SUBJECT: CONSENT
Title
A Resolution Of The Board Of Trustees Of The Town Of Erie Approving The Support Of The 2020-2021 Colorado Communities For Climate Action Policy Statement Update
Body
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
PRESENTER: Tyler Kesler, Sustainability & Water Conservation
Specialist
FISCAL SUMMARY: N/A
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board of Trustees support Colorado Communities for Climate Action’s updated 2020-2021 Policy Statement.
End
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
The Town of Erie became a member of Colorado Communities for Climate Action (CC4CA) in 2020. As a member, the Town has had the opportunity to weigh-in on the development of the CC4CA Policy Statement, which is updated on an annual basis to adjust the policy positions of the organization. CC4CA’s 2020-2021 Policy Statement update reflects unanimous agreement among the coalition members on steps that should be taken at the state and federal level, often in partnership with local governments, to enable Colorado and its communities to lead in protecting the climate.
The proposed statements were developed through CC4CA committees, which solicited input from every member jurisdiction and then prepared updates to reflect that input. The Town of Erie participated and provided input in these discussions.
CC4CA held its all-member annual retreat to review and finalize the Policy Statement on June 19, 2020. The retreat, and the many months of work by CC4CA's Policy Committee and Board of Directors (on which every member jurisdiction is represented) prior to the retreat, provided the opportunity for all members to share input on each of the policy positions and the statements were modified accordingly. CC4CA members did a significant amount of work to finalize the proposed statement based on the input of all member Councils and Boards and to gain the approval of all members present at the retreat. At this time, all members of CC4CA are asked to formally ratify the updated Policy Statement.
Most of the updates are non-substantive, and none of the substantive updates significantly alter any positions. The updates include:
1) The updated Policy Statement eliminates the "explanatory text" that has been part of the format in previous years. These were the paragraphs accompanying each specific policy position that provided additional details and examples. The result is a much more concise and manageable Policy Statement.
2) The most significant substantive changes compared to the 2019-2020 Policy Statement are all still only minor changes:
• Position #7, which supports a public process for evaluating retail energy choice options for local jurisdictions, now supports such a process for evaluating both retail and wholesale energy choice options for local jurisdictions.
• "Resilience" is more clearly called out in the first General Policy Principle and in policy positions #5 (calling to remove barriers allowing local governments to implement resilience-oriented strategies) and #26 (encouraging post-disaster recovery efforts to improve resilience to future disasters).
• Position #24 adds "reuse" to "recycling and composting."
• There is a new position (#25), which encourages the adoption of climate-positive innovations drawing from the lessons learned during the pandemic.
3) All of the other proposed changes are for grammatical purposes, to improve clarity, or maintain clarity when removing the explanatory text.
Fiscal Impact: There is no budget impact at this time.
Board Priority(s) Addressed:
ü Engaged and Diverse Community
ü Prosperous Economy
ü Safe and Healthy Community
ü Effective Governance
ü Environmentally Sustainable
ü Fiscally Responsible
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
2. Adopted for Ratification Policy Statement