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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 06/13/2017 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY,JUNE 13, 2017 5:30 PM—CITY CENTER Prairie Rooms A&B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Tritz (Chair), Amanda Anderson, Anna Anderson, Michael Bennett, Gena Gerard, Daniel Katzenberger, Kate Lohnes, Nate Pischke 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 Chair Tritz called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Absent was commission member Amanda Anderson. Residents Kevin McCormick and Jan Neville, and Eden Prairie High School students Sophia Truempi and Estella Acevedo attended. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS MOTION: Young moved, seconded by AnnaAnderson to approve the agenda with the following additions: Stovring to report on draft educational signage for Fire Station#2 (Reports from Staff); Bennett to talk about the memo he had Novak-Krebs email to the commission (Reports from Commission); Tritz would present an overview of the Partners In Energy Action Plan Update (Reports from Chair). Motion carried 8-0. III. MINUTES A. JOINT COMMISSION MEETING HELD MAY 1, 2017 MOTION: Young moved, seconded by Bennett to approve the minutes. Motion carried 8-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. Sustainable Eden Prairie Award Conservation Commission Minutes June 13, 2017 Page 2 Novak-Krebs passed around brochures and announced nominations were open right now. She encouraged commission members to get the word out. Discussion followed on the website and a possible article in Eden Prairie News. Stovring, for the benefit of new commission members, gave a short history of the award, which has been rebranded from the Spirit of Eden Prairie award to the Sustainable Eden Prairie Eden Prairie Award. The award has been given out for three years. The Commission is asked to carefully review awards. Lohnes suggested interviewing last year's winner to get an article in the newspaper. Stovring replied the commission members could call the newspaper with suggestions; the news staff would actually write the article. Lohnes offered to pitch an article to Eden Prairie News. Novak-Krebs offered to talk to Marisa Bayer about getting article in paper. Katzenberger asked who decides the award winners, and asked if there was a conflict of interest in a commission member making a nomination. Stovring replied the sustainability team made will look at the nominations before the nominations are given to the Conservation Commission to review and select winners. (Anna) Anderson offered to reach out and help local companies nominate themselves. Novak-Krebs announced the nomination period ends August 31, 2017. 2. Sustainable Eden Prairie Tour Update Stovring announced the flyer went out, and displayed an aerial map of the Round Lake location because people were having a hard time finding the stamp in the park. Stovring added she has received calls, and residents have completed the tour, and received their coupons. The goal this year is for 125 participants. 3. Sustainable Eden Prairie Update Novak-Krebs stated the group continues to meet often, and distributed the revised June, 2017 update. She added she was in a conference call with representatives from Climate Mayors, and the mayor of Eden Prairie was interested in joining. Stovring added this was being discussed in the City Council meeting that evening. Novak-Krebs explained the initiative: there were 298 mayors in the group whose cities had adopted the Paris Agreement goals, with 307 mayors total, and 9 of the 10 largest cities in the United States belong to the organization. Novak-Krebs' conference call talked about organization, next steps, sharing information, working together, and adopting goals and metrics. Discussion followed on a commission motion to support the mayor's participation in this initiative. Conservation Commission Minutes June 13, 2017 Page 3 MOTION: Gerard moved, seconded by Katzenberger to commend and support the Mayor joining the Climate Mayors in keeping with the goals and objectives of the City of Eden Prairie and the Conservation Commission. Motion carried 8-0. The group talked about Pax Christi installing a solar garden. Gerard offered to inquire if residents needed to be parishioners of Pax Christi Church (on the revised update list) to participate in its solar garden, or if the church would be willing to offer subscriptions to non-members. Discussion followed on this program versus buying shares from Excel, which had been offered in May. Mike McCormick as an employee of a community solar power company that teams with Excel Energy replied the shares offered by Excel would connect the resident to Excel to use renewable energy. Excel cooperated with various other small companies such as Sun to deliver renewable energy. Stovring added that only Fire Station#2 was listed under landscaping on the update,because Parks and Recreation had not yet responded. However, there were a number of parks doing work. Novak-Krebs offered to get a list of those for the next meeting. 4. Floating Island Project— Carmel Pond Stovring displayed the Midwest Floating Island website (midwestfloatingisland.com) and an aerial map showing locations of the islands on Carmel Pond. The islands must remain on the owners' properties, which extend into the actual water of the pond. Neville displayed duckweed on her phone for the commission members and residents to look at. Stovring played a floating island informational video on the website. 5. Fire Station#2 Update Stovring stated she was working with the Watershed District to create a large interpretive sign to go in front of the Fire Station on the trail. She displayed the "Explore our yard" flyer and explained the design. Gerard asked if there would be a communication or education piece for schools. Jan Neville replied Eden Lake School was nearby and the students walked down to the Fire Station as a tour. Stovring added Homeward Hills Park was up the road. The City did a neighborhood mailer to promote the Fire Station, and once the plants are established the will be a Sustainable Eden Prairie email and Facebook outreach to promote the site. Jan Neville asked if there would be benches. Stovring replied there would, as well as a bike rack near the large sign. Katzenberg asked if the site could be an example of what residents could plant on their own property, Conservation Commission Minutes June 13, 2017 Page 4 and if there was a tie-in with city regulations for what one could have on a lawn. Stovring replied yes to both questions; however, the Fire Station had to meet set back requirements. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR 1. Partners In Enemy—Enemy Action Plan Update Tritz, for the benefit of the new commission members, reiterated the four focus areas: energy, waste, water, and pollinator-friendly habitat (landscape). She reminded the commission members that she had reached out to them regarding their research topics (two commission members per topic). The Comprehensive Plan, "Inspire 2040" would be written by this time next year, and she emphasized this (2017) is the opportunity for the commission's input. She suggested two months' time being devoted to each focus area, with a follow-up, resulting in an internal discussion for the purpose of understanding the commission's role in initiatives related to each. Stovring noted that the 2017 Education Plan was already set, and offered to send that to the commission members. Tritz noted that this schedule may need to be tweaked. Discussion followed on the Education Plan in context of these internal discussions. Tritz reiterated that other topics would not be ignored during these research/discussions,but that each particular focus area would be emphasized so that the commission could inform the Comprehensive Plan by having expertise to bring and discussion points to lead. Lohnes suggested a strategic communication plan in terms of key messages, that is, after meeting and presenting on each topic, the members return with one or two draft strategies for each topic. Novak-Krebs agreed, noting this was the similar to the approach in preparing the energy action plan. Discussion followed on energy being the first focus topic. Novak- Krebs stated the commission members would each get a copy of the draft Energy Action Plan for review, and would participate in the next step which was implementation. Stovring noted the 2016 Annual Report would be sent out soon. She displayed the "Inspire 2040" website, dashboard, and email subscription sign-up page. Tritz displayed a PowerPoint and presented a review of the Partners In Energy, a two-year collaboration with Excel Energy to plan and implement energy goals. The three areas of focus will be large businesses, institutions, and residential areas. (Anna) Anderson asked for and received clarification that size was based on their amount of energy consumption. Bennett explained the slide showing the 80-20 participation rule and explained that ROI(Return on Investment) is an important goal. Of the Conservation Commission Minutes June 13, 2017 Page 5 500 large businesses in Eden Prairie, the commission was looking at bringing in the top 200 (as determined by Excel Energy). Developing a contact list was a challenge; many of the buildings are owned by out-of- state owners. Many large businesses were already energy stewards. Gerard asked what opportunity does this initiative presented to businesses who already have an energy-saving account with Excel, and Bennett replied that it was to encourage them to continue their energy-saving program and to go beyond the basics. (Anna) Anderson offered to help large businesses and schools self-nominate for a Sustainable Eden Prairie award. Tritz interjected she and Bennett attended the Alliance for Sustalnability Resilient Cities workshop, which was putting together a program to have buildings self-report energy use. At the conclusion of Tritz's presentation, Katzenberger as a member of the residential group in the Partners In Energy initiative added the goals were to have at least 10 percent of households participate in at least one energy program by 2020 at a savings of$120/year. There was a refrigerator recycling program also offering solar refrigerators and more efficient air conditioners. A Home Energy Squad visit cost$100; Katzenberger suggested that the City pay for part of the cost of the squad visit to encourage them. Edina pays $50, or 50 percent of the cost. In the next 13 years, one-third of automobiles could be electric cars. Tritz encouraged discussion for upcoming meetings on sold action items, accomplished by whom, and the role as a commission to aid messaging and increase engagement. Discussion followed on methods for more effective messaging. (Anna) Anderson offered to pitch news items to Eden Prairie News, or to craft a publicity email. Young noted people don't visit edenpraire.org to learn, but only when a resident needed specific information. Discussion followed on getting articles and letters to the editor out. Lohnes stated she ran the Clear the Air Challenge in Utah for three years. She offered to draft a broader communications plan for the next commission meeting. Novak-Krebs offered to set up a meeting between commission members and the Communications Department to iron out roles, parameters, and expectations. Katzenberger suggested that when a resident turns in an old refrigerator, that person receives a sticker to place on the mailbox. Once so many stickers are acquired, the citizen would get a bigger thing sign/prize. Tritz encouraged the commission members to come up with ideas to make the website more of an engagement tool. Discussion followed on how to do this without promoting a private business. Jan Neville suggested holding an energy- saving "challenge" with a neighboring city so that both cities benefit. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION Bennett summarized the "wish-cycling" article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he had asked Novak-Krebs to email to the commission. He asked what the Conservation Commission Minutes June 13, 2017 Page 6 commission could do to help the city and the haulers. Katzenberger suggested a tour of the recycling plant, or making a video showing the actual work. Bennett agreed that he would be interested in a field trip. Stovring offered to bring the Chamber of Commerce survey results to the commission for the next meeting. Tritz suggested a"smart recycle" message,perhaps listing the top five forbidden things. Bennet also offered to bring the Arbor Day survey results. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS Sophia Truempi and Estella Acevedo described the "I Matter" campaign at Eden Prairie High School, a youth-founded climate action campaign that grades cities based on their responses to a questionnaire. The students would then present the "climate report card" to the City Council. (Anna) Anderson raised the concern of a low grade based on lack of data (unanswered questionnaire questions), etc. Tritz wondered if the questionnaire would raise issues that the commission needs to address. Discussion followed on the ability of the city to provide the students with the correct data. Tritz thanked the students. Stovring will meet with the students and discuss the questionnaire. VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Solar Power Hour—Midwest Renewable Energy, July 20 at 7:00 pm, Community Center Mike McCormick announced the Energy Fair would be coming to Minnesota in September 3, 2017. VII. NEXT MEETING The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Prairie Rooms A & B. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Katzenberg moved, seconded by Young, to adjourn. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:07 p.m.