City sustainability board agrees to draft letter asking commission whether to pursue landlord utility-disclosure policy

The Environmental Sustainability Advisory Board (ESAB) agreed on June 1 to draft a policy-recommendation letter to the City Commission asking whether the commission wants the city to pursue a utility-disclosure program that would collect building-level energy data for rental properties. Kathy Richardson, the city sustainability director, summed up the next step: "we were asked to also draft a policy recommendation letter, which is effectively me again going to date and Milton's documents and pulling it into a letter form, with some rationale of why we think this should be pursued in more detail with additional support from the city." Mohsen, who presented an updated draft policy and supporting materials, said the board has received outside feedback and that joint work with the Affordable Housing Advisory Board could be useful. "We already provided some very good feedback that would be very helpful," Mohsen said. Board members discussed possible near-term milestones to include in the letter: (1) hold a joint meeting with the Affordable Housing Advisory Board to clarify policy scope and the intended mandate; (2) undertake public engagement focused on renters and landlords; and (3) conduct a refined budget and implementation analysis with relevant city departments. Several members emphasized that the letter should ask the commission for a directional decision rather than attempt to resolve implementation details in advance. "We might want to go to the commission to find out if this is a direction that they're interested in going in because we thought that the fact finding piece was gonna take resources that we don't have available to us unless the commission decides that this is interested in this," one member said. The board reviewed rough cost estimates discussed in the meeting: one participant offered a heuristic of about $10,000 per year for maintenance and an upfront system cost on the order of $50,000–$60,000; participants stressed these figures were preliminary and recommended that the letter request a more detailed budget analysis by city IT, communications, and finance staff if the commission gives direction. Members debated whether the draft letter should include dollar-figure extrapolations linking energy savings to renter financial relief; some urged caution and suggested focusing the letter on greenhouse-gas reduction and program milestones because precise savings estimates would invite detailed follow-up questions. The draft letter being circulated contains placeholders for answers to four bullets recommended by the city manager: relative priority among ESAB tasks, budget and resource implications, required public engagement and implementation steps, and an estimate of projected KPI impact. The board also noted prior work already completed (draft policy text, a fact-finding questionnaire in a shorter form, and a public-engagement handout) and said that including those attachments or citing them in the letter would demonstrate groundwork already done. No formal vote to adopt a policy or to send the letter to the commission occurred; the board directed members to continue refining the draft for review at a future meeting, with the intent of submitting it to the commission for guidance if the group agrees on a final version. "If we feel like we're ready for this, because that is the next step to actually make something happen as opposed to us just talking about it in our meeting," one member said when urging a move toward the commission. The board identified follow-up tasks: finalize the one-page letter, flag placeholders that require department input, and decide whether to attach a short FAQ and milestones summary showing the joint meeting, public engagement, and budget analysis steps. The board also discussed outreach partners and noted that community organizations and recent press coverage have generated initial public interest with limited pushback, a point they plan to summarize in the letter. The meeting closed with members agreeing that a shorter, focused letter that requests a commission decision on whether to authorize further exploration would best conserve volunteer and city staff time while opening the path for more detailed work if commissioners approve.