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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 04/10/2012 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,APRIL 10, 2012 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Laura Jester(Chair), Greg Olson (Vice Chair), Stacy Bettison, Sue Brown, Kurt Lawton, Anthony Pini, Prashant Shrikhande STUDENT MEMBERS: McKenna Campbell-Potter, Rebecca Ebert, Yasmin Atef-Vahid COMMISSION STAFF: Regina Rojas, Planning Division Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary GUESTS: Paul Sticha, Facilities Manager Cliff Cracauer, Public Works Supt. Ray Daniels I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Jester called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M. All Commission members were present. Shrikhande arrived late. All student members were absent. A. Welcome New Commission Member Jester welcomed Stacy Bettison to the Commission. Ms Bettison said she has lived in Eden Prairie for two years. She practiced environmental law in Chicago and Minneapolis. She has a focused interest in environmental issues. Jester asked Mr. Pini if the Southwest LRT Committee had met yet. Pini said meetings are scheduled for the second Thursday of the month, and the first meeting is this Thursday, April 12. Jester suggested we add an update for that committee as a regular item on the Commission agenda. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Lawton moved, seconded by Olson, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 6-0. III. MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 2 A. Approval of Minutes for the March 13, 2012 Meeting MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Pini, to approve the minutes of the March 13, 2012 meeting as published. Motion carried 6-0. IV. SPEAKERS A. 20/40/15 Update--Paul Sticha and Cliff Cracauer Jester welcomed Mr. Sticha and Mr. Cracauer. Rojas distributed copies of a report on the 20/40/15 project that was given at a recent City Council workshop. Cliff Cracauer, Public Works Superintendent, gave a PowerPoint update on the 20/40/15 progress for Fleet Services. He said in 2006 the goal was set to increase our fuel economy 40% by 2015. As part of the plan to reach that goal, they have tried to incorporate alternative energy resources wherever possible. Their primary strategy was to right size the fleet in order to get the right vehicle for the right job. They have scheduled replacement of vehicles with fuel-efficient ones wherever possible. Everything was done within their annual budget, so no money was added to the budget for the project. They did dedicate $25,000 per year from the fleet fund to work with alternative energy vehicles. They implemented best practices for equipment operation, including transitioning to the use of synthetic oil in the vehicles. By pooling and sharing vehicles they were able to reduce the fleet by ten vehicles. Shrikhande arrived at 7:05 P.M. Cracauer reviewed the commitments they have made for the GreenStep Cities program, including reviewing and evaluating alternative fuel resources and how equipment is acquired and used. He said they had an increase in fuel economy of 27.9% at the end of 2011 as a result of the various changes they have made to the fleet. They have 12% to go to meet the 2015 goal for 40% fuel economy. In order to meet that goal they will need employee support and good ideas, and everyone will need to build good habits. Olson asked if the rate of increase in gas prices tends to shorten the economic life of the less efficient vehicles. Cracauer said we have to find a use for them. Olson asked if the City buys used vehicles. Cracauer said they typically do not but, as an example, they have started to buy extended cab pickups because of the resale value of those vehicles. Shrikhande asked about the vehicles that are used only 3000 miles. Cracauer said the assessors are almost a special group. They make appointments to inspect CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 3 homes. He said they are getting to the point where it makes more sense to use a mileage stipend in some cases. Pini asked if they track the amount of time the engines are running versus the amount of time the vehicles are on the street. Cracauer said they do that on some vehicles. Most of the new vehicles have an information center that gives information and they can look at others through the GPS/AVL(Automatic Vehicle Location). Last fall they adopted operational guidelines for purchasing equipment. Every administrative vehicle must get 22 mpg, and there are standards for most equipment in terms of fuel economy. Pini asked how they settled on 22 mpg. Cracauer said they have a lot of vehicles in the fleet that will get that mileage. Bettison asked they completed a financial analysis of what has been saved by reducing fuel consumption. Cracauer said they saved an estimated $50,000 last year because of improved fuel economy. They do include fire trucks and snowplows in the figures, and those vehicles get extremely low miles per gallon. They now have the capability to deactivate diesel trucks if they idle too long. Bettison asked why they let the diesel trucks idle in non-winter weather. Cracauer said it is primarily for convenience. Jester said this is great information. She thought the last 12% will be a challenge. She asked what the real likelihood is to get electric vehicles and charging stations. Cracauer said we have looked at them. The batteries going dead is a problem,but that situation is improving. They will continue to work with the Twin Cities Fleet Managers and Buyers Group and conservation groups on alternative energy vehicles;however,he noted we always have to make it work for our situation. Olson asked how confident they are that they will meet the fuel efficiency objectives by 2015. Cracauer said he is 99.9% confident about that. This year we will add six more vehicles to replace pickups that have low mpg. Olson asked what might get in the way of meeting the goal. Cracauer said having a winter like we did in 2010-2011 would cause much more fuel consumption. He said their next reports will break out the vehicles by category. There are about 50 vehicles that will be in a stagnant class. He said we hope to see some improvement in that class through employee training. Bettison asked if the employees who drive the vehicles get training. Cracauer said they do, but we are also trying to develop a better program. There are plans to start some internal competition by assigning individuals to one vehicle. There will be some contests along with the training on fuel economy. Shrikhande asked if they have looked at using nitrogen. Cracauer said almost all of the vehicles have tire monitors, and maintaining tire pressure is most important for fuel economy. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 4 Paul Sticha, Facilities Manager, reviewed the background of the 20/40/15 program. He said Mayor Tyra-Lukens attended the National Mayors' Conference in 2005 and came back energized about energy savings. Staff worked to develop a City-wide energy program, and City Manager Neal wanted the program to have a very aggressive goal. The goal ended up to be very high, but staff believes we will get there or at least will be extremely close. Sticha said Minnesota statute allows cities to choose a consultant who is willing to enter into a performance contract to guarantee the amount of energy savings they are proposing. If those savings are not realized, they will have to pay the City the difference. Eden Prairie selected the McKinstry group in 2006, mainly because they seemed to be very independent and unbiased. McKinstry comes back each year to help with an assessment of the program. Their most recent summary was received in October 2011. A number of energy savings projects were developed, and Phase I of the program was approved by the City Council in 2006. Phase I was completed in 2008, Phase Il in 2010 and Phase III in 2011. Sticha said there are two groups involved in the 20/40/15 program: the vehicle group and the building group. He is in charge of the building group. Many projects were initiated for City buildings as part of the program, such as energy- efficient lighting, furnaces and water heaters. They have installed motion sensors for lighting, sink and shower fixtures. They used a $750,000 grant from the Federal government to replace some of the more expensive equipment that needed to be replaced. He said they have added a lot of square footage to City buildings since 2006,but the energy costs have gone down a lot. Sticha said the City is now in Phase 4 of the program. There are a lot of lighting and other energy-saving projects in this phase. There is also renewed interest by the Council in alternative energy sources. The costs for solar energy have come down significantly and rebates have gone up. There have been some innovations in geothermal energy as well. He noted energy rates go up every year, but the City's consumption has gone down since the 20/40/15 program was initiated. Jester said she is excited that the City Council is asking for more information on solar energy and green roofs. It would be great to get a demo project on green roofs here. She noted some of the elementary schools post their energy star ratings. Sticha said they haven't done much on the Energy Star requirements or the GreenStep Cities program, but all of the things they have done would apply to some of these other designations. Jester said the schools are getting the designation because they have upgraded their heating and lighting systems, and it seems to her that we are doing the same things. Sticha said we haven't dug into it, but he was guessing the City Council will want us to do that. Shrikhande said there is a lot of information about the program and asked if they are able to quantify the impact of each project. Sticha said McKinstry does that for CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 5 us for every project they have worked on. Shrikhande asked if there is a way to get information for some specific projects. Sticha said he should let Ms Rojas know which projects. Bettison asked if they have any information that could be used to adjust the heating and cooling temperature baseline. Sticha said they have not done that so far, and they usually just adjust it to comfort. They do have night-time set-backs, and it can be shut off at the thermostats. Bettison noted most buildings are too cold in the summer. Sticha said most people are comfortable sitting at a desk at 72-74°. It gets bumped up a little in the summer and down a little in the winter; however, there is no edict governing that. We installed a great energy management system in City Center that helps regulate energy use in the building. Lawton asked where we are with the transition to LED lighting. Sticha said the City was one of the first to install LED lighting in the parking lots; however, LED interior lighting is still very expensive. Jester thanked Mr. Sticha and Mr. Cracauer for their updates. V. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Green Step Cities Update Rojas said she included a staff report on the GreenStep Cities program with the Commission packet. She said as a Category "A" city, we need to implement 16 of the 28 best practices in order to become a GreenStep City. Through her evaluation of the program to date, she believes we have accomplished many of the best practices and have only three to complete in order to reach designation of a GreenStep City. Shrikhande asked if that is Step 3 of the program. Rojas said we would be done after completing the three according to their current guidelines. Jester said some of the 16 best practices are required ones and others can be selected from the list. Ms Rojas has reviewed the 16 we selected,but the MPCA needs to assess our progress. Shrikhande said he was not clear whether we will be a Step 2 city and asked if different levels are being created. Rojas said when we first signed up we understood it was an evolving program. There now is some guidance for inputting information. They are developing a "star" program for each of the Best Practices whereby each one will have from one to three stars. The whole structure is quite complex. The MPCA began their assessment of our input at the end of March and by the end of April they will contact us with clarification questions. We will know if we are a Step 2 city sometime in May. Rojas reviewed the staff recommendations for completing what we believe to be the three remaining steps. One step is that the zoning code complies with the comprehensive plan. Jester asked if that is somewhat easy to do. Rojas said it will CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 6 have to go through the Planning Commission and the City Council. A change to the City code has to go through the process,but it could be initiated by City staff. Rojas said the Economic, Community Development best practice stipulates we must report progress to the community on implementation of GreenStep Cities Best Practices. She said there are different avenues to do that,but it could be included in the Annual Report or put on our web page. The Environmental Management best practice requires that we lower the environmental footprint of meetings and events in the City. One way to fulfill that step would be to provide recycling at events, and we are already working towards that. She talked to the Parks and Recreation staff today. They are proposing a new water feature and playground at Round Lake, and one of the things on the plan for that construction is a permanent structure for trash and recycling. There are also grants available through Hennepin County that we could use for a pilot program to put in similar structures at heavily used parks. The City is also looking into the possibility of revising the facility rental forms to require recycling. Lawton asked if Parks and Recreation is on board with this. Rojas said they are. Jester asked what kind of containers are being considered. Rojas said she wasn't sure they have gotten down to that level. There will be a permanent structure placed adjacent to the garbage cans. Jester said it is important to use recycling containers that have a hole on the top because that is what people expect. Pini suggested the containers be labeled "Bottles and Cans." Shrikhande thought we might want to look at solid waste collection. Rojas said the Riley Barn might be a place to try that. Jester thought it might be something we could try at a city-sponsored event that would be advertised as a "zero waste" event. Shrikhande thought we could put educational information by the permanent fixture to expand the scope a little. Olson asked if there is anything the Conservation Commission should be doing to help with the recommended next steps. Rojas said the Land Use step would be driven by staff. The other two steps would provide an opportunity for the Commission to get more involved and provide recommendations. She suggested Commission members go to the GreenStep Cities website to get ideas and see what other cities are doing. She thought that might be our next step. Jester said she liked Mr. Shrikhande's idea of education at the point of the recycling containers. Shrikhande thought we could learn from what others do. We have the facility and have to provide for recycling. Rojas said we should have a better update at the next meeting after the MPCA has come back to us. Jester thought there are a variety of projects that might make it worthwhile to have Ms Stovring attend the next meeting. We could talk to her about the Hennepin County grants for recycling containers. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 7 Pini asked about the enclosures being planned. Rojas said it looked like a concrete fixture. Brown said Chanhassen's structures have a concrete housing with containers inside and a locked top. Rojas said she could bring an example. They are designed to use a standard container and trucks can just pick up near the container. VI. REPORTS FROM CHAIR A. Home and Garden Expo Recap Jester thought the event went really well. We were busy in the morning and the stormwater table drew a lot of kids. We gave away a lot of bags. We talked to a lot of people about the new recycling items being accepted by the vendors. Rojas said Ms Stovring has funds available to purchase giveaways. She showed the Commission a model of a water saving shower head that could be given away. There is also a model for garden hoses. Jester thanked Ms Brown for the great job she did to prepare the panels. B. Mayor's Water Challenge Jester said she saw this announced in the Eden Prairie News article and discussed on the City Manager's blog. They had a sign-up sheet at the Expo for people who wanted to get notification for when the Living Green website is updated. Bettison said her question was how people are being driven to the link. She hasn't received a specific communication to sign up for the challenge. Rojas said the goal was for anybody that was signed up for conservation issues. She will check with the Communications Department to see if they have sent out anything. It was also on Facebook. Rojas said she will send out a link for the Mayor's Water Challenge. The Commission discussed how to publicize the challenge. Suggestions included publishing in the Sun Current, a general city email blast, another posting on Facebook, and emails to Commission members' neighborhood groups. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION VIII. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS IX. NEW BUSINESS CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 8 X. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Green Step Cities Program (See Item V.A.) B. PACE Legislation Olson said he had further discussions with Scott Neal and the Edina City Treasurer. He has the name of the attorney for Clean Fund who prepared the documents for Edina. He will talk to the attorney to get some insights about the issue of priority over other lenders. He plans to have further discussions with people in the solar panel industry. His goal is to have a position paper ready for the Commission by September so we can formulate a proposal to the Council. He thought he should be coordinating with City staff at some point. Rojas said the appropriate staff members would be Sue Kotchevar, Finance Director, and possibly Steve Sinell, City Assessor. She will get a list of contacts to Mr. Olson. Olson said the challenge is for us to figure out how this gets positioned in the community and to give the City Council guidance on that. It works well in some situations but not in all. Pini asked if the deal in Edina was finalized. Olson said it was and it got funded. Mr. Neal said they plan to use city money to fund future deals rather than using a third party. He thought there is some opportunity for the banking community if they understand how to get into this. Pini asked how the hierarchy of mortgage holders was handled. Olson said that wasn't resolved. It was a negotiated deal and only for$30,000. He thought that issue wouldn't be as significant if there was enough equity. He said the Clean Fund has the money to do this, and they aren't regulated like a bank. As a lender there is no mortgage needed since it is a special assessment and would already be first in line. The problem is if the owner quits paying the claim runs with the land so the question is who will pay it. He had a conversation with a title insurance person who said the city would take possession of the property within two years so they might get the city to agree to keep funding the payments over the next two years. C. Communication Strategies--Website,Life in the Prairie, Facebook, etc. Lawton is excited for the launch of the new website. He thought the 20/40/15 program is amazing, and the Communications staff should be promoting that. Jester said we would not want to use our small space for that. Lawton said we really need an environmental blog. Jester said at the Expo an individual said he had an electric car to use as an educational and demo piece. She wondered if there is a way we can tap into using CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 9 his car as well as his expertise and enthusiasm. Lawton said he will contact him and put together a story on the car. Jester asked if that would be an article for Life in the Prairie. Lawton said he will talk to the individual and see where it should go. Jester said we talked about having an article on yard care for the next edition. Rojas said she didn't view any drafts, but she did pass our ideas along. Shrikhande said Robert Ellis received data from a third party on water usage and also contacted the DNR in terms of assessing the groundwater levels. Mr. Ellis is trying to determine how to present the data now. He will keep talking to Mr. Ellis and will give updates to the Commission. D. Upcoming City Projects and Development--Project Profile Jester asked about the Meadows at Riley Creek project. Rojas said is a 12-lot single family home project that went to the Planning Commission last night. Jester asked about the Ridge at Riley Creek 5th Addition project. Rojas said is scheduled for the City Council Consent Agenda on April 17, 2012. Lawton noted we are seeing much more activity with development projects. XI. INFORMATION MATERIALS/11ANDOUTS XII. UPCOMING EVENTS A. Park Clean Up Day--Saturday,April 21, 2012 B. Arbor Day Walk--Saturday, May 5, 2012 C. Commission Banquet--May 9, 2012 XIII. NEXT MEETING--May 8, 2012 Rojas said she will invite Leslie Stovring for the May meeting. Jester said it would be good to know why the recycling rates dropped and to get an update on the porous pavers. Shrikhande asked that a standard agenda item be added regarding water conservation. Brown said she has some good educational information about how we are educating kids on the environment and how that will impact the next generation. Jester asked her how long the presentation would be. Brown said about 10-15 minutes. Jester thought that might be interesting to Ms Stovring as well as the Commission, so next month might be a good month for Ms Brown to give her presentation. Shrikhande said he attended the Sustainable Cities Workshop and will give an update on that at the next meeting. Jester noted Mr. Pini will have an update on the LRT committee. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 10, 2012 Page 10 XIV. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Shrikhande, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. Chair Jester adjourned the meeting at 9:15 P.M.