Benicia Community Sustainability Commission will hear an update Monday on its request for an ordinance that would allow the panel to raise money it then could recommend the City Council spend on sustainability projects.

Interim Community Development Director Dan Marks wrote the CSC on Jan. 20 to recommend members also adopt a policy, similar to that of the Human Services Board, that would describe the intent of the fundraising and how money raised would be handled.

Marks is patterning the project on the way two other advisories, the Human Services Board and the Arts and Culture Commission, handle fundraising and distribution recommendations.

He has suggested the existing ordinance governing the CSC be modified to allow fundraising activities, soliciting and accepting donations subject to Council approval.

Net proceeds would be placed in a City Sustainabiity Fund, and the Council would have exclusive power to distribute the money “in furtherance of achieving sustainability goals, after recommendations from the CSC.”

The Human Services Board, he wrote, “is the only one that has adopted a clear policy on fundraising approved by Council. Staff recommends that a similar policy be adopted by the CSC that sets forth the intent of fundraising and how any funds are to be handled.”

Both the policy and the ordinance would need Council approval.

The Council heard the CSC’s request at its Dec. 16, 2014, meeting, during which CSC Chairperson Constance Beutel said her panel’s intent was to do fundraising with the understanding it would have some Council assurance that the funds would be available to promote the CSC’s sustainability agenda.

City codes have established the purpose of the commission is to “educate, advocate and provide oversight for integrated solutions that seek a sustainable equilibrium for economic, ecological and social health and well-being, both now and in the future.”

The commission, by city code, advises the Council on implementing the city’s Climate Action Plan and other measures; makes recommendations about distributing climate action and water conservation funds from the Valero-Good Neighbor Steering Committee settlement agreement and other sources, so the city can become more sustainable; provides the Council with advice on sustainability, climate change and greenhouse gas reduction measures, among other matters; provides public outreach and education; makes recommendations to the Council about funding, including searching for grants; and prepares an annual city report.

Also Monday, the CSC will hear Climate Action Plan Coordinator Alex Porteshawver’s update on executing the plan’s strategies.

Among the jobs accomplished or under way are the Parks and Community Services Department’s installation of eight evaporative transpiration sites; Benicia’s participation in the Small Communities Climate Action Partnership, led by Strategic Energy Innovations, during which energy assessments were conducted at municipal buildings; and participation in two Commute Challenges and Bike to Work Days that promote transportation other than individual vehicles.

In addition, Benicia has been a Beacon Award participant since 2011; last year it earned a Gold Spotlight Award for its 11-percent savings in energy and a Platinum Spotlight Award for 72 sustainability best practice activities, Porteshawver wrote in a report to the commission.

Other highlights of Porteshawver’s report:

• Benicia was awarded a grant to hire SAGE Renewables to assess the performance of its 10 solar array sites. That led to the city contracting in May 2014 with True South Renewables for monitoring of all equipment at each site to assure the sites are operating correctly and energy generation is reported accurately to Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

• The Council approved a five-year wind study by Exelon Energy Company on land north of Lake Herman, and the Economic Development Division initiated a checklist so local companies and industries can verify conservation efforts and be recognized.

• The city has supplemented Solano County Water Agency’s “cash for grass” turf-replacement program, providing a 25-percent match rebate. Water conservation efforts have led Benicia customers to reduce water use by 26.8 percent in November 2014, compared to the same period in 2013.

• The city is participating in a year-long pilot program in partnership with WaterSmart Software to provide conservation information to 5,000 randomly chosen customers.

• Benicia joined the Recycled Water Coalition in hopes of obtaining grants, and is exploring other water reuse projects.

• The Council adopted the Urban Waterfront Enhancement and Master Plan to upgrade the waterfront between First Street and the Benicia Marina, and Benicia police improved performance and efficiency by replacing two of its patrol motorcycles.

• Porteshawver wrote that a former management analyst spent half of her time helping the CSC with its work plan, including grants management and other tasks, and Marks spends about a quarter of his time on CSC business.

• City employees have been involved at various stages of developing the city’s vulnerability assessment and adaption plan in anticipation of climate change impacts, administering the plumbing fixture incentive program and the Benicia Homes Efficiency Program led by contractor WattzOn, and supporting the two Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs that allow Benicia homeowners to finance renewable energy and water-efficiency projects through additional assessments paid along with property taxes.

• Benicia has more electric vehicle charging stations, and the city has agreed to join Marin Clean Energy, a community choice aggregation agency that later this year will become the primary electricity provider to Benicia’s residents and companies.

In other matters, Marks will guide the CSC in revising its 2015 priorities after city employees determined city staffing couldn’t accommodate an earlier version; and the panel will talk about handling the Climate Action Plan coordinator position after Porteshawver’s contract ends June 30.

The panel also will talk about another revision to its grant criteria, and will hear reports on the city’s water conservation efforts and the “Wind, Air, Water” public artwork that has been underwritten by one of those grants.

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