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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016/11/09 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - RegularMINUTES ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION: SUSTAINABLE SLP ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA November 9, 2016 Council Chambers, City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Francie Abramson, Joe Barten, Terry Gips, Julie Rappaport, Nancy Rose, Jayne Stephenson, Judy Voigt EXCUSED ABSENCE Members & Staff: Chris Anderson, Ryan Griffin, Shannon Pinc, Coordinator ESC STAFF PRESENT: Recording Secretary (Ms. Pappas) GUESTS: Becky Afzali interested in volunteering and coordinating volunteers for the commission. 1. The meeting was called to order at 6:34 p.m. Introductions were made, and the commissioners shared their recent highlights. 2. The minutes of the October 5, 2016 meeting were tabled for until the next meeting. 3. Business a. Elections for interim Vice Chair – Chair Abramson noted that Chris was interim chair, but has left that post, and she is currently interim chair. She asked for nominations for Vice Chair. Nancy nominated Chris Anderson, however then withdrew her nomination. Chair Abramson nominated Ryan Griffin and Terry seconded. She noted that Ryan does accept the nomination. Motion passed unanimously to make Ryan Griffin vice chair. Chair Abramson will contact Ryan to let him know of this development. b. Updates i. Texas Ave (as it relates to Living Streets Policy) – Chair Abramson stated Ryan had sent an email update regarding Texas Avenue to the commission. She added she will follow up to be sure Shannon resends the email again to each commissioner, as a means of update. Nancy added she was recently at a neighborhood meeting, and she asked if going forward, meeting notices that go to neighbors and the council, can also be forwarded to the ESC Commissioners as well. Environment and Sustainability -2- November 9, 2016 Commission Meeting ii. Park TV idea – Julie stated that John McHue, one of St. Louis Park’s Community TV producers, asked if the Commission want to do a show or series to inform the community about projects they are working on. She noted that Mr. McHue will produce and edit the video, and added that he will be available after the retreat, to help with this. Julie added she has a background in producing and would be happy to work on this with Mr. McHugh, in order to help the communications work group move forward. She added however she is not on the communications workgroup at this time. Chair Abramson stated she had volunteered for the communications workgroup, but stated this work will be more woven into the work the commission does. She noted the Commission must make sure this work is tied back into the workgroup goals, adding they make sure to include staff and City communication staff members in the process as well. She added this will help leverage staff’s help also. Additionally, Joe asked Julie to bring back further information on the Community TV project to the commission, noting that the city staff communications team will need to be kept informed also. Judy said that Burnsville has a program entitled “sustainability man” on their community TV, and had seen it on a YouTube video. She stated she will check on this and report back to the Commission. Terry noted his concern about the importance of the communications work group, adding that a social media plan is also very important as part of the communications effort. He added Chris is very knowledgeable in this area, and he would prefer to have Chris and other experts on the communications work group. He added he would like to explore how to do this at the upcoming retreat, and develop a plan to move forward. Chair Abramson agreed. Judy commented the Commission is under-utilizing Facebook, adding it would be helpful to have additional administrators in order to post meeting information and minutes. Chair Abramson talked about also utilizing the St. Louis Park Website more, noting that the city is currently involved in a massive update to the website. Environment and Sustainability -3- November 9, 2016 Commission Meeting Julie added it would be helpful also to have more junior commission members who understand Twitter, and could post information about the commission there also. Chair Abramson stated the best course of action is to make this a primary component of the retreat, as it relates to the work plan, and include Park TV as part of this. Terry acknowledged Julie for moving this forward. iii. Environmental Initiative event on Barriers to Community Solar – Judy attended this event and reported on it. She noted it was interesting and items learned at the meeting include: barriers for subscribers, developers, and land use barriers. Judy noted that Community Solar Garden (CSG) gives everyone a chance to have solar. The problem is that this is a very new concept, which began in 2013 and it is very complex. She noted there is no consumer protection at this point, and folks have to do their due diligence, and figure it out on their own. She added the program does credit checks, which then removes that part of the population with poor credit, from having access. They are still working to figure this out, she noted. At this time, the city is looking into this project, however the 25-year contract is a red flag, among other items and rules. She noted that developers are limited, and there is a lack of economies of scale and interconnectivity issues as well, which create yet another barrier for developers. Judy added that land use is also another area of concern, and the question of using CSG vs. farmland for solar. She stated farmers are not necessarily sure they want CSG on their land, and local government approval is difficult to get. Terry said originally the public utility commission set a value for CSG, which was higher, and many argued this is a subsidy and is unfair to other rate payers. He noted there is much debate on this issue of value. Terry added that the Commission could review this also as a retreat topic, as it relates to the climate action plan. He added that citizens really want to do this, and it would fit in with priorities the council has given the Commission. Environment and Sustainability -4- November 9, 2016 Commission Meeting Chair Abramson stated this does fit in with the work plan, and the climate action plan, and for council and community at large. Terry also noted he attended a comprehensive plan workshop for all cities, and will do a brief report at the retreat on what he learned. He distributed a document to the commissioners on resources and food access planning, along with climate change information, noting it is a good reference. Chair Abramson stated Shannon will be sending out all the retreat information to the Commission shortly, and the retreat will be held at Wolfe Park. c. Proposed Work Plan i. Chair Abramson reviewed the feedback she received from commissioners related to the work plan, taking all comments and pulling out themes to be discussed tonight. She added the group will work to narrow in on what will be discussed further at the retreat. Chair Abramson noted the following themes: - Scope of work – living streets policy, green steps cities, and visioning. Terry stated it is his understanding the Commission knows what to do for green steps. Nancy commented the Commission knows what to do, however the problem is they are not moving forward, adding that so far this year they have only undertaken one action and not completed it. She added this is partially because the preferred Living Streets model changed from the Edina model to the Minneapolis model. She added she has concerns about this. Chair Abramson stated the goal is to achieve Green Step 3 by May 1, 2018. Nancy added the Commission needs to learn which staff persons will work on each action, and when Shannon can implement conversations with them. Joe asked about the process for getting the information to city staff. Nancy stated that Shannon is our liaison to staff. Julie asked about the work being done on Green Steps Cities, stating that one of the items checked off was not in the right category, so it should not be noted that it was accomplished. She asked that the commission review this for accuracy and quality, in order to receive a passing grade. Environment and Sustainability -5- November 9, 2016 Commission Meeting Chair Abramson again pointed out the goal is to achieve step 3 by May 1, 2018 for now, and nothing beyond that. She stated this is the Commission’ primary goal, however noted priorities can be identified. Joe asked if the Commission went about the process in the wrong way, and should they look again at how to approach this, or sent a letter to the council on this. Terry added the city council does not want to hear from the Commission as noted by Tom Harmening, when he visited with the Commission. He gave us our focus, and noted that Shannon is the staff person we are to work with. He noted that Shannon is still building relationships with staff, so it makes this process difficult. Terry added at the retreat this topic can be discussed in depth with Shannon, as to the best way to move this forward. Chair Abramson added the Commission has partnerships to leverage and can come up with recommendations in order to make the process easy. Judy asked if the commissioner can contact the council as citizens, individually. Chair Abramson stated the commissioners would be better served to go under the banner of the Commission, and not approach the council individually. Chair Abramson added the Commission will work on the priorities for the rest of Green Step Cities, and this will be an action item coming out of the retreat. Nancy added that Shannon feels a number of these items will be included in the climate action plan, which, along with timelines, will be a good exercise for discussion at the retreat. Chair Abramson and the Commission noted the following themes: - Our commitment – effectiveness, timelines, milestones, accountability, communicate updates, roadblocks and wins Nancy added that Judy and she have scheduled a meeting with Shannon to meet about a timeline, & who does what. Julie offered to be on the Green Steps workgroup, noting she has been watching webinars, which are very helpful. Environment and Sustainability -6- November 9, 2016 Commission Meeting Judy noted the need for a youth connection. Chair Abramson stated the youth engagement is listed as part of the energy action plan, through iMatter participation. She added this will be built out more during the retreat. ii. I like, I wish, I wonder framing- the Commission noted the following comments: I like: That there are specific actions outlined for each project When all key people are on same page – city staff, Shannon and us I wish: Each of us as commission could be clear about how we can contribute, and take advantage of our expertise That we had a better way to track our progress on projects Had more meetings outside of commission meetings so we could move forward – (ie: workgroups – use meeting time just to report) We could do both in each of our meetings – actual work and updates Each of us understood where we really are with each of our priorities – and wish to accomplish at retreat I wonder: If it is would be possible to have commission applicants join us at the retreat, and also other potential resources, to get to know each other and feel safe and expand our capacity How we can tap into the others who applied to be on the commission and utilize them How we can diversify the commission Be possible to look again at issues of barriers to people participating, including offering transportation or childcare support What would happen after the retreat, if we planned for resilient committees to apply for U of MN grants What the plan is for visioning, there is a huge black hole here, and we don’t know the construct of what we will be doing here. Chair Abramson stated she has voiced this last comment with Shannon already, and noted this is a known unknown. I wonder: If it can be clear if we can do our own sustainability survey – visioning part – to have a sense of where people are, and where we can help them. Would love this to be part of the retreat discussion. Environment and Sustainability -7- November 9, 2016 Commission Meeting d. Retreat objectives - Finalize work plan with clear action items - Decide if work groups or something else are best way to complete plans - How well track our efforts and share with others - ID commission roles and responsibilities - ID clear next steps, tools & tactics - Specific individual accountability Julie asked about the resilient cities letter of intent, and the objectives. Chair Abramson stated this information could be distributed with the information Shannon sends out related to the retreat. Julie added the Commission would not be able to apply for the resilient cities project until September 2017, and would need to discuss this at the retreat, in order to set goals, and have clear tools and tactics. Chair Abramson stated this could be incorporated into tools. Joe asked if the commission is accurate in classifying this as a tool, or if this is another goal to add to the work plan. Chair Abramson stated the Commission cannot add new goals, and there will need to be clear dedicated staff time for U of M resilient cities project. She added they can classify it as a tool, but to be a valuable tool, they need to check with Shannon. Chair Abramson added this can be further discussed at the retreat, and asked Julie to take the lead on the grant application process. Joe asked about going through each item related to the Living Street policy, to discuss potential next steps. Chair Abramson stated this can be discussed, but probably not at the retreat. She added the Commission will need to look at resources for each project, including staff hours, and more volunteers. e. Other i. Energy Action Plan kick-off –the Dec meeting will be repurposed, and stakeholders invited back. For the January meeting, the Commission will get into the rest of the work. An event will be set up on Facebook and people will be invited, and also encouraged to bring guests and volunteers. ii. 2017 meeting dates review – holidays – the January 4th date will be set for the meeting, and the rest of the dates will be tabled for now, and Shannon will send out a doodle pool regarding the July and September dates. 4. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.