Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cesc 2024 2025 Priorities topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Climate and Environmental Sustainability Committee outlines 2024 work and 2025 priorities
Summary
The committee reported on its 2024 activity and described 2025 priorities including supporting the Climate Action and Resilience Plan review, tree canopy concerns tied to the Lower Lake project, a proposed city compost drop-off program and informal coordination on a future master tree plan.
John Barber and Bill Hanahan, presenting for the Climate and Environmental Sustainability Committee (CESC), told the Municipal Services and Environmental Sustainability Committee that the CESC met regularly in 2024 and is finalizing a draft annual report; they said the report will return to the committee after members’ edits are complete.
Barber said the CESC met eight or nine times in 2024 and has been a resource to staff for the city’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) review. “The work that was done by the committee is excellent,” one member said of the CESC’s review of the draft plan. Committee members said they prioritized community engagement to avoid a “disconnect” between plan development and later implementation.
The committee highlighted several 2025 priorities: helping finalize CARP implementation details; supporting a proposed master tree plan and tree ordinance revisions; promoting public education about tree canopy benefits (stormwater mitigation, health benefits); and evaluating a city-run compost drop-off on the north and south sides of the city. “We need a certain dollar amount in the budget to make that happen,” Barber said of the compost drop-off proposal; the specific budget figure was not provided in the meeting.
Hanahan, who identified himself as a member of the community group Heights Tree People, said the committee would like to engage informally with a future master tree plan because legal guidelines currently limit forming new formal advisory boards. The committee also said it would support data collection to measure program impacts; one volunteer member, Mohammed, offered to assist with data work.
Why it matters: committee members emphasized the role of the sustainability lens across city decisions, asking that staff and council routinely consider sustainability implications for projects such as the Lower Lake dam reconstruction. The committee said it wants ongoing collaboration with the administration and city departments so citizen volunteers can provide technical review and outreach.
No formal committee vote was recorded on these priorities at the meeting; presenters said a committee-approved annual report will be returned after internal review. Committee members encouraged continued public education and volunteer involvement and said they will continue to support Andy Putang, the city’s sustainability coordinator, and the administration as CARP moves toward implementation.
What’s next: the committee will finalize its annual report after member edits and continue outreach on CARP and master tree plan input. Staff and the committee plan continued coordination on data support, compost drop-off feasibility and community education.
