Green Infrastructure CITY committee to meet at 7 p.m. Thursday September 17, 2009

Reports: Land Use Planning and Green Infrastructure Committee --Fayetteville Forward


NEXT !!: LAND USE PLANNING & GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE MEETING (LUGI)
THURSDAY, SEPT. 17, 7PM, ROOM 111 --CITY HALL

HI ALL---Thanks to all who came to our last meeting, and I hope everyone interested in green infrastructure will be able to come to the Sept. gathering on the 17th. (PLEASE NOTE: This is a different date than what we set at our last meeting. Space was not available on our first date choice.) Harriet Jansma and Dot Neely will chair the Sept. meeting because I'm going to be out of town so please help them help our committee make some progress. Dot has again done her amazing recording of minutes for our Aug. 13 meeting--see below. Thank you so much, Dot. After the minutes, please find a letter from John Pennington summarizing topics needing research in our chosen focus area of
RIPARIAN PROTECTION.
John works for the Washington County Cooperative Extension Service and is heading up a study of our local Clear Creek watershed . That work can work as a model for studying the needs in all our watersheds and therefore a great outline of how we can plug into the needed background for tackling riparian protection. By protecting waterways, we set the stage for connectivity which is key to green infrastructure success. Please contact John if you have specific areas of interest or expertise and are willing to help. Although a number of people believe riparian protection is vital and are learning what "riparian" means ("a $5.00 word for streambank"), we need many people to take the parts of this issue in order to make a whole infrastructure plan a reality.
As you will see, our focus on the riparian protection issue leads to our need for economic studies illustrating the values and costs of land use planning and green infrastructure so we very much need to have everyone interested in the economics of green infrastructure to be working alongside the policy wonks. REMEMBER: If we can't justify our recommendations economically, our chances of seeing them become reality are not good.
Please read these minutes, etc. and plug into one of these activities or needs as best fits your interests, passions, etc.
Below John's letter is an email from Julie McQuade, who works for the city helping coordinate various efforts, the Fayetteville Forward project among them. This is just information which may be helpful to you. Julie says WE NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF OUR VOLUNTEER HOURS FOR HER REPORTING REQUIREMENTS !!!! COULD YOU PLEASE ESTIMATE YOUR TIME SPENT SO FAR ON OUR COMMITTEE WORK AND SEND TO HER, AND ALSO CONTINUE TO KEEP TRACK IN THE FUTURE!!
THANKS AGAIN,
FRAN
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Summary Minutes of August 13, 2009 FFEAC LUGI Group Meeting p. 1 of 3

ATTENDEES: Fran Alexander/Chair FFEAC LUGI Comm, Dot Neely/FNHA-GIPP/FFEAC, Bob Caulk/FHNA, Pete Heinzelmann/FNHA, Harriet Jansma/FNHA, John Pennington/CEA-Agri, James Gibson, Sarah Lewis/Fvl Alderman, Connie Edmonston/Fvl Pks & Trails, Greg Howe/Fvl Urban Forester, Frank Sharp, Paul Justis, Aubrey Shepherd, Dave Jurgens/Fvl Water-Wastewater Director, Peg Konert/FFEAC, Katie Teague/WaCo Ext Office, Daniel Schaap,
Terry Eastin

FFEAC LUGI GROUP OBJECTIVE:

Provide economic metrics/rationale/justification* for creation/implementation of City of Fayetteville Governmental and Planning Department policies which establish/promote/support/maintain Green Infrastructure Planning (GIP) and an Enduring Green Network at various levels of scale (to be defined/specified).

STARTING POINT:

Determine ways in which Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association (FNHA) Green Infrastructure Planning Project (GIPP) recommendations overlap or intersect with current or proposed City of Fayetteville policies.

Note that GI can be viewed more broadly than as outlined in FNHA GIPP.

PROPOSED SCALE/GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS:

Watersheds – Include Hillsides, Riparian Zones, Gray & Green Infrastructures, City/Urban & County/Rural areas

DEFINING GI SCALE & OUTLINING IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

1. Formulate a GI/Enduring Green Network Plan (EGN) which identifies natural/green space Cores/Hubs/Corridors
2. Create tools to assemble and maintain GI/EG Network once it is defined (e.g. Conservation Easements, Guidelines for City Growth and Development)
3. Generate Policies and Ordinances for building the GI and make all development part of EGN – The Riparian Ordinance is a good tool to begin building of an EGN. Streams make good corridors and protection of stream ecology is a good step toward protecting and establishing EGN

GI RATIONALE CATEGORIES – Economic, Environmental Quality, Social Justice, Quality of Life

JUSTIFICATIONS FOR GI

ECONOMIC
1. Conservation Easements – Tax Write-Offs for conserving/preserving land (local e.g. Frank Sharp’s Conservation Easement agreement with City of Fayetteville, Charles J. Finger Park, Mt. Sequoyah Woods)
2. Value &/or increased effectiveness added to City management plans – (e.g. 1980 Green Space Policy, White River Restoration, Green Water District, Storm Water Initiatives)
3. See economics of GI in other cities/areas - Austin, Seattle, Portland, Chesapeake Bay
4. Review work of Terry Whaley/Ozarks Greenways Executive Director (http://www.ozarkgreenways.org/greenway_info.html), “GREAT RIVERS GREENWAYS” (http://www.greatrivers.info/Default.aspx) & Mississippi River Trail (http://www.mississippirivertrail.org/about.html)

Summary Minutes of August 13, 2009 FFEAC LUGI Group Meeting p. 2 of 3

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
1. White River Restoration in 1980s – Dramatic improvement in water quality
2. Beaver Water “Green Water District” recently established to mitigate impact on Beaver Lake through minimizing and controlling septic system failures, protecting watershed, reducing nutrient pollution, creating Storm Water initiatives
3. Fayetteville Storm Water (StW) Facility proposed - Feasibility study with Sarah Wrede/Fvl Storm Water Engineer in progress
4. Review other cities/areas approaches to StW Mgmt- Austin, Seattle, Portland, Chesapeake Bay

POINTS NOTED:
· Fayetteville has the most forward looking environmental plan of any of the area municipalities
· The Fayetteville City Administration and Staff acknowledge, refer to, and press for, but cannot enforce compliance with recommendations for adherence to alternative and environmentally progressive Green Infrastructure (GI) practices
· Incentives that demonstrate cost savings or profits that GI could provide, in contrast to cost/benefits of Standard Systems (e.g. curb & gutter storm water infrastructure) are needed to make the case for generation of GI policies, because the City of Fayetteville has Standard Systems on budget and in place