HomeMy WebLinkAboutagenda.council.worksession.20100216MEMORANDUM
TO: City of Aspen Board of Health
FROM: Lee Cassin, Aspen Public Health Agency Director X ~~
MEETING DATE: February 16, 2010
RE: Quarterly Board of Health Meeting
PURPOSE OF MEETING: This is the quazterly Boazd of Health meeting required by
Senate Bill 194 of 2008, at which we provide updates and seek input from the Board of
Health on upcoming issues.
H1N1 Update will be provided by City of Aspen Medical Officer Dr. Morris Cohen.
Environmental Health Update:
We installed an ozone air pollution monitor and began getting results in
December. Ozone exposures increase risk of death and respiratory illnesses. The
highest ozone reading ever recorded on the western slope occurred on Aspen
Mountain in the summer of 2007. We do not expect to get high readings until
natural gas drilling activities (the leading source in this area) pick up, although
our monitoring will let us estimate the contribution from regional traffic as well.
In early January the EPA proposed a new ozone standazd, based on the many
scientific studies analyzed by its scientific advisory committee, and the
committee's recommendations for a standard. Depending on what the exact
standard ends up being, all of western Colorado could be anon-attainment azea.
Controls would most likely be regional ones affecting upwind sources in other
counties and states.
As of January 1, 2010, the ZGreen Event requirements had been in place for one
year. These standards require that all events requesting a Special Event permit
for an event located in the City of Aspen meet or exceed all requirements on the
ZGreen checklist as a condition of the event permit. During the past yeaz, the
ZGreen team has worked with over 40 event planners. Although not all events
met the ZGreen standards, all events did work with City staff members and
made efforts towards greening their event. There is still a lot that can be done to
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green Asperi s events, and staff will continue to work with all events this winter
and coming summer to ensure that each event is striving to meet the ZGreen
standards. A report card will be available on the website to show the public how
each event scored on the checklist. More recently, Aspen Skiing Company has
agreed to use the ZGreen checklist as a guide for all their events, regardless of
location.
Waste Solutions, one of the largest waste haulers in the Roaring Fork Valley, has
been sold to Waste Management. Staff has received dozens of calls and worked
extensively with Waste Management staff and their customers to make this a
smooth transition.
Due to the award of a radon outreach grant from the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment, 500 free radon test kits were given away. We are
tabulating the results and providing follow-up test kits and resources to people
who have high levels. Our initial results indicate that 60% of tests were at or
above the Environmental Protection Agency's action level where remediation is
recommended. This is typical for much of the US. If a re-test confirms those
levels, we explain the process to the owners and give them a list of certified
radon abatement firms that do work in this area. Radon is the leading cause of
lung cancer in non-smokers, accounting for 20,000 deaths each year in the US.
CJ has performed several "flu trainings° for the Little Nell Hotel, Aspen Skiing
Company and others that covered proper hand washing, staying home from
work when you are sick and provided a forum for active discussions with
attendees; CJ attended an in-service for childcaze providers to briefly review the
CDC guidelines for H1N1 in early childhood programs; CJ is pazticipating in the
IMT for flu preparedness with other local agencies including law enforcement,
AVH, Pitkin County, and Snowmass Village.
• Began working Pitkin County Environmental Health Department on the
"Environmental Surety" plan that will be integrated into the Project Public
Health Ready (PPHR) application that Liz is putting together;
• Responded to a greater number of "burrito bandit" complaints in recent months;
• Jannette submitted the final grant report for the EPA Clean Diesel Retrofit grant
that retrofitted 13 Streets Department vehicles with diesel emissions technology;
• Jannette applied for an EPA Clean Diesel Retrofit grant to retrofit Rocky
Mountain Disposal's trash truck fleet. Given the constraints of EPA's RFP, EH
staff partnered with the Regional Air Quality Commission in putting together a
comprehensive grant application;
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Update from Communit~Health Services: See Attachment
Colorado Public Health Act:
SteQs taken so far:
• We have formalized the historic agreement whereby Garfield County provides
Vital Records recording for the City of Aspen. Garfield County took on this
responsibility many years ago for all of Pitkin County, but under Senate Bi11194,
many previously informal procedures now require additional paperwork or
agreements. There will be no impact on Aspen as a result.
• We are tracking expenditures for this program separately, as required by SB194.
We participated in weekly or biweekly incident management teams to plan for
and implement education, prevention and training programs for H1N1 flu, and
helped Community Health Services with vaccination clinics.
• We have provided a copy of the State Public Health Plan, required by SB 194, to
each board of health member. As you recall, the purpose of the Act was to find a
way to provide public and environmental health services to counties and towns
which don t now have the ability to provide the services. These could be
anything from ozone monitoring to dental care.
As required by the public health act, the Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment (CDPHE) released the 2009 Colorado Public Health
Improvement Plan. This 59-page document can be found at
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/opp/cophip.html and I have emailed each Board
of Health member this link. The Plan includes a history of public health activities
in the state, an explanation of the Public Health Act of 2008, information on
health and environmental challenges the state faces, a draft set of "core public
health services' and recommendations for improving Colorado's public health
system.
Dr. Morris Cohen was reappointed as the City's Medical Officer, the City
Council was redesignated as the Aspen Board of Health, and the Environmental
Health Department was designated as the local public health agency.
Under SB 194, air quality, water quality, solid waste, recycling, global warming,
and stormwater programs would have been administered and had program
priorities set by the County, and staff hired and overseen by the county's public
health agency director if the city had not formed its own public health agency.
Under SB194, if entities such as Community Health Services, Senior Services,
Response, etc. perform certain public or environmental health functions, those
needs are deemed to have been met for the city.
State Public Health Improvement Plan:
• It is important to understand that this document is a true planning document,
and does not set health and environmental goals to be used as targets. The plan
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sets up nine state committees to study and guide next steps, four task forces, and
several advisory groups that will study, plan, and assess for a number of yeazs. It
will be up to local public health agencies to decide if they want to set actual goals
and track outcomes.
The state plan envisions that after a state task force and study, it will be a three
year process to assess our public and environmental health needs in order to set
priorities and allocate resources and develop a local public health improvement
plan. The state anticipates that we will hire a contractor or consultant to perform
a needs assessment, but no funding is allocated for that by the state (at this time).
A greet deal of data already exists and is being continually compiled, and we
may know more than enough to set goals to meet our most important public and
environmental health challenges. It may not be necessary or helpful to spend a
great deal of money surveying to find out things we already know. The County
may do a partial assessment and we will work together to maximize use of
existing data and make sure that science drives the process.
The State plan sets the following as its "core services
1. Assessment and Planning
2. Vital Records and Statistics
3. Investigate and control communicable diseases
4. Prevention and Population Health Promotion
5. Emergency Preparedness and Response
6. Environmental Health
7. Administration and Governance
However, the initial state plan addresses just how assessment and planning will
be done. The thinking is that after assessment and plaruling are done, the other
core services can be addressed. There aze many planning processes, task forces,
and committees detailed in the plan, and goals for ways to control communicable
diseases, health promotion, or environmental improvements aze not in this first
five-year state plan. These will come from local health plans or after the first five-
year planning effort. The intent is that everything in our local public health plan
will fit into these 7 categories, unless we suggest other more important or
different "core services'.
We are unlike many towns and counties in the state, in that we have fairly
extensive environmental monitoring data (see Aspen Sustainability Report) and
know where we need most to focus. We already have a large community
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planning and goal-setting process, and have good information on Community
Health Services' demands for services and needs. From the State Cancer Registry
to the AACP surveys and meetings, to assessments done by other entities, to our
own air and water monitoring, we have a great deal of information. Many other
areas in the state have no idea of whether their air quality is healthful, whether
their septic systems are contaminating groundwater, what their death rates are
by cause, and the levels of substance abuse, obesity and other risk factors. We
have a tremendous amount of such data already.
Next Stems and Input from Board of Health:
The Board of Health may wish to discuss areas where we might want to set goals
in our local public health improvement plan. Here aze some examples of the
kinds of improvement goals that could be included in a local plan, varying from
broad to specific tazgets:
o Continuing to provide a health "safety net" for those unable to afford
caze
o Understanding the public health impacts of global warming on our
citizens. This could include everything from making sure we are
prepared for disease outbreaks made more likely by warming (West
Nile Virus and many others for example) to planning for reduced
water availability.
o Improving air quality to protect public health. 'T`his could include a
variety of strategies and would also include assessing our ozone levels
and determining what steps if any, need to be taken to reduce levels. A
goal could be in the form of just general improvement, specific
reductions over time, or specific numeric targets.
o Giving people the tools they need to reduce their environmental
exposures to carcinogens and lifestyle risk factors. (Envirorunental
factors, including lifestyle choices, account for two thirds of cancer
risk.)
o Reducing levels of pharmaceuticals in area waters.
o Ensuring proper disposal of electronic wastes and their heavy metals.
o Giving people the tools they need to address and protect their indoor
air quality/ Reducing radon levels in homes
o Prepazing to address emerging environmental exposures and
providing citizens with technical assistance to reduce exposures
o Reducing exposure to diesel emissions through retrofit grants,
construction standards, and other measures.
o Improve the quality of stormwater runoff coming from within the City
of Aspen.
o Ensure the City is making proportional progress in meeting Canary
Action Plan goals.
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o Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and truck traffic by implementing a
community compost collection program.
o Reduce building energy use in the City of Aspen by a certain percent
(to reduce greenhouse gases and pollution from coal burning).
Staff requests input from the Board of Health about any azeas that are missing that we
should include, specific areas to prioritize, or other suggestions the Board may have.
FINANCIAL/BUDGET IMPACTS: In the future (2012?) there will likely be some
pressure to have the City pay to have a consultant survey area residents to find out how
they feel about public and environmental health services. Such an effort could have
significant cost. If we first examine the data that we do have on public and
environmental health status, we may find that we have the most reliable data already
and can proceed with setting goals without further surveys. In that case, there would be
no additional cost.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: If we set public and environmental health goals
determined from existing data, we can begin to focus on achieving results, and not get
bogged down in lengthy planning efforts. In that case, this can help us meet Council's
top priority focus of environmental stewazdship by including all of our goals in our
local public and environmental health improvement plan.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff requests input and direction from the board of
health about priorities for us to include in future planning efforts.
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(Attachment A)
To: Pitkin County Boazd of Health
From: Liz Stark RN, Pitkin County Public Health Director; Director, Community Health
Services, Inc.;
Cazla Ostberg, Pitkin County Environment Health
Tom Dunlop, Pitkin County Public Health Advocate.
Date: February 2, 2010
Re: Quarterly Boazd of Health (BOH) meeting on February 9, 2010
The topic of low income and indigent prenatal Gaze in the valley has been one of concern
for many non-profit agencies, public health agencies and private entities for some time.
The issue has many facets and has required constant attention from Community Health
Services (CHS) over the last several yeazs due to changes in providers up and down the
valley, thelack of Medicaid providers at this end of the valley and the challenges of
caring for this high-risk population.
The current changes occurring in Eagle County and their prenatal program, described
below, aze a symptom of the challenging nature of providing caze to this group and have
culminated in a regional look at indigent Gaze, which is good. CHS is willing to be part of
the solution for this part of the indigent Gaze problem but wants to ensure that all the
appropriate parties aze at the table and that all possible solutions have been considered.
The idea of regionalization is one that should be considered at every opportunity. This is
fresh in our minds since the implementation of the Public Health Act and we find
ourselves evaluating the financial impacts, staffing implications, quality of care issues
and possible efficiencies that could be gained by taking this on.
The CHS Boazd of Directors has concerns which aze outlined below. The Boazd wants to
ensure that the Board of Health is aware of all the issues and has an opportunity to
express any concerns early in the process. We aze faced with a bit of urgency as Eagle
County is collecting names of women who are pregnant, seeking care and waiting for a
place to go.
Below I have provided some background information that I hope will prepaze you for this
discussion. The other topics in the memo are provided for your information and do not
require further discussion, unless you have specific questions.
PRENATAL:
In November 2009, CHS was notified that Eagle County Public Health planned to
terminate their agreement with All Valley Women's Care (AV WC- Dr. Mindy Nagle's
practice) to provide prenatal services to Emergency Medicaid eligible women in the El
JebeUBasalt area of Eagle County at the end of 2009. Eagle County has run a prenatal
program similaz to Community Health Services with AV WC contracting to provide these
services. In 2009, Eagle County saw approximately 80 women in this program. CHS saw
22 women in 2009. Up until July 2009, Eagle County employed afull-time RN in the El
Jebel office, who provided a similar model of prenatal case management support to
AV WC. Due to budget cuts, Eagle County lost that full-time RN position in the EI Jebel
office. In their efforts to fmd an alternative solution for this population, they pwsued an
agreement with A Woman's Place, a nurse midwifery clinic affiliated with Valley View
Hospital (VVH) in Glenwood Springs. The agreement included a $550/client subsidy
from Eagle County for 80 clients per yeaz. The contract with WH was scheduled to go
into effect January 1, 2010. They would assume caze of the women who had started care
with AVWC and take all new Eagle County emergency Medicaid prenatal clients.
In December 2009, Dr. Nagle approached CHS with her concerns about this arrangement.
Her concerns stemmed from the fact that these women live closer to Aspen Valley
Hospital and will inevitably end up delivering at AVH due to proximity. The other
concern was that the client fees at A Woman's Place would make it unaffordable for this
population and therefore there was a concern they would go without caze all together.
This would ultimately place the bwden of these high-risk deliveries on Aspen Valley
Hospital, AVWC and the community. Dr. Nagle asked us to consider taking on part or
the entire Eagle county prenatal program.
During the first week of January, CHS was again notified by Eagle County Public Health
that WH declined to sign the contract. WH wanted a discussion with all entities
involved including Pitkin, Garfield and Eagle County Public Health agencies, Pitkin and
Eagle County Human Services and Aspen Valley Hospital to discuss the greater issue of
indigent care in the Roaring Fork Valley. This meeting took place on January 18s'. WH
raised its concerns regarding the increased bwden they have seen in the last two years
related "to indigent care for residents of the valley, including Eagle and Pitkin County
residents. The prenatal issue added to this burden and they were reluctant to take it on. It
was acknowledged that the indigent caze issue needed to be addressed in a more global
forum but the prenatal issue was wgent and specific enough to require immediate
resolution. Eagle County needed to find an immediate solution for providing care to 11
women who had started caze with AV WC/Eagle County and needed to be seen in the
month of January. CHS offered to take in these 11 women and an agreement was reached
between Eagle County and CHS for the provision of care for these women starting
January 28`h. Due to the concerns of Dr. Nagle and the apparent lack of other suitable
solutions, CHS offered to consider along- term solution with other community partners
at the table.
Many discussions ensued between CHS staff, Dr. Nagle and the CHS Board of Directors
about the feasibility of taking an additional 80 clients into ow program with
consideration given to CHS staffing, physical space limitations and cost of providing
caze.
1. The prenatal clinic would need additional RN staffing.
2. The clinic hours would need to be expanded from 1.5 hours to 3-4 hows per
week.
3. The expansion of the prenatal clinic hours would displace other program activity
(specifically, Women Infant and Children nutrition program -WIC), so physical
space is a consideration.
4. Cost per client was calculated including client fees, labs, AVWC fees and CHS
staff time in direct case management and administrative time for billing,
scheduling and supervision.
CHS Boazd of Directors met on January 27s' and discussed their concerns about Eagle
County's obligation to its citizens on this side of Eagle County. Other concerns included
CHS's capacity and the implications of adding this kind of volume to a staff that is
already stretched thin by its other program responsibilities. The Boazd felt that other
solutions needed to be thoroughly explored before they could approve this proposal.
On January 28`h CHS, including a CHS Board member, AVH, Eagle County Public
Health, Dr. Mindy Nagle and Nan Sundeen met to discuss all potential options. CHS's
cost per client was calculated and adjustments were made to lessen the financial burden
on Eagle County (see attachment). Dr. Nagle offered to provide her electronic medical
record system to CHS to streamline documentation. She offered apart-time RN to assist
with case management, which would lessen the workload on CHS's prenatal RN case
manager. Options for additional office space in the HHS building were offered as a
possibility. A recommendation was also made to consider this as a one year pilot project
with quarterly monitoring with the stipulation that if things are not working well, we have
the option to consider other options anytime during the year.
Eagle County Public Health has taken this proposal to their Boazd of County
CommissionersBoazd of Health and has had additional conversations with V VH and
AVH since our meeting on the 28's. The CHS Boazd of Directors is awaiting the outcome
of these conversations to re-convene and reconsider their recommendation. This meeting
should take place prior to our meeting on the 9t°. I will update you at that time.
PUBLIC HEALTH ACT:
At the end of December, The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
(CDPHE) released the 2009 Colorado Public Health Improvement Plan. This document
can be found at http•//www cophin ore/Resources/FINALDRAFT COPHIP.ndf .The
Plan gives a brief history of Public Health initiatives over the last 20 years including the
Public Health Act of 2008. It also provides an overview of the Public Health system and
its history, Colorado's health status and current recommendations for improving
Colorado's public health system. There is also a drafr of the proposed core public health
services.
As anticipated, it appears that the next phase for local public health agencies will be to
conduct a community health assessment and complete a public health improvement plan.
All local public health agencies were recently asked to complete a survey that will help
the state learn about resource and technical assistance needs, determine a time flame for
completion and identify additional funding needs to carry out the activities of the
assessment and planning. I completed this survey indicating that CHS does not have full
capacity in house to complete this process and will rely on state and contractual support.
The survey offered five different timeframes to begin work on the community health
assessment and the development of a local public health improvement plan and I
indicated that CHS would prefer the spring of either 2011 or 2012. Completion of the
survey was conducted in collaboration with the City of Aspen Environmental Health
Department.
The CDPHE drafr core public health services include:
1. Assessment and Planning
2. Vital Records and Statistics
3. Investigate and control communicable diseases
4. Prevention and Population Health Promotion
5. Emergency Preparedness and Response
6. Environmental Health
7. Administration and Governance
Per the State Improvement Plan, this dmfr of core public health services was developed
by focus groups of public health professionals during the summer of 2009. Local Public
Health staff participated in these focus groups. Following the input from local boazds of
health and boazds of county commissioners, a rule making process will begin in 2010 for
core public health services to be adopted by the Colorado Board of Health.
Also, for your information, below is an email from Lee Thielen, the Public Health
Alliance and the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials (CALPHO)
Drrector, announcing a fast step in addressing one of the strategic goals of improving
public health system roles and relationships:
"Over 20 people met yesterday at 800 Gran[ under the chairmanship of
Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson to discuss planning a Colorado Association of
Local Boards of Health. The group, which was mostly county commissioners, voted
unanimously to proceed to plan such an association. The first meeting is likely to be
at the CCI meeting in June. The group was very positive about creating a low cost
way to share information and improve the knowledge about public health. "
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS and RESPONSE/ H1N1 PLANNING:
Activities around H1N1 flu planning and response have declined dramatically since
December with the obvious decline of flu illness in the United States. The CDC reports
that for the week ending January 23b, the percentage of visits for influenza-like illness
are below the national baseline, hospitalization rates have leveled off and 9 states are
reporting only local influenza activity while the majority of states, including Colorado,
are seeing sporadic influenza activity. The majority of specimens tested by the CDC are
still testing positive for H1N1 with very little to no seasonal flu being seen.
Local school surveillance data that monitors absenteeism related to influenza-like illness
and anecdotal reports from primary care providers shows similar trends locally.
The Emergency Support Function #8 (ESF8-Public Health and Medical response)
continues to meet to discuss alternate care facility planning and volunteer recruitment.
CHS has an abundance of H1N1 vaccine. We received approximately 1200 doses of
H1NI vaccine during the first week of January. This is the largest shipment we have
received to date. We held several flu clinics in the month of January, including one in El
Jebel. This clinic was a collaborative effort between Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin Counties.
Pitkin County has received a total of 6,600 doses of H1N1 vaccine. CHS has
administered approximately 2000 of those and facilitated the distribution to local health
care providers for the remainder. We currently have approximately 200 doses of seasonal
flu vaccine in stock. CHS bas given 1,721 doses of seasonal flu vaccine since September.
We aze still taking appointments for both seasonal and H1N1 flu shots and expect to have
a lazge amount of vaccine available throughout the winter and eazly spring.
The Project Public Health Ready (PPHR) application process has begun. This is Public
Health's emergency preparedness and response (EPR) scope of work for the current yeaz.
You may recall our discussions last fall regazding our capacity to fulfill this obligation
and the self-assessment we performed for the state. We aze currently working on the
Pitkin County Public Health -Public Health Emergency Operations Plan (PHEOP). Tazi
Lutgring and myself are the primary contacts for this process and aze meeting weekly
(teleconferencing) with Mesa County EPR staff to complete this application. I have
called upon some county resources for assistance. Ellen Anderson has provided many
useful county documents that are components of the PHEOP and Pat Bingham has
provided descriptions of PIO procedures and how she supports Public Health in those
functions. We are scheduled to submit the application to CDPHE in March for further
review. Then the application goes to NACCHO (National Association of County and City
Health Officials) for fmal review and determination and recognition of Pitkin County's
Public Health readiness. Any identified gaps will be part of an improvement plan that
will be on-going over the next several yeazs.
DENTAL INITIATIVE:
The Regional Dental Health Coalition has accepted a proposal from the CDPHE Oral
Health unit to hire a Regional Oral Health Consultant for the Aspen to Parachute region.
This is 2-year pilot program offered by the State and funded at $20,000/ yeaz. This
position will coordinate the local oral health initiatives that have been started by the
Coalition and be a liaison between Western Colorado and the State Oral Health unit.
Currently, the Coalition. is working on the details of the Scope of Work and the fiscal
management of the funds. The four components of the scope of work include:
administration, planning and consultation; school dental health programs; community
dental health programs and access to dental care. The Coalition also presented a formal
request for funding to the Garfield County Boazd of County Commissioners on January
18` .Garfield County granted $30,000 in matching funds to the Pitkin County Healthy
Community Fund grant ($30,000) for the work of the Oral Health Consultant and the
planning and development of a Dental Clinic. The Coalition hopes to have the Oral
Health Consultant position filled by the end of March.
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT UPDATE:
Submitted by Cazla Ostberg.
The Environmental Health Department has participated in several public-health related
activities in the last few months and has several updates from this timeframe.
• Responded to the Redstone Water Incident, working with affected restaurants to
assist with operations in the case of a water outage.
Aspen Board of Health Quarterly Meeting
Summary
MEETING DATE: February 16, 2010
AGENDA TOPIC: Quarterly Board of Health Meeting
PRESENTED BY: Lee Cassin, Dr. Morris Cohen, Jannette Whitcomb
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mick Ireland, Steve Skadron, Derek Johnson, Torre
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSION: The following updates were provided.
• H1N1 Update: H1N1 peaked in October, and it is possible there will be resurgence, but it has not
gone away. People have relaxed about getting vaccines and they should be encouraged to get
vaccinated now. There will be some shortages.
• After the highest ozone reading recorded on the Westem Slope was measured on Aspen Mountain,
the Environmental Health Department used impact fee funds to purchase and install an ozone
monitor to measure levels in town. The most likely sources of levels in Aspen aze gas drilling to the
west, and traffic in the valley.
• The EPA will be proposing a stricter ozone standard, and if set at the strictest level, much of the
Western Slope may be in violation. Control measures would need to occur in amulti-state regional
area, most likely focused on gas drilling, but possibly addressing vehicle emissions as well.
• ZGreen program is working hazd with businesses to help them reduce their environmental footprint.
Events aze required to be ZGreen certified.
• Environmental Health has distributed hundreds of free radon test kits. As is similaz for much of the
country, 60% of tests so faz aze above the EPA action level. We provide technical assistance to
homeowners needing to reduce their levels.
• Environmental Health has been very active in providing H1N1 prevention trainings at hotels and
other businesses, as well as participating in planning and response during the flu season.
• Environmental Health has completed one diesel vehicle retrofit grant and is applying for another.
• Community Health Services provided a detailed memo addressing many current programs and
issues, including providing prenatal care in the close portion of Eagle County, and the dental
initiative. These are efforts to maintain the social safety net in our community.
• Aspen Public Health plan can include general or specific goals in many azeas, and we will try to
focus on proactive measures and include existing goals and programs. Aspen is far ahead of many
azeas, having ongoing monitoring, community involvement and interest, and a variety of programs
and non-profits not available in many parts of the state. Goals could include those already in the
environmental sections of the Aspen Area Community Plan, Canary Action Plan, Ecological Bill of
Rights, and could include continuing progress with current programs.
Estimated Date for Follow-Up with City Council (if necessary):
The next quarterly Boazd of Health Meeting will be in May 2010. Agenda items will tentatively include:
• Updated medical recommendations on mammograms, pap tests and HPV vaccine
• Ozone report from first quarter of monitoring
Council provided the following direction to staff:
• Make sure the ozone data is usable by the State as official data. Ozone is a hidden killer and we need
to take the extra steps to make sure the State and EPA consider the data valid. We are already doing
that and will discuss how to continue to ensure that at the next quarterly meeting.
• The Mayor noted that there is going to be a meeting on the implications on global warming of the
land use process.
• Continue to provide assistance to citizens, like the radon test program and encouraging citizens to get
energy audits.
• Maintaining the social safety net is important, and state resources will be declining, so we need to
maintain our efforts. There are more people in our azea in need of assistance than many people
realize.
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
THRU:
DATE OF MEMO
MEETING DATE
RE:
Mayor and City Council
Jeff Rice
Phil Overeynder, Steve Barwick, Randy Ready
February 11,2010
February 16,2010
Expanded Energy Audit Program
REQUEST OF COUNCIL: Staff requests council approval for expansion of City of Aspen
Electric Utility Efficiency energy audit program currently serving only the COA electric service
territory to include the COA urban growth boundary.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: April 15`, 2006 council approved water utility tiered rate
structure providing a funding source for efficiency programs. February 24~', 2009 council gave
approval to use $25,000 of COA Utilities electric efficiency budget to launch and support the
Building Performance Institute (BPI) as the model for existing building energy auditing.
BACKGROUND: Since the approval to launch BPI, the COA utilities efficiency division
partnered with CMC Aspen campus to provide the necessary curriculum and training to create a
work force of certified professional building analysts (energy auditors) which we now use to
facilitate our energy auditing program. Qualified BPI energy audits aze the first step to reducing
energy consumption in the homes and buildings we live and work in while maintaining the
highest level of health and safety for their occupants. A qualified BPI energy audit is one that
audits the entire home or building as a whole energy performance system as opposed to simply
auditing various aspects independently. The COA Utilities efficiencies programs utilizes electric
efficiency budget to fund this energy audit program for COA electric rate payers via a rebate on
the audit and additional incentives to drive efficiency improvements. Currently there aze no
existing comparable auditing models or available incentives. This program was launched with
the It Starts at Home campaign in 2009 and continues in 2010. Currently this program is
available only to COA electric rate payers in the COA electric service territory.
The COA electric utility service azea serves approximately 50% of the COA urban growth
boundary. This leaves the remaining 50°/a of the urban growth boundary without access to a
compazable energy audit program offering strong incentives toward efficiency improvements. As
a result the COA lacks the direct ability to affect and implement qualified energy auditing serving
Page 1 of 3
the entire COA urban growth boundary for the eventual purpose of reducing energy consumption
and CO emissions.
DISCUSSION: The utilities energy efficiency division would like to expand the existing energy
audit program available only in the COA electric service territory to encompass the COA urban
growth boundary to better serve the citizens of Aspen and have a direct affect on driving
efficiency improvements city wide. There is a current demand for this service represented by
audit inquires and requests from outside our electric service territory but still within the COA
urban growth boundary. We propose to accomplish this through a proposed green key grant from
CORE. The grant submission is May 1 s`, 2010 with review and awazd expected June of 2010.
To meet this demand without delay and losing the momentum created to date staff proposes to
utilize COA water utility efficiency budget to fill the void. The COA water utility provides water
service to neazly every citizen in the COA urban growth boundary. The purpose of the water
efficiency budget is to benefit the water utility rate payers with water efficiency programs. Staff
feels utilizing the water budget to make the energy auditing program available to our water rate
payers is a beneficial use of funds. This action will then bring one comprehensive auditing
program to the entire COA rather than just a portion. In doing so we will directly affect quality
energy auditing and drive efficiency improvements ultimately lowering energy consumption and
CO emissions across all COA homes and buildings.
FINANCIALBUDGET IMPACTS: There is an annual water efficiency budget of $150,000
derived from COA water utility rate payers. Staff proposes to encumber $25,000 to fund the
expansion of the energy audit program to serve outside the COA electric service territory to
include the COA urban growth boundary which encompasses the COA water utility service
territory. Upon expected awazd of CORE green key grant the water efficiency budget can be
reimbursed.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: Currently the COA Canary Action Plan implemented and
managed by the Global Warming Department states specific goals to reducing GHG's and cazbon
emissions in the COA urban growth boundary. Expanding the energy audit program to serve the
urban growth boundary will allow staff to directly affect quality energy auditing and drive
efficiency improvements lowering energy consumption, GHG's, and CO emissions across all
COA homes and buildings.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff recommends the approval to move forwazd with utilizing
existing water efficiency funds to expand the current energy auditing program to better serve the
COA residents and realize Canary Action Plan goals.
ALTERNATIVES: Should council choose to not act on this proposal, staff can continue to rely
on existing utilities Holy Cross Energy and Source Gas to design and implement equivalent
Page 2 of 3
programs. Both Utilities currently offer efficiency programs; however, they lack the level of
service and incentive offered by the COA utilities.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS:
Page 3 of 3
•,.
MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
THRU:
DATE OF MEMO:
MEETING DATE:
RE:
Mayor and City Council
Jeff Rice
Phil Overeynder, Steve Barwick, Randy Ready
February 11,2010.
February 16, 2010
Expanded Energy Audit Program
REQUEST OF COUNCIL: Staff requests council approval for expansion of City of Aspen
Electric Utility Efficiency energy audit program currently serving only the COA electric service
territory to include the COA urban growth boundary.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION: April 1g`, 2006 council approved water utility tiered rate
structure providing a funding source for efficiency programs. February 24`h, 2009 council gave
approval to use $25,000 of COA Utilities electric efficiency budget to launch and support the
Building Performance Institute (BPl) as the model for existing building energy auditing.
BACKGROUND: Since the approval to launch BPI, the COA utilities efficiency division
partnered with CMC Aspen campus to provide the necessary curriculum and training to create a
work force of certified professional building analysts (energy auditors) which we now use to
facilitate our energy auditing program. Qualified BPI energy audits are the first step to reducing
energy consumption in the homes and buildings we live and work in while maintaining the
highest level of health and safety for their occupants. A qualified BPI energy audit is one that
audits the entire home or building as a whole energy performance system as opposed to simply
auditing various aspects independently. The COA Utilities efficiencies programs utilizes electric
efficiency budget to fund this energy audit program for COA electric rate payers via a rebate on
the audit and additional incentives to drive efficiency improvements. Currently there aze no
existing comparable auditing models or available incentives. This program was launched with
the It Starts at Home campaign in 2009 and continues in 2010. Currently this program is
available only to COA electric rate payers in the COA electric service territory.
The COA electric utility service area serves approximately 50% of the COA urban growth
boundary. This leaves the remaining 50% of the urban growth boundary without access to a
comparable energy audit program offering strong incentives toward efficiency improvements. As
a result the COA lacks the direct ability to affect and implement qualified energy auditing serving
Page 1
,..
the entire COA urban growth boundary for the eventual purpose of reducing energy consumption
and CO emissions.
DISCUSSION: The utilities energy efficiency division would like to expand the existing energy
audit program available only in the COA electric service territory to encompass the COA urban
growth boundary to better serve the citizens of Aspen and have a direct affect on driving
efficiency improvements city wide. There is a current demand for this service represented by
audit inquires and requests from outside our electric service territory but still within the COA
urban growth boundary. We propose to accomplish this through a proposed green key grant from
CORE. The grant submission is May 19t, 2010 with review and award expected June of 2010.
To meet this demand without delay and losing the momentum created to date staff proposes to
utilize COA water utility efficiency budget to fill the void. The COA water utility provides water
service to nearly every citizen in the COA urban growth boundary. The purpose of the water
efficiency budget is to benefit the water utility rate payers with water efficiency programs. Staff
feels utilizing the water budget to make the energy auditing program available to our water rate
payers is a beneficial use of funds. This action will then bring one comprehensive auditing
program to the entire COA rather than just a portion. In doing so we will directly affect quality
energy auditing and drive efficiency improvements ultimately lowering energy consumption and
CO emissions across all COA homes and buildings.
FINANCIALBUDGET IMPACTS: There is an annual water efficiency budget of $150,000
derived from COA water utility rate payers. Staff proposes to encumber $25,000 to fund the
expansion of the energy audit program to serve outside the COA electric service territory to
include the COA urban growth boundary which encompasses the COA water utility service
territory, Upon expected award of CORE green key grant the water efficiency budget can be
reimbursed.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: Currently the COA Canary Action Plan implemented and
managed by the Global Warming Department states specific goals to reducing GHG's and carbon
emissions in the COA urban growth boundary. Expanding the energy audit program to serve the
urban growth boundary will allow staff to directly affect quality energy auditing and drive
efficiency improvements lowering energy consumption, GHG's, and CO emissions across all
COA homes and buildings.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff recommends the approval to move forwazd with utilizing
existing water efficiency funds to expand the current energy auditing program to better serve the
COA residents and realize Canary Action Plan goals.
ALTERNATIVES: Shoutd council choose to not act on this proposal, staff can continue to rely
on existing utilities Holy Cross Energy and Source Gas to design and implement equivalent
Page 2 of 3
programs. Both Utilities currently offer efficiency programs; however, they lack the level of
service and incentive offered by the COA utilities.
CITY MANAGER COMMENTS:
Page 3 of 3