City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 16, 2018
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Work Session on Environmental Policy Commission Recommendations for Environmental Action Plan Update (Phase 1).
BODY
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ISSUE: Council receipt of recommendations of the Environmental Policy Commission.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council: (1) Receive the report and recommendations
(Attachment 2); and (2) Hold a work session with the Environmental Policy Commission (EPC) to review 37 EPC recommendations for five focus areas which are being proposed for the first phase of the Environmental Action Plan (EAP).
BACKGROUND: The EAP Phase One update focuses on developing new short-term actions (FY 2019 to FY 2023) in five focus areas chosen by the EPC: climate change, energy, green building, land use/open space, and solid waste.
The City's Eco-City Steering Committee, co-chaired by Councilmembers Del Pepper and John Chapman, met November 20, 2017 and March 1, 2018 to provide guidance for the EAP update process. The (EPC) held public retreats in September 2017 and February 2018. There was an official public launch of the process on December 4, 2017 and a robust public Eco-City café on March 10, 2018. The launch in December 2017 and the café in March 2018 were well attended and included remote digital participation through social media. Online feedback has also been conducted to collect input on public priorities.
NEXT STEPS: Staff has worked closely and collaboratively with the EPC on its fiscally unconstrained recommendations. While there is much consensus, most recommendations are not funded in the recently adopted FY 2019 budget or the City's 10-year Capital Improvement Program. Additionally, some recommendations require outreach to stakeholders in the building industry community. At this stage in the development of City plan documents (housing, land use, transportation, human services), the plans are aspirational and subject to future annual operating and capital improvement program priority setting and funding processes. Staff is evaluating the resources required to implement these recommendations, including City operating and Capital budget impacts and will work with the EPC to perform additional outreach prior to Council consideration of plan adoption in fall of 2018.
FISCAL IMPACT: The recommendations under consideration are environmentally goal and target based, and therefore fiscally unconstrained. The fiscal impact in the near and long-terms is substantial and undetermined. Staff will be evaluating and estimating to the degree feasible fiscal impacts in coordination with the EPC for Council's future consideration.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Letter from EPC Chair Jim Kapsis to City Council, dated May 1, 2018
Attachment 2: EPC Recommendations
Attachment 3: Appendix A to EPC Recommendations
Attachment 4: Presentation
STAFF:
Emily A. Baker, Deputy City Manager
Yon Lambert, Director, T&ES
Karl Moritz, Director, P&Z
Jeremy McPike, Director, General Services
James Spengler, Director, RPCA
William Skrabak, Deputy Director, T&ES/Infrastructure and Environmental Quality
Ellen Eggerton, Sustainability Coordinator, T&ES/Office of Environmental Quality