Unanimous tally on first of two required votes a victory for youth electrification campaign 

By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news 

Following a nearly two-year-long campaign led in part by Ashland High School students, the Ashland City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the first reading of an ordinance imposing fees to discourage installation of gas appliances in new residential construction. 

Standing outside Council Chamber before the meeting Tuesday evening, members of the Rogue Climate and Ashland Youth for Electrification organization held signs and enjoyed honks of support from passing cars. Piper Banks said, as a junior this year, she is excited to see this ordinance that she helped create become a reality and that, if successful, it will not be an end but a beginning. 

“Where we’re going from here, it’s to be determined. But we’re not stopping here, we know that,” she said. 

Banks offered testimony during the meeting in support of the ordinance, along with other high school students who have long worked to see some form of restriction or control for natural gas emissions in Ashland. 

“This is low-hanging fruit for the climate work we need to do,” said Ashland High School Senior Kira Ritiz, to waving hands of approval throughout the audience. 

Many members of the student group said the gas company Avista has raised the rates for natural gas up to 50% over the last five years and that, in addition to numerous respiratory health benefits, electric appliances are cheaper to install and save a homeowner money in the long run. 

Compared to the many Ashland and Rogue Valley residents testifying in support of the ordinance, a few spoke to the benefits of natural gas and one even offered a vague legal threat to the city of Ashland. 

“You need to realize you’ll have to defend this,” said Steve Vincent, a regional business manager with Avista. 

Ashland resident Paul Mozina also offered testimony in opposition of the ordinance because he said it was built on false climate models unfairly characterizing carbon as a driver of climate change rather than “a fuel and a food.” 

Chad Woodward, climate and energy analyst with the city of Ashland, offered a brief testimony describing the ordinance as a mechanism to diminish carbon emissions arrived at through working with the student group and outside counsel to help the city avoid legal challenges faced by cities that have enacted similar ordinances against natural gas. Rather than prohibiting natural gas in new residential construction, if passed by council, the ordinance in question would impose a fee for the installation of natural gas in new construction, ranging from $145.60 for a clothes dryer to $374 for a range to $4,118.40 for a furnance. 

“It’s not a giant amount of emissions when you compare the number of new homes versus existing homes,” he said. 

But over time the ordinance will assist with lowering emissions by encouraging greener construction, backers said. In his first meeting as a newly elected councilor, Doug Knauer said he met with proponents of the ordinance and was not “an easy persuasion,” but was ultimately won over despite his concerns that an additional fee would add to the city of Ashland’s already lackluster production of affordable housing. 

“I want to give students at least hope that they can change things and have an impact,” he said. 

Councilor Dylan Bloom also expressed somewhat lukewarm support for the ordinance, stating that climate change is here and the reduction of emissions possible with this change is small, but “I think it’s important that people get small victories,” he said. 

Councilor Eric Hansen said the ordinance was truly a step in the right direction, rather than a symbolic gesture, a meaningful piece of work from the city to follow the directive of Ashland residents to pursue green energy policy and work to mitigate climate change impacts. 

The ordinance passed its first reading unanimously and is expected to be up for a second reading Feb. 4. 

In other council business Tuesday, Councilor Jeff Dahle was unanimously elected to the position of council chair, which presides in the event the mayor is absent. Councilors also voted for members of the Budget Committee, ultimately electing Kristen Roy and James Fredericks as well as Michael Murray and Ariana Spiegler. 

Council also voted to approve the 2200 Ashland St. master plan, though Knauer asked to abstain from the vote because he felt he “could not possibly” be informed enough to vote on the plan. Hansen voted against the motion to allow Knauer’s abstention, stating coming prepared to vote is what councilors are supposed to do. Dahle also voted against the motion, but it passed with DuQuenne, Bloom, Kaplan and Knauer voting in favor. 

The 2200 Ashland St. Plan was discussed as potentially something to be postponed again, though Bloom said it had already “been dragged out” long enough he believed the language was not strong enough to hold the city accountable to its promises regarding the 2200 Ashland St. property’s future and neighbor’s concerns, but the plan was approved with only Bloom voting in opposition. 

Council voted unanimously — after some deliberation concerning language and input from Parks Commissioners Rick Landt and Jim Bachman — to table an ordinance formally creating an Ashland Parks & Recreation Department for further revision. 

Council also voted to approve the entrance into a services agreement with the organization Western Rivers Conservancy. The agreement will establish the city’s support for certain fees and later potential additional contracts resulting in stewardship obligations, but in the immediate future the city of Ashland will be responsible for a $25,000 payment to secure the potential for the conservancy to purchase a nearly 2,000-acre tract of land outside Ashland for conservation and later recreation opportunities, according to a staff report. 

Councilors Dahle and Knauer expressed tepid optimism and that they hoped this initial payment from the city would secure an investment to ensure more investigation can be done to confirm if the city should remain involved in the conservation project. 

During public comment, Chair of the Housing and Human Services Advisory Committee Echo Fields approached a new podium outside a new, short, courtroom-style fence with a gate separating the seating area of council chamber from the dais where councilors sit and the desk with microphones where public comment was previously given. 

“I didn’t know about this ‘great wall of Ashland’ until today. I didn’t know you were afraid of us and now I feel afraid of you,” Fields said. 

She left a box of chocolates on the podium for other speakers and to “mitigate the fear” and intimidation she said the new fence could inspire in those who approached the council. 

Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].