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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 03/10/2009 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2009 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Heritage Room I & II 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Eapen Chacko (Chair), Ray Daniels, Laura Jester, Sean Katof, Geneva MacMillan, Jan Mosman STAFF: Leslie A. Stovring, Staff Liaison STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Vallari Ajgaonkar, Alexandra(Alex) Baumhardt, Michael (Paco) Caughill GUESTS: Vicky Fong, Eden Prairie High School Student Betsy Beld, Eden Prairie High School Student I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Chacko called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM. Mosman and Ajgaonkar were absent. Daniels and Baumhardt arrived late. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Stovring added Item IV.C. Update on City Council Agenda Items. Jester added Item VI.A. Meeting with Planning or Parks Commission. MOTION: MacMillan moved, seconded by Katof, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Commission Meeting held February 17, 2009 Jester said she did not recall the discussion in the first paragraph under Item VI. regarding the fact that neither Mosman nor Katof will pursue an additional term. It was agreed to strike the last sentence of the paragraph and to change the third sentence of the paragraph to "Discussion ensued on the remaining commission terms." Stovring said Ms Mosman has found it difficult to attend the Commission meetings because of the demands of her own business and her family. Katof said he enjoyed being on the Commission and learning about the City and environmental topics. He regretted he would not be able to devote sufficient time to continue to serve on the Commission. Chacko thanked Ms Mosman and Mr. Katof for their service. MOTION: Katof moved, seconded by MacMillan, to approve the minutes of the February 17, 2009 meeting as amended. Motion carried 4-0. Conservation Commission March 10, 2009 Page 2 Daniels and Baumhardt arrived at 7:10 PM. IV. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Environmental Times Stovring distributed copies of the draft Environmental Times. She noted Ms Jester provided one of the four articles. She said the article regarding the Workshops will drop off as they are scheduled for April, and there will be space to add something else for the May and June edition. If someone would like to write an article, they are to let her know. Jester said the second sentence of her article about buckthorn should read "It invades our open spaces, woodlands and yards." Also the word "in" should be deleted at the end of the first sentence under Birds & Buckthorn. She said the DNR has a good website about buckthorn. Stovring said she will add their web address to the article. Chacko asked if people who read the article on Inflow & Infiltration would know that it applies to homeowners. Stovring said it would affect residents as well as businesses. A separate mailing went out to those that would be affected. This article is just an informational piece for the general public. This affects portions of the northwest and central part of the City. B. 2008 Recyclin2 Report Stovring distributed copies of the 2008 Recycling Report and noted the total tonnage of recycling collected had decreased. She noted Allied Waste said people are not recycling as many of the heavier items such as newspaper and that the lower numbers are showing up metro-wide. She was concerned because the decrease could impact our rebate. Chacko was surprised by the decline in tonnage, as single-sort was perceived as being more convenient than dual-sort. Stovring said that as one-sort is more widely distributed and the Recycling Bank program with Allied Waste grows, the numbers could improve. However, recycling education is definitely needed. Jester asked if those affected by the new ordinance requiring multi-family recycling might be included in the number that should recycle. Stovring said they are not because apartment pickups are separate from single family ones. Jester asked if we have any information on recycling rates for apartment buildings. Stovring said we do not and noted at least one apartment complex is trying to drop out and additional enforcement will be needed this summer to ensure they are all in compliance. Conservation Commission March 10, 2009 Page 3 C. Update on City Council Agenda Items Stovring distributed copies of the draft Ordinance relating to the roles and responsibilities of the Conservation Commission that will be on the City Council agenda March 17. She noted the City Attorney's office modified it to bring the format into one that is similar to the ordinances for the other commissions. Jester asked when this is going out. Stovring said it goes out on March 17t' along with the Commission's work plan. She noted that Gene Dietz and Scott Neal are evaluating how to bring the budget forward to the Council and that it may go to the Budget Advisory Commission (BAC) first before it goes to the City Council. The department directors will discuss it at tomorrow's meeting. Daniels asked what Section 2 of the Ordinance means. Stovring said this section is required on all of our ordinances and establishes the penalty for violation to be a misdemeanor. V. REPORTS FROM CHAIR A. Code Revision—City Council Workshop Chacko said the ordinance and work plan were discussed with the Council and that every Council Member had a comment or a question so it seemed clear that they had all read through the materials. There were a lot of positive comments from the Council about what the Commission has done, and he thought they were very engaged and interested. He noted they had quite a few good suggestions and he asked if those had been recorded. Stovring will send a copy of the Workshop minutes to the Commission. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Meeting with Planning or Parks Commission Stovring said she thought there was a tentative meeting scheduled with the Parks & Recreation Commission later this year. Daniels said it is scheduled for August. Stovring said one potential item would be to talk about incorporating more native landscaping into the City parks and facilities. Stovring said if we want to meet with the Planning Commission their schedule is pretty light now, so we could probably schedule something for their second meeting of the month. Jester asked if we will have new members at the next meeting. Stovring said we will have three or four new members. The next meeting will be a little different because the Stormwater presentation and public meeting will be held at the beginning of the meeting. It is a good opportunity to bring new members up to speed on what the Conservation Commission March 10, 2009 Page 4 stormwater program is. Jester asked if that meeting will start at 7:00 PM. Stovring said it will. Chacko said he was glad the joint meetings are planned. Jester said one of the charges we came away with was to provide some materials for the Planning Commission to consider. When we have a full commission, we can discuss what should be on that list and start developing it. Chacko thought that was a great idea. VII. NEW BUSINESS VIII. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS /HANDOUTS/COMMUNICATIONS IX. UPCOMING EVENTS A. Chamber of Commerce Yard & Garden Expo—March 21, 2009 at Grace Church Stovring said she sent instructions to Ms Jester and Mr. Daniels about this event. Set up is scheduled for 1:00 to 5:00 PM the afternoon before the event. She noted she could come to help Friday afternoon. MacMillan said she could help Friday afternoon but not on Saturday. Jester said she could be there by 3:45 PM on Friday to set up as much as we can. Stovring said her intern could come over earlier that day to help if needed. She noted we have two spaces at the event, and Nine-Mile Creek Watershed District is next to us. They will be handing out coupon books so they were hoping to combine with us to help hand them out. Birch Island Woods also wanted to be next to our booth. B. Infiltration Seminar,April 16, 2009 at 6:30 pm—Heritage Rooms VII Stovring distributed copies of the registration form, noting we joined up with the City of Minnetonka and Nine-Mile Creek Watershed District so there are two workshops scheduled. We have expanded the time from 6:30 to 9:30 PM in order to have more time for person-on-person assistance. She said the Watershed District will be bringing in additional staff to help with this. Jester asked if there are registration forms available. Stovring said there have been forms at the Engineering Department counter, and they have had to be replenished. Stovring also noted that the City Cleanup Day is June 21. They have rearranged the parking lot so there will be a better flow and volunteers may not be needed as much. C. Rain Barrel Workshop—June 27, 2009 at Staring Lake Outdoor Center Stovring said the workshop is being conducted through the Parks & Recreation Department and is posted in their Community Education book. Conservation Commission March 10, 2009 Page 5 Daniels noted Minnetonka is having their Eco Fair this Saturday. Stovring said they have some really good speakers. Typically they have very good attendance. Stovring said she thought if the Chamber keeps our Expo at the same place and builds on it, it will get better. Daniels asked if we have received literature from the Living Green Expo. Stovring said we have the compost bin and rainbarrel promotion posted on line,but we do not have any brochures. D. Waterosity—July 11 & 12,2009 Stovring said the Landscape Arboretum is having a"Waterosity" event this summer. There are two days in July when they want organizations to come in with informational booths and talk about landscaping, water conservation and storm water management. They are having a preview at the Galleria this weekend through the end of April, where they will have an educational display with a jumbo plastic water bottle. For Waterosity there are ten juried art works that will be part of the exhibition. She said the Arboretum will also be highlighting their raingardens and other infiltration practices they use on t heir property. She will get more information about the program,but we need to let them know if we are interested in having a booth either July 11 or 12 or both days. Jester said she might be able to participate but she doesn't know yet what her summer schedule will be. Stovring said she would like to know if anyone is interested by our next meeting because we need to let them know. X. NEXT MEETING A. April 14, 2009 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: MacMillan moved, seconded by Daniels, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Chacko adjourned the meeting at 7:50 PM.