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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 10/12/2021APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021 7:00 P.M., Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Aaron Poock (Chair), Priya Senthilkumar (Vice Chair), Jeanne DeSanctis, Debjyoti Dwivedy, Cindy Hoffman, Daniel Katzenberger, Emily Eddy- Theis, Jeff Nobleza CITY STAFF: Jennifer Hassebroek, Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Abi Rajasekaran, Amoligha Timma, Anna Maristela, Augie Stukenborg, Julia Harris, Muthu Meenakshisundaram I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Poock called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Absent was Commissioners Eddy- Theis and Dwivedy and student representatives Timma, Harris, and Meenakshisundaram. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Hoffman to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM APRIL 13 MEETING MOTION: DeSanctis moved, seconded by Hoffman to approve the minutes of September 13, 2021 Sustainability Commission joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission. 6-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. SUSTAINABILE EDEN PRAIRIE AWARDS SELECTION Sustainability Commission Minutes October 12, 2021 Page 2 Hassebroek announced there were four awards total and four award categories. None of the applicants had submitted any photographs. She went through each nomination and welcomed discussion: Water – Scheels Eden Prairie Landscape – The Preserve Association Waste – Pizza Karma Energy – Mark Weber, resident of Eden Prairie who was active in the Solar Community and chair of the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society. Senthilkumar asked for and received clarification this was not the same Mark Weber who was involved with the Eden Prairie News. Hoffman commended Pizza Karma being submitted again; the restaurant had not won an award after its first nomination a few years ago. She commended the sustainability efforts of Eden Prairie restaurants. Rajasekaran explained the process of the zero waste beer at Pizza Karma. Poock explained for the student representatives the nomination and the commission’s recommendations processes to the City Council. Hassebroek encouraged the student representatives to attend and present at the Awards Ceremony. She was not sure if there would be a banquet this year and promised to find out. Hoffman suggested the Sustainability Awards, if there was to be banquet, be a zero-waste event. MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Hoffman, to accept the nominations under each category. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. 2. CAP IMPLEMENTATION COMMUNITY OUTREACH DISCUSSION – REVIEW OF SUGGESTED BEST PRACTICES Hassebroek stated discussions on this since June focused on how to recognize the efforts of residents and to promote the concept of climate change action. She encouraged the student representatives to consider these ideas for their student projects. She gave an overview of the summary tips: • Consider motivations for taking actions and avoiding one-size-fits- all solutions • Using existing social groups and community leaders to share the message • Start with the solution rather than dwelling on the problem • Orient the message toward action and opportunity • The solution must match the ability the audience to achieve • Effective messages tied climate impacts to locally relevant issues, since people have a finite pool of worry • Use images and stories of local people and issues rather than numbers and pie charts Sustainability Commission Minutes October 12, 2021 Page 3 • Make the climate-friendly choice the default option whenever possible • Social rewards and public feedback motivated more than financial incentives • Highlight positive actions of the community to show it as a social norm in Eden Prairie Hassebroek added the next piece was to tailor these recommendations toward a suite of actions for Eden Prairie residents and ways to recognize them for their actions. This culminated in a list of best practices: Hoffman asked if there would be different levels and/or steps of commitment, such as baseline, high achievers, et cetera. Hassebroek replied that was indeed the driving framework behind this effort. Her goal for this project was to identify high-impact actions and easily communicate these to the community to reduce impact on climate. She had gone through the list to identify core/minimum threshold versus high- impact actions. The categories were energy efficiency, renewable energy, fuel switching, travel, waste and recycling, and water conservation and quality. Hassebroek went through the list of actions under each category and asked for feedback. Discussion followed on the list items. Hoffman commended there being both simple and more involved action items. Senthilkumar asked if there was an additional change if the Home Energy Squad actually physically changed something (such as a shower head) during its visit. Hassebroek replied list items could be related, which complicated the metrics. If the Home Energy visit made a substantial impact during its visit, it could be considered a high-impact action, but the mere fact of the Home Energy Squad’s visit was coupled with two suggested changes into one baseline action, which would be considered minimum. Hoffman stressed getting residents to think about energy usage, which to her was as important as the list items. Katzenberger corrected Energy Smart to Energy Star in the list items. He stressed the importance of ground source heat pumps. Hoffmann suggested changing the “100 percent of household electricity use to a green power purchase program” and the “50 percent of household electricity use to a green power purchase program” to a partial use of or even a subscription to a renewable energy source. Senthilkumar and Poock agreed. Nobleza suggested an electric snow blower or mower under the category fuel switching. Hoffman asked if some actions under this category would be difficult for those in multifamily residences to follow. Hassebroek Sustainability Commission Minutes October 12, 2021 Page 4 explained some were minimum requirements, whereas other bullet points were optional and revealed a greater commitment. DeSanctis asked if this checklist was part of a “ladder” of commitment because an electric snow blower would be separate from the other three. Hoffman noted some residents saved energy by shoveling or using a self-propelled lawn mower. Hassebroek suggested a points system which would tally the actions taken on this checklist. DeSanctis suggested the addition “or school” to “carpool to get to work” under the category travel. “Or hybrid” was added to “purchase a smaller car with better fuel efficiency.” Discussion followed on offering some simpler and easier action items in this category. Hassebroek suggested weighing each action item with points but avoiding over-complicating the list. Discussion followed on whether to combine “Bike/walk/use transit to run errands or get to work or school at least once a week” with “carpool to work or school at least twice a week.” Hassebroek explained which items she considered to be high impact versus the core or minimum actions. Discussion followed on safety of the list item “turn off the car at long stop lights” and this was ultimately removed. DeSanctis asked about the impact of flying and boating. Discussion followed and “purchase carbon offset for airline travel” was added as a list item. Poock noted addressing boating by converting to an electric engine or going sailing would exclude much of the population. Hoffman countered it would address what residents could do who do enjoy this probably limited action. Hassebroek reminded the commission this was not the final discussion on this list, and the addition of a suggestion for boating could be added later after more thought. DeSanctis suggested taking advantage of Amazon’s delivery bundling to reduce trips. Discussion followed on other possible vendors. Poock suggested “bundle online deliveries.” Hoffman asked if “join a CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture)” should come under the category waste and recycling. Poock noted it could also come under travel. The list item stayed as it was. Poock suggested “drop off yard waste at the organics recycling site.” Senthilkumar suggested “using recycled materials during gatherings.” Hoffman commended the “host zero-waste events/parties” idea. DeSanctis suggested “reusable coffee mugs at coffee shops.” Katzenberger suggested “install” instead of “use” for “toilet and faucets that are WaterSense certified” for the water conservation and quality category. Discussion followed on preferring pollinators and no-mow lawns. Hassebroek stated she did not identify a high-impact action in this category. Sustainability Commission Minutes October 12, 2021 Page 5 Hassebroek stated she would take the feedback and think about weighing the list items, and the commission would continue to discuss the list. Discussion followed on a possible name. Senthilkumar suggested this as one of the student projects. Hassebroek agreed and said commission members could email her suggestions. 3. STUDENT COMMISSION PROJECT DISCUSSION AND FOCUS AREA ASSIGNMENTS Hassebroek announced to the student representatives that the commission members had assigned themselves as mentors to the three focus areas. They would check in monthly with their designated student representatives outside of the commission meetings. She stated the student projects would be a 10 to 15-minute presentation of findings around the chosen focus area. They would take place at the April meeting. An Arbor Day/Green Fair Event would be held on April 30, 2022, and Hassebroek suggested the student representatives staff a booth to tell residents about their projects. Hassebroek added she would put all of this information and information about the Sustainability Awards in an email to them. She told the students to decide by the November meeting and have some idea of what the presentation would look like. Hassebroek took names and focus areas for the student representatives who were present and said she would gather this information from those who could not attend tonight. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Poock stated he and Senthilkumar held an organics recycling webinar for residents and over 50 attended. Hassebroek stated the webinar was posted for those who could not attend, and the rebate program was up and running. Poock stated the yard waste site was open until November 21. He intended to visit and urged others to utilize it, or mulch leaves into their lawns. Poock also announced the Sustainability Commission would be highlighted in the November issue of the Eden Prairie Erie. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER UPDATE 2. WASTE UPDATE Sustainability Commission Minutes October 12, 2021 Page 6 ORGANICS RECYCLING 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR UPDATE 4. ENERGY UPDATE D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Katzenberger announced COP 26 (Council of the Parties) in Glasgow. VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, November 9, 2021, in the Heritage Rooms 1&2. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Nobleza moved, seconded by Katzenberger to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.