Environment Committee Meeting of November 2, 2017
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Environment Committee Meeting of November 2, 2017
The Environment Committee of the San Diego City Council met on November 2, 2017, to discuss and act on several items including contract ratification, energy reports, groundwater management, and stormwater capture. The meeting included public comments, presentations from city staff and external partners, and committee discussions.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Approval of Record of Action Items (September 29, 2017) – Approved unanimously by voice vote.
- Item 2: Ratification of Agreement with Alpha Project for Cleanup, Maintenance, and Other Services at Landfill – This item was pulled from the consent calendar for discussion. After public comment and committee questions, the committee voted to move the item to the full City Council with a recommendation for approval. The motion carried unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Non-Agenda Public Comment: Martha Welch spoke about the city’s involvement in a sewage lawsuit, criticizing the city and county for failing to address sewage outfalls that affect the coast. She also raised concerns about tiered utility rates in San Diego compared to San Francisco.
- Item 2 (Alpha Project): Martha Welch expressed support for the work done by Alpha Project but noted that the contract highlights a lack of city employees at the landfill, which could negatively impact pension funds.
- Item 3 (SEAB Report): Jay Powell, a former SEAB member, urged the committee to update the municipal code to reflect the Climate Action Plan, fill vacant board seats (especially the solar industry seat), and create an energy trust fund from city savings. He also noted the upcoming expiration of the SDG&E franchise agreement in 2020.
- Item 4 (SDG&E Update): Three speakers offered comments:
- Jay Powell (Community Energy Action Network) expressed opposition to SDG&E’s characterization as the most reliable energy company, citing past issues like the 2007 wildfires and the September 11th blackout. He questioned the effectiveness of the EcoChoice program.
- Sebastian Saria (San Diego Community Choice Lines / Climate Action Campaign) criticized the EcoChoice program as limited (capped at 59 MW) and ending in 2019, insufficient to meet the city’s needs.
- Mark Hughes, with 40 years in power generation, noted that San Diego has the highest electricity rates in the state and argued that Community Choice Aggregation would introduce competition to the IOU model.
Discussion Items
- Item 3: Sustainable Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Semi-Annual Report – Chair Julia Brown presented the board’s work, including progress on the Climate Action Plan (GHG emissions down 19% from 2010, economy up 30%), municipal energy strategy recommendations, and the upcoming vote on the Community Choice Aggregation feasibility study. Committee members asked about building benchmarking (12,539 total buildings, 1,378 over 50,000 sq ft) and the need for deeper analysis of CAP progress. The item was informational.
- Item 4: Update from San Diego Gas & Electric – Claudia Valenzuela presented on SDG&E’s 43% renewable energy portfolio, 115,000 solar customers, battery storage projects, and partnerships with the city on electric vehicle charging and energy efficiency. Committee members discussed electric vehicle charging station pilots, the natural gas pipeline project (expected CPUC decision late 2019), and potential collaboration with MTS on fleet electrification. Informational.
- Item 5: Update on San Diego River Valley Groundwater Basin and San Pasqual Valley Groundwater Basin MOU – Lon Weibort presented the development of a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The city and county have agreed on an advisory committee composition and a conflict resolution process. The committee discussed the timeline (GSP due by 2022) and the advisory committee’s composition. Informational.
- Item 6: Update on Stormwater Capture and Use – Staff from Public Utilities and Transportation & Stormwater presented on current efforts: reservoir capture (10-15% of water supply), rebate programs (rain barrels, turf replacement), green infrastructure, and the alternative compliance program for development projects. The committee discussed the potential for stormwater to augment the Pure Water project, the feasibility of permeable pavement, and the need for multi-beneficial projects. Informational.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar Item 2 was approved unanimously and will be forwarded to the full City Council with a recommendation for approval.
- All other items were informational and required no formal action. The committee noted the importance of continued collaboration between departments and with external partners.
- The next Environment Committee meeting was scheduled for December 7, 2017.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everybody. We will get started with our environment committee meeting of November second, twenty seventeen. All council members are present. And first we will take up the approval of the record of action items for the September twenty-ninth meeting that will be uh approved by unanimous consent unless there are questions by members. Okay. Uh public has an opportunity to speak on items not on the agenda today. Martha Welch, you'll be our speaker, and you have uh two minutes. Welcome to afternoon. About the about the um sewer. About the command about the lawsuit. I know you joined that with account of me also. I think you're not um right now I'm thinking about the uh in um not the wrong um you don't have the right person. I went to the meetings for the county years ago showing two th three um sewer plants. One one up north and two two um downs that uh down there, one in Mexico and one for the United States. I saw that online. I I've been s I this is something I've been reversing for two years. Now also, you have an also uh one time we had a meeting offline, I saw the them sewers going out. And also you are have a uh a tomb going out. You know the tide goes in, goes out, comes in. You know the tide goes in, goes out and comes in. Well, maybe your sewage is also coming on the tide. You never know. You could be also something about you too, because the tide does come in, high tide will take a lot of what comes up like that. So you could do you could be also on the suit yourself. And also we can't have we can't have future energy um choices because the county said no to that. Also, and San Diego gas um has tiers in this county. We're not flat rate for kilowatts. That's wrong and it's mean. Because this is I I'm from San Francisco, you understand Pacific Gas doesn't do that stuff. They have a kilowatt is flat. Every everyone has the same rate. Not here, it's tiers. I've I've I've heard of this in the meeting sometimes, all these tiers we have in this place. And that's not right also, it's mean. So you guys should watch out for this lawsuit because I think you and the county are the person who should be sued what's going on to the sewage down um down south because of your outfall. The sewage built wasn't built down there for the Mexico especially. I saw the outfall on the meeting. Thank you very much. That was our only public speaker on non-agenda uh public comment period. So we will move on to any committee comment or city attorney, mayor's office, IBA. No, okay. Then uh we will move on to the consent agenda. Um we have a speaker on item two, so uh I'll entertain a motion for uh item number one. Motion by Mr. Uh Sherman, second by Mr. Kate. All in favor? Aye. Motion carries on item one, item two, the ratification of as needed agreements with Alpha Project for cleanup maintenance and other services at landfill. Uh Martha Welch, you've pulled this item.
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