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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022/09/07 - ADMIN - Minutes - Environment & Sustainability Commission - Regular Official minutes Environment & sustainability commission St. Louis Park, Minnesota 9/7/2022 1. Call to order 1a. Roll call Members present: Chair Andrew Willette, Marisa Bayer, Sasha Shahidi, Dave Wilsey, Ryan Griffin, Hailey Sexton Members absent: Vice Chair Shaina Ashare, Paige Kane, Tatiana Giraldo, Ramil Goonetileke, Eric Zweber Staff present: Emily Ziring, Sustainability Manager Guests: Abigail Oppegaard, community member 2. Approval of minutes from July 13, 2022. The minutes were approved as presented with Commissioners Bayer and Shahidi abstaining. Approval of minutes from August 3, 2022. The minutes were approved as presented with Commissioners Wilsey and Shahidi abstaining. 3. Business a. Efficient Building Benchmarking program update Ms. Ziring noted the city is three years into the benchmarking ordinance. Ms. Ziring presented an update and asked the commissioners for their feedback. Chair Willette asked if there is a way to quantify for building owners what the markers of efficiency are for their property to help raise their scores. Ms. Ziring stated this might be difficult but could be looked at. Commissioner Griffin suggested quantifying the amount of savings that could be achieved if scores were raised by a certain amount. Commissioner Wilsey added that building owners may not care about the operating dollar savings if operating costs are being passed along to tenants. Chair Willette stated he liked the efficiency assessments. Ms. Ziring stated if commissioners have additional feedback to reach out to her. b. Friends of the Arts spring art walk Ms. Ziring stated Friends of the Arts have asked if the ESC would be interested in partnering on a sustainability-themed spring art walk. Commissioners had positive things to say about past art walks and indicated support. 4. Staff updates Environmental & Sustainability Commission Sept. 7, 2022 • Electrify cohort • Benchmarking compliance • Planning 2023 programs • MN Planning conference • Preparing for University of MN Environmental senior capstone project on gas lawn equipment and energy assistance • MCAD meetings – local government representatives in midwest to influence regional transmission planning • Launching idling reduction campaign • Meetings with Perspectives and Kiwanis on solid waste programs and sustainability in the city • Preparing for the Art Fair and Fire Station open house • Outreach to all city restaurants for energy assessments • Inflation Reduction Act research • Design of future incentive program for EV charging stations in multifamily housing 5. Workgroup and/or project updates a. Year of Climate Action workgroup Commissioner Shahidi noted the event at 6:30 p.m. on September 27 which will feature the climate action plan trivia event. She stated all are encouraged to come and bring additional people. b. Gas-powered lawn equipment workgroup Chair Willette noted a survey was put together and is ready to go to businesses that use gas-powered lawn equipment. Commissioner Shahidi shared a few comments on the survey details. She added also the paragraph might be too much to read for some and noted there could be more detailed background information possibly at the end of the survey. She added the survey is very good timing, and that more and more people are interested in this issue. Ms. Ziring reiterated the U of M capstone project will be looking further into this through December 2022. Final survey details will be decided by the workgroup via email. c. Tree policies workgroup Ms. Ziring noted that at the August meeting, Commissioner Griffin discussed sending council a letter on this topic in advance of any coming staff report. The workgroup will discuss the specifics further via email. 6. City Council engagement - none Environmental & Sustainability Commission Sept. 7, 2022 7. Environmental Justice and current events open discussion a. Overview of impact of Inflation Reduction Act on sustainability programs Ms. Ziring presented an overview of many Inflation Reduction Act provisions to the commission. The commission also looked at the Rewiring America Inflation Reduction Act calculator. Other discussion included the Jackson, Mississippi water crisis. Commissioner Bayer noted an article about water systems and resiliency. Ms. Ziring noted another article she would send to the ESC about the effect of an Energy Savings Performance Contract on the city of Jackson. 8. Upcoming/proposed events • St. Louis Park Art Fair: Sept. 10, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the ROC • Fire Station open house: Sept. 13, 5 – 8 p.m. at Fire Station #1 • Climate action trivia: Sept. 27, 6:30 p.m. at Steel Toe Brewing • October ESC meeting: Oct. 5, 2022 • Ride & Drive: Oct. 6, 5 - 7 p.m. at Lenox Community Center 9. Adjournment – 8:05 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Emily Ziring, liaison Andrew Willette, chair member