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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 02/09/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021 7:00 P.M., Virtual Meeting 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Cindy Hoffman (Chair), Aaron Poock (Vice Chair), Jeanne DeSanctis, Debjyoti Dwivedy, Daniel Katzenberger, JoAnn McGuire, Bruce Schaepe, Priya Senthilkumar CITY STAFF: Jennifer Hassebroek, Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Ellianne Retzlaff, Amanda Schlampp Anisha Singhatwadia, Pranav Vadhul I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Hoffman called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Absent were Commissioner Dwivedy and student representatives Retzlaff, Schlampp, Singhatwadia and Vadhul. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: McGuire moved, seconded by Poock to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JUNE 10 MEETING MOTION: Schaepe moved, seconded by DeSanctis to approve the minutes of January 12, 2021 Sustainability Commission. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. XCEL ENERGY PRESENTATION – INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLAN JOINT COMMENT LETTER REVIEW Hassebroek summarized the letter, saying it was the result of a collaboration between the host cities that co-signed and other partners that reviewed it and supplied technical assistance. White Bear Lake and other Sustainability Commission Minutes February 9, 2021 Page 2 communities might still sign the letter. It highlighted common issues among the coalition partners, including Eden Prairie, without being specific to any one city’s goals. Commenting on this document and plan would be an ongoing process. Schaepe asked if the participating cities thought Xcel Energy was going in the right direction or if this was a course correction for the utility. Hassebroek replied she thought Xcel was indeed going in the right direction. Unlike other utilities Xcel was willing to consider its impact on the climate, which made Xcel a leader among utilities. Yet it was helpful to push them despite their strong efforts thus far. Hoffman asked if the cities that signed the letter had some kind of Climate Action Plan or goal. Hassebroek replied every city except for Richfield had a plan in place, and Richfield was in the process of adopting a plan. Ramsey County and White Bear Lake were considering signing on. The Suburban Rate Authority, of which Eden Prairie is part, is also signing on. Some cities such as Chanhassen were signing on as part of the Authority, and not on their own. Katzenberger expressed support for sending the letter as written. Hassebroek offered to update the commission members as information came in. ORGANICS RECYCLING EDUCATION AND AWARENESS PLANNING Hassebroek stated there were five households in Eden Prairie that currently had organics recycling. All haulers will make this service available later this year, and the commission would have input on the educational piece. She asked for suggestions, and a brainstorming session followed. The Communications Department would send out social media posts and update the website. Hassebroek also suggested a standalone guide for organics recycling to complement the recycling guide sent out annually. It usually went out in autumn but there was some flexibility. She also suggested a video. DeSanctis echoed the idea of a YouTube video, perhaps featuring the five families already recycling organics. Hassebroek suggested putting out a call, since the hauling companies would keep the names private. Schaepe asked if the haulers would distribute the commission’s content, and Hassebroek replied that was a possibility. Poock asked where the emphasis would be, and Hassebroek replied it was helping residents understand appropriate materials. Sustainability Commission Minutes February 9, 2021 Page 3 Senthilkumar suggested holding webinar Q&As and bring in partners, such as one or two haulers to present. This might reach more people than a YouTube video. DeSanctis concurred. McGuire asked if organic waste could go to the lawn waste site in Eden Prairie, and suggested this was an educational opportunity. Hassebroek replied organics waste could not go to that site. DeSanctis said the educational piece would be the major contribution piece by the commission. Hoffman suggested stickers on organics garbage cans in parks: “Coming soon to your neighborhood/household,” et cetera. McGuire asked if the water conservation display was still up at the Eden Prairie Center, and Hassebroek replied she could not find it last summer. Schaepe and Hoffman also said they could not find the display. Discussion followed on the location of the display. Hoffman suggested contacting Eden Prairie Mall to locate the display, and perhaps use that space for an educational display on organics recycling. Hassebroek offered to investigate this, but was concerned at the short exhibition time frame, but suggested renting a kiosk space would be more dependable. Discussion followed on the possibility of funding a display at Eden Prairie Mall during a pandemic when the Mall saw a lower number of visitors. Hoffman suggested approaching the schools to involve students to teach their parents. She suggested contacting the Cedar Ridge Elementary School Sustainability Award winner from 2020. Poock noted the schools were already recycling organics. The Master Recycling/Composting class had taught Senthilkumar and Poock the best teaching moment was while the action was happening. Poock suggested a flying for residents to put on their recycling bin listing appropriate materials for organics recycling. Hassebroek suggested a real-life application of organics recycling at the food court if that was not already being done. Katzenberger stated he and many people, he surmised, did not leave the house; a mailing might be the only way to reach everyone. He suggested a sticker or a refrigerator magnet rather than an article. Hoffman noted the program would start next January, and the mailing would have to be timed correctly. Hassebroek stated she anticipated the haulers offering the bag system would roll out their program first. The ones with the carts would probably move forward later. She expected some competition in offering services; Randy’s already was offering the service. The final list was: a YouTube video with existing customers, asking haulers to use the City’s marketing and informational materials, focusing on eligible items and contamination over the method of collection, a Q&A with Hennepin County and haulers to talk about organics, being clear on the marketing regarding the yard waste site, stickers for parks containers Sustainability Commission Minutes February 9, 2021 Page 4 and other City facilities containers, a possible Eden Prairie Mall kiosk, approaching schools and involving students, flyers and stickers for organics recycling bins, and a sticker/magnet advertised in the newsletter. Poock stated once the pandemic was over the commission members could be at the stations interacting with the residents. Discussion followed on which cities already handled organics recycling. Hoffmann suggested looking at other cities already doing organics recycling. Poock replied there were a few, but they owned the contract for hauling. Hassebroek replied Edina and St. Louis Park were such cities, and Minneapolis. Katzenberger supplied the link to Randy’s Environmental Services (https://www.randysenvironmentalservices.com/residential/organics- recycling) and said every city except Bloomington, Champlin, and Eden Prairie was offered the service at present. BETTER BUILDINGS MN UPDATE Hassebroek stated the bill language had been introduced in the last week. The proposal would add two sentences to the Code, but it covered all the areas the commission wanted covered. She had no update on the first informal committee hearing held today (February 9) in the House. The Senate would also hold a hearing on it later. There was a push to adopt on a three-year scale instead of six, which would aim for net zero construction by 2036. HOME ENERGY SQUAD INTERCITY CHALLENGE RESULTS Hassebroek announced there were 2012 total visits. St Louis Park ended up in first place with 1.36 percent of its residents having visits. Mounds View came in second at 0.77 percent, and Eden Prairie was third at 0.69 percent, which translated to 136 visits. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Hoffman stated she gave the year-end report to the City Council and received positive feedback and support. The organics recycling and the Climate Action Plan were major highlights. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER UPDATE 2. WASTE UPDATE Sustainability Commission Minutes February 9, 2021 Page 5 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR UPDATE 4. ENERGY UPDATE D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS McGuire noted the recent attempted water hacking in Florida and asked what safety protocols were in place to prevent a similar occurrence in Eden Prairie. DeSanctis stated she noted the Heritage Preservation Commission gave its student representatives projects to accomplish and suggested the Sustainability Commission do the same. McGuire suggested asking them for input at the beginning of the meeting. Hoffman stated she had also written down the idea, as the students were asked by the HPC were asked to do research. She suggested this for next September. Senthilkumar suggested having the students write down three goals at the beginning of their term with help from the commission members and meet at least one of the goals. Hassebroek offered to explore the idea and talk to staff, as the HPC was a unique commission and this idea would take some translating for the focus of this commission. Perhaps the student representatives were best utilized to reach students in the schools. Senthilkumar added students were often innovative and future oriented. Hoffman replied she would love to get high schoolers’ perspectives and additional ideas on the Climate Action Plan. DeSanctis asked if there was a place that housed resources for the community. She had read The Uninhabitable Earth, and wished to maintain a list of resources, possibly on the website. Hassebroek noted there was no general education resources list and stated this was a good question. She added book clubs were a good way to expose readers to new books and suggested a “Sustainability Commission recommended reads” list as a possible idea. VI. UPCOMING EVENTS  Zero Waste Online Educational Event: March 18, 2021  Arbor Day: May 1, 2021 VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, March 9, 2021, virtually. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Sustainability Commission Minutes February 9, 2021 Page 6 MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Schaepe to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:13 p.m.