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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019/07/10 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - Regular St. Louis Park Building and Energy 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 Minutes July 10, 2019 Westwood Room, City Hall Members present: Chair Claire Lukens, Abdi Ali, Sue Bloyer, Stefan Collinet-Adler, Zoe Frank, Ryan Griffin, Larry Kraft, Bridget Rathsack Excused absence: Shaina Ashare, Jim Leuthner, Nicole Ciulla, Katie Christiansen Staff present: Brian Hoffman, director of building and energy; Meg McMonigal, ESC liaison; Lauren Michaels, sustainability intern Guests: Thor Anderson 1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Lukens. 2. The minutes of the June 5, 2019 meeting were approved with one abstention (Kraft). 3. Staff updates: Brian Hoffman, director of building and energy department a. Introduction and overview of department changes – Mr. Hoffman noted the new department has four divisions – building codes, property maintenance and licenses, facilities and sustainability. He stated Ms. Michaels will continue on as the sustainability intern through end of the year, and a division manager, a coordinator and a sustainability specialist will all be hired. Shannon Pinc has moved on to another position, outside of St. Louis Park. He stated once the staff is on board, they will want to expand programs in the city and looking at incentives to electrify and increase use of renewable energy. Ms. Rathsack commented they prefer the department name be building and sustainability department. Mr. Hoffman said that was considered but building and energy was decided upon. Mr. Hoffman noted the community will need to be educated and programs will need to be developed, along with data gathering and communications plans. He noted staff and the ESC will be able to help with this. Mr. Kraft stated a business engagement program with incentives would be the best way to present this to the business community. Mr. Collinet-Adler added without direct communication between city and business, it will be difficult to begin this in a meaningful way. b. Efficient building program update Copies of the efficient building program report that was shared with council were given out to the commission and Mr. Hoffman noted the council approved of the plans earlier this week. This would apply to condos, multifamily and commercial buildings 25,000 feet and larger. Mr. Hoffman stated this represents over 300 buildings within the city. He St. Louis Park Building and Energy Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 stated information will be sent to all the businesses, and they will be invited to public meetings and to engage in discussions about the efficient building program. Mr. Hoffman stated if the public process goes well, an ordinance will be presented to council this fall and go into effect in January and data collection beginning in spring 2020. Mr. Ali asked if this was monthly or annual data collection. Mr. Hoffman stated this will be annual data entry. Mr. Griffin asked if businesses that already are using renewable energy will be noted. Mr. Hoffman stated this is about reducing energy consumption, while they could get credit for using solar panels. Mr. Hoffman stated Xcel is trying to reduce the peak demand and burn energy as efficiently as possible. Mr. Kraft stated Roots and Shoots had started to do some outreach to businesses, but they still need the city to develop a business program to direct businesses to. Mr. Griffin asked what Mr. Hoffman’s vision is for the Climate Action Plan and if the city can meet the 100 percent renewable goals within the next few years. Mr. Hoffman stated it’s an ambitious goal to reach, and there is a cost to this, especially with the nature center as an example - but he added, asking all home owners and business owners to participate will be difficult. He added he wants to strive to meet these goals but cannot say for sure whether they will be reached in a few years. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated this is why programing and education will be so important for implementation. Mr. Hoffman asked the commission how they see themselves helping to advance the Climate Action Plan. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated the ESC has no leverage with businesses and can only talk to them and direct them to city staff for the technical knowledge. Mr. Griffin stated in the broader context, the ESC has been involved since the beginning with the Climate Action Plan, so having an ongoing open dialogue with staff and council will be important to keep moving this forward. He added this engagement will be important. Mr. Hoffman stated the budget includes the new positions, and money will need to be added also for programing and city building improvements. Ms. McMonigal stated after the division manager is hired, they will be the one to develop the programming and implementation of the Climate Action Plan and working to meet the goals. Mr. Griffin stated bringing in a consultant to help develop the Climate Action Plan budget will also be important. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated he was happy and excited to see this new division develop. St. Louis Park Building and Energy Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 c. Other updates i. Solar Power Hour sessions – Ms. Michaels stated that three Solar Power Hour sessions will be held in council chambers at City Hall on July 23, Aug. 13 and Aug. 20 from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. Notify Ms. Michaels if interested in tabling. She added that these events were advertised in the July Park Perspective and online on the city calendar, and she will send the electronic version of flyers to be distributed. 4. Follow up on Lotus Materials – Chair Lukens noted the following: Last month there was discussion on the business PowerPoint, and follow-up was requested. Lotus is also working on a tracker for CAP goals, as well as the residential tool kit that was completed. Mr. Kraft went through all the information and sent in feedback. He noted that he objects to the slide with the big cost number, as it will create the wrong impression with the community. If talking about the cost, will need to talk about the benefits also. He also noted this needs to be boiled down into an easily understandable statement. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated the city will need to reach out to businesses, and not only send out flyers. He felt there was something missing here, and he provided feedback on Google docs. Ms. Rathsack mentioned that she also submitted a lot of feedback to the consultant. She noted that the strategies and audiences for each document were not clear; thus, it was difficult to give feedback without knowing the intended audience. A more holistic strategy needs to be developed and/or more clearly shared with the commission to help us understand how to best give input. Mr. Griffin added staff might want to wait until the manager is hired before moving further on these plans. Ms. McMonigal agreed. 5. Review work plan goals a. Advise city council and staff – CAP and sustainability goals Mr. Kraft stated a quarterly report should be sent to the council with input on where focus should be, including in business engagement. Mr. Griffin stated he is supportive of the reorganization. He has concerns related to Lotus’ work continuing until a new staff person is hired and re-evaluating their work plan. Mr. Griffin added many cities and countries world-wide are declaring climate emergencies. He asked about the pros and cons of doing this. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated it’s most important to work on the nuts and bolts rather than declare an emergency or spend time or money on this. Ms. Bloyer added this is not the time to do this, in light of current issues. Mr. Griffin stated this would be to elevate this issue to an emergent level. Mr. Kraft stated this might be something to communicate to the council and ask if the St. Louis Park Building and Energy Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 city should think about this. Ms. McMonigal stated this might be more something to pursue on a regional or county level, and have other cities become involved as well. Mr. Hoffman stated timing and an emergency plan needs to be in place. Mr. Kraft stated we are not operating as if this is an emergency. The commission noted they will want to send a written report which addresses this emergency to city council to be included in a future study session packet. The ESC members will draft a document for review by all, at the August ESC meeting, prior to sending to the council. b. Business engagement – champions program – concern this program has stalled. c. Resident engagement d. CAP tracking and support - progress towards the CAP goals 6. Events recap and work group updates - Electric vehicle and Parktacular Electric vehicle event – Mr. Collinet-Adler thanked all for their work on the event and noted the numbers of people who attended. He noted several EVs were purchased. He added the space was difficult to get to, so in the future, they will need to review how to get people to the area/space. Mr. Kraft thought the event went well and added it would be good to do this event in conjunction with another event, such as a farmer’s market, Parktacular, Children’s Ice Cream Social or another event. Mr. Collinet-Adler stated bringing businesses to the event was important so that they could see how to help put the Climate Action Plan in place while gaining exposure and possibly new customers. Ms. Rathsack noted city residents were also very engaged and interested in how to do more with solar. Ms. Frank noted the climate leadership resolution was passed by the school board and in partnership with Roots and Shoots. Mr. Kraft mentioned the Solar United Neighbors program and noted that five residents from St. Louis Park are involved. 7. Topics for August ESC meeting a. Will research email approvals for online reviews b. Final draft of written report for study session c. Plan follow up to council members d. National Night Out – Aug. 6, 2019 e. Invite staff person to attend August meeting f. Mr. Hoffman added several additional updates: i. MSC 50 kilowatt will start next week ii. Adding several more EV units St. Louis Park Building and Energy Department • 5005 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55416 www.stlouispark.org • Phone: 952.924.2531 • Fax: 952.924.2170 • TTY: 952.924.2518 iii. Meetings for benchmarking – will share dates and times with the ESC, and commissioners are invited to attend and be engaged. Adjournment and new member orientation The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.