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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023/02/01 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - Regular Official minutes Environment & sustainability commission St. Louis Park, Minnesota 2/1/2023 1. Call to order – 6:30 p.m. 1a. Roll call Members present: Chair Andrew Willette, Vice Chair Shaina Ashare, Lillian Hertel, Tatiana Giraldo, Ramil Goonetilleke, Ryan Griffin, Dave Wilsey, Paul Zeigle Members absent: Abigail Oppegaard, Marisa Bayer, Sasha Shahidi, Hailey Sexton, Eric Zweber Staff present: Emily Ziring, Sustainability Manager Guests: 2. Approval of minutes – Jan. 4, 2023 – The minutes were approved unanimously as presented. 3. Business a. ESC elections Chair Willette asked for nominations for Chair and Vice Chair for the ESC 2023 year. Tatiana Giraldo was nominated for Chair, however, she stated she would prefer to serve as Vice Chair. Shaina Ashare was nominated for Chair, and accepted the nomination; however, she noted she will miss several meetings. The nominations were approved unanimously. b. Gas lawn equipment work group update – no updates this evening, but a meeting is scheduled for Feb. 8, 2023. 4. Staff updates Ms. Ziring noted the following: - Electrify cohort work and pilot project are ongoing - Benchmarking ordinance -- analyzing survey results - Working on matching projects to various state and federal grants - Social media campaign on Inflation Reduction Act provisions - Resident outreach on Climate Champions for homes - STEP putting solar on their addition - Climate Champions for organizations – churches, synagogues, mosques, non-profits - Depave SLP cost share program – incentive to replace excess parking with green space Environmental & Sustainability Commission Feb. 1, 2023 Commissioner Wilsey asked about the UN sustainable development goals and whether a city benchmarking initiative might be appropriate. Commissioner Wilsey said he would look into this more and provide information back to the commission. Commissioner Wilsey asked if utility data privacy rules could be changed so cities could have access to private building utility data. Ms. Ziring stated she did not know but said that the legislature is looking into mandating benchmarking state-wide. 5. Work plan update a. Expand outreach - Events work group update • Commissioner Giraldo noted a meeting took place last week with discussion about events for this year. She noted the trivia night went well and they will look to do another in spring and fall and at two different locations, including Steel Toe and Park Tavern. She mentioned the Frosty Mug Crawl on Feb. 25 at the West End Shops and stated the group will do tabling prior to the event, trying to reach multifamily tenants. She mentioned some events likely happening around Earth Day in April and State of the City in May. • A presentation by the Electrify Everything cohort will be given at the upcoming West Metro Home Remodeling Fair, but the division does not plan to table as it historically has not been very fruitful. - 2023 Signup Genius – the ESC is encouraged to sign up for events in the sign up genius. All are encouraged to volunteer and attend the events. b. Share our voice - State policy update - Chair Willette noted the city has a lobbyist and Ms. Ziring gave an overview of council’s legislative priorities. The group also noted other items they would like to see advanced at the legislature: • Transportation funding and more local control - Commissioner Griffin noted having more local control of traffic and crossing lights for streets to favor pedestrians would be helpful for the city • State financial assistance to cities for climate change initiatives c. Measure our progress - Staff and volunteer reports – no reports this evening; an update will be provided at the March meeting and each quarter by Ms. Ziring. 6. Environmental Justice and current events open discussion Chair Willette noted an article on the clean energy by 2040 bill, however, it was noted this does not address environmental justice as much as some advocates have wanted. Commissioner Ashare described differences in solar uptake on dairy farms due to high energy costs in some states. She noted impacts of cost and incentives related to this. Environmental & Sustainability Commission Feb. 1, 2023 Commissioner Zeigle noted that next Thursday, the MN Bike Alliance is showing up at the capital to promote city projects for bike infrastructure. Ms. Ziring will forward the group more information. Commissioner Goonetilleke noted an article related to EVs and warning against them getting too big, which is not beneficial as it takes more significant battery power to get these cars in motion and the weight of the huge batteries can be dangerous. Greater vehicle fees are being levied for cars that exceed certain weights in Washington, DC and some countries in Europe. Commissioner Griffin noted discuss gas stoves and the recent concerns and backlash about this. Ms. Ziring stated the Electrify Everything website will have information on electric appliances. Commissioner Wilsey asked about the differences between heat pumps and geothermal systems. Ms. Ziring stated that heat pumps are most often air source or ground source, and geothermal is another word for ground source heat pumps. 7. Upcoming/proposed events a. Frosty Mug Crawl, Feb. 25, 2023 at 4 p.m., West End Shops – if wanting to table at the event, commissioners can sign up on the Signup Genius page. b. Senator Smith is speaking on a webinar on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Ms. Ziring will email a list of upcoming events. 8. Adjournment 7:42 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Emily Ziring, liaison Andrew Willette, chair member