Town Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2022 Page 1 of 5
Town Council Meeting Minutes
February 22, 2022, 5:00 PM
Town Hall – Administrative Center | 10183 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee, CA
1. Call to Order: Mayor Henderson called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m.
2. Roll Call: Council Members; Zabriskie, Polivy, Klovstad, Vice Mayor Romack, and Mayor Henderson.
Staff Present: Jen Callaway, Town Manager; Nicole Casey, Administrative Services Director; Andrew Morris, Town Attorney; Dan Wilkins, Public Works Director/Town Engineer; Lynn Baumgartner, Administrative Technician; Hilary Hobbs, Assistant to the Town Manager; Danny Renfrow, Acting Chief of Police; Melanie Conti, Sustainability Program Analyst; Bob Womack, Emergency Operations Coordinator; and Pancho Mackin-Plankey, CivicSpark Member.
3. Pledge of Allegiance – recited in unison.
4. Public Comment – none.
The consent calendar taken out of order.
6. Consent Calendar
It was moved by Vice Mayor Romack, and seconded by Council Member Polivy, to approve the Consent Calendar Items 6.1 through 6.6 as follows:
6.1 Approve the Minutes from January 25, 2022 and February 8, 2022 regular and closed sessions.
6.2 Reject the claim for damages against the Town of Truckee by Aeolus Air Charter.
6.3 Authorize aggregate annual purchasing from Dell for fiscal year 2021/2022 in the amount of $65,000 including the purchase of 16 laptops and authorize the creation of a new capital improvement project for the Work-from-Home (WFH) pilot program with a total budget of $45,000 funded via budget savings within the general fund adopted budget.
6.4 Appoint Carrie Haines to the vacant Art Commission of Truckee Performing Arts Representative seat for a term ending August 31, 2024.
6.5 Approve the updated Job Wage Matrix with the addition of the Chief Information Technology and Security Officer (CISO) to Range 26, approve the conversion of the budgeted Information Technology Supervisor position to the CISO, approve one additional full-time IT Systems Analyst position starting as of March 2022, and approve a budget amendment in the amount of $40,000 to cover the costs of this position conversion and addition.
6.6 Receive the quarterly update on the Town Priorities and work plan progress from October 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021; and reaffirm Town Council Fiscal Year 2021-2023 Town Council Priorities.
The Consent Calendar carried with the following vote:
Ayes: Council Member Polivy; Vice Mayor Romack; Mayor Henderson; Council Member Klovstad; and Council Member Zabriskie.
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Town Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2022 Page 2 of 5 Noes: none.
Absent: none.
Abstained: none.
The motion passed 5-0.
5. Presentations
5.1 Danny Renfrow, Interim Chief of Police introduced Eric Edige, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Lieutenant Office Commander. Lieutenant Office Commander Edige presented the Highway 89 Ski Traffic Program Update.
5.2 The Quarterly Financial Status Update Presentation was continued to March 8, 2022, without consideration.
5.3 Jen Callaway, Town Manager presented the Town Manager Report.
In response to Council questions:
CHP does not have direct involvement with platforms like Waze and Google Maps. It’s more about changing peoples’ behaviors, but there is some control with making routes unviable with Waze Community.
In central Truckee, CHP is focused on moving trucks and other vehicles into the chain area to keep two lanes open. During recent snow event, Caltrans opened the long ramp which was able to clear traffic but got mixed reviews.
Future focus areas:
o For winter, back up on Highway 267 is being addressed by working on a dedicated lane and light timing.
o For summer, Highway 28 has volume issues and no plan yet.
Mayor Henderson opened the presentation items to public comment.
Seeing none, Mayor Henderson closed public comment.
7. Discussion Items
7.1 STAFF REPORT - Truckee Tourism Business Improvement District 2021-22 Annual Report.
Recommended Action: Approve Truckee Tourism and Business Improvement District 2021-22 Annual Report.
Hilary Hobbs, Assistant to the Town Manager and Colleen Dalton, Visit Truckee Tahoe (VTT), presented from the Staff Report (presentation on file with the Town Clerk).
Council Discussion:
VTT is the current representative with Center for Responsible Tourism (CREST), but there is the possibility for more Truckee representation.
VTT hopes to expand trail host program.
Stewardship is separate from promotion in the budget. Truckee Stewardship Council with consultant will come up with priorities. VTT hasn’t done any paid marketing in nearly two years. Lots of work has gone into messaging and promoting stewardship. The goal is to provide infrastructure for people to be educated on stewardship and do the right thing.
Transportation alternatives to trailheads is part of microtransit, not its own program.
Mayor Henderson opened the item for public comment.
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Town Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2022 Page 3 of 5 Written comment received from:
Hardy Bullock, Nevada County Supervisor
No additional comment received; Mayor Henderson closed public comment.
Council Direction:
Seats are available on VTT Board in the lodging category. Signs at trailheads have been great for education along with the Sustainable Truckee gift card program.
Would like the opportunity to get feedback from the community. Think about capital infrastructure needed to deal with climate change. Toilets and trash are not glamorous but are critical.
The staff recommendation was moved by Council Member Zabriskie, seconded by Council Member Klovstad, and adopted with the following vote:
Ayes: Council Member Polivy; Vice Mayor Romack; Mayor Henderson; Council Member Klovstad; Council Member Zabriskie.
Noes: none.
Absent: none.
Abstained: none.
The motion passed 5-0.
Item 7.3 taken out of order.
7.3 STAFF REPORT - Notification of Intent to Comply with Senate Bill 1383.
Recommended Action: Adopt Resolution 2022-08 authorizing the Town of Truckee to apply for Notification of Intent to Comply with Senate Bill 1383 regulations.
Melanie Conti, Sustainability Analyst, presented from the Staff Report (Presentation on file with the Town Clerk).
Council Discussion:
There are a couple of local renewable diesel facilities that will potentially come online within the next couple of years but will not be available in time for next certification and neither will potential biomass facilities.
Staff is waiting to hear back from CalRecycle’s procurement specific team about how they are going to deal with similar jurisdictions.
We can hit targets by contracting with service provider who is purchasing qualifying materials, e.g. Truckee Donner Recreation and Park District purchasing compost. About 30% of natural gas purchased would have to be renewable to hit target and have to come from within California.
In case of violations, the compliance process is a multi-year process, including a notice of violation. CalRecycle is aware of the situation of jurisdictions like Truckee. Tahoe Truckee Sierra Disposal is tracking food waste diverted on the whole route, not by specific dumpster, and included Placer County. Staff will see if there has been a change in diversion with additional dumpsters.
Mayor Henderson opened the item for public comment.
Seeing none, Mayor Henderson closed public comment.
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Town Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2022 Page 4 of 5 Council Direction:
Include exemptions to the legislative advocacy platform to address compliance difficulties first instead of after the fact.
The staff recommendation was moved by Council Member Polivy, seconded by Council Member Zabriskie, and adopted with the following vote:
Ayes: Council Member Polivy; Vice Mayor Romack; Mayor Henderson; Council Member Klovstad; Council Member Zabriskie.
Noes: none.
Absent: none.
Abstained: none.
The motion passed 5-0.
7.2 STAFF REPORT - Bioenergy Project Scoping Study Update.
Recommended Action: Receive update on Bioenergy Project Scoping Study and provide direction to staff to pursue a second phase scoping study in partnership with the Truckee Tahoe Airport District and Truckee Fire Protection District.
Jen Callaway, Town Manager and David Featherman, Wildephor Consulting Services, LLC, presented from the staff report (presentation on file with the Town Clerk).
Mayor Henderson adjourned for a brief recess at 7:25 pm.
Mayor Henderson reconvened at 7:36 pm.
Council Discussion:
The consideration for energy generated and whether it can be stored should be included in a feasibility study, but not explicitly considered in scoping study. Council would like to see if energy generation could be used when we are currently buying “dirty” fuel. Woodchips decomposes ~10% anaerobically, but even a small percentage of anaerobic decomposition can have a large greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impact due to methane. One megawatt (MW) plant was used as the starting point of the scoping study. That size is not utility scale, but has an impact. Loyalton plant is 20-30 MW, and 1 MW is large for a community scale plant. One MW plant would supply under 10% for Truckee at night. o Community scale plant is one that can peacefully coexist within the community, considering architecture, how many trucks, size of stack, noise. A facility operating as a heat source could potentially harvest during the summer and combust during the winter. The Northstar location is attractive because it has significant heating loads year round which removes some seasonality. Biochar production is highly variable with lots of uncertainty. Market hasn’t evolved to the point where it is efficient in terms of inputs and outputs. Using conservative pricing estimate, there could be $1 million revenue from biochar, and there could be a scenario where the project is economically feasible without biochar and it would be an add on as market grows. The feasibility of supporting facility capital cost of $15 million depends on the power purchase agreement. Used ten cents per kilowatt-hour in scoping study, and Truckee Donner Public Utility District (TDPUD) said that the rate they would agree to in a power purchase agreement is 5-15 cents per kilowatt-hour which is a very large range. That needs to be narrowed down in analysis.
Consultant wouldn’t necessarily recommend fuel going to Loyalton if plant was online and willing to buy, would need to look at the economics.
Consultant looked at short-term and long-term solutions. o Air curtain burner – with purchasing, there are some supply chain delays currently, DocuSign Envelope ID: D37A96A9-7D37-43FA-9CFB-8F4AEA3A7A03
Town Council Meeting Minutes February 22, 2022 Page 5 of 5 but there is a used and rental market. Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District has indicated that permitting will be simple
o Biochar - changes complexity greatly and might be more difficult to do by this summer.
Staff hasn’t explored how Town would staff the project this summer, but specific technical skills are not needed to run air curtain burner.
Mayor Henderson opened the item for public comment.
Seeing none, Mayor Henderson closed public comment.
Council Direction:
Full support of moving forward with second phase of scoping study. Concerned GHG emission acceleration with air curtain burner. Look at short-term and long-term solutions.
8. Council Reports
Council Member Polivy
Attended VTT board meeting.
Attended Mountain Housing Council (MHC) lunch and learn series.
Vice Mayor Romack
Attended MHC lunch and learn series.
Spoke at North Tahoe Truckee Leadership.
Council Member Klovstad
Talked to potential Reach Code Committee candidates.
Watched a Reach Code and a sustainable procurement webinar.
Council Member Zabriskie
Met with John Svahn, Truckee Donner Land Trust.
Met with Patrick Flora, CATT.
Attended Firewise Communities meeting.
Mayor Henderson
Met with Mason Fong and Majin Solon from the Governor’s office. Attended Mayors and Managers Meeting in Nevada City.
Met with Friends of the Truckee Library.
9. Adjournment - 8:02 pm
To the regular meeting of the Truckee Town Council March 8, 2022, 5:00 p.m. at Town Hall, 10183 Truckee Airport Road, Truckee, CA.
Respectfully submitted by: Approved:
Lynn Baumgartner, Administrative Technician Courtney Henderson, Mayor on behalf of Judy Price, Town Clerk, MMC
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