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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 02/13/2024APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2024 7:00 P.M., Heritage Rooms 1&2 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Aaron Poock (Chair), Laura Bishop, Tim Conners, Gretchen Enninga, Cindy Hoffman (Vice Chair), Moussa Ousmane, Carolyn Wieland, Michelle Frost, Jim Nehl STUDENT MEMBERS: Rylee Brazil, Sophie Cain, Lucy Dowdal-Osborn, Alyssa Ehler, Lalitha Gunturi, Roshan Gurumurthy, Isaac Hepper, Sabreen Khanikar, Pranav Narayanan, Kate Ropchak, Lilli Timpe, Keerti Tumu CITY STAFF: Jennifer Fierce, Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Poock called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Absent was commission members Bishop and Enninga and student representatives Brazil and Hepper. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: Nehl moved, seconded by Wieland to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 8, 2022 MEETING MOTION: Conners moved, seconded by Ousmane to approve the minutes from the January 12, 2023 meeting. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. WASTE. RECYCLING, AND ORGANICS UPDATE Fierce displayed a PowerPoint and summarized the proposal to close the trash incinerator (HERC) in Minneapolis. Most garbage in Hennepin County goes to the HERC to be burned. There are neighborhoods nearby Sustainability Commission Minutes February 13, 2024 Page 2 that are disproportionately impacted by air quality concerns. However, burning waste is more environmentally friendly than landfilling it. The volume of waste in the metro is growing; it could fill up Target Field six times annually. Presently, 40 percent of waste is recycled, and 60 percent is incinerated. She summarized the history of the HERC and waste management in Hennepin County. The challenges to closing the HERC are: • Closing the HERC is not in alignment with state policy if closed before County reached 85 percent diversion rate. • Landfill capacity concerns (there are no landfills presently in Hennepin County, although there is one in Eden Prairie that is closed). • Implementation costs and the burden of reaching that diversion rate will fall on cities. (Eden Prairie has an open market waste haul system.) • A fully privatized disposal system would increase tipping fees/costs for residents. • HERC presently sells power generated to Xcel Energy, steam to Target Field and other downtown businesses. • There would be negative environmental impacts of landfilling outside the County. The Hennepin County Zero Waste Plan aims for about 90 percent of materials to be reused, recycled, or composted, leaving 10 percent of waste that would have to still be disposed of in some capacity. Implementing this plan would allow for closure of the HERC. The highest impact actions identified by Hennepin County in the Zero Waste Plan are: • Extended producer responsibility bill for packaging. • Cities would keep more SCORE funding for waste reduction. • Banning recyclable materials from landfills. • Building a recover facility (an anerobic digestion had been decided against, but Hennepin County was looking at pulling out recyclables, metals, and food scraps). • Supporting the transition to organized collection across Hennepin County. • Increased compliance with Ordinance 13 and expanding requirements. • County plan to eliminate food waste. • Expanding collection for difficult to recycle items. • Reducing single-use waste. • Increasing reuse/recycling of construction and demolition waste. Sustainability Commission Minutes February 13, 2024 Page 3 • Mandating participation in recycling and composting programs and increasing compliance. • Ensuring every resident had equitable access to zero-waste tools. The Extended Producer Responsibility Bill would be proposed at the Legislature in 2024. Manufacturers and producers of packaging would be responsible for some of the costs of recycling. Nehl asked how Eden Prairie compared in terms of recycling percentage across the state, and Fierce replied the results were probably similar throughout the Metropolitan Area, and less robust in rural Minnesota. Wieland stressed not having waste in the first place. Fierce stated some cities have concerns with costs regarding having weekly recycling; as everyone’s bills would go up. Other cities use SCORE funds used to write down the recycling contracts instead of for education or resources. A second bin could be requested for accommodating a two-week recycling schedule. Haulers seemed to be on board with moving to weekly recycling if asked. Poock urged flipping the recycling-versus-waste collection schedule to weekly versus biweekly, respectively. Discussion followed on this proposal. Conners emphasized reduction of consumption. Fierce stated landfilling would be the last resort in Minnesota, although this could be reevaluated. According to the MPCA, garbage volume would go up 20 percent in next 20 years due to growth. Frost asked if Hennepin County could mandate that restaurants recycle food waste, and Fierce replied they already did in some circumstances, for example in grocery stores or restaurants depending on how much waste per week was produced. 2. COMMUNITY CENTER CSG UPDATE Fierce stated the center was 97 percent completed. The connection to the utility grid still needs to be made. The changes in state law to the community solar program have increased focus on residential and public purpose subscribers since the garden was initially constructed. There is an opportunity to file the garden under the new community solar rules vs the previous program. The previous expected lifetime net savings were $7,750.00 for all participants. Under the new program rules savings were estimated to be: • Under 150 percent AMI (area median income) - $19,640.00 • Over 150 percent AMI - $10,950.00 Sustainability Commission Minutes February 13, 2024 Page 4 Subscribers would need to resign contracts under new the structure, however it was felt that the increased financial savings for all customers was worth the hassle of getting contracts re-signed. However, there would not be any changes to the opening or function of the solar garden itself. Ousmane asked how many subscribers there were, and Fierce replied there were approximately 150. Frost stated she had seen news that Xcel would decrease bill credits for solar. Fierce replied this was true for older gardens (built in 2017 or 2018), which included Pax Christi, but was under a different bill credit system than the City project. PARK CLEAN-UP EVENT PARTICIPATION Park Clean-Up would be held Saturday, April 13 at 8:00 a.m. The location was TBD. Fierce sked if there was interest in adopting a park for this event. The commission members stated they would participate. TURF ALTERNATIVES WORKSHOP UPDATE Fierce stated this would be a 60-minute online presentation from a Blue Thumb expert, followed up with 30 minutes of Q and A. Participants would step through a “how-to” guide on converting a traditional turfgrass monoculture lawn into a beautiful flowering bee lawn. It would cover other turf alternatives that promote pollinator health, water quality and natural resource conservation. It would be held Monday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m. Registration information was forthcoming. Maximum participation is 40 residents. There would also be a shoreline restoration webinar coordinated by Lori Haak. Hoffman suggested promoting the events at the Arbor Day event, but Fierce replied this would happen prior to Arbor Day. Discussion followed on highlighting these events on social media. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Poock stated it was past the halfway point in the school year for seniors. He invited them to participate in upcoming events. Poock asked about the Everything Spring Expo at Grace Church. Fierce stated the commission would not have a table this year; it was an event mainly for residents to connect with contractors and the commission table had not had much interaction from residents in the past. Sustainability Commission Minutes February 13, 2024 Page 5 C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION Conners announced the Eco Expo, which would be held April 20. There would be 30 tables filled and the event would have EV drives, resources on waste, gardens, rooftop solar, heat pumps, waste recycling, pollinators, and baby goats. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Dowdal-Osborn and Timpe stated they were working on clothing swap meet meeting with their schoolmates would reach out to other clubs at school. Narayanan was working on an audit of school waste. V. OTHER BUSINESS Nehl urged a “divide and conquer” approach to the 2024 Work Plan. Fierce said the City typically preferred to have commission members work together as a group on their work plans. Discussion followed on the topic. VI. UPCOMING EVENTS VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, March 12, 2024, in the Heritage Rooms 1&2. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Frost moved, seconded by Nehl to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m.