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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 06/12/2018 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY,JUNE 12, 2018 7:00 PM—CITY CENTER Prairie Room, 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Lori Tritz (Chair), Cindy Hoffman, Anna Anderson, Michael Bennett, Daniel Katzenberger, Kate Lohnes, Nate Pischke, Ashley Young, Lena Zakharova CITY STAFF: Senior Planner Beth Novak-Krebs, Planning Division, Leslie Stovring, Engineering, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Abhishek Aravalli, Elizabeth Arnold, Hayden Bunn, Sophia Truempi I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Bennett called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. Absent were commission members Lohnes and Young. Carol Lundgren, Sustainability Specialist for Eden Prairie,joined the meeting. Tritz arrived at 7:12 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Zakharova to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Zakharova to approve the minutes. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF 1. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN Stovring distributed the Solid Waste Management Plan agenda for the evening and the Strategies matrix which included potential strategies for the plan. The strategies were grouped into categories. She asked for Conservation Commission Minutes June 12, 2018 Page 2 commission members' comments and additions or corrections. Anderson suggested including the City events such as Arbor Day, and assessing if these are effective at reaching new people. Stovring agreed these should be included in case organics or composting requirements were mandated for events. Discussion followed on the format of the matrix with some commission members seeking clarification. Anderson noted the county Fix-It Clinics were popular but not held in Eden Prairie often. Stovring replied Hennepin County spread the clinic locations around the county. She stated the organics drop-off was in coordination with the yard waste management's new site; there was funding in the City's budget to start looking at building that. Hoffman noted Bloomington held a "curb event" in which residents set out items and were able to drive around and pick up themselves. Stovring replied Bloomington had to find haulers, split the event over several weekends, etc., and it was expensive. Katzenberger suggested holding a freecycling event,perhaps at the college. Bennett stated last weekend Nextdoor.com offered neighbors to list items during a certain time slot for other neighbors to view, like an "unmanned, unadvertised" garage sale. Discussion followed on holding this type of event. Bennett mentioned a June 7 article from the Star Tribune in which a college student salvaged items from those set on the curb by other students leaving their dorm rooms. The expense and effort to set up the collections made them inconvenient, leading to dumping as in this article. Bennett could not say how much waste was setting out at the curbs of Eden Prairie, but the DemCon tour demonstrated how often citizens threw items away or put them in the recycling when they should not, and he did not have a solution to the problem of education. Regarding residential curbside recycling, Stovring stated the City was attempting to limit the number of licenses of contracted haulers to the current number(four for single family, four for multi-family dwellings) to cut down on trucks on the street. The City was conducting research on multi-family units. The City was also looking at the drop-off sites for yard waste, whether or not it should be seasonal, include Christmas trees, etc. The site would be located at the outdoor maintenance storage facility by the Flying Cloud Airport. Hoffman asked if the composting bins promoted were of a reduced price. Stovring replied the Recycling Association of Minnesota and Hennepin County held distribution events, gathered bids, then offered the bins online for residents to order and pick up. Bennett asked if haulers could pick up hazardous waste, and Stovring replied haulers could only take bulky items; residents had to transport their hazardous waste to a disposal facility. Bennett asked if the organized Conservation Commission Minutes June 12, 2018 Page 3 collection of residential curbside waste was off the table for now, and Stovring replied it was. Stovring displayed the timeline for the plan,responses to the Wufoo Waste Management Survey for haulers, and previous resident survey results. Survey questions for a new resident survey are being drafted. In October the plan would be released to the public for comment, with final review and adoption in December, 2018 or January, 2019. Anderson asked for and received confirmation there would be an open house including the public's written comments. Stovring displayed haulers' responses to the survey topics and comments online at City Connect. Discussion followed on increasing the number of responses to multiple outreach avenues (social media, City Connect, etc.). Hoffman asked if more people would participate on City Connect if their real name was not connected to their post. Anderson replied in her opinion the greatest challenge was informing the public about this resource. Katzenberger noted this was a self-selected group;residents had to go looking for the site to comment on it. Stovring displayed her potential questions for the next(residents') survey and asked for the commission's input. Anderson asked if some of these answers could come from the haulers or from an internal research, since residents would have to refer to their contracts or the haulers' websites to answer these questions. Discussion followed on survey outreach methods. Stovring offered to take further comments and changes via email. 2. SUSTAINABLE EDEN PRAIRIVENERGY ACTION PLAN/IMATTER Lundgren stated the City was hiring another Sustalnability intern under the title of Sustalnability Support Specialist. After two rounds of interviews, the intern would start the second week in July. Lundgren was working with Novak-Krebs on the Residential Energy Challenge which would start in August, 2018. She hoped to have a drawing for prizes. For business outreach in the fall, the City would be hosting a meeting with local vendors and contractors leaders to promote trade partners. Partners In Energy developed a PowerPoint to use for this. As of May 31, 2018, 223 residents signed up for Home Energy Squad visits and 149 were completed, with 74 others scheduled, five of which were low-income visits. For multi-family and residential outreach, the City was working with the Housing Community Services Department to find ways to speak with property managers and residents regarding behavior changes. The goal was to reach 75 low-income families per year. Lundgren stated she met with iMatter on May 31 with Novak-Krebs and Rick Getschow to put together a resolution for the City. Novak-Krebs Conservation Commission Minutes June 12, 2018 Page 4 explained iMatter was made up of groups of students nationwide who issued energy report cards and made resolutions around carbon-neutral issues. Student members of the Conservation Commission and from Eden Prairie High School presented the report card to the City Council and this was an opportunity to reevaluate the Energy Action Plan goals. Eden Prairie signed up for Sol-Smart to develop solar best management practices, ordinances, website, and a fee structure. Lundgren did not yet have next steps. Katzenberger asked if Eden Prairie participated in MinnPace for securing financing for solar, and Lundgren was not familiar with that program. Katzenberger explained the resident wishing to install solar would borrow the money and pay via a property tax assessment, which would be tax-free. The program was administered by the St. Paul Port Authority. (MinnPace.com) Lundgren announced Hennepin County has a pilot program for energy benchmarking in which buildings over a certain square footage must report their energy usage. Eden Prairie, St. Louis Park, and Edina were among the pilot cities. Bennett asked if there would be outreach to businesses, and Lundgren replied the reporting would not be mandatory. Bennett expressed concern about enforcement, and Lundgren replied the City would look at what other cities were doing about this. Eden Prairie's water conservation programs were all updated this year. There were several irrigation system programs, one of which required a smart irrigation controller to be installed. Discussion followed on the comparison to Woodbury's irrigation controller program. Lundgren stated the building adjustments for the water leak policy were revised. In 2018 Eden Prairie was converting four acres of land to native grasses and forbs, and in 2017 the City converted seven acres. Clean up day would be this Saturday (June 16). Nominations were being taken for Eden Prairie's Sustalnability Awards and are due August 31, 2018. Lundgren offered to email this list of initiatives to the commission. 3. SELF GUIDED TOUR UPDATE Lundgren stated she contacted the Smith Coffee Shop which reported two residents brought in their cards so far. Another social media post would be sent out, and the flyers were being picked up by residents. 4. DEBRIEF OF DEMCON TOUR Novak-Krebs summarized the tour and noted she had emailed the video to the commission members. Conservation Commission Minutes June 12, 2018 Page 5 5. BEGINNERS GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE EDEN PRAIRIE Novak-Krebs announced she set up a drop-box for contributions. Tritz noted it might be filling up. Novak-Krebs stated the Sustainable Eden Prairie group would review the content, a template would be provided to build the PowerPoint presentations, and the commission members would be able to review them. 6. CITYWIDE OPEN HOUSE Novak-Krebs announced this year's Open House on Saturday, October 13, 2018. Tritz urged all four focus areas be represented. Lundgren expressed concern about space. She would also have information about energy. Discussion followed on arrangements for the event. Tritz noted there would be an inventory of materials taken this Thursday and the survey needed to be completed. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Tritz announced there would be a rain garden installation at Eden Prairie High School next Monday and Tuesday, held all day both days. She invited the commission members to attend. The Watershed District was holding a watershed conference, and events were free. Tritz would email the information to the commission members. There will be a follow-up meeting to the Pax Christi and Paul Douglas event on July 9, at the Eden Prairie Library. At the meeting, the attendees will be developing sustainability related questions for an upcoming mayoral forum. Tritz offered to email this information to the commission. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER GROUP UPDATE 2. WASTE GROUP UPDATE 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR GROUP UPDATE 4. ENERGY GROUP UPDATE D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS V. OTHER BUSINESS VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Conservation Commission Minutes June 12, 2018 Page 6 VII. NEXT MEETING The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, July 10, 2018, 7:00 p.m. in Prairie Rooms A & B. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Katzenberg moved, seconded by Anderson to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.