Special Meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee July 22, 2020 Joint Sustainability Committee to be held July 22, 2020 with Social Distancing Modifications Public comment will be allowed via telephone; no in-person input will be allowed. All speakers must register in advance (July 21, 2020). All public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting. To speak remotely at the July 22, 2020 Joint Sustainability Committee Meeting, residents must: •Call or email the board liaison at 415-694-3111 and zach.baumer@austintexas.gov no later than noon, (July 21, 2020) The information required is the speaker name, item number(s) they wish to speak on, whether they are for/against/neutral, and a telephone number or email address. •Once a request to speak has been called in or emailed to the board liaison, residents will receive either an email or phone call providing the telephone number to call on the day of the scheduled meeting. •Speakers must call in at least 15 minutes prior to meeting start in order to speak, late callers will not be accepted and will not be able to speak. •Speakers will be placed in a queue until their time to speak. •Handouts or other information may be emailed to zach.baumer@austintexas.gov by Noon the day before the scheduled meeting. This information will be provided to Board and Commission members in advance of the meeting. JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE July 22, 2020 (1:00 pm) VIA VIDEOCONFERENCING CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Kaiba White, Chair (Resource Mgmt. Commission) Katie Coyne, Vice-Chair (Environmental Commission) Melissa Rothrock (Zero Waste Advisory Commission) Kelly Davis (Urban Transportation Commission) Fisayo Fadelu (Community Development Commission) Karen Magid (Austin Travis County Food Policy Board) Nhat Ho (Water & Wastewater Commission) Holt Lackey (Economic Prosperity Commission) Vacant - (Parks & Recreation Board) David Carroll (Design Commission) Alberta Phillips (City Council) Karen Hadden (Electric Utility Commission) Rob Schneider (Planning Commission) For more information, please visit: www.austintexas.gov/jsc AGENDA CALL TO ORDER CITIZEN COMMUNICATION The speakers who registered in advance for public comment have three minutes each to address items on the agenda at this time. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) June 24, 2020 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee 2. NEW BUSINESS a) COVID-19 Food System Recommendation (Discussion and/or possible action) b) CapMetro Project Connect Update (Discussion and/or possible action) c) Update on the Austin Community Climate Plan Revision (Discussion and/or possible action) d) Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and …
Aust in Communit y Climat e Plan 2020 Revision 7/ 22/ 20 JSC Schedule July Reviews and Revisions by Staff and Steering Committee Aug. Boards & Commissions + Public Comment Period Sept . Finalize and present to council Two Versions of the New Plan Brief Version Full Ve rs ion ● Le s s tha n 20 pa ge s ● P icture s a nd Colors ● Acce s s ible a nd re a da ble ● Tra ns la te d into S pa nis h, Vie tna me s e , S implifie d Chine s e ● S umma rize s ma jor conce pts a nd points but not a ll the de ta ils on s tra te gie s ● 100 pa ge s ● Lightly de s igne d ● Figure s , Gra phs , a nd Cha rts ● Full goa ls , s tra te gie s , a nd “how we ’ll ge t the re ” ● All the de ta ils ● Exte ns ive Appe ndix Boards and Commissions Tour August + September ● Food P olicy ● Economic P ros pe rity ● Community De ve lopme nt ● Wa te r a nd Wa s te wa te r ● Urba n Tra ns porta tion ● P la nning ● LGBTQ Qua lity of Life ● His pa nic / La tino Qua lity of Life ● As ia n Ame rica n Qua lity of Life ● Africa n Ame rica n Re s ource Advis ory ● Commis s ion on Immigra nt Affa irs ● Commis s ion on S e niors ● Commis s ion on Wome n ● Ma yor’s Commis s ion for P e ople with Dis a bilitie s ● P a rks a nd Re cre a tion ● Re s ource Ma na ge me nt ● Ele ctric Utility ● Environme nta l ● De s ign ● Ze ro Wa s te Advis ory Climate Leaders Forum ● Le tte r s e nt to ma ny loca l Bus ine s s e s ○ S hort lis t of la rge s t compa nie s ○ Clima te P la n P a rticipa nts ○ Full Aus tin Gre e n Bus ine s s …
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Austin Travis County Food Policy Board Recommendation Number: 20200612-4.c.v.i COVID-19 Food System Response Recommendation The COVID-19 pandemic, the related shutdown, and the human toll experienced disproportionately by Black and Indigenous communities, and People of Color (BIPOC) expose the legacy and ongoing entrenchment of racial injustice in our food and economic systems. Austin faces a historical and pivotal moment as we uncover the stark contrasts related to resources and the racialized structures that form what we now call our “food system.” The contrasts begin with the creation of a system of food production on land first taken from Indigenous peoples and later taken from Black farmers. A racialized system has created White wealth through policies, practices, laws and policing, and granted unequal access to capital and profit in the food system through the exploitation, enslavement and death, primarily of Black people. On that same spectrum, throughout our history and today, Latinx workers and immigrants of color who have always performed “essential” food system work are underpaid, exposed to dangerous and unstable working conditions, harassment and economic instability. BIPOC workers in the food system are also disproportionately unable to afford good food. Locally, clear contrasts revealed through COVID-19 include a woefully under-resourced and undeveloped food system in terms of planning, resiliency and coordination. Food workers have either been laid-off and then return to back-of-house low-paid jobs in restaurants and food businesses with insufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), or they have continued to work throughout the pandemic on farms and in grocery stores, risking exposure without paid sick leave, while corporations have prospered from the heightened demand for food-related staples. Statewide, primarily Latinx meatpacking workers experienced a large outbreak of coronavirus infection with little immediate testing or support. Infection, hospitalization, and death rates from COVID-19 in our region have also skewed disproportionately Latinx. This is not an accident, but at least partly is a result of our racialized food system that produces inequitable and devastating impacts for the BIPOC in our region. As significant funding shifts are considered in local budgets, we must invest sufficient resources to understand, dismantle and remake our food system into one that is economically and racially just and puts the workers and small businesses who have been negatively impacted at the center of the process throughout. This includes food access as a right (the end of food insecurity). This is not easy to do. It requires …
Join Sustainability Commitee Project Connect Overview JULY 22, 2020 1 1 AGENDA 1. PROJECT CONNECT OVERVIEW 2. PROJECT CONNECT TIMELINE 3. RECOMMENDED SYSTEM PLAN 4. SYSTEM PLAN FEATURES 5. OVERVIEW BY MODE 6. SEQUENCING 7. RENDERINGS 8. COMMUNITY BENEFITS 9. FUNDING 10. NEXT STEPS 2 PROJECT CONNECT OVERVIEW 33 3 4 PROJECT CONNECT TIMELINE A 20 Year Discussion DEC 2018 APR 2019 AUG 2019 – MAR 2020 MAY 2020 JUN 2020 AUG 2020 NOV 2020 2021 – Beyond Project Connect Vision Plan Adopted Austin Strategic Mobility Plan Adopted Virtual Meetings Held Six Joint Work Sessions held, Covering Program, Funding and Governance Joint Session – System Plan Adoption June 10 Establish LGC Potential Transit Referendum Action It’s Go Time! Potential Transit Referendum Community Engagement Ongoing 5 PROJECT CONNECT RECOMMENDED SYSTEM PLAN 66 6 PROJEC T CONNEC T SYSTEM PLAN RECOMMENDATION Light Rail Transit in Dedicated Transitways for Orange, Blue and Gold Lines - 36 Miles, 40 Stations incl. Downtown Transit Tunnel High Frequency Bus with Priority Treatments 7 New Routes - ~74 Miles, 193 Stations Station and Operational Improvements New Commuter Rail Service to Connect Downtown to Colony Park with potential extension to Manor and Elgin 8 New Routes - 5 outside service area 24 New Park & Rides - 10 outside the service area Better bus service and stop amenities Enhanced demand response service Zero Emissions Improved Customer Tech New Circulator Zones (Pickup) Maintenance Facility Improvements 7 CONCEPTUAL DRAWING 8 8 Split Platform Street Section CONCEPTUAL DRAWING 9 9 BLUE LINE OVERVIEW 10 GOLD LINE OVERVIEW 11 ORANGE LINE OVERVIEW 12 GREEN LINE OVERVIEW 13 METRORAPID OVERVIEW 14 RECOMMENDED PROGRAM SEQUENCE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Y E A R S Initial Phase: MetroRapid Extensions* LRT* Phase II LIGHT RAIL Orange Line (LRT) Blue Line (LRT) Gold Line (LRT) METRORAIL METRORAPID Phase I Phase II Phase III Red Line (Commuter Rail) Green Line (Commuter Rail) METROEXPRESS & PARK AND RIDES METROBUS & METROACCESS IMPROVED CUSTOMER TECH Notes: 1. Based on 3/9/2020 funding recommendation 2. Years based on federal NEPA and funding approvals * When funding is available 15 NEPA / Preliminary Engineering Final Design / Procurement Construction / Commissioning 16 CONCEPTUAL DRAWING 17 17 CONCEPTUAL DRAWING 18 18 CONCEPTUAL DRAWING 19 19 Regional Transportation Center CONCEPTUAL DRAWING 20 20 PROJECT CONNECT COMMUNITY BENEFITS 2121 21 SYSTEM BENEFITS ✓ Easing traffic in our city …
COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Joint Sustainability Committee Recommendation 20200722-2B – Recommendation on Project Connect Funding The CapMetro Project Connect plan is an essential long-term plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while improving equitable access to affordable, efficient and comfortable transportation, and meeting the goals of the Austin Community Climate Plan and the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan. Therefore, the Joint Sustainability Committee recommends that the Austin City Council place a request on the November 2020 ballot to fully fund the plan in line with the “CapMetro Recommended Program Sequence”. Record of the vote: Motion to approve by Commissioner White, second by Commissioner Schneider. Motion passes 7 approve, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. Date of approval: July 22, 2020 Attest: __________________________________ Zach Baumer, Liaison Zach Baumer
Item 1 JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING MEETING MINUTES July 22, 2020 The Joint Sustainability Committee convened in a special meeting on July 22, 2020 via videoconferencing. Chair Kaiba White called the Board Meeting to order at 1:16 pm. Board Members in Attendance: Kaiba White Chair, Fisayo Fadelu, Rob Schneider, Holt Lackey, Karen Magid, David Carroll, Karen Hadden, Alberta Phillips Board Members Absent: Kelly Davis, Nhat Ho, Katie Coyne Vice-Chair, Melissa Rothrock City Staff in Attendance: Zach Baumer, Phoebe Romero CALL TO ORDER CITIZEN COMMUNICATION The speakers who registered in advance for public comment have three minutes each to address items on the agenda at this time. • Susan Pantell o Concern about airport expansion and desire to include this within considerations of climate plan. o Desire for more expanded outreach as part of climate plan efforts. o Push for stronger, multi-modal transportation goals. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) June 24, 2020 meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee • Motion to approve (Commissioner Schneider), second (Commissioner Lackey), 8 approved, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. 2. NEW BUSINESS a) COVID-19 Food System Recommendation (Discussion and/or possible action) • Recommendation from Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board asking for additional staff and funding for a comprehensive economic, health and environmentally focused-food system response considering COVID-19. • Motion to approve (Commissioner Hadden), Second (Commissioner White); Motion withdrawn by Commissioner Hadden to allow time for future review by commissioners and a vote at a later time. b) CapMetro Project Connect Update (Discussion and/or possible action) • Presentation by Yannis Banks and Rob Borowski, CapMetro • Overview of timeline, proposed lines and system benefits • Discussed upcoming events and decision points, including funding options • Recommendation to support Project Connect Funding • Motion to approve (White), Second (Schneider) – 7 approve, 0 opposed, 0 abstained. c) Update on the Austin Community Climate Plan Revision (Discussion and/or possible action) • Item will be discussed at next meeting d) Commission members report back on any relevant discussions from their respective boards and commissions – (Discussion and/or possible action) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • None discussed Motion to adjourn (Commissioner White). Meeting adjourns at 2:44 pm. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice …
