Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021/02/03 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - Regular Official minutes Environment & sustainability commission St. Louis Park, Minnesota 2/3/2021 1. Call to order 1a. Roll call Members present: Chair Marisa Bayer, Stefan Collinet-Adler, Bridget Rathsack, Paige Kane, Eric Zweber, McKenna Taylor, Ryan Griffin, Andy Willette, Lillian Hertel Members absent: Shaina Ashare, Claire Lukens, Zoe Frank Staff present: Emily Ziring, Sustainability Manager; Annie Pottorff, Sustainability Specialist Guests: None. 2. Approval of minutes The minutes of the January 2021 meeting were approved with one abstention (Commissioner Collinet-Adler). 3. Business a. Staff updates • Prepping for Climate Champions for Business program, meeting with energy smart staff and getting information to council about $100,000 budget. • Solar Sundown program ready to launch with press release. Positive feedback and excitement from the community. Will be in Park Perspective this month. • Working on Climate Action Plan metrics with Great Plains Institute – building a tracking matrix tool. • Trees campaign – made it past qualifying round for a grant focusing on community engagement process. Will hear in about 2 weeks if funds are received and if funds are received will make plans for tree planting over the next few years, with a focus on equity. • Long term funding for CAP – council will discuss part 2 in late March. Staff will report back to council with ideas for funding. • MN Dept of Transportation funding for EV chargers – working on the application. • Have won the Intercity Home Energy Squad challenge – awards ceremony will be forthcoming, timed with a media release. • Communications items for Solar Sundown – will be sending these to commissioners also to help get the word out • St. Louis Park is a Green Step Cities #4 city and working on becoming a #5 green step city. • Connecting with solid waste division and working on events in conjunction. Parktacular will be held in June, the weekend of Father’s Day (June 16-20) and is a 3-day event in Wolfe Park, usually with an Ecotacular event as part of it. This year’s plans include a scaled down ESC meeting -2- February 3, 2021 parade and a small expo the evening of the concert. There will be more information coming soon to the group. Chair Bayer asked about funding ideas for the CAP. Ms. Ziring stated staff is looking at a separate levy for the program. She added they are working with finance on a funding mechanism that can support many programs within sustainability. There would need to be approval from the state legislature for a new levy for the city, however. More will be forthcoming on this. b. Update on Roots & Shoots and collaborating with youth – Commissioner Frank was unable to attend tonight’s meeting to give an update on Roots & Shoots. Commissioner Hertel noted at Benilde there is a new environmental group that has launched. Commissioner Collinet-Adler asked how the new group is different than Roots & Shoots. Commissioner Hertel stated it is similar to Roots & Shoots and the environmental group is more hands-on. Commissioner Willette noted once the environmental group gets going, it would be great to have updates and know how the commission can help. Commissioner Collinet-Adler stated it would also help to think of ways to support what these student groups are doing, such as writing a letter of support to what they are working on. Commissioner Taylor added once the events work group is up and running a collaboration with the youth program and support for their work can be included as well. c. Hennepin County climate action plan development: Findings from the first phase of public engagement – Ms. Ziring stated the city was involved in engagement with government agencies during that phase and gave a lot of feedback to this group. She added they are awaiting the first draft of the county action plan. Ms. Ziring stated the county will focus more on policies and project that cross over borders, county roads and areas where the city has less control. She added that the plans should be able to work together well and that the county’s plan may have a public health angle given their role, which will prepare them well for addressing climate changes that are already happening. Commissioner Collinet-Adler and Chair Bayer noted the survey results show that those responding to the survey were 82% white with over half female and over age 60 which is typical of the demographic that subscribes to Hennepin County’s mailing list and may already be convinced of the need for environmental engagement and action. This suggests that other methods of engagement with other groups are needed. Chair Bayer asked related to environmental justice, if the city’s surveys on climate action go to a larger demographic and not only those interested in climate action, in order to create broader engagement. Mr. Ziring stated city staff does work on this and brainstorms ways to engage the broader community through communications. d. Letter to MPCA on Clean Cars Minnesota rulemaking – Ms. Ziring shared the letter to MPCA with the commission. She stated the letter is focused on the CAP goals and urgency around BIPOC communities, noting these are the city’s strategic priorities. ESC meeting -3- February 3, 2021 Commissioner Collinet-Adler noted the 2nd paragraph included could be broadened out related to health conditions and focusing on cardio-respiratory conditions. He also noted mention of the new green economy could be added. Commissioner Zweber agreed with the changes noted. He asked how the rest of the rule-making process will proceed and how the city will be involved. Ms. Ziring explained the rulemaking process and showed a slide. She noted the public hearing is coming up and public comments are due in March, and the rule will then be finalized 30 days after the comments are due. The next step will be to edit the letter and bring it to council for approval and the Mayor’s signature, and then it will be submitted to the MPCA. Ms. Ziring added there are many groups not in favor of this rule, so there are many sides to this and many groups that will be heard from. She added this is very political and it is undetermined where this will go. Commissioner Zweber asked Ms. Ziring if she anticipates evaluating city investment based on this, however, he also noted this is more about motor vehicle requirements and not transportation infrastructure. Ms. Ziring stated it is important to advocate for this and encouraged the commission to comment and offer support and share with others. Commissioner Willette stated it seems the state should address the large up-front costs of EVs and lower rates on EV chargers also. Ms. Ziring stated that vehicle incentives will probably come from the federal government, and noted the new administration has signaled that they are in support of this. Motion made by Commissioner Rathsack, seconded by Commissioner Collinet-Adler, to have staff make edits and send the letter back to the ESC for final approval. The motion passed 8-0 (Shaina Ashare, Claire Lukens, Zoe Frank absent). e. Workgroup and/or project updates i. Business recruitment for ESC – email template was sent to city staff to recruit businesses to participate in the ESC. The template is in the agenda packet and Chair Bayer encouraged the commissioners to reach out to contacts to apply. ii. Legislative workgroup – Chair Bayer stated the speaker was confirmed for the March meeting. She asked what priorities the ESC has for this discussion. Commissioner Zweber is interested in all legislative issues and also an update on the attorney general’s lawsuit against the oil industry. Commissioner Rathsack asked about discussing the Eco bill and the clean energy first bill. She also stated it would be helpful to hear about hot topics that might relate to St. Louis Park. iii. Events workgroup – Commissioner Taylor stated she is working to get the group together for discussions and also invited others to join if they are interested. Chair Bayer asked if there are any plans for Earth Day yet. Ms. Ziring stated she will talk to the other organizers to see what plans might be in place for this year. ESC meeting -4- February 3, 2021 Ms. Pottorff stated there is an Arbor Day planting coming up and all were invited to volunteer. d. City Council written reports i. Update on Environmental Justice report to council – this report was sent to Ms. Ziring to share with staff. Ms. Ziring stated she passed it along to department directors affected by the report and so far, there has not been any feedback. This item will be discussed further at the March meeting. Ms. Ziring will also send this report to Darius Gray, the city’s community organizer. e. Environmental Justice open discussion – Chair Rathsack noted it is Black History Month and noted various ways to engage and celebrate events around this. Chair Bayer also noted videos and Ted Talks that are available as well. Ms. Pottorff also mentioned the 21-day Racial Equity Challenge the city is sponsoring, which includes daily links sent via email to those who have signed up. Ms. Ziring will email the link to register to the ESC. f. Upcoming/proposed event – N/A 4. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:42 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Emily Ziring, liaison Marisa Bayer, chair member