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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 10/14/2025APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2025 7:00 P.M., Heritage Rooms 1&2 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Aaron Poock (Chair), Cindy Hoffman (Vice Chair), Tim Conners, Michelle Frost, Daniel Hendrickson, Alexis Junker, Jim Nehl, Moussa Ousmane, Carolyn Wieland CITY STAFF: Jennifer Fierce, Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lillian Beutz, Avni Maheshwari, Ava Muilenburg, Shailee Rana, Paili Rice, Atharva Sarmah, Jhansi Senthilkumar, Syon Shetty, Ipshita Tiwari, Colin Weiher I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Poock called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Commissioner Ousmane and Student Commissioners Weiher and Sarmah were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: Wieland moved, seconded by Frost to approve the agenda. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 MEETING MOTION: Conners moved, seconded by Hendrickson to approve the minutes from the July 8, 2025 meeting. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF SUSTAINABLE EDEN PRAIRIE AWARDS NOMINEES AND FUTURE AWARD DISCUSSION Fierce displayed a PowerPoint and summarized the awards and the awards ceremony for the student commissioners. There were only nominees in the waste and landscape categories this year. The nominees for waste were: Sustainability Commission Minutes October 14, 2025 Page 2 • Buy Nothing Eden Prairie • Applewood Pointe • Eden Prairie/PiM High School Theater Department • Chris Adams The nominees for landscape were: • Winnebago Industries • Don Peterson – Eden Prairie Senior Living Fierce explained the waste nominees’ and Don Peterson’s efforts. Nehl summarized the efforts of Winnebago Industries. Discussion followed on the nominees. Poock took a straw poll as to whether only one award should be granted in each category. Frost asked for and received confirmation that it was too late to submit nominees in the other, missing categories. Three categories were chosen to be allowed in the waste category. The awards went to Winnebago Industries, Buy Nothing Eden Prairie, Applewood Pointe, and Chris Adams. Fierce displayed a PowerPoint slide showing a matrix of the number of nominees and awards from 2017 to 2025 and noted that most nominations had come from staff. She asked if the awards program continued to provide value, considering most nominations did not come from residents. Conners replied most residents seemed to not know about the Sustainability Commission itself. He suggested the commission could research residents’ efforts, which would generate discussion among neighbors when residents won awards. He stated the awards could be different by seeking out residents who completed transitions and improvements. Discussion followed on the visibility of the awards on social media and in the media. Junker suggested the nomination period be longer and reaching out to local groups. Wieland asked what impact the award had; did winners share their results, and/or was there further exposure? Nehl suggested the commission publicize and promote the awards and why people won; he saw the awards as recognition of someone else’s efforts to reach other people. He did not have any issues with staff submitting most of the nominations, since staff was part of the community and commission members naturally had more investment in the awards. Hendrickson suggested a “where are they now” follow up of past winners. Fierce stated this had been explored; she received only two responses. Fierce stated the commission did not need to decide tonight; this was part of a longer conversation. She suggested another option was the awards not be annual but awarded “as warranted”. Senthilkumar suggested having the Sustainability Commission Minutes October 14, 2025 Page 3 student representatives research possible nominees in September and have them present why each nominee should win, and have the winner present the next awards. Poock stated he had been thinking along the same lines, but this could be a busy time, with school starting, and suggested the awards be pushed back. Conners suggested October as an alternative. He stated the point of the awards was communication; if residents received awards because of their efforts, that helped to spread the word. Weiher agreed with having the student representatives help research future nominees. Rice agreed that student participation would increase nominations, since students were building resumes and putting in community service hours. Maheshwari added this would also draw a younger and more numerous audience. Conners stated the student representatives were excellent at networking. Wieland suggested a showcase instead of an awards program. Shetty suggested merging Eden Prairie’s awards with other cities. Tiwari commended the showcase concept as less competitive and doing more to communicate the commission’s goals in a more inviting context. Hendrickson and Conners stated the commission needed to find other avenues for nominees. Fierce announced the next commission meeting was November 18 (due to Veteran’s Day), the same night as the Council meeting at which the awards would be presented. She would send information out to the student representatives, who would be presenting the awards, and asked them to arrive at City Hall by 6:45 p.m. CITY SOLAR UPDATE Fierce displayed a PowerPoint and announced Fire Stations #1 and Liquor Store #2 have completed solar projects funded by two grants from State of Minnesota. Citywide there were seven on-site locations, four CSG locations outside of city limits, and two backup subscriptions. 3,700 MWh/Year solar energy was generated toward city operations. There likely will not be any new solar projects soon due to lack of additional sites for installation. The remaining city buildings either had poor solar access due to tree cover or were scheduled for a roof replacement in the near future. Eden Prairie is a backup subscriber for community solar projects, including Pax Christi Church. Solar now generated 24 percent of all the power city operations uses. Sustainability Commission Minutes October 14, 2025 Page 4 STUDENT PROJECT UPDATE Fierce displayed a matrix showing the roles of the student representatives on the student swap: three lead event planners, three leaders for logistics, two for communications, and two event volunteers. She expressed the hope that all student representatives could attend and participate in the event. A shared Google doc was online for the students to access. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Poock stated the Citywide Open House, his first, was very busy and successful. Junker and he hosted the electric vehicles and had 30 to 40 small groups that asked questions, and between 10 and 20 people who stayed for longer discussions. Fierce stated the indoors was also busy, and everyone who was outside had not necessarily come inside. Poock added metrics on outreach were difficult but there were many quality interactions. Junker added many participants were fascinated by the Ford F-150 and its capabilities, and its lack of an “engine”. Discussion followed on the various types of electric vehicles the City of Eden Prairie uses. Junker suggested having an outside table as well for next year. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION Wieland stated MnTAP had met with Eden Prairie Schools regarding conducting a waste audit. They were looking for student volunteers and she invited the student representatives to participate and to recruit others. 85-95 percent of the waste could be diverted, and volunteers would sort the waste into recycling, liquid, shared, compost or trash. Discussion followed on the initiative. Wieland asked the student representatives for ideas as to how to incentivize and get engagement from staff and students. These ideas, including possibly paying volunteers via grant funding, would be explored more after the audit. She added the school might purchase a heat composter. The school had been very receptive to the initiative. She would be sending out an email reminder with a timeline. Nehl stated the Friends of Eden Prairie Parks planted over 740 native plants along Mitchell Lake. 630 plants were planted in a separate rain garden in a commercial effort. Fierce displayed a PowerPoint slide with pictures of the events. Frost stated there were many restoration efforts by the Friends of Eden Prairie Parks going on in Eden Prairie, along the Edenbrook Conservation Area and along Riley Creek and there were sign- up opportunities at the website. Nehl said there were two more events coming up on October 25 and November 8. They were both two-hour events and open to the public. He asked the commission members to Sustainability Commission Minutes October 14, 2025 Page 5 spread the word. Frost added students could earn Honor Society hours as well. VI. UPCOMING EVENTS City Council Presentation – Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards, Tuesday, November 18, 2025 – 7 PM (Reception and Commission Meeting to Follow). VII. NEXT MEETING The next Sustainability Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, November 18, 2025, after the City Council meeting. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Conners moved, seconded by Hoffman to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.