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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017/05/03 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - RegularMINUTES ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION: SUSTAINABLE SLP ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA May 3, 2017 Community Room, City Hall MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Ryan Griffin, Terry Gips, Julie Rappaport, Nancy Rose, Jayne Stephenson EXCUSED ABSENCE: Chris Anderson, Shannon Pinc, ESC Coordinator STAFF PRESENT: Recording Secretary (Ms. Pappas) GUESTS: Emma Struss, Partners in Energy; Sue Bloyer, community member. 1. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair Griffin and the commissioners introduced themselves. 2. Business a. Elections - Vice Chair Chair Griffin made a motion to nominate Nancy Rose as Vice Chair. Commissioner Rappaport seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Nancy noted her term is up in 28 days, so potentially, she may be off the commission by the June meeting. However, in the interim, she will serve as Vice Chair. b. Project Team Updates Terry and Julie gave an update on the visioning process. Terry said a list of all the visioning ideas created by the commissioners at the April meeting were send to everyone by email. Terry stated the list was comprehensive and very good, and the commission had discussed sharing the list in the Sun Sailor, and on the website to the public. However, Shannon explained the list cannot be shared until the council sees it and adopts it. The list will be added to the April meeting minutes, as an addendum. Julie stated she participated in four different visioning sessions, including one at SLP Earth Day, at a neighborhood meeting, and at the Lennox Center. She stated many interesting thoughts came out of the session including work being done on Texas and ideas for that area, and revitalizing it. She noted the diversity of the people attending the visioning sessions was exciting, and there were people of all colors, all ages, all political backgrounds, and demographics. She noted one comment which was presented related to the composting policy and expanding the organics program for city events. She stated this will be something to consider. Environment and Sustainability -2- May 3, 2017 Commission Meeting Terry noted the list can be shared with the visioning committee and the consultant, so as to be submitted then to the council for approval. After this, the ESC will work with staff on the policies for the Comprehensive Plan. He stated he feels positive about the visioning the commission has done, and also about the consultant, as she understands the commission’s work and is supportive. Julie also noted the consultant recently conducted a workshop with council at a study session, on the top 44 trends. Terry requested to have Shannon email the council minutes and documents related to the trends workshop to the commission for review. Once the vision has been accepted by council – then will begin work on comp plan, and ESC will help with policy work that relates to ESC work. Terry noted interest in having Gil Friend from Palo Alto, CA attend the August 27th Harvest Festival, and the ESC then co-sponsoring the event. He noted Mr. Friend would be an inspiring speaker to have at the festival and would speak to sustainability. Commissioner Gips made a motion to explore the possibility of bringing Gil Friend to the Harvest Festival on Aug 27, and also having the ESC co-sponsor the event during the festival. Chair Griffin seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Terry stated he will discuss this possibility with Shannon and if it is not possible, or there are any concerns, they will be addressed, or not pursued. Julie mentioned there is a city fund application process from Health in the Park, where the commission could get $1000 funding, and apply this towards the event and speaker. c. Presentation by Emma Struss on Partners in Energy Emma Struss from Partners in Energy at Xcel, gave an update on the implementation of the energy action plan. She noted the timeline which began in November 2014. The program was launched in December 2016 and meetings have been held over the first quarter of 2017. Additionally, a group of students from the U of M have been involved in energy efficiency action research with St. Louis Park businesses. The group will report back to the commission at the end of the Spring semester. Emma also noted the April windsource campaign, and that climate action plan meetings continue, as well as energy efficiency in business monthly meetings. She distributed the goal progress sheets to the commission. Environment and Sustainability -3- May 3, 2017 Commission Meeting Chair Griffin noted the group is looking for a new leader, after Francie left, and added that Micah could be a potential leader if encouraged. Julie stated she continues to work with the Sabes JCC Campus, and asked who she can connect them with in the energy group. Ryan noted the group is not ready to be a resource for others yet, but continue to work on their goals, and rain members to go into businesses. He added they are still in the development phase and will later be piloting this program with various businesses. Emma stated Partners in Energy can help with this, to support community, but it is community driven work, and the work group needs to initiate that. She invited the commissioners and work group to email her with questions. Likewise, she will keep the commissioners and work group updated on developments ongoing. She also noted the April 2017 Windsource subscriptions numbered 42. This is a good start, but the goal is to reach 1500 subscriptions. She stated the next report will be available July 2017. Emma also noted the action plan that Francie developed has no clear leader working on it at this time, so someone will need to be recruited in order to monitor progress. She continued, it would be helpful if a consistent leader or point person were in place to plan and keep things moving forward She added she is currently working with Shannon on Parktacular, but more volunteers are needed. She also noted Partners in Energy is there to advise, and there are many resources left to leverage through the rest of this year – however, again, the work group needs leadership and more volunteers. Ryan also noted there will be 8 vacancies on the ESC, and there are 22 applicants, so it will be great to have new people join the commission in order to re-energize the group. Jayne will not be leaving for college until late September, so she noted she is available to help with projects over the summer, with the webpage, and windsource promotion, as well as the business research. Until more volunteers are involved on the workgroup, Chair Griffin will be the point person. He stated however, heh would like the work group to choose their own leader soon. Additionally, Emma suggested Partners in Energy conduct bi-weekly calls to help the work group with decisions, stating this holds everyone accountable to completing assigned tasks, and helps move things along. Chair Griffin agreed to the calls. Emma noted the group is not on track to meet goals at this time, and encouraged the commission and work group to find one dedicated person, or college intern to be the point person. Shannon can help with this process. Environment and Sustainability -4- May 3, 2017 Commission Meeting Commissioner Rappaport made a motion to explore having two interns support this program for the summer, in order to support implementation of the energy action plan. Commissioner Rose seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Chair Griffin added he will discuss the above motion with Shannon. Nancy also asked if Partners in Energy could do materials preparation related to B3 and Energy Star. Emma stated yes, they develop outreach materials, however, the content must be community driven. Nancy asked to see materials they have done for other cities. Emma stated she has sent them to the committee, but will resend them again. Emma added she has been working on the case study with Nordic Ware, adding they have done much related to energy efficiency projects, and have done benchmarking. She noted Nordic Ware has save much energy and increased their labor hours, but while maintaining the same energy use. She added she has not yet connected with Park Nicollet. Julie reminded the need for volunteers for Ecotacular at Parktacular, and Chair Griffin stated he will bring this up at the next energy meeting on May 17 as well. Jayne added she and some friends could staff a table there as well. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.