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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.d. Receive AgLantis/CoCo San Sustainable Farm 2022 Annual ReportPage 1 of 21 Item 3.d. F__1_448�411C_S0 August 23, 2023 TO: REAL ESTATE, ENVIRONMENTAL AND PLANNING COMMITTEE FROM: DANEA GEMMELL, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIVISION MANAGER REVIEWED BY: KENTON L. ALM, DISTRICT COUNSEL GREG NORBY, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER ROGER S. BAILEY, GENERAL MANAGER SUBJECT: RECEIVE AGLANTIS/COCO SAN SUSTAINABLE FARM 2022 ANNUAL REPORT Central San owns approximately 400 acres of land for the operation of the treatment plant and collection system infrastructure. About 120 acres of buffer property around the treatment plant was obtained and is managed to avoid encroachment and incompatible land uses. Central San prioritizes its buffer properties for its own use to operate and maintain the sewer system. Unneeded buffer property is leased to provide additional revenue to Central San and its ratepayers or provide a comparable public benefit to the community. A 14.8-acre portion of the Kiewit property located at 5500 1 mhoff Drive, across from County Quarry, is a buffer property that is currently leased to AgLantis -- a 501(c)(3) non-profit -- for use as the CoCo San Sustainable Farm (Farm). Central San approved the current lease agreement (Lease) with AgLantis for the Farm on September 22, 2022, as it provides public benefit to the community consistent with Central San's Strategic Plan and Goals. The Farm helps support the following specific Goals: GOAL ONE: Customer and Community • Strategy 1 Deliver High -Quality Customer Service • Provide core service of collecting and treating wastewater, along with value-added programs. • Strategy 3 — Build Neighborhood and Industry Relationships • Form and sustain relationships with federal, state, and local elected officials and stakeholders. GOAL TWO: Environmental Stewardship • Strategy 2 Educate on Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection • Conduct creative public education outreach that encourages positive customer behavioral changes. • Strategy 4 —Identify and Advance Sustainability Initiatives, Including Reducing Energy Usage and Emissions • Reduce reliance on non-renewable energy and responsibly manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 15 of 55 Page 2 of 21 • Expand internal sustainability practices. The terms of the ten-year lease that expires on September 21, 2032 provide for an Annual Report to be submitted annually by April 1 of each year. AgLantis submitted its 2022 Annual Report on March 29, 2023 and included its planned activities for the following year as required. AgLantis Goals In 2020, as part of its prior Lease, AgLantis submitted a 5-Year Plan with performance metrics, which was approved by the Board. The following categories provide the planned goal and 2022 performance. Food Equity Goal: "We are going to change our focus to developing the field crops because of the extraordinarily increased need for food, with expected national food shortages. Over the next five years, we hope to put about 8-10 acres of crops into production. That requires irrigation to be installed, beds to be cut, developed, weeded, planted, maintained, harvested and distributed." Performance: AgLantis has increased its farm plantings and installation of irrigation from just over an acre in 2021 to three acres of the 14.8-acre site and two greenhouses for 2022. This resulted in an increased donation of 40,000 pounds in 2021 to over 100,000 pounds of produce to non -profits Contra Costa/Solano Food Bank, Loaves and Fishes, and Mt. Diablo High School (Cindy Gershen's Nutrition Program). The Loaves and Fishes soup kitchen cooked the produce and packaged it into carry -out containers to those in need in the Contra Costa County local community. Education Goal: "We will continue to educate the community through social media outreach. If possible, we will have interns this summer and every summer. If possible, we will continue on -farm educational events and presentations in the community. We teach our volunteers, and we plan to continue to involve hundreds of people if the public health situation allows." Performance: Over a thousand community members volunteered, with half of the volunteers being youth. Additionally, AgLantis held a seven -week free summer camp for youth and served about 40 youth. Environment Goal: "We will continue to practice regenerative agriculture to demonstrate the value of these practices. We will continue to teach the community methods that they can protect the environment and about other environmental protection issues such as recycled water. If possible, we will continue to have students engaged at the farm and demonstrate Integrated Pest Management and other sound environmental practices." Performance: AgLantis collaborated with the Contra Costa County Resource Conservation District and Xerces Society and planted two large areas of endangered Monarch butterfly habitat in 2021. One year later, half of the habitat has survived and is spreading. AgLantis demonstrates and teaches volunteers sustainable methods that decrease GHG emissions and sequester carbon. The farm demonstrates that recycled water is fantastic for growing fresh produce. AgLantis used no additional fertilizers because Central San's recycled water has Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium and micronutrients needed to sustain plant health. AgLantis was awarded a 2022 WateReuse California Award for Northern California Customer of the Year. August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 16 of 55 Page 3 of 21 Economic Development and Job Training Goal: "We also hope that we will be able to erect the Solar Light greenhouse and begin to equip and start some operations. Full operation will necessitate connecting to an energy source, probably a PG&E pole on the North end of the farm. Irrigation to the greenhouse must be installed to operate." Performance: Funded by the 2022 Summer Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Internship, Mt. Diablo Unified School District's (MDUSD) WIOA assigned AgLantis two paid High School students who participated in the Summer Urban Farming Camp. AgLantis also hired a Diablo Valley College student to lead the Camp. Strategic Plan Tie -In GOAL ONE: Customer and Community Strategy 2 - Promote initiatives to advance affordable and equitable access to services, Strategy 3 - Build neighborhood and industry relations GOAL TWO: Environmental Stewardship Strategy 4 - Identify and advance sustainability initiatives, including reducing energy usage and emissions ATTACHMENTS: 1. 2022 AgLantis Annual Report 2. Presentation August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 17 of 55 Page 4 of 21 ATTACHMENT 1 AgLantis: CoCo San Sustainable Farm /_1►1►111110N4*61:41 April 1, 2023 REPORTING PERIOD: January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 PROGRAM OVERVIEW AgLantis and the CoCo San Sustainable Farm have four major foci: 1) Food Equity and Public Health 2) Environment 3) Education 4) Economic Development and Job Training 1) Food Equity and Public Health Partners: Our total donations of fresh produce to charity and schools exceeded 100,000 pounds in 2022. About 30,000 pounds were donated to the Contra Costa/Solano Food Bank and Loaves and Fishes, a soup kitchen.Cindy Gershen's Nutrition Class at. Mt. Diablo High School also received produce. Volunteers, some of whom were in need of food support, took home about 3,000 pounds of mostly "ugly" produce. Ugly produce is not of high enough quality to send out into the community. We are particularly happy about our new collaboration with Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa, because they cook our produce and serve it to those in need in carry -out containers. Many of those who receive our produce may not have the ability to cook it or the knowledge of how to prepare these vegetables. By serving produce to them already prepared by expert chefs, it is much more likely that our vegetables will be eaten. Also, Loaves and Fishes usually picks up directly from the farm. We do occasionally drop off the produce to their facility in Martinez. This allows us to give them the produce they want and they even walk into our fields and make requests for what they see and can use. Lastly, Loaves and Fishes only August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 18 of 55 Page 5 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 serves Contra Costa County, so our produce stays in our community. https://loavesfishescc.org/news/partnership-spotlight/ Propagation Greenhouse This year, we grew our seedlings in our propagation greenhouse. Most seedlings were grown from seed we saved from our favorite vegetables from past harvests. Using seeds from vegetables we have grown means those vegetables are adapted to the conditions on our farm. Soil Restoration We spent early years on the farm turning barren dirt into soil, using regenerative agricultural methods. This land was a clean fill project of minerals with topsoil taken away, hence it was bereft of organic material. We covered the farm with two feet of mulch and one foot of organic horse manure (carbon and nitrogen) and after it started to break down we planted it and watered with recycled water. Our soil is now rich in organic matter and has amazing water holding capacity. In the heavy rains, our fields have held the water and not flooded. Only our roads and parking areas have water that does not readily percolate because they are compacted from cars driving on these. EcoMulch has told us that they will extend the recycled asphalt driveway, which should help us deal with access during extreme weather and shed water to the fields. Crops We grew a wide variety of crops including: cucumbers, zucchini, winter squash, tomatoes, potatoes, kale, lettuce, pumpkins, chard, peppers, eggplant, broccoli, Romanesco, cauliflower, turnips, leeks, green onions, celery, parsley, sage, thyme, dill, basil, rosemary and other herbs.. The quality of the produce was very good. AgLantis Vice -President predicted that we would have more four -legged pest issues in 2022, eating our crops 0 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 19 of 55 Page 6 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 because the animals would "have found us." We did have more 4-legged pests, but we also had more coyotes, which helped keep down the rabbit and ground squirrel populations. We have about 3 acres under production (61 rows), plus two greenhouses and some cover crops in the fields. We anticipate 10 acres being in crop production, including many high tunnel greenhouses, and 5 acres of infrastructure and buildings: driveway, parking lots, water tanks, container, barn, AgraTech greenhouse and irrigation infrastructure when in full production. 3 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 20 of 55 Page 7 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 r 0 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 21 of 55 Page 8 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 2) Environment Carbon Cycle, Carbon Sequestration in Soil, Water Reuse Most discussions of global warming focus on the excess CO2 being discharged into the atmosphere by human activity. However, the carbon cycle is a cycle and humans are not just interfering with the cycle by sending too many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (the earth exhaling too much CO2). Humans are also interfering with the earth's ability to drawdown CO2 from the atmosphere (the earth's ability to inhale CO2). Estimates are that 30% of global warming is caused by conventional agriculture which not only emits CO2, but also destroys the soil's ability to sink CO2. Organic methods are better, but they too can interfere with the carbon cycle by tilling, mono cropping and more. Please watch the Netflix movie Kiss the Ground to more fully understand the destruction of earth that is occurring. 1!� �-_.. pH )MSYN Wigs C4. WAO co, CAN diArmLR Our regenerative farming methods help drawdown CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester that carbon in our soil. We focus on protecting the microbes in the soil that sequester carbon in soil. Plants use atmospheric CO2 in photosynthesis and break the molecule giving off oxygen and sending carbon into the soil through their roots and exudates (sugars) that are processed by microbes and sequestered into the soil. We use regenerative methods such as: no -till, diverse cropping, integrated -pest -management, cover crops, no fossil fuel fertilizers or pesticides, keeping the ground covered with plants or plant debris or mulch to protect the microbes from sun and wind and to provide carbohydrates to the microbes throughout the year. We benefit from regenerative methods because more carbon is sequestered in the soil which makes the soil hold more water and increases soil organic matter and fertility. Microbes provide other benefits to plants by making minerals bioavailable to the plants. Gw August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 22 of 55 Page 9 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 Using recycled water rich in nutrients boost photosynthesis dramatically. Thus, the recycled water should be boosting carbon sequestration in soil. We hope to work with Central San to test this hypothesis and prove this special value of nutrient rich recycled water for Drawdown. If nutrient rich recycled water can boost carbon sinking, this demonstrates how precious this resource is for reversing global warming. The years we spent taking barren dirt and building soil fertility and restoring the hydrology of the barren dirt that was imported from all over the county prior to our taking possession of the property have paid off. Now, the soil is rich in organic matter and very fertile, productive and holds much more water. Boosting carbon sequestration is also part of the solution to drought, as carbon rich soils hold more water and foster the local water cycle. Our farm fields have not flooded in the torrential rains at the end of 2022 (or 2023). Instead, the fields have held the water like a giant sponge. The only areas that flooded were the highly compacted driveway areas. 6 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 23 of 55 Page 10 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 We include a discussion of the carbon cycle in our orientation to our regenerative farm, along with education about recycled water and its safety and value. Our volunteers can follow regenerative practices in their own gardens and on their properties, which would reduce water runoff in storms and mitigate the effects of drought. This is a critical topic for more public education in our community. Integrated Pest Management (IPM), No Pesticides We use organic IPM to grow our crops and intercropping strategies (putting crops next to each other that attract insects that eat the other crops predators or repel the other crops predators) and the produce flourished. Pesticides are not only toxic to humans, but they also kill the micro- organisms that work with plants to sink CO2 into the soil and increase soil organic matter. We have many bee hives on the farm and we need to provide safe food sources year round. We plant California natives to provide biodiversity and food for beneficial insects year round. About half of the endangered Monarch butterfly habitat we planted in 2021 with the Xerces Society and Resource Conservation District of Contra Costa County has survived and is spreading. 3) Education k 13 � 0 0 � 0L. HABITAT This year we had about 1000 volunteers, about half of whom were youth. Community Education of Volunteers. 7 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 24 of 55 Page 11 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 We provide an orientation for our volunteers that includes the goals of AgLantis and a discussion of recycled water, global warming, regenerative agriculture, carbon sequestration, integrated -pest -management, regenerative practices that can be done on private land and more. Summer Urban Farming Camp. We held a 7-week free summer camp for youth and served about 40 youth. Although we intended to serve disadvantaged youth, we did not ask financial information. We served youth from nearly every city in the Central San district and some from outside the district. All were welcome. Many participated on nearly a daily basis. About 6-8 students came on an average day. Google Talk. We had numerous volunteers from Google this year. We gave a talk to the Regenerative Agriculture group at Google. The slides are available at: August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 25 of 55 Page 12 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 https://www.slideshare.net/carolynphinney/2022-august-12-presentation-to-googles- regenerative-aq-grouppptx This talk was video recorded and Google and other Silicone Valley business employees can watch it at other times. New Website. Volunteers from Google built a new website. www.AgLantis.org which is reaching many more people on searches. Social Media Educational Outreach. AgLantis has a social media public education reach on Facebook and Instagram and reaches the public with information about recycled water and water reuse, regenerative agriculture, increasing soil organic matter, carbon sequestration in soil, climate change, restoring hydrologic cycle, carbon cycle, ecosystem restoration and other environmental topics. We also promote Central San's Household Hazardous Waste facility. Tens of thousands of people are reached through social media. https://www.facebook.com/aglantis https://www.facebook.com/groups/383856271668096 https://www.instagram.com/cocosansustainablefarm/ https://www.slideshare.net/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&searchfrom=header&q=carolvn+phin ney Volunteer Outreach on Websites: AgLantis has signed up with several volunteer websites. Each of these provide public education to those volunteers who read about the opportunity, whether or not they sign up. For instance, https://www.meetup.com/CoCo-Urban-Farm-Meetup-Group/ We had over 500 Meetup volunteers signed up by the end of 2022, Many of our volunteers come frequently on Saturdays, including youth volunteers. We also have information posted on statewide websites and Silicone Valley websites. https://www.volunteermatch.org/search/opp3298155.msp which reached 1656 volunteers, according to their report. https://causes.benevity.org/causesapp/dashboard/840-464634430 no outreach numbers available. We are on NextDoor, Vimeo, Slideshare and other websites. 4) Economic Development and Job Training. 2022 Summer Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Internship: Mt. Diablo Unified School District's (MDUSD) WIOA assigned us two paid High School student internship in summer 2022 (https://www.doleta.gov/wioa/). These students participated in our Summer Urban Farming Camp and more. 9 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 26 of 55 Page 13 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 We hired a Diablo Valley College student to lead our Summer Urban Farming Camp. These students obtained some job training. u 0 unr¢Rause 5) Recognition and Awards V WateReuse California Award of Excellence 2022: Recycled Water Customer of the Year For our use of recycled water for our urban farm, we were honored to receive 2022 WateReuse California Award for Northern CA Customer of the Year. Some of our core volunteers attended the event to receive the award. One young college student who is in Environmental Studies at University of California Santa Cruz was very inspired and newly interested in pursuing her education in water resources. 6) Capital Improvements: Hoop Growing Greenhouse: A new growing greenhouse was completed and crops grown in the ground. This is the type of greenhouse that the NRCS/USDA funds. We decided to pay for one, because we were told that no farmer in Contra Costa County had one and we are teaching farm. We believed it would be beneficial to local farmers to see an example. These greenhouses protect the crops and allow season extension. Our greenhouse frame was laid out and erected by Swinerton Builders, John Muir Health and Smith Group volunteers. The build was organized by John Muir Health and Sustainable Contra Costa recruiting volunteers and helping on build day. https://swinerton.com/bloq/swinerton-helps-build-coco-san-sustainable-farm-greenhouse/ 10 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 27 of 55 Page 14 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 11 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 28 of 55 Page 15 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 7) ALUC (Airport Land Use Commission) Term Sheet and BIRD and WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT Birds were managed by covering much of the property with crops, cover crops and thick mulch which prevented birds from reaching worms and weed seeds. Only few birds come to the farm. We had the northwest area of the farm under crop production. Some of our seeds were covered with crop cloth during early growth phase. We heavily watered the seeds or planted just before rain, which deters birds from eating the seeds. We did not see Canadian geese this winter. The noise of the surrounding heavy industry on the property may have scared them away. We saw a few mammals on the farm this year, including coyotes, some ground squirrels which were coyote food and large jack rabbits (some being chased by coyotes). All of our crops and activities complied with the ALUC Term sheet. 8) GOALS FOR 2023 Capital and other improvements planned for 2022 include the following: 1. We have received notice of funding from USDA/NRCS to build 5760 square feet of high tunnel greenhouses for growing high value crops under protection, 1000' of hedgerows, 1000' of trees as windbreak. We want to complete these in 2023, although we have a couple months of 2024 to finish. There is a process to go through to secure the funding, including that Central San must sign the new lease before April 14, 2023 or funding is lost. 2. Install more recycled water mainline and headers and dripline to new high tunnel greenhouses and planting beds; 3. Grow seedlings in propagation greenhouse; 4. Increase produce donations, especially during the winter in the new greenhouses. We must obtain soil tests for the heavy metals discharged by the Martinez Refinery. If we have been affected by the plume that will change our outcomes. 5. Hire Farm Assistant(s) 6. Engage and teach high school student volunteers; 12 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 29 of 55 Page 16 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 7. Continue public outreach and education, especially about recycled water and other environmental protection topics; 8. Work with interns from local high school to facilitate job skills; 9. Hold Summer Camp for Disadvantaged Youth taught by farm assistant httos://www.aofundme.com/f/summer-urban-farm-camp-for-disadvantaaed- youth?gid=bdOb9944e1ea83bd57f1e24aa77a897a 10. Continue practices that enhance carbon sequestration and ecological restoration and demonstrate these to public; 11.Obtain a 4" hookup from Central San and add irrigation to the East side of the farm. 12. Invite elected officials such as Congressman Mark DeSaulnier and Congressman John Garamendi to the farm. We might also invite Jennifer Newsome, who has an interest in urban agriculture and youth education. 9) SCALABLE: Regional and National Importance of the Project There are about 5000 acres of buffer lands around Contra Costa sanitary/sanitation districts. These districts discharge 100,000 gallons per day or more of water that could be recycled and used to grow fresh produce for those in need. Our farm is a model that could be replicated by other sanitary/sanitation districts. This project has the capacity to make a huge impact on hunger and nutritional poverty in the county. AgLantis has always anticipated replicating at other sites and has identified two volunteers who have said they would be willing to tackle a replication by AgLantis at another farm site. We want to be sure our first farm is more fully developed before we replicate. 10) ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT Indirect Contributions: Donations of mulch, spreading mulch, seedlings, trenching, backhoe ripping new planting beds, irrigation equipment, engineering, surveying, transportation costs, legal and financial, teaching time, cooking, planting, weeding, harvesting, organizing, fund- raising, etc. include thousands of hours of time donated and many hundreds of professional services, labor, materials and gas and equipment. The community has generously donated to make this urban regenerative farm a reality. 13 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 30 of 55 Page 17 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 Profit (Loss) and Cash Flow: Financial Income and Expenses Income: Direct Public Support: $51,881 Interest: $35 TOTAL INCOME: $52,097 Expenses: $ TOTAL EXPENSES: $30,199 Cash Assets at the Beginning of the Year: $42,583 Cash Assets at the End of the Year: $ 63,655 Cash Deposits with Agencies: Central San $5,000; Conservation and Development $500; Public Works Deposit of 2/21/2019 @ $6,937 (amount used is unknown) Non -Monetary Contributions: In -Kind Donations Valuation (including Mulch): $5,000 Volunteer Hours: 10,000 @ California's average is $29.95 per hour = $299,500 Misc. Pro Bono Services Including Heavy Equipment and Work: _ $2,000 Total Estimated Non -Monetary Contributions: $306,500 2022 Operating Expenses: See Exhibit 1 Attached 2023 Operating Budget: See Exhibit 2 Attached Approximate Cash on Hand as of 3/19/2023: $58,353.03 14 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 31 of 55 Page 18 of 21 AgLantis Annual Report for 2022 Exhibit 2: 2023 Operating Budget AgLantis Breakeven Analysis For Year Ending 12/31 /2023 Donations, Grants & Contracts 70,000 Fixed Costs: Contractors 9,000 Rent 13 Payroll and Payroll Taxes 10,000 Travel & Ent 2,000 Prof. & Acctg 2,000 Equipment (If get USDA $) 37,000 Insurance 5,000 Interest 100 Rep & Maint. 1,000 Util. & Phone 400 Office & Administration 1,000 Other Taxes 1,030 Total Fixed Costs 68,543 Cost of Goods Sold Percentage 0% Breakeven 68,543 15 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 32 of 55 Page 19 of 21 ATTACHMENT 2 1 Site Plan Detail W N� Im n R,,yde Recycled Water Lateral Recycled Water Main Sewer G2v ty Man 0 r_—_i Fence COCO San Susta nable Farm Aeigatim Easement y�t' /a t Runway Prote.. Zone P 2 1 August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 33 of 55 Page 20 of 21 AgLantis Focus/Goals Food Equity and Public Health -� Environment Education Economic Development and Jobs Training; - n` 3 2022 AgLantis Accomplishments 4 I August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 34 of 55 2 Page 21 of 21 QUESTIONS? August 23, 2023 REEP Committee Meeting Agenda Packet - Page 35 of 55