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Conservation Commission - 06/08/2010 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,JUNE 8, 2010 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Laura Jester(Chair), Greg Olson (Vice Chair), Sue Brown, Ray Daniels, Ravi Jaiswal, Geneva MacMillan, Prashant Shrikhande STAFF: Regina Herron, Staff Liaison Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Jester called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM. Olson was absent. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Jester added Item VI.A. New Display Board, Item IX.B. Review Goals and Work Plan, and Item IX.C. Reschedule Tabled Items. MOTION: Brown moved, seconded by MacMillan, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 6-0. III. MINUTES A. Minutes for the May 11, 2010 meeting The page heading was changed to reflect the correct date, May 11, 2010. Sentence 5, Paragraph 1, Page 4 was deleted. MOTION: MacMillan moved, seconded by Daniels, to approve the minutes of the May 11, 2010 meeting as amended. Motion carried 5-0-1, with Jaiswal abstaining. IV. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Commercial Recycling Initiative Code Amendment— Status Herron said this item will go to the City Council for second reading on June 15. If it is approved at that meeting, it will be codified. V. REPORTS FROM CHAIR Jester said she thought the presentation at the Commission Banquet went okay. Herron said it was well-received. Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 2 VI. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION MEMBERS A. New Display Board Brown said Ms Stovring purchased a new display board, but she has not seen it yet. She said we will need to create graphics to use on it. She will work with Ms Herron to develop a list of key topics and suggested we prepare materials by module so we can use them at a particular event. Jester said she liked the idea of putting together key topics for modular use at different events, and we need to take advantage of Ms Brown's background in marketing. Brown said she will present the ideas at the next meeting. Jester asked if we still plan to have a booth at the July 4th event. Daniels said a complication for that event has arisen because he recently became the DFL candidate for Senate District 42B, and he will be speaking to people at the event as a candidate. Jester noted our booth at the event has not been a great draw, and asked Ms Herron if there would be a conflict for Mr. Daniels to be a candidate and also serve on the Commission. Herron said she will check with the City Attorney. Jester thought it may be difficult for Mr. Daniels to wear two hats on the same day. MacMillan said she could attend the event but she can't set up the booth. Brown suggested we give the booth space up because of the work and time involved for the event and the fact it has not been a huge draw in the past. Jester said it is not appropriate to ask City staff to help with it, and she agreed that it may not be worth it since it isn't a big draw. Daniels said this event has been his project and he would like to continue it,but he is not sure if the booth that Jeff Strate used in prior years is in good shape. Shrikhande thought Mr. Daniels should go ahead with the event if he wants to. Daniels said he will try to keep his "two hats" separate,but he would not feel comfortable using the new board for the event. Brown noted it is meant for indoors and has to be handled carefully. It is very durable and travels quite well but it is heavy. A discussion followed about the materials to be used at the event. Jester said we have had a booth at Sunbonnet Days in September. Herron said there is a City-wide open house event to be held at City Hall this fall. She will get the exact date,but she thought it was in late September or early October. Jester said there are also church events that pop up here and there. VII. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS VIII. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Rainwater Garden Research Herron said she emailed everyone a map showing the locations where infiltration basins or rainwater gardens have been approved through new developments. Jester Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 3 asked about those that are located in City parks. Herron said the map only shows rainwater gardens that went through a new development process. She showed photos of two on Hilltop Road before and after today's rain. Jester asked if these were put in by the developer. Herron said they were as part of the stormwater management requirement. MacMillan asked when they were put in. Herron said it was around 2007, so the plants would have been established in 2008. Daniels asked if the soil in that area has a lot of clay. Herron said the soil varies depending on the area, and that was something they looked at when they brought in the development plans. MacMillan asked if the rainwater gardens were part of a natural valley. Herron said the property was graded and the rainwater gardens were put in at the low point of the property. MacMillan noted the soil may not have been the same if the area was dug out. Jester said in the presentation we received they emphasized how much the soil must be amended for each site. Herron said we can highlight the rainwater garden photos at the joint Planning Commission workshop. Jester asked if we have an agenda for that yet. Herron said at the last meeting we talked about keeping it to two topics, so we may want to talk about rainwater gardens and porous pavers. Jester said she would go out to take pictures of the other rainwater gardens if it would make sense to have them for the joint meeting. Herron said when items come to the Planning Commission they don't see the finished product so this would be educational for them. Jester asked if we need to educate the Planning Commission on what a rainwater garden is. Herron thought that would be appropriate. Jester thought they would have to understand about stormwater infiltration needs,but there are other tools to use in infiltrating stormwater. She asked if we want to talk about such things as sunken islands in parking lots or green roofs. Herron said it would be important to focus on rainwater gardens and porous pavers. Jester asked if we have any feedback from their staff liaison about any questions that the Planning Commission may have for us. Herron said it was brought up but there were no comments. Jester asked if there will be access to the internet at the joint meeting. Herron said there will be, and the meeting will be held downstairs in the Heritage Rooms. Jester thought we should develop some discussion points for the meeting. MacMillan asked if we will have photos for the meeting. Herron said we will, and we could do a PowerPoint presentation. Brown asked if we have an objective for the meeting. Jester said it is to educate the Planning Commission to consider alternative techniques to conserve resources when they look at development projects. Brown asked if this would be a voluntary thing or something that would be adopted. Herron said the plan is to just educate each other. Jester noted we can also thank them for passing the recycling code amendment. Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 4 Brown said considering the natural resources of the land seems like a good topic to bring up. She asked if we can try to influence their plans for the future or if we just make suggestions. Jester said our role is advisory. We suggested that the recycling code should be updated and they took the suggestion. Herron thought we would be creating a dialogue. Jester thought it will be good to meet them because they may not know our commission. Brown said she would volunteer to help with the list of topics. Shrikhande said it would be nice to know what they do, what they are currently planning, and how they factor all this in their plans. Brown thought we could present them with a working plan or a schematic for how to build a rainwater garden. We could show what would go into the creation of one and then quantify the benefits. Jester said at one time we talked about having the presenter from Plymouth at the meeting to give the same presentation to the Planning Commission. She thought we might be able to look back at the rainwater garden presentation and take points from that. MacMillan said she would help with that. B. Porous Pavers Research Herron said she has not received additional research from Mr. Olson. She did pull some information about the ordinances for Chanhassen, Minnetonka and Bloomington. She noted Chanhassen and Minnetonka are about the same and allow concrete, bituminous and other material. We do not include "other material" in our ordinance. Bloomington also mentions brick, stone or concrete driveway pavers that have gaps not exceeding '/a inch, which would allow some water to seep through. She was not sure if we want to discuss the research we heard last time about the importance of the surface being able to handle large amounts of traffic and heavy vehicles. Jester thought that is a question for the Planning Commission to determine if it can go beyond residential and be offered to commercial developments. She was not sure if they are concerned about maintenance. Herron said we could bring that up at the workshop. Jester thought it would be good to have the information available. Brown said the Vass Company in St. Paul manufactures porous pavers, so there apparently is a lot of work being done on them. Jester said she has heard about permeable asphalt. She hoped we can have a good discussion and come to a consensus on how the ordinance can be updated. She thought we may want to hand out copies of the ordinances from the other cities as well as our current ordinance so we can highlight some things. Brown asked if we should make a recommendation about wording. Jester said our question to them would be what should be included in the update. C. Ideas for Life in the Prairie Newsletter Herron displayed the picture included in the newsletter regarding the employee recycle roundup for small appliances held at the Eaton Corporation. She distributed Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 5 copies of the press release for the event. She said it will be in the newsletter because we like to highlight businesses that are going green. Brown noted a recent issue of the National Geographic was devoted to water, and that might be a good topic because it is important for people to understand how important water is to us. We take water for granted, and it would be interesting to educate people about the problems of water worldwide. Jaiswal noted people in India are dying each day from dehydration as the water level drops in the wells there. Shrikhande thought we might come up with some kind of pledge to encourage people to reduce the impact on the environment. He thought we could spin it with either water or energy, and he would volunteer to work on that. Jester noted we had a "Change A Light" campaign a couple of years ago to encourage residents to change to CFL bulbs. Shrikhande thought we might tie into something where they could contribute their stories. The consensus was to pursue that idea. Shrikhande said he would come up with some ideas and present them at the next meeting. Jester said our recommendation to the Communications Department would be to work up something about the issue of water shortages worldwide. She asked Commission members who have specific facts to pass them to Ms Herron who would then give them to the Communications Department. D. Website Content Jester noted we asked to have a link from the 2009 lakes report to our page on the website. Herron said she will have to check to see if that has been done. Jester thought we could use the website if we develop the idea of a pledge. IX. NEW BUSINESS A. Upcoming City Projects and Development—Project Profile Herron said the 78h Street Market is a new item, and it is on a fast track to the City Council. The project would replace the Philips 66 gas station that closed down across from the old Flying Red Horse station. They have proposed a 7000 square foot commercial/retail building. There are some issues with infiltration because it was a gas station, so it is going through an environmental review process. She noted the project came in before the change in the recycling code. Brown asked if it will be just one store. Herron said there are three stores proposed for the building as part of a small strip mall. Jaiswal said he heard there were environmental issues with it. Herron said they had to clean it up. Jester said she hoped storm water infiltration will be incorporated. Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 6 Brown asked about the Cummins Grill House item. Herron said they are making a modification to the parking area and landscaping at the historic property. The item came through the Heritage Preservation Commission. Daniels said his church checked to see about installing a green roof when their roof had a leak. He thought we need to find more information on green roofs if we encourage people to do those, and that might be content for the website. Herron noted we can't give recommendations or list contractors on the City website,but we can provide information on a specific project. B. Review Goals and Work Plan Jester asked about the deadline for a fall class workshop. Herron said the pre-press deadline is next month. Brown said there was an article in the newspaper about making your own detergent and household cleaning products, and she thought we might do a similar thing as a workshop. People could pay a fee to cover the cost of the ingredients and would have fun making the product. Jester thought that was a good idea,but she wondered about attendance and whether one of the Commission members would run it. Brown said she was planning to do this herself since they had the recipes listed in the paper. Jester thought we could get someone here who has used them for a few years. Brown asked if we could put together a City-wide contest to fish for tagged carp at Staring Lake as part of a goal for carp removal. Jester thought it would represent a drop in the bucket compared to what is out there. Brown thought it would be a good way to educate and raise awareness of what is going on in our lakes and why carp are a danger to them. Herron said she could suggest it to the Parks & Recreation Department. Jester thought we could promote storm drain stenciling or metal decals on drains to specify that no waste should be dumped in the drains because they drain to the streams. She said scout groups often do that type of project. MacMillan asked about the grade level of students that were writing about science projects. Jester said it was 5h and 6h grades. MacMillan thought we could have an environmental competition since they do that in some of the schools. Brown thought we probably could only suggest it to the schools. She said she couldn't take that on right now but it might be fun to have something like that in the fall. MacMillan said we would have to declare what we would expect out of the project. Brown thought we might want to just sponsor an environmental award for the Science Fair. Shrikhande thought it could be a learning situation for them and we could contact some of the schools and see about the possibilities of an environmental competition. Jaiswal asked if there is a City code regarding clothes lines. Herron said it would be considered an accessory. Jester said some developments may not allow them. Jaiswal said a lot of town home associations don't allow them but he thought they should. Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 7 Shrikhande said we could highlight on our website that one townhome association has changed their rules to allow clotheslines. Jester thought we might put that in the column in Life on the Prairie. Jaiswal asked if we could write to the associations and suggest it. Herron said we don't have a list of the associations in the City, and she didn't know where we would direct people. Jester said she liked the idea of having it highlighted, and we can include the green roof at the dental office, the group at Eaton and the clothesline information. C. Reschedule Tabled Items Jester said we tabled two items scheduled for March 2010: create a strategy to begin a best practices review; and create a strategy to begin evaluation of"green" zoning ordinances. We also did not have the presentation by Best Buy on wind generators scheduled for April nor the items scheduled for May to receive a presentation from City's solid waste management companies on residential composting including yard and household waste, to receive a presentation or meet with Xcel Energy and Center Point Energy to review company performance and green initiatives, and to begin review of Three Rivers Parks District master plan in preparation of the joint meeting with the PRNRC (August). Jester said in July we are scheduled to review the proposed Local Water Management Plan and comment on it prior to submittal to the Watershed District, and begin planning for the landfill public information meeting in September. She noted the landfill public information meeting was one thing that Scott Neal wanted us to do. Herron said she will talk to Mr. Neal about that. Jester said we should check with Ms Stovring to see if the water management plan is out for comment. Jester said a little over a year ago she sat down with City staff to figure out what we can focus on in trying to develop our work plan. She thought we are doing pretty well. She thought the next thing we need to tackle may be the wind and solar energy issues because our code doesn't have any provision for those. Herron said other cities are taking a closer look at those as well. Jester asked if we are taking a look at that internally with staff. Herron said we are not. Jester thought that is another research type thing that might end up as a code amendment. Jaiswal explained the dynamics of wind generators that he has worked on, and noted he is working on an inexpensive solar system that could be assembled by an individual. X. UPCOMING EVENTS A. July 4, 2010—City 4th of July Event XI. NEXT MEETING A. Monday,June 28, 2010-6 PM Joint Workshop with Planning Commission; 7 PM Regular Conservation Commission Meeting. Jester asked if we want to have the next regular meeting after the joint workshop or in July. Herron said we could either meet after the joint workshop or just leave at 7 Conservation Commission Minutes June 8, 2010 Page 8 pm and have the regular meeting in July. Jester said the regular meeting date would be July 13. The consensus was to meet on June 28 after the Planning Committee workshop and not have the meeting in July. XII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: MacMillan moved, seconded by Shrikhande, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. Chair Jester adjourned the meeting at 8:40 PM.