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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainability Commission - 12/09/2025Approved Minutes Eden Prairie Sustainability Commission Meeting 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 9, 2025 City Center – Heritage Rooms 1&2 8080 Mitchell Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ATTENDEES Commission Members: Aaron Poock (Chair), Cindy Hoffman (Vice Chair), Tim Conners, Michelle Frost, Daniel Hendrickson, Alexis Junker, Jim Nehl, Moussa Ousmane, Carolyn Wieland Student Commission Members: Lillian Beutz, Avni Maheshwari, Ava Muilenburg, Shailee Rana, Paili Rice, Atharva Sarmah, Jhansi Senthilkumar, Syon Shetty, Ipshita Tiwari, Colin Weiher City Staff: Jennifer Fierce - Sustainability Coordinator, Kristin Harley – Recording Secretary MEETING AGENDA I. Call the Meeting to Order Chair Poock called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Commission Members Hoffman, Ousmane, and Hendrickson and student representatives Beutz, Maheshwari, Muilenburg, Rana, Rice, Sarmah, Senthilkumar, Shetty, Tiwari, and Weiher were absent. II. Approval of Agenda and Other Items of Business MOTION: Nehl moved, seconded by Frost, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. III. Minutes A. Sustainability Commission meeting held Tuesday, November 18, 2025 MOTION: Wieland moved, seconded by Junker, to approve the minutes of the Sustainability Commission Tuesday November 18, 2025. Motion carried 6-0. IV. Reports A. Reports from Staff 1. 2026 Work Plan Draft Fierce displayed a PowerPoint and summarized the annual Work Plan process. The Work Plan was drafted by staff, then would be reviewed by commission members who provided feedback. The finalized version will be reviewed at the January Sustainability Commission meeting. The Chair would then present the Work Plan SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES December 9, 2025 Page 2 to the City Council in January or February 2026 for final approval. Fierce displayed the draft 2026 Work Plan. New items under CAP Implementation included nonprofit energy efficiency outreach and adaptation/resilience plan and update the Climate Action Plan (CAP). Ongoing programs/work items included Electrify Everything Minnesota promotion, residential energy efficiency outreach, commercial energy efficiency outreach, GreenStep Cities, Charging Smart, and legislative and utility advocacy. She called for feedback and additional items, if any. Discussion followed on this category in the Work Plan draft. Fierce stated the City would continue to partner with organizations on the City’s priorities including the table at the Eco Expo. Conners stated there was an opportunity to reach out to additional nonprofits and churches. Fierce stated the City was partnering with the EnerChange group to reach out to remaining churches and nonprofits. Wieland suggested the Eden Prairie Community Foundation as a resource. Fierce stated Eden Prairie had enough points to be silver certified with ChargingSmart, but the City had to incorporate a few items in its Comprehensive Plan to reach gold status. Eden Prairie had been certified bronze in 2024. Eden Prairie would begin its process to update the Comprehensive Plan in 2026. Eden Prairie was also applying for state grant funding to update its Climate Action Plan (CAP) including a five-year priority implementation plan and a climate vulnerabilities section. The climate vulnerabilities piece would address poor air quality, heat, vector-borne diseases, stormwater management, and trees, as well as areas prone to flooding and affected by intense rain events or heat, and other health focuses. She described the single environmental justice Census tract in the city, which included many apartment buildings. 70 percent of residents in that tract are people of color. There was no timetable for the CAP or Comp Plan updates as proceeding is dependent on the grant award. A new item under waste and recycling was a dedicated drop off organics recycling site in Eden Prairie. Continuing projects were supporting drop-off/curbside recycling events, community education for recycling (including specific guides and mailers), hosting a Fix-It Clinic, Hazardous Waste Drop Off and/or Swap Event with Hennepin County, encourage zero waste events, compost giveaway at Arbor Day, and the student commissioner swap event. Discussion followed on this category. Fierce described the upcoming parking lot improvements at City Hall and how they would factor in the location of the drop-off. Poock suggested a recycling sticker rather than a refrigerator magnet. Wieland described her duties as host of a Swap Event in 2027 and suggested an electronics recycling drive. Poock asked for an update on the school recycling effort. Fierce suggested this be added under community education, since this was being taken on by the students. Poock suggested an outreach program to help multifamily buildings improve recycling. SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES December 9, 2025 Page 3 Under water conservation and community events, the new item was to explore opportunities to update the Sustainability Eden Prairie Award. Continuing items were to promote turf removal and native pollinator plantings, participate in metro- wide learning opportunities, and participate in community events such as Eco Expo and Citywide Open House. Discussion followed on whether to keep the native planting workshop the commission had sponsored in 2025. The commission opted to end sponsoring the workshop due to multiple other free resources already available to the public. Nehl asked if there were programs like the Blue Thumb program the commission could promote more. Discussion followed on incentives to get residents to plant native plants and pollinators. Nehl suggested the Friends of Eden Prairie Parks. Wieland suggested a sustainability-related seminar series, like the Citizen’s Academy. Fierce offered to add that to the community events section. Commissioners indicated a desire to lead implementation. B. Reports from Chair C. Reports from Commissioners Conners stated he would form the Eco Expo committee in January, and the event date would be April 18, 2026. Poock urged him to recruit the student representatives by informing them of the time commitment, et cetera. Conners suggested they sign up for two-hour blocks. Frost stated Saturday, December 20, 2025 would be the last buckthorn removal at the Outdoor Center, which would be turned into biochar. The event was from 1:00 to 4:00pm sponsored by the Friends of Eden Prairie Parks. This would be a family event and there would be marshmallows and hot chocolate. D. Reports from Student Commissioners 1. Student Swap Event Update There were no updates. V. Upcoming Events A. December 20, 2025 - Buckthorn Event at the Outdoor Center, 1-4 P.M. VI. Next Meeting A. Tuesday, January 13, 2026 SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES December 9, 2025 Page 4 VII. Adjournment MOTION: Wieland moved, seconded by Junker, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. Chair Poock adjourned the meeting at 8:12 p.m.