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Home My WebLink About2022/07/13 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - Regular Official minutes Environment & sustainability commission St. Louis Park, Minnesota 7/13/2022 1. Call to order 1a. Roll call Members present: Chair Andrew Willette, Vice Chair Shaina Ashare, Marisa Bayer, Ryan Griffin, Tatiana Giraldo, Lillian Hertel, Hailey Sexton, Ramil Goonetilleke, Eric Zweber Members absent: Paige Kane, Dave Wilsey, Sasha Shahidi Staff present: Emily Ziring, Sustainability Manager; Ellie Rabine, Sustainability Specialist Guests: Michael Behnke, community member 3. Approval of minutes – June 1, 2022 – The minutes were approved unanimously. 4. Business a. Presentation on NOAH/Multifamily housing study findings Ms. Ziring presented the findings of the CERTS Seed Grant-funded study on barriers to participation in multifamily and NOAH (Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing) programs. She explained that staff wanted to examine why two housing programs in St. Louis Park have been underutilized over the last 4 years. She stated the programs are for owners of rental properties who want to improve their properties using incentives while keeping them affordable. Learning about the barriers could help inform future sustainability programs for the same groups. She noted staff worked with a consultant to interview property owners. Feedback found that staff was helpful but there are many barriers to program interest and many reasons for not participating, including a perception of too much paperwork and worry about loss of control over rent and tenant selection. She added owners felt solar programs were fine but that cost savings are not assured, and they did not know about the Climate Champions program. Ms. Ziring added some owners do not feel upgrades make sense for NOAH properties, and because they do not have the square footage to offer the same amenities as new buildings there is concern they will not be able to recoup investments through rents. Ms. Ziring noted there is a lot of misinformation out there and staff is going to work on this through various measures. ESC meeting July 13, 2022 Commissioner Griffin asked about the differences between the St. Louis Park program and the Minneapolis program. Ms. Ziring stated Minneapolis has a much greater pool of affordable rental property than St. Louis Park. She then described the second part of the study. Staff sent letters asking NOAH residents to complete an online survey. Hard copies of the survey were also sent upon request. She stated the survey and letters were translated into other languages, and everyone who filled out the survey got a $5 Target card. The survey revealed a lot of information about NOAH tenants, from demographic data to information about how buildings are heated and cooled. Ms. Ziring stated staff will have a brainstorming session to look at next steps and will follow up with project participants and the commission so they know the outcomes. Commissioner Giraldo noted difficulties she has encountered using local public transportation, adding she agreed with comments from renters on this issue. Commissioner Griffin mentioned bike routes within the city and stated the new Dakota bridge is not on Google Maps yet. Mr. Ziring stated she will bring this up with staff. Commissioner Zweber noted that the imbalance between who pays for solar and who benefits from it makes this a difficult thing to promote, especially with tenants who might only live in a building for one year. 5. Staff Updates • Working on Electrify cohort campaign focused on heat pump water heaters • Green Building Policy – wrapping up final supporting documentation • Benchmarking compliance – around 75% currently • Climate Champions –24 pre-assessments completed, and 7 businesses applied for funding, but mostly small dollar amounts as they are often lighting projects. Hoping to do bigger projects, and developing a promotion for city restaurants to bundle efficiency projects • Working on outreach and engagement planning, talking to non-profits, business councils, and faith organizations to talk about programs for funding sustainability projects • Ride and Drive, Oct. 6, 5-7 p.m. @ Lenox Community Center – will showcase vehicles and answer questions • Brainstorming new Environmental Justice criteria • Launched special assessment program where commercial and multi-family property owners have energy assessments charged to property taxes for up to 10 years • Working on anti-idling campaign to launch in September 6. Workgroup and/or project updates a. Year of Climate Action workgroup ESC meeting July 13, 2022 Commissioner Bayer stated the group has been working on ideas to engage the whole community on climate action. Some ideas are tabling at a brewery or at Music in the Park. She stated they have not yet heard back from the organization that hosts climate change trivia. Annie has also reached out to another trivia group to see if they would consider hosting a climate themed trivia night or topic. If a trivia night does not work out, the workgroup proposes the commission still go to these locations to share information and sign people up for a call to action, such as renewable energy subscriptions or the organics programs. Some possible businesses that the workgroup has been talking to include Park Tavern, Steel Toe Brewery and Copperwing Distillery. Commissioner Bayer asked if commissioners would commit to tabling at these various locations, and dates will be set soon. She added the Signup Genius will be set up for commissioners to register to volunteer. b. Gas-powered lawn equipment workgroup Chair Willette stated the focus is on building a survey to send to lawn care companies that work within the city. Commissioner Griffin spoke to a lawn care company owner who has converted most of his equipment to electric. He stated this person is an advocate and he could present at a future ESC meeting. Commissioner Griffin stated many residential customers are also purchasing electric lawn mowers and it would be helpful to see if the commission can find some data on this. Commissioner Zweber stated his research showed some negativity towards California’s laws from a landscaping trade association. He added the commercial electric equipment can also be about twice the cost of gas equipment. c. Tree policies workgroup Commissioner Griffin stated the city is already doing a lot of good work on this. He noted there may be policy areas to still explore such as tree preservation in parking lots and with new construction. Ms. Ziring stated there are landscaping requirements in the city zoning code and with most new construction projects as well. The group will continue to meet and explore ideas. 7. City Council engagement - none 8. Environmental Justice and current events open discussion Ms. Ziring stated there was a column about Solar Sundown in the Sun Sailor that Ms. Pottorff wrote. She added there was also an article which appeared in Midwest Energy ESC meeting July 13, 2022 News which featured information on various cities’ climate action plans, including St. Louis Park’s plan. She added there was a NY Times article looking at cities around the country working on climate action. Commissioner Zweber stated he is mixed on the SCOTUS decision on carbon emissions, and he hopes the ruling will be reeled in in the future with a different administration. He added the state legislature has not funded infrastructure yet, so matching funds could be lost for environmental programs could be lost. Ms. Ziring stated there is funding within the climate investment fund to carry over into the next budget year, but she wants to see more participation and bigger investments made from the community. 9. Upcoming/proposed events July 28 – Clothing Swap at the ROC – clothing in good condition requested Aug. 3 – next ESC meeting 10. Adjournment – 7:43 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Emily Ziring, liaison Andrew Willette, chair member