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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 04/11/2017 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY,APRIL 11, 2017 5:30 PM—CITY CENTER Prairie Rooms A&B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Tritz (Chair), Amanda Anderson (Vice Chair), Gena Gerard, Michael Bennett, Ashley Young, Anna Anderson, Nate Loh CITY STAFF: Senior Planner Beth Novak-Krebs, Planning Division, Leslie Stovring, Engineering, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Hayden Bunn, Emilie Cleveland, Zoe Pettit, Annika Quam I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Tritz called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Absent were student representatives Bunn, Cleveland, Pettit, and Quam. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: (Amanda) Anderson moved, seconded by Young to approve amended agenda with the addition of the City's website update in other business and the solid waste management plan in reports from staff. Motion carried 5-0 with 4 abstentions (Pischke, Lohnes, Katzenberger, Anna Anderson). III. MINUTES A. COMMISSION MEETING HELD MARCH 14, 2017 MOTION: Young moved, seconded by (Amanda) Anderson to approve the minutes. Motion carried 5-0 with 4 abstentions (Pischke, Lohnes, Katzenberger, Anna Anderson). I V. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. Welcome New Members, Ice Breaker Activity and Introductions Novak-Krebs welcomed the new members and had them speak a bit about themselves, their work, their experience, and two personal characteristics Conservation Commission Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 2 they bring to the commission and would add value. Each person around the table took a few minutes to introduce themselves. Tritz welcomed the new members and summarized her goals to use the commission's interests and talents. She reiterated the four focus areas: energy,recycling, water,pollinators. Bennett announced the People's Climate March, on April 29, 2017 at the Federal Building in downtown Minneapolis, beginning at 2:00 p.m. 2. Self-Guided Tours Stovring announced she was working with the Communications Department on a one-sided flyer based on the flyer for the history tour, and displayed a mock-up with the tour ending at the Smith-Douglas-More House. There were five stops, and visiting at least 4 will earn the participant$5 off a purchase at Rustica. Stovring was planning a handout and a map. There will be educational signage at each stop. Publicity included a handout at the upcoming Green Fair, a Facebook post, the Living Green email blast, and the next newsletter. Discussion followed on the process of connecting with Eden Prairie News. Stovring suggested the commission members communicate with her and Novak-Krebs, who would then work with Communications, which could also review press released submitted for approval. Lohnes offered to help with public relations and communications. Tritz encouraged the new commission members to help get the word out about the commission's achievements and goals. Gerard noted it was the commission's mandate to do that. Tritz replied toward that end, she was interested in taking inventory of this commission's talents and resources regarding messaging to leverage communication more effectively. 3. Debrief of Council Workshop on Sustainable Eden Prairie Novak-Krebs announced there is a program in the City called , "Sustainable Eden Prairie." A core group of staff meets every month regarding the four focus areas. So far this group has drafted a mission statement and utilizes a computer program called C1earPoint to input data, metrics, measureable goals and a Gantt chart. This group's progress was presented to the City Council last week, and is still in its early stages, without specific rollout items. Also, an energy action team is meeting and partnering with Xcel to create an energy action plan for the city. Once this group goes through the process with Xcel, it will have more to report on possible projects, goals, and data related to energy. Stovring displayed the C1earPoint program and walked the commission members through some of the data,projects, tasks, and metrics. (Amanda) Anderson encouraged the staff to overlay metrics in order to rationalize the data (for example, against population growth) to identify root causes, engage in analysis, and identify where to make changes. Discussion Conservation Commission Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 3 followed on how to again make these innovations more known to Eden Prairie residents through publicity and partnerships with including businesses, schools, faith communities and other organizations. Gerard stated there seemed to be interest on the part of commission members walking through the data in more detail at a later date. Novak-Krebs stated she hoped the energy action team's work might help with ideas for solid waste,pollinators, and water conservation. (Amanda) Anderson encouraged staff to look at how the City of Eden Prairie purchases its power, such as thinking about overall investment in stocks and bonds that share the commission's values, and supporting companies that are sustainable, which have higher returns than companies that do not. Pischke asked about the possibility of purchasing power that went back into the grid, and (Amanda) Anderson agreed the City could request to purchase renewable power. Gerard suggested building a solar garden in coming years, and Novak- Krebs announced staff was discussing the possibility of building one at the old landfill site. Staff met with the MPCA last week regarding possibilities, and the MPCA will be putting together a land use plan was in concert with the City's plans for the site. Because of the cap over a portion of the landfill, some suggestions were ruled out, but solar and other uses were a possibility around the cap. (Amanda) Anderson asked if windmills could be included, and Novak-Krebs replied she did not yet know that. Stovring noted windmills required open spaces and had been discussed for the river corridor. Tritz stated she wished to see working rooftops for solar, water collections, and more green roofs. Lohnes suggested a residential bulk solar purchasing program. Stovring replied the commission members could have access to this information she displayed through staff when they needed it, and Novak-Krebs offered to walk the commission through the data at another meeting. Stovring pulled up the Ensuring Water for the Future, Our Water Source, and Water Renewal panels to display to the commission. 4. Details of the Arbor Day Green Fair Event (Focus—Water Conservation) Tritz explained for the benefit of the new members the commission was involved in several events throughout the year, and needed to solidify planning for the Green Fair. Tritz encouraged the commission to maintain an inventory of what has already been put together (visuals,panels, quiz, surveys) so as not to "recreate the wheel" for each event. Discussion followed on ideas for handouts and giveaways at this event. This year the message would be water and water conservation, and could include the Mayor's Water Pledge, a handout, and low-mow fescue sod as a hands-on display. (Anna) Anderson asked if the commission tracked "clicks" or monitored traffic to the city's website, and Tritz replied that was the next aspirational step. Stovring noted the city tracked traffic on some of its Conservation Commission Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 4 other pages. Gerard stated tracking website traffic was tangential to what she saw as the commission's goal to put out messaging and content, to inform, and change behavior. (Amanda) Anderson cautioned against possible selection bias in website trafficking monitoring (i.e., preaching to the choir). (Amanda) Anderson found online and displayed to the commission a three-dimensional water filtration kit that could be a possibility for future events, and encouraged similar hands-on activities. Gerard suggested water table staff partner with the commission on information or visuals to borrow or share to emphasize the point that every used drop of water has gone thru the Eden Prairie water treatment plant, and Stovring replied they were not planning to come but she could speak with them. Katzenberger asked if there were handouts with ties to local rules and regulations, informing residents what is legal where, and Stovring replied there was a brochure on the native plant ordnance. Pischke asked if Eden Prairie had a weed ordnance, and Stovring replied there is one, spelling out setbacks, right-of-way, etc. discussion followed on the possibility of securing a rain barrel as a raffle prize. Stovring read aloud the list of organizations that planned to present at the Fair. Tritz followed up on the idea of marking storm drains: a local group works with communities to set up an adopt-a-storm-drain program, and offers signage for yards. She suggested listing a local body of water ("Keeping Minnesota River/Staring Lake/etc. clean") as a program to consider in the future. For the Fair, the commission could make Stovring's drain marking decals available. Stovring described the decal for the benefit of the new commission members, and added it was effective for children as an educational tool. (Amanda) Anderson encouraged the commission to put the locations of drains on See Click Fix. Discussion followed on whether or not naming a specific body of water in storm drain markers was more impactful than a generic warning ("Storm drain leads to..."). (Anna) Anderson suggested an "actionable" message, such as "no leaves, no this, no that" in drains. [Gerard left at 8:37 p.m.] Tritz displayed two flyers (Water Conservation in Home and Our Water Source) she had pulled together for the Fair. Discussion followed on low- mow fescue sources to have on display at the fair. Stovring also offered to bring small prizes such as bags, garden hose spray nozzles, and shower heads, and also offered to display a water table with sand. She added she had a$200 budget for supplies and could secure a rain barrel from Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District if previous suggestions did not pan out. Tritz confirmed which commission members could attend and staff the table at the Fair. Conservation Commission Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 5 Tritz noted seed packets were very popular. Stovring replied the seeds distributed by the commission were true native species, from a local company. Pischke suggested as a giveaway a manual timer for the end of one's garden hose spigot. Tritz encouraged commission members to contact Novak-Krebs with ideas 5. Solid Waste Plan Stovring stated the City Council was excited at the announcement that staff was writing a solid waste plan, which will be brought formally before the Council when completed. It will include organics recycling, ways to increase recycling numbers, bringing the City in line with Hennepin County requirements, and also will look at drop-off or pickup options, including for yard waste collection and the possible need for a site. It will also examine regrettable substitutions. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR 1. Debrief of Home and Garden Expo Tritz complimented the students for their involvement. The quiz question most surprising to people was number of native Minnesota bees (400 species). 103 quizzes were taken, and the commission's table saw a lot of traffic in a successful outreach effort. Storing stated 97 people took her survey. Of these, 42 people were aware of the drinking water report, and 43 aware of the rebates offered by the City. (Amanda) Anderson stated she would soon get data from the iPads. , 2. Organization and Communication of the Commission's Events/ Messages The commission members felt they had discussed this during the Debrief of Council Workshop on Sustainable Eden Prairie C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION Gerard's solid waste report will be discussed at a later date. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS (Amanda) Anderson requested Stovring display the commission's page on the Eden Prairie website. (Amanda) Anderson suggested staff update this page twice a year, and include member information. Pischke suggested including each commission member's neighborhood. Conservation Commission Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 6 VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Native Plant Workshop, April 15, 2017 at the Outdoor Center City Council Workshop —Aspire 2040, May 2, 2017 Arbor Day Green Fair, May 6, 2017 at Staring Lake Park VII. NEXT MEETING May 1, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Outdoor Center(Joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources Commission) VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: (Amanda) Anderson moved, seconded by Bennett, to adjourn. Motion carried 8-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:11 p.m.