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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 11/09/2022APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2022 7:00 P.M., Heritage Rooms 1&2 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Aaron Poock (Chair), Emily Eddy-Theis (Vice Chair), Laura Bishop, Tim Conners, Gretchen Enninga, Cindy Hoffman, Daniel Katzenberger, Carolyn Wieland STUDENT MEMBERS: Tanvi Bhujle, Mia Cain, Palak Dhiman, Maura Fitzgerald, Tyler Little, Taylor Oliver, Suchita Sah CITY STAFF: Jennifer Fierce, Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Poock called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Absent were Commissioners Hoffman and Bishop and student representative Fitzgerald. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: Conners moved, seconded by Eddy-Theis to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 8, 2022 MEETING MOTION: Conners moved, seconded by Enninga to approve the minutes of October 11, 2022 Sustainability Commission. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. CLIMATE ACTION PLAN OVERVIEW Fierce displayed a PowerPoint and gave an overview of the Climate Action Plan. Overall emissions in Eden Prairie were showing a downward trend, however the 2020 numbers were affected by the pandemic. 2021 numbers were not yet available. Vehicle travel accounted for 34 percent of emissions, and waste was two percent. Residential and commercial natural Sustainability Commission Minutes November 9, 2022 Page 2 gas and electricity were part of the metrics. Fierce displayed a slide showing trends if no action was taken, and a slide showing what the City planned to achieve with this Plan. In future modeling scenarios, residential energy emissions reduction saw its greatest drop due to the installation of new and more efficient appliances. Commercial energy emissions reduction was also mostly due to energy efficient retrofits. Commercial and industrial energy reduction is more challenging to address. New construction could meet energy code standards but there was no mechanism to keep the buildings to keep meeting those codes. New legislation in the future could address this. Grid Mix Emissions is declining faster than anticipated. Fuel switching emissions model a 13 percent reduction in residential electrification, which went hand-in-hand with house improvements such as sealing, insulation, et cetera. Travel emissions project the greatest drop due to electric vehicle adoption, at 85.9 percent, and mode shift (such as taking the light rail, et cetera) at 14.1 percent. Waste reduction and diversion would account for the waste emissions reduction by 2050, and this was the smallest piece of the Climate Action Plan.. Enninga asked for and received confirmation that the waste goal meant nothing went into a landfill and all recyclables were reused according to the intended reuse. Fierce added Minnesota was doing better than the rest of the nation with plastics recycling, with around 60% percent of plastics being actually recycled. Wieland stated an organization named MBOLD had formed to process recycled plastic locally. Wieland and Fierce agreed “zero waste” could never be totally zero but would reuse as much waste as possible. Katzenberger added many companies were talking about plastic reuse and perhaps not using plastic at all. Other waste, such as solar panels, which did not have a reuse plan now could have one in the future. 2. 2023 WORK PLAN Fierce displayed a slide of staff recommendations for existing work plan items to continue under CAP Implementation and Advocacy. Fierce displayed new items under the CAP Implementation Section: resident learning sessions, a green power purchase campaign, and a support outreach the identify eligible properties for whole-home electrification upgrades (federal funding). Discussion followed on how to follow up the resident learning sessions with action. Sustainability Commission Minutes November 9, 2022 Page 3 Fierce explained the federal funding was an earmark Eden Prairie received to conduct whole-home electrification, including weatherization, heat pumps, new water heaters, electric resistance heating, et cetera. Katzenberger outlined the advantages and difficulties of ground-source rather than air-source heat pumps. Discussion followed on how to implement ground-source heat pumps for the general public and on commercial efficiency improvements. Katzenberger noted considering changes made to existing policies, e.g., allowing electric scooters on a trail. Existing Work Plan items to continue under Waste and Recycling were drop off and curbside bulk recycling events, and community education items such as the fix-it clinic and zero waste events. New items were the Minnesota Compost Council Plate-to-Garden event at Arbor Day and multi-family residential recycling support. The City was working to make organics recycling more convenient and well run for multi-family units. Hennepin County offered resources to assist with this. Commercial organics recycling was also a challenge; restaurants were already supposed to be recycling on the back end, and the commission could provide suggestions and resources. Discussion followed on the practicality of a garden-tool exchange. Fierce suggested a trial event at Arbor Day. Poock noted there were 4,100 members on the Freecycle/Buy Nothing Facebook groups. Existing Work Plan items under the Water Quality Section were support of water conservation and quality rebate programs. New items were supporting water quality initiatives like smart salt and pet waste practices at educational events. Poock suggested adding the Adopt-a-Drain program. Eddy-Theis suggested discouraging turf grass and lawn chemicals. Wieland suggested an Eden Prairie Sustainability Home Tour. Fierce offered to incorporate the commission’s suggestions into a final draft and distribute for final feedback. 3. RESIDENTIAL ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAM UPDATES Fierce stated this process was ongoing. The survey was nearing an end and the results would be tabulated. Center for Energy and Environment was a partner in this program, which would be up and running hopefully in the first quarter of 2023. Contractor training and certification was key in this, especially for water heaters, as there was already training for air source Sustainability Commission Minutes November 9, 2022 Page 4 heat pumps. After training and certification the City could recommend these contractors, which was a departure from previous practices, so the public would use contractors with this training/certification in response to the many requests the City received. Another proposal was to have a shared website between all the cities in the cohort. The suite of options would include a resource list as well as rebates, an overall electrification guide, et cetera. Education and outreach campaign, handouts, workshops, outreach, and a possible mini-conference were also being discussed. The goal was to have the public think about options before an emergency occurred. The students in Commissioner Bishop’s were working to narrow down the messaging in this campaign. Poock urged coordination to communicate the availability of contractors. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Poock thanked the student representatives for presenting at the Sustainability Awards, and Fierce for the commission’s first zero waste event afterward. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER UPDATE 2. WASTE UPDATE 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR UPDATE 4. ENERGY UPDATE D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Oliver suggested ways to encourage schools to adopt solar and other sustainable methods. Fierce suggested speaking up about practices that could be changed, and Eddy-Theis suggested the students bring these concerns to the commission members so that the commission members could back up the students’ efforts. Conners suggested the students do an audit of the school. Wieland stated the middle school received a grant for composting, yet schools were still using Styrofoam and plastic. Staffing was also an issue. Discussion followed on needed school sustainability practices, especially around food waste and food serving/packaging items. Oliver lamented that much recycling was ending up in the trash due to lackluster sorting at the school. Poock noted home recycling should be picked up more often than trash. Fierce thanked Oliver for bring up the Sustainability Commission Minutes November 9, 2022 Page 5 issue. Katzenberger suggested holding a tour of the successes at the school in collaboration with the Facilities person and using that as an opportunity to ask questions and suggest further action. Oliver offered to contact the staff. Poock urged the students to keep the commission informed. V. OTHER BUSINESS Fierce displayed the new Recycling guide. VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Fix It Clinic: Saturday, December 10, 2022 – 12 PM to 4 PM, Cambria Room, Community Center VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, December 13, 2022, in Heritage Rooms 1&2. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Katzenberger moved, seconded by Enninga to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 p.m.