Committee approves applying for $75,000 climate grant for building energy audits and bike parking

The Government Operations Committee voted Monday to forward a recommendation to city council to apply for a $75,000 Community Action Grant through the Community Resilience Partnership to fund building energy audits for city-owned buildings and bicycle parking outside the downtown/Cross Center area.

City planner Anya Colette, who presented the item, said the application would fund a building energy audit for some city-owned buildings and pay for bike parking in parts of the city not already covered by existing funds. "This is another round of the Community Action Grant through the Community Resilience Partnership," Colette said, adding that staff would use existing city funds for bike parking in the downtown and Cross Center areas and the grant to focus on other locations such as schools and some parks.

Committee members agreed to place the application on the Oct. 28 city council agenda. Committee Chair Councillor Peltier moved to follow staff recommendation; the motion was seconded and approved by the voting members present. Councillors Fish, Haas, Schaffer, Trimble and Yaqub Aga — the committee's voting members for this meeting — recorded the approval to send the item to council.

The item is intended to identify potential energy-efficiency upgrades in city buildings through an audit and to expand secure bike parking where city funds do not currently cover installations. Staff also noted related climate work underway, including a municipal EV transition plan and an RFP for additional electric vehicle chargers that had been previously discussed with the committee.

Next steps: staff will submit the grant application and present the item to the full city council at its Oct. 28 meeting for final action.