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Conservation Commission - 07/08/2008 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,JULY 8, 2008 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Eapen Chacko (Chair), Ray Daniels, Laura Jester, Sean Katof, Geneva MacMillan, Jan Mosman STAFF: Leslie A. Stovring, Staff Liaison Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Chacko called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM. All members were present. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Stovring added Items IV.C. Student Commissioners, VIII.B. Antique Fair at Dunn Brothers/Change-A-Light Promotion, and VIII.C. Sunbonnet Days, September. Chacko added Item V.A. Water-Smart Landscaping Workshop. Daniels added Item VIII.A. Report on Parks & Recreation Commission Tour. Katof added Item VI.B. Change-A- Light. MOTION: MacMillan moved, seconded by Mosman, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Commission Meeting held May 13, 2008 MOTION: Jester moved, seconded by Daniels, to approve the minutes of the May 13, 2008 meeting as published. Motion carried 5-0-1, with Katof abstaining. IV. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Clean Up Results - June 21, 2008 Stovring said the traffic at the Clean Up event went very well. It was estimated that 808 vehicles came through, which is slightly down from 2007 and 2006. However, traffic moved much quicker than in previous years. There were more people directing traffic and two lots were set up to take general trash rather than just one. She thought it opened things up more. Mosman thought the information in the City newsletter about how to load items in a vehicle helped. Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 2 Stovring noted Ms Jester was there for a good part of the day before they closed down the extra traffic routes. Stovring said all the electronics were in a new place and Ms Jester was able to help customers by diverting traffic to that lot when all they had were electronics. Chacko thanked Jester for volunteering her time at the clean up. Mosman asked if most other communities do pickups rather than drop offs. Stovring said Bloomington does a curbside pickup, but they have a lot of problems with theft and vandalism. They have had problems the last two years because of the increased value of copper, and this year one of the haulers reported that they were threatened to move away by thieves. She said Bloomington residents like the curbside pickup, but Eden Prairie is concerned about the issues and the cost. Chacko noted he recycled his computer at Best Buy after removing the hard drive. Stovring noted Menards and Home Depot now take CFL bulbs at no charge. These new programs will make it easier for residents to dispose of problem materials. B. Evaluate ideas for eneru conservation initiatives or programs for Winter 2008/2009 Stovring said the Commission's Work Plan calls for us to start talking about winter promotions prior to the heating season. She asked if someone wanted to take the lead on that or if anyone had any ideas. Chacko asked if we could subsidize anything like we did with the appliance rebate, either through a rebate or a coupon. Stovring said we could put together a request for Staff or the Council to consider. Chacko suggested a rebate for programmable thermostats; he thought October would be a good time for a program on energy savings for homeowners. If Council approval is needed, the Commission would have to prepare a proposal for the August Council Meeting or it couldn't be done before October. A discussion followed regarding the cost of programmable thermostats. Jester noted she thought there are a lot of homes that don't have them. Stovring thought it is an easy way for people to save money. The consensus was to move ahead with the idea of a programmable thermostat promotion. Chacko volunteered to provide the background material for a proposal on such a promotion. Mosman thought we could come up with another energy saving device as well, such as something to do with lighting or insulation. She thought it might be good to have an alternative to the thermostat because some people already have those installed. Chacko said they should come back with some ideas at the next meeting. Katof asked about the possibility of offering a $250 rebate for geothermal. Stovring asked if that amount is significant enough. Katof said the estimates for geothermal are $15,000-$25,000, but it would provide one more incentive. Chacko thought we would be targeting a more affluent portion of the community, and he wondered if they would change their decision-making based on a small subsidy. He asked if the Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 3 fire station is still looking at geothermal. Stovring said it will be looked at in Phase 2 or 3 of the 20-40-15 program. Mosman noted it has a very long payback time. Mosman suggested having a program on efficient home heating and how to keep a home well-insulated in the winter. Chacko suggested contributing to a coupon for an energy audit and noted Xcel Energy has a smaller audit available for $35.00. Jester thought we might want to offer one for free. Stovring said we could have a couple of different coupons. There may even be companies that could give us coupons for a free light bulb or something that could be handed out at events or speaking engagements. Chacko asked if someone would like to look into the Xcel energy audit. Katof agreed to contact Xcel since he has a contact there. C. Student Commissioners Stovring said we have three new Student Commissioners starting in September. They will all serve for a full year. Vallari Ajgaonkar is coming back this year and will be joined by Alexandra Baumhardt and Michael Caughill. All of the students who applied this year were from Eden Prairie High School. She said J. P. Maslyn and Ann Wachutka will be serving on different commissions. Stovring noted that student commissioners have reported serving on the Commission as being a positive and educational experience. D. Report on status of 20-40-15 program Stovring passed out a status summary from McKinstry. The initial audit of the interior lighting in City facilities has been completed. The City Hall parking lot lights, the emergency generator, and the "Vending Miser" equipment have been ordered. The centralized temperature control has been started, and it should be done and ready for the winter season. They are talking about Phase 2 going to the City Council in August or September. There were delays in getting shipment of the LED lights for the parking lot, so that might be put on hold for a while in order to have time for a trial period. She said she will have McKinstry come to the Commission to report later this year, after the lights are done. Chacko wondered how we get feedback on the lighting, he thought it would be nice to have people participate and provide feedback. Stovring said we could put an article in the paper urging people to come see the new lights. Chacko said he was able to contact someone at the Eden Prairie Soccer Club and that person thought they would be open to helping with a recycling event if there were a fundraising aspect for the club. Stovring said there are ways to get money for paper and aluminum,but they would probably have to get it to the dealers. She said Anchor Paper works with clubs but she was not sure about aluminum. Chacko said he told the Soccer Club representative that we would get back to them. Stovring thought we might want to contact the Lions Club or the Cub Scouts who have experience doing this. Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 4 Chacko said he had thought about doing recycling at the Eden Prairie Soccer Cup event but he was unable to work it out. Stovring said if it is a big enough event we could work with a local waste collector rather than do it all ourselves. Mosman said Suburban Waste Services were amenable to bringing containers in to the High School and taking them away for no charge and perhaps they would work with us. Stovring said they donate recycling proceeds to charitable organizations. Mosman said Suburban Waste or another company would be good because they would have the containers and would collect them. Stovring noted Randy's Sanitation might be able to provide composting. V. REPORTS FROM CHAIR A. Water-Smart Landscaping Workshop Chacko said Mr. Daniels and he attended the Water-Smart Landscaping workshop at the Ridgedale Library. Daniels said they were talking about rain gardens and rain barrels among other items. They talked about integrating rain gardens into parking lots by developing islands in the lots where rain would collect rather than just running off. Stovring said there are a lot of places where we could do that but our ordinance isn't tough enough to require a developer to do it. She said there are a lot of places where strips of permeable surface could be placed, for example, the middle of parking lanes could be permeable. This would also allow trees to be planted in areas that would then act like a rain garden and not take up much extra space at all. Daniels thought we should look at our ordinances and toughen them up. Stovring said her plan was to do that now that the Nine-Mile Creek Watershed District rules have been adopted, probably over the fall and winter so it is done prior to construction season 2009. She is also considering adding requirements for deep tilling the soils prior to placement of sod. Chacko thought there were companies that might be open to this if they were pushed. For example at the workshop they discussed a new Target store where the city came to them early on and asked them to do something with the stormwater runoff and they complied. Chacko showed a chart of deep-rooted plants given out at the workshop. Some native plants have 15-foot roots whereas Kentucky bluegrass has only two inch roots, making it very susceptible to drought and requiring heavy inputs of water and fertilizer. Stovring said native plant roots can even get through clay soils and open them up for infiltration, but it takes time. Chacko noted there are other grass mixes available,but builders don't want to use them because Kentucky bluegrass is cheaper and easier to get. He suggested that we might consider subsidizing someone who is putting in a new lawn to use other mixes of fescue and Kentucky bluegrass. Jester thought there is a huge mindset for having a perfect lawn right now. He noted there is going to be a similar presentation given at Pax Christi tomorrow. Chacko noted the importance of providing incentive for people to do undertake water smart landscaping. Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 5 Jester asked how the incentive program for rain gardens was going. Stovring said we have had a lot of phone calls about it but no plans have been approved yet. Jester said it is working really well in Dakota County where they do a set of workshops and provide technical help in designing a rain garden. Stovring stated they will be working with the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District to provide Metro Blooms rain garden workshops in 2009. VL OLD BUSINESS A. Report on July 4th Event—Ray Daniels Daniels said he was next to the Friends at Birch Island Woods booth. The booth was down near the end, and they didn't get a lot of foot traffic. They were competing with booths that offered balloons and face painting. Something to attract more people would be helpful next time. MacMillan said they had the rain barrel out, and people were interested in that. She noted the ones at the workshop were black. Mosman asked where to get one. Chacko said they can be purchased from the County recycling facility. Stovring noted the cost of the County's rain barrel is $35.00 and that they are almost gone. Stovring said the Outdoor Center was very happy with the rain barrel workshop event and want to do it again. Chacko thanked Mr. Daniels for taking charge of the event and volunteering his time. B. Change-A-Light program update—Sean Katof Katof said he had contacts at ADC Telecommunications and C. H. Robinson so he sent them an email about the Change-A-Light program and asked them to forward the email to other employees. The contact at ADC Telecommunications did forward the email, so there was a slight bump in the number of pledges on the website. If other Commission members have corporate contacts, we could send similar emails to try to boost the volumes. Stovring said she has a contact at Rosemount she could send one to. Mosman asked if the program is still going. Katof said it is an annual program so it resets in September. He said he likes to think we have encouraged people to go out and buy CFL bulbs, but they aren't necessarily taking the time to make the pledge on the website. He tried to get the actual numbers for sales of CFL bulbs from Home Depot and Menards. The individual at Menards said they don't track it but he believed it was up considerably. Katof thought they weren't really willing to help. Stovring suggested we talk to the Chamber of Commerce about mentioning it in their newsletter. Jester asked if we are doing anything about putting the word out in churches. Chacko said we had a display at our booth at the Pax Christi fair, but we Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 6 didn't leave any materials behind. Daniels suggested we have a laptop available at an event so people could sign the pledge there. Chacko thanked Katof for his continuing leadership in moving this initiative forward. VIL NEW BUSINESS A. Parks and Recreation Commission Tour—Ray Daniels Daniels said he spent a good evening with the Parks & Recreation Commission as they took a tour of different facilities in the City. They started at Staring Lake to see where the new observatory will be located. They had to raise $110,000 for the building, but they already have about $85,000. The building will have a small porch where individuals can bring their own telescopes. The tour then went to Cedar Hills Park on the old golf course. The clubhouse is still there, and they are talking about what the City would do with it. Daniels said he suggested an environmental education building. Stovring said it was not sure they will keep the building. Daniels said they continued on to Miller Park to see the new soccer fields that were built with a special drainage system. He said they also went over to the new ball park by the fire station on Eden Prairie Road and Valley View. He said it is a nice facility, but he looked at the parking lot and there is no place for the runoff water to go. Stovring noted there is a new storm water pond near there. Daniels said they stopped to see the improvements at Birch Island Park. There is a new bike path and a parking lot. He said they had some infringement into the park recently. Stovring said the Watershed District went a little further than they were supposed to and would be replacing trees in there. Daniels said they put in a rain garden at the end of the parking lot. Jester asked if the water level in the lake is coming up. Daniels said it is slowly coming up. Daniels said they then went over to the Forest Hills project that is being built behind the school. He said they leveled the hill behind the school and put in a nice shelter, a couple of fields, places for ice skating and also will have a court. He noted it was a cooperative effort with the School District. There is a nice playground, and they obviously invested quite a bit of money in the project. Daniels said they ended up at Edenvale, which has a nice shelter there and also will have a tennis court. They have finished the bike and walking trail so you can now walk through the entire area. Daniels thought it would be nice if we could get the same kind of tour of the conservation areas. Stovring said perhaps as the rebate program builds we could add tours of some of the rain gardens or shoreland restoration projects. Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 7 Daniels said people asked about buckthorn in places along the tour. Stovring said Jeff Strate manages it because he has an active program and works with the Parks Department. The City does not do it because it is too overwhelming. Stovring said we would have to talk to Stu Fox as the individuals involved would need to be really serious about it. She noted you have to deal with buckthorn for at least three years and individuals would need to be willing to put that commitment in. B. Antique Fair at Dunn Brothers, Saturday, August 9th / Change-A-Light Promotion— Sean Katof Mosman said she could ask if we could set up a display and have a laptop available to sign the lighting pledge at the Heritage Preservation Commission's Antique Fair on August 9. They usually get about 200 people at the event. She thought we should offer an incentive for people to sign the pledge. Mosman suggested we might offer a free cup of coffee as an incentive. The rest of the Commissioners agreed. Stovring said we could advertise in the Eden Prairie News. Mosman said there is a $25.00 table charge for the event. Stovring thought we could do that. Mosman suggested we have the table close to where the Historical Society table is so we wouldn't have to be in attendance for the whole time. She said she will contact the person running the fair. Daniels thought we might also have people sign up for Wind Source. Stovring thought we would only want to have one signup to keep it from clogging at the computers. Mosman suggested having brochures available on other things. Chacko asked if he understood correctly that you can recycle CFL bulbs for free now. Katof said a lot of places are taking them. Stovring said Home Depot and Menards are two of the places taking them. C. Sunbonnet Days, September—Recycling container set-out—Jan Mosman Mosman asked what had happened to the idea of setting up recycling containers at City events this summer. Stovring said someone would have to monitor it. Mosman asked if they would have to be sorted. Stovring said we can get the containers from Hennepin County but must reserve them in advance. They provide clear bags on a stand that holds the bag up. Mosman said the High School did covers and put those on the stands. Stovring said just doing plastic and aluminum has been very successful. Mosman said we were thinking of a City event such as Sunbonnet Days at Lake Riley which is held on the third Sunday in September. She thought that would be a good event for recycling. Chacko said he will take a shift and asked how many units we would have. Mosman said there are two different stations, one near the barn and another one on the other level. She said the event is geared to families with kids up to sixth grade and also senior adults. Conservation Commission July 8, 2008 Page 8 Jester asked if Ms Stovring would call the County to get the containers. Mosman said she will get the exact date to Ms Stovring. Stovring said we could pick up the containers on Friday and drop them off on Monday. VIII. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS/HANDOUTS/COMMUNICATIONS Chacko said he had some informational material to distribute about biofuels and alternative sources of energy. He asked if the material could be appended to the minutes of this meeting so that Council members might see this material in addition to reading the minutes. Alternatively they might appear on the Conservation Commission's web page. Stovring said we might be able to append them as a PDF file or a Microsoft Word document. She will check with Ms Porta to see if that is possible. IX. UPCOMING EVENTS A. Landscaping with Native Plants Workshop - Pax Christi Church, 6 pm July 9th B. Nine Mile Creek Watershed District Summer Education Series / LEED Certified Facility Tour — August 13, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. — Quality Bicycle Products Stovring noted she is planning to attend this workshop, and she encouraged Commission members to attend. She said Quality Bicycles is LEED certified and they are trying to aim for zero waste. She thought this is a unique opportunity, and anyone planning to attend should call the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District and reserve a spot. Mosman asked if it is geared to company owners. Stovring said they are gearing the education series more towards residents so it shouldn't be extremely technical. She noted the event is the day after the Commission's next meeting. Mosman asked if it will be held in Eden Prairie. Stovring said it is in Edina she believes but will email out the flyer. Daniels asked if there is a City map that shows the trail system. Stovring said the Parks Department has one available, and it is also on the website. Daniels noted people have asked about it, and he would like to add it to his collection. X. NEXT MEETING A. August 12, 2008 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Daniels moved, seconded by MacMillan, to adjourn. Motion carried 6-0. Chair Chacko adjourned the meeting at 8:50 PM.