HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021/11/22 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes
City council study session
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Nov. 22, 2021
The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m.
Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Lynette Dumalag, Larry Kraft, Nadia Mohamed,
and Margaret Rog
Councilmembers absent: Tim Brausen and Rachel Harris
Staff present: City Manager (Ms. Keller), Engineering Director (Ms. Heiser), City Clerk (Ms.
Kennedy), Sustainability Manager (Ms. Ziring), Director of Building and Energy (Mr. Hoffman)
Guests: Becky Alexander, LHB
1. Greenhouse gas emissions inventory and analysis
Ms. Ziring presented the staff report.
Ms. Alexander described the sections of the report including:
Changes in GHG emissions from 2015
Drivers of change
City comparison
Progress toward carbon neutrality
Councilmember Rog asked how traffic data is collected. Ms. Alexander stated it is collected
through the black strips placed on roadways.
Councilmember Kraft asked if residential waste data is known. Ms. Alexander pointed this out
on the chart.
Mayor Spano asked if the items that go into recycling are going to the recycler and not back
into waste as contaminated. Ms. Ziring stated staff has confidence in what they have been
tracking, so these numbers should be accurate.
Councilmember Kraft asked if county waste was increasing and residential was decreasing
through 2019. Ms. Alexander stated yes.
Councilmember Rog asked if there is data on yard waste and where this fits into emissions. Ms.
Alexander answered yes there is data on page 13 of the report to show residential yard waste.
Councilmember Dumalag asked if those with a landscaping service are included in this yard
waste data. Ms. Alexander stated no, this data is limited to homeowners’ yard waste.
Councilmember Mohamed noted lifestyle changes with less driving and working from home
and asked if that is why some of the data is lower than in past years.
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Mr. Alexander agreed this was a factor in the transportation data. She stated on the energy side
it did not decrease as much, but if cities can focus on energy reduction, especially with
commercial buildings, there could be changes.
Councilmember Kraft stated he appreciated this data, and it is useful. He noted, given that 2020
was an anomaly, it feels like 5 years is a long time to wait for the next set of data. Ms. Ziring
stated staff does look at data and track progress, adding there could be similar analysis or
overview of program areas that feed into the climate action plan. She noted they are planning
to do a dashboard to give the public a sense of where the city is at any given time.
Councilmember Kraft liked the dashboard idea and asked to add a link back to the data as well .
He is concerned about waiting too long to gather additional data. Mr. Hoffman stated gathering
data several years down the road will show trends. Ms. Ziring added LHB will update the
Regional Indicators annually as well.
Councilmember Kraft asked what the big messages are to be taken from all of this. Ms. Ziring
stated decarbonization and working on natural gas consumption are the priority. She stated
they will come back to council to discuss their programs for 2022.
Councilmember Kraft stated he refers to natural gas as fossil gas, as it is more accurate. He
added on the electricity side, most of the multi-family is accounted for in residential, meaning
commercial energy importance is even higher than the data represents, while with fossil gas,
multi-family is accounted for in commercial, meaning residential consumption importance is
higher than the data suggests. Ms. Ziring agreed.
Councilmember Rog thanked staff for their work on this report. She asked when this will be
online for residents to review. Ms. Ziring stated she will be working on posting it.
Councilmember Rog stated when this data is reviewed from the resident ’s perspective, it might
be helpful to add data about cost savings for both residents and commercial businesses. She
stated this will further engage people. She suggested renaming yard waste to mulch, compost,
or habitat, and pointed to research on yard waste and how there is no need for folks to remove
the leaves from their yards each year as they can be helpful for other forms of habitat .
Councilmember Rog stated leaf blowers also give off significant emissions, adding that yard
tools should be investigated further. She mentioned vehicle miles traveled and reducing those,
asking if the city looks at bike mileage data. Ms. Ziring stated she will follow up with
engineering staff. Councilmember Rog stated this needs to be addressed and with many more
multifamily buildings coming on-line soon, this will be important to watch.
Councilmember Dumalag stated she also had a call about leaf blowers and asked if something
can be done on this. She noted 5 years might be too late to make changes as 2030 is the mid-
term timeframe. She suggested segregating multi-family buildings in the electricity data, and
then not segregated in the waste data.
Mayor Spano referenced Councilmember Brausen’s thoughts that emissions concern might
relate to size of homes and if that is a potential solution . He asked if fees could be looked at for
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larger homes, incentivizing those homes that are energy efficient, and thinking about ways to
encourage less consumption. He is looking forward to staff recommendations adding we need
to do more.
Mayor Spano asked if an electric leaf blower is a concern, adding he guessed leaf blowers are
much lower contributors on the list and the city should focus on the bigger emissions problems
first. He stated there is a lot of data here and it can be confusing. He suggested staff look at
how to present the data and tell a compelling story. He stated staff needs to think about those
who do not look at data much, or understand data, so he encouraged staff to be creative here
when setting it up for residents to review.
Mayor Spano asked about the travel data and when there will be usable data that is collected in
2022. Ms. Ziring stated she assumes 2023 but will check with engineering staff and report back.
Mayor Spano asked about residential electric and gas efficiency and if there are ways the city
can work on this to move the data. He encouraged staff to think about this. Ms. Ziring stated
promoting solar will help to move numbers and for residential , all of the Home Energy Squad
visits, including changing lighting and making recommendations that then turn into projects,
are very helpful.
Mayor Spano asked what most significantly stands in our way to making these changes right
now. Ms. Ziring stated it is a combination of regulatory codes and behaviors, some of which are
due to COVID, but that we are asking the community to take action.
Councilmember Kraft asked what is standing in the city’s way in the short term and long term.
He stated the city can influence and band together with other cities. He added decarbonization
and vehicles are the two areas of concern, noting the decarbonization area involves commercial
and residential buildings. He stated the most significant impact in the short term should be
commercial buildings, noting ARPA dollars can be used for transformational change.
Councilmember Kraft stated there are more multifamily buildings coming, and because most
have TIF requests the city can influence green building requirements that can have an impact
for the next 20-30 years.
2. Systems project update
Ms. Kennedy reported on the project.
Councilmember Rog noted that pathways to wealth building through home ownership was
described as a completed item in the graphic. She shared that while she appreciates the new
wealth building program staff has put together, she felt that the item was not completed,
because it’s much broader there are many opportunities within the commitment to wealth
building. She stated it is one way to meet the goal, but not the only way and she hoped that
wasn’t checked off the list, like that’s all we’re going to do . Ms. Keller stated this program is in
place now, and staff would bring back more information on the pilot program in the future. Ms.
Kennedy added staff now understands and has policy direction from the council that this is an
area they would like to focus on and provide more opportunities. There is no additional policy
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direction needed at this time. She noted staff will continue to provide the council with updates
if conditions change, new programs are developed, or if additional direction from council is
needed.
Councilmember Rog asked how new items will be requested going forward. Ms. Kennedy stated
the council will continue to submit a form to request new items and then staff will do an initial
review and provide some basic information that will hopefully help council have a better
understanding up front of the amount of work and resources that would be required, a
projected timeline, and how the item may be connected to other projects or initiatives already
planned or in progress. She noted staff will also include a disposition recommendation, but
council will ultimately decide as a group which items move forward. She added staff will also
appreciate council answering questions and identifying goals or desired outcomes up front. She
stated once the new online request system is in place staff will have council try it to see how it
works and can adjust as needed along the way.
Ms. Kennedy referenced a sample 2022 systems calendar for 2022 – 2023 with projects on the
docket. She noted staff is still working through the calendar and this is only an example for
now, and the schedule of systems will be based on many factors including:
Readiness
Capacity
Items/work already in progress or scheduled
Depth of preparation and analysis required for discussions
Other variables/dependencies
Block scheduling
Flexibility
Workflow transitions
Sense of urgency
Councilmember Kraft asked if there will be a regular rotation for the systems discussion,
possibly annually. Ms. Keller stated staff would commit to discussion of projects annually and
will reevaluate regularly to help understand if progress is being made.
Councilmember Kraft asked if staff’s vision for this is more effective and more responsive or
more effective and less responsive. Ms. Keller stated it is more effective and more responsive
as there is still an urgency factor involved and other items are in the queue, so council and staff
can move forward on priorities in a more strategic way.
Councilmember Rog asked how the calendar syncs with the study session request system. Ms.
Kennedy stated once the council agrees to add an item and provides direction on the
prioritization or sense of urgency, then staff will put the item on the schedule.
Councilmember Rog asked if the two-month period is guided by council or staff or a
combination. Ms. Kennedy stated a combination of both.
Councilmember Rog stated her concerns around the commercial idea for public parks ; it is a
year from now. Ms. Kennedy explained the item was already discussed with council once and
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staff received the direction they needed from council to continue to move forward. She
reiterated that items that are already in progress, have a specific time component, or that
require additional council direction will not be halted.
Ms. Keller stated staff wants to help council adapt to this new process and recognizes that this
will need to change and evolve along the way. Ms. Kennedy added staff also wants to help
council get to the outcomes they want to achieve and have a clear understanding of what that
will require. She noted sometimes staff sees recurring themes come up throughout the year
that are handled one at a time to get them off the list, but the core issue is never really
addressed because there hasn’t been the opportunity or capacity for a more in -depth analysis.
Hopefully this new approach will present opportunities to address items more thoroughly,
achieve council’s desired outcomes, amplify the great work being done in the city, and show
how the work is guided by the city’s strategic priorities.
Councilmember Mohamed stated this new process makes sense to her and will eliminate
bouncing around from topic to topic.
Mayor Spano noted Councilmember Brausen had weighed in stating he supports the process
presented by staff.
Mayor Spano stated council has a pre-disposition to wanting to talk about things. He noted
things that are more pressing and important are then discussed most often. He asked how
council will get past the idea that everything is priority and must be discussed now .
Ms. Kennedy stated this is something that staff is working through and is hopeful that the initial
review process will help council better understand the variables involved and decide, based on
the current timeline and capacity, where new items fit into the schedule . If there is a real sense
of urgency from council on a particular item, then things will need to shift to accommodate
those items in the schedule. She noted this is going to require a different mindset at times to
think about how items are connected, and how they impact other work already being done
within the various systems.
Councilmember Dumalag stated she likes this approach as it keeps council and staff honest. She
is excited about the pilot and likes that adjustments are at council’s discretion .
Councilmember Kraft stated he likes this process as well because it will make council more
reflective and responsive and when done well, this will move items faster through the system.
Councilmember Mohamed stated for this to work, council will have to prioritize more within
this new way of thinking, and exercise discipline within the system.
Councilmember Rog stated she appreciates council’s ideas being brought forward, while being
discerning is also important. She feels concern or a loss that there might be less collegial
support of ideas with the new process. Ms. Kennedy stated that is not the intention, but that
will be something the council will need to work through as a group. The council still ultimately
decides which items will be added to the schedule and councilmembers will still present their
ideas to their colleagues, just as they have done in the past.
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Councilmember Rog stated sometimes there are ideas brought up that fail a first time and then
pass the second time, such as the CSAH 25 truck parking issue . Ms. Kennedy stated that will be
up to council to continue to work through and the option is still available to councilmembers to
bring items up multiple times if they choose to do so.
Ms. Kennedy reviewed the systems pilot example for environmental stewardship.
Councilmember Rog stated one category missing is mitigation . Ms. Kennedy stated the items
included are based on council-requested items and existing items that were already being
worked on.
Councilmember Rog asked if the sub-categories can be added in under the priorities. Ms. Keller
answered yes, they can be included, noting staff already uses that information as a guide for
their work.
Councilmember Dumalag stated she sees this process as keeping council accountable for the
year prior.
Councilmember Rog added she likes having information to add to her newsletter for residents
in her ward, so the more the city can generate good will on stories, the better.
Mayor Spano stated he is looking forward to this, noting council will always visit the high
priorities of the community and then refine. He added this is more of a shift now and he is
excited to try this new process.
3. Future study session agenda planning and prioritization
Councilmember Rog referenced the MnDOT written report and asked why the city needs to
wait until January 2022 to submit this letter. She stated the letter can be submitted at any time,
so she would like to do it now but added that MnDot requires the city to provide the use of this
land.
Mayor Spano stated there is no offer or letter at this point and there is also no timeline.
Councilmember Rog stated there is clearly a strong public sentiment to preserve this land as
open space. She noted she heard folks loud and clear, and each letter was forwarded to staff as
part of the public record to be included in the future report. She added one possibility is that
the area be maintained by volunteers.
Councilmember Kraft referenced the Wooddale Station written report. He stated this is a higher
TIF request and he would expect the list to show where there is non-compliance within the
policy. He wanted to point this out and make sure it is accurately represented as a yes. He
added a percentage is noted and, in another place, there is a ratio mentioned and they do not
match up.
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Ms. Keller stated it follows the policy as to when the application was received . She added,
however, that going forward staff could list out the date for each iteration .
Councilmember Dumalag noted on the Wooddale Q & A, the purchase agreement has not yet
been fully executed.
Communications/meeting check-in (verbal)
The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Written reports provided and documented for recording purposes only:
4 October 2021 monthly financial report
5. MnDOT excel land update – Toledo Ave and 28th St
6. Application for Tax Increment financing Assistance – Wooddale Station
7. Aldersgate resolution of support for Minnesota Housing Finance
8. West Metro Home Remodeling Fair Joint Powers Agreement
______________________________________ ______________________________________
Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor
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