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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 07/14/2009 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,JULY 14, 2009 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Prairie Room and Atrium 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 Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Jester called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. Jaiswal and MacMillan were absent. Brown arrived late. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Daniels added Item VII. B. Reimbursement for Supplies and Item X.C. Sierra Club Green Building Tour. MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Trebil, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 4-0. III. MINUTES A. Commission Meeting held June 9, 2009 MOTION: Daniels moved, seconded by Olson, to approve the minutes of the June 14, 2009 meeting as published. Motion carried 4-0. IV. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Results of Annual Clean Up Herron referred to the spreadsheet in the Commission packet summarizing the results of the clean ups over the past several years. She said the total tons were about average compared to previous years, but the number of vehicles increased from 2007 and 2008. Daniels asked where the cost of$20,000 for the clean comes from. Herron said she will look into that and noted we did receive a donation from BFI for the event. Olson asked if electronics were not collected in 2006. It was suggested that item may have been incorporated into another category that year. Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 2 Jester asked if the event went smoothly. Herron said she was not sure as she did not attend the event. Daniels asked if the yard waste collected at the event was composted or put in the dump. Herron said she will check on that. Herron asked how best to present the answers to the Commissioner's questions if she needs to do some research. Jester suggested we wait to see how many questions we have tonight. Brown arrived at 7:08 PM B. DNR Feedback on Eden Prairie Water Rate Structure Herron said there was a question at last month's meeting about the DNR approving our commercial rate structure. She said the DNR determined our commercial rate structure is within compliance. Daniels asked how many private wells exist in Eden Prairie. Jester said we have received that information in the past,but she did not remember the number. We have both irrigation and private drinking wells. Herron said private wells and septic systems must be abandoned on redeveloped property and subdivided property; however irrigation wells may be kept. She will get an estimate of the numbers. Daniels said he was sure we need to work on phasing out private wells and septic systems. Jester said we discussed that a while ago in conjunction with the well head protection program. Trebil asked if additions to current buildings are considered redevelopment. Herron said it is only new structures. C. Rainwater Workshop—June 27, 2009 Herron said she spoke to Ms Stovring who indicated there were 10 people in attendance at the event. D. Students on Commission Selection Herron said she included in the meeting packet the letters from the City Manager to the students who were appointed to the Commission. She noted they were appointed for the fall or spring terms depending on their school schedules. Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 3 Daniels asked when they join us. Herron said they attend an orientation in September and could be available for the September meeting. Jester said she hoped the students get something out of being on the Commission. Their input has been good but there has not been a lot of it, and she would like to find a way to use them more. Daniels suggested we have an agenda item in September for the students to talk about their expectations for serving on the Commission. Brown said there might be certain things they could be responsible for that would encourage their participation, such as reporting on what is going on in the High School. Jester said we could add an item to the agenda for"Reports from Students." We are working on making inroads into the school system,but there is still a disconnect. Brown said she would be happy to work specifically with the students. Jester said she liked the idea of having their reports on the agenda and also taking time on the September agenda for them to talk about their expectations. Daniels said they have talked a little about the education covered in the High School, but we may need to explore that a little more. He thought we may need to make contacts at the school and encourage them to do more. Brown said we could find out which teachers are "green" and use them as a resource. Jester said she was more tentative about working with curriculum,but we could work with clubs and find staff members who are interested. Brown thought we could invite them to our meetings. Jester said she would love to see more partnerships between the City and the schools. Brown suggested they could help man our booth at events or possibly have a float in the parade. V. REPORTS FROM CHAIR A. Go Green with a Splash Party Weekend (Waterosity) Daniels thought it was good we were there because a lot of people visited with us and we dispensed a lot of the booklets from Hennepin County. Jester noted the booklet was about earth-friendly landscaping and lawn care. She said Hennepin County also provided some cloth bags and a box of pencils to give away. Brown asked what kinds of questions were asked. Daniels said we gave them materials and talked a little about rain barrels. Brown said she would like a copy of the Hennepin County booklet. Jester suggested having a stack available at the next meeting when we meet with the Parks Commission. Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 4 Olson asked about the attendance for the event. Daniels said it was well attended but not all of them were from Eden Prairie. Brown asked if it was worth our time and effort to do this if we weren't speaking to Eden Prairie residents. Jester thought we may have made a little difference and noted a lot of Eden Prairie residents don't even know the Conservation Commission exists. Olson said it is good for us to have forums with other communities or other groups because it helps us to bring more ideas back to the Commission and broadens our own horizons. Brown thought we should put our money and efforts into Eden Prairie specific agenda items and develop a narrow list of events in which we will participate. Jester said the schedule for the year has a list of events in which we plan to participate. The Waterosity event was not on our schedule of events for this year,but the Arboretum asked us to participate. She said Mr. Daniels and Ms MacMillan are doing a lot of church events on their own time, and those aren't on the schedule either. Daniels said we aren't marketing to a lot of people,but we do need to get out there in order to become better known. Jester noted when the commission was put together education and sitting at booths was not part of our mission;however, when we revised the charter we added education into the Commission's role. Brown said she agreed education should be a large part of what we do. She suggested we focus our efforts by putting together a plan to educate people and allocating our resources to make the greatest impact in the smallest amount of time. Daniels noted the cost of the event to the City was very little. The cost was primarily for the time taken by those Commissioners who attended. Jester agreed it would be a good exercise to hone our message because our materials are scattered. It would be good to take some time to put together more succinct messages. She noted we have made changes from event to event. Trebil asked if there is a master schedule for 2009. Jester said the work plan for 2009 lists events like the Fourth of July and Sunbonnet Days. Jester said it is important to keep in mind that we are representing the City even though we are volunteering to help with the events. Daniels said we are getting to know the staff of the DNR. Jester said the DNR's Shoreland Grants person came up and asked about other shoreland restoration groups like the Mitchell Lake group. Brown said while biking she has noticed trash that is now visible because of the low water levels,but she didn't know who would coordinate the removal of that. Herron Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 5 said it would be the City's Parks staff if it was on City property and anything in the water would be the DNR's responsibility. She said some areas could be on private property. Brown said the area she saw was right on Dell Road along the sidewalk. Herron said she would notify City staff know about removal of debris. Daniels thought it would be a good way to employ young people in the community. Jester said honing our message could be a topic for a future agenda. Brown said she could look for people in the marketing community to do some pro bono work, and she could help with materials that we need to have redone. Jester said right now our source for materials is getting information off the internet. Daniels noted there are a lot of things from the Minnesota PCA. Herron said she can facilitate getting assistance from the communications staff at the City. Brown asked if we would want to rebrand our material and create a new image. Jester thought that is a great topic for a future meeting and suggested we add it to the September agenda. Daniels said he was asked at the event where we have an example of a rain garden or native landscaping. Jester said there are rain gardens at Dunn Bros Coffee and at Edenvale Park. Herron said we required a rain garden for the Whispering Ridge and Enclave developments. Brown asked how it is required. Herron said it is part of the requirement for infiltration and storm water management, and the engineering staff works with the developer. Jester asked if it would be placed on an individual lot. Herron said it can be on an individual lot or on an outlot. Jester asked if we have considered doing these with curb cuts. Herron said it has been done within the property to catch runoff. Jester noted curb cuts have worked very well with a Burnsville development where the water drains into a rain garden. She thought that is a little more effective than having it over land. Brown noted Chanhassen uses recyclable containers with different openings that are marked with the type of material to be recycled. The containers are within cement boundaries, and they look very nice. She showed photos of the containers. Jester said she will call the staff at Chanhassen to see how those are working for them and report back at the August meeting. VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Parks Commission—Meeting Topics Herron said she and Jay Lotthammer are developing the agenda for the meeting, and it will be finalized soon. She distributed a list of the agenda topics and noted the t1i Commission can add anything else tonight or before July 27 . Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 6 Brown said she thought the topic of how insecticides and fertilizers are managed within the parks would be good. Jester said that might fall under the turf management item. Jester asked if there is a goal is to get a speaker on the value of open space. She thought we could use up two hours just discussing that topic, so she hoped that presentation would be limited to 30 minutes if we are able to make arrangements for the speaker. She thought it might be good to have that at a separate meeting because we have several items to discuss with the Parks Commission. Jester asked where the meeting will be held. Herron said it will be held in the Council Chamber at 7:00 PM. B. Fall Seminar Herron said the fall seminar was on the work plan so she added it to on the agenda. She asked if this was something we wanted to pursue. Jester thought the plan was for a workshop event like the rain garden workshop for residents. She asked if anyone had a suggestion for a topic. Brown suggested the topic of leaf management or preparing for winter. Jester said we could probably cover that in a newsletter article. She said she has seen fall seminars on winterizing a lawn. Jester suggested Ms Herron check with Ms Stovring to get her ideas about winterizing and also an idea for a speaker. Daniels thought we could include information about the financing of winterizing projects because there are some tax rebates available. Trebil thought residents would be interested in the federal rebate and also any City rebates available. Brown thought most people don't know these programs exist. Daniels said we could have Xcel talk about their rebate program. Jester asked if the seminar would go through Parks & Recreation Department in order to get people signed up. Herron said the rain barrel workshop was through Parks & Recreation but she would have to check. She thought it might be too late to set it up at this point. Brown suggested we might want to save the money and hit groups like the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce because they always want speakers. Jester asked if anyone would want to work with Ms Stovring and Ms Herron to get the questions answered. Daniels thought the primary question is financing and he wasn't sure we have money for an energy seminar. Brown volunteered to follow up on this issue. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. Upcoming City Projects and Development-Project Profile Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 7 Herron noted the Planning Division has liaisons to several City commissions so those commissions have been added to the project profile. The Commission will have an opportunity to comment on a project and give feedback. She said this primarily includes new development or redevelopment projects. She said Kevin Schmieg gives her a heads up on projects that may want to implement wind turbines or solar energy. Jester said when we had the workshop with the City Council it was fairly clear that the Council does not wish projects to have another stopping point at this Commission. She thought it was nice to see what is going on and where conservation could enter into the picture. Olson asked what our role is in this process. Jester said at this point we could ask questions,possibly suggest certain things for the projects and even make a recommendation if we feel strongly about something. Olson said he would think our purpose is to have some voice in policy making, and he was not clear at what point we would do that. Jester said that isn't spelled out but we know we can't hold up anything. Olson asked if we will be notified as projects come up. Herron said this is a weekly document produced by staff and sent out internally to the various City departments. It is included in the Planning Commission and City Council packets. Brown asked if there is a way to highlight new versus ongoing projects for reference purposes. Herron said if a project is the "In but Not Scheduled" section it is a new project or part of the Planning Division work plan. Jester asked if the Menard's project is a redevelopment. Herron said they have proposed a two-story Menards and would demolish the current building to rebuild it in two stories. They received City Council approval for their site plans,but they still need to sign the development agreement and get that recorded so it is not completely through the process. Jester asked if the new storm water infiltration standards apply. Herron said a new stormwater pond is shown on the site plan. Trebil asked about the appropriate timing in the process to give recommendations. Herron said a recommendation would need to be made prior to the project going to the Planning Commission. The Conservation Commission could discuss the project and include a recommendation in the meeting minutes. Daniels said it would be nice if Menards could do some rain garden infiltration in the parking lot. Herron said the site plan is already approved, and she would have to check to see if that was included. The Commission took a break at 8:10 PM,returning at 8:20. The meeting was then moved to the Atrium because the lights were out in the Prairie Room. Jester asked about the land swap proposed in the Hennepin Village project on the list of"In but Not Scheduled"projects. Herron said certain acreage will be dedicated to the City as part of the project approval. Jester said she hoped the City will get land Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 8 that deserves to be open space. Daniels asked what part of the development will be swapped. Herron said she would need to refer to the plan. Jester asked if the William Small property is located along the bluff and if we have set back ordinances that apply. Herron said she did not know if it is applicable,but it is adjacent to the Oak Creek at Hennepin Village project. Jester asked about Items 5-14 on the "In but Not Scheduled" list. Herron said those items are on the Planning Division's work plan for 2009. Jester asked if any of those would come through this Commission. Herron said the wind, solar and geothermal projects would. Jester asked if we would get to see drafts of the code changes. Herron said we would. She noted the driveway materials item has been reviewed by the Planning Commission. Jester noted she did not think we can ask Ms Herron about everything coming through as we need to be cognizant of her time. B. Reimbursement for Supplies Daniels said he has some receipts for supplies and would like to know how to get reimbursed. Jester said she would get information from Ms Stovring and email it to the group along with the guidelines. She said it would probably have to go through Ms Herron first. Herron said she will check about funding so we know how to code the requests and which department to charge to. VIII. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Commercial Recyclins!Initiative Code amendment—Dan Trebil (Vice Chair) Trebil said he included four pages marked "DRAFT" in the Commission packets for the commercial recycling language as a code amendment. He noted the packets also included the Hennepin County requirements and the current Eden Prairie code. He did not know the protocol on how to go about this or how much detail we would add. Herron said the Commission should work on a draft. The draft would be reviewed by city staff and the City Attorney. It would be up to the Council to approve the code change. Trebil asked if it would be best to mark up the existing code or put in a new section regarding commercial recycling. Herron said it could be done either way. Daniels asked if there is no code for this currently. Herron said there is not. Daniels thought having a commercial section in the code would be best. Jester said we changed the code to require recycling for multi-family dwellings and asked if Eden Prairie would want to get this specific on commercial recycling. Herron said we try not to be too specific. Jester thought we should further refine Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 9 what we would like to see and where we would like to insert it in the existing code. Trebil said he could further refine it and then re-circulate it. Jester thought it would be good to keep in mind that Eden Prairie doesn't care to have a lot of details. Trebil thought he could condense it a lot. Brown asked if we found anything unique or informative in code from any other cities. Trebil said some cities get very specific about the placement on existing properties. They define certain recyclables and provide for future expansion. Jester said she appreciated Mr. Trebil's work and is very excited about getting this in place. She would like to have redevelopment spelled out and not just development. In the future we could talk about the City providing incentives to retrofit for recycling. Olson asked what other cities are trying to accomplish and what the issues are around recycling in order to have a better idea of the kinds of outcomes other cities are targeting. Jester said the City is required by the PCA to have certain things in place and require us to put money into educational programs. Olson noted it is a big topic. Jester said we have had presentations from a recycling expert and learned how important it is to properly sort recycling materials. Trebil asked how an office with multiple tenants would work for commercial recycling. Brown noted Eden Prairie Center doesn't have recycling, and she thought we should see how we could incent them to recycle. Jester noted Grace Church also doesn't recycle. She did not think it is well known how much energy and water is saved by recycling and she has a lot of information she could share. Jester said we will probably put this off a couple of months because of our meeting with the Parks Commission in August. Trebil said he can doctor up the draft and send it out with next month's packet to review for the September meeting. Brown said she would like to know how we feel about moving away from paper and plastic bags as a City. She said a lot of cities such as San Francisco are implementing that type of ordinance. She wondered if that is something we would like to propose to the City Council. Trebil asked if the cities mandate it. Brown said that is essentially how they do it. She noted the average person uses over 400 bags per year, and she thought it would be a great topic to tackle. Herron said that would be a code amendment. Traditionally the City avoids getting involved with how private companies do business. Olson said we are able to come up with ideas and if other communities are doing these things then he thought it is fair game to look at. It would have to be sold to the City Council and area merchants. Brown thought this addresses what role we want to play and whether we want to make recommendations and take actions. Olson said before we get to that point there is a chance to learn what other communities are Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 10 doing, how they approached it and how it works. We would get smarter and more creative along the way. Brown asked if someone would take responsibility for moving this forward and present formative code changes. Olson said we need to do our homework before making a recommendation. Jester said she would like to see this commission working towards that direction but she was not sure about that specific topic. We would have a lot of learning to do, and she wondered if any other Minnesota cities are doing it. She thought there are some other easier steps the City needs to take such as recycling in parks and other areas in the City. She was interested in learning how San Francisco handles it. Brown said this gets to the idea that recycling goes beyond waste. She said she could put some of that information together. Jester said as we think about our work plan for 2010 we may be able to come up with a long list of things. Olson noted staff will have things we need to work into the program too. Jester thanked Mr. Trebil for his work on this item. IX. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS/HANDOUTS/COMMUNICATIONS A. Report on July 4th Event—Ray Daniels Daniels said there was not a lot of traffic,perhaps because it was a rainy day. He thought we need to come up with marketing ideas for this and other events. He suggested we get a banner to help get our name out there at events. Jester said she appreciated his taking the time to be there. Herron noted she included in the packets a thank you note we received about his participation. B. MN Environmental Initiative Awards http://www.mn- ei.orp,/awards/finalistswinners.html Jester said there are some really neat projects that won awards this year, and the website may be a good place to look for things for next year. C. City Native Plantings Herron suggested the Commission do a walking field trip around City Center to look at the changes and have Paul Sticha talk about them. X. UPCOMING EVENTS A. Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources Joint Meeting—August 3, 2009 (This will be in place of our regular August meeting) Conservation Commission July 14, 2009 Page 11 B. Future Joint Meetings with Planning Commission—October or November 2009 C. Sierra Club Green Building Tour Daniels said this tour is scheduled for tomorrow night at 5800 Baker Road. There will be a presentation, a tour of the green building there, and a nature walk in the adjacent wetland preserve. X. NEXT MEETING A. August 3, 2009 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Brown, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Jester adjourned the meeting at 8:57 PM.