Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016/01/06 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - RegularMINUTES ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION: SUSTAINABLE SLP ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA January 6, 2016 Community Room, City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: Chris Anderson, Terry Gips, Ryan Griffin; Rachel Harris, Renee McGarvey, Cindy Larson-O’Neil, Nancy Rose, Jayne Stevenson, Judy Voigt. EXCUSED ABSENCE: Shannon Pinc, City Staff STAFF PRESENT: Recording Secretary (Mary Pappas). GUESTS: Julie Rappaport, work group member. 1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. Introductions were made. 2. The minutes of the December 2, 2015 meeting were reviewed and approval was tabled to the January meeting. There was one change in the section related to MCWD Metro Summit for Lakes and Rivers Association, and it should read as follows: The presentations were very technical, focused on water quality, shoreline restoration techniques and aquatic invasive species. Minnehaha Creed Watershed District is considering having quarterly events for Lake Associations, and is requesting suggestions for presentations and discussion topics for 2016. Business/Work Groups a. Zero Waste- Approval on position – Chair Gips noted he wrote a position statement to be sent to City Council. He stated he worked on multiple versions, and modified versions, before verbally sharing this with the Council. Judy explained she was concerned about some of the statements that were presented, especially since the Sustainability Commission had not reviewed it prior to presentation. Chair Gips noted the Commission had agreed on the statement in the minutes, but that he would include additional comments, that were his own comments, and not agreed upon by the full commission – and also that these comments would be presented to the Council with this caveat. Chris thanked both Chair Gips and Judy for their comments, but noted this must be a mis- communication and that the Commission should now move forward and discuss next steps. Ryan added it is important have agreement from the full Commission on their position related to the ordinance. He asked Chair Gips to distribute to the Commission what was presented. Environment and Sustainability -2- Jan 6, 2016 Commission Meeting Chair Gips said he would have Shannon do this, and also wants to set aside time at the January 17th retreat to discuss this further. Commissioner Larson-O’Neil made a motion to complete the written statement from the December meeting and submit it to the City Council as the final word on this issue. Commissioner Anderson seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. After discussion, Commissioner Griffin made a friendly amendment to the motion stating that the Commission would like informal approval of the final document prior to submitting it to the Council. b. Education and Action – Julie Rappaport presented details on Earth Day events to take place April 16-17th, 2016. She noted that the Seeds Group will be working on this project and a flyer has been sent out. There will be organic living workshop on April 16 with Pat Hamilton and Eureka Recycling and there will be a staff panel and exhibits. She encourage the Commissioners to attend and help at the event. The Commission discussed if having the event on both Saturday and Sunday was practical, or if it should be spread out over 2 weekend days. Julie and Judy noted that the Commissioners comments would be considered before the event is completely finalized, at the end of this week. April 24 is a potential date for the SEEDs event. Visioning and Education plan – Chair Gips stated there are two different components to consider. The first one relates to the City and he noted that Tom Harmening is interested in doing training for City employees, in order to encourage engagement and ownership. He also would like to have the City Council involved. Rachel noted this is a good step, so that staff will have a basis of understanding of the vision, and then can build on this. Chair Gips added that the plan would involve training for City Staff, City Council and the Community, and that Tom Harmening agrees to this. Chair Gips noted the second piece of this work would be the community involvement portion. The Commission discussed this and noted various possibilities of assisting with engagement including; multiple introductory presentations about sustainability, that could be presented various days and times and in various venues. At the end of each presentation, a mini-visioning session could be included, with workshops. Then, input from the broader community would be invited, finally allowing the work group and staff to create the actual vision. Environment and Sustainability -3- Jan 6, 2016 Commission Meeting Rachel noted this is an exciting concept, but wondered how it might fit in with the Comprehensive Plan? Chair Gips stated the vision piece could feed into the Comprehensive Plan. Rachel asked if there was a timeline on this work and Chair Gips noted that there is not. Julie and Judy asked if the vision piece could be discussed at the Sunday afternoon Earth Day session. The Commission noted this could be a possibility, along with conducting a survey with the community at a later date. Cindy asked the Commission to remember it is held accountable to develop a vision and also to survey the community on this vision, as well. The Commission discussed facilitators for the visioning sessions, noting that Chair Gips has done this work with other cities and groups. Additionally, they noted that Barr Engineering has facilitated discussions on vision with groups, and could be called upon to assist also. Chair Gips said he would like the Commission to further discuss this topic at the January retreat. Commissioner Anderson made a motion to approve that Sustainable SLP be a co-sponsor of the Earth Day events. Commissioner Griffin seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Gips made a friendly amendment noting that any financing, including purchase of a permit, be handled by City Staff. c. Communications – Chris noted the work group will write a recommendation on how to work with City Staff to adopt policies, practices and training related to social media. He stated this is a priority, and that a full communications plan will be written afterwards. Tips will be provided for all work groups and at the next meeting, the group will have information to present. d. Energy – Cindy noted the Partners for Energy meeting and that renewable energy will be the bulk of the work for this group. She would like to provide more details about the scope at the next meeting and have discussion. Ryan added this is a global problem and needs to be addressed at the local level with thoughtful businesses that are engaged. Cindy added the group has completed their vision work and is now focusing on four areas/activities, which will be implemented over the next 18 months. e. Water, Land, Wildlife – nothing to report. f. Transportation – Ryan gave a report related to Living Streets and engaging the broader stakeholder group over the next few months. He added they will be working on policy Environment and Sustainability -4- Jan 6, 2016 Commission Meeting and how this can be included into the Comprehensive Plan. Rachel noted that Councilmember Lindberg would like a follow up meeting related to Dakota Avenue bike lanes, and the group will also work on this, with more information to follow. g. GreenStep Cities – The 2016 Plan was sent to the Commission for review. Chair Gips thanked Nancy and Shannon. He added that the goal is to move to Level 2 this year, but added that all surrounding cities are at Level 3, and he asked if there would be a chance St. Louis Park could achieve level 3 in 2016, even if certification would not be completed. Nancy commented that some of this would depend on City Staff. Chair Gips said Shannon can help with this, as well as a possible intern. Renee will look into finding an intern and make connections with the Board of Landscape Architects, on which she serves. Renee will also meet with Nancy to discuss further. Chair Gips asked the Commissioners to send retreat agenda items to him and Shannon in advance of the January 17th retreat date. Due to time constraints, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m., and the additional agenda items were not addressed.