Attachment A - Draft 9.7.22 CCI Minutes

Phoenix City Council 
Community and Cultural Investment (CCI) Subcommittee 
Summary Minutes 
Wednesday Sept. 7, 2022 
City Council Chambers 
200 W. Jefferson St. 
Phoenix, Ariz. 
Subcommittee Members Present                    Subcommittee Members Absent 
Councilwoman Betty Guardado, Chair 
         
Councilwoman Debra Stark 
Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari 
Councilmember Carlos Garcia 
 
CALL TO ORDER 
Chairwoman Guardado called the Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee to 
order at 10:06 a.m. with Councilwoman Betty Guardado, Councilwoman Debra Stark, 
Councilwoman Yassamin Ansari, and Councilmember Carlos Garcia present.  
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC 
No comments were provided. 
MINUTES OF MEETINGS 
1. Minutes of the Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee Meeting 
Councilwoman Stark made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 1, 2022 
Community and Cultural Investment Subcommittee meeting. Councilwoman Ansari 
seconded the motion which passed unanimously, 4-0. 
CONSENT ACTION (ITEM 2) 
Item 2 was for consent action. No presentations were planned, but staff was available to 
answer questions. 
2. Abandoned Shopping Cart Retrieval Service Contract Award Recommendation 
Councilwoman Ansari made a motion to approve Item 2. Councilwoman Stark seconded 
the motion which passed unanimously, 4-0. 
INFORMATION ONLY (ITEM 3) 
3. Head Start Birth to Five Monthly Report July 2022 
Information only. No Councilmember requested additional information.

INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION (ITEMS 4-5)  
4. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Action Plan Update 
Environmental Programs Administrator Nancy Allen, Environmental Quality Specialist 
Matthew Potzler and Deputy City Manager Karen Peters gave the results of the 2020 
Local Government Operations Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Inventory Report. 
Ms. Allen reaffirmed Phoenix’s commitment to climate action and aligned the City’s 
goals with the Paris Climate Agreement. She outlined the importance of the 2020 GHG 
Inventory, measured at both the municipal operations and community-scale level to help 
guide the implementation of the City Climate Action Plan. 
Mr. Potzler spoke to the importance of climate action and noted consequences of 
climate change. He listed the City’s established GHG emissions reduction goals of 40 
percent decrease by 2025 for municipal operations and 50 percent by 2030 for the 
community-scale.  
Mr. Potzler gave statistics on changes in waste, fuel, and electricity use. He shared the 
most impactful actions for GHG reductions were captured biogas at the 91st Avenue 
Wastewater Treatment Plant, decreased commuting and travel and the use of 
alternative fuels for public transit, as well as less electricity consumption. He said with 
the closure of coal-fired power plants, less intensive GHG electricity sources were 
natural gas and solar power. He reiterated data from GHG inventories would be used to 
update milestones for the current plan and discussed future community input 
opportunities. He noted the updated plan would return to the City Council in 2023. 
Ms. Allen summarized the presentation and mentioned the Aviation Department would 
finalize their Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon, expected to earn a global accreditation for 
the next level of airport carbon reduction. 
Councilwoman Ansari expressed her excitement for the Climate Action Plan 
implementation and asked which projects resulted in the largest reduction of GHG. 
Mr. Potzler responded energy efficiency projects made the most impact for municipal 
operations and noted access to renewable resources would provide a larger reduction 
of GHG. He also mentioned transportation alternative fuels had made a large impact. 
Councilwoman Ansari asked if the transportation GHG reductions were related to the 
pandemic. 
Mr. Potzler clarified the graph showed commutes declined during the pandemic, but for 
all resident travel the transition to electric vehicles would be a great point of investment. 
Councilwoman Ansari asked if there was a timeline for policy to be created to lower 
vehicle GHG emissions.

Ms. Peters confirmed the internal working group would assess the biggest return on 
investment with new vehicles and new charging infrastructure, as well as detailed 
actions around the transition that would occur over the next five years as a result of the 
Transportation Electrification Action Plan. 
Councilwoman Ansari asked if there would be an update on vehicle electrification this 
calendar year. 
Ms. Peters stated the Public Works Department would return to the subcommittee later 
this year about fleet electrification which would be included in a status update of the 
steering committee’s work. 
Councilwoman Ansari noted fleet fuels were described as the biggest contributor to 
emissions from City operations and asked which departments are most ready to 
electrify the fleet. 
Mr. Potzler replied the Public Transit and Public Works departments use the most fuel, 
specifying all City fleet, including Police and Fire vehicles, were classified as Public 
Works inventory. He indicated future service miles would increase and Public Transit 
would continue to explore grants for alternatives such as zero-emissions buses. 
Councilwoman Ansari stated the transportation sector was the bulk of GHG emissions 
at the City. She emphasized the importance of prioritizing transportation and the City 
fleet in climate action planning and asked staff to consider purchasing new electric 
vehicles in the future. 
Councilwoman Stark asked if the City would allow staff to continue to work from home 
to decrease transportation-related GHGs. 
Ms. Allen stated the Office of Environmental Programs and Human Resources 
Department worked closely to develop the telework policy over the last few years. 
Deputy City Manager Inger Erikson verified staff would be solidifying and enhancing the 
telework policy over the next couple of weeks. 
Councilwoman Stark spoke about private sector telework models. She asked if staff 
collected data related to the impact of the City telework option and GHG emissions. 
Ms. Peters responded the GHG emission inventory reflects power use in buildings 
which fluctuated during the transitions between working in the office and at home, but 
data was not specific to energy consumption. 
Ms. Allen stated Maricopa County gathered data related to the impact of trip reduction 
on GHG emissions and said a request can be made for the data. 
Councilmember Garcia noted the shared responsibility among departments to address 
climate action and heat related policies in the future. He expressed concern related to

GHG emission reductions staff reported and noted the reductions took place during the 
pandemic. Councilmember Garcia asked if there were additional GHG emission 
standards for the 100 W. Washington building. 
Ms. Peters confirmed prior energy and water consumption at the 100 W. Washington 
building would be investigated. 
Councilmember Garcia stated the Climate Action Plan was a live document able to 
change as new technologies emerge to electrify City fleets. He emphasized 
encouragement for residents to use public transit along with improvements to bicycle 
and pedestrian safety, because these modes all intersect with reducing vehicular GHG 
emissions. 
Councilwoman Ansari asked if staff studied the impact of land use and GHG emissions 
and if there was a study on building sprawl correlated to energy consumption. 
Ms. Allen stated sprawl was a challenge to increased transportation and therefore 
dense cities had lower GHG emissions per capita. 
Ms. Peters explained building sprawl and energy consumption was not researched but 
noted staff would analyze the Climate Action Plan and General Plan together, to 
address this issue. 
Councilwoman Ansari expressed her preference for building more centrally to align with 
the Climate Action Plan and urged staff to prepare for natural disasters that could occur 
as a result of the crisis. She asked how staff was advocating with the state government 
for a quick transition to renewable energy. 
Ms. Peters addressed how staff engaged directly with utilities by Memoranda of 
Understanding (MOU) and by service on advisory boards to discuss sustainability plans. 
Councilwoman Ansari stated she would like to see more advocacy and leadership from 
the City to create cohesion among utility companies focused on renewable energy. 
Chairwoman Guardado shared her desire for the City to work with current mechanics 
and train them to work on electric vehicles. She stated the importance of assessing how 
other cities use bus stops and safe bike lanes to make improvements in Phoenix. 
5. Drought Management Conservation and Outreach Update 
Deputy City Manager Karen Peters introduced Water Services Director Troy Hayes, 
Water Resource Advisor Cynthia Campbell, Deputy Planning and Development Director 
Josh Bednarek, and Deputy City Manager Alan Stephenson to discuss the Drought 
Management Conservation and Outreach Update. 
Ms. Campbell discussed declining capacity and conditions at Lake Powell and the 
Colorado River, which supplies 40 percent of the City’s water, and discussed the

declaration of a Tier 2 shortage by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2023. She highlighted 
the culture of water conservation that existed among city residents, explaining that 
water use per capita had decreased despite steady population growth since 1990.  
Ms. Campbell emphasized the City’s numerous regional collaboration efforts on water 
conservation, including meeting the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) 
goals every five years, implementation of the Water Use It Wisely messaging, and the 
City serving as a founding member of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association 
(AMWUA) as a water conservation resource for residents.  
Mr. Hayes discussed the City of Phoenix Drought Management Plan. He detailed 
communication efforts and advertising encouraging residents to reduce water usage, 
such as a bill insert showing a three-month water usage breakdown. He highlighted 
conservation education efforts through the Water Wranglers program and an 
informational Green Bag meeting for City employees, and emphasized the impact of 
programs like the homeowner’s association (HOA) efficiency checkup relaunch directly 
saved 75 million gallons of water. 
Mr. Bednarek outlined the three areas of new development policy for drought 
management:  
• Efficient water use;  
• Annexations outside the water service area; and 
• Large Water User Policy. 
 
Councilwoman Stark asked staff to define a large water user. 
 
Ms. Campbell replied a large water user uses between 250,000 and 500,000 gallons 
per day. 
 
Mr. Bednarek explained new development standards for water efficiency would be 
strengthened as growth occurs, including a third-party water efficiency certification 
program, reinforcement of desert landscape with native plants, and evaluation of codes 
and ordinances for alignment with water efficiency. He said a draft policy with 
stakeholder input would be given to the subcommittee in the fall. 
 
Councilmember Garcia expressed excitement about community programs like Water 
Wranglers and asked how staff could increase participation in the program.  
 
Ms. Campbell mentioned staff would target two training sessions per year for new Water 
Wranglers, in English and Spanish. She discussed how current Water Wranglers could 
be engaged to reach more community groups requesting presentations or as additional 
aides at special events.

Councilmember Garcia highlighted the importance of water education, especially the 
significance of the Tohono O’odham, Pima, and zanjeros in the history of the City’s 
water systems. He asked how successful the volunteer programs could be in mitigating 
drought. 
 
Mr. Hayes replied the City asked customers to voluntarily review how they use water 
locally and stated regional water conditions would continue into the next drought stage. 
Mr. Hayes spoke about future actions the City would take to prepare for a Tier 3 
shortage declaration from the U.S. Department of the Interior. 
 
Councilmember Garcia asked about the creation of policy requiring large water users to 
pay more than the average consumer. 
 
Mr. Hayes answered staff engaged with the new TSMC development on water recycling 
and came down on initial water use estimates. He explained the Blue Bank cooling 
tower program, which suggested technology advances to cool facility systems with less 
water. 
 
Ms. Campbell added the large water users are industrial companies, not residents, 
because they use more than 500,000 gallons of water per day due to the type of 
industry. She emphasized the targeted evaluation of the location of these facilities in 
Phoenix, as well as how to ensure they would recycle water efficiently. 
 
Councilmember Garcia asked if staff could identify additional techniques to use 
reclaimed water. 
 
Mr. Hayes affirmed cooling towers were one way to use reclaimed water and specified 
wastewater was currently used for crop irrigation but could be made an alternative water 
resource. 
 
Councilmember Garcia asked how the heat reduction and tree canopy goals would also 
reduce water usage. 
 
Mr. Hayes said drought resistant trees would be selected for a tree canopy. 
 
Ms. Campbell added a conversation with the Office of Heat Response and Mitigation 
would enhance the tree and shade canopy policy to accomplish heat reduction goals 
while being conscious of where the water comes from. She stated Phoenix had a 
greater issue with heat than other cities using the Colorado River, so there would be a 
more delicate balance the City faces rather than the decision to entirely ban grass. 
 
Councilmember Garcia asked how the City could implement the drought management 
plan for water use in annexations outside of the Phoenix service area.

Mr. Bednarek said there was a partnership between the Planning and Development 
Department and the Water Services Department for annexation requests. 
 
Mr. Hayes expanded certain parcels of land owned by other entities would always be 
served within the city boundaries, but staff has questioned whether Phoenix should be 
annexing properties outside of the boundaries under drought conditions, concerned with 
adherence to the water resource policies. 
 
Councilmember Garcia encouraged the City to take innovative water conservation 
action to responsibly reuse water resources in a way that would be an example in this 
region. 
 
Councilwoman Ansari liked the development policies for the future but wanted to know 
what incentive could be given to existing large water users. 
 
Ms. Campbell referred to the established conservation programs designed to 
incentivize, like the HOA Checkup and a toilet retrofit rebate that may be offered to all 
residents in the future. She said the primary focus was implementation of the City 
Council approved recommendations, which included the cooling tower program. 
 
Councilwoman Ansari asked if the City could use Inflation Reduction Act funding for 
drought resiliency. 
 
Mr. Hayes replied staff had applied for funding and were evaluating opportunities to 
expand water conservation programs. 
 
Councilwoman Ansari felt a sense of urgency to work in the present time on climate and 
water issues, because of the effects already experienced in Phoenix. She believed staff 
and council could do more this year to boldly address the severe crisis. 
 
Mr. Alan Stephenson explained next steps for council approval on drought policy 
improvements which would give staff direction on targeted processes. 
 
Chairwoman Guardado recommended the next step would be a panel discussion with 
different relevant stakeholders involved with water conservation. She said the drought 
was a collective problem to be addressed by increasing community understanding by 
further educating constituents on the issues of the water shortage.  
 
CALL TO THE PUBLIC  
No comments were made. 
 
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 
Councilwoman Stark requested an update on the homeless plan. 
 
ADJOURNMENT

Chairwoman Guardado adjourned the meeting at 11:20 a.m. 
 
Respectfully submitted, 
 
Nina Fader 
Management Intern