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Beth Ross, Environmental Coordinator, explained the Climate Action Plan to the Council (presentation on file). She shared her excitement about this Plan being before Council. She covered what the Plan is and what it is not. She also detailed next steps. This is a Plan to reduce green house gas emissions by a certain deadline. She called it a "call to action" by the community. Ms. Ross explained that staff put together a team of eleven community members who then identified goals. They also reviewed plans from other cities. There were questions about the "built environment" and Ms. Ross responded. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District was discussed and its recent release of statistics via their Climate Reduction Plan. One Council Member asked that the sources of the data be cited and that the most recent data be used. Ms. Ross explained sources were in the appendices and the data in the Plan is from 2005. Council asked various questions on how the report was compiled. Ms. Ross provided detailed information. Staff explained that this is not a regulatory document, and how through the General Plan Environmental Impact Report there will be a more in depth analysis of the green gas emissions leading to a comprehensive community Climate Action Plan. One Council Member was pleased to hear this is not a regulatory document. The issue of what data was provided by ICLEI was discussed and how this company had worked with different cities to come up with a protocol for municipal operations. Ms. Ross explained that ICLEI provided the data that C/CAG utilized to create the aggregate of numbers. Ms. Ross then expanded on "building community" and how this plan is a real example of this principle. She provided information on the various focus groups that were led by staff. She also explained the formation of a "growing circle" as part of these community meetings. She elaborated on the creation of a new "Green Gardener" Certification program. Ms. Ross covered new areas that she has been working on, including the Climate Cafe and other upcoming initiatives. Public Comment Rick Nordensten said he was a member of the Redwood City team and he commended Ms. Ross on a great job in creating and fostering a very diverse team. He enjoyed the structured meetings, facilitation and pulling together the team's ideas into one document. He explained that Ms. Ross was able to juggle multiple projects. He had one issue regarding the focus on the wetlands. He said the team had crafted a specific strategy to preserve existing wetlands but this was changed to a more generic version in the final document. John Swan, a resident of Los Altos, said he thinks the Precise Plan is the leading edge and encouraged tying in Community Climate action with the Precise Plan as an opportunity to set a new benchmark. Claire Felong, a member of the Cool Cities group, thanked the Library for its work and expressed her support for the Community Climate. Action Plan. She thanked and congratulated the Council and the Planning Commission for their work. Council Discussion One Council Member would like more detail on item #2 Transportation and Land Use. She would like to see more strategies developed. She would like to see staff work with the JOINT CITY COUNCIL/REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD MEETING MINUTES MARCH 22, 2010 PAGE 6