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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 10/08/2019APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2019 7:00 PM, Community Center, Room 112, 16700 Valley View Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Anna Anderson (Chair), Jeanne DeSanctis, Aaron Poock, JoAnn McGuire, Debjyoti Dwivedy, Cindy Hoffman, Kate Lohnes, Daniel Katzenberger, Priya Senthilkkumar CITY STAFF: Senior Planner Beth Novak-Krebs, Planning Division, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary Abhiram Nallamalli, Kiersten Orning, Mina Kim, Nile Timmerman, Rohin Gurumurthy I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Carol Lundgren, Sustainability Coordinator, Rod Rue, City Engineer, and Robert Ellis, Public Works Director, joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Lohnes moved, seconded by Senthilkkumar to approve the agenda. Motion carried 9-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JULY 9 MEETING MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Poock to approve the minutes of September 10, 2019 Conservation Commission meeting with the substitution of “movie theater” for “moving theater.” Motion carried 9-0. [Hoffman arrived at 7:05 p.m.] IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. PRESENTATION ON CLIMATE ACTION PLAN Conservation Commission Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 2 Lundgren gave an update on the Climate Action Plan and the baseline data from the Wedge Tool prepared by LHB. The presentation started with an overview of Sustainable Eden Prairie and the focus areas and the Energy Action Plan. She listed the 2018 achievements from the Energy Action Plan. The Partners In Energy MOU was completed as of March 31, 2019 so the commission could move forward with its own implementation. The Climate Action Plan had a goal of Eden Prairie being carbon neutral by 2050. Lundgren explained the Minnesota’s Local Government Project for Energy Planning (LoGoPEP) and The Wedge Tool Diagram, which was developed as part of the regional indicators initiative. Its purpose was to help forecast potential greenhouse gas emissions. She explained the baseline data developed by the consultant with the Wedge Tool and terms. The Business as Usual (BAU) Forecast was defined as projections of future energy use based on current usages. Lundgren displayed the Wedge Tool’s planned emissions reductions. Each “wedge” in the graph represented a different user group and the percentage of change each would need to make to reach the City’s carbon neutral goal. Each of the three focus areas was given a Potential Actions grid by decades: 2020, 2030, 2040, and 2050. Fuel Switching, Travel, and Waste were also described by this decadal grid. Waste was also described by a Waste Reduction and Diversion grid. Lundgren stated this Plan would be brought before the City Council next week and asked for commission members to email their questions and comments before then. McGuire asked if every municipality in the nation had goals like this would it make a difference in climate change, and Lundgren replied that was the idea. The Energy Action Plan did make a difference. Katzenberger suggested having interim goals so that the action was aggressive enough to meet the overall goal, since there was no action at the federal level. Senthilkumar asked why landscape and water were not included in the presentation, and Lundgren replied those were not part of the Climate Action Plan. Kim asked how many electric charging stations Eden Prairie had. Lundgren replied there were two at the Community Center and two at City Center, and Novak-Krebs added there were around 11 in Eden Prairie but not all were public. Kim urged a switch to electric power. Lundgren replied the City had no plan to incentivize but that could change in the future. Discussion followed on public and private incentives for electric charging. Dwivedy asked why the Plan was opt-in rather than opt-out. Lundgren replied until 2030 the Plan would be opt-in but would gradually move toward an opt-out model. Anderson asked the commission members to provide questions and comments via email. Lundgren offered to present changes to the Conservation Commission Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 3 commission members at the next meeting. Novak-Krebs invited all commission and student members to attend the workshop. 2. DISCUSS AEON FOR OCEANS MOVIE SCREENING Novak-Krebs stated she contacted Megan Yerks at Housing and Community Services of the Human Rights and Diversity Commission, which sometimes hold movie screenings at Hennepin Technical College and was given a contact for that and for the school auditorium, which did charge to rent the space. She also suggested one of the bigger churches. Anderson suggested keeping this in a City space. McGuire volunteered to contact the college and school about a screening. Discussion followed on a timeline. Anderson asked how fees would be handled. McGuire suggested the audience members donate. Novak-Krebs offered to ask Yerks how her commission handled this; the Conservation Commission did not have a budget. Anderson suggested questions to McGuire (capacity, promotion, costs, et cetera). She asked what merited the film’s PG rating and suggested the commission members determine this beforehand. Hoffman replied the film was rated PG due to mild language appropriate for nine-plus years of age. Anderson also suggested offering snacks. Orning replied the school did not allow snacks in the auditorium. McGuire suggested the old gym in the Consolidated School. 3. DISCUSS THE 2020 WORK PLAN Novak-Krebs asked the commission members to think about the 2020 Work Plan. She offered to have a draft at the next meeting, and the commission would have December and January to finalize it. She also reminded the commission members they would present the Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards at November City Council meeting and to arrive early. Discussion followed on the format of the Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards. Hoffman asked for and received confirmation the reception afterward would be “going green.” McGuire suggested sending a press release to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Journal and other publications. Lohnes suggested the “Inspire” section of the Star Tribune. Kim asked if the commission members would have a chance to interact with the Council members. Anderson stated this could occur during the reception afterward. 4. UPDATE ON POSSIBLE TOUR Novak-Krebs suggested a tour in December. Anderson suggested the Margaret A. Cargill building. Conservation Commission Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 4 Hoffman asked if the joint meeting with the Parks and Recreation Department was an annual event. Novak-Krebs replied it was and also suggested a meeting with the Human Rights and Diversity Commission. DeSanctis suggested more cooperation with partners to be put in the 2020 Work Plan. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Anderson asked Orning to summarize the “Activities Rush” for all of the school clubs. Orning replied the first meeting was the following week. She added she talked to one of the DECA leaders who suggested talking to their teams that would help organize closer to the date of the event. IMatter was not school club but an organization. Katzenberger suggested adding a line to the agenda and minutes for student members’ reports under “Reports from Commission.” DeSanctis stated she needed contact information to pursue a display at the Eden Prairie Mall. Novak-Krebs stated she should contact Nancy Litwin. Anderson asked if anyone would attend the Master Recycler Program; there were no volunteers. Anderson asked for a recounting of the Climate Strike on September 20, 2019. Orning replied she did not walk out but friends attended and posted photos from the capitol. Gurumurthy added his friends advocated on social media but never walked out school. Katzenberger noted 7 million people walked out globally and at Best Buy, as there was a Climate Reality Leadership presentation that employees took off work to attend. Lohnes stated she encouraged her employee to strike and they did. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER UPDATE 2. WASTE UPDATE 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR UPDATE 4. ENERGY UPDATE D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Conservation Commission Minutes October 8, 2019 Page 5 Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards at the November 12, 2019 City Council Meeting. Novak-Krebs offered to send out information about the format for new attendees. VII. NEXT MEETING The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 7:00 p.m. in Heritage rooms 1 & 2. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Lohnes to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 p.m.