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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 09/08/2015 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Olson (Chair), Laura Jester(Vice Chair), Prashant Shrikhande, Lori Tritz, Amanda Anderson, Gena Gerard STUDENT MEMBERS: Emily Corpuz, Rachel Buckland, Jenna Horner STAFF: Rick Getschow, City Manager Tania Mahtani, Planning Division Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary L CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Olson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Shrikhande was absent. A. Welcome New Conservation Commission Student Members Olson welcomed the three Student members to the Commission. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Gerard moved, seconded by Anderson, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 5-0. III. MINUTES A. Approval of the Minutes for the August 11, 2015 Meeting MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Jester, to approve the minutes of the August 11, 2015 meeting as published. Motion carried 5-0. IV. PRESENTER A. Rich Getschow, City Manager--Presentation on City Goals and 20-40-15 Successor Program Getschow gave a PowerPoint presentation about the City's Strategic Plan. The plan is set up in a pyramid entitled Eden Prairie Promise with the City's Vision and Mission at the top of the pyramid. In 2014 the City Council established six CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2015 Page 2 overarching goals as a community that would align to the Mission and Vision of the City: Community Well Being and Safety; High Quality and Efficient Services; Preserved and Beautiful Environment; Sense of Community; Innovative and Sustainable Practices; and Economic Vitality. He reviewed the programs and initiatives for each of the six goals and noted in the last couple of years we have also begun a strategy to measure success. Each City department, City staff, the advisory commissions and the City Council develop an annual work plan to plan for the future, to organize efforts and to monitor and measure progress. The goals and results are tracked on a dashboard that is available on the City's website. Gerard said she appreciated hearing about the Strategic Plan, the City's commitment to performance measures, and the interaction of the various work plans. Anderson appreciated the goal driven philosophy, how the departments reflect the goals of the City, and the inclusion of businesses in the goals and measurement of success because that indicates we care about everybody who comes to Eden Prairie. Olson said a lot of our discussions have centered around not just surface water quality but also the water supply and usage. The Commission would hope to see some goals and metrics around the consumption of our water and a reduction of salinity levels. The Met Council is starting to push for a reduction in water consumption, so it makes sense for the City to be proactive on that. Getschow noted the next update of the Comprehensive Plan in 2018 will probably have an entire chapter dedicated to sustainability. Gerard said water is such an important natural resource issue for the state and the nation. She noted that air quality is not included in the materials we received for the meeting and asked where we see such natural resources fitting into the goals. Getschow said we don't have a lot in that area; however, the City Council has asked about what happens at the end of 2015 when the 20-40-15 plan ends. Getschow reviewed the 20-40-15 plan, noting that plan dealt primarily with the efficiency of City buildings and the fleet. He said the 20-40-15 Plan was pretty straight forward; however, a successor to that plan has many possibilities and will not have just one thing in one area. City staff came to the City Council with many possibilities, and the Council Members made their choices. Staff tallied those on a spreadsheet, a copy of which was included in the Commission's meeting packet. At this time we expect to call the new program, "Sustainable Eden Prairie." We will select some items to work on for a period of time and develop a sustainability plan. The goals for the program may remain the same for two to five years, but the strategies would be different every year. He said we are trying to leverage our participation in the GreenStep Cities program to see how those ideas fit in with the new plan. Mahtani said staff looked at items that could be measurable, how to measure them, and if the items were missing from the GreenStep Cities plan. Anderson asked if there is a way to provide feedback on the GreenStep Cities measurements and items. Mahtani said the City recently participated in a pilot CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2015 Page 3 program on the next step in that program, and City staff provided data and feedback to the State at that time. Getschow said some items don't fit well into percentages or into a time line. The Council as a group believed many of the items were worthwhile. The plan is to report back to the Council at the end of the year or early next year. He hoped to leave tonight's meeting with general impressions of where we are going with this and then dedicate meetings to provide comments and direction on this so we get to the point of having a framework for staff and the Conservation Commission to present to the Council later. Gerard asked how we would proceed with providing our suggestions and input to the new plan. Anderson said she would like to dedicate time just for that purpose. She was glad to hear the Council is interested in many of the items on the spreadsheet. She said it was important to have a means of determining the impact of one item versus another and the effort needed to produce the impact. Olson noted we had a presentation earlier in the year that presented comparative metrics. Getschow said we are a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) along with about 30-40 other cities. Some data is available from the ULI and also from the GreenStep Cities program, but the question is how do we use that data. Olson said the set of data from the ULI is fairly extensive, and he thought we could get some baselines from that data. Gerard said there are State and Federal mandates that will matter to us very soon and she welcomed the opportunity to help with that. Olson said this project would be a very welcome focus for the Commission. He noted it would be hard to pick just one item for sustainability because it is so interrelated, so we might want to have a cluster of objectives. Jester said it is important for the City to move forward in all the different areas, but she worried that if we dilute our focus we will just make inroads on many areas without having an impact on one specific item. We had very high goals for the 20-40-15 program and focused a lot of resources on the City buildings and fleet, yet we were able to move along with the GreenStep Cities program at the same time. She thought the City has the capacity to make a splash in one area while continuing to work on other areas. Getschow said staff talked about having a hybrid where we would have a plan but also have a laser focus. Getschow noted the area of energy probably received the most votes from the Council, but not to the exclusion of the other areas. Jester said rallying around a common cause is a great means of increasing the sense of community. She asked if there is any plan to share the best practices and lessons learned from 20-40-15 with the business community, the School District, or other City partners. Getschow replied we do share quite a bit with the School CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2015 Page 4 District but have not shared with the business community. Jester thought a presentation at the Chamber might be a good idea. Gerard said the State will be collaborating with us on metrics. The PCA is very interested in making this work for cities, and they want it to be effective. She thought they would be thrilled if we engaged at that level. She agreed with Ms Jester's comments on having some focal points while not excluding any other important objectives. She believed "Sustainable Eden Prairie" would be more meaningful to people than was "20-40-15." V. REPORTS FROM STAFF Getschow said Conservation Minnesota would like to present Eden Prairie with a Legacy Award for water quality and pollution projects. He said we have been able to get legacy funds for projects since that program began in 2008. VI. REPORTS FROM CHAIR None. VIL REPORTS FROM COMMISSION Tritz said she received input from a couple of Commission members on the water graphic. She will darken up the "evil" side to differentiate between good and bad practices and will put the messages about water sources and water consumption together. Tritz asked if there has been follow up on our discussion about native plantings at Eden Gardens. Mahtani said the developer agreed to work on the information we provided about invasive plantings and will try to incorporate changes. Tritz said at the last meeting we learned that our definition of native plants was very broad. The DNR has a definition of what constitutes a native plant and a list of substitutes. We might want to submit our proposal for a redefinition now that would provide a more restrictive definition of native plants for developers to follow. Jester recalled there was something else Ms Stovring wanted to change in the ordinance. Mahtani said Ms Stovring was planning to do some upgrades to the ordinance, but she was not sure about the time frame. We could put that on the work plan for 2016. Jester said she didn't want to miss the opportunity to change the ordinance. Anderson suggested putting a link to the DNR on the Living Green page so both residents and developers could reference it. Olson asked if the goal would be that our ordinance be in line with the State definition of native plants. Tritz did not think we need to improve on the State definition, and she would like to start with that definition. Mahtani will review this with Ms Stovring to see where we are with the definition. Gerard said Minnesota Statute 115A.151 deals with requirements for public entities, commercial buildings and sports facilities to recycle at least three recyclable materials beginning January 1, 2016. She distributed copies of the 2014 State Statute and a flyer from the Recycling Association of Minnesota that described the new business recycling requirements. She noted information from Hennepin County listed Eden Prairie as the CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2015 Page 5 No. 2 city for 2014 in terms of pounds of recycled materials per household. She said Minnesota has a goal of 75%recycling by 2030, and Hennepin County has a goal of 45% by the end of the year. She noted Hennepin County offers public space recycling grants for cities to use for parks and public space recycling. Jester asked how the State is communicating the new requirements. Gerard believed they rely on counties to do that and provide State funds to the counties to help promote recycling. Anderson commented this is the type of information that usually is communicated through the Chambers of Commerce so her question was how can the City get information. Gerard added her concern about how they can be connected to the resources. Anderson was especially concerned with multi-family requirements and how they can connect to the resources since those units are not technically commercial. Gerard said Hennepin County has a program specifically for multi-family buildings. Jester said the University of Minnesota Extension Service has a workshop on winter roads and parking management. She also noted there is a Clean Water summit next Tuesday at the Landscape Arboretum that will discuss stormwater management and the impact of infiltration requirements on ground water. She will send more information on that workshop to Ms Mahtani to distribute to Commission members. VIII. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Jester asked the three student representatives to share why they were interested in serving on the Conservation Commission. Olson said the Commission always wants to hear about projects or discussions at the high schools regarding sustainability and conservation. Anderson said we are looking for ways to have a symbiotic relationship with students. IX. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Educational Outreach Materials Mahtani said Ms Tritz already discussed this item, and she is beginning to work on the next display. Jester asked what the subject of the next display will be. Tritz replied it is on water quality. X. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS/HANDOUTS A. Upcoming City Proiects and Development--Proiect Profile Olson asked if the new restaurant building at 590 Prairie Center Drive is a tear down. Mahtani said it is. Anderson noted that is the former barbecue place we discussed last time. She asked if they are using the existing pylons. Mahtani said they are not. Anderson noted tearing down a building has a far greater environmental impact than does reusing. Olson suggested there is a cost benefit against tear down and it would be legitimate for the Commission to make a case CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2015 Page 6 for reuse. Anderson asked if there is a way for the Commission to promote reuse in the planning process and to make sure a business has considered not tearing down a building. Olson said the impact of this has to inform the City's policy making, and he thought the Commission can have a meaningful impact on policies and, from that, have an impact on how it is implemented on individual projects. Anderson suggested getting a leader in this arena, such as the Green Building Association, to present to the Planning Commission about the impact of tearing down a building. Jester suggested that might be something for the Commission's early 2016 work plan. Olson asked if the City has recommended any green enhancements for the project at 7544 Marketplace Drive. Mahtani said she would have to speak with the project planner about that. XI. UPCOMING EVENTS See Item VII. XII. NEXT MEETING-October 13, 2015 Olson noted the next meeting will be held at the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District building. Mahtani said the Commission wanted to engage with each of the three local Watershed Districts this year. Kevin Bigalke, Administrator of Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, has offered to give a tour of their new facility and talk more about their programs. Anderson said she would want to make sure we have an hour or more to get work done and asked if there is a place at their building to conduct the meeting. Jester said they have a nice space available. Olson said a presenter usually takes about an hour of the meeting time. Anderson asked about the urgency of updating our 2016 work plan before the end of the year. Jester said staff usually drafts the work plan and we react to it. We take the existing report and add new information and also discuss some activities for the coming year and in which quarter they should be placed. She believed the Sustainable Eden Prairie plan is a much bigger item, and we need to have some specific questions or some way to discuss that item. Anderson felt we don't have enough context to say one area is more important than another. She asked about the impact level and effort level for each item. Olson said staff can help us with the metrics and data. Jester was not sure we would get that kind of input in time for the October meeting. She liked the idea of having the Commission put dots on the spreadsheet like the City Council did. Gerard thought we should make recommendations based on impact, not just cost. Anderson illustrated the use of a decision quadrant as a means of grouping and evaluating items. She noted at this point we don't have enough information to place the items in the quadrant, and having staff get some information that would help us put the items into the effort and impact boxes would be good. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 8, 2015 Page 7 Jester was not sure how the City arrived at the 20-40-15 plan, but a consulting firm was used for that program. She suggested our job may not be to know all the numbers, but rather to provide the vision because we know the community. Gerard was not clear on what task we are being given. Mahtani said the idea today was to present the overall discussion and get the Commission's initial feedback. She believed staff will do additional research and come back with more information. Jester asked if that means we wait for more information from staff. Mahtani said any suggestions from the Commission members should be emailed to her, but noted staff will also be working on this. Olson asked Ms Mahtani to update us on the work of staff and to ask for feedback. Jester commented she felt like we were really tasked with some work to come back with a framework for the next program so she felt we need an answer to that. It is one thing if our task is to react to staff s work, but another thing if we are to generate our own work. Olson said he did not know how we could generate our own work without information from staff. He thought we could use cues from staff but also use information from outside of the City if we want. He saw City staff as a resource on this, but the Commission would be in control. To clarify, Gerard asked if we will set aside some time at a subsequent meeting for discussion when we get the specifics of the metrics. Anderson said we will only have an hour in October and probably won't have information back from staff at that time, so we may be looking at the November meeting. She asked if that would be enough time for staff to give us more information. Mahtani replied we could go into a more detailed discussion of it in November. Olson thought it would be useful to have some discussion at the October meeting even though we would not reach a conclusion. Jester suggested Commission members think about Eden Prairie as a city and what areas would resonate well with people right now. Olson agreed with that idea. Gerard said it would be helpful to ask for clarification of what the City Manager would like to see us accomplish as a Commission. Mahtani said she will get clarification about the task and the timeline for the plan. XIIL ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Tritz, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Olson adjourned the meeting at 8:50 p.m.