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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 01/08/2019 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY,JANUARY 8, 2019 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, Ashley Young CITY STAFF: Senior Planner Beth Novak-Krebs, Planning Division, Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary STUDENT MEMBERS: Troy Johnson, Rhea Sharma, Govind Makaram I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Tritz called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Absent was commission members Katzenberger and student representative Sharma. Carol Lundgren, Sustainability Specialist for Eden Prairie,joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Bennett moved, seconded by Young to approve the agenda Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Bennett to approve the minutes of December 3, 2018 Conservation Commission meeting with the time changes to a call to order at 6:00 p.m. (from 7:00 p.m.) and the adjournment to the joint meeting at 6:56 p.m. Motion carried 6-0. MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Bennett to approve the minutes of December 3, 2018 joint meeting with the Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resource Commission meeting. Motion carried 6-0. IV. REPORTS A. REPORTS FROM STAFF Conservation Commission Minutes January 8, 2019 Page 2 1. SUSTAINABLE EDEN PRAIRIE AND REBATE PROGRAM UPDATE Carol Lundgren, Sustainability Specialist for Eden Prairie, presented the 2019 Sustainable Eden Prairie and Rebate Program update. The Energy Action Plan was divided into residential, commercial, and non-profit strategies. Stovring was working on the Shoreland code update. The Solid Waste Master Plan had been adopted. A yard waste drop off was under design, to open in spring, 2020. Information from multi-family recycling audit survey was being reviewed, with a follow-up in February, 2019 The same three rebates for water in 2018 were being offered in 2019 with some changes. The residential rebate was 100 percent up to $175.00 for the purchase of a smart irrigation controller. Commercial/HOA was now 50 percent up to $5000 and Stormwater reuse was now 50 percent up to $5000. The landscaping rebate program was now $2.00 per square foot up to $1,500.00 for shoreline buffers, rain gardens, pollinator gardens and buckthorn removal. Water use was up slightly in 2018 over 2017. Aquifer health was slightly improving, meaning the aquifer was being recharged. Eden Prairie has three observation wells. Hoffman asked if other cities had observation wells and consistency across cities for this metric, and Lundgren was not sure,but she thought they probably did if it was mandated by the state. Lundgren added the DNR reports on aquifer health every year. She offered to find an answer to this question. Lundgren summarized the successes of the Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards, the Sustainable Eden Prairie website, and the tours. Anderson asked if there was adequate return on investment on the tour for the effort. Lundgren replied holding the tours did not involve much effort, but was open to ideas to attracting more participants. Promotion would begin in May, 2019. Lohnes suggested partnering with schools. Discussion followed on tour sites. Anderson noted the question as to how to better promote events often came up in commission meetings, and invited Lundgren to contact the commission for ideas or support. Bennett listed Pizza Karma as an environmentally-friendly business deserving of a nomination. Hoffman suggested changing the website to include why winners won and show examples. Bennett suggested linking the rebates to the award nomination information. Discussion followed on way to promote the Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards. [Johnson arrived at 7:20.] Conservation Commission Minutes January 8, 2019 Page 3 Lundgren presented the water conservation rebates and program update 2000-2018. 2017 multi-family rebates caused an anomaly in the data. Discussion followed on some of the trends in the chart. Lundgren noted some programs (toilets, dishwashers, washers, faucets, and shower heads) were being discontinued in favor of irrigation controllers. Hoffman asked how the controllers were being promoted, and Lundgren replied the program worked with landowners and residents. Anderson stated it would be helpful to have data geared toward seasonal/quarterly messages so the commission could include information about spring irrigation, etc. Tritz gave an example of how a housing development sought lower water costs whereas pollinators and landscaping curbed the need for irrigation in the first place. She urged promotion of low-mow fescue and pollinator landscapes. Young asked for and received clarification these were self-installed, and suggested a partnership with Home Depot or Menards to promote the controllers. Lundgren replied Menards and Home Depot promoted eco-rebates on their own,but she was not sure if they offered controllers. Tritz asked if there was a way to take this one step further to recommend and offer controllers, and Lundgren replied she had received a"no" on the question of getting into buying and selling controllers. 2. DISCUSS 2018 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2019 WORK PLAN Tritz presented a PowerPoint on 2018 Conservation Commission accomplishments and the 2019 Work Plan. Tritz would be giving this presentation at the January 22, 2019 City Council workshop. The presentation introduced the four focus areas and the commissioners assigned to them; and an overview of 2018 accomplishments and 2019 goals: participation at the Metro-Wide Environment Commission Conference in April, 2018, which would be held again in 2019;; educational materials distributed which would be revised and reprinted for 2019; the Eden Prairie Congregations Clean Energy Forum at which meteorologist Paul Douglas and the Eden Prairie mayor spoke; the Eden Prairie Home and Garden Expo in March, 2018 which would also be held in 2019; the Arbor Day Event for 2018 and 2019; the Citywide Open House in October, 2018, and the Sustainable Eden Prairie Awards, an annual event, which could have a larger presence on the website. Other goals included Adopt-a-Storm-Drain, irrigation control rebates, the Solid Waste Management Plan strategies and comments, DemCon tour, presentation to student commissioners, attendance at the students' TreeHugger meeting, and Energy Action Plan follow-up. Tritz emphasized the power of sustained efforts, rather than a"once-and- done." Conservation Commission Minutes January 8, 2019 Page 4 Bennett asked if the Home Energy Squad buy down would be repeated. Lundgren replied a survey would go out to see if the residents wanted another home energy buy-down or a different incentive. Anderson noted the buy-downs sold out fairly quickly. Tritz suggested funds be routed toward the second step in the process to lower barriers for some residents. Novak-Krebs noted Center for Energy Environment was following up with residents who had had the home visit to see if any of the suggestions were implemented. 2019 work plan The commission members agreed to focus on a particular audience (multi- unit residences)rather than one focus area. Anderson noted it was important to know the residents' needs. Novak- Krebs stated solid waste management and recycling were educational areas. Lundgren stated a survey might be needed to effect real behavior change. Bennett noted a couple multi-family units in Chaska he visited as a Master Recycler had specific challenges, such as insufficient space for both recycling and garbage bins, cross-contamination, and the amount of trash left when residents move out. The management often dealt with residents on an individual basis, whereas this was an overall change. Lohnes stated diversity of residents could create a diversity of barriers. Lundgren noted organic recycling would be a huge educational effort, and this could be an area on which the commission could focus in the future, though it was not actionable as yet. Lohnes replied there was likely also a diversity in implementation based on the situation and Lundgren agreed, adding a building's age added to the challenge. Lohnes expressed approval for focusing on an audience, and upon one behavioral change rather than ten, for example. Makaram stated it might be a question of speaking to and educating the owners,rather than the tenants. Lundgren agreed; turning off lights and recycling were individual tenant behaviors, but boiler efficiency and educating owners on rebates and tax incentives was a huge piece. Makaram asked how pollinators would fit in, and Lundgren replied it would be a management issue, unless residents had individual gardens. Hoffman agreed with focusing on one audience. Lohnes suggested starting with one "pilot" building to serve as a testing ground and as an example to other multi-unit residences. Discussion followed on the advantages of this approach. Tritz asked how to create partnerships, and Novak-Krebs replied Housing and Community Services would have a list of buildings. Anderson suggested asking which of the buildings would be most likely to participate. Tritz suggested senior living buildings, such as Elim Shores Conservation Commission Minutes January 8, 2019 Page 5 which had an existing relationship with the commission, over lower- income buildings which had limited funds. Lundgren agreed waste/recycling would be a good focus. Lohnes suggested starting out with a simple survey of residents. Tritz asked for and received a consensus on focusing on one audience (multi-family residents) for 2019. Novak-Krebs reminded the commission there were other special projects on the list: the educational pollinator landscape area was well received by Matt Bourne; the solar panels display in the Community Center lobby was going to be redone along with the solar panel placement on the roof, and the commission was invited to contribute ideas; the multi-family outreach regarding energy and solid waste; the pollinator garden at the Community Center; the home irrigation initiative; and the adopt-a-storm drain promotion. She stated perhaps not all five could be realized in 2019 but one or two definitely could. The group prioritized the multifamily engagement as the first special project. Hoffman asked for and received confirmation that any commission could, as a private citizen, ask Menards and Home Depot to provide the rebate information next to the controller. Bennett noted consumers could compare prices between Menards, Home Depot, and Amazon, but installation could be another challenge; some residents might wish to work directly with the vendor. Tritz asked if all five special projects should be included in her presentation to the City Council. Discussion followed and the commission agreed to include all five as discussion points in Tritz's presentation, even if all could not be achieved in 2019. 3. DISCUSS TABLING OF HOME, LANDSCAPE AND GARDEN EXPO Tritz asked for changes this year from the two topic/tables configuration in 2018, and suggested offering only one table and topic in 2019. Novak- Krebs replied the configuration of the event was also changing, and suggested speaking to Stovring at the next meeting. Bennett noted the spring seemed to be a good time to sign up residents for the energy audits, and Anderson agreed. Anderson suggested she and Bennett partner with Lundgren at her table. Young agreed with a focus on energy. Discussion followed on the logistics of having the Partners In Energy and Home Energy Squad personnel at the event with the commission members. Lundgren suggested a conversation with Stovring to make this work. Anderson urged having one coherent message. Tritz replied there needed to be something to hold children's interest while the adults were being signed up. Young offered to come up with a simple game. Bennett and Makaram suggested energy-producing interactives (such as a bike that powers a light bulb, etc.). Conservation Commission Minutes January 8, 2019 Page 6 Novak-Krebs stated she added searching for grant opportunities to the Work Plan. 4. RILEY PURGATORY BLUFF CREEK WATERSHED DISTRICT ANNUAL COMMUNICATION Novak-Krebs stated this was a communication from the watershed district introducing who they were and what they accomplished in 2018. It's an annual communication. There were events planned for the 50th anniversary and perhaps this was an opportunity for the commission to get involved. Bennett stated this would be perfect for shoreline issues, stormwater management, and adopt-a-storm drain. B. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Tritz reminded the commission members the Metro-Wide Environment Conference was in the planning stages, an inter-city energy contest was being discussed, and she was meeting with the TreeHuggers in a few weeks. C. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION 1. WATER GROUP UPDATE 2. WASTE GROUP UPDATE 3. LANDSCAPE/POLLINATOR GROUP UPDATE 4. ENERGY GROUP UPDATE Bennett recommended patronizing Pizza Karma as a way to honor businesses making sustainable efforts in Eden Prairie. Hoffman asked if this was a possible Eden Prairie Award nomination. Lundgren asked if the nominations should be opened earlier, or even all year. Various commission members agreed with an open-all-year nomination period. Hoffman suggested reserving one month for a"media blitz." Anderson noted Hennepin County has great resources on waste, including videos and educational materials, and asked how Eden Prairie could use them. Lundgren replied many could be ordered at the Hennepin County website. Lundgren offered to get Anderson a direct contact name. Bennett stated there were also kits to borrow. D. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Conservation Commission Minutes January 8, 2019 Page 7 V. OTHER BUSINESS VI. UPCOMING EVENTS Tritz announced Ron Case was presenting his energy vision at 11:30-12:30 at Immanuel Lutheran Church by Kowalski's on Saturday VII. NEXT MEETING The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held Tuesday, February 12, 2019, 7:00 p.m. in Prairie Rooms A & B. VIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Bennett moved, seconded by Anderson to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED 6-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:41 p.m.