By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter

Benicia Community Sustainability Commission will decide Monday which of seven applicants should receive grants for ecologically-oriented programs. Those recommendations then will be sent to the City Council.

In addition, the panel will examine a work plan and budget proposal from PMC, through which the city has contracted for Alex Porteshawver as its Climate Action Plan coordinator.

The Commission heard presentations last week from seven applicants, and were expected to supply scores based on qualitative and technical merit.

Each of the evaluation criteria gets different levels of emphasis and makes up a portion of the total percentage of points. In addition, each is graded from 1 to 5, which then gets multiplied by a factor from 2 to 7.

The Commissioners are basing their analysis on the project’s effort to save water an energy, which is 35 percent of the score. Grades up to 5 that are given for that goal are multiplied by a factor of 7.

Other evaluation criteria are quantifiable goals, collaboration and outreach, each 15 percent of the score and which numbers are multiplied by 3; and other funding sources and experience, each being 10 percent of the scores and which numbers are multiplied by 2.

Requesting the most, at $100,000, is the city of Benicia’s residential turf rebate program. Right behind it at $99,400 is WattzOn, the city’s contractor for residential water and power analyses that result in recommendations for ways a homeowner can reduce consumption and save monty.

The city’s Public Works Department collaboration with Water Smart, which is asking for $69,899, is a home use reporting and software program that complements the WattzOn efforts and saves about 250 acre-feet of water and 33 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
The city’s residential solar incentive program is asking for $50,000 to assist those who want to install photovoltaic panels.
Arts Benicia wants $48,300 for educational art programs that would focus public attention on environmental concerns.

The Benicia Tree Foundation is asking for $28,675 to continue its effort to plant trees on school campuses and in other areas of the city.
The Community Sustainability Commission itself wants $5,000 to fund a Benicia celebration of National Drive Electric Week, to encourage switching to electric vehicles.

Also on the agenda Tuesday night is a revised proposal by PMC for Porteshawver’s services as Climate Action Plan coordinator.
Porteshawver originally was the city’s representative from Sonoma State University, which won the contract for CAP coordinator services in December 2011, a two-year contract that started February 2012 at $150,000 total and was increased later as Porteshawver’s duties were expanded.

The contract was extended through June 30.

But last year, she was hired by PMC, and her new employer submitted a two-year, $250,000 contract that would reduce Porteshawver’s total hours working on Benicia projects and restricted even further the time she would be at City Hall, although it offered time and expertise from other members of its staff who offer services Porteshawver can’t perform.

Negotiations with PMC have continued, although the Council entered an interim agreement with the company that lets Porteshawver continue to work here through Sept. 30.

“PMC understands that city staff and the CSC would like to conduct annual monitoring and reporting on CAP progress and to continue implementation of priority CAP strategies,” Tammy Seale, director of PMC’s Sustainability and Climate Change Services, co-wrote with Porteshawver, the company’s senior sustainability planner.

Under their proposal, Porteshawver would spend 16 hours a week, one day in Benicia and the other day at the company’s Oakland office, and would get technical help from other PMC employees offsite. Their focus would be implementing CAP efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Porteshawver also would train city staff, particularly members of the Benicia Efficiency and Climate Action Team, to take over her duties once the contract expires, attend pertinent meetings, manage local electric vehicle charging stations, help Public Works employees with water conservation and recycling projects and manage the development of a three megawatt wind generator at the water treatment plant if the Council approves the project.

In addition, she would assist the Economic Development Division’s efforts to make the Benicia Industrial Park reduce its power and water consumption and lower its garbage production, and work with Marin Clean Energy, the power supplier to most residents and businesses.
Among her other duties would be updating and maintaining the Sustainable Benicia website and social media accounts, handle third-party reporting for specific words and provide legislative and policy support to city employees.

Some other programs and projects on her work plan don’t have funding yet, so Porteshawver may find some of her assignments might change, if the Council agrees with the PMC proposal.

Those are putting strategies in place as part of the Benicia Adaptation Plan that addresses impacts of climate change; assist with pre-disaster mitigation if the city gets money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency; manage the residential solar incentive program if it gets Commission funding; and looking for “clean air” programs that would connect Benicia to BART and other Solano County cities.

If You Go
The Community Sustainability Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the Commission Room of City Hall, 250 East L St.