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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 06/09/2009 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,JUNE 9, 2009 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Heritage Room I & II 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Laura Jester (Chair), Dan Trebil (Vice-Chair), Sue Brown, Ray Daniels, Ravi Jaiswal, Geneva MacMillan, Greg Olson STAFF: Regina Herron, Staff Liaison Leslie A. Stovring, Environmental Coordinator Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary GUESTS: Lin Combs, Eden Prairie Resident I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Jester called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Jester added Item VII. A. Upcoming City Projects and Development. Stovring added Item IV.C. Water Rebate Program and Item VIII.B. Goose Management Handout. MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Brown, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 7-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Commission Meeting held May 12, 2009 Regarding Item V.A., MacMillan asked if the email summary from the Riley- Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District meeting on May 5 had been sent to Commission members as she did not receive it. Stovring said she will send it out. MOTION: MacMillan moved, seconded by Trebil, to approve the minutes of the May 12, 2009 meeting as published. Motion carried 5-0, with Olson and Jaiswal abstaining. IV. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Water Treatment Plant—Watering Status Report Stovring distributed the Watering Status reports and noted we set a record for production during the month of May. Every day in May was dry, and some days the Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 2 plant was operating close to full capacity. She said Well No. 15 is now hooked up to the system. Olson asked if this is counted by the number of accounts. Stovring said it is based on overall well pumping for all accounts. Olson said it would be interesting to see a comparison of the counts by residential and business units. Stovring said it might be possible to look at the irrigation only accounts because that would catch quite a few of the commercial accounts,but is unsure how easy it would be to break out such a comparison. Jester asked if the rebates for rain sensors are included in the rebate program. Stovring said they are and that last year we gave out about$2,500 for those. Jester asked what the City is doing to curb watering on its own property. Stovring City just completed a property analysis and has converted a few areas on city property from sod to rock or have stopped mowing. She said there are a number of sloped areas where mowing was stopped and will be allowed to convert to native landscaping. Watering for those areas will be cut back as the new vegetation establishes. Mr. Combs noted the newspaper article also mentioned using those areas as guidelines for establishing natural lawns in the City. Stovring said the current City Code states native landscaping areas must have the sod removed before the native plantings are put in. However, this requirement is waived in certain areas, such as those with steep slopes. The City focused on steep slope areas for where they stopped mowing. In addition, the Parks Department is planning on interspersing plantings within these areas to try and improve the aesthetics. Jester asked if there have been any other watering cutbacks. Stovring said there haven't been as yet. She said one problem is that most of our turf grass is blue grass which is not adapted to Minnesota weather and has to be watered regularly when it is dry. The City also learned that not all of the newer varieties can go dormant, so the sod will die if it isn't watered a minimal amount. Olson asked about using native grasses. Stovring said varieties such as fescue can be cut shorter than some native grasses and can be incorporated into seed mixes. Jester asked if we are going to tougher grasses at Staring Lake or Miller Park. Stovring said we do,but we have to water the playgrounds more because of the heavy use. We also talked about the rebate program and we plan to continue our education efforts. B. Water Treatment Plant—New Rate Structure Requirements Stovring said the state requires cities of 10,000 or more to put a conservation rate structure in place. Eden Prairie now has a straight two-tier rate structure. This includes an extra$1.00 per 1,000 gallons for summer watering and also irrigation only accounts. She said we have provided our rate structure to the DNR to determine Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 3 if we meet the state requirements for commercial accounts,but residential accounts do comply. Brown asked where information about the rate structure and the rebates is available. Stovring said the information is on the city's web site. Olson asked if the new rate structure will be announced if needed. Stovring said it will be announced if we have to change our rates. Daniels asked how residents would know from the water bill that it is a two-tier rate structure. Stovring said the conservation surcharge line indicates the account is in the second tier, so it is a separate line-item. Daniels asked when the second tier would become effective. Stovring said there is a calculation used, it takes effect for usage 1- 1/2 times winter use (or the city average), and the average base rate is 36,000 gallons. Jester asked if that is explained on the bill. Stovring said it is not on the bill,but it is in the utility insert in the spring and also in the new residents' packets as well as on the web site. She said residents also receive a copy if they get a lawn watering violation. Mr. Combs asked if a homeowner can get a waiver. Stovring said they can get an exemption for watering but not from the surcharge. Jester asked if the exemption is for new sod. Stovring said that was correct. Daniels asked about filling an in-ground swimming pool. Stovring said if it takes the homeowner over their baseline they are charged for it. Jester asked if last year was the first year on the conservation surcharge. Stovring said it has been in place since 1998,but the cap was removed from the rate structure last year. Jester asked if there have been any noticeable differences since the cap was removed. Stovring said a lot of town home associations and commercial uses did see a significant impact and have been trying to find ways to cut back usage. Daniels asked what happens to the money collected from the surcharge. Stovring said it is part of our water utility revenue. Daniels asked if it is invested in anything for conservation or restricted for any particular use. Stovring said the conservation surcharge is part of the water utility, so it can be used for purposes that have to do with water such as new wells, water utility repairs, running the water plant and water conservation. Daniels asked if it could be invested in doing rain gardens. Stovring said we have a small piece set aside for our rebates, but rain gardens are under the storm water utility. Olson asked if there is more money coming in than is being spent. Stovring said we have not had to increase our base rate as much because of it but the city does keep a close eye on revenue versus spending. Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 4 Jester asked Ms Stovring to send along any information from the meeting with the DNR for next month's Commission meeting. C. Water Rebate Program Stovring said the city is evaluating the water rebates for 2010. She said the budget for the rebates is $12,500 for appliances and toilets and $2500 for sprinkler system upgrades. She noted we are looking at modifying the appliance rebates to take off dishwashers next year because it is difficult to determine water usage for those and they do not save a significant amount of water. We are also looking at using the Water-Sense program to determine what qualifies for rebates, including washing machines, toilets and perhaps faucets. She distributed information about the Water- Sense products that is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She noted we are leaning towards making those products a requirement for the rebate program as they test for not only water usage but also product quality and reliability. For example, there are some faucets coming out that are much more water efficient than a regular faucet. Trebil asked if there are any programs or incentives for commercial users. Stovring said we have always struggled with that. The irrigation system program is for both residential and commercial, but we have stuck with residential for the rest of the rebates. She said last year we budgeted $14,500 for the two rebate programs and gave out$15,450, so we usually go a little over the allocated amount. Olson asked if the rebate money comes from local taxes. Stovring said it comes from the water utilities. Olson asked if there is any federal money we could use. Stovring said we haven't used any, but we are required to have a program in place to conserve water when we add a new well and this is part of our program to meet that requirement. Olson asked why we would not allocate more than $14,000 per year. Stovring said a large part of it is education because we need long term changes and there are no plans to increase the budget at this time. She said the changes that have been implemented have lead to saving approximately 10 million gallons of water over ten years. Brown asked how someone would find out about the program. Stovring said the information is on the website, in city newsletters occasionally and we let the local vendors know. Timing is the issue for publication however as we never know when the money will run out. This year for example it ran out in April. Jester asked if the program changed peoples' decisions. Stovring thought it has because a lot of people do say they bought water conserving appliances because of the rebate. Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 5 Brown thought the information regarding what the plant capacity is now and what we would be able to pump in the future should be incorporated into our water conservation education efforts to provide an incentive and would have an impact on how people use water. Olson thought this should be a strategic goal for the long term. Brown said we should get this message out with the goal because she thought people want to do the right thing. Daniels asked if we know at what point this community will have to stop growing because of the water situation. Stovring said other cities have further restrictions on how much you can water the lawn, and that would be an alternative if future water capacity doesn't meet what is the current per capita demand. Mr. Combs asked if other communities are drawing on the same water table and if we coordinate what is happening with them. Stovring said it is done through the our wellhead protection program. Eden Prairie's groundwater well fields and Minnetonka's do have some overlap. Jester asked about private wells. Stovring said it is perfectly legal to put one in because the DNR has few restrictions on residential wells. She said some businesses such as car washes also have wells. Jester asked when we will decide on next year's rebates. Stovring said we will make a decision by the end of the year. Jester asked if the budget for next year has been set. Stovring said it has. Jester asked Ms Stovring to let Mr. Dietz know the rebates should be increased or at least stay the same. V. REPORTS FROM CHAIR A. Parks Commission—Meeting Topics Jester said at the last meeting we discussed coming up with a good list of topics we wanted to discuss with Parks, including what kind of conservation measures we are taking in the parks with regard to planting and watering and what is happening with infiltration areas. She asked who will set the agenda for that meeting. Herron said she will work with Jay Lotthammer to set up the agenda, and they are currently generating ideas. Herron distributed a memo summarizing the goose management program and said the Parks Commission wants to discuss that. Jester asked what they want to discuss about it. Herron said they want to talk about the goose management program results and the effect on city parks. Stovring noted the summary shows how many were captured and how much we spent on the program. Brown asked what the chart says. Stovring said it shows the number of geese collected in each of the different areas and the total cost for processing them. Brown asked how they are processed. Stovring said the adults are sent to food shelves and the goslings go to a nature area in Anoka. Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 6 MacMillan asked why there was a big difference in numbers for Mitchell Lake and Miller Park between 2002 and 2008. Stovring said we usually see a decrease in the number of geese that stay in a location once we are on a site. Overall the number we have collected has gone down. She noted in 2005-2006 the Purgatory Creek Recreation Area was seeded so that area experienced a big increase at that time. Brown asked if geese can also add to water pollution. Stovring said that is why the program is paid for out of the storm water fund. When the population gets high, the number of aggressive geese on the site increases, and there are more car accidents. They are a health threat as well. Herron said another item to discuss was recycling in the parks and noted Wes Dunsmore has been involved in implementation. She said Mr. Lotthammer also talked about having Jenna Fletcher from Embrace Open Space speak at the joint meeting. Brown asked what we are doing with the schools. She asked if there are things we could do to get the community more involved in keeping up some areas. Stovring thought that was a good idea. Brown said high school students have to get community service hours, and she thought they could work at places like Mitchell Lake. We might be able to get all levels of school children out to help. Mr. Combs asked if the Youth Environmental Activities (YEA) group is active here. Stovring said she hasn't heard of it. Jester noted we have student commissioners on the commission and they have not mentioned that. Mr. Combs said YEA had a huge rally in Washington D.C. Brown said she could look into where they are located. Mr. Combs said he will email her the names of the Chair and Vice Chair for the Minnesota YEA. Jester summarized the list of topics as follows: Schools/Parks partnership, natural area management, recycling, turf management, native plantings, rain gardens, and conservation measures in the parks including whether those will increase in the future. Brown said it seems like there might be a natural fit for play pumps that are used to generate energy to pump water in underdeveloped countries. She said each pump costs $15,000 to sponsor, and she thought it might be interesting to see if there was some way we could use that to help us make things a little easier. Jaiswal asked how it works. Brown said it is a piece of whirly equipment placed where children play and is used in those nations that don't have great access to water. She said it needs to be near a well or other water source. MacMillan asked if there are any companies from the U.S. involved in this. Brown said it is an American company,but it is used in countries that don't have a good water supply such as in Africa and India. Jester thought we could bring this up with Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 7 the Schools/Parks partnership agenda item and talk about using kids' energy in other productive ways as well. Mr. Combs noted the Alliance for Sustainability is another organization and their website is AFORS.org. Jester asked if the Embrace Open Space speaker will discuss how they were involved in the past and how they might be involved in the future and if Eden Prairie is done purchasing open space. Herron said as property comes through for development there are often areas that are required to be turned into an outlot. Sometimes the Parks Department may purchase the property if it is adjacent to a park, or they might have a conservation easement. She didn't know about the funding. Stovring said we don't have much left for acquisition,but we are looking for another park area in the southwest part of the City. Jester asked how outlots are handled. Herron said outlots can be managed by the city or private land owner. Jester asked about the area behind her house near Purgatory Creek. Herron said if it is under City ownership she should contact the Parks and Recreation Department specifically Stuart Fox. Stovring said the larger ones are under active management plans but the rest are just left alone. Brown asked what sort of chemicals we use to help maintain the property and noted there are ways to do things better and smarter. Stovring said City staff goes to training sessions with the state every year. She thought discussion of things like corn gluten could be part of the turf management agenda topic. She said we also have active management of outlots and conservation areas as an agenda item. Jester asked if Embrace Open Space is a consortium or a non profit. Herron said she was not sure. She said the joint packet will be sent out on July 30, so we can keep this on the agenda for our July meeting. B. Commercial Recyclins!Initiative Jester said Ms Stovring sent her information on the Bloomington commercial recycling ordinance, and she would love to have something like this as part of our Eden Prairie ordinances so that whenever a property was developed or redeveloped they would have to recycle. Stovring said they could be required to add recycling storage at this time. She said there are a lot of properties out there that currently don't have room for storage of recycling containers, so some grandfathering will likely be required. Jester asked about the likelihood of Eden Prairie having this type of code. Stovring thought it would be fine and we would need to write up a draft section to insert into our existing code. Ms Herron could provide a copy of our existing code section. We would also need to talk with Ms Herron about making sure the requirements for the containers are in there as part of it. Trebil said he would work on a draft. Jester said Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 8 she would send him an electronic copy of the Bloomington ordinance. Jester asked if he could provide an update at the July meeting, and Mr. Trebil agreed. Jester asked if there are any other cities that have a commercial recycling code. Stovring said St. Louis Park and possibly Plymouth and Minnetonka. Jester thought we should call the different cities to get copies of their code to use as we develop the draft. Stovring said we have a new vendor who picks up organics. They are starting with commercial sites and schools this month but they do hope to expand it. Jester said we need to have a presentation from them once they get working. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. Future Joint Meetings Herron said she thought probably September or October would be good for a joint meeting with the Planning Commission. Jester thought October would work well. B. July 4, 2009 Event Booth Daniels asked if we got the application in. Stovring said we did. Daniels said he was not sure what kind of canopy we will be using because Jeff Straite's canopy was smashed at the plant sale. He will contact Jeff to see if he has replaced it. Stovring said we would have money in the budget if we need to rent a tent. Jester asked Mr. Daniels if he was planning to be there the whole day. Daniels said he will but invited others to come and join him. Jester suggested anyone who wants to help should contact Mr. Daniels. Daniels said he has a lot of materials but needs to work out some things. MacMillan asked about the big display board. Daniels said he has to solve that and figure out some way that we can put up boards and have them stay up in the wind. He said he would like to get more copies of the Hennepin County booklet on rain gardens. Jester said she has copies of the Dakota County booklet but Hennepin County's would be more appropriate. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Upcoming City Projects and Development Jester said she would like to keep this as an ongoing agenda item. Herron said the Planning Division sends out a project profile to the Planning Commission and City Council regarding upcoming, tabled or ongoing projects. She said she will attach that to the Commission packets. Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 9 Jester thought that would be great and asked if it is updated regularly. Herron said staff updates it weekly. VIII. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS /HANDOUTS/COMMUNICATIONS IX. UPCOMING EVENTS A. Eden Prairie Clean Up—Saturday,June 21, 2009 B. Rain Barrel Workshop—June 27, 2009 at Staring Lake Outdoor Center C. Go Green with a Splash Party Weekend (Waterosity) — Saturday & Sunday, July 11 & 12, 2009 from 11 am—3 pm at the Landscape Arboretum Jester said she could be there from 11:00 to 3:00 on Sunday, July 12, and could help with set up on Saturday. MacMillan said she could help on Saturday from 11:00 to 3:00. Daniels said he could be there on Saturday. Daniels asked if we have decided on a topic. Jester asked if it would make sense to have information on the water rebate and the water usage chart. She asked if there will be a booth on rain barrels. Stovring said she didn't know. Jester noted we have both days covered and asked what the booth should consist of. Stovring said we could have information regarding the water program, native plant landscaping, the rebate program, rain gardens, shore land restoration work, irrigation rebates and books on water conservation. Jester said she didn't want to duplicate with other booths. Stovring said we have art work from the Environmental Learning Center we could put in the booth that describes how much water you can save and also about buying local. Jester asked if the booths will be outside or inside. Stovring thought that information should be on the application. Jester said we need to know that and also what time we can set up. Jester said some of the displays at the Arboretum are a lot like the water plant. She said she will contact the Arboretum and ask these questions and then email the information to Ms MacMillan and Mr. Daniels. D. Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Joint Meeting—August 3, 2009 (This will be in place of our regular August meeting) X. NEXT MEETING A. July 14, 2009 Conservation Commission June 9, 2009 Page 10 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Daniels moved, seconded by Olson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7- 0. Chair Jester adjourned the meeting at 8:35 PM.