More Buses, Increased Penalties for Violating Tree Protection Ordinance All on Tap Tuesday

Pasadena’s Municipal Services Committee will deliberate Tuesday, February 28, on three measures that it will likely recommend next month for formal adoption and approval.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the committee will finalize a recommendation to adopt energy efficiency and demand reduction goals covering the years 2018 to 2027, which are necessary for the City to be able to comply with state requirements.

The other two recommendations will authorize the City Manager to execute agreements associated with the receipt of grant funding for the City’s project to purchase additional buses for Pasadena Transit, and will increase penalties for violating the City Trees and Tree Protection Ordinance.

Regarding energy efficiency and demand reduction goals, Pasadena Water and Power is recommending that an energy efficiency goal of 13,500 megawatt-hours per year be adopted, as well as a demand reduction goal of 2.3 megawatts per year starting 2018 through 2027.

The recommendations, when approved, will make Pasadena compliant with California Assembly Bill 2021 and Assembly Bill 2227, PWP says. The two bills require that local publicly owned utilities, like PWP, should acquire all cost-effective, reliable and feasible energy efficiency and demand response prior to other resources.

California law also requires governing boards, like the Pasadena City Council, adopt ten-year efficiency and peak demand reduction goals every four years starting March 2013. Utilities are also required to regularly report their energy efficiency goals, spending, and progress to the California Energy Commission.

In an Agenda Report, PWP Interim General Manager Gurcharan Bawa said the recommended energy efficiency goal is moderately higher than previous goals and extend the City’s leadership position in environmental sustainability as one of the few agencies considering a goal greater than one percent of energy sales.

“The recommended target is relatively aggressive and will extend PWP’s overall declining retail energy sales trend,” Bawa said.

Bawa will report to the Municipal Services Committee the process which led to the specified energy efficiency and demand reduction goals and how they relate to the City’s Urban Environmental Accords goals, the Energy Element of the General Plan, the City Council’s Strategic Planning Goals and the 2015 Power Integrated Resource Plan.

After discussions on the PWP reports, the City’s Department of Transportation will present the recommendation related to Metro’s grant for the purchase of additional buses for Pasadena Transit.

The Department wants the City Council to authorize City Manager Steve Mermell to execute all agreements associated with the grant worth $1,364,577.

The funds, according to Transportation Director Fred Dock, will be used to buy four 35-foot CNG-fueled buses that are expected to relieve the lack of vehicles for Pasadena Transit and in the process address the overcrowding on what is considered to be the heaviest route in the Pasadena Transit system: routes 20, 31/32, and 40.

These routes carry over 85 percent of the 1.6 million passengers carried annually and experience severe overcrowding on a daily basis. The new vehicles will increase these routes’ carrying capacity by about 25 percent, says Dock.

Finally, the Department of Public Works will present to the Municipal Services Committee its recommendations for amending the City Trees and Tree Protection Ordinance in the Municipal Code.

Among the recommendations is an increase in the penalties for violations of the Tree Protection Ordinance.

Public Works Director Ara Maloyan said recent consultations with community stakeholders reveal that the current penalties no longer serves as a strong deterrent against violations, and that they are not commensurate with the violations.

Currently, the City imposes administrative citations for violations of the ordinance starting at $108 for the first instance.

The Municipal Services Committee meeting starts at 4 p.m. at the Council Chambers at the Pasadena City Hall.

After deliberations at the Committee level, the recommendations could be referred to the City Council during its meeting on March 13.