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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 12/20/2016 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2017 7:00 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 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 The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. Present were Commissioners Tritz, Anderson, Young, and Bennett(arrived 7:04 p.m.); student members Bunn, and Quam; staff members Novak-Krebs, Stovring, and Harley. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS Bennett moved, and Young seconded, the approval of the agenda. Motion carried. III. MINUTES A. COMMISSION MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 15, 2016 Bennett moved, and Young seconded, the approval of the minutes with corrections. Motion carried. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF Novak-Krebs passed out copy of the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District Annual Communications Update. Novak-Krebs also said that the DNR named the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District as watershed district of the year. Stovring noted that the DNR had a new trail map, and that the 2017 Nine Mile Creek Watershed Calendar was available at the front desk of the City Center. Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 2 Community Resilience Planning Workshops. Novak-Krebs stated that the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District, the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, and the Freshwater Society were collaborating on a workshop on community resilience planning, related to their comprehensive plans. Three meetings are planned: Tuesday, January 24, 2017, 6:00— 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, January 31, 2017 4:00— 8:00 p.m., and Wednesday, February 8, 2017 4:00— 8:00 p.m., and commissioners and students were welcome to attend. It is intended for communities who are not yet where Eden Prairie is regarding resilience planning and their comprehensive plans. According to Novak-Krebs, during the City's Comprehensive Plan Update process the city will be providing community engagement on the topic abd the watershed districts will be invited to provide input. Discuss 2017 Goals and Work Plan. (Tritz suggested and the commissioners concurred that this would be discussed last, as it would require more time and the commission could hear the other reports before it. This item was discussed before the meeting's adjournment. Deviating from the agenda, reports from the commission, then reports from the chair, were heard next.) Novak-Krebs presented the updated focus areas: First quarter: Pollinators Second quarter: Water conservation Third quarter: Waste reduction and recycling Fourth quarter: Energy The focus areas were reorganized due to pollinators and water conservation lining up with the commission's work during the first two quarters. The events still need to be changed to match the focus areas. Tritz stated that third and fourth quarters could be exchanged if necessary. She asked that for each focus area the commission decide on a main message and partners for that message, an educational opportunity, and a recommended goal to the city for that particular topic. First quarter: the message is pollinators, accompanying the display and activities for the Home and Garden Expo display. The City of Eden Prairie is working on native gardens with a map and plans. Anderson asked if there was a rooftop bee plan for hives on top of buildings, and Tritz replied that the city passed the bee ordinance to allow that, although no one was aware of anyone in the city actually creating one. Anderson asked if it could be one of the goals to have the city build one or some on the roofs of city buildings, and subsequently sell the honey, as a pilot program during 2018-2019. Tritz noted that she feels there should be a goal of zero turf in Eden Prairie, which would involve getting rid of all grass on city properties and replacing it with native plants or pollinator-friendly gardens. This would not apply to recreational areas (ballfields, etc.), only landscaping. Also, pollinator-friendly yard cleanup was a Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 3 goal, as it reduces energy (mowing) and the need to water by capturing water onsite. There was an educational opportunity in partnering with the Wild Ones (a native plant education group) who are interested in creating a native plant garden on City property. They could be a partner with the commission for several sites, including in front of the Community Center. Tritz stated that the Parks and Recreation department was open to the idea when she had reached out to them. Stovring said that she would bring this up at the Sustainable Eden Prairie meeting, as Matt Bourne is already working on a native plant garden at Fire Station#2, with preliminary plans for one at Fire Station#3. Discussion followed on Eden Prairie being a model to educate the public that native plants,rather than lawns, were "natural and normal." Anderson stated that in the pollinator focus area a single individual could make a significant local impact. Tritz noted that education is lacking in how native plants and pollinators work together, and what native plants are or even what they look like. Modeling by the city would have an impact on this. Young stated that the University of Minnesota has a Bee Lab, the "Bee Squad," which supplied post-doctorates as speakers. Residents tend to not know about other species of bees, which is the educational piece that is missing. Stovring stated that a question she gets often is how to keep native bees away from house. Discussion followed on this and how creating habitat could be a solution, although in her(Stovring's) experience, cohabitation was not a significant issue. The commission decided on the "Bee Lab" speaker as the educational component. Anderson suggested that these be promoted on the websites and the Facebook page. Young asked if the commission could invite the Squad to the Home and Garden Expo as volunteers. Stovring was not sure if there was booth space left. The Hennepin County Master Gardeners were attending, the Wild Ones as well, and personnel from the University of Minnesota Extension to talk about water conservation; however, if someone dropped out, there would be space for the"Bee Squad" to present at the Expo. Young volunteered to contact the Squad. Discussion followed on the planning timeline in light of other events and grant deadlines. The educational event would take place in February instead of March. Stovring stated that for the third quarter (waste reduction) the goal for January was to hire a consultant who would give a short talk and brainstorm session on organics recycling and pick up, with results brought back in the actual third quarter. Tritz noted that the commission could be flexible in holding events that meet quarter goals in months other than the actual event. Bennett reminded the commission to invite the public. Stovring stated that the city was looking at a code revision to handle soft recyclables, clothing pickup, etc. However, the business model is set up for cities that are organized, and at present it was not profitable in Eden Prairie. The consultant would look at this issue. Bennett asked if the events must be held within the calendar year to fulfill the grant requirements, and Stovring replied that they Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 4 did; the commission had to hold both the Expo and the Green Fair in 2016 or had to hold other events in lieu of them. Bennett asked if it would satisfy requirements if commission members (i.e., Bennett) attended a Chamber meeting and presented for 10 minutes on recycling, and Stovring affirmed that it would. During the second quarter(water conservation) the Arbor Day and Green Fair events would be held. Talks to the public about water conservation/composting/organics recycling would satisfy the grant requirement. The message would be recycling organics (with a goal toward zero waste, and in Tritz's opinion, zero water waste as well). The recommendation to the city would include input on the consultant, and pushing toward organics recycling, which the city was already working toward. The educational opportunity would be a visit to the Nine Mile Watershed District between May through July, 2017. Anderson also suggested a tour of the LEED Certified Building. Stovring noted that she had a visit to Pioneer Park listed for June, and a visit to Nine Mile Watershed District listed for July. Tritz suggested a partnership with the Freshwater Society, such as having them give a talk, for the second quarter partnering goal. For the third quarter, the commission had already entertained holding a tour or inviting a presenter. One suggestion was actually visiting a recycling center. Bennett noted that the Dem-Con facility was neaby and set up for tours. In the fourth quarter(energy), suggestions included touring the LEED Certified Building, or to see an actual solar garden installed. Novak-Krebs noted that the community center had a solar installation. Discussion followed on the various facets of energy. Anderson offered to present her research on "regrettable substitutions" (e.g., ethanol). She noted that the washcloths that Bennett displayed earlier probably consumed more energy for Belk to transport than had Belk used the typical packing materials. Tritz reiterated that each commissioner was giving a presentation for the benefit of the students. Anderson also suggested that she present on green chemistry. The commission tentatively put Anderson's future presentation idea down as fulfilling one of the fourth quarter goals. Bennett presented an article in the West Metro that announced that Highway I-94 from the Twin Cities to St. Cloud was designated as zero emissions corridor. It was a long-term project to create signage for those who drive low emission cars so that they could know where to turn off to fuel up. He asked how Eden Prairie could implement this further south, such as along Highway 212. Anderson brought up the light rail station at City Center, which would have the charging stations, and she would love to see them at the Southwest station as well. Stovring replied that the train station at City Center got dropped in favor of having the Southwest station instead. Anderson then suggested that one goal could be to have charging stations in the ramps at the Southwest station. Bennett added that Tesla is going to start charging their super-users more money at charging stations. Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 5 Tritz stated that she now had enough information for a draft of 2017 goals. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Discuss brochure that will complement the pollinator display. Tritz thanked the commissioners and the students who had given her information, and complemented student Bunn for his article on pollinator-safe yard clean-up. She noted that the six-page brochure that Commissioner Bennett sent("Insect Pollinator Best Management Practices for Minnesota Yards and Gardens," Department of Agriculture) had resources and information that the commission wanted to pinpoint in their display and in the brochure. Stovring noted that at six pages this was a long flyer, whereas a one-paged flyer would be more targeted and user-friendly. She suggested having both available. She handed out a sample of the one-page flyer to the commission. Novak-Krebs displayed the Pollinators at Risk brochure which is ready for the printer, after going through proofing and comments from Communications. Bennett asked if bee houses were still being recommended as beneficial. Young, who had researched the question, stated that bee houses must be regularly maintained and questioned if presenting houses as a solution was realistic, whereas leaving old plant stalks in the yard was more effective to encourage pollinator habitat. Tritz replied that the issue of bee houses came up last time, and noted that education is the solution,but she was hearing some additional concerns about showing a bee house in the brochure's graphic, when ideally what should appear there are old dead stems. Stovring noted that the Boy Scouts are putting up bee houses, and Novak-Krebs added that these houses are in stores, more as an educational item. Young said she thought that the graphic showing a bee house was acceptable,but that if residents had questions it would be effective to be prepared to explain proper maintenance, and advocated also having a real bee house on hand to show. Bennett likened this issue to that of bluebird houses, which must be cleaned out every year, not simply installed and left alone. Tritz noted that the natural home for bees would be to cut stems 18 inches from the ground, leave them and let foliage grow around them, after which the stems then become the bee home. In addition, soft, sandy soil provides shelter for bees. She added that it would be great to have a display of the sticks. Stovring asked if the handout from Bennett talked about stems and sandy soil, and Tritz replied that it did, and that she was in favor having a separate handout specifically describing habitat for ground-dwelling bees. Tritz stated that the center panel was acceptable with its bee house graphic. She offered to try track down one of the displays from the Master Water Student Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 6 Graduation Party, which showed an actual ground-dwelling bee habitat, to have on hand for the event. Young suggested an exercise for youth in which a bunch of toy bees were hidden and needed to be found where they actually live (on the ground). Tritz stated that the commission now had enough information, which needed to be consolidated, to support the major four information points [provide places to build a home, avoid using pesticides, offer native plants for food, make yard cleanup pollinator-safe], and that she still needed to look over some of the materials on the use of pesticides. Bennett stated that the bottom line regarding pesticides was not using them at all, as there are no "bee-safe" pesticides. He added that if they are used, they must be applied judiciously and at the right time, i.e., when the bees are not active. He displayed a list of times and chemicals. Since there was a lot of information to digest on this he suggested that the commission's message be: if one can, do not use herbicides and pesticides on one's property, especially those containing neonicotinoids, etc. Tritz concurred that the commission should emphasize the message to avoid neonicotinoids, which are ubiquitous and found in almost any chemical available commercially whether labeled or not. She suggested having examples of products that have neonicotinoids but may not specify them on their labels. Regarding providing safe alternatives, she had found some research that so-called "organic" or household-made products are not necessarily safe for bees either, so she felt that the commission was better off not making any recommendations in this area. Anderson asked if there was a specific landing page on the Living Green website that talked about pollinators, and Stovring replied that there was not, which was why she wanted to discuss the website with the commission later in the meeting. Tritz stated that the first topic at the event would be a game on habitats and bee houses. The second topic would be recognizing products on the shelf that contain neonicotinoids. Bennett asked if naming actual products would be problematic, and Stovring replied that the commission could supply ingredients to avoid,but not name actual products or show actual commercial labels. Tritz stated that the third topic would be offering native plants for food, and for this the commission would be partnering with the Wild Ones, who would have a booth at the Expo. The fourth topic would be pollinator safe clean-up with the handout from student Bunn. Tritz stated that she would try to pull together the information for Stovring by the next meeting, and work on a"find the bee" game. Anderson asked if a survey would be needed for this and for the Home and Garden Expo, and Tritz replied that she wanted a survey for both. Tritz stated that the Home and Garden Expo should be wrapped up at the next meeting, as Arbor Day is the first Saturday in May. Stovring clarified that Arbor Day was May 6, 2017, and that the date for the Home and Garden Expo was March 18, 2017. The commission needed to start thinking about this event by February's meeting at the latest. Brochures could be done in-house and can be ordered a week before events; panels and prizes needed a specific, and earlier, timeline. Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 7 Bennett passed out a one-page brochure from the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources on pollinators. He also noted that the Department of Agriculture offers the ability for city mayors to sign a Monarch pledge (Protecting Minnesota's Pollinators). Stovring noted that this is on the city's "to-do" list. Anderson stated that this could be part of the conversation for the commission's 2017 goals, and that this could be included on the webpage. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION Ashley Young will give an educational presentation on energy. Young passed out a report("Minnesota Energy Generation and Use," from the Minnesota Legislative Energy Commission) and gave an overview with a PowerPoint of energy sources and how they relate to Minnesota. Figure 3 in the report showed an equal distribution of energy use between transportation, residential, industrial, and commercial uses in 2013. Yet according to Figure 4 in the report, in 2013 Minnesota spent 50 percent of its energy budget on transportation, an uneven balance which gave rise to the publicity of the Cash for Clunkers program, news about fuel inefficiencies, etc. The 20-40-15 Initiative increased the efficiency of vehicles by 44 percent. Figure 2 of the report showed energy inefficiency: half of energy produced is lost heat, via transportation through power lines or in vehicles, etc. In percentages of energy inefficiency, Eden Prairie was lining up with the national averages. Ashley talked about petroleum, and hydraulic fracturing. She explained how much of Minnesota's electricity is generated by coal, nuclear fission, natural gas, wind, biomass and hydro-electric. She also explained the costs and benefits of each method. Her sources are the Primer on Minnesota Energy by the Minnesota Legislative Energy Commission (energy.gov), and the Energy Information Administration (eia.gov). Michael Bennett to report on his presentation to the Cub Scout den. Commissioner Bennett described his visit with the Cub Scouts. He mentioned that he attended the Environmental Education Extravaganza. The Green Partners Network holds quarterly workshops on recycling and conservation. Their website offers a water conservation program and other information online. With the Boy Scouts, Commissioner Bennett crafted a"recycling monster" out of two trash bags for young children to have in their rooms, which is a recycling container that they can make for themselves. These are also brought to schools, etc., to demonstrate recycling. In preparation for his visit with the Cub Scouts Commissioner Bennett learned about available resources in Hennepin County, and brought recycling labels and Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 8 bags to the Scouts. The Scouts are well organized, and Jason Schultz, their den leader, had the members each bring a bag of trash as an exercise. Commissioner Bennett also brought a bag of materials, dumped it, and the group sorted the items (including nonrecyclables such as toilet paper tubes,paper towel tubes, egg cartons, etc.) However, chipboard cartons are now recyclable in Hennepin County. The Scouts were well behaved, and he received a thank-you card, so the event was a success. Commissioner Bennett also demonstrated a creative use of alternate packing material: his wife ordered a package from Belk Department Store, and instead of peanuts or plastic, Belk used washcloths in a recyclable plastic bag as packing material. Tritz asked if The Green Partners Network had things that the commission could use or borrow. Commissioner Bennett replied that there were kits to check out and return,but one had to go to Hennepin County to get them. The organization also has materials (bags, labels, stickers) available for order; they only require that one contact them with a number needed and the purpose for the order. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS There were no reports. V. OTHER BUSINESS A. 2016 EDUCATION PLAN Stovring brought the commission's attention to the Sustainable Eden Prairie page and its organization. The Sustainable page needed a location in the Living Green website,but the organization is nonintuitive. For example, in navigating to the Lawn Watering and Native Landscaping page one had to navigate to the Water Resources section, not necessarily where any resident would look. The rebate program(for buckthorn mitigation) was also difficult to find. She suggested that this was the time for a reorganization and a rewrite of the website, and to add more information on pollinators. She asked the commission to look at the website and submit thoughts or ideas for short revisions, outdated information, and navigation changes. Tritz asked who was in charge of the website, and Stovring replied that the Communications Department had the final say on content. Stovring wrote much of the main copy, and then sent it to Communications to tweak. Anderson suggested that the commission hold a usability analysis working session. Stovring noted that the website had been recently changed, so the Communications Department was not looking for suggestions for major changes. Tritz suggested that the commission could look at broken links and navigation to essential information. Stovring stated that she was meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, December 21, 2016) on the Living Green page, so input was needed in January. The commission decided Conservation Commission Minutes December 20, 2016 Page 9 to set a date for the working session at the end of the meeting (in Upcoming Events). VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Home and Garden Expo: March 18, 2017, 9:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. Working meeting for website: January 10, 5:30— 6:30, then break, then the regular meeting at 7:00. VII. NEXT MEETING Tuesday, January 10, 2017. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting, and Bennet seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:03 p.m.