY WOULD NEED A LIST OF NONPROFITS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT WOULD BE WILLING TO MANAGE SAID LAND.
UM, YEAH, THERE'S 50 MILLION IN THE, IN THE BUDGET TO MEET THE GOALS OF THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND AUSTIN COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY.
THESE GOALS INCLUDE ACQUIRING 20,000 ACRES OF LAND FOR PARKLAND, IMPROVING DRAINAGE AND MITIGATING FLOOD RISK.
NOW I'M NOT READING DIRECTLY FROM THE RESOLUTION, SO WE SHOULD FIND THAT AND FOLLOW UP.
UM, IT, DO WE, DO WE KNOW WHO IS SPEARHEADING THIS FROM THE CITY SIDE? IS IT REAL ESTATE? IS THERE, DO WE HAVE A PERSON, IS THERE SOME FOLKS WE COULD MAYBE TALK TO ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC PIECE? AND WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT D 10, MARISSA, THAT'S LIKE SPECIFIC TO, UM, TO THAT DISTRICT'S DESIRE TO PURCHASE LAND WITHIN, WITHIN D 10? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
UM, I THINK MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT D 10 IS SPEARHEADING THIS, UM, NOT FOR PURCHASE WITHIN D 10.
THEY'RE LOOKING OUTSIDE OF THE CITY AND LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE, BUT THEY'RE LIKE SPEARHEADING THE INITIATIVE.
I, I TRUST THAT THE, THE WORKING GROUP WILL KEEP WORKING ON THIS AND OKAY.
THANK YOU CHARLOTTE AND, AND EVERYBODY ELSE ON THAT.
I DO THINK THIS IS SOMETHING IT SOUNDS LIKE WE SHOULDN'T DELAY ON, SO WE'LL MAYBE LOOK TO SEE IF THERE'S SOMETHING WE CAN DO IN NOVEMBER, UM, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU LEARN.
UM, CHARLOTTE, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE WE MOVE ON? YOU? YOU GOOD? OKAY, GREAT.
[6. Approval of Proposed 2025 Joint Sustainability Committee Annual Meeting Schedule ]
ITEM IS OUR PROPOSED 2025 MEETING SCHEDULE.FOLKS HAVE LOOKED AT THAT AND ARE GOOD WITH IT.
CAN WE BRING IT ON THE SCREEN? YOU KNOW WHAT, I THINK I CAN DO THAT FROM MINE.
WE MIGHT HAVE, I DON'T KNOW, DO WE HAVE QUORUM? I DON'T.
THAT'S WHAT I WAS GONNA BRING UP THAT ONE.
DID WE LOSE? PEOPLE DID LEAVE, BUT, UM, DO WE? NO, ONE OF THOSE IS MAINTENANCE.
IF WE COUNT HER, WE ONLY HAVE 10 AND WE NEED 11.
IF YOU GUYS ALL STAY ON SCREEN,
[02:30:02]
THEN I THINK WE'RE GOOD.UM, I'M GONNA TRY TO SHARE THIS.
I MOVE TO APPROVE THE 2025 DATES, RIGHT? WE'VE GOT A MOTION.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT THIS? OKAY.
PUT THE DATES ON YOUR CALENDAR.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
IS, THE LAST THING WE HAVE IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I THINK WE IDENTIFIED WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE, UH, URBAN FORESTER, UH, TO COME AND PRESENT, UH, EMILY KING, HOPEFULLY, UH, IN NOVEMBER.AND WE WILL, I KNOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, SOMEBODY FROM THE CITY OF PORTLAND, UH, TALKING TO US ABOUT WHAT THEY'VE DONE ON, ON LOW CARBON, LOW CARBON, CONCRETE, ANYTHING ELSE ANYBODY WANTS TO, AND WE'LL HAVE CAP METRO.
AND I THINK ALSO THE TRANSPORTATION PRESENTATION HOPEFULLY THAT WE DIDN'T GET TONIGHT, AND ANY HOME COMMISSION UPDATES THAT PEOPLE WANNA GIVE.
REMEMBER, IF YOU WANNA DO THOSE, JUST, UH, LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE.
SO, UM, MAYBE NOT FOR DECEMBER, BUT JUST TO KEEP IT ON THE RADAR, THE CONVERSATION AROUND THE $50 MILLION AND HAVE SOMEONE COME AND PRESENT AND PROVIDE A PROGRESS REPORT ON WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THAT.
EVEN FOR NOVEMBER, IT SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD PERHAPS NOT BE THAT LENGTHY, SO HOPEFULLY THEY CAN TELL US WHAT'S UNDER DURATION.