[00:00:04]
[CALL TO ORDER ]
OF EVERYBODY WHO'S ONLINE.UM, WE DO HAVE A QUORUM, SO I'LL CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.
DO WE HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP TO SPEAK? NO.
JUST SO YOU THERE, JUST DIDN'T WANNA, DIDN'T WANNA LEAVE YOU BEHIND IF YOU WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING TO US.
SO WE'LL START WITH THE MINUTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING.
ACTUALLY, BEFORE WE JUMP INTO THE MINUTES,
[Additional Item]
WE HAVE TWO NEW MEMBERS HERE, UM, IN PERSON.AND I KNOW YOU'LL PRO, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CAN SEE US, UM, BUT HOPE, HOPEFULLY YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE THEM.
'CAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE WE AT LEAST HAVE BETTER AV HERE THAN, THAN OVER AT AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, SET UP.
SO WHY DON'T WE GO AROUND AND DO SOME INTRODUCTIONS SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN AT LEAST PUT A NAME TO A FACE, UH, BEFORE WE GET GOING.
SO IF EVERYBODY CAN, IF YOU CAN SHARE YOUR NAME, UH, THE DISTRICT THAT YOU'RE REPRESENTING, AND OR DISTRICT THAT YOU LIVE IN, UM, IF THAT'S DIFFERENT.
AND THEN IF YOU'RE REPRESENTING A CITY COMMISSION OR IF YOU'RE ONE OF THE MAYOR APPOINTEES.
I'M REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO, AND I SERVE ON THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION, AND I'LL PASS IT.
HI EVERYONE, MY NAME'S ANNA SCOTT.
UH, I'M A MAYOR'S APPOINTEE AND I'LL MAYBE ADD ONE KABA.
I'D LOVE IT IF WE COULD TALK ABOUT THE SUBCOMMITTEES THAT I THINK ARE ON THE AGENDA.
BE, UH, AND SO I LEAD A SUBCOMMITTEE ON, UM, RESOURCES.
WHAT IS, IS MY NAME, RIGHT? UH, CONSUMPTION.
UH, CONSUMPTION, UH, WHICH IS THE, THE PART OF THE PLAN.
UH, THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN THAT DEALS WITH, UM, THE THINGS THAT WE CONSUME.
MY NAME'S SET AND I WAS APPOINTED BY THE SIERRA WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION, AND I'M A DISTRICT SEVEN APPOINTEE.
I WAS A, I AM A MAYORAL APPOINTEE, UM, AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT 10, SO THANK YOU.
UM, I'M GONNA PASS IT TO CHARLOTTE AND THEN IF Y'ALL CAN JUST PASS IT TO EACH OTHER AS YOU GO, PLEASE.
I'M CHARLOTTE DAVIS, UH,
I'M A DISTRICT ONE OF
I'M, UH, UH, THE MAYOR'S APPOINTEE TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD.
I LIVE IN D FIVE AND, UM, DEPENDING ON HOW THIS MEETING GOES, UM, I'M, UH, AT LEAST IN THEORY, GOING TO CHAIR THE NATURAL SYSTEMS BUDGET COMMITTEE, BUT, UM, WE MAY NOT BE DOING THAT ONE THIS YEAR, SO TO BE DISCUSSED TODAY.
HEY, UH, HOW ABOUT, UH, RODRIGO? HI.
I AM, UH, MAYORAL APPOINTEE, AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT ONE, AND I'LL PASS IT OFF TO AARON.
UH, I'M THE CHAIR OF THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION AND I'LL PASS IT OFF TO JOSH.
I, UH, LIVE IN DISTRICT 10, UH, AND I AM THE PLANNING COMMISSION DESIGNATE HERE ON THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION.
I WILL PASS IT ON TO HOW ABOUT DIANA WHEELER.
I AM A, UH, I'M ON THIS COMMITTEE FROM THE MAYORAL APPOINTEE, AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT SEVEN, AND I AM LOOKING TO SEE WHO ELSE IS ON PHILIP.
NOPE, YOU'RE NOT A, I DON'T SEE ANY.
I DON'T SEE ANYBODY ELSE ON THAT.
DID WE MISS ANYBODY? OH, VARUN.
CAN YOU HEAR US? DID YOU? PASSIONATE TO YOU, BUT WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.
[00:05:01]
YEAH, I WOULD, YOU COULD TRY LEAVING AND COMING BACK.UNLESS HAVE WE LOST OUR AV PERSON?
CHANCES ARE THAT LEAVING AND COMING BACK IS GONNA BE YOUR BEST BET UNLESS YOU HAVE A SETTINGS ISSUE ON YOUR COMPUTER.
AND I THINK WE'LL STILL BE OKAY WITH QUORUM, EVEN IF HE GOES AWAY FOR A MINUTE, RIGHT? YEAH,
UM, WELL, WELL, YOU CAN INTRODUCE YOURSELF WHENEVER YOU GET
I'VE BEEN THERE, SO FEEL YOUR PAIN.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Joint Sustainability Committee Regular Meeting on November 19, 2025. ]
WE MOVE ON TO ADOPTING THE, THE MINUTES.UM, IF ANYBODY WANTS TO MAKE A MOTION, AND AS A REMINDER, YOU DON'T NEED TO HAVE BEEN HERE AT THE LAST MEETING TO VOTE FOR THE MINUTES.
THE GOAL IS TO GET THE MINUTES POSTED.
WE'VE GOT A MOTION AND A SECOND.
DID ANYBODY WANNA MAKE EDITS OR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE MINUTES? OKAY.
ALL IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND.
ANY OPPOSED OR ABSTAINING? OKAY, THE MINUTES ARE ADOPTED.
SO, FIRST OF ALL, CAN I JUST ASK IS DOES ANYBODY HAVE LIKE A TIME THAT THEY'RE GONNA DROP OFF? WE HAVE A FEW ITEMS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AS MUCH PARTICIPATION FOR AS POSSIBLE.
I THINK ALL THESE ITEMS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT JUST WANNA BE ABLE TO STRATEGIZE.
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A PARTICULARLY LONG AGENDA TONIGHT, BUT IS ANYBODY DROPPING OFF AT A CERTAIN TIME? NO.
I LOVE TO NOT BE SURPRISED BY THAT.
UM, AND PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS FREE TO TEXT ME IF YOU DO HAVE THINGS LIKE THAT THAT COME UP.
JUST IT HELPS US WITH PLANNING.
[2. Staff briefing on Carbon Offsets. Presentation by Phillip Duran, Austin Climate Action and Resilience.]
BRIEFING ON CARBON OFFSETS.AND, UH, THANKS FOR BEING HERE, PHILIP.
UH, APOLOGIES FOR NOT BEING THERE IN PERSON WITH YOU ALL.
I HAD EVERY INTENTION TO, TO BE, BUT, UH, MY SICK 1-YEAR-OLD, UH, VEHEMENTLY DISAGREED AND HUSBAND DISAGREEING ALL WEEK.
SO THANKS FOR THE FLEXIBILITY, UH, THAT Y'ALL OFFER HERE.
YOUR VOICE AND YOUR WISDOM ARE HERE.
UM, FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW ME OR FOR THE NEW MEMBERS, I'M PHILLIP DRAWN WITH AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION RESILIENCE.
I'M THE SENIOR CLIMATE ANALYST, SO I MANAGE AND LEAD ALL OF OUR IN-HOUSE RESEARCH, UH, ANALYSIS AND INNOVATION.
AND FOR THE LAST SEVERAL, SEVERAL YEARS, I'VE BEEN MANAGING, UH, THE OFFICES' PROCUREMENT OF CARBON OFFSETS AND SUPPORTING OUR PARTNERS AROUND THE CITY IN THEIR, UH, PURCHASING OF CARBON OFFSETS AS WELL.
SO I'M HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT TODAY.
YEAH, THIS IS A TOPIC THAT SHOWS UP IN THE NEWS SOMETIMES.
UM, AND IT'S ONE THAT WE COULD GO BOTH VERY BROAD AND VERY DEEP ON.
SO TODAY, FOR THIS PRESENTATION, I'M GONNA TRY TO KEEP IT AT A HIGH LEVEL AND WE CAN DRILL DOWN AS NEEDED BASED ON QUESTIONS OR INTEREST.
SO WE'LL COVER JUST A QUICK REFRESHER OF WHAT CARBON OFFSETS ARE, UM, UH, HOW WE VIEW THEM IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, HOW AND WHY WE USE THEM, AND THEN TALK ABOUT SOME NEXT STEPS AND OPPORTUNITIES BECAUSE THOSE ARE, UH, THOSE ARE THERE FOR CARBON OFFSETS.
SO WHAT ARE CARBON OFFSETS? AS A REMINDER HERE IN TEXAS, WE PARTICIPATE IN WHAT IS CALLED THE VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET.
SO WHEN WE BUY CARBON OFFSETS, WE'RE CHOOSING TO DO SO.
THERE ARE OTHER PLACES IN THE COUNTRY AND IN THE WORLD WHERE IT'S NOT VOLUNTARY.
UM, IN THE US AND THE WEST COAST AND THE NORTHEAST, THEY PARTICIPATE IN MANDATORY CAP AND INVEST CARBON MARKETS.
UM, BUT WHEN WE CHOOSE TO DO SO HERE IN TEXAS, IT'S, IT'S OF OUR ABOLITION.
UM, AT ITS SIMPLEST, AT THE SIMPLEST LEVEL ONE CARBON OFFSET, IT EQUATES TO ONE TON OF CARBON AVOIDED OR CAPTURED ELSEWHERE.
IT IS A MARKET MECHANISM TO SUPPORT GOOD PROJECTS THAT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN OTHERWISE TO JUST IMPROVE THE ECONOMICS OF THEM.
AND, UM, WE'RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH SOME OF THEM, BUT THERE ARE A WHOLE HOST OF REGISTRIES AND STANDARDS THAT VERIFY WHEN A PROJECT OR A CARBON OFFSET IS DONE CORRECTLY.
AND I'VE GOT, UH, SEVERAL OF THEM LISTED THERE.
THOSE ARE ALL THE, THE HIGH QUALITY, THE SORT OF GOLD STANDARD, UH, UM, REGISTRIES AND VERIFICATION MECHANISMS. A NEW ONE ON THE SCENE IS THE INTEGRITY COUNCIL, UH, OF THE VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET.
[00:10:01]
PUSH FOR HIGHER AND HIGHER STANDARDS.IN THIS SPACE, THERE ARE BASICALLY TWO TYPES OF CARBON OFFSETS, TECHNOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY-BASED SOLUTIONS, AND NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS.
TECHNOLOGY-BASED SOLUTIONS ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE PROBABLY VERY FAMILIAR WITH IF WE'RE, UH, IF WE'RE IN THIS SPACE.
RENEWABLES, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, METHANE OR OTHER, UH, GREENHOUSE GAS CAPTURE AND REUSE OR EVEN DIRECT, UH, AIR CARBON CAPTURE.
UH, NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS ARE THINGS LIKE TREE PLANTING, REFORESTATION, UH, LAND MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT, UH, LAND ACQUISITION AND CONSERVATION, AND THEN SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND SOIL CARBON, UH, SOIL HEALTH IMPROVEMENT AS WELL.
THERE ARE PROS AND CONS TO BOTH TYPES OF, UM, OF CARBON OFFSETS.
UH, THEY BOTH HAVE THEIR MERITS FOR SURE.
AND, AND I GUESS I WOULD SAY THAT IF YOU HAVE SEEN CARBON OFFSETS IN THE NEWS, UM, YOU'VE THE MOST HIGH PRO.
THE HIGHEST PROFILE PARTICIPANTS IN THE VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET TEND TO BE BIG TECH FIRMS. AND THEY JUST FOR REFERENCE, THEY PROCURE BOTH TYPES AND DEVELOP PROJECTS FOR BOTH TYPES OF ASSETS, BOTH, UH, TECHNOLOGY BASED AND NATURE BASED SOLUTIONS.
THIS IS A TYPOLOGY THAT I'M APPLYING TO CARBON OFFSETS.
UH, THIS IS JUST SORT OF FROM MY OWN EXPERIENCE, UH, AND INTUITION.
THEY GENERALLY TEND TO FALL INTO THREE BUCKETS OF PRICING.
UH, THERE ARE THE REALLY OLD CARBON OFFSETS THAT WERE CREATED BEFORE.
THERE WERE STANDARDS AND REGISTRIES AND VERIFICATIONS.
SOME PEOPLE IN THE SPACE EVEN REFER TO THEM AS ZOMBIE OFFSETS.
THERE'S A LOT OF 'EM OUT THERE, AND LIKELY NO ONE'S EVER GOING TO, UH, BE BEHIND THEM.
UM, THE MIDDLE, UH, PRICING CATEGORY, UH, IN THE 15 TO $30, EVEN AS MUCH AS A HUNDRED DOLLARS, UH, PER TON RANGE ARE THE ESTABLISHED CARBON OFFSETS, UH, FROM EXISTING TECHNOLOGY OR NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS.
AND IN OUR OPINION OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, THIS IS THE SWEET SPOT IN TERMS OF QUALITY AND VALUE.
AND THIS IS WHERE WE TEND TO PARTICIPATE ON THE EMERGING TECHNOLOGY END OF THE SPECTRUM.
THERE ARE EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE CARBON OFFSETS FROM THAT NEW TECH THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT A COUPLE SLIDES BACK.
UH, THINGS LIKE DIRECT AIR CAPTURE.
THESE WILL GENERALLY NOT MAKE SENSE FOR A NUM FOR MOST BUYERS, BUT DO FOR SOME THAT EITHER WANT TO PUSH THE MARKET FORWARD, UM, HELP, UH, THE TECHNOLOGY MATURE OR MIGHT WANT A HIGH PROFILE, UH, PROJECT THAT THEY CAN, UH, THEY CAN ADVERTISE OR MARKET, RIGHT? SO THAT'S GOVERN OFFSETS AT A HIGH LEVEL.
UM, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT, UM, THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND OUR APPROACH, UH, TO THEM.
FIRST AND PROBABLY MOST IMPORTANTLY, UH, WHAT'S IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UH, WE'RE ALL PROBABLY PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH IT.
IT'S A, UM, EXTENSIVE COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENT.
AND SO THEY DO TOUCH ON, SO IT DOES TOUCH ON CARBON OFFSETS, BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHAT'S IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, ALL THE GOALS AND STRATEGIES ARE FOCUSED ON FIRST AND FOREMOST REDUCING OUR EMISSIONS.
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY THE TOP PRIORITY AS THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, LAYS IT OUT.
AND THAT'S OUR APPROACH OF THE CITY.
UM, THEY'RE DURING THE PLANNING PROCESS, THE DRAFTING PROCESS, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN OFFSETS WERE DISCUSSED AS A POTENTIAL SOLUTION.
AND, UH, THE GUIDELINES, THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES THAT WE ARRIVED AT FOR THE PROCUREMENT OF CARBON OFFSETS AS DESCRIBED IN THE PLAN, ARE THAT THEY SHOULD BE, WHEN POSSIBLE, AS CLOSE TO AUSTIN AS POSSIBLE, UM, FROM PROJECTS THAT CREATE ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND EQUITY BENEFITS, AND THAT PRIORITIZE NEGATIVE EMISSIONS OVER AVOIDED EMISSIONS.
AND WHEN WE'RE, UH, PROCURING OFFSETS, WE ALWAYS REFER BACK TO THESE GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
UH, AS A TOUCHED ON, IN ADDITION TO THE NET ZERO BY 2040 GOAL THAT STAYED IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, THERE WAS A RESOLUTION BACK IN 2007 ADOPTED BY A CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS TO MAKE ALL CITY OPERATIONS CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2020.
UM, THAT WAS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO SORT OF HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
IT, IT GOT A LOT OF DEPARTMENTS LOOKING AT THEIR INDIVIDUAL CARBON FOOTPRINTS AND EVEN GOT US LOOKING AT THE CARBON FOOTPRINTS OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS.
AND, UH, IT, IT IS PART OF THE REASON THAT, UM, WE PARTICIPATE IN THE VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET TODAY.
UH, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IN PURSUIT OF BOTH OF THOSE GOALS AND REALLY ALL OF ALL OF OUR SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE RESILIENT RESILIENCE GOALS AT THE CITY, WE ARE ALWAYS URGING ALL OF OUR PARTNERS AND ALL CITY PROJECTS TO ATTAIN THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SUSTAINABILITY
[00:15:01]
CERTIFICATION THEY CAN FOR A FACILITY OR FOR A PROJECT OR FOR ANYTHING.SO THAT'S THINGS LIKE LEAD AUSTIN ENERGY GROUP BUILDING SITES FOR PLACES LIKE PARKS AND VISION FOR HORIZONTAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
BUT WE ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO ATTAIN THOSE HIGH LEVELS OF CERTIFICATION FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
UH, FOR ONE, THEY'RE JUST EXISTING PLAYBOOKS THAT WILL OFTEN LEAD TO BETTER PROJECTS.
AND WE DON'T HAVE TO REINVENT THE WHEEL EVERY TIME, UH, AND ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY DAYS, BUT STILL TODAY, IT BRINGS OWNERS OF THOSE PROJECTS OR DEVELOPERS OF THOSE FACILITIES OR VENTRAL MANAGERS, MANAGERS OF THOSE FACILITIES, BRINGS 'EM TO THE TABLE AND GETS A HIGHER LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT.
AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE EFFORTS JUST MAKES US, UH, COLLABORATIVE PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONVERSATION.
AND IT MEANS THAT WE'RE INTEGRATING AND OPERATIONALIZING SUSTAINABILITY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FROM, UM, PROJECT IDEATION TO PLANNING TO IMPLEMENTATION.
AND THEN, UH, AND, UH, THE LIFETIME OF THE PROJECT IMPORTANT TO THIS CONVERSATION TODAY IS THAT TO ATTAIN SOME OF THOSE HIGH LEVELS OF CERTIFICATION, UH, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE GET TO THAT NEXT LEVEL LEAD PLATINUM OR WHATEVER, FOR EXAMPLE, AND, AND LEAN INTO THE, THE WIN AS IT WERE.
UH, RECOGNIZE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF FOLKS ON GOOD PROJECTS.
SOMETIMES CARBON, CARBON OFFSETS ARE NECESSARY.
AND PART OF THAT PROCESS, THIS IS A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THE TYPES OF CARBON OFFSETS AND SOME RECENT EXAMPLES OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE REASONS THAT, UH, WE, WE MAY HAVE BEEN PROCURING THEM.
UH, THE FIRST THERE IS THE AUSTIN ENERGY HEADQUARTERS.
IT'S STILL A PRETTY NEW BUILDING.
IF YOU'VE BEEN THERE, YOU KNOW THAT IT'S STATE OF THE ART.
AND IMPRESSIVELY SO THEY WERE ABLE TO AT ATTAIN LEAD PLATINUM, UH, CERTIFICATION.
AND THAT WAS A BIG CONSIDERATION TO THE ENTIRE DESIGN PROCESS.
UH, AND SO THEY DID ALL THE RIGHT STEPS IN REDUCING EMISSIONS, BOTH IN CONSTRUCTION AND IN OPERATIONS.
AND IN ORDER TO GET TO THAT NEXT LEVEL OF CERTIFICATION NEEDED TO ENSURE THAT THEY WERE OFFSETTING THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF THE OPERATION OF THE BUILDING.
AND, UH, GREENY CERTIFIED OFFSETS WERE PURCHASED, UH, AS A SOLUTION.
SIMILARLY, AT THE, UH, AIRPORT, UM, FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW, GOING BACK TO MAYBE 20 20, 20 21, THE AUSTIN, UH, BERKSHIRE AIRPORT HAS ATTAINED A PRETTY HIGH LEVEL OF, UH, AIRPORT CARBON ACCREDITATION.
AND IN FACT, I THINK WHEN THEY FIRST ATTAINED THE LEVEL, IT, THEY WERE THE LARGEST AIRPORT IN THE COUNTRY THAT HAD DONE SO, SO DEFINITELY AN ACHIEVEMENT.
UM, BUT PART OF THAT IS OFFSETTING SOME OF THEIR ONSITE EMISSIONS THAT EITHER ON THE APRON OR THROUGH ONSITE, UH, ENERGY SOURCES.
AND THEY ALSO HAVE STANDARDS THAT THEY HAVE TO BUY WITHIN, UH, IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THEIR CERTIFICATION.
AND THOSE ARE GREENY CERTIFIED OR BETTER.
THE AUSTIN, UH, CONVENTION CENTER IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE THERE.
THE ORIGINAL CONVENTION CENTER WAS A LEAD FACILITY.
UM, THE PALMER EVENT CENTER IS A LEAD FACILITY.
UH, THE NEW C CENTER I'M SURE WILL ATTAIN A LEVEL AS WELL, HOPEFULLY AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE.
UH, THEY TEND TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE OTHER BUYERS OF CARBON OFFSETS, AND SO THEY'RE BUYING THE SAME STANDARD AS EVERYONE ELSE.
AND THEY FIND THAT AS A LEAD FACILITY AND AS A CARBON NEUTRAL FACILITY THROUGH THE PURCHASING OF CARBON OFFSETS.
THEY ARE AN ATTRACTIVE PARTNER FOR EVENT ORGANIZERS AND HOSTS, AND THEY LEAD WITH OUR, UH, SUSTAINABILITY VALUES, UH, FOR A LOT OF OUR VISITORS.
AND, AND THEY FIND THAT AS A VALUE TO THEIR OPERATIONS, CLIMATE ACTION AND RESILIENCE.
WE SUPPORT ALL THESE PARTNERS IN PURSUIT OF ALL THEIR CLIMATE GOALS, INCLUDING CARBON OFFSETS.
AND FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, WE PARTICIPATED IN THE VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKET, UH, THROUGH PURCHASING CITY FOREST CREDITS, UH, FROM, UH, OUR PARTNERS AT TREE, FOLKS THAT HAVE A WHOLE HOST OF LOCAL, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL CO-BENEFITS, RIGHT.
SO OPPORTUNITIES AND NEXT STEPS.
UM, APROPOS TO CHARLOTTE, COMMUTING IN ON CAP METRO, UH, GET THEIR A TX HAS PARTNERED WITH CARBON GRID USING CARBON OFFSETS AS A MECHANISM TO INCENTIVIZE MORE SUSTAINABLE COMMUTING CHOICES.
SO CHARLOTTE, YOU COULD TECHNICALLY BE GETTING COMPENSATED FOR THAT, UH, BUS RIDE AS YOU'RE COMMUNITY.
AND BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT TAKING A SINGLE PASSENGER VEHICLE.
AND CARBON OFFSETS IN ADDITION TO GRANT FUNDS ARE WHAT MAKE THAT POSSIBLE.
UM, SO AN INTERESTING SOLUTION TO AN OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO SOLVE PROBLEM.
UM, ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY IS POTENTIALLY WORKING WITH VISITORS TO THE CITY, TO THE AIRPORT OR EVENT HOSTS AND ORGANIZERS AT THE CONVENTION CENTER, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT LOCAL, LOCAL CLIMATE ACTION, POTENTIALLY OFFSETTING THE EMISSIONS OF THEIR TRAVEL OR,
[00:20:01]
OR THEIR EVENT.AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, WE'RE STARTING TO LOOK INTO, WE'RE EXPLORING.
UH, THE THIRD IS SOMETHING THAT WE HOPE TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON AT THE NEXT JSC MEETING, UM, TO CONSIDER REFRIGERANT CAPTURE AND DESTRUCTION AS, UH, A MECHANISM TO DEVELOP LOCAL CARBON OFFSETS.
UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THERE IS A PLAYBOOK FOR, UH, THAT OTHER FOLKS DO, AND THAT THOSE OFFSETS ONE SOLD REFRIGERANTS ARE CAPTURED.
THEY'RE REALLY HIGH, GLOBAL, WARM, POTENTIAL GASES CAPTURED AND DESTROYED.
YOU CAN CREATE OFFSETS FROM THOSE AND SELL THEM IN THE NON-VOLUNTARY MARKETS, LIKE OUT WEST OR THE NORTHEAST.
UH, WE'RE STILL EXPLORING THE FEASIBILITY OF IT, HOPEFULLY MORE SOON.
AND THEN LASTLY, THERE ARE, UH, LIKELY OTHER WAYS THAT WE COULD EXPLORE ADDITIONAL OPTIONS, UH, THROUGH CITY LED PROJECTS, UH, TO DEVELOP TECHNOLOGY OR NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS THAT MIGHT LEAD TO LOCAL CARBON OFFSETS.
UM, KIND OF COVERED A LOT AT A HIGH LEVEL.
SO OPEN THE FLOOR TO QUESTIONS.
UM, I'LL PASS IT AROUND, BUT I HAVE JUST ONE QUESTION TO START OFF, AND, AND THAT IS, CAN YOU SHARE THE AMOUNTS THAT ARE, UM, BEING SPENT FOR THOSE FOUR DIFFERENT, UM, DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU LISTED PLEASE, ANNUALLY? UM, SURE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE, IT, IT VARIES YEAR TO YEAR JUST BASED ON ACTIVITY AND WHAT THE PROJECT OR FACILITY MIGHT BE THAT NEEDS THEM.
BUT WE AVERAGE IT AROUND, UH, 50 TO $60,000 A YEAR FOR, FOR ME, IN TOTAL.
TOTAL FOR ALL FOUR DEPARTMENTS? YES.
UM, DO YOU THINK YOU COULD FOLLOW UP WITH WHATEVER YOU HAVE? I CAN CONFIRM THAT, YEAH.
AND, AND I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT BROKEN BY DEPARTMENT IF, IF THAT'S AVAILABLE.
WHO HAS QUESTIONS? QUESTION? WELL, I HAVE ANOTHER ONE.
UM, I AM CURIOUS, UH, WHAT, IF ANYTHING, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE LEADING THIS EFFORT FOR THE CITY OR ARE IN CHARGE OF IT, LIKE WHAT, IF ANYTHING YOU DO TO, UM, TRY TO VERIFY THE VALIDITY OF THE PROJECTS BEYOND, YOU KNOW, THE ACCREDITATION? SURE.
SO THE, UH, ACCREDITATION OR THE CERTIFICATION THAT ACCREDIT HAS, THAT IS, UM, THAT, THAT IS MEANT TO BE THE VERIFICATION, UH, PATHWAY.
WE ALWAYS GET AS MUCH DETAIL ON A PURCHASE AS POSSIBLE AND THEN FOLLOW UP, DO OUR OWN SORT OF DESK RESEARCH, AND THEN CONVENE AS A PURCHASING GROUP TO CONFIRM THAT THESE ARE OF THE QUALITY THAT WE, UH, STRIVE FOR AND MATCH OUR VALUES AS WELL.
AND SO OBVIOUSLY LIKE TREE FOLKS, THEY'RE LOCAL PRETTY, I WOULD SAY RELATIVELY EASY TO VERIFY THERE.
BUT, UM, FOR THE OTHER OFFSETS THAT ARE NOT LOCAL, ARE THOSE GENERALLY TIED TO SPECIFIC PROJECTS OR IS IT A PORTFOLIO AND ARE THEY DOMESTIC OR INTERNATIONAL? DOMESTIC AS FAR AS I KNOW ALWAYS.
AND, UM, WE WILL GENERALLY PUT TOGETHER A PORTFOLIO OF SEVERAL PROJECTS IN A GIVEN YEAR TO JUST TO DIVERSIFY.
THE, ARE THE ONES THAT Y'ALL ARE BUYING ARE FOR A SPECIFIC, UM, SPECIFIC PROJECT? CORRECT.
UH, WHEN YOU FOLLOW THE PROJECTS YEAH.
WHEN YOU FOLLOW UP, COULD YOU PROVIDE THAT LIST OF CURRENT PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING SUPPORTED? THAT'LL, I, I CAN, THAT'LL TAKE SOME DOING TO PULL ALL THE INFORMATION TOGETHER, BUT WE CAN DO THAT.
AND, AND THEY, AND I GUESS I, I WOULD NOTE AS WELL THAT BECAUSE WE PARTICIPATE IN THESE REGISTRIES, ALL OF THAT INFORMATION IS, IT IS IN, IN THE PUBLIC 'CAUSE BECAUSE THESE REGISTRIES ARE, ARE PUBLIC IN NATURE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS OR DISCUSSION ON THIS TOPIC, CHARLOTTE? I, YES.
I JUST WAS WONDERING, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, JUST WONDERING, IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE IT'S A HUGE
[00:25:01]
PART OF THE CLIMATE PLAN.UM, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE CERTAIN EMISSIONS THAT ARE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY DIFFICULT TO REDUCE OR AVOID.
AND SO OFFSETS ARE, I GUESS, MEANT TO KIND OF COME IN AND, AND FILL THAT GAP.
BUT I, I GUESS I'M INTERESTED IN LIKE WHAT KIND OF QUANTIFICATION OF THE, YOU KNOW, NET ZERO PLAN THIS IS, I MEAN, ARE OFFSETS REPRESENTING 5% OF THE WAY THERE, 10% OF THE WAY THERE? DO WE HAVE A SENSE FOR THE PROPORTION OF THAT? YEAH, THE SCALE.
SO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN TALKS ABOUT THAT, AND AS AN ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE STATES THAT WE SHOULDN'T GO ABOVE 10% OF THE COMMUNITY-WIDE CARBON FOOTPRINT AND CARBON OFFSETS.
THE WAY THAT I LOOK AT IT IS THROUGH THE LENS OF THE CITY'S OPERATIONAL CARBON FOOTPRINT, THOUGH.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S MUCH SMALLER.
THE COMMUNITY WIDE CARBON FOOTPRINT IS 11.5 MILLION METRIC TONS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND THE CITY OPERATIONAL CARBON FOOTPRINT IS MORE LIKE 50,000.
AND SO AS A PERCENT OF CITY OPERATIONS, IT'S, IT'S, I'VE ACTUALLY GOT A SLIDE THAT SHOWS IT, IF WE WANTED TO PUT THE SLIDES BACK UP, BUT IT'S PROBABLY SINGLE DIGITS PERCENT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, PROBABLY LESS THAN FIVE, AROUND FIVE.
I, I DON'T HAVE THE PERCENTS ON THE SLIDE, BUT THE, THE GREEN BARS THAT GO DOWN NEGATIVE, THERE ARE THE, THE SHARE OF CARBON OFFSETS.
YEAH, THANKS FOR THE QUESTION.
YEAH, THANKS FOR SHOWING THIS SLIDE.
I, I, IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE HOW IT HAS GONE UP AND DOWN.
WAS THERE SOMETHING IN PARTICULAR THAT WAS LIKE DRIVING THE INCREASE LOOKS LIKE, YOU KNOW, IN THE 20 19, 20 20 TIMEFRAME, THE, THE INCREASE IN CARBON OFFSET PURCHASES? YEAH.
THOSE, THOSE WERE PROBABLY YEARS THAT, UH, A FACILITY WANTED A LEAD CERTIFICATION AND SO NEEDED TO PURCHASE FOR THAT REASON.
WELL, I LOVE THAT Y'ALL ARE LOOKING AT LOCAL OPTIONS.
I MEAN, I'M ALSO GLAD THAT IT'S NOT A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY, BUT, UM, I THINK ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO PUT, DO THOSE DOLLARS INTO LOCAL PROJECTS THAT THE CITY CAN HAVE SOME, YOU KNOW, CONTROL AND OR AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, VISIBILITY, UM, ON THE BETTER, UH, ESPECIALLY AS, AS WE ARE HEADING INTO INCREASINGLY TIGHT TIMES WITH MONEY, LIKE USING ALL OF OUR DOLLARS IN AS MANY WAYS AS POSSIBLE, I THINK IS IMPORTANT.
UM, AND MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, IS GOING TO HAVE TO GROW IN THE FUTURE.
SO IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE, IF IT DOES NEED TO GROW IF WE HAVE A, A LOCAL SYSTEM.
SO I, I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT THE REFRIGERANT LEAK PROGRAM.
AND I GUESS I WOULD, I WOULD NOTE THAT, UM, IN TERMS OF THE LOCAL, UH, ECONOMY, UM, CURRENTLY TO MY KNOWLEDGE TREE FOLKS IN THE CITY FOREST CREDITS ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT ARE DEVELOPED AND PRODUCED LOCALLY RIGHT NOW.
SO THERE THAT IS TO SAY THAT THERE ARE NOT, THERE'S NOT A PLETHORA OF OPTIONS THAT ARE IN AUSTIN, RIGHT? LIKE IT WOULD KIND OF HAVE TO BE SOMETHING THAT THE CITY HELPS DEVELOP POTENTIALLY.
WITH, WITH THE, I THINK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IT BEING A WAY TO FUND PROJECTS OR, OR MORE STUFF THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH OUR GOALS AND VALUES BECAUSE, UH, AS, AS THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN SAYS, AND AS I WAS TRYING TO SAY AS WELL, THE CREATING A CARBON OFFSET FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE CARBON OFFSET IS LESS IMPORTANT THAN REDUCING EMISSIONS FIRST.
AND SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALIGNING MULTIPLE, UH, OUTCOMES IF, IF WE WERE TO GO THAT ROUTE.
YEAH, A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE.
UM, I CAN'T SEE WHO'S ON THE SCREEN, BUT IF ANYBODY HAS A FINAL QUESTION, OTHERWISE WE'LL LET PHILIP GET BACK TO HIS SICK BABY.
UM, SO WE HAVE A FEW, UM, ITEMS ON HERE.
SOME OF THEM ARE KIND OF RELATED.
[3. Approve the creation of working groups for FY27 City of Austin Budget, funding, and priority policy recommendations.]
REVISIT OF OUR WORKING GROUPS.[00:30:01]
MAY OR MAY NOT NEED TO ACTUALLY VOTE ON ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS, BUT, UM, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF REASONS WHY I PUT THIS BACK ON OUR AGENDA.UM, ONE IS THAT WE DID CREATE SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS AND THEN NOBODY REALLY WANTED TO CHAIR IT.
SO I SAID THAT I WOULD
SO, UM, I'M, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M SAYING THAT HERE IF ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO PICK UP THAT BALL.
BUT I THINK MAYBE JUST TAKING A STEP BACK FROM THAT, UM, WANTED TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF CONVERSATION ABOUT OUR STRATEGY AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IN THE CONTEXT OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE CITY BUDGET CONSTRAINTS THAT WE HAVE THIS YEAR, AND IT'S ONLY GONNA BE MORE SO FOR 2027.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IN THE PAST WE'VE MADE SOME REALLY SOLID RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE'VE ALSO SOMETIMES MADE A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS WITH HIGH DOLLAR AMOUNTS, UM, WITHOUT NECESSARILY POINTING TO WHERE THE MONEY SHOULD COME FROM.
SO YEAH, JUST KINDA WANTED TO OPEN IT UP AND SEE IF FOLKS HAVE THOUGHTS AND HOW WE CAN BE EFFECTIVE.
I, THANKS, UH, KIVA, I, I I SHARE SOME OF THOSE YEAH.
THAT I SHARE YOUR INTERPRETATION OF, OF LIKE WHAT HAS HAPPENED, WHICH IS THAT WE HAVE COME UP WITH, WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME, WE'VE COME UP WITH SOME VERY DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THE, THE TICKET ITEM ON THOSE, LIKE THE DOLLAR VALUE HAS BEEN QUITE HIGH.
UM, AND SO I'M, I'M WONDERING IF THERE'S A WAY TO, RATHER THAN FOCUS LIKE THEMATICALLY FOCUS ON, YOU KNOW, NARROW THINGS DOWN IN A WAY THAT, YOU KNOW, FOCUSES ON, I DON'T KNOW, READING THE POLITICAL ROOM TO LIKE FIGURE OUT LIKE, HEY, IS THERE A COUPLE AREAS THAT WE CAN REALLY HONE IN ON THAT, THAT ARE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE KNOW ARE GONNA PRODUCE COST SAVINGS, WHICH I THINK THERE, THERE LIKELY ARE THINGS THAT, THAT FIT THAT CATEGORY IN HERE.
UM, I WILL SAY, YOU KNOW, FOR MY OWN WORKING GROUP, LIKE WE PROBABLY ARE GONNA RECOMMEND THE SAME THINGS
AND SO THAT'S MAYBE NOT THE BEST USE OF, OF THAT.
MAYBE IT'S A, IT'S A GOOD USE OF THAT TIME IN THE SENSE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S POSSIBLE TO KEEP ADVOCATING FOR THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN ADVOCATING FOR FOR SEVERAL YEARS, BUT PERHAPS REFOCUSING, UH, TO MAYBE SOME, LIKE A COUPLE OF THEMATIC AREAS.
AND, AND I DON'T HAVE THIS FULLY DEVELOPED NOW, BUT YOU COULD, ONE COULD TAKE THAT IN TWO DIRECTIONS, RIGHT? LIKE, WE COULD SAY, HEY, WE'RE GONNA GO, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW RENEWABLE ENERGY, LIKE IS A THEMATIC FOCUS AREA.
UM, BUT WE COULD ALSO GO, I DON'T CALL IT NI NICHE, BUT, YOU KNOW, FOCUS IN ON LIKE POLLUTANT CAPTURE.
FOR EXAMPLE, IS, IS, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT IS PROBABLY A SMALLER SPEND THAN SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WE'VE RECOMMENDED IN THE PAST THAT MIGHT HAVE LIKE A HIGH, HIGH IMPACT.
SO THOSE ARE TWO WAYS I MIGHT PURSUE FOCUSING IN, BUT WOULD LOVE TO HEAR OTHER IDEAS.
SO AS I MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, I WAS, I WAS SIGNED UP TO CHAIR THE NATURAL SYSTEMS COMMITTEE AND, AND DISCUSSING THAT WITH CHARLOTTE.
I THINK IT'S EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN SAID SO FAR ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH.
I ALSO THINK IT MIGHT BE VALUABLE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAVE SORT OF A MORE IMMEDIATE OR OBVIOUS IMPACT, RIGHT? LIKE, IF WE'RE GOING TO BE NARROWING DOWN THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE FOCUS, AND I SAY THIS AS THE PERSON WHO'S, YOU KNOW, FROM THE PARKS BOARD AND ON THE NATURAL SYSTEMS COMMITTEE, WHICH IS REALLY FOCUSED ON LIKE ME.
I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT GROWING TREES MOST OF THE TIME, RIGHT? LIKE, IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE MEDIUM TO LONG TERM.
I THINK OBVIOUSLY VERY VALUABLE, BUT MAYBE NOT SO USEFUL GIVEN THE SORT OF THE CURRENT MOMENT THAT WE'RE IN THE BUDGET CRUNCH AND SORT OF THIS DESIRE TO HAVE SORT OF AN MORE, I THINK THERE, THERE ARE OTHER THINGS WE COULD FOCUS ON THIS YEAR THAT WOULD'VE A MORE IMMEDIATE OR VISCERAL IMPACT FOR FOLKS.
UM, THEN I JUST THINK WE SHOULD HAVE FEWER ITEMS, RIGHT? LIKE THERE'S A SMALLER BUDGET, WE WANT FOLKS TO PAY ATTENTION, WE WANT THE COUNCIL TO PAY ATTENTION.
I THINK A FEW FOCUSED, THOUGHTFUL ITEMS IS GOING TO HAVE MUCH MORE OF AN IMPACT THIS YEAR THAN OUR USUAL LITANY OF RECOMMENDATIONS.
AS MUCH AS I ENJOY DOING THOSE, UM, I, I'D LIKE TO KINDA ADD, UM, AND ECHO SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE EARLIER, RIGHT? A LOT OF THE, SO ON THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION, A LOT OF THE TRACTION THAT WE'VE GOT FROM COUNCIL, UM, YOU KNOW, BEING INTERESTED IN OUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE IN REGARDS TO SAVINGS, UM, NOT ONLY FOR THE CITY, BUT ALSO FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, CONSTITUENTS.
AND SO I, I DON'T KNOW, UM, I I WOULD FIND IT HELPFUL TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND THE COMMITTEES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN, UH, PROPOSED AND THAT HAVE BEEN KIND OF WORKING.
BUT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS MAKES SENSE FOR THIS AGENDA ITEM OR TO HAVE IT AS LIKE A FUTURE AGENDA
[00:35:01]
ITEM, UH, BUT SOMETHING THAT WE'RE DISCUSSING ON THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION THAT WOULD OVERLAP WITH THIS COMMITTEE ON DECEMBER 23RD, UH, ED VAN ENO PUBLISHED A MEMO TO, UM, OR I'M SORRY, UH, THE CHIEF INFORMATION AT OFFICER IKA LAKE PUBLISHED SOMETHING TO THE MARIN CITY COUNCIL.UM, AND IT WAS A STAFF RESPONSE TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RESOLUTION THAT WAS, UH, KIND OF DIRECTED BACK IN APRIL.
UM, LOOKING THROUGH THIS, UH, MEMO, IT ESSENTIALLY TAKES A LOOK AT A LOT OF RISK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, DATA CENTERS COULD POTENTIALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, PRESENT TO LIKE THE ENERGY SUPPLY AS WELL AS ENERGY RATES THAT RATE PAYERS MAY BE EXPECTED TO PAY.
UM, IT ALSO MAKES, YOU KNOW, SOME STATEMENTS LIKE HOW AUSTIN ENERGY IS NOT ALLOWED TO DISCRIMINATE BASED ON, UM, THE USER.
UM, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT THERE MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE LIKE A RECOMMENDATION AROUND, UM, ESSENTIALLY LIKE TO ENSURE THAT RATE PAYERS ARE NOT SUBSIDIZING THE COST FOR THESE DATA CENTERS.
AND I KNOW THAT THAT HAS, UM, BEEN A STATED PRIORITY OF, UH, STARTS WITH A TI MIGHT BE MISPRONOUNCING, I THINK IT'S TOKI, UM, BUT I'VE SEEN KIND OF THOSE STATEMENTS BEING MADE.
I SEE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO MAYBE PROVIDE INPUT TO ENSURE THAT THOSE COSTS ARE NOT BEING TRANSFERRED TO RATE PAYERS AND HOW OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR COMMISSION COULD BE VALUABLE, UM, TO POTENTIAL POLICY THAT IS STILL VERY MUCH IN, IN DEVELOPMENT.
I THINK THAT'S SUPER IMPORTANT.
WOULD LOVE TO CONNECT WITH YOU OFFLINE ON THAT WORK.
OTHER THOUGHTS ON OUR BUDGETING BUDGET RECOMMENDATION PROCESS APPROACH? DO WE WANT TO, I MEAN, I THINK FUNDAMENTALLY THERE'S A QUESTION OF LIKE, DO WE ALL GO OFF INTO THESE WORKING GROUPS THAT WE HAVE HAD, UM, AND REESTABLISHED, UM, THAT ARE KIND OF ALIGNED WITH THE, ALL THE SECTIONS OF THE CLIMATE PLAN OR
BUT I, I THINK THAT, UM, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS THAT I HAVE AND RIGHT NOW, BEAR WITH ME, I'M THINKING OUT LOUD.
WE DO HAVE THE LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE PUT FORTH LAST YEAR, RIGHT? SO WE, WE COULD, YOU KNOW, CONCEIVE OF THAT AS A STARTING POINT.
UM, AND THE OTHER THOUGHT THAT I HAD IS THAT IF WE ARE TO GO INTO THESE WORKING GROUPS, UM, THERE ARE, THERE ARE SOME THAT I THINK HAVE A MUCH GREATER POTENTIAL FOR CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION THAN OTHERS, RIGHT? SO TRANSPORTATION, UM, YOU KNOW, RENEWABLE ENERGY, THAT SORT OF THING IS GONNA DO A LOT MORE THAN, UM, YOU KNOW, THAN TREE PLANTING, UH, IN, IN THE NEAR TERM.
AND SO I THINK IT MIGHT BE WORTH US AS, UM, YOU KNOW, 10, 12, 14 18 COMMITTED MEMBERS OF THIS COMMITTEE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, FIND SOME OTHER WAY OF ORGANIZING OURSELVES AROUND, YOU KNOW, THE TOP THREE, FOUR THINGS THAT THE JSC WOULD LIKE TO SEE GET DONE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THEREFORE, YOU KNOW, NOT NECESSARILY RESTRICT IT TO THE, THE WORKING GROUP THAT YOU'VE, YOU KNOW, BEEN IN, BEEN ON IN THE PAST.
UM, SO THOSE ARE MY TWO THOUGHTS AROUND THAT.
YEAH, I, I THINK THERE'S SOME REALLY GOOD LOGIC THERE OF TRYING TO FOCUS IN ON OUR MOST EFFECTIVE GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION STRATEGIES.
UM, JUST JUST TO QUICKLY ADD TO CHARLOTTE'S POINT, WE ALSO HAVE, UM, THE, UM, STAFF RESPONSE TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE MADE LAST YEAR.
AND MANY OF THEM INCLUDED COMMENTS ABOUT SOME OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS BEING MORE APPROPRIATE FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR, ALTHOUGH, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY WERE
[00:40:01]
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT KIND OF THE BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE A SENSE OF WHICH ONES, UM, ARE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S GONNA BE AN APPETITE FOR THEM VERSUS OTHERS.WE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE REVIEWING AGAIN, THAT STAFF RESPONSE.
WHERE IS THAT? UM, I THINK WE GOT IT CIRCULATED, BUT LIKE, IS IT, WAS IT EMAILED OR DO WE HAVE JUST GOOGLED, JUST GOOGLE, CITY OF AUSTIN BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND IT SHOULD BE THE FIRST THING THAT POPS UP.
THANKS, ROHAN, WOULD YOU MIND CIRCULATING THAT TO EVERYBODY, JUST SO THOSE WHO AREN'T HERE? THANK YOU.
AND WHY DON'T YOU JUST LIKE, INCLUDE THE ALTERNATES TO JUST SO EVERYBODY HAS THAT.
UM, I'M, I'M HEARING A LOT OF ALIGNMENT, UM, BUT I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T COME HERE WITH A, YOU KNOW, PREDEFINED, UH, KIND OF MOTION OR RECOMMENDATION OR ANYTHING.
UM, JUST A GENERAL THOUGHT THAT I DIDN'T WANT US ALL TO, UH, SPEND A TON OF TIME CRAFTING BEAUTIFUL BUT DOOMED RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE THESE WORKING GROUPS AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE SOME WORK TO DO IN TERMS OF REVIEWING WHAT WE DID LAST TIME.
SO MAYBE THOSE WORKING GROUPS ARE USEFUL FOR DOING THAT PIECE OF WORK.
UM, FOR LACK OF ANOTHER STRUCTURE, UNLESS WE WANT TO LIKE, COME TOGETHER AND LIKE JUST DIVIDE INTO LIKE TWO GROUPS OR SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE COULD ALSO DO THAT.
I THINK THAT SOMETIMES THERE'S BEEN CAPACITY ISSUES WITH SOME OF THE GROUPS NOT HAVING ENOUGH PARTICIPATION, UM, THOUGHTS ON THAT? LIKE, SHOULD WE JUST LIKE MAYBE SPLIT OURSELVES INTO TWO GROUPS AND LIKE SEE IF WE CAN COME TO LIKE, MAYBE, MAYBE WE'LL BOTH COME, WELL, BOTH GROUPS WOULD LIKE COME BACK WITH THE SAME TWO OR THREE ITEMS AND THAT WOULD MAKE IT EASY OR NOT, BUT I MEAN, I'D, I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE THAT WE DO THE SAME THING THAT WE DID WHEN WE STARTED TO THINK ABOUT LIKE, THE ENVIRONMENTAL BOND PROCESS, WHERE I THINK WE RECOGNIZE THAT NOT EVERYBODY WANTED TO GET SUPER DEEPLY INVOLVED.
AND I THINK WE HAD ONE MEETING THAT, I DON'T KNOW, SOMEHOW WE MANAGED TO GET, I DUNNO, EITHER IT WAS POSTED OR LIKE WE WERE UNDER QUORUM.
UM, AND MAYBE USE THAT AS A TRUE WORKING SESSION WHERE EVERYONE COMES WITH LIKE, YOU KNOW, YOUR IDEAS.
I, I FEEL LIKE WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT THIS, SO, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO THINK TOO DEEPLY MORE ABOUT LIKE, HEY, WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE TWO TO THREE POLICY PROPOSALS TO LIKE ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S LIKE AN UPDATE THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK SOUNDS LIKE WE GOT A SHOUT OUT FOR MAYBE MAKING THE BUSES FREE, IF NOT FAST
UM, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN LIKE UPDATE SOME OF THESE TO, YOU KNOW, FOR THE POLITICAL MOMENT.
BUT I, I, I FEEL LIKE IT'S NOT LIKE PEOPLE NEED TO DO HOURS OF, OF RESEARCH AND BY PEOPLE I DON'T, MAYBE WE SHOULD SEE WHO'S LIKE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THIS BEFORE WE START TO ADD MORE, UM, MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE.
IF WE ONLY HAVE NINE THAT REALLY HAVE CAPACITY, THEN THAT'S ONE GROUP.
IF WE HAVE MORE THAN NINE, THEN WE CAN DIVIDE INTO TWO AND THEN CONVENE, CONVENE, UH, HERE AT OUR NEXT MEETING WITH, WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOTH.
AND I WOULD JUST ADD THAT, I THINK IN ADDITION TO LIKE A VERY, VERY PAIRED DOWN STRATEGIC LIST, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO BE LOOKING FOR, UM, WHERE'S THE MONEY COMING FROM? AND I KNOW THAT'S ALWAYS HARD, BUT I, I THINK IT'LL REALLY HELP IF WE CAN MAKE SOME SORT OF SUGGESTIONS BECAUSE FOR SURE, LIKE WE SAW THAT THIS TIME THAT LIKE, IF THERE WAS NOT A PLACE THAT THAT MONEY WAS COMING FROM, LIKE, UM, THE COUNCIL AMENDMENTS, THEY, THEY JUST, THEY MOSTLY DIDN'T, DIDN'T HAPPEN, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE TTRE FAILED.
HOW ABOUT, CAN I GET A RAISE OF HANDS OF LIKE, WHO HAS CAPACITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS? READ THROUGH THE COMMENTS FROM STAFF LAST TIME, COME TO A MEETING, MAYBE DO A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH, BUT I DON'T THINK THIS IS LIKE A DEEP DIVE, LIKE LAST YEAR.
SO WHO, WHO CAN DO THAT? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
SO I'M SEEING LANE RODRIGO AND AARON ONLINE.
DID I MISS ANYBODY ELSE THAT WAS RAISING YOUR HAND FROM THE ONLINE CREW? OKAY.
AND THEN THERE'S FIVE OF US HERE WHO ALL RAISED OUR HAND.
SO I'M GONNA EMAIL THE EIGHT OF US AND
[00:45:01]
WE'LL, WE'LL BE THE, THE BUDGET WORKING GROUP FOR NOW.AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS UNTIL OUR MARCH MEETING.
UM, ALTHOUGH IF WE CAN GET SOMETHING NEXT, NEXT MONTH, THEN THAT'S GREAT 'CAUSE IT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE IT BACK TO THEIR COMMISSIONS POTENTIALLY, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY NOT BE RELEVANT FOR SOME OF THEM
UM, DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A GOOD, GOOD APPROACH FOR NOW? SO I THINK THE OTHER, THE WAY WE SET UP THE WORKING GROUPS, IT WAS FOR PURPOSES BEYOND THE BUDGET.
SO I THINK THAT THEY CAN STILL POTENTIALLY REMAIN, LIKE SEVERAL OF THEM HAVE, I THINK, POLICY RELATED THINGS THAT ARE ONGOING, THAT WORK IS STILL HAPPENING.
AND SOME OF THAT CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT EXTRA BUDGET EXPENSE, WHICH ISN'T, YOU KNOW, GREAT.
ANYTHING WE CAN GET DONE WITHOUT, UH, THE CITY HAVING TO SPEND MORE MONEY, LIKE, I THINK WE SHOULD REALLY BE HONING IN ON THAT.
SO WE'RE NOT DISSOLVING THE OTHER WORKING GROUPS.
WE'RE CREATING A SEPARATE WORKING GROUP RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND WE'LL TAKE A VOTE ON THAT.
SO THAT'S THE MOTION IS TO CREATE A WORKING GROUP THAT IS FOCUSED ON THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AS A WHOLE FROM, FROM THE JSC, UH, POTENTIALLY LOOKING AT ALL THE SECTORS FOR THE MOST STRATEGIC ITEMS. SO THAT'S MY MOTION.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION AMENDMENTS? RIGHT? UH, YEAH, I WOULD JUST SAY IF WE COULD ENSURE THAT I, FOR THE WORKING GROUP, THAT THERE'S JUST SOMEONE THAT WE DESIGNATE TO, TO LEAD IT AND TO HELP ORGANIZE AND ROUND ALL OF US UP, UH, YOU KNOW, AND, AND LET US CHECK IN WITH US, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S ACTIONABLE ITEMS, UH, ESPECIALLY BEING ON ANOTHER COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, LIKE HOW MOST OF US, YOU KNOW, HAVE FAMILIES WORK.
IT'S JUST HELPFUL TO HAVE, UH, SOMEONE KIND OF KEEP ME ACCOUNTABLE AND, UH, YOU KNOW, LET ME KNOW IF ANY UPCOMING MEETINGS AS WELL.
ARE YOU VOLUNTEERING? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
SO YOU'LL SEND OUT, EVERYBODY WILL BE GETTING, UH, THAT, THAT RAISED YOUR HAND, UH, ASSUMING THAT DOES PASSED.
SO ALL IN, CAN I GET, YEAH, WE'LL, WE'LL GET THE NAMES IN JUST A SECOND.
SO ALL IN FAVOR OF THIS, UH, BEFORE US RAISE YOUR HAND.
WE'VE CREATED THAT WORKING GROUP, UM, AND I THINK THE TWO THAT YOU MAYBE NEED OUR, OUR NEW MEMBERS AND NAMES.
IT'S, YOU'RE, YOU'RE ON THE LIST, LIKE THERE'S A LIST, SO I JUST, YEAH.
UH, KIVA, CHARLOTTE, UH, AND THEN ONLINE WE HAVE LANE, RODRIGO AND AARON.
AND, AND DOES ANY, IF ANYBODY NEEDS A SPECIFIC EMAIL ADDRESS ON THIS DISTRIBUTION LIST, LET ANNA KNOW.
OH, YEAH, IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL IF, UM, AFTER THE MEETING, I DON'T KNOW HOW THE PEOPLE, I GUESS I KNOW I MIGHT HAVE RODRIGO'S ALTERNATE CONTENT.
I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THIS.
UM, IF I HAVE PEOPLE'S CELL PHONE NUMBER OR ANOTHER EMAIL THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO CC JUST TO MAKE SURE YOU GO IN AND CHECK YOUR CITY OF AUSTIN EMAIL, WHICH YOU WOULD NEVER DREAM OF FORWARDING
WHAT'S YOUR LAST NAME? I'LL SEND YOU AN EMAIL WITH MINE.
AND SO IF YOU GO TO THE, UM, THE MEETINGS, THE, SORRY, THE, UM, WHAT DO YOU CALL IT? THE AGENDA? I'M SORRY, Y'ALL I DIDN'T EAT TODAY.
UM, YOU GET MY FULL NAME SPELLED OUT AND SO THAT'S HOW I WILL ALSO FIND YOUR FULL NAMES.
BUT IF YOU WANT ME TO CC IF YOU'RE NOT HERE IN PERSON, CANNOT GIVE IT TO ME IN PERSON.
IF YOU COULD, UM, EMAIL ME AND IT'S, YEAH, IT'S USE THE SPELLING AND THE AGENDA FOR TODAY OR ANY AGENDA.
I'M GONNA MOVE US ON, UM, BUT WE WILL PLAN ON HAVING THAT AS AN AGENDA ITEM NEXT TIME.
UH, I THINK WE'VE BASICALLY, UM, NUMBER FOUR
[4. Approve a recommendation related to climate and sustainability in the FY26 City of Austin Budget. ]
WAS RELATED TO NUMBER THREE, SO WE POSTED THESE SEPARATELY, BUT I, I THINK WE'VE HAD THE CONVERSATION ABOUT FOUR, UNLESS THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE THAT ANYBODY WANTS TO SAY NOW ABOUT BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.[5. Approve a recommendation related to climate and sustainability in the 2026 bond.]
ITEM FIVE.[00:50:01]
UM, SO I GUESS FIRST JUST KIND OF LIKE AN UPDATE, THE, UH, BOND ADVISORY TASK FORCE, UH, HIS CONTINUED MEETING, UM, WE'RE NOW HAVING TWO MEETINGS A MONTH, ALTHOUGH MONDAY'S MEETING WAS CANCELED, THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE FIRST MEETING WHERE TWO WORKING GROUPS WERE SUPPOSED TO PRESENT RECOMMENDATIONS.UM, SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT'S GONNA MEAN FOR THE SCHEDULE EXACTLY, BUT OUR NEXT SCHEDULED MEETING IS I THINK FEBRUARY 9TH.
UM, SO WE'RE DOING LIKE, UH, TWO MONDAYS OF THE MONTH.
I THINK IT'S THE SECOND AND FOURTH MONDAY, ONE IS IN THE EVENING, THE FIRST ONE'S IN THE EVENING, THE SECOND ONE'S AT THE TWO TO FOUR TIME HERE AT CITY HALL.
UM, AND SO THIS IS TO SAY LIKE, THINGS ARE, THINGS ARE MOVING FORWARD AND IF THE JSC WANTS TO WEIGH IN, AS I KNOW, I THINK THERE ARE AT LEAST ONE OR TWO OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY PASSED SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THIS BOND PROCESS IS BIGGER THAN JUST SUSTAINABILITY OR CARBON REDUCTION, SO IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO SPEAK ON EVERYTHING.
UM, BUT IF WE WANNA SPEAK TO THINGS THAT WE THINK SHOULD BE INCLUDED OR, OR I SUPPOSE SHOULDN'T BE INCLUDED, UM, I THINK WE'RE COMING UP ON LIKE THE TIME WHERE WE WOULD NEED TO DO THAT.
UM, AND I'M NOT NECESSARILY SAYING THAT WE NEED TO DO IT NOW, AND I, 'CAUSE I DIDN'T DRAFT ANYTHING, WE HADN'T REALLY HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE DIFFERENT ITEMS THAT FOLKS WOULD WOULD WANT TO INCLUDE IN THAT.
SO I WOULD SUGGEST LIKE IF I CAN GET SOME FEEDBACK OR INPUT, THEN I COULD BRING BACK TO OUR NEXT MEETING A, A RECOMMENDATION FOR US TO VOTE ON.
I MEAN, WE COULD ALSO WRITE SOMETHING ON THE FLY, BUT I'M, UH, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO DO THAT TONIGHT.
SO I'LL PAUSE THERE AND SEE IF THERE'S THINGS THAT ARE REALLY ALREADY ON FOLKS' MIND, LIKE THIS SHOULD BE IN THE BOND.
HAS ANYBODY BEEN FOLLOWING THE BOND PROCESS AT ALL? IT'S OKAY IF YOU HAVEN'T.
UM, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THE, THE BOND TASK FORCE, UM, MINUTES FROM JANUARY 12TH.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE CARBON NEUTRAL BOND PACKAGE IDEA? YEAH, SO I THINK THAT WAS PUT FORWARD, UM, AS A CONCEPT, UH, AS OPPOSED TO THOSE SPECIFIC ITEMS NECESSARILY BEING PROPOSED.
UM, ALTHOUGH YOU, YOU'D WANNA TALK TO LUKE METZKER WHO PUT THAT TOGETHER.
UM, I THINK THE, I, THE IDEA WAS TO DEMONSTRATE HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THERE'S GONNA BE CERTAIN THINGS FUNDED, LIKE, YOU KNOW, NEW BUILDINGS AND ROAD REPAIR OR BRIDGE REPAIR RECONSTRUCTION, THAT KIND OF STUFF, THINGS THAT TAKE A LOT OF, UH, CARBON INTENSIVE MATERIALS, YOU KNOW, THAT THEN IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A CARBON NEUTRAL BOND, UM, THAT YOU WOULD NEED TO THEN INVEST IN SOMETHING THAT REDUCES EMISSIONS.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE, THIS WHOLE SCOPE OF THE BOND IS STILL VERY UP IN THE AIR.
SO THE, YOU KNOW, WILL IT BE NUMBERS LIKE THAT OR WILL IT BE SMALLER NUMBERS OR SOMETHING TOTALLY DIFFERENT? AND WILL IT BE CARBON NEUTRAL? IS THAT WHAT WE'RE AIMING FOR? ARE WE AIMING FOR ACTUAL CARBON REDUCTION OR WHAT, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK WE COULD WEIGH IN ON THAT, THE CONCEPT OF LIKE, SHOULD THE BOND BE CARBON NEUTRAL? SHOULD IT BE CARBON NEGATIVE? MM-HMM
UM, AS WELL AS SPECIFIC ITEMS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS.
YEAH, I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A REALLY WORTHWHILE THING TO EXPLORE AS A RECOMMENDATION BECAUSE THAT IS ANOTHER WAY WE CAN TRY TO PUSH THE ENVELOPE IN TERMS OF GETTING SOME CLIMATE ACTION INTEGRATED INTO THE BOND PACKAGE.
UM, YEAH, I'LL SAY THERE, THERE ARE NOT A TON OF ITEMS ON THE LIST THAT ARE LIKE SIGNIFICANTLY CARBON NEGATIVE.
UM, AND I THINK ON THAT PROPOSAL, OPEN SPACE WAS CALLED OUT, UM, FROM THE TRANSPORTATION AND ELECTRIFICATION WORKING GROUP, WE ARE RECOMMENDING SOME MONEY GO TOWARDS, UH, EV
[00:55:01]
CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE MM-HMMUM, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, IS ACCORDING TO THE, UH, A CAR ANALYSIS, THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE, UH, CARBON EMISSION STRATEGY.
AND I THINK THE UNFORTUNATE THING IS THAT IT WAS NOT PUT FORWARD FROM THIS KIND OF BIG LIST THAT THE CITY STAFF PUT TOGETHER.
UM, THERE WERE PROJECTS THAT INCLUDED CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, SPECIFICALLY FROM FLEET SERVICES, BUT THERE WERE NO PROJECTS THAT WERE, THAT THAT WAS WHAT THEY WERE, THOSE WERE ALL STILL LIKE, YOU KNOW, FUELING STATIONS AND SERVICE STATIONS THAT LIKE, HAVE A LOT OF OTHER STUFF TO DO WITH THEM AS OPPOSED TO JUST MORE MONEY TO INSTALL CHARGERS.
UM, SO WE DID, YOU KNOW, PULL OUT JUST LIKE, OKAY, JUST PUT MONEY TOWARDS CHARGING.
SO THAT WOULD BE ONE THAT I WOULD SUGGEST THAT MAYBE WE COULD PUT FORWARD IF THERE'S SUPPORT FOR THAT HERE THAT LIKE, YOU KNOW, UM, TRY TO OFFSET USING THAT METHOD.
BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY SAVES THE CITY MONEY, WHICH NOTHING ELSE ON THE LIST IS.
AND ARE, ARE THOSE NUMBERS IN THAT DOCUMENT, THAT CARBON NEUTRAL BOND PACKAGE DOCUMENT, UM, IN TERMS OF THE NET CO2 EQUIVALENT, ARE THOSE LIKE ACTUAL CALCULATIONS OR ARE THOSE JUST ILLUSTRATIVE? I THINK THAT THOSE CAME FROM THE, AND I, I, I CAN HAVE CIRCULATED AFTER THIS A FEW THINGS, UH, THAT, THAT WE'VE GOT FROM A-C-A-R-A PRESENTATION TO THE TRANSPORTATION WORKING GROUP THAT, THAT HAS SOME KIND OF HIGH LEVEL, UM, INFORMATION ON ITEMS THAT WERE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN PROPOSAL.
UH, OR MAYBE IN THE COMP IT WAS MORE LIKE THINGS FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE CLIMATE PLAN, WHICH OVERLAPPED WITH THE INVESTMENT PLAN.
UM, AND THEN ALSO A LINK TO THIS TABLEAU, UM, THAT HAS ALL THE, UM, EVERYTHING THAT WAS ON THE KIND OF CITIES LIST, OR MOST OF THEM AT LEAST HAVE BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME ANALYSIS DONE TO SHOW THEIR KIND OF, UH, EMBEDDED CARBON OPERATIONAL CARBON AND THEN LIKE THE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF END RESULT.
SO I THINK THAT'S, I THINK WHERE THAT DATA WAS COMING FROM.
AND I HAVE REQUESTED SOME ADDITIONAL DATA FROM PHILIP.
HE WAS THE ONE WHO PUT THOSE NUMBERS TOGETHER.
SO WHEN I GET THAT, I'LL CIRCULATE IT AS WELL.
ONE LAST THING, 'CAUSE I'M JUST, I'M NOTICING ALSO LIKE THE NET CO2 QUANTITIES PER MAJOR CATEGORY.
A REALLY INTERESTING LIKE EXERCISE OR MAYBE EVEN A RECOMMENDATION FROM US WOULD BE TO HAVE EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY BE, UM, CARBON NEUTRAL AT LEAST, AND THEN THAT WAY WE CAN, 'CAUSE I SEE LIKE THE TRANSPORTATION AND THE ELECTRIFICATION CATEGORY HAS A BUNCH OF OTHER POSSIBILITIES IN TERMS OF TRAILS, BIKEWAYS SIDEWALKS THAT WOULD CONTRIBUTE TO EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS.
AND LIKE IF WE WANNA GET SERIOUS ABOUT TRANSFORMING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE CONDUCIVE TO CARBON NEUTRALITY, WOULDN'T WE WANT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE CATEGORIES TO BE CARBON NEUTRAL? I WOULD LOVE THAT.
IRIS, JUST A QUICK QUESTION ON THE FLEET ELECTRIFICATION THAT YOU WERE SPEAKING ABOUT.
DOES THAT INCLUDE THE HEAVY DUTY CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR LIKE AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY? OH MY GOSH, I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED
THAT IS A, THE, THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT IN MY MIND WE SHOULD BE INVESTING IN BECAUSE NOT ONLY HEAVY CARBON EMISSIONS, BUT SO MUCH OTHER NASTY AIR POLLUTION IN THE FORM OF PARTICULAR MATTER, YOU KNOW, IN PARTICULAR.
SO, UM, YES, THE IDEA IS THAT THAT BUCKET OF MONEY, UH, WOULD GO TO FLEET SERVICES, BUT THEY ARE THE ONES WHO THEN DEPLOY CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR, FOR A RR AS WELL AS THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
SO YES, I THINK WE, WE COULD POTENTIALLY CALL THAT OUT SPECIFICALLY, BUT DEFINITELY IT HAS BEEN PART OF THE CONVERSATION AND I WOULD YEAH, LOVE TO TALK WITH YOU MORE ABOUT THAT.
SORRY, AM I LOOKING AT THE RIGHT BACKUP HERE? JUST 'CAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE RODRIGO HAS ONCE AGAIN MAYBE OUT GOOGLED ME ON THIS
UM, SO MAYBE I'LL JUST EMBARRASS MYSELF AND SAY OKAY, LIKE, SO I'M JUST, I'M PULLING UP THE, THE BACKUP NUMBER FIVE AND THEN I HAVE A LINK TO ALL OF THE, LIKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN
[01:00:01]
FUNDING NEEDS.BUT YOU GUYS HAVE MORE UPDATED THINGS IT SOUNDS LIKE.
THERE'S, UM, THERE'S NOW TWO MAIN LISTS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING OFF OF, ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A THIRD ONE.
SO THERE WAS LIKE A HUGE LIST OF ALL THE LIKE DEPARTMENTAL NEEDS.
AND THEN IN THE SUMMER THAT GOT PAIRED DOWN, WE NEVER ACTUALLY HAD THE, THE BIG LIST PRIOR TO LIKE JULY.
BUT JULY WE GOT A LIST THAT WAS, I DON'T KNOW, 50 SOME ITEMS AND LIKE $3.9 BILLION WORTH OF PROJECTS THAT WAS A PRIORITY LIST I THINK.
UM, SO THAT'S WHAT WE'D BEEN WORKING FROM.
AND NOW JUST LIKE LAST WEEK I THINK IT WAS, WE GOT, UH, A MORE PRIORITIZED SMALLER LIST.
SO I CAN SEND BOTH OF THOSE AROUND SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN SEE KIND OF LIKE BOTH THE BIGGER LIST, THE SMALLER LIST.
UM, AND THEN THERE IS ALSO A LIST OF PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, REQUESTED FROM THE PUBLIC, SOME OF WHICH ARE FEASIBLE, SOME OF WHICH ARE NOT, SOME OF WHICH ARE MORE COMMENTS THAN PROJECTS, UH, SOME OF WHICH ARE GOOD THINGS THAT PROBABLY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED.
SO I'LL SEND Y'ALL WHAT I THINK ARE THE KEY DOCUMENTS TO LOOK THROUGH.
UM, AND I'M HEARING GENERALLY SOUNDS LIKE AN INTEREST IN THIS.
I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM MORE FOLKS IF ANYBODY HAS THOUGHTS ON WHAT'S BEEN SAID AND OR OTHER THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE FROM THE BOND.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS RELEVANT 'CAUSE I'VE BEEN LOOKING AT THE WRONG DOC, BUT YOU KNOW, BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE WAS EARLY UP ON THE LIST AND IT'S PRETTY HARD TO BUILD A BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY AND LOSE MONEY IN TEXAS.
UM, SO I WOULD MIGHT SUGGEST THAT WE PUT THAT IN THE CATEGORY, BUT I'M, I'M ALSO SUPPORTIVE OF THE THINGS YOU'VE BROUGHT UP OF MM-HMM
UH, GEORGIA'S POINT OF, OF, UM, ENDORSING OR SETTING A STANDARD THAT PROJECTS NEED TO BE CARBON NEUTRAL, IF NOT NEGATIVE.
BUT I THINK I WOULD ADD TO THAT, YOU KNOW, I'M CERTAINLY LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT HAVE BROAD PUBLIC APPEAL BECAUSE AS EXCITED AS I AM ABOUT LIKE ELECT FLEET ELECTRIFICATION FOR TRASH CANS, LIKE THAT'S GONNA, I'LL I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, I HAD A TODDLER WHO RAN OUT TODAY TO GREET THE COMPOSTING TRUCK.
SO LIKE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THAT'S GONNA GET A SPECIFIC NICHE OF THE CITY.
UM, BUT IF THERE'S WAYS IN WHICH YOU CAN TODDLERS EVERYWHERE,
SO MAKING SURE IT GETS DISPERSED ACROSS THE, I KNOW THAT MAYBE CUTS AGAINST THE EQUITY GOALS BUT WOULD BE SURE.
A LOT NICER IF, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD HAVE SOMETHING REALLY OBVIOUS TO POINT TO NEAR THOSE HOUSES THAT, YOU KNOW, HAD THE SIGNS THAT SAID, I DON'T WANNA PAY MORE TAXES.
UM, I, I'M STILL NEW TO THIS AND I'M CATCHING UP ON ALL THE DOCUMENTATION FROM EARLIER, BUT I WAS WONDERING, MIC ON.
OH YOU ARE? CAN YOU HEAR ME? UM, I'M STILL CATCHING UP ON ALL THE DOCUMENTATION AND READING, BUT I WAS JUST WONDERING, AND NOT TO GO BACK TO ITEMS THREE AND FOUR, BUT IS THERE A WAY FOR US TO LOOK AT THE PREVIOUS WORKING GROUPS AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THERE AND THEN TIE THEM TO A RECOMMENDATION RELATED TO THE BOND? AND SO IN INDIRECTLY WE MAY BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE SOME OF THOSE GOALS BUT NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MONEY 'CAUSE SOMEBODY ELSE IS GENERATING THE MONEY FOR US.
AND TO YOUR POINT EARLIER, WE'RE ACTUALLY SAVING MONEY IN A WAY, SO YEAH.
SO YOU'RE REFERRING TO LIKE PAST BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS THERE? YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD IDEA.
AND WE ALSO DID, UM, I GUESS IT WAS SPRING OF 2024, DID A BUNCH OF WORK AT THIS BODY, UM, PUTTING TOGETHER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN AND IS NOW KIND OF FOLDED IN THEORY INTO THE BONDS.
SO WE, YES, WE SHOULD ALSO, UM, LOOK AT THAT LIST.
SO I WILL INC HAVE THAT ALSO CIRCULATED AS PART OF THAT EMAIL, LIKE THOSE, THOSE PAST RECOMMENDATIONS.
UNFORTUNATELY, LIKE A LOT OF THOSE, YEAH, SOME, SOME THINGS MADE IT ONTO THE, THE CITY STAFF LIST AND SOME DIDN'T.
AND THEN IF THEY SAY NO, THEY SAY NO, BUT AT LEAST WE YEAH.
YEAH, ONE THING THAT WE DID ON THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION IS WE CLASSIFIED RECOMMENDATIONS BY LIKE STARTING OFF LIKE IN BOLD, LOW TO NO COST RECOMMENDATIONS, AND THEN WE HAD LIKE MORE AMBITIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, SO I KNOW WE'RE TRYING TO PARE DOWN THE QUANTITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT I THINK ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE DOING THAT, YOU'RE LOOKING BACK ON THE HISTORY OF WHAT THIS
[01:05:01]
COMMISSION HAS DONE AND THERE WERE SOME GOOD THINGS THAT ARE LOW TO NO COST AND JUST THE CONCERN IS, IS, OH, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT TO OVER INUNDATE, UH, COUNSEL WITH A A BUNCH OF RECOMMENDATIONS.I STILL THINK BY, YOU KNOW, FRAMING, CATEGORIZING THEM IN THAT WAY, UM, WE'VE SEEN THAT IT'S BEEN RECEIVED WELL.
UM, AND FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WANT TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU KNOW, AMBITIOUS AND, AND FORWARD LOOKING, UM, THEY'LL, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE LOOKING AT AT THE OTHER MORE, UM, COSTLY RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT THAT COULD HAVE A BIG IMPACT.
THAT'S A GOOD, GOOD THING THAT WE CAN HIGHLIGHT.
UH, AND I MEAN IN THIS CASE, RIGHT? MAYBE IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT I THINK WE CAN HIGHLIGHT THOSE THAT ARE MAYBE MOST COST EFFECTIVE AT REDUCING EMISSIONS.
UM, AND YEAH, LOWER COST IN GENERAL.
UM, AND THEN I GUESS LIKE, KIND OF GOING BACK TO WHAT RODRIGO SAID ABOUT, UH, TRYING TO GET EACH SECTOR TO BE CARBON NEUTRAL, MAYBE WE COULD MAKE SOME OVERARCHING RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, AND ANNA, YOU, YOU MENTIONED, UH, BATTERY STORAGE, WE COULD, YOU KNOW, HAVING BATTERY STORAGE ONSITE SOLAR, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT WE SAW REALLY EMPHASIZE LIKE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARIES DID SUCH A GREAT JOB OF LIKE, THEY DID ALL THE THINGS IN THEIR PROPOSAL
AND THEN MOST DEPARTMENTS, UM, EITHER DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING OR THEY WOULD SAY SOMETHING KIND OF VAGUE IN THEIR PROPOSALS.
UM, SO MAYBE WE CAN KIND OF PROVIDE SOME GUIDANCE ON THAT OF LIKE, WHEN WE'RE DOING BUILDINGS, THEY SHOULD ALL BE DONE TO THAT HIGH STANDARD, NOT JUST CERTAIN DEPARTMENTS.
YOU COULD GET THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND FACILITIES CATEGORIES TO INCH TOWARDS CARBON NEUTRALITY IF WE'RE ASKING THEM TO INCORPORATE THOSE ELEMENTS INTO THE PACKAGE.
DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD, CHARLOTTE? OKAY.
THIS HAS BEEN SUPER HELPFUL FOR ME.
I'M GONNA COMMIT TO BRINGING A DRAFT TO OUR NEXT MEETING, AND IF THERE'S ANYBODY THAT YOU KNOW WANTS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THAT, I WOULD WELCOME SOME PARTNERS TO BOUNCE IDEAS OFF.
SHOULD I, SHOULD I LOOP YOU IN ON THAT? OKAY.
ANYBODY ELSE? I'M ALWAYS HAPPY TO TALK.
ANYBODY ELSE? OKAY, SO IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT A GROUP OF FOUR OF US.
WE'LL BRING YOU SOMETHING FOR THE NEXT MEETING.
UH, NOW WE HAVE ONE THAT I KNOW WE ARE, I THINK, HOPING TO VOTE ON.
[6. Approve a recommendation related to Leak Detection and Repair in the Texas Gas Service Franchise Agreement. ]
ITEM SIX OVER TO YOU.I'LL DRAMATICALLY LEAVE
ANNA'S RECUSING HERSELF ON THIS ITEM.
UM, COULD WE, COULD I ASK TO GET THE RECOMMENDATION UP ON THE SCREEN PLEASE? UM, AND WHILE THAT'S COMING UP, I, UH, WILL GIVE A BIT OF CONTEXT.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS RENEWING ITS AGREEMENT, ITS FRANCHISE AGREEMENT WITH TEXAS GAS SERVICE THIS YEAR.
UH, IT HASN'T BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2006, SO THIS IS A 20 YEAR AGREEMENT.
SO THIS IS, UM, KIND OF A ONCE IN A VERY LONG TIME, UH, OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE INPUT INTO WHAT THAT AGREEMENT SAYS.
AND BASICALLY THAT'S THE GAS COMPANY'S LICENSE TO OPERATE IN THE CITY'S RIGHT OF WAY.
AND SO, AS, UM, PART OF THAT, THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, WHICH I SIT ON, HAS JUST, UH, APPROVED, UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED A PACKAGE OF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE CITY TO CONSIDER, UH, IN NEGOTIATING THAT AGREEMENT.
AND, UM, ONE OF THOSE I'M BRINGING TO YOU HERE TONIGHT, UM, BECAUSE IT HAS PARTICULAR APPLICABILITY TO, TO THIS COMMITTEE, UM, IN MY OPINION, AND THAT IS, UM, ASKING THAT THE GAS COMPANY CONDUCT, UM, ROBUST LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT THE TERM OF ITS FRANCHISE.
UM, ESSENTIALLY, UH, THE CONTEXT IS IF YOU HAVE A GAS UTILITY, METHANE LEAKS ARE AN INHERENT RISK IN THAT, UM, LEAKS CAN BE DANGEROUS.
[01:10:01]
FOR PEOPLE, BUSINESSES, INFRASTRUCTURE, THE ENVIRONMENT, UM, METHANE IS AT LEAST 28 IF MAYBE 30 TIMES AS POTENT, UH, GREENHOUSE GAS AS CARBON DIOXIDE.UM, AND SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO MINIMIZE THOSE LEAKS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, AND THE CURRENT FRANCHISE AGREEMENT REALLY DOESN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT LEAK DETECTION REPAIR.
THERE ARE SOME STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS THAT, UM, THAT GOVERN SOME OF THIS, LIKE THE PIPELINE HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, SAFETY ADMINISTRATION.
AND THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT SIMPLY SAYS, YOU KNOW, COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE STATE AND FEDERAL REGULATIONS.
WELL, HOPEFULLY THOSE ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATE.
UM, BUT I DON'T PROPOSE TO KNOW WHAT THOSE RULES ARE GOING TO BE FIVE YEARS, 10 YEARS, OR 20 YEARS FROM NOW.
AND SO, UM, I THINK THAT IT IS IN THE INTEREST OF, UM, THE CITY TO ENSURE FOR THE, THE WELLBEING AND PROTECTION OF ITS CITIZENS, UM, THAT THEY HAVE VISIBILITY INTO HOW FREQUENTLY THESE LEAKS OCCUR, WHAT'S THE SEVERITY, WHAT ARE THE MITIGATION AND REPAIR PRACTICES BEING EMPLOYED, UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SO THIS RECOMMENDATION, UM, ESSENTIALLY SAYS THAT THROUGHOUT THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENT THAT THE COMPANY SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO EMPLOY INDUSTRY LEADING ADVANCED LEAK DETECTION, REPAIR TECHNOLOGIES, UM, AND, AND IMPROVE THOSE AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN GET MORE SENSITIVE, UM, DETECTION THAT THEY SHOULD CONTINUE TO IN INVEST IN THOSE, UM, EXPANDING THE SEARCH FOOTPRINT, REDUCING THE RESPONSE TIME FOR EMERGENCIES, UM, AND THAT THEY SHOULD REPORT BACK TO THE CITY ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, UM, FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE TECHNOLOGY THAT THEY'RE USING, WHAT IS THE FUGITIVE METHANE EMISSIONS RATE, THE RESPONSE TIME, REPAIR TIME, THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, AND I WILL SAY THAT, UH, THE, AS I MENTIONED, THE RMC DID ADOPT THIS UNANIMOUSLY.
UM, AND WE DID HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS GAS AT THAT MEETING, UM, WHO SEEMED VERY OPEN TO, TO THESE, UM, TO THESE IDEAS.
UH, THEY INDICATE THAT THEY ALREADY DO.
UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY'RE PROUD OF THEIR LEAK DETECTION.
SO THERE SHOULD BE NO REASON NOT TO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF CODIFY THAT IN THE AGREEMENT.
UM, AND I WILL SAY THERE ARE ALSO, THERE WAS LIKE A COUPLE LITTLE AMENDMENTS THAT I MIGHT ADD TO THIS FOR OUR CONSIDERATION.
UM, AND THAT WAS INSTEAD OF, I THINK IT SAYS WITHIN THE CITY ON NUMBER THREE, SUBMIT ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CITY ON PERFORMANCE OF ITS LDAR PROGRAMS WITHIN THE CITY.
UM, THE GAS COMPANY SAID, UM, CHANGING THAT TO WITHIN THE AUSTIN METROPOLITAN AREA MIGHT BE EASIER FOR THEM TO REPORT.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS PERFECTLY FRIENDLY AMENDMENT.
AND THEN ONE ADDITIONAL BULLET POINT HERE, WHICH IS NUMBER OF LEAKS REPAIRED AND ANALYSIS OF ANY PATTERNS OF LEAKS FOUND THAT COULD REQUIRE BROADER SYSTEMATIC REMEDIATION TO IMPROVE GAS SYSTEM SAFETY.
UM, FOR QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DO YOU NEED A, A MOTION AND A SECOND TO OPEN DISCUSSION OR SHOULD WE JUST TALK? WE CAN GO EITHER WAY.
ANY QUESTIONS? WE TECHNICALLY HAVE A DISCUSSION ITEM ON ITEM SEVEN, SO WE CAN JUST SAY WE'RE DOING ITEM SEVEN AND WHATEVER.
UM, IN REGARDS TO THE REPORT, UH, SUBMITTED ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CITY ON THE PERFORMANCE, UM, IS THE, UH, TEXAS GAS SERVICE, ARE THEY THE ONES ISSUING THAT REPORT? IS THERE ANYONE, LIKE ANY EXTERNAL BODY, LIKE ENSURING THAT THAT'S ACCURATE INFORMATION? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UM, THE, THE WAY THIS IS WRITTEN, IT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT THE GAS COMPANY WOULD SUBMIT.
AND IN TERMS OF, I DON'T KNOW, VERIFICATION ON THAT, WE, THERE'S NOTHING IN HERE THAT, THAT, UM, LIKE OUTLINES HOW THAT WOULD BE DONE.
UM, THEY DO HAVE CURRENTLY SOME REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING TO THE RAILROAD COMMISSION.
UM, I HAD SENT AROUND A, UH, I GUESS A, AN EXTRACT OF THEIR PS 95 REPORT, WHICH IS THE REPORT THAT THEY HAVE TO GIVE ON, ON LEAKS.
UM, THAT'S WITHIN THE, THE, UM, WITH THAT WAS WITHIN THE CITY.
[01:15:01]
WOULD COME FROM THE GAS COMPANY.UM, I DEFINITELY WOULD BE OPEN TO SOME KIND OF, UM, YOU KNOW, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISM, ALTHOUGH I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT WOULD BE AT THIS POINT.
UM, ONE KIND OF COMMENT WE HAD A, A SIMILAR SITUATION EVEN I, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE AMENDMENT EXACT LANGUAGE THAT I'M PROPOSING WOULD LOOK LIKE, BUT EVEN IF IT'S, HEY, WE RECOGNIZE THAT THIS COULD BE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN REPORTING, YOU KNOW, WE RECOMMEND FURTHER STUDY INTO POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO MITIGATE THIS CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
I, I THINK THAT WOULD BE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
I THINK SOMETHING LIKE A, UM, YOU KNOW, EXPLORE A THIRD PARTY, UM, VALIDATION OF, OF THE DATA INCLUDED IN THE REPORT, SOMETHING LIKE THAT MIGHT BE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT THEY WOULD WANT TO DO.
I'M JUST SCROLLING THROUGH THIS SPREADSHEET THAT WAS SENT AROUND AND IT'S, I MEAN, KIND OF EYE POPPING THE NUMBER OF LEAKS 1,841 LAST YEAR JUST WITHIN AUSTIN.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S JUST WHAT THEY FOUND.
HAVE THEY PROVIDED ANY INFORMATION ON, LIKE THEY SAID THEY HAVE A MOBILE UNIT HERE IN AUSTIN, LIKE, YOU KNOW, DO THEY DRIVE EVERY, YOU KNOW, DO THEY DRIVE EVERYWHERE? HOW OFTEN? LIKE WHAT THEY HAVE NOT PROVIDED THE COVERAGE SPECIFICS ON THAT.
UM, AND THE ONLY REASON I KNOW THAT THIS IN AUSTIN IS BECAUSE I SUBMITTED A FORMAL REQUEST FOR, FOR THAT INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR PROGRAMS. AND SO, UM, IT'S JUST NOT A LOT OF TRANSPARENCY.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWERS TO THAT.
UM, AND I'M HOPING THAT, THAT THEY COULD GET MORE GRANULAR AND DETAILED IF IT'S REQUIRED OF THEM IN THEIR FRANCHISE AGREEMENT.
UM, I, I DID WANT TO JUST, UM, JOT DOWN, ERIN, DID YOU WANNA, I WANTED MAYBE TYPE WHAT YOU RECOMMENDED AS YEAH, POTENTIALLY AMENDMENT, UH, ESSENTIALLY IS WHAT ARE THE MAIN POINTS IS WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SELF-REPORTING ON LEAKS, UH, LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR IN AN ANNUAL REPORT, UM, YOU KNOW, BY, UH, THE ENTITY TEXAS GAS SERVICES, UH, COULD CREATE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
UM, WE RECOMMEND FURTHER STUDY EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS TO MITIGATE THIS CONFLICT OF INTEREST, INCLUDING, UH, YOU KNOW, EXPLORATION IF A THIRD PARTY, IF THIRD PARTY VALIDATION AND REPORTING IS FEASIBLE.
LIKE WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR, TO TAKE THIS OUT OF TEXAS GAS'S HANDS IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL, LIKE LEAK DETECTION AT LEAST? UM, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THEY ARE THE OPERATORS OF THE, OF THE EQUIPMENT, UM, AND THEY HAVE PROCESSES TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE THEM AWARE OF IT.
THEY, THEY DON'T REALLY WANNA LOSE A LOT OF GAS.
THEY WANNA BE ABLE TO SELL IT, RIGHT? SO THEY'VE GOT SYSTEMS IN PLACE TO, TO DO THAT.
AND IT SEEMS LIKE, UM, TYPICALLY THEY'RE THE FIRST, UH, TO GET THAT.
THE, THE OTHER ENTITY I'M THINKING OF THAT MIGHT BE IS THE RAILROAD COMMISSION.
SO I, I
SO, UM, SO I DON'T KNOW, BUT, BUT I THINK IT'S WORTH CONSIDERING, UM, IF WE ARE TO GIVE A RECOMMENDATION, UH, TO THE CITY ABOUT THINGS TO CONSIDER AS THEY'RE NEGOTIATING THAT CONTRACT.
MAYBE, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE GOT OUTSIDE COUNSEL AS WELL WORKING ON IT, SO MAYBE THEY COULD HAVE SOME IDEAS ON HOW TO, UM, ADDRESS THAT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, CONFLICT OF INTEREST THERE.
SO I, I DEFINITELY THINK IT'S WORTH A CALL OUT.
[01:20:01]
PLANNING TO MAKE A MOTION ON THIS TONIGHT OR? UH, I AM, JUST BECAUSE OF THE TIMING WITH THIS, THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT IS UP IN OCTOBER.THERE'S A LOT OF STEPS, UM, FOR COUNCIL.
THERE'S GOTTA BE THREE READINGS.
THEY WANNA HAVE, UH, THEIR THINGS DONE SOMETIME IN MAY.
SO IT'S REALLY, UM, THE LAST CHANCE IN, IN JANUARY TO, TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THIS RECOMMENDATION.
UM, SO IF, IF THERE'S ENOUGH SUPPORT ON THIS COMMITTEE AND THEY, AND WE THINK THERE'S ENOUGH INFORMATION, THEN I, I WOULD, I WOULD WELCOME A, A VOTE ON IT.
IF THAT'S A MOTION, I'D LIKE TO SECOND, IS THAT A MOTION, CHARLOTTE? I, I MOVE TO ADOPT THE, ACTUALLY, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE JUST FOR THE PURPOSES OF, OR TO MOVE, TO AMEND TO, TO ADD THOSE THREE AMENDMENTS.
SO FIRST WE NEED A MOTION, UM, I'LL MOTION TO AMEND ON THE ITEM, ADD THOSE THREE, AND THEN WE CAN MOTION TO AMEND.
I, I MOVED TO ADOPT THE, UM, RECOMMENDATION ON LEAK DETECTION.
AND I BELIEVE THERE WAS A SECOND.
AND THEN JUST THE, UM, I WANNA READ OUT INTO THE RECORD, UM, THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.
SO THE, THE FIRST ONE IS TO, ON ON ITEM ON NUMBER THREE.
CAN WE GET IT BACK ON THE SCREEN PLEASE? THANK YOU.
SO I THINK DOWN TO THE 1, 2, 3, PLEASE.
SO IN NUMBER THREE ON THE BE IT RESOLVE CLAUSE, UM, THAT SHOULD BE AMENDED TO, TO READ, SUBMIT ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE CITY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS LDAR PROGRAMS WITHIN THE AUSTIN METROPOLITAN AREA.
SO INSTEAD OF CITY, THAT SECOND CITY SHOULD BE AUSTIN METROPOLITAN AREA.
UM, THE SECOND ONE IS TO ADD A SENTENCE AFTER THAT THAT SAYS, UM, THE COMMITTEE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT SELF-REPORTING ON LEAK DETECTION COULD CREATE A POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
AND ANOTHER SENTENCE, THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS FURTHER STUDY OF OPTIONS INCLUDING THIRD PARTY VALIDATION TO REDUCE THIS CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
ARE YOU ADDING THAT TO THREE OR IS THAT JUST A NUMBER FOUR? THAT LAST PART THAT YOU ABOUT THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
IT'S HOWEVER, I WOULD SUGGEST IT MAKES MORE SENSE AS A NUMBER FOUR MAYBE.
SO THAT SENTENCE THAT I JUST READ, UM, WOULD BE NUMBER FOUR.
THAT WAS TWO SENTENCES, RIGHT? THE TWO SENTENCES THAT I JUST READ.
AND THEN THERE'S ONE MORE BULLET UNDER NUMBER THREE AND THAT, UM, THE LAST BULLET UNDER NUMBER THREE AFTER AVERAGE LEAK REPAIR TIME WOULD BE THE NUMBER OF LEAKS REPAIRED AND ANALYSIS OF ANY PATTERNS OF LEAKS FOUND THAT COULD REQUIRE BROADER SYSTEMATIC REMEDIATION TO IMPROVE GAS SYSTEM SAFETY.
AND THAT WAS AS WAS AMENDED BY RMC.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND TO THE MOTION TO AMEND? I SECOND.
ALRIGHT, UH, LET'S, LET'S TAKE DOWN THE ITEMS SO WE CAN SEE FOLKS.
ARE THERE ANY, IS THERE ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM BEFORE WE VOTE? QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS, OTHER AMENDMENTS? OKAY.
SO ALL IN FAVOR OF ADOPTING THE, UH, THE RESOLUTION AS AMENDED? ACTUALLY, NO, THIS IS ACTUALLY, NEVERMIND.
WE'RE VOTING ON THE AMENDMENT.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE VOTING ON THE AMENDMENT.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE AMENDMENT AS CHARLOTTE HAS READ THE THREE PARTS OF THE AMENDMENT.
THE AMENDMENT IS ADOPTED NOW, UH, WE WILL VOTE ON THE MAIN MOTION TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION AS AMENDED.
RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU'RE VOTING.
I'LL SEND YOU THE, UH, I'LL SEND THE, UH, AMENDED VERSION.
I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT WORK.
I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT IT FORWARD
[01:25:01]
TO US.UH, SO THAT, THAT WAS OUR LAST ITEM.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
IDENTIFIED TWO ITEMS THAT WE'RE BRINGING BACK FOR NEXT TIME.UH, AND SOME WORK THAT SOME OF US WILL BE DOING IN THE MEANTIME ON BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEN ON A RECOMMENDATION RELATED TO THE CITY BOND.
BUT IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE SHOULD NOTE RIGHT NOW THAT WE'LL WANNA INCLUDE ON THAT AGENDA? LIKE, DOES ANYBODY FOR SURE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO AN UPDATE FROM YOUR HOME COMMISSION OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU MIGHT WANNA BRING FORWARD? OKAY.
UM, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ANYTIME.
IF YOU DO HAVE SOMETHING COME UP, IF YOU HAVE AN ITEM, UH, THAT YOU, THAT YOU WANNA GET ON THE AGENDA, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO, UM, EMAIL MYSELF AND CHARLOTTE AND ROHAN JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL GET IT.
AND IF YOU'RE EMAILING ME, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE INCLUDE KWHITE@CITIZEN.ORG.
THAT'S MY WORK EMAIL AND I ACTUALLY WILL SEE YOUR EMAIL IF THAT HAPPENS.
I TRY TO KEEP UP WITH ALL THE EMAIL ADDRESSES, BUT I, I FAIL.
SO, UM, YEAH, REACH OUT IF YOU WANNA GET SOMETHING ON THE AGENDA.
VERY OPEN TO, TO ADDING TOPICS, BUT SOUNDS LIKE WE'LL HAVE SOME GOOD, GOOD STUFF TO DO NEXT TIME.
I HAD, I JUST HAD, WAS GONNA GIVE OH NUMBER.
[7. Update regarding the Texas Gas Service Franchise Agreement – Charlotte Davis, Resource Management Commission. ]
SEVEN? YES.IT WAS JUST THE UPDATE FROM THE HOME COMMISSION.
I KIND OF THOUGHT THAT WAS WHAT YOU DID.
YEAH, I JUST, UM, DEFINITELY THE LEAK DETECTION AND REPAIR PIECE WAS INCLUDED IN, IN THE, UM, RECOMMENDATION THAT THE RMC MADE, UH, AT OUR LAST MEETING.
BUT I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU ALL ALSO, UM, AN UPDATE.
THERE WERE SEVERAL OTHER ITEMS INCLUDED IN THAT, THAT I THOUGHT, UM, WE MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN.
UM, ONE OF WHICH WAS ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. UM, TEXAS GAS HAS A NUMBER OR HAD RATHER UNTIL, UM, THEIR LATEST PROPOSAL WAS DISALLOWED BY THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, BUT THEIR CONSERVATION PROGRAMS, UM, TYPICALLY AREN'T THAT GREAT COMPARED TO SAY WHAT AN AUSTIN ENERGY DOES.
UM, THEY GIVE BIG REBATES ON, UM, BIG GAS APPLIANCES AND THEY DON'T REALLY CONSERVE A LOT OF ENERGY AND DON'T REALLY PAY FOR THEMSELVES.
UM, SO ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THAT PROPOSAL WAS FOR, UM, AUSTIN TO TAKE OVER THE MANAGEMENT OF THE CONS CONSERVATION PROGRAMS AS PART OF THE FA FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS.
UM, THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT I THINK, UH, AUSTIN DID, UH, FROM LIKE 1987 TO 1997, UM, WITH TEXAS GAS' PREDECESSOR.
SO, UM, THERE'S SOME PRECEDENCE, UH, FOR THAT.
UM, ANOTHER THING WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVING A LOW INCOME, UH, LOW INCOME ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, WHICH IT DOESN'T HAVE MUCH OF ONE TO SPEAK OF TODAY.
UM, AND THEN THERE WERE SOME ALSO SOME RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND, UM, CAPITAL RECOVERY FEES.
UM, MAKING SURE THAT, UM, NEW LARGE CUSTOMERS WHO REQUIRE A LOT OF CAPITAL TO CONNECT TO THE SYSTEM PAY, UH, A FAIR SHARE SO THAT THE REST OF THE RATE PAYERS AREN'T, UM, SUBSIDIZING THOSE.
AND THEN THERE'S A, A COUPLE OF THINGS AROUND, UM, YOU KNOW, STUDYING THE FRANCHISE FEES.
UM, BUT THAT'S ESSENTIALLY IT.
SO JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE RMC HAS ACTUALLY HAD, UM, THE PURVIEW TO ADVISE COUNSEL ON, UM, THE GAS UTILITY.
SO, UM, SO YEAH, THAT WAS, WE'LL SEE WHERE THEY, THEY COME OUT WITH FOR THAT.
I'M, I'M GLAD YOU STOPPED ME FROM ENDING THE MEETING 'CAUSE THOSE WERE REALLY GREAT RECOMMENDATIONS AND I, I THINK IN PARTICULAR LIKE THE IDEA OF THE CITY TAKING OVER THE CONSERVATION PROGRAMS, LIKE HONESTLY I WOULD INVITE YOU EVEN IF IT'S NOT TOO LATE NEXT MONTH TO BRING THAT ONE TO US AS WELL.
LIKE IT'S VERY RELEVANT LIKE WE HAVE HERE RECOMMENDED IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, CITY CODE UPDATES THAT ENCOURAGE ELECTRIFICATION, YOU KNOW, SWITCHING FROM GAS APPLIANCES TO ELECTRIC AND TEXAS GAS IS TAKING RIGHT.
REPAIR MONEY AND DOING THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF LIKE TRYING TO PUSH GAS APPLIANCES.
UM, DON'T GET A GAS DRYER, JUST GET A, GET A HEAT PUMP DRYER
[01:30:01]
UM, THAT'S MY PITCH FOR THE NIGHT.SO YEAH, I THINK IT'S VERY RELEVANT TO OUR WORK HERE IN TERMS OF LIKE DECARBONIZING FOR SURE.
ALRIGHT, AND WITH THAT I AM GOING TO ADJOURN THE MEETING IF THERE'S NOT OBJECTION, BUT PLEASE DO OBJECT IF I'VE SKIPPED SOMETHING.