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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019/03/27 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - RegularSt. Louis Park Administrative Services Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 Environment and sustainability commission (ESC): Sustainable SLP Minutes March 27, 2019 Community Room, St. Louis Park City Hall Members present: Chair Bridget Rathsack, Shaina Ashare, Sue Bloyer, Katie Christiansen, Nicole Ciulla, Stefan Collinet-Adler, Ryan Griffin, Larry Kraft, Claire Lukens. Excused absence: Hannah Ampe, Zoe Frank, Jim Leuthner Staff present: Meg McMonigal, ESC coordinator; Lauren Michaels, intern Guests: Sandy Fazeli, Lotus Engineering and Sustainability 1.The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Rathsack. 2.Business a.Council and moving the CAP forward Mr. Griffin stated it is a good time to reflect on where we are and the opportunity to address the CAP. He stated words matter, but action really matters more, in order to help staff drive the CAP to action, and fill the role as strategic advisor to the council. Mr. Griffin stated EP3, wind source and solar are all areas to be recommended and pursued to the fullest degree. He stated we owe council direct engagement and there are specific strategies outlined in the CAP, and actions to be taken. He stated he is feeling left out with meetings that are going on, without the commission’s knowledge, and he wants to discuss this further tonight. Mr. Kraft stated there were three jump start projects outlined in the CAP. Youth led engagement needs more support. The web portal has limited progress. EV chargers, nothing known to date. What do we know about the CAP – nothing is known. He stated they know where things are at in city owned buildings, but beyond that, nothing is known, and this needs to be addressed also. Mr. Kraft stated the commission is disconnected from council and there are five items to focus on: • Ask for is to have the CAP reviewed by council as a city council agenda item, every other month, and have a commissioner attend the meetings to engage with the council. • To implement the EPP, • To instruct the comms group to create a plan for the web portal and implement it in three months, with CAP goals and strategies St. Louis Park Administrative Services Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 • To pass a building ordinance within three months • Modify the charter of the waste group to track greenhouse gases as a key metric and become sustainability champions. Mr. Griffin added honing in on electricity and public sector uses, with an aggressive target of 100 percent carbon free for the whole city – and basically there has been no progress. The city, as well as the school district, must lead by example. He added working on electricity with individual residents will not help make progress, while getting to net zero will take more systemic action. Chair Rathsack stated everyone on staff is doing great work, and we need to all work together on this. Mr. Kraft stated the comments were not meant to say staff is not doing a good job, but they were meant to say the structure needs to be reviewed and broadened and staff needs to work with the ESC, with direction from the council. Ms. McMonigal added staff may also need to give more details to ESC about what is being worked on as well. Mr. Griffin stated this is not the issue. He added the passing of the EP3 has been virtually ignored. The commissioners agreed with the five points made by Mr. Kraft, and support presenting all to the city council. Mr. Griffin said there should be measure on the portal as to how the city is doing, and what is being focused on as a city. He added the school could be the first in the state to have 100 percent renewable energy and be seen as a leader, helping to get people interested. He noted the big picture needs to be addressed vs. individual resident’s actions and using a dashboard would be more helpful on the portal. Chair Rathsack added this is a tracking issue, more than an issue with the portal. Mr. Griffin added the ESC needs to communicate to council that the goals are not being met, and council also seems acknowledge this as well. Ms. McMonigal summarized knowing what is being done needs to be shared with ESC and also tracking and measuring, along with focus on what makes a big difference needs to be addressed with staff and council, along with moving on to the bigger things. Mr. Griffin added the top priority needs to focus on electricity and commercial. Mr. Collinet-Adler added we need to talk more with businesses than residents, and then allow residents to do what they can, but not focus on residents at this time. The events can help get residents on board, but focus on the businesses and schools should take precedent. St. Louis Park Administrative Services Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 Ms. McMonigal added as liaison she will be taking this information to the city council. Mr. Griffin stated it is important that the ESC has time on the city council agenda in April, especially since it is Earth Month. Mr. Kraft added because the CAP is a council priority, they should be very receptive to this. Mr. Kraft made a motion to ask for time on the city council agenda in April related to the CAP priorities; Mr. Griffin seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Ms. McMonigal added on April 22 the ESC has time with council at the study session. b. Consultant Lotus Engineering and Sustainability Ms. Fazeli presented the current scope of work and hopes it will help to mitigate concerns of the commission. She pointed out a spreadsheet showing baselines of sustainability, internal tracking, and project management with goals of the CAP, and actions. This will also include data collection information. Ms. Fazeli also noted surveys being conducted, and work being done on the website portal and structure and using it as a tool and for accountability. She also noted the toolkits that the city can utilize. Ms. Fazeli stated this scope of work will help build a foundation and structure for work with businesses on electricity goals, and success stories can be highlighted as well as surveys given to businesses. Mr. Griffin asked if Lotus has any data on this work done in the past and the effects that have been realized in other cities. Ms. Fazeli stated she can provide data from other cities and can also share information from the RFP with the commission. Mr. Griffin stated there seems to be a gap between making substantial reductions and the actions needed to be taken. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated the city staff needs to be involved in collecting data and engaging and working with businesses to help them make this a priority. Mr. Griffin added the scale and magnitude of what needs to change has not been communicated yet to businesses. He stated there needs to also be ways to measure goals and success. He added until the city buildings are at 100 percent renewable, it will be difficult to ask other businesses to do the same. Chair Rathsack stated the commission needs assistance with outreach. St. Louis Park Administrative Services Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 Mr. Kraft asked about doing a case study with Ms. Ashare’s connections at the JCC. Mr. Kraft asked how the ESC will be able to continue to keep in touch with Lotus. Ms. Fazeli stated she will continue to communicate with the commission, and help with concrete ideas on filling in gaps, and be a resource to help move things forward. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated it will be most helpful to communicate with businesses, at 20,000 square feet and larger, asking what their problems are related to energy efficiency. Mr. Griffin appreciated the presentation from Lotus and asked if that they give routine updates to council so it’s in the public realm, and so everyone can stay engaged. Ms. McMonigal stated staff can work to develop a framework and structure for approaching the larger business, with a consistent message, that is systematic, and that includes the city manager, a city council member, and an ESC commissioner. Ms. Michaels added the equity piece is important here as well, and while she understands the commission’s frustrations, she feels the group is on the right track. Ms. Lukens added businesses don’t have a lot of time to work on this, and they need steps laid out and to know who to contact to get things done. Chair Rathsack asked about the tool kits, and how to partner and get things done faster. Ms. Bloyer asked if Lotus has worked with cities that have frameworks to reduce carbon emissions, and if she has any examples where they have been successful. Ms. Fazeli stated she can pull together some reports of impact to present to the commission. She agrees that grants would be helpful to assist smaller groups in taking first steps. c. EV event – Establishing a project group and communications Mr. Collinet-Adler thanked everyone for their work on this event, and noted he would like to start publicizing the event now, through Facebook, and links to the page. He stated this will need to be done quickly to move things forward. Chair Rathsack stated this would be an event page on Facebook, and staff can set this up. Mr. Collinet-Adler noted the work group members, and stated he will send out an email and calendar in the next weeks. He added they will need to set up food also for the event. Mr. Kraft stated April 24 is the information session, and this will be publicized by the Roots and Shoots and Seeds groups. He added he has a connection with a group in Menlo Park, CA, which are working to be carbon neutral by 2025. He stated he has materials to share with the ESC on this. St. Louis Park Administrative Services Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 Mr. Griffin added at the next meeting the biking event is May 18 and the Children First Ice Cream Social is on May 19, noting the ESC might want to be present for that event also. d. Topics for next meeting – April 3, 2019 i. SEEDs event ii. EV event iii. Ecotacular iv. Sustainability Champions v. Biking event vi. Chair and vice chair elections in May vii. Staff speaker – Jim Vaughn, natural resources coordinator The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.