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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 06/09/2015 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Olson (Chair), Laura Jester(Vice Chair), Amanda Anderson, Gena Gerard, Prashant Shrikhande, Lori Tritz STAFF: Regina Dean, Planning Division Tania Mahtani, Planning Division Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Olson called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. Anderson and Shrikhande were absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mahtani said Item V.A. will be postponed because Ms Anderson requested the update and she is absent tonight. Jester added Item VILA. Olson added Item VLA. MOTION: Gerard moved, seconded by Tritz, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 4-0. III. MINUTES A. Approval of the Minutes for the May 12, 2015 Meeting MOTION: Jester moved, seconded by Gerard, to approve the minutes of the May 12, 2015 meeting as published. Motion carried 4-0. IV. PRESENTER A. Lori Tritz -- Outreach Materials Tritz said part of the mission of the Conservation Commission is to educate, and she believes the Commission should have some compelling educational material from which to speak. She reviewed PowerPoint slides that included a message in three steps: 1. Here's why it is important; 2. Here's how you can take action; and 3. Here's how the City can help. She reviewed some of the topics on the Commission's work plan. She said it would be best to take one of the topics at a CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 10, 2014 Page 2 time, and she chose to start with water sustainability. She reviewed the "Ensuring Water for the Future" graphic she prepared for that topic. Jester asked if the subject of sustainable abundance also addresses surface water. Tritz replied that would be an additional item. She said the display panel would address the problem of where Eden Prairie gets its water--the Jordan/Prairie de Chien aquifer through 15 wells. She noted there has been some discussion about the aquifer being in danger and she would like to add a quote about that. Olson suggested having a graphic showing where the water comes from as many people do not know that. The graphic could show that there is depletion of the water supply. Olson said an important point to drive home is that the communities surrounding Eden Prairie use the same aquifer. He thought the situation is less about drought and more about the ever-increasing demand on a limited resource. Tritz said she liked that idea as a separate graphic and asked if the Water Department would have one. Jester said Ms Stovring prepares the yearly water report on contaminants in the water, and she would know if there is something we could use. Mahtani will check with Ms Stovring and also with the Water Department to see what is available. Tritz suggested the graphic be restricted to water in Eden Prairie. Olson said there was a newspaper story not long ago about the Metropolitan Council trying to organize a collaboration by which use of ground water is coordinated among the various communities. The Met Council wants to come out with guidelines, but the local communities are not in favor of that. He suggested the Met Council might have some graphics. Gerard asked if the Met Council's plan was the Thrive MSP 2040 plan because she was sure they would have water management built into that. Water as an issue is ratcheting up. She commented she liked the colors and the split house used in the graphic, but she confused the sprinklers with trees. Tritz noted this is just a mockup using the limited resources in PowerPoint. Jester suggested using native flowers on the display rather than daisies. She noted many of the items that deal with renewing our water sources also impact surface water. Tritz said there is a lot of interconnection. She would like to have such things as actual photos of a raingarden or native plants as call-outs for the graphic. She said the question is whether all of the important points are on the graphic. Each of the points made on the right side of the graphic are ones for which Eden Prairie offers a rebate, so we could have those brochures right next to the graphic. She asked if there were other water-wasting activities to include on the left side of the graphic. Jester said part of the message regarding surface water advocates washing cars on the grass, not on the driveway where the soap would run off into the street. Tritz said she wanted to add a "turn off the tap" message. Gerard suggested something to make people aware of how much water it takes to get warm water to the tap. She offered to scan a brochure on this topic from the Center for Energy Environment and send it to Ms Tritz. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 10, 2014 Page 3 Jester asked if the recommendation was to focus on one point when we attend an event. Tritz said the first step is to develop the materials, and then focus on one at a time; for example, we would focus on water in the spring and energy in the fall. Jester said we already have two tri-fold displays so it would be good to use those. Tritz said that brings up the question of what is required to produce these, who we would contact, and how would it be paid for. She said she does not have access to a decent graphic design program. Mahtani said we would bring the idea to the Communications Department, and they would contact the graphics designer who would mock it up for the tri-fold display. Dean said staff could take it from this point. She noted Ms Stovring has a budget for education, and that would probably be the source of funding. Dean asked for consensus of the Commission whether the members are okay with this. Olson said it would be nice to see more messages, and it would be good to make them interchangable so we could present different messages on the tri-fold medium. Gerard asked if we have the resources to develop the other topics such as energy. Dean said we have two of the tri-fold panels so she assumed we could do two displays, but we would have to have further conversations about the budget. Gerard asked if that is something we could think about incorporating through next year. Mahtani said we can take the concept to Ms Stovring and have that conversation. Jester said it would be good to have graphics for water, energy, zero waste and being bee friendly. Tritz said we should consider air quality as well. Gerard noted the EPA will make a decision on air quality standards in October, and Minnesota will no longer be in compliance. There are increasing health risks even with small amounts of contaminants, so it is important to educate the public about air quality. The Commission discussed how best to proceed. Tritz asked for additional topics that should be included, such as "turn off the tap." Gerard suggested asking the Water Plant staff if they see something missing. Mahtani said she could run the graphic past Rick Whalen. Tritz said she would like to be kept in the loop after she makes the edits and hands it off to staff. Jester said she was concerned about fitting in how someone could help with water quality. Dean said the City is working on illicit discharge now, and there are some graphics on that. It would involve things such as dumping grass clippings in the street or dumping oil into the storm sewer. Tritz said she saw two major topics: conserving water and keeping water clean. Jester said it would be best not to mix up the two. Gerard noted she was biking around Riley and Rice Marsh Lakes recently and saw that City staff were leaving grass clippings along the path and piled up by the street side. She asked if they go back to clean up the clippings when they are finished. Mahtani said she would ask the Park& Rec Department about the CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 10, 2014 Page 4 process. Dean suggested Commission members use the EP See Click Fix program on the website to report such concerns. Tritz said she will incorporate some of the feedback from tonight and get an idea of what we need to provide the contractor. She offered to be the point of contact for the project. Mahtani said something in the PowerPoint format should be fine, and she will research graphics on our water source. She asked what would be put on the third panel of the tri-fold. Jester suggested we use the City logo as the third panel and then provide information on the rebate programs because those programs change quite often. Olson suggested we put this item on the agenda as continuing business for the next meeting. Tritz said she also has ideas for hands-on and interactive elements, such as a quiz about use of water. Gerard suggested the Water Department might have something like sheets printed with questions for kids who tour the Education Center. Mahtani said she will see what is available. Tritz suggested we be thinking about who we could partner with for the other topics. Mahtani said there are other resources such as those at the University of Minnesota. Jester suggested Xcel for energy information. Gerard added the MPCA and the State Commerce Department. Jester offered to help with the clean water topic. Gerard offered to do an overview of air quality issues. Mahtani said we planned to do a check-in with the work plan at the July meeting. In August our City Manager will give an update on the successor to the 20-40-15 program. Gerard said the September meeting would be right before the EPA decision is made, and she could recap air quality issues then. Tritz asked when the next education event would occur. Dean said there is no City-wide Open House this year, but there will be one in 2016. In the past Pax Christi has had an environmental event, and there have been joint workshops with other communities. Jester asked about having displays at City Hall or at Staring Lake events. Mahtani and Dean will check on that. Gerard said the question is how do we want to disseminate the information we are producing. Olson said that is a question worth some discussion, but he thought we will find opportunities as we go along. Tritz suggested we develop a better communication plan. V. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. GreenStep Cities Update Mahtani said she and Ms Dean are working on comments and metrics as well as baseline information for Step 4 and will send it on to the MPCA. The information will be presented at the League of Minnesota Cities meeting at the end of June. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 10, 2014 Page 5 Mahtani noted there is a new "Spirit of Eden Prairie" award to be given that includes categories regarding sustainable features and landscaping. The information was released on the website today, and nominations are due August 31. VI. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Olson suggested Commission members take in the Living Streets Workshop on Thursday, June 11, from 5:00 to 7:00 PM. He asked Commission members to report back at the next meeting if they attend the workshop. Olson said there will be an Open House at the new Nine Mile Creek Watershed District facility on June 15 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Jester suggested we have a Commission meeting there sometime. Mahtani said she will send out a link to the Open House invitation. Olson asked if the storm water management plan that Ms Stovring reviewed at our May meeting was presented to the City Council. Jester said the public hearing is scheduled for June 16, and the link to the plan is online. A. Blue-Green Algae Olson said he has been hearing about the highly toxic blue-green algae. This Commission has had a couple of conversations about how the City is reducing algae in surface water. He asked if there has been any specific attention on the part of staff given to the possibility that blue-green algae could bloom in our lakes. Jester said blue-green algae happens randomly and is mostly toxic to animals. The City's efforts to reduce surface water pollution will help reduce the chance of blue-green algae occuring. She noted the watershed districts deal with treatment for lakes, such as alum treatments to help control the phosphorous that occurs when lakes turn over in the spring and fall. VIL REPORTS FROM COMMISSION A. Neonicotinoids Policy Update Jester said she believed the Commission was in agreement that the City should move to bee-friendly status and asked how we could proceed with that. Dean said she was not aware that item is on any department's workplan. Jester asked if it would help to reach out to cities that are considered bee friendly. Dean thought that would be a good next step. Mahtani said we could add that topic when the Commission brainstorms work plan ideas for 2016. Gerard suggested we think about it as pollinators, not just bees. Jester noted this is a very hot topic now in the natural resources world. Gerard said Fresh Energy is urging solar developers to encourage creating habitats for bees and other pollinators. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES June 10, 2014 Page 6 VIII. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS IX. CONTINUING BUSINESS X. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS/HANDOUTS A. Upcoming City Projects and Development--Proiect Profile XI. UPCOMING CITY EVENTS Jester distributed copies of a flyer for the MEMO Workshop-on-the-Water to be held on Lake Minnetonka on July 23 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. It is a guided tour of Lake Minnetonka for local leaders to help build knowledge and skills about water resources. Jester said she met with the representative of Conservation Minnesota who attended the Commission's May meeting. He wanted to know what our local priorities are and what we are working on. They are trying to expand into the west metro communities and can help us gather corporate volunteers for events. Jester said she has a personal concern about the lack of a buckthorn management plan in Eden Prairie, particularly for the area of buckthorn saplings on the southside of Rice Marsh Lake. She has been advocating for control of buckthorn in that area on her own because it is important to control the saplings before they have a chance to take over all the other trees in the area. Jester asked about the progress the City is making with the Green Team. Dean said they have settled on a T-shirt design. Jester suggested we get an update on that program at the next meeting. A. Living Streets Workshop -- Thursday June 11 XII. NEXT MEETING-July 14, 2015 XIIL ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Jester moved, seconded by Tritz, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 4- 0. Chair Olson adjourned the meeting at 8:32 PM.