Session 07-29 a Special Meeting of the Homer City Council was called to order at 5:35 p.m. on November 26, 2007 by Mayor James C. Hornaday at the Homer City Hall Cowles Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: CHESLEY, HEIMBUCH, NOVAK, ROBERTS, WYTHE

ABSENT: SHADLE (unexcused)

STAFF: CITY MANAGER WREDE

CITY CLERK JOHNSON

AGENDA APPROVAL (Only those matters on the noticed agenda may be considered, pursuant to City Council’s Operating Manual, pg. 5)

The agenda was approved by consensus of the Council.

PUBLIC COMMENTS UPON MATTERS ALREADY ON THE AGENDA

There were no public comments.

NEW BUSINESS

A. Climate Action Plan – Presentation by Alan Parks, Chairman of the Global Warming Task Force

Alan Parks, Chairman of the Global Warming Task Force, presented the Climate Action Plan. GWTF members Michael Neece, Pete Wedin, Neil Wagner, John Lemons, Dan Boone, Dan Banks and Sue Mauger were introduced. Chairman Alan Parks requested Council’s leadership in bringing the CAP forward to have Homer recognized. The task force requests Council adopt the CAP and hire a staff person.

Mayor Hornaday commented he has attended two global warming conferences for mayors. At first he was skeptical, but now is quite enthusiastic. There is an emphasis on economics to include jobs, reduced costs, and lower taxes. Homer needs jobs.

Economic data was discussed, including cost savings to the City with energy efficient computers and shutting down computers. Effects will be seen with a long-range monitoring plan. Local communities are taking action and there is not one local community that has adopted initiatives that they have backtracked on. All have sustained their efforts, as they have realized the economic benefits. HEA’s estimates of future energy costs do not reflect the inevitable rising energy costs with carbon taxes and caps on emissions. Communities that take action to deal with costs now will save money.

Councilmember Roberts attended the ICLEI July conference in Arkansas. What she heard is that people are able to obtain energy savings but not without a coordinator. It is the key to success. Over the ten or so people from different communities, they reported a significant savings over the salary paid to the person. Council requested a punch list of what the new person would like to accomplish.

Mayor Hornaday noted apartments in Des Moines, Iowa are being heated by geo-thermal energy. He questioned if that could be done in Alaska. Geo-thermal energy was explained; it is a heat exchange vs. using energy from the hot part of the earth. It requires certain criteria, warmer temperatures than Alaska’s.

Councilmember Heimbuch described the scenarios for energy conservation: changing personal behavior, changing system and equipment operations, and system and component design changes. A punch list stating what could be completed in three years, continual feedback, and specific actions would be desirable. Mayor Hornaday noted the current requests from nearly every department for more staff.

Chairman Parks indicated now is the time to figure out how to reduce emissions and save the City money. Once the staff person’s punch list is completed their job will be sustainable. The footprint will be reduced to save the City a lot of money, $97,000 is a low figure for savings. Three years from now it will be a feather in some of the Councilmember’s hat that they implemented the CAP. One of the most important things local governments will deal with are energy costs, as they are not going away.

Councilmember Wythe noted Council can support some things, yet have no ability to control them. Council can encourage the rail belt to consider means to increase the portion of electricity generated from renewable resources, yet can do nothing. Although she encourages energy savings, the CAP is written to bite off more than the community can commit to. An idling vehicle law would not be viable for Homer. More discussion is needed for equitability to the community; some parts are not fully disclosed.

Dan Boone, referenced global warming as a moral issue. The United States doesn’t have the right to produce 25% of the carbon dioxide released in the air. People in the third world countries will suffer. The United States has the money and technology to deal with issues that come up, whereas people that live in Bangladesh cannot. We cannot sit and do nothing when other people will pay the price.

Mayor Hornaday noted the rest of the world will not go along before we put our house in order.

Councilmember Wythe stated the City needs to lead by example in the manner with the lowest financial impact to the highest yield to Homer’s citizens. We need to be environmentally friendly with growth. Construction methods need to be explored. As wonderful as it is, the library may not be as energy efficient as we had hoped. A LEED building is not necessarily the best; we need to look at what works best in Alaska rather than from a global perspective.

Sue Mauger, GWTF member, voiced the goal of the CAP is to implement things to keep the community sustainable in the long-term. It includes adaptation measures and planning for the future. Building roads and seawalls to account for sea level rise are some measures. Technology is changing quickly; the employee needs to research and work to capitalize on opportunities. For Homer to capitalize we need someone out in front looking at all the changes.

Dan Lush, GWTF member, noted a long journey requires a first step. Many ideas and suggestions will take intelligence and application to flush out a list of the top priorities. No proposal will satisfy every issue. It is a new field and we are making a first step. We need to keep working together.

GWTF members said adopting the CAP is the smart and right thing to do as it will save the City money and make the City a leader on a state and nationwide level. It will promote positive economic development as a benefit, creating an environment where green renewable businesses will approach and want to be in Homer. The City is running on an engine that needs a tune-up, the City must pay a mechanic for a tune-up to make the engine run smoother.

Asked if the person could be an independent hire, City Manager Wrede said the City could contract to the private sector. He encouraged Council to adopt the CAP, as from a management point it makes sense. We need to figure how much we want to do up front. We could adopt the plan and decide what pieces of the plan are agreeable. A part-time person could be tasked with other duties; if we want to implement the CAP fully it woud require a full-time person. Policies on vehicles and lights can be implemented.

Councilmember Roberts recently attended the AML Conference and noticed most conversations centered around fuel and energy costs. There are few cities as far along in approaching a CAP as is Homer. There are a lot of opportunities for grants and a show of leadership; Homer can benefit by being the forerunner.

COMMENTS OF THE AUDIENCE

Donna Maltz, city resident and founder of Sustainable Homer, thanked the GWTF for their outstanding work. The opportunities to effect Homer’s economics are tremendous with global leadership. She referenced www.sustainableconnections.com and Bellingham, WA where the business community is behind a climate action plan because the city is behind it. The Homer Chamber of Commerce has invited sustainability that will allow a legacy to our children. A staff person for global warming needs to be highly educated, have an immense amount of experience, tremendous communication skills with high integrity and ethics.

Mike Kennedy, city resident, noted cost savings: 50% to 60% of commercial electric bills are lighting; motion detectors save 30% on lighting costs. There are easy things that can be done to save money. A contract firm such as Seaman’s could be hired for an energy audit to show where the savings would come from.

Elizabeth Neuman, lives on the Old Sterling and has been using solar energy for 15 years. She has two solar panels and a couple batteries and from March to October uses all the power from the sun. She supports the GWTF and hopes Council supports the proposition and plans.

Will Schlein, city resident and business owner, uses a lot of energy. Looking at the CAP, two years ago some of the suggestions were marginal, the economics are not. The document is a first step and the sooner it is implemented the greater the savings. Cities that have adopted measures have gone forward with steps and are not turning back. He urged Council to fund a staff person, use less energy to be a more efficient city and also leaders.

Judy Nester, Fritz Creek resident, noted the United States and Australia are the only two countries that have not signed the protocol. Australia, with a new leader is now signing. We cannot depend on our national or state leaders to address the problem; we need to depend on local leaders to address the issue. She fully supports the CAP.

COMMENTS OF THE CITY ATTORNEY

City Attorney Tans was not present.

COMMENTS OF THE CITY CLERK

City Clerk Johnson had no comments.

COMMENTS OF THE CITY MANAGER

City Manager Wrede had no comments.

COMMENTS OF THE MAYOR

Mayor Hornaday had no comments.

COMMENTS OF THE CITY COUNCIL

Councilmembers had no comments.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council the meeting was adjourned at 7:02 p.m. The next Committee of the Whole scheduled for Monday, December 10, 2007 at 4 p.m. Next Special Meeting is Monday, December 10, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. Next Regular Meeting is Monday, December 10, 2007 at 7 p.m. All meetings are scheduled to be held in the City Hall Cowles Council Chambers.

______________________________

JO JOHNSON, CMC, CITY CLERK

Approved: _____________________