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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 04/12/2016 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,APRIL 12, 2016 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Tritz (Chair), Amanda Anderson (Vice Chair), Gena Gerard, Michael Bennett, Ashley Young STUDENT MEMBERS: Emily Corpuz, Rachel Buckland, Jenna Horner STAFF: Tania Mahtani, Planning Division Beth Novak-Krebs, Planning Division Dave Modrow, Engineering Department Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary GUESTS: Brian Ross, Great Plains Institute Abby Finis, Great Plains Institute I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Tritz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Buckland and Horner were absent. Tritz welcomed the two guests and the two new Commission Members, Mr. Bennett and Ms Young. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Anderson said she would like to hear a report about the Chamber Expo Event under Item VII. MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Gerard, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 5-0. III. MINUTES A. Approval of the Minutes for the March 7, 2016 Meeting MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Gerard, to approve the minutes of the March 7, 2016, meeting as published. Motion carried 5-0. IV. PRESENTERS A. Great Plains Institute (GPI) Brian Ross, Senior Program Director for Great Plains Institute (GPI), gave a PowerPoint presentation about the Resilience Framework program for Eden CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 2 Prairie. He said the City has decided to add a Sustainability and Resiliency chapter to the update of the Comprehensive Guide Plan. He gave a PowerPoint presentation that reviewed the mission and programs of GPI, and noted it is a non- profit corporation. He said the Sustainable Communities Program is a component part of GPI and GPI also coordinates the GreenStep Cities, Renewable Energy Planning, Resilience/Su stainability Planning, Energy Star Challenge and the Metro Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) programs. Mr. Ross explained the definition of comprehensive planning and said the plan is used to guide city regulations, investments and practices. The comprehensive plan is an official statutory document recognized under Minnesota State law that provides a process that helps residents and businesses define and agree to the City's goals and long-term vision. He said there is a special set of land use laws for metropolitan area communities set forth in the Metropolitan Land Planning Act. Each of the 187 local governments in the metropolitan area must do comprehensive plan updates every ten years. The Metropolitan Council has regulatory approval over the cities' comprehensive plans, and the Met Council's Thrive MSP 2040 regional plan shapes current plans at the local level. The Met Council develops system statements for each metropolitan community based on the requirements in the regional plan. He reviewed the Met Council's system statement for Eden Prairie which includes goals in areas such as affordable housing and transit. The Met Council provides a Local Planning Handbook that serves as a guide for local governments to use in updating their comprehensive plans. He noted there are some items that are mandatory to include in the local plans,but resiliency and economic competitiveness are two items that are not required. Anderson asked if there are incentives provided for local governments to address the non-mandatory items. Mr. Ross said there are some incentives, and there is a grant process for some communities that need resources to complete their comprehensive plan. Abby Finis, Associate Planner at GPI, reviewed the resilience portion of the Local Planning Handbook and noted one element that is required for the local governments is to address a solar energy component. She said the Thrive MSP 2040 plan addresses the community's resilience role and gives suggestions to include in their plans. She noted the local government comprehensive plans should include descriptions of existing conditions, the desired conditions, and the strategies to be used to reach the goals and aspirations. The resiliency framework includes four lenses: infrastructure and the environment; energy infrastructure; healthy communities; the economy and society. She reviewed resiliency targets contained within each of the four lenses. Infrastructure and the environment includes managing increased stormwater runoff, mitigating the urban heat island effect, limiting the impact of invasive species, and promoting resilient city infrastructures. Energy infrastructure includes reducing emissions, improving air quality, enhancing reliability and backing up of critical infrastructures. Targets for the healthy community lens include access to healthy food options, access to recreation, good air quality, and support of vulnerable communities. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 3 Mr. Ross said the plans developed by local governments must include an element for protection and development of access to direct sunlight for solar energy systems. He noted there is a rapidly growing solar energy market now, so the economy has changed; however, the question now has become how to provide protection and development for solar energy. Bennett noted he had seen an article regarding some difficulties solar farms encounter in connecting to the grid. Mr. Ross replied the solar farm issues have been all about comprehensive planning and access. The Met Council now provides resources to help local communities assess what their solar resources are. Mr. Ross said, in addition to helping with the comprehensive plan update, GPI will help to define the next initiative to follow the 20-40-15 program, Sustainable Eden Prairie. To help the new initiative, GPI will be working to engage the public, will look to the Conservation Commission as a steering committee, and will work with an interdepartmental staff committee and the City Council. The outcomes for the process will be concrete and achievable goals and will identify specific strategies to meet the goals. Mr. Ross described some of the tools they will use to engage the public. The first event is a one-hour seminar, Solar Power Hour, to be held on April 18. The event will educate homeowners, small business owners and others on the benefits of solar energy. They will be explaining opportunities to partner in the bulk buy of solar energy systems. There will be some vendors present at the event. He noted there is a flyer in PDF format on the City website that Commission Members could use to help publicize the event. Tritz asked if there are any other outlets being used to publicize the event. Mr. Ross replied they are using some social media and a press release did go out. They made the decision to have this event on very short notice because it will be the last in a series of Solar Power Hours. Gerard suggested using an email blast to publicize it. Anderson asked if a comprehensive plan frames all of what a city does or just the land use. Mr. Ross said land use is the emphasis, but it is a comprehensive plan. Anderson asked about using the comprehensive plan to guide the value system upstream for subcontractors and others. Mr. Ross said a city can choose to guide others. Gerard commented we are really lucky to work with GPI on the environmental efforts. She noted a few months ago the Commission took some time to think about priorities for the next phase after 20-40-15 and decided to recommend to the City Council two focal points, waste and water. She asked how that recommendation was incorporated. Mahtani replied the recommendations were provided to the City Council and were considered at their workshop in February. Mr. Getschow provided an update of the concepts for Sustainable Eden Prairie. The next step for GPI will be to take feedback from the Council and the Conservation Commission to develop a framework. Gerard asked how waste would tie into the program if the Met Council hasn't identified waste reduction as a priority. Mr. Ross said some cities integrate waste management into their CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 4 comprehensive plans, although counties do waste planning and provide direction to cities. Gerard noted waste is a part of resiliency. Mr. Ross said he would be happy to work with the Commission on planning for waste management. Mr. Ross and Ms Finis asked Commission members to respond to several questions. 1. Resilience is a complex idea. What is your gut level reaction of what resilience means to Eden Prairie? Responses included: the ability to bounce back from our environmental impacts; to prepare ourselves and to be proactive with our resources; to create and renew our resources; responding to how we live in a very different world; to be prepared, to be proactive, and to change the way we live. 2. What are other areas of priorities for the Commission? Responses included: the waste stream, especially plastic bags; to hold our partners accountable; encourage solar panels, water collection and pollinator islands at every property, including residential, business and the public sector;build an infrastructure for organic waste collection; composting facilities and pollinator gardens; minimize the impact on the environment of the development and construction of light rail. 3. Which of the four lenses stands out as most relevant for the community? The responses mentioned each of the four lenses. Tritz believed that the healthy communities lens is inclusive of the other three. 4. How can these priorities fit into Sustainable Eden Prairie? Several of the Commission Members noted all of the priorities are important,but we must have cost effectiveness in the use of resources to take Eden Prairie as far as we can. Some suggestions would require very few resources, but some would be much costlier. Anderson noted the 20- 40-15 program was very action oriented, whereas we must be ready to make hard decisions for dedicating our limited resources with the Sustainable Eden Prairie program. Tritz asked if there is one thing that could be the foundation for all the others that would be a reasonable first step. Ms Finis replied it would be good to identify one or two big impact items and then build resilience and sustainability into other areas. Gerard asked if GPI is guiding the process or advising. Mr. Ross said GPI knows how to use data about existing conditions to help move from the existing conditions to the desired conditions. The Commission would make a decision CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 5 about the desired conditions. GPI would inform the Commission about the strategies available and would guide City staff, the Commission and the Council in the process. Tritz asked about the timeline for all of this. Mr. Ross said the comprehensive guide plan update needs to be completed by December 31, 2018,but Eden Prairie is starting the process now to get ahead of the game. Bennett asked if the update is on a ten-year cycle. Mr. Ross replied it is, and a couple of years are taken at the beginning of the process to implement the comprehensive plan. Then after five years we would start to gather data for the next update. Bennett asked if the affordable housing question is part of the comprehensive plan. Mr. Ross replied the City must address that subject in the comprehensive plan. Tritz asked about the upcoming Solar Hour event as the first meeting for community engagement. Mr. Ross did not know what kind of turnout there will be because of the short notice, but they intend to use the event to let people know the process is moving ahead. Bennett asked if the event would focus on residential as well as solar farms. Mr. Ross said only distributed solar will be addressed, not solar gardens. He noted the CERTs website has great consumer information about solar gardens. Tritz said the Conservation Commission wants to provide information and education on resiliency and sustainability and will have a message at the Pax Christi Earth Day event. Mr. Ross said we will need to identify the forums that people will be attending and go to those events. Gerard noted the two-day July 4th event at Round Lake is an opportunity to have a booth and to provide flyers or sign-ups. Mr. Ross said they are here to help the Commission. V. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Staff Liaison Transition Mahtani said her last day with the City of Eden Prairie will be April 29 because she is relocating to California. Ms Novak-Krebs will be taking over as the Commission's staff liaison. Tritz thanked Ms Mahtani for her work with the Commission, and asked Ms Novak-Krebs to talk about her background. Ms Novak-Krebs said she is from Wisconsin and most recently worked for the community of Sun Prairie, WI, doing long range planning and development review. She noted she has a lot of experience in planning and has a lot of interest in the concept of conservation. B. Arbor Day Walk and Green Fair Mahtani said the Commission has signed up for a booth at the Arbor Day Walk/Green Fair event on May 7. She noted the Commission had some new CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 6 displays for their booth at the Chamber of Commerce Expo event. There were handouts available as take-home resources along with the exhibit of a rain barrel and the cube of crushed cans. There was also a recycling display and a button maker for children. She said we had about 60 responses to the survey, and the iPads worked out really well. Gerard liked the fact we were educating people about resources with the survey questionnaire and provided a hands-on experience for them. It brought people into the booth so we could talk to them. Tritz said she was there at the end of the day and noticed the button maker was successful at bringing in the kids. Mahtani said the interactive quiz brought people in to get a prize and that was very successful. Gerard was concerned that people at the Expo did not take time to look at the display board, so we may need to think of a way to have more conversation around the display in order to use the display more effectively. Anderson suggested we tie the interactive part of the display to the booth display. Gerard noted the Water Treatment Center does an interactive display where people have to look around them in order to answer the questions. Tritz said we talked about shifting our message to pollinators now that the City has passed the Pollinator Resolution. She reviewed a draft panel display she developed with a message about protecting our pollinators that included the fact Eden Prairie is now a pollinator-friendly city. The Commission Members reviewed the draft display. Bennett suggested giving examples of the neonicotinoid pesticides that are banned. The consensus was that specific brand names could not be used in material produced by the city commission. Gerard suggested we recommend looking for a"bee-friendly" label. Anderson noted the EPA is recommending new labeling with cautions on where not to apply the pesticides. Tritz suggested we could have a handout giving more details and could recommend home remedies or organic products. Novak-Krebs said the City recently voted to allow people to keep bees. Modrow said he could check on what information the City has on pollinator friendly products and our City policies. Tritz noted we would have to move quickly to have the pollinator display panels ready for the Arbor Day event. Mahtani thought that timeline would be too aggressive to have a fully produced product because the production of the water display took about two weeks and it would be a challenge to do the full vetting process in that time. Tritz asked if it would have to go through the water resources staff. Mahtani said Ms Stovring and other staff members should review it. She thought it would be more realistic to have it available for the Open House in October. Anderson suggested we could do an iPad app on pollinators even if there were no pollinator display. It might also be good to rebuild the iPad app to match the water display because that display has a lot of life left in it. Gerard asked if we would have anything for kids at the booth. Young suggested having them answer the survey as a family so they could get to make a button. Tritz said she would like to offer the bags as the prize for the quiz because she CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 7 was not sure little kids could engage with the display. She liked the idea of reworking the survey to reflect the visuals. Mahtani said she would check with Ms Stovring regarding the button maker and bags. We can also use the rain barrel in the booth. Tritz asked if we would include the recycling message. Gerard thought we should circle back to the recycling message later. Tritz suggested we focus the questions on water and use the handouts we used at the Expo along with the new questions on the iPads with the bags as a prize. Gerard noted people seemed to prefer the bags that came with a pouch. Commission Members discussed their availability to work in the booth at the Arbor Day event. Anderson said she could work at this event. Bennett said he will be out of town. Young said she could help with set-up and stay for the first hour. Gerard said she could come and help around the time scheduled for the walk. Tritz said she could do the full three-hour event. Mahtani said there is an internal staff meeting next week so she will get more details about the event and will send out an email with the information to the Commission members. VI. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Tritz said she would like to hear about what subjects each Commission Member wants the Commission to address and what individual areas of expertise or interest each of us has. She thought it would be important information in light of the Commission's enhanced role as the steering committee for the resilience/sustainability efforts. VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION A. Chamber Expo Event Report (See discussion in Item V.B above) VIII. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Corpuz provided a poster for the Earth Day event on April 23 and asked that it be displayed at City Center. She noted she can help to set up the booth on Friday but cannot attend the event on Saturday. Tritz said she can help with set up and suggested we have the water display with the flyers we used at the Expo. Young said she could help set up Friday night or Saturday morning. IX. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. 2016 Education Plan Mahtani said she forgot to include the latest version of the 2016 Education Plan with the Commission packet. She noted the spreadsheet presents ideas for education topics and is a standing agenda item. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES April 12, 2016 Page 8 Gerard asked if there is a presenter at the next meeting. Mahtani said we scheduled a tour of the Water Treatment Plant and Environmental Education Center. Rick Whalen and Ms Stovring will be attending that meeting. The Commission meeting will be held in the conference room at the Water Treatment Plant. Tritz asked if we have the work plan schedule that shows what we will discuss at each meeting and which speakers we want to help educate Commission members on the various topics. Mahtani said she would send out an email link to the work plan, which is on the website. Tritz said she would like to schedule each Commission member to present how their interests and expertise could fit into the Commission's work plan as a standing agenda item over the next few months. X. UPCOMING EVENTS Solar Power Hour—April 18, 2016, 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. (Eden Prairie Community Center) Urban Waters Forum—April 23, 2016, 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. (MN Landscape Arboretum) Earth Day—April 23, 2016, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Pax Christi Church) Green Fair/Arbor Day Walk—May 7, 2016 from 9:00 a.m.—noon. (Round Lake Park) Bennett noted the City has signs in neighborhoods to advertise upcoming events and asked if those signs would be used for the Arbor Day event. He thought we should use such opportunities to publicize our events. Mahtani said those signs are managed by the Parks Department and are typically used for City-wide events. She would need to look into the process for using those signs. XI. NEXT MEETING Tuesday, May 10, 2016 XII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Bennett moved, seconded by Anderson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Tritz adjourned the meeting at 9:17 p.m.