2026-10-21 - Environmental Quality Commission

00:03I think that I am a culture orders

00:05welcome to the October 24th 2020 State

00:08Environmental Quality Commission

00:10meeting. This is an important in virtual

00:12meeting with environmental quality

00:14commission member city staff and members

00:16of the public.

00:18Now I would like to introduce a staff

00:20and EQC members present in the room. We

00:22have myself, Vice Chair Hernandez,

00:25Commissioners Angel, Goodwin, Kessel,

00:28McKenna, and Thoms. The staff present

00:30includes sustainability manager Rachel

00:32Landa, and management analyst

00:35Liz Tapia.

00:38So Ms. Landa, will you please provide

00:39instructions to the commission and

00:41members of the public on how the meeting

00:43will proceed?

00:44>> Thank you, Vice Chair Hernandez. I'd

00:46like to share a process for public

00:47comment this evening. If you're in the

00:49room, we have public comment cards on

00:51that ledge over there, I think. Did you

00:52see them? Okay.

00:54If not, I can give you some if you're

00:56interested. If you are attending

00:58virtually, you can hit the raise hand

01:00button, which is either at the bottom of

01:01the screen or to the left of your name,

01:04depending on your device, and we can

01:06unmute you. And if you're calling in

01:07from a landline, you can press star nine

01:10on your phone.

01:12Um you'll have an opportunity to make

01:13public comment for items not on the

01:15agenda right after this announcement,

01:18and you'll have the opportunity to make

01:19public comment for items on the agenda

01:21as those items are presented.

01:24Thank you. I'll return the meeting to

01:25you, Vice Chair.

01:26>> Well, uh thank you. And the public

01:28comment that public may address the

01:30commission on any subject not listed on

01:32the agenda. Each Each speaker may

01:34address the commission once on the

01:36public comment to the limit of 3

01:38minutes. Well, you you're not required

01:40to provide your name or city of

01:42residence. It is helpful.

01:44The commission cannot act on item not

01:45listed on the agenda, and therefore the

01:47commission cannot respond to non-agenda

01:49items brought up on the public comment

01:52other than to provide general

01:54information.

01:55To sustainability manager Landa, please

01:57call for a public comment.

01:59>> Thank you, Vice Chair Hernandez. If you

02:01are in the room today and you'd like to

02:02make public comment, please hand Liz or

02:04I a public comment card. If you're

02:06calling in, press star nine, and if

02:09you're on Zoom, you can hit the raise

02:11hand button, and we will be able to

02:12unmute you.

02:14So, this is for public comment for items

02:16not on the agenda. I don't see any cards

02:18in the room or hands online.

02:21Give it 1 second.

02:24Okay. No public comment on items not on

02:26the agenda, so we can close that and

02:28return the meeting to you guys, Chair.

02:30>> So, item D, regular business, under D1,

02:33approval of September 16, 2026

02:36Environmental

02:37Quality Commission meeting meet minutes.

02:40Item D1 this evening is to approve

02:43uh September 16, 2026 Environmental

02:46Quality Commission meet meeting.

02:48Are there any clarifying questions from

02:50EQC members

02:52before uh taking public comment?

02:59So, Ms. Lander, do we have public

03:00comment on this item?

03:02>> Thank you, Vice Chair. Now, opening up

03:04public comment for item D1.

03:08Okay, I don't see any comment cards in

03:09the room. If you're online, you can hit

03:12the raise hand button, and if you're

03:13calling in, you can press star nine, and

03:14we should be able to unmute you.

03:18Okay, last call for public comment on

03:20item D1.

03:22Seeing no cards or hands, we can close

03:24public comment and return the meeting to

03:25you, Chair. Vice Chair.

03:27>> So, this item is now open for EQC

03:29discussion and motion.

03:32>> I'll make a motion to approve.

03:35>> Second.

03:37>> So, Ms. Lander, please state the motion.

03:39>> Okay, I think I heard a motion by

03:41McKenna and a second by Kissel.

03:44Is that right?

03:44>> Yes.

03:45>> Okay. To approve the September 16th

03:47Environmental Quality Commission meeting

03:48minutes.

03:51And we'll do roll call vote since Chair

03:53Hill is absent, so I will be going in

03:56alphabetical order here by Chair

03:57Hernandez.

03:59>> I.

04:00>> Commissioner Angel.

04:01>> I.

04:02>> Commissioner Goodwin.

04:03Commissioner Kissel.

04:04>> I.

04:05>> Commissioner McKenna.

04:06>> I.

04:06>> And Commissioner Satt.

04:07>> I.

04:09>> Thank you. The motion passes with six in

04:11favor and one absent.

04:17>> So, I am at D2, the Climate Action Plan

04:19progress action plan progress report.

04:23So, is that what makes this

04:24presentation?

04:27>> Thank you, Edwardo.

04:30I'm just pulling up our slides here.

04:33Okay.

04:35I'm excited. This feels like kind of an

04:36Earth Day item cuz it's so big.

04:39Um, so

04:41hope you're all ready to sit back and

04:42relax and listen to all the great work

04:44that we as a team have accomplished

04:46together.

04:47Um

04:48So, thank you, Vice Chair Hernandez, for

04:49the introduction. I'm excited to present

04:53our fiscal year 2025-2026 Climate Action

04:56Plan progress report along with Liz

04:57here.

04:58Our fiscal year runs from July through

05:01June, so we'll be looking back at

05:02activities from July 1, 2025 through

05:05June 30th, 2026.

05:07And we'll also have an opportunity to

05:08look at some upcoming activities.

05:11I'll start by providing some background

05:13on our Climate Action Plan and a look at

05:14our inventory before we dive into each

05:17of the CAP strategies.

05:19We don't have a recommendation

05:21or action for this evening. This update

05:23will be provided to City Council during

05:25the November 17th meeting.

05:27So, we want to make sure that EQC had a

05:29chance to see it first.

05:30Maybe help us refine some of our

05:32information.

05:34Let us know if there's anything that's

05:35missing or that you'd like to hear more

05:37about.

05:38And if there's a motion at the end of

05:40it, that's okay, too. We can we can hear

05:41that.

05:44Okay.

05:46So, as I alluded to, our CAP would not

05:48be possible without the hard work of our

05:50Environmental Quality Commission. Many

05:52of you will remember in fiscal year

05:5323-24, the EQC provided recommendations

05:57on ideas to explore for implementation

05:59for each of the CAP strategies for 2025

06:02to 2030.

06:04Um City Council approved the updated

06:06scope of work of the

06:08Climate Action Plan that was originally

06:09adopted in 2021 um on August in August

06:13of 2024.

06:16Um and then on August 26, 2025, we

06:20prepared

06:21um the latest update to City Council on

06:24our Climate Action Plan activities, um

06:26which included our community inventory

06:28from 2023 and our municipal operations

06:32inventory from 2024.

06:35This year, we waited for the County of

06:36San Mateo's Regionally Integrated

06:38Climate Action Planning Support Program

06:40to provide our inventories, which they

06:43delivered earlier this month. So, that's

06:44why we have a little bit of a delay

06:46here. Um but we're super grateful for

06:48our county partners for offering this

06:49free technical assistance through Rincon

06:51Consultants. Um it saves the city

06:53probably $20,000. Um these are really

06:55expensive um reports to put together, so

07:00we are glad to have the data.

07:03And so, as

07:04many in this room know, carbon

07:05neutrality is the goal of our Climate

07:07Action Plan that maps towards 2030,

07:09achieving a 90% reduction in community

07:12and municipal greenhouse gas emissions

07:14from our 2005 levels and eliminating the

07:17remaining 10% through direct carbon

07:19removal measures.

07:24The CAP has six strategies um to achieve

07:27this. The first strategy focuses on our

07:29built environment, exploring policy and

07:31program options to electrify 95% of our

07:34existing buildings by 2030.

07:37The second and third strategies look at

07:39ways we can enable more of our

07:40communities to drive electric Sorry,

07:42more of our community members that drive

07:44to drive electric.

07:46We also look at how to reduce vehicle

07:48miles traveled overall through our

07:49fourth strategy, and in our fifth

07:51strategy, we consider opportunities to

07:53reduce emissions from our city municipal

07:55operations.

07:56Lastly, our cap includes a strategy to

07:58help us adapt and plan for sea level

08:00rise and flooding.

08:06Now, let's take a look at our progress

08:08since our last inventory. Apologies if

08:11this is a little small. It's also in the

08:12packet. Um as I mentioned, the last

08:15inventory we presented was in 2023, and

08:17we now have data which collects on um

08:20the year 2025.

08:22So, overall, the emissions in Menlo Park

08:24decreased by about 7% between 2023 and

08:272025, and we know that the primary

08:30driver of this change was a decrease in

08:32natural gas consumption in our

08:33buildings.

08:34So,

08:3614% of that was in our residential

08:38buildings, and so we're really grateful

08:39for our residents who have opted into

08:41different electrification programs that

08:43the city, and the county, and state, and

08:45even the federal government have offered

08:47over the last year. And so, really the

08:50the work of our outreach and this

08:52commission um spreading the word about

08:54electrification um

08:56is what we can attribute our 7%

08:58reduction to.

09:00Um there was also a 46% decrease in

09:03landfilled um waste.

09:06Um and that equates to 10,000 lbs of

09:08waste that was diverted from the

09:10landfill. And we attribute that to our

09:12Senate Bill 1383 compliance um

09:15where our team in public works and um

09:17admin services did a lot of um outreach

09:21and compliance with residents and

09:23businesses and multi-family property

09:25owners to ensure that we're doing um

09:27organic waste. And we'll hear more about

09:29those efforts in a later slide.

09:32And so, all other sectors saw a slight

09:34decrease in emissions um except off-road

09:37equipment and water use, which both

09:38increased. Um, water primarily increased

09:42because of a change in PG&E's,

09:44um, electricity emissions factor.

09:47Which didn't impact so much of the rest

09:49of our inventory because

09:51we use, um, West Light energy across our

09:53community

09:55for the bulk of our accounts.

10:01Okay, so here's all the different

10:02sectors stacked up against each other.

10:05Um, in Menlo Park, energy to fuel our

10:07transportation buildings make about 94%

10:09of our total emissions.

10:11On-road transportation,

10:13um, is about 51%, so that is our biggest

10:16category, and buildings is at almost 43%

10:19of our total emissions.

10:22So, at this point, I'll hand it over to

10:24Liz to share additional metrics and

10:25highlight our activities for addressing

10:27emissions in buildings, our second

10:29largest sector here.

10:32>> Um, and we just would like to mention

10:34that, um, we did support Peninsula Clean

10:37Energy PCE's name change, um, to West

10:40Light Energy in July. We were happy to

10:42support, um, that rebranding.

10:44Uh, so we made significant progress, um,

10:47on the their cap-and-trade strategy

10:49strategy this year,

10:51um, especially through our home upgrade

10:52services program.

10:54Um,

10:56we completed 57 home electrification

10:58projects through the program. We

11:00expanded the program, um, to include

11:02residential solar and battery storage

11:04installations.

11:06But, we also launched our matching

11:07rebate program, which provided an

11:09additional $1,500, um, from the city for

11:12eligible upgrades,

11:14um, on top of West Light's existing

11:16rebates. And we actually got news today

11:18that, um,

11:20all the rebates are subscribed. So,

11:22there's no funds left, but, um, we were

11:24able to expend all of the funds that we

11:26allocated for that.

11:27Uh, we also partnered, um, with Belle

11:29Haven Community Development Fund to

11:31deliver 29 electrification bundles to

11:34income qualified Vallejo renters.

11:37Um, and that allowed us to reach

11:39residents who wouldn't really be able to

11:40participate in the home upgrade program.

11:43And then lastly, uh, we did submit our

11:46mid board midpoint report to the

11:48California Energy Commission to request

11:50a second half of our $4.5 million grant

11:53um, in July and we actually did already

11:56receive those funds to continue um, our

11:59program.

12:01Excellent.

12:05Um,

12:06so in addition to the home upgrade

12:07services program, we continued

12:09supporting building electrification

12:11through policy changes and other

12:13incentives. Um, we implemented the local

12:16building code amendments encouraging

12:17electrification and requiring increased

12:20energy efficiency.

12:22Um, staff also attended training through

12:24BayREN to support um, implementation of

12:28the updated codes.

12:30Um, the city received the Green Cities

12:32Award from West Bay Light Energy at the

12:34Sustainable San Mateo County's annual

12:37awards celebration recognizing the

12:39city's leadership in local building code

12:40amendments.

12:42And we also extended the city's uh,

12:44fee waiver permit for program to

12:46continue uh, reducing costs for

12:48residents to electrify their homes and

12:50properties.

12:51Um,

12:53that waves all their their permitting

12:55costs for electrification. Um, we also

12:58supported outreach of BayREN programs

13:01um, and that support of outreach led to

13:04the distribution of $20,000 in

13:06multi-family rebates and $6,200

13:09in single-family rebates along with uh,

13:1216 home energy score assessments.

13:15And then looking ahead at uh, cap one

13:18progress that we anticipate uh, we

13:20anticipate

13:21continuing to spend down our community

13:23electrification grant funding

13:25um, mostly through the home upgrade

13:27program. Um, and we estimate at least

13:31electrifying 20 additional homes through

13:33the end of the the grant.

13:35Um,

13:37that wraps up our our CAP foreign

13:39strategy number one for CAP strategy

13:41number one uh update. So, I'll turn back

13:44to Victor.

13:45>> Thank you, Liz.

13:46Um, we also had a lot of fun advancing

13:49CAPs two and three this year.

13:51Um, this was setting the city-wide goal

13:53for increasing EVs and decreasing

13:55gasoline tails, and expanding access to

13:56EV charging for multi-family and

13:58commercial properties. Um,

14:01we made significant progress on

14:02advancing designs for new chargers

14:04across city facilities with support from

14:07the Metropolitan Transportation

14:08Commission. Um, they provided um

14:12in close to 2.3 million dollars in grant

14:14funding. Um, our public works submitted

14:17a permit to the community development

14:19team for the electrical work on those

14:20chargers, so we're super grateful for

14:23the cross-departmental collaboration

14:24with public works and community

14:25development and sustainability um to

14:27build our EV charging network.

14:30Um, and we've um

14:32strategically designed them to be

14:33available for multi-family property um

14:36when we're looking at like parking lot

14:37seven and eight, um as well as our um

14:41chargers that we'll have available at

14:42City Hall. Um, where there's often not

14:46um a free one for our for residents to

14:48access.

14:50Uh, we also co-chaired a subcommittee of

14:51our regionally integrated climate action

14:53planning support group that right CAPs

14:55group that I mentioned earlier. Um,

14:57along with the city of San Mateo

14:59sustainability staff to host a

15:00multi-family electrification summit.

15:03Uh, Commissioner McKenna was there and

15:05took that great photo for me. Um, but we

15:08had 126 attendees learn about EV

15:10charging, including Westlight's EV ready

15:13program.

15:14Um, and we also got to share a lot about

15:16building electrification incentives, and

15:19Menlo Park was really the the star of

15:21that event with um Brian from Menlo

15:23Spark's team there

15:25talking about the two properties that

15:27they electrified including

15:29inviting one of the property owners who

15:31was one of our more compelling speakers

15:34because she was able to kind of talk the

15:37language of the attendees in a really

15:39compelling way.

15:40We mailed invitations to all of the

15:42multi-family property owners in Menlo

15:44Park

15:45to invite them to this event and I

15:47talked to several at the event. Um

15:49We're really excited for the resources

15:51to come. The mom-and-pop property owners

15:52who really need access to incentives to

15:54be able to make these changes and as a

15:57result we created this nice

16:00two-pager that I kind of want to show

16:01off because

16:03Menlo Park is featured on it. One of our

16:06electrified multi-family properties at

16:08Willow Court.

16:09Thanks to Menlo Spark. And so this was

16:13shared with

16:14um

16:15property owners across the county mailed

16:17to them and the county also created a

16:20new webpage inspired by this event

16:22to be kind of clearinghouse for

16:25resources for multi-family property

16:26owners.

16:28So happy to

16:29share a link that out as a as an

16:31outcome.

16:33And then West Bay also installed 201 EV

16:36charging ports just in this fiscal year

16:38alone. Through their program they've

16:40installed over 400 across Menlo Park.

16:43But this fiscal year alone 201 EV

16:46charging ports at multi-family

16:47properties

16:48offering about $610,000 in incentives on

16:52top of their free technical assistance

16:54and design support. So that EV ready

16:56program is still available and is um

17:00doing a tremendous amount to transform

17:01how

17:02our residents who live in multi-family

17:04are able to access EVs.

17:07We launched an EV rebate and e-bike

17:10incentive program.

17:12And through that program Acterra hosted

17:14an event at Anton Menlo Park which is

17:16one of the properties that received um

17:18EV ready support from Westlight Energy.

17:20And so we did a ride and drive and

17:22really try to connect the dots with

17:24residents like you live somewhere that

17:25now has all this amazing charging

17:27through Westlight. Now take advantage of

17:29Menlo Park's um rebate program. And so

17:32that was a a really um

17:34nice synergy there between our programs.

17:37So we distributed six Sorry, we

17:40distributed um 14 out of our um 20

17:45vouchers for EV. So we still have six

17:48remaining um

17:50$2,000 for uh eligible purchases. And

17:54then we distributed 15 e-bike vouchers

17:57at $1,000 each. And so that program is

17:59now closed.

18:08Okay, continuing on.

18:11Talking about e-bike incentives is a

18:12nice way to get into cap number four

18:15um to reduce vehicle miles traveled by

18:1725% or an amount recommended by the

18:19Complete Streets Commission or now the

18:21Complete Streets Commission and EQC ad

18:23hoc subcommittee.

18:25Um our public works transportation team

18:27has been hard at work. They've completed

18:29several infrastructure projects

18:30including Middle Avenue, Pierce Road,

18:33and Bay Road along with a focus on safe

18:35routes to school quarter improvements.

18:37Design was initiated for pedestrian

18:39improvements on Santa Cruz and Sand Hill

18:40Road.

18:41The city maintained information on

18:43e-bike safety on our website and

18:45organized two events focused on

18:46energizing cyclists across the city.

18:49We also um anticipate exploring

18:51on-demand ride share programs and

18:52developing an e-bike ordinance to

18:54provide additional opportunities to

18:56engage cyclists.

18:58Um and I love this photo of I believe

19:00this is actually an East Palo Alto

19:01resident who arrived at a

19:03event at Kelly Park with an e-bike he

19:05purchased with support from Westlight

19:07Energy's rebate.

19:09So that's a really great way that we can

19:11connect our communities.

19:18For cap number five, um

19:21this has been an area that I feel like

19:23we make a lot of progress and we have a

19:24lot of influence and

19:26um it really feels like all of our

19:28colleagues understand our climate action

19:29plan and are excited about it. Um we do

19:32annual Earth Day celebrations with with

19:35our team and

19:36um

19:37there's a really great culture of of

19:39sustainability across the city. And so

19:41to that end,

19:43um

19:44we've completed design for electrifying

19:45the Belle Haven Child Development

19:47Center,

19:48um which we've put together grant

19:50funding from

19:52multiple different sources, PG&E, West

19:55Lights, BayREN, and the CEC to make that

19:58project possible. Um

20:01and construction will be starting in the

20:02next month.

20:04We replaced aging gas water heaters at

20:06the Gatehouse, Menlo Atherton Nursery,

20:08and Arrillaga Family Gymnasium with

20:10efficient electric models through PG&E's

20:12government and K-12 education program.

20:15So we only have um gas water heating at

20:17one facility now. So the rest of our

20:20facilities are all electric

20:22um

20:23with their water heating.

20:24We completed solar installations at

20:26Menlo Park Library, Belle Haven Child

20:27Development Center, City Hall, and

20:29Arrillaga Family Gymnastics Center

20:31through power purchase agreements with

20:32West Lights.

20:34And we completed construction of the

20:35final phase of the Kelly Park Solar

20:37Array and installed five EV chargers

20:41and those are now online and

20:42operational.

20:46We also deployed new three waste three

20:48stream waste bins across city facilities

20:51and removed individual desk waste bins

20:52to encourage proper sorting

20:54and we received the CalRecycle grant um

20:57to help us with Senate Bill 1383

20:59outreach and um different activities

21:01associated there.

21:03We've also been going on route reviews

21:05with Recology and issued 161 correction

21:07tags and three non-collection

21:09contamination tags. So, that's um

21:11helping to educate and enforce

21:14um on that proper sorting requirement as

21:17a part of SB 1383.

21:19And we'll definitely be completing our

21:21Belle Haven Child Development Center

21:22electrification project in this upcoming

21:24fiscal year. We'll continue to scope

21:26opportunities for electrifying the

21:28Burgess Pool. We'll complete the EV

21:30charging infrastructure installation.

21:32Finalize designs for the O'Donoghue

21:34Recreation Center electrification

21:35project, which includes HVAC in the

21:38commercial kitchen.

21:39Complete our fleet right-sizing study um

21:42with a focus on how we transition our

21:43fleet to electric.

21:46Um and we'll continue on with our

21:48three-stream waste bin

21:50um roll out as well as partnering with

21:52Recology and Rethink Waste on 133

21:54compliance.

21:58Okay, and so that brings us to our last

22:01one.

22:02Uh

22:03cap number six. Um developing climate

22:05adaptation plans protect the community

22:07from sea level rise and flooding.

22:09Um

22:12This one our public works team has been

22:14doing um a lot over the last fiscal

22:16year.

22:17We've partnered with One Shoreline and

22:18neighboring cities to submit for and

22:20receive funding through Senate Bill 1

22:23um for the development of a regional

22:25climate adaptation plan. Um that's a

22:27requirement from the Bay Conservation

22:29Development Commission BCDC.

22:32Um and so One Shoreline is um have our

22:35main project manager on that and more

22:37will be coming to this commission as

22:39um

22:40their project shapes up.

22:43We issued a request for proposal or an

22:45RFP and selected nonprofit Canopy um to

22:48plant a minimum of 70 street trees in

22:50the public right-of-way in the Belle

22:51Haven neighborhood.

22:53And you can see um there's the Canopy

22:56team planting um with Scout Troop 109 in

23:00Hamilton Park in Belle Haven for the

23:02mayor's annual Arbor Day tree planting.

23:05And um we anticipate continuing our

23:08early action tree planting efforts and

23:10issuing a request for proposal for the

23:13development of our urban forest

23:15management plan.

23:21And so with that, I just wanted to thank

23:23you all for sitting through the lengthy

23:24presentation um as we had a chance to

23:27feature just some of the exciting

23:28activities that we've done over the last

23:30fiscal year and a little bit of a look

23:32ahead. Um I know that you all have been

23:34deeply involved with this work and so

23:36again wanted to share gratitude and um

23:40again invite the opportunity if I missed

23:42something or misframed something or you

23:43want to talk about something, um now

23:45would be a good time to have that

23:46discussion. Um

23:49and we're, you know,

23:51open to kind of feedback at this point

23:53or we can talk offline

23:55um

23:56one-on-one before our city council

23:59um item on November 17th.

24:02And so with that, I'll stop. And maybe

24:05we can go into clarifying questions

24:06before public comment.

24:10If there's any clarifying questions.

24:15>> Good morning.

24:16Um

24:18Just uh

24:19confusing on the inventory for 2005

24:21because

24:23if you can correct this, I'm missing the

24:25part. It says 350,000 tons in one slide

24:28and then the other slide it says 372

24:31in the graph.

24:34Um just wanted to say something.

24:36You should correct that.

24:42In the carbon neutrality slide, it says

24:44350 and

24:45then in the graph it shows 372.

24:49>> Oh, I did correct that.

24:51>> Oh, you did?

24:51>> Yeah, I did. I did correct it.

24:53>> number's correct?

24:54>> Uh it's a 372.

24:56Yeah.

24:58>> So and the unit is just for the for the

25:00benefit of the public that the unit

25:02we're using is

25:04metric ton or metric

25:05>> metric

25:07metric tons of carbon dioxide

25:09equivalent.

25:12>> And then

25:13you said you used some data from the

25:15county.

25:16Was that for the the full number or just

25:18parts of it?

25:19>> The full number.

25:20>> Full number.

25:21>> They provided us that full number.

25:22>> They provided the 250 235 number.

25:24>> Exactly.

25:26Yeah.

25:26>> Is is there a report that we can at

25:28least review to see how they made those

25:31measurements?

25:32>> I think I can

25:33>> Or or a website maybe with that.

25:35>> Yeah.

25:36Um some of the data is like PG&E data

25:39which we had to sign an NDA for. So I

25:41can go through it with them and take out

25:44the data that I can't share and we can

25:46share the remaining bits of the

25:47workbook. I think there's

25:49it's very few pieces of data we can't

25:51share. So I think overall it'll be

25:52interesting.

25:55>> Um the reason I'm asking is I've seen

25:58published work by Professor Ron Cohen

26:01from UC Berkeley and around the same

26:04period for the Bay Bay Area in general

26:07and then the major drop was due to the

26:10to the EVs people switching to EVs and

26:14then also

26:15the

26:17uh

26:18shelter in at place in place during

26:21COVID was a big contributor for it as

26:24well. So that's why I'm I'm wondering

26:26whether how they were able to allocate

26:28and and do the attribution of uh

26:32the reduction in CO2 equivalent to to

26:35various

26:36uh sources.

26:42>> I think what we'll do

26:43um

26:45is we'll look to see what we need to

26:47remove from the workbook and then we can

26:48upload it

26:50to our website and then share that with

26:51>> would

26:52>> that would give more transparency to the

26:54data.

26:58I have a few I think they're clarifying

26:59questions, but if not, let me know.

27:03You said that our water usage went up

27:05due to PG&E's

27:07electrical

27:09mix. Is that because like

27:11they use water to create steam for gas

27:13turbines and we get sort of

27:16>> I'd have to ask about that.

27:17>> Okay.

27:18>> I didn't interrogate that detail. So

27:20that's all us.

27:21>> Sure.

27:21>> Yeah.

27:23>> Uh you said off-road emissions went up.

27:25I would have thought with our ordinance

27:27they would have gone down.

27:29>> The

27:30leaf blowers and such aren't even

27:32calculated in our off-road emissions.

27:35It's like looking at construction,

27:37um different types of

27:40um

27:40aircraft and boat craft is even

27:42considered. Um it comes from Caltrans

27:45the data, so there are some

27:47um assumptions made for the city based

27:51on regional data, but yeah, our our

27:54local ordinance isn't

27:56a part of that calculation, which it

27:58should be.

28:00>> Yeah.

28:00>> Yeah, we don't have a great way to

28:01measure that.

28:02>> Okay.

28:03And then just confirming, you said the

28:05matching rebate funds have been fully

28:07expended?

28:08>> Yes.

28:09>> And so is that for the first half of the

28:114.5 or the total amount? Or I don't

28:14remember how we allocated those funds

28:16like

28:17>> We allocated 75,000 for that. So that's

28:19That's gone.

28:20>> So it's all gone.

28:23So if we wanted to So

28:26>> But just

28:26>> the question is is there still things to

28:28be determined with the second half or is

28:30that all spoken for?

28:31>> It's all spoken for.

28:32>> Okay.

28:33>> Yeah, we have enough homes in our

28:34pipeline to spend it.

28:36>> Okay. So I have one more Maybe this is

28:38not clarifying. I do remember we were

28:40having problems earlier getting folks to

28:43adopt program and there was a big

28:45discussion about should we open it

28:47broader than district one helping them

28:50because we weren't getting that feedback

28:52there.

28:53There was something changed and so what

28:55cuz it varies to see that something

28:57positive has happened.

28:59>> Yeah, okay.

29:00Um

29:01>> Is that a clarifying or is that a

29:02>> Yeah, it's clarifying. I think that's

29:04clarifying.

29:05Um and then if it gets a little deeper

29:07we can go go into discussion. Yeah, the

29:10um

29:12I wish I had right now like the data on

29:14how many um

29:16are participating outside of Bel Haven

29:17since we opened up the program. It's

29:19really not that significant. I think

29:21it's under five.

29:23Um like it's

29:24>> Most of it's still happening in

29:25>> in Bel Yeah, so there has been really um

29:28a huge effort from CRC, from Menlo

29:30Spark, and from residents who have

29:32participated in the program.

29:34Um so there's been a lot of

29:36the Menlo Spark has door knocked on

29:38every door twice now.

29:41Um which is amazing. So Jocelyn's Yeah,

29:44so Jocelyn's probably, you know, the

29:45reason for many of those sign-ups. Karen

29:48Williams, one of our homeowners who was

29:49like the first to participate, she

29:51invites She's invited dozens of people

29:53into her home um and we still do a lot

29:56of coordination on helping people get

29:58signed up. And so we've just really kind

30:00of adjusted our outreach um

30:02from thinking about like

30:05uh you know, just putting out things on

30:07city channels, but it's like, "Oh, let

30:09me share my cell phone and we can text

30:10about this program cuz you don't email."

30:12Or let's Let's just going to people's

30:14homes

30:15and getting them to sign a printed

30:17application since they're not going to

30:19do it online. So we just really changed

30:20our approach after we got, you know,

30:22some good feedback from the Bel Haven

30:24Neighborhood Association, from the Bel

30:25Haven Community Climate Change Team,

30:27from the EQ C.

30:29>> If there's any opportunity to summarize

30:31some of the changes between the before

30:33and after. The reason I'm asking is I'm

30:34working with an nonprofit. They're

30:36trying

30:37reach into low income communities

30:39with various programs for EVs from

30:41electrification residents for solar,

30:42etc.

30:43And having a hard time getting uptake.

30:45And so to the extent, you know, we have

30:47figured out some programs and approaches

30:50that are successful. I'd love to be able

30:52to package that up and share it with

30:53others.

30:53>> Yeah. Yeah. And we've also worked a lot

30:55in advocating with Westlake for them to

30:57change their programs to make them more

30:58accessible, making sure they have the

31:00application available in Spanish and

31:02English, um

31:04and a variety of other fun things. Um

31:08But yeah, it's so funny cuz we're always

31:09head down like doing all of these things

31:11and then we kind of look up and we're

31:12like, "Oh, maybe others could learn

31:13about." Yeah.

31:14>> It's a great man cuz I remember it was

31:15probably

31:166 to 8 months ago we were talking about

31:18should we expand the program cuz we're

31:20not getting the uptake.

31:21>> Yeah. We expect by the end of this that

31:237 to 10% of homes in Belle Haven will be

31:25electrified.

31:27So, I know it's not 100% like we were

31:29hoping with like the original grant

31:31funds, but that that will probably be

31:32our our outcome.

31:35>> So, along those same lines, are there

31:37some tips and tricks that you mentioned

31:40to share with sister cities as well with

31:42the neighboring cities that they are

31:43trying maybe Menlo Spark has an a

31:46network of engagements?

31:48>> Yeah.

31:48>> They can do it because that that that

31:50saves a lot of stuff. Like the the

31:53uh the curve would be would be much

31:55steeper than to uh for for uptake rather

31:57than struggle at the at the beginning

32:00and then try to find the best ways.

32:02>> Yeah, we can definitely get into this in

32:03the discussion too, but um we are

32:05working with Menlo Spark on creating a

32:07case study that's like focused for

32:09cities and program implementers to share

32:11some of these

32:12highlights. But now that I'm hearing

32:13that it'll be useful, we'll maybe

32:15accelerate our efforts.

32:17Cool.

32:19Or we're we're glad you're here.

32:21>> Um

32:22on the

32:23remaining uh grant funds, you said

32:26there's enough for 20 homes. Have those

32:2920 homes already been identified or we

32:32still need to find those 20 homes?

32:35>> They have been identified.

32:36>> They've been identified.

32:37And are those like all electrification

32:40projects or just

32:41>> We don't have the full scope for all of

32:43those yet. Yeah.

32:46>> Okay.

32:48And I know I had

32:50You mentioned Kelly Park, the solar EV

32:52project is done. Is that different than

32:55what's in front of the Belle Haven

32:56Community Campus or is that

32:57>> It was just kind of the second phase of

32:59the project. It's the same project.

33:02Yeah.

33:03>> Yeah, it's connected to the same

33:05>> people getting that EV chargers or I

33:08don't know.

33:10>> We haven't done an analysis of the

33:12usage, but we do know that

33:14usage is generally low compared to other

33:18sites at Belle Haven Community Campus.

33:22>> Okay. Yeah, because I see like the ones

33:23in the front being usually used.

33:26>> Yeah.

33:27Yeah, especially those

33:30>> fast DC and

33:32So the ones in the back, I think they're

33:33all like level two. And the ones in the

33:35front, I think we have like four.

33:37>> Three, I think.

33:38>> Oh, yeah, three

33:40like level level three, yeah.

33:44And you said there's six EV rebates

33:47left?

33:47>> Mhm.

33:48>> And are those income qualified or

33:50>> Yeah, it's the same as our ZEV rebate.

33:53So it's either income living in a

33:56neighborhood that's disproportionately

33:57impacted by air pollution per

33:59CalEnviroScreen 4 or over 65.

34:02>> Okay.

34:03>> And it's $2,000.

34:04>> Yes.

34:07And this with this program um

34:11we started our outreach in the areas of

34:13our community that have the air

34:14pollution burden. And so most of the

34:17folks who signed up are that was their

34:19qualifying reason.

34:20>> And when did that program start and how

34:23many have already gotten rebates?

34:25>> We started in June officially.

34:28July.

34:29>> July.

34:29>> Yeah, we started in July.

34:31>> That's three three four months ago.

34:33>> Yeah.

34:34>> And how many picked it up? Took

34:36up the rebate?

34:38>> Uh 14 for EV.

34:39>> Wait, 20 total?

34:40>> Yeah.

34:40>> Okay.

34:41>> And 15 for e-bikes.

34:43So we weren't really supposed to report

34:44on the metrics yet because that's this

34:46fiscal year.

34:47>> Yeah.

34:48>> [laughter]

34:49>> But we signed the contract with Acterra

34:51to help us with that program in last

34:52fiscal year.

34:56>> And you said we have received the 2.25?

34:59>> Mhm.

34:59>> Cash?

35:00>> Mhm.

35:01Yeah.

35:03>> In your bank?

35:04>> Yeah. It's in the bank account. It's

35:06making interest.

35:07Which I learned we get interest on these

35:09sorts of things.

35:11Which goes into our general fund.

35:15>> I have a lot of follow-up questions.

35:16>> No, no, no.

35:17>> No, it's very very useful.

35:18>> Yeah.

35:19>> So we plan to do we have any public

35:20comment on this item?

35:22>> Okay, let's open up public comment. Is

35:24this item D2?

35:27>> I think so, yeah.

35:28>> Okay. I'll discuss the annual climate

35:30action plan progress report. If you have

35:32a public comment and you're in the room,

35:34I need to pick your card now. If you're

35:35online, you can hit the raise hand

35:37button.

35:40Just checking to see.

35:43Okay.

35:47So we have one card in the room. I don't

35:49see any hands online.

35:51Let me pull up

35:55our

35:56timer here.

36:00And Brian, whenever you're ready, go

36:02ahead.

36:03>> Okay, thank you. Uh

36:05I'm Brian Schmidt from Menlo Park and

36:08fantastic reports. So many things have

36:10happened. Um

36:11Uh I have a couple comments. I wanted to

36:14mention that I

36:15am attending a four-part webinar

36:18uh by the

36:19You must have something, but it's ICL I

36:21C L E I, uh which apparently doesn't

36:24stand for anything anymore. But I mean I

36:25think it may be local government's

36:27sustainability webinar on financial

36:30implementation of climate action plans.

36:32Hopefully that'll be available

36:33afterwards for anyone who wants to

36:35catch up on it.

36:37But I think it's going to be really

36:38useful.

36:39There was a presentation by city of Ann

36:41Arbor, which I think is kind of our

36:42counterpart. Many would say they have

36:44similar similar goals.

36:47A lot of cities listed why they were

36:48attending it and many of them said

36:51they were not meeting their goals in

36:53their climate action plans. Which has

36:55been surprising.

36:57So

36:58my second comment is I found it very

37:00useful that slide showing emissions

37:02reductions over time. The 7% reduction

37:05over the last 2 years is actually better

37:07than I anticipated. And you can look at

37:10that and just do a straightforward

37:13implementation of that going forward.

37:15We're not going to make it. Which is no

37:16big surprise. I think I've been on that

37:19bandwagon for a while now saying that.

37:21And I think it might be useful in in

37:24future discussions just to consider both

37:26that and how we're doing on each

37:28individual climate action plan goal. I

37:30think that might be useful to budget. I

37:31think I don't think you need to change

37:33anything that is in the presentation

37:35now. But it it might be useful for the

37:37city council to be considered in in the

37:40future and in future discussions

37:42by

37:43by the EQC.

37:44I

37:46And then uh

37:47one goal in particular I'm kind of

37:48interested in is is that goal number

37:50four VMT emissions or VMT.

37:53Uh

37:55I think if you redefine that from just

37:56VMT in general to gas vehicle VMT, hm,

38:01we might be there. We might have already

38:02achieved it. And that might be a

38:03relevant criteria to think about when

38:06we're talking about

38:07climate climate action plans. So so that

38:11Personally, I would also change it from

38:12VMT to per capita VMT. But that I think

38:15that's probably going to be a

38:17the the scope of current cap. But I

38:18think it's definitely relevant to what

38:20the city's trying to do and not penalize

38:22the city for allowing wanting to what

38:24have you.

38:25Um

38:26Uh and then I'm also very interested in

38:28the methodology for I caps so that it

38:30would be great to have that publicly

38:31available. The parts that are are that's

38:33available publicly available.

38:36Um and uh just wanted uh

38:39discussion what might happen next. So

38:40this is a great report and uh looking

38:42forward to might it might be rather when

38:44it comes to city council for them to

38:46hear that that and I guess they already

38:48know that the EQC is going to be looking

38:50at that.

38:51What we can do with that information. Uh

38:53that was my two cents.

38:54Thanks.

38:55>> You mentioned the 7% reduction was CC,

38:58right? Was it really surprising to you

39:00or what

39:01because other cities are doing worse or

39:03>> I didn't think we'd do that well. I

39:05thought it'd be worse close to straight

39:07line.

39:10>> And so may I may I ask question?

39:13>> Yeah, public comment we can't interact

39:15with uh uh uh

39:17public comment unfortunately.

39:20But

39:21we can um

39:23if the chair the vice chair wants me to

39:25respond to anything we could at this

39:27time or you could bring any thoughts

39:29from public comment into the discussion.

39:32>> I guess it's okay to to respond, yeah.

39:35>> Okay.

39:36Um

39:38when you mentioned ICLEI

39:40um

39:41it clicked for me that the county's

39:43methodology is also ICLEI's methodology.

39:45Um so our inventory is uh performed in

39:48the same way cities across the the

39:50country do it.

39:51Um

39:52but yes, definitely we'll figure out how

39:54we can get uh a publicly shareable

39:55version.

40:00>> Thank you. Yeah.

40:01>> So do we have any more public comment?

40:03If not

40:05>> There's no hands online and I don't hear

40:07anyone on our phone system. So we can

40:11um close public comment on item D2 and

40:14return the meeting to vice chair for

40:16discussion.

40:17>> Well, this item is not open to the ACC

40:19for discussion.

40:27>> Um, do you feel

40:30I guess how do you want to do the just

40:32Are you looking for us to suggest ways

40:34we can accelerate things next year or

40:38is this just a discussion about what

40:39happened last year?

40:45>> I'm open to both. In the report to

40:46council, we're

40:48going to be featuring upcoming

40:50activities. And so, if there's an

40:52upcoming activity that you see that

40:55there's activity in the cap that you

40:57didn't see as an upcoming activity here,

40:59now would be a time to talk about it.

41:02>> Okay.

41:03Um,

41:05well, I'll just mention a few things and

41:07we can all decide if it's worth

41:09taking it any further, but um,

41:11I mean, I think there's

41:13opportunities for us to move

41:16more forward on on cap one by

41:19um,

41:20doing some of the work we're working on

41:21now, which is considering

41:24you know, creating a regional building

41:25performance standard. Um,

41:28we could adopt the the Bezer ordinance

41:30like like Berkeley has has done.

41:33Um, we could get the non-residential AC

41:35to heat pump code on the books.

41:37Um,

41:39and we could potentially

41:42enact the provisions of the statewide

41:45permit streamlining bills sooner than is

41:47required.

41:49Um,

41:50although I know there's probably a

41:51bottleneck at the city on that

41:54because of uh, staffing. Um,

41:57and then

41:59I know that you mentioned it, but um,

42:03I believe

42:04electrifying the the heating of the

42:06Burgess Pool would have a significant

42:09effect on um,

42:11you know, municipal emissions.

42:12>> Mhm.

42:13>> Uh,

42:13>> I understand it's also an expensive

42:15endeavor, but it could have a lot of

42:18impact, too.

42:20Um,

42:23yeah, and then, um,

42:25I was going to mention this in, um,

42:27the board's announcements, but

42:29Westside Energy is working on a

42:31commercial electrification program that

42:33they hope to roll out early next year.

42:36So, that will be something that we would

42:37want to leverage, um, making sure our

42:40business and commercial building owners

42:42know about those those rebates that are

42:44going to be available.

42:46Um,

42:47I think one [clears throat] thing

42:49that

42:51could be really helpful is, uh, and I

42:53don't know that there's a program that

42:54exists, but

42:56sort of trying to

42:58accelerate the,

43:00uh,

43:01construction of EV charging at, um,

43:04workplaces.

43:05Um, cuz I think if

43:08folks have

43:09a place that work they know they can

43:11charge, they're more likely to adopt

43:12EVs. Um, but obviously really important

43:15in multi-family, too, and we talked

43:16about that.

43:17>> Yeah.

43:19>> Uh, those are some of the few comments

43:20that I had, and

43:22oh, one other thing sort of on the waste

43:24reduction is

43:25I'd love to see our parks have three

43:27bins that are really sturdy and,

43:32you know, well labeled so that folks, if

43:34they want to do the right thing, know

43:36how to do it.

43:37Um,

43:39I think I saw a shared picture of

43:40something they do in Palo Alto.

43:42>> Yes, yeah.

43:42>> So, um,

43:44that would be that would be cool.

43:46And then, I guess my last sort of

43:48initial comment is I'm curious what the

43:50city's doing

43:51to prepare, particularly District 1, for

43:54El Niño.

43:57But, maybe that's a totally separate

43:58topic.

43:59>> Yeah.

44:00There's there's a lot happening, so I

44:02don't want to, um,

44:03>> Yeah.

44:05But, it just kind of relates to the

44:06electrification of the city. Yeah, yeah,

44:08absolutely.

44:23>> But I I thought I was at public comment

44:26about looking at VMT for gas vehicles is

44:28really interesting. So,

44:30um

44:31we will incorporate that into our sub

44:32committee work.

44:38>> I was curious about that, too,

44:39especially when you were talking about

44:40workplace charging because

44:44how do you think

44:45How does that

44:46vehicle miles traveled get calculated

44:49and is it in terms of just literally how

44:51many vehicles pass through my little

44:53part? So, it doesn't matter where they

44:54were to me or going to.

44:56>> We think so, yeah.

44:57>> So, it's not like number of residents

45:00only that part of the miles, all right.

45:04>> So, there's some way that they can track

45:05that.

45:06>> Yeah, it's like Caltrans highway data

45:08and

45:09and other maybe some other data. I could

45:11Yeah, I need to refresh my memory, but

45:20>> So, and my question is pertaining more

45:24to the overarching

45:26goals that we set. I was not part of the

45:30EQC, so I would defer to you guys to

45:32educate me on on the process, maybe.

45:35For instance, for cap number one, we

45:37have 95%

45:39goal to 95% conversion of existing

45:42buildings to all electric by 2030. I'm

45:45not sure I don't think this is

45:46attainable. So, did we did we set up too

45:50ambitious / too aggressive of a goal

45:53that it needs to be tweaked or this is

45:56set in stone and we have to drive down

45:58there.

46:00>> Well, I

46:02I'll just share with you what I know is

46:03like the the cap was adopted, I believe,

46:05in 2020. Well, like it was actually like

46:09created before COVID, and then COVID

46:11hit. And so, I think some of the goals,

46:14you know, with a 10-year window seemed

46:16achievable at the time. And then COVID

46:18hit, and um

46:21other things happened, but I think

46:23that's the discussion EPC's going to

46:24have is

46:25when we look at our

46:27cap beyond 2030. And we're so

46:29Yeah.

46:30>> Yeah.

46:32>> Okay.

46:33>> So, you're welcome to join us.

46:35>> Yeah, I think so.

46:35>> Yeah, I I would love to, actually.

46:37I forgot which which one I signed for

46:39signed up for, but I was I'll love to

46:41and and I'll be happy to at least

46:43just to uh to sit and I'll be I mean,

46:45it's been an ongoing topic

46:46>> for that session. I think it was

46:48probably 2 or 3 years ago that John

46:49said, "We're not on track. What are we

46:51doing?"

46:51>> Yeah.

46:52>> We're all wrestling with

46:53>> To me, it's it's also the the fact that

46:56when you don't meet the goal, it's kind

46:58of more

47:00um depressing for I mean, when you set

47:04reasonable goals and you achieve them,

47:06it's more reinforce positive

47:07reinforcement for people who are doing

47:09it. When you don't attain them, and then

47:11you always feel that you're

47:13you're

47:15like you're a salmon swimming against

47:17the current all the time. Yeah.

47:21>> Yeah, but a a lot of goals have been

47:24like make progress on on them, like

47:26having like all those solar panels on

47:28the ground,

47:29uh multiple EV buildings and it's really

47:31nice to see that and then see like all

47:33the EV chargers, so

47:34>> Right.

47:35>> Correct. I'm I'm I'm not I'm not trying

47:37to discount the uh the achievements that

47:40have been done, but I'm saying if

47:42there's there's an opportunity for the

47:44mid-course uh retooling or readjustment,

47:47and then we can

47:49that this is a good opportunity for us

47:51to do so.

47:51>> Mhm.

47:53>> I think something that came up in the to

47:55conversation maybe this one so he how we

47:58present the progress that we made even

47:59if it's not

48:01CO2 CO2 diminishing

48:03How many more EVs do we have? How much

48:05more solar solar do we have? How many

48:07more heat pumps have we deployed?

48:09I I I think that can build momentum for

48:11people.

48:12>> Yeah, and the electrified homes like a

48:14couple of months ago we were like what

48:15what do we do with all this money? We're

48:16going to lose it. And now like oh, we

48:19need more money.

48:20>> Right.

48:21>> Yeah.

48:22Yeah, that's true.

48:23>> It begs the question do we have an

48:24opportunity to get additional funding

48:26from the state?

48:28Like is that something that's being

48:29discussed or considered or

48:32Yeah.

48:33Since we showed that we can spend it.

48:36>> Yeah, we've looked at um various funding

48:38opportunities through prop four. Um and

48:41so we are participating in the county's

48:43um

48:44extreme heat They're doing county

48:47heat action plan and so we are kind of

48:49partners on that one um

48:51which could potentially include funding

48:54for things like heat pumps um

48:56purification systems. Um as far as like

48:59the same funding source looking at like

49:01district discretionary funds with our

49:03state senator we haven't explored that

49:05with his office.

49:15>> I just wanted to congratulate you for

49:17your own thing work this past year. It's

49:20very impressive when you see it all

49:22together.

49:23>> Absolutely.

49:25>> Thank you for your guidance and your

49:26support as well.

49:27>> Yeah, we've been having a lot of fun and

49:29that didn't we didn't even include all

49:30the outreach activities that we've been

49:32doing and

49:33um we lost a team member this year which

49:35we didn't include. Um

49:38so thank you. It's appreciated.

49:40>> We're grateful for having you grateful.

49:44>> Yeah.

49:47>> Yeah, I

49:48I agree. I think we are continuing to

49:51show that Menlo Park is a leader.

49:54Um

49:55and I also want to thank you for getting

49:58our building codes adopted in a timely

50:00manner because we're seeing now how

50:02important that was. Um

50:05cuz other cities are waiting and so I

50:07know you

50:09had a lot of long days and nights and

50:12and other staffing issues you were

50:14dealing with at the time and but you

50:16were able to get those across the finish

50:17line, so thank you.

50:18>> Yeah, yeah, I look forward to seeing

50:20what we can do with

50:22the rest of the the code opportunities

50:24in this upcoming fiscal once our new

50:26building official

50:28starts, hopefully in the hopefully soon.

50:32>> And you'll have another staff person.

50:33That was the question I had.

50:34>> Yeah, we

50:35The recruitment closed for that and I

50:37know the interviews happened, so I think

50:39there's just the last pieces of

50:41negotiation there.

50:43Yeah.

50:44Oh, sorry, that's for the building

50:45official. For the sustainability team,

50:47we're holding that vacancy

50:49because of the the VLF funding and city

50:51budget shortfalls.

50:54Yeah, so there's vacancies across all of

50:56our departments and

50:59including ours.

51:03>> Do you know like once the Childhood

51:05Development Center is fully electric,

51:07like what that does to our to the city's

51:09number?

51:11>> Like our municipal inventory? I'd have

51:12to crunch that number for you, but it

51:14would be easy to do.

51:18Um more so we're excited about that

51:21project for the air quality benefits. Um

51:23we specifically designed it with um

51:25advanced purification um because it

51:29it's an important um place for so many

51:32of our children in the community.

51:36And it's modernizing in general. So like

51:38some of the stoves we replaced are were

51:41electric, one was gas. Um but there was

51:43a lot of modernization with the

51:44lighting, the cooking, and other things

51:47that maybe wouldn't show too much on the

51:49emissions, but have a lot of other

51:51benefits.

51:51>> Yeah.

51:56And so, you said there's Is there only

51:58one building left that has gas water

52:00heating?

52:00>> Mhm. That's our Ariyoshi um

52:04gymnasium.

52:05>> Okay.

52:05>> Yeah.

52:07>> Is that just because it's newer

52:08equipment? Or

52:10>> It's a more complicated heating water

52:13heating system, and so we're still

52:15working with Willdan, who's PG&E

52:16consultant, to see if they can

52:19uh get us a no-cost solution. And

52:20they're also the ones who are doing an

52:22analysis of the pool right now.

52:24>> Mhm.

52:25>> And so, right now we're waiting on PG&E

52:27to respond to us for a request to meet

52:30about electrical service upgrades that

52:32would be needed to electrify the pool.

52:41Turned Turns out the electrical service

52:42upgrades was not a big issue in the

52:44single-family homes like we thought it

52:45would might be or could be. Um we've

52:48only had to upgrade service at like

52:51what, fewer than five homes in the

52:52program, but it is a big problem for our

52:54city electrification projects like our

52:56EV chargers and our the Bridge Pool

52:58electrification. Those would all require

53:01service upgrades.

53:02>> Is that PG&E capacity issue?

53:05>> Yes.

53:05>> Like they definitely need for them to

53:06ask additional transformers and

53:08>> Yeah, and they have specific rules about

53:10what type of electrical service they'll

53:11provide at different parcels. So, we may

53:13have to do a parcel split.

53:16>> Mhm.

53:16>> Red tape, thanks.

53:18>> Red tape.

53:21>> Red tape.

53:23Is that cutting the green tape?

53:25>> Yeah.

53:25>> Yeah.

53:36>> Looking at the permit fee waiver

53:38program, I know that's something that

53:39has to be sort of reapproved.

53:41>> Yeah.

53:42>> When does that come up again? Do you

53:43recall?

53:44>> So, um it will actually get

53:48daylighted to City Council in November

53:50as part of a follow along item related

53:53to the Master Plan schedule. We'll just

53:55say, you know, here's something that the

53:56EQC is going to look at in January. So,

53:58January's the next time the EQC will

54:00discuss it and then Council will get a

54:02chance to weigh in after

54:05EQC advises.

54:09>> Will it expire before it's reviewed

54:11again?

54:11>> It won't expire, no.

54:13It's not structured in that way.

54:18But a teaser staff will probably be

54:20recommending that we sunset it.

54:22So, we get We'll get to talk about that

54:24in January.

54:34>> So, moving to again the item E, reports

54:36and announcements.

54:37So, we cannot hear reports and

54:38announcements from staff or

54:40commissioner.

54:46>> I had one from

54:48from Chair Hill and then I had another

54:50one.

54:51If I could start.

54:53>> Okay, yes.

54:54>> Um Chair Hill wanted to share that this

54:56um

54:57uh Office of Sustainability for San

54:59Mateo County has published a realtor

55:01toolkit online. And so, she thought that

55:04would um be interesting to this

55:06commission as it relates to our talk

55:09about heritage tree ordinance and

55:11letting realtors know that Menlo Park is

55:13a city that cares about trees and they

55:15should disclose heritage trees at time

55:18of sale. Realtors should be aware about

55:19heritage trees. As well as realtors

55:22should be aware about electrification

55:23and the programs we have. And so,

55:26Chair Hill just wanted to drop that note

55:28that

55:29um there's a new portal for realtors on

55:32the Office of Sustainability's website

55:33for San Mateo County

55:35um to help realtors navigate

55:37electrification programs for their

55:39clients.

55:40And then I wanted to share on Friday,

55:42October 23rd, um, Ms. Karen Williams

55:46will be presenting at the Stanford

55:48Breathing Room Summit, um, hosted at

55:51their health campus in Redwood City from

55:538:30 to 2:00 p.m.

55:55Um, you can go to inductionrocks.org

55:58to register for the free event that will

56:00include breakfast and lunch as well as

56:02really fascinating panels on the health

56:04impacts of natural gas in home,

56:07specifically around cooking. And so

56:09Karen will be talking about how her

56:11induction stove that she got through a

56:13home upgrade program has changed her

56:14family's life, um, and I would encourage

56:17you all to attend the this free and open

56:19to the public event. inductionrocks.org

56:24>> I'll add I think Sean Armstrong will be

56:26there and he he may know more about

56:28electrification than anybody I know, so.

56:31>> Yeah, definitely. There's going to be a

56:32lot of experts from electrification, um,

56:36engineers like Sean Armstrong as well as

56:37doctors and, um, professors and

56:40researchers at Stanford.

56:43The main audience is for folks who, um,

56:46do health care work, but they're also

56:47looking to get folks who do this work,

56:50you know, grassroots across the

56:51community to to attend.

56:55Thank you.

56:58>> I'll just make a couple I mentioned that

57:01Last Mile Energy is developing a

57:02commercial, um,

57:04building electrification program, so

57:06that's really exciting.

57:07Most to roll out first half of next

57:09year.

57:10Um, so it'll be similar, you know,

57:12there'll be rebates available, um,

57:15to help commercial building owners

57:18uh, electrify their water heating and

57:19their and their rooftop HVAC units.

57:22Um,

57:24>> Are there any specific bulk kitchen

57:26requirements for them?

57:28>> I don't I'm not aware of all the

57:29details, but as far as I know, I think

57:32it'll be open to any commercial building

57:35owner.

57:37Um

57:38and then just um

57:41letting people know that the Bay Area

57:43Air District is going to have a vote on

57:46November 4th about their water heater

57:48rule,

57:50residential water heater rule,

57:51basically. Um

57:52well, it's rule 9-6. It's for water

57:54heaters and boilers. But specifically,

57:56the board's going to discuss flexibility

57:58amendments to the rule for residential

58:01water heaters. Um so, if you're

58:03interested, uh let me know. I can

58:06provide you more information, or you can

58:07just go to the Bay Area Air Quality

58:09Management District uh website.

58:11Uh and then West Side Energy is going to

58:13have an agenda item tomorrow night on on

58:15this subject as well. So, if you're

58:17interested, you can tune in to that as

58:19well.

58:23>> I have one. Um for any of you who may

58:24know ride-share drivers, uh California

58:27Public Utilities Commission is rolling

58:29out a program starting with the first

58:31to receive between $14,000 and $20,000

58:34of rebates

58:35to long-distance or high-volume

58:39ride-share drivers.

58:40So, it's going to

58:42definitely anybody you know who's doing

58:44this, this is a great opportunity to

58:45help them convert to EVs and EVs.

58:49Subsidies. And so, for a used, you know,

58:52Model 3 that might go for $25,000,

58:56take $14,000 off that, it's really

58:58really competitive. So,

59:00uh we should just all be advocating to

59:02people we know. Like, if you've if

59:04you've taken an Uber or a Lyft, you

59:05know, tell the driver, "By the way, did

59:07you know

59:08that it's going to be a great program?"

59:19>> Are there any outreach plans for that

59:21realtor toolkit, you know, to let people

59:23know about it?

59:25>> Um I know that the county has been

59:27working closely with SAMCAR,

59:29um, and so they've been going to like

59:32the SAMCAR tour meetings to make

59:33announcements about it. Um, we did

59:35invite realtors to our, um, summit, and

59:38we do plan to continue,

59:40um, engagement. We'll be doing

59:43um, some sort of fun realtor event in

59:45this upcoming year. We're either going

59:47to do like a site visit at an

59:48all-electric property, or do maybe like

59:51a happy hour at a green business, um,

59:53but moving the group from that kind of

59:56presentation format to something a

59:57little more networky and fun.

1:00:01Yeah.

1:00:04And that would be with the county right,

1:00:05Kat Sweeney?

1:00:06Yeah.

1:00:15>> Is there a public comment up team?

1:00:17>> Uh, not on announcements, but for info

1:00:21items, if it's related to the work plan.

1:00:24>> Okay.

1:00:25>> But wait till we get there.

1:00:26>> way, you can slide it.

1:00:28>> Okay, uh, I

1:00:30Okay. Agenda item F, information items.

1:00:32Our next item is information item.

1:00:35Information items are submitted to the

1:00:37EQC and staff are able to provide

1:00:39updates. Information items are not

1:00:41action items.

1:00:43However, city council and staff or

1:00:44members of the public may ask questions

1:00:46or make comment.

1:00:47Are there uh, questions or comments from

1:00:49the EQC on information items?

1:00:57So, F1, uh, 2026 2027 Environmental

1:01:00Quality Commission work plan and ad hoc

1:01:02committee assignments.

1:01:06>> Okay, so we can open up public comment

1:01:08on both of those. Yeah. So, if there's

1:01:10any public comment on

1:01:12item

1:01:13>> [clears throat]

1:01:13>> F, informational items,

1:01:15if you have a public comment in the

1:01:16room, you can just raise your hand and

1:01:18we can fill out a card after. If you're

1:01:20online and you have a public comment

1:01:21related to item F, informational items,

1:01:23you can hit the raise hand button.

1:01:25Any comment on this?

1:01:26>> plan here, same time?

1:01:27>> Yes, the informational items are the two

1:01:29work plans. Yes.

1:01:31And let me start your timer for you, Mr.

1:01:34Schmidt.

1:01:35And you're good to go when you're ready.

1:01:37>> Thank you. Uh Brian Schmidt, Menlo Park

1:01:39Menlo Spark uh talking about the uh work

1:01:41plan in particular uh potential

1:01:43revisions to the climate action plan. I

1:01:46One thing that's relevant to the that

1:01:48aspect of the work plan is the Bay Area

1:01:50Air District meeting happening on

1:01:52November 4th.

1:01:53Uh that will Well, that's specifically

1:01:56regarding the rule about water heaters.

1:01:59Uh any decision about that is likely to

1:02:01also affect their subsequent rule of

1:02:04furnaces. These are basically burnout

1:02:07rules.

1:02:07And uh whether or not those go forward

1:02:10that I think are critical to any future

1:02:12climate action plan revisions by the

1:02:15city of Menlo Park as to try to achieve

1:02:17substantial emission reductions. So, I

1:02:20just wanted to emphasize how important

1:02:22Well, those rulings are especially

1:02:23because of the litigation that limited

1:02:25somewhat our ability to do things on a

1:02:28local level. So, that November 4th

1:02:30decision

1:02:31uh action at 9:00 um there'll be I'll

1:02:34finish with people about beforehand.

1:02:37Uh if they can't uh can't

1:02:39speak either online or go in person in

1:02:41San Francisco, um could be extremely

1:02:44So, I just wanted to mention that. I'll

1:02:45I'll fill out a

1:02:47>> I got you here.

1:02:48>> Oh.

1:02:49>> Thank you.

1:02:51>> Thanks.

1:02:51>> Got it.

1:02:53Thank you for your comment.

1:02:55>> Any other comment?

1:02:57>> Mm, I don't see any other hands raised

1:02:59online or cards in the room, so we can

1:03:01close public comment on item F and

1:03:03return the meeting to you for item G.

1:03:09It's adjourned.

1:03:09>> Is there any opportunity to talk about

1:03:11the work plan before we close?

1:03:14>> Um that should have come before public

1:03:16comment, but if you want, we could

1:03:18provide that opportunity now.

1:03:19>> Yes. Yes. Yes, it

1:03:21probably does.

1:03:22>> No worries.

1:03:23Um

1:03:25we had been, the three of us talking

1:03:27about getting started on

1:03:33tree subcommittee

1:03:35tree planting.

1:03:36>> Mhm.

1:03:39>> And realized that it's way, way, way

1:03:42down at the bottom of the work plan,

1:03:43like at the very end of the year. And so

1:03:46there might be work that we wanted to be

1:03:48doing before that. And so I don't know

1:03:49if there's an opportunity to move that

1:03:52or

1:03:53to extend the length of that committee,

1:03:56um

1:03:57and how that works with the the Brown

1:03:58Act and etc.

1:04:00>> Yeah, so we can't extend lengths of the

1:04:02committees with Brown Act. Um

1:04:04they're they're really supposed to be

1:04:05for a discrete amount of time. Um so

1:04:08like 3 to 4 months, but we can move it

1:04:11up, the reporting up. And on our next

1:04:13agenda we could put an agenda item to

1:04:15change the work plan to reflect that. So

1:04:17if you guys want to let me know what

1:04:20when you'd like to report out,

1:04:22um we can program that into the work

1:04:24plan.

1:04:24>> Okay.

1:04:25>> There is a lot of opening in November

1:04:27and December if you guys are like ready,

1:04:28ready. If if not, there's opportunities

1:04:31to look at here.

1:04:34>> Yeah, yeah, we just wanted to be able to

1:04:36start with

1:04:37>> So yeah, maybe our next meeting we can

1:04:39change the

1:04:41What when did you want to work on it

1:04:42with time?

1:04:44>> I don't know we have the food ones to

1:04:46work on. So I don't know if we

1:04:48Yeah, I think we need to talk about

1:04:50>> Okay.

1:04:51>> Yeah.

1:04:51>> Well, you can let Liz and I know offline

1:04:54and then we can agendize it for

1:04:56uh November.

1:04:57>> Mhm.

1:04:58Yeah. Yeah.

1:05:01Sounds good.

1:05:03>> Um

1:05:04Okay.

1:05:10So with that, we do you any other

1:05:12comments or questions from commissioners

1:05:15on item F?

1:05:17Okay. So, then we can move into

1:05:19adjournment.

1:05:21>> Uh

1:05:22adjournment, the meeting is now

1:05:23adjourned at

1:05:257:05 p.m.

1:05:27>> Thank you.