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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 04/11/2006 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,APRIL 11, 2006 5:00 P.M., CITY CENTER PRAIRIE ROOM A & B 8080 MITCHELL ROAD COMMISSION MEMBERS: Eapen Chacko, Chair; Jan Mosman, Vice Chair; Ray Daniels, Rita Krocak, Geneva McMillan, David Seymour COMMISSION STAFF: Scott Neal, City Manager Gene Dietz, Public Works Director Leslie Stovring, Staff Liaison Allison Burr, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Chair Chacko called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chacko asked to review future agendas before publication. Stovring added Krocak's email of April 11,2006,to the agenda under Reports of Staff. It is a request for Commissioners to sign a letter to the editor in support of a conference regarding global warming. Stovring noted she also has a discussion item regarding Minnesota Waters. MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by Krocak, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried unanimously. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES None. IV. REPORTS OF STAFF A. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS City Manager Scott Neal thanked the Commission members for signing up for this task. He noted the role of Commission's in the City is important,as this Commission serves as an extension of the City Council in many ways. Commissions bring expertise and additional minds for areas that may not be represented on the City Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 2 Council or on City staff. Neal continued discussing how the Commission's relationship with the Council is an important one to recognize. The Commission's role is determined by the Council and the parameters that the Council places on the Commission and the activities they engage in. One thing that is to be avoided in arranging agendas and tasks for Commissions or Boards is the City does not want to put them at odds with the Council. The Council gets to set the larger agenda for the issues evaluated by the Commission, as they have been elected to do so. Neal stated because there is no current history for this Commission,there are no clear positions adopted by the Council on a number of items. Before the Commission goes on record as supporting something or not supporting it,it is important to make sure the Council is on record first. For example, the Council as a whole has not taken a position on greenhouse gas emissions. Until the Council has a position on that issue, it is not something this Commission should sponsor or make public statements about either as a Commission as a whole or as an individual member of the Commission. Neal continued to discuss how the role of the Commission is also important in that the meetings serve as a venue where additional public comment can be engaged. A lot of work is done at the Commission level to work out details,to hear concerns and weigh pros and cons on various issues before they are presented to the Council for consideration. This saves the Council time on researching and developing ideas for the types of issues assigned to the various Commissions. Neal commented he does not have a particular vision for the way in which this Commission will evolve,but that will be discussed as the Commission continues to meet. He stated the role of the chair is an important one on the Commissions. The chair is the primary contact of the Commission and will operate each meeting. He advised that commissions and boards operate under various protocols. When there is no public participation in the meeting, it can be more informal. At the Council or Planning Board level, they have to use a more formal version of Roberts Rules. Chacko asked about the timeline for when the public has to be noticed if a change in the meeting time or date occurs. Neal responded this meeting will be a standing meeting on the second Tuesday of the month. Stovring added the notice for the change in the meeting time for the current meeting was posted at City Hall and on the website calendar. Neal indicated the Council establishes the meeting dates and times for all boards and commissions. Typically meetings are held Mondays,Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Commission members can meet outside the regular meeting time,but there are some formal meeting announcements that need to be made which Stovring will handle. Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 3 While this is a less formal meeting, a quorum is necessary to act. The quorum for this Commission is four members. If there is no quorum at a meeting, the Commission can discuss items that do not require action or items that are not on the agenda,but it is recommended that the Commission hold meetings when there is a quorum and try to stick as closely to the agenda as possible. He asked that if they are unable to attend a meeting that Stovring be notified as soon as possible. He added Stovring will prepare the agenda and the packet for every meeting. Neal continued if Commission members have questions about being a City Commission, Stovring can get those answers for you. Mosman asked if a quorum is necessary and if business can be discussed on a field trip. Stovring stated a field trip with the Commission, when there is a quorum, would be considered a public meeting and a notice would be put out that the meeting location is changed and is open to the public. Neal stated Commission members will run into some quirky things related to being a public body, including the timeframe for advertising meetings. Another one is data practices and how one can contact another outside a meeting. He stated he wished people could email each other and get feedback,but elected and appointed bodies are prohibited from doing so. Sometimes City officials can find themselves getting close to that on occasion. Neal stated if supplies or information that are needed to conduct meetings,Stovring is the contact person. Mosman acknowledged the Commission does not want to pressure the Council to make policies on something new, and asked how a Commission member can submit things through Stovring to get to the Council. Neal suggested Commissioners working with Stovring if there are some items that a Commissioner would like feedback on. He stated he checks in on all City Commissions and reads the monthly minutes. Stovring stated the avenues available for staff to communicate with the Council, such as a Friday FYI packet. If it is a general idea or thought, it can be included in that packet. If it is a larger issue, it could go to the Council meeting itself. Staff would need to review and present these issues as needed. Neal added every Friday an informational packet is prepared for the Council. Every other Thursday the Council packet is prepared for Council members. It is sent to Councilmembers on Friday for the meeting the following Tuesday. Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 4 Daniels asked if the Commission is a conduit for ideas or if the ideas the Commission follow have to come down from the Council. He stated there are at least two Commissioners interested in global warming. He asked if that that subject can be approached during meetings and perhaps a consensus reached to send to the Council. Neal responded affirmatively. He added what he is trying to address is whether the Commission has the authority to speak about the issue publicly. Public Works Director Dietz stated among the first things the Commission will discuss will be things on the plate already,for example,Cleanup Day. He suggested the Commission come up with a work plan of topics to discuss over the next 12 months and also develop a strategy. He noted the Council meets with each Commission on an annualbasis in a workshop setting. At that point the Commission will want reports on the things that have been worked on so far. Chacko asked about the budget timeframe. Neal responded the City uses a calendar year budget. The City must adopt the budget for the following year by the end of December. It was also suggested that Commission meet with the Facilities Manager Paul Sticha about how the City operates its buildings and whether there are opportunities for the Commission to work with Facilities in increasing the energy efficiency of the City's operations. Stovring suggested that they discuss with Sticha whether there is any budget for adopting or evaluating alternatives. Neal and Dietz departed at 5:30 p.m. B. COMMISSION ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES Stovring presented the Commission Roles & Responsibilities document. Stovring discussed the final work plan for the Environmental and Waste Management Commission. She pointed out the items included in the work plan can be considered by this Commission. She discussed the educational materials that have been prepared so far. Stovring discussed that these documents are to provide a springboard for ideas when the Commission creates its own work plan. McMillan asked why the previous Commission was disbanded. Stovring stated an evaluation was done of all the Commissions, and the Environmental and Waste Management Commission was dissolved. An Environmental Education Commission Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 5 was formed, however, not enough citizens signed up and eventually the idea was dropped. Seymour asked if there will be a redrafting of the purpose statement. Chacko responded the Commission will operate under the Charter Statement. The technical document is the Charter Statement. The Purpose Statement was created when staff first started brainstorming about what this Commission may do. C. E-MAIL POLICY Stovring clarified Commission members can sign a letter to the editor as a private citizen, not as a Commission member. Stovring stated she mails out the agenda on the Wednesday or Thursday prior to the meeting. To get the materials out in a more timely manner, emailing of agenda packets may be considered in the future. D. PAST ACTIVITIES OF THE FORMER ENVIRONMENTAL & WASTE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION This was discussed under Commission Roles & Responsibilities. V. NEW BUSINESS A. GREEN BUILDING DESIGN GUIDELINES Stovring stated one of the items that came up among most of the Commission members was green building design. Chacko added he believes that is something that can likely be moved on and should be a high priority on the work plan list. He added it would help reduce operation costs. Stovring stated green building design guidelines could be created for approval by the Council for use by developers. The other way to look at it is in terms of City operations. She noted Neal has suggested that there are places on City Hall where demonstrations could potentially be developed, such as green roofs. Another idea would be City vehicles. Perhaps the Inspections department can use a Toyota Prius rather than a four-door sedan. There are a many ways to look at this idea;it is just a matter of who wants to tackle writing a plan for how to address it. Mosman asked Seymour if he has knowledge about creating a plan to address green building design. Seymour stated he would be happy to work on it. Stovring suggested that he could meet with Paul Sticha individually prior to arranging for him to meet with the Commission. Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 6 Chacko stated he has an idea of how to work on this item. There are a lot of organizations that have done work along this line. The State has mandates now that state-owned buildings have certain green qualities in the areas of ventilation and light bulbs, for example. He has identified a number of resources to reference; the next step is to pull in the local people to determine what is feasible. B. GREEN BUSINESS AWARD PROGRAM Stovring stated the green business award program was previously raised by a Commission member. This was previously done by the Environment & Waste Management Commission,and it focused on environmentally-friendly practices such as water conservation and recycling. Back then, a green building was not on the plate yet. The Commission gave the award, but it worked with the Chamber of Commerce to promote it and the award was handed out during a Chamber of Commerce meeting. Seymour asked about a residential building award and suggested perhaps there can be a landscaping merit award. One could be for single-family new construction; perhaps another could be for multi-residence reconstruction or even remodels and additions. Another award could be for tear-downs. Krocak asked what kind of landscaping would be considered. Stovring stated in the past the Commission has looked at native landscaping in relation to water conservation. Chacko added it broadly has to be consistent with the Charter Statement of the Commission. Stovring stated the City that she is aware of that has the most success with the award programs for residential properties and businesses is the City of Plymouth. Seymour asked if Plymouth subsidized storm water filtration gardens. Stovring stated Plymouth is supportive of rainwater gardens. The one with the many residential ones is Burnsville,but Plymouth has also been proactive in building them. Stovring stated Plymouth also has a rebate program for native landscaping. Mosman stated she would volunteer to speak with Plymouth and find out about their rebate program. Seymour stated he will speak with Burnsville. Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 7 C. FUTURE MEETING LOCATION IDEAS Daniels stated he would like to visit the water treatment plant for one of the future meetings. Daniels asked if a tour can be done at the sewage treatment plant in Shakopee. Stovring stated she was previously told that the Commission can only have meetings in Eden Prairie,but that she would check further on it. Stovring suggested the Environmental Learning Center can be used for a field trip, along with Dunn Brothers to visit the rain garden. Dates for when to meet in these locations will have to be determined and noticed. The meeting was recessed at 6:00 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 6:05 p.m. D. WEB SITE SETUP Stovring stated the Commission can use the webpage to post links or attachments. Chacko stated he has a list of about 60 websites that relate to the Commission's topics. Stovring stated to please limit the suggestions to four or five links. The links should be for information that is short and interesting so that residents would find the materials easy to read and understand. Too much information would deter people from going to the web site. Additional links could also be added to the Environment &Water Resources pages as appropriate. VI. OLD BUSINESS None. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS Chacko stated he would like to set up a lead Commissioner for the various interest topics. That person can take the lead to make sure the Commission moves forward on that issue. Additionally, each leader can have a backup person so that somebody else knows what is going on and can report to the Commission if the lead cannot attend the next meeting. Mosman stated that is an excellent idea. Chacko suggested Seymour and Mosman would be good leads on the green building design awards. Chacko reported the U.S. Green Building Council has a local chapter and he has spoken to the chapter leader and that he would be willing to be a resource to our Commission. Chacko discussed a number of other resources related to green building. He asked Seymour and Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 8 Mosman to report at the next meeting the ways in which they want the work plan item for green building design to evolve. Stovring suggested Chacko work on the work plan for the next meeting. Chacko asked if there were any items that must be in the work plan. Stovring stated that the work plan would have to include participation in the storm water permit program,for items such as education on storm water impacts. Other than that,Staff and perhaps the Council will look at the tasks the Commission is proposing and make sure it fits with the goals for the commission and determine whether they are trying to do too much. Seymour stated the award ideas can be utilized even if the City does not want to have a green building code. Chacko brought up the "feeding the fleet" article. He would like to pursue alternative fuel vehicles. He noted after looking at the State guidelines for State vehicles, he realized the issue is not clear-cut. Daniels offered to be the backup lead on the issue. Chacko brought up inflow and infiltration(I/I). Stovring cautioned the I/I would be coming up in the future,but they are only now starting to research the issue. Stovring stated the City is starting to develop a storm water non-degradation plan and citizens will have to review that,but there is nothing to do on the issue at this stage. Stovring suggested members read the Stormwater Pollution Prevention and Best Management Practice(BMP) sheets on the City web site and come back with any feedback. McMillan stated she would like to be the lead on that issue. Krocak added she will be the backup lead. Chacko asked if there is a timeline regarding solid waste. Stovring stated there is really nothing coming on that right now that she is aware of; the City just rewrote the ordinance. Chacko asked for ideas from Commissioners. Mosman stated she is thinking about symbols, something that is recognizable. She asked if the Commission can have a graphic symbol, something that would identify things that this Commission is involved with. Stovring stated she will find out if that is acceptable. Chacko stated he would like to explore the idea of sustainability. It seems ironic that Eden Prairie used to be a farm and yet most of the food comes from far away. The schools are taking out sodas of the schools because of the damage to the students' diet,but they are not doing anything to address the rest of the diet. Some schools are employing community- sustaining agriculture to bring healthier options to students. He suggested Eden Prairie look into that. He suggested perhaps the high school can have a small plot somewhere to teach students to grow food. McMillan stated that is something that can even be started in the Eden Prairie Conservation Commission April 11, 2006 Page 9 elementary schools. Stovring handed out Minnesota Water's "The Confluence" newsletter that includes legislative updates and suggested that the Commissioners consider signing up for the free newsletter. VIII. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. NPDES STORMWATER PERMIT PROGRAM —SUMMARY OF PERMIT CHANGES/SWPPP B. E-WASTE/RECYCLING ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA E-MAIL UPDATE C. OUTLOOK ON FLEET MANAGEMENT: FEEDING THE FLEET IX. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS A. EDEN PRAIRIE TOWN MEETING—APRIL 11,2006,7:00 P.M.AT FOREST HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL B. EDEN PRAIRIE SCHOOL-WIDE SCIENCE FAIR—APRIL 22, 2006 Stovring stated she will man a table at the science fair and hand out materials regarding environmental programs. She welcomed any Commissioners to join her. It is the school's first science fair and they are hoping for good attendance. C. EDEN PRAIRIE CLEAN-UP—SATURDAY,JUNE 17, 2006 Stovring stated people are always needed to help with traffic directors,handing out materials, et cetera. It will be located at the Hennepin Technical College. D. ENVIRONMENTAL FAIR 2007 Stovring reported Eden Prairie will likely have an environmental fair in 2007 and a theme and list of speakers or ideas needs to be decided upon. X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Mosman moved, seconded by McMillan, to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m.