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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-09 EEC Meeting Packet Meeting location: Edina City Hall Community Room 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN Energy & Environment Commission Meeting Agenda Thursday, January 9, 2025 7:00 PM Accessibility Support: The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing amplification, an interpreter, large-print documents or something else, please call 952-927-8861 at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Meeting Agenda 4. Approval of Meeting Minutes 4.1. Minutes from December 12, 2024 Meeting 5. Special Recognitions and Presentations 6. Community Comment During "Community Comment," the Board/Commission will invite residents to share issues or concerns that are not scheduled for a future public hearing. Items that are on tonight's agenda may not be addressed during Community Comment. Individuals must limit their comments to three minutes. The Chair may limit the number of speakers on the same issue in the interest of time and topic. Individuals should not expect the Chair or Board/Commission Members to respond to their comments tonight. Instead, the Board/Commission might refer the matter to staff for consideration at a future meeting. 7. Reports/Recommendations 7.1. Paved Area / Community Gardens Work Plan Item 7.2. Approved 2025 EEC Work Plan 8. Chair and Member Comments 9. Staff Comments 9.1. Commission Work Plan Transition Page 1 of 21 10. Adjournment Page 2 of 21 BOARD & COMMISSION ITEM REPORT Date: January 9, 2025 Item Activity: Action Meeting: Energy & Environment Commission Agenda Number: 4.1 Prepared By: Marisa Bayer, Sustainability Manager Item Type: Minutes Department: Engineering Item Title: Minutes from December 12, 2024 Meeting Action Requested: Approve minutes. Information/Background: Approve minutes from Dec. 12, 2024 meeting. Supporting Documentation: 1. Dec 12 Minutes Page 3 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 7:00 PM THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2024 Meeting location: Edina City Hall Community Room 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN 1. Call to Order Chair Lukens called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. then shared the procedure for public hearing and community comment. 2. Roll Call Answering roll call were Commissioners Lukens, Haugen, Walker, Bartholomew, Tessman, Schima and Weber. Absent were Commissioners Martinez-Salgado and Dakane, and student Commissioners Langsweirdt and Srivastav. 3. Approval of Meeting Agenda Bartholomew made a motion, seconded by Walker, to Approve Meeting Agenda. Motion Carried. 4. Approval of Meeting Minutes 4.1. Minutes from November 14, 2024 Meeting Schima made a motion, seconded by Bartholomew, to Approve Meeting Minutes. Motion Carried. 5. Special Recognitions and Presentations 5.1. 2023 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Ted Redmond with PaleBlueDot presented the 2023 Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Edina has achieved a 17% reduction from baseline, which is on track with where we'd expect to be, but there are some upward trends in specific sectors Edina should be paying attention to. A major driver of change for emissions reduction is utility-scale grid decarbonization, which affects the Buildings & Energy sector. Commissioners asked questions about opportunities to reach our goals, including where to focus between now and 2030. Commissioners stressed the importance that there is still work to do for the commission, staff and Council to reach the Climate Action Plan goals. 6. Community Comment A resident observing the meeting noted they appreciated the discussion and are interested in school engagement, particularly the ability to impact and reach a lot of homes and residents. Page 4 of 21 7. Reports/Recommendations 7.1. Time of Sale with Energy Disclosure Staff Report Follow Up Sustainability Manager Bayer reviewed data to answer questions asked by the EEC at the November meeting. EEC will draft an Advisory Communication as a "cover page" to their existing report, which will be shared at a future meeting. 7.2. Paved Area / Community Gardens Work Plan Item Commissioner Weber noted that she has drafted the study and report. Sustainability Manager Bayer will send it out to the EEC to review ahead of the January meeting where they will be asked to approve the report. 8. Chair and Member Comments • Commissioners shared frustration with the work plan process and suggested more collaborative ways to approach the work. • Commissioners discussed how to encourage and engage the community to participate and support topics important to the EEC's work. • Commissioners asked for an update on the tree protection ordinance. Sustainability Manager Bayer noted a meeting has not happened and she will keep them updated when more information is available. 9. Staff Comments 9.1. Approved 2025 Work Plan The 2025 approved workplan will be entered into Envisio. The major change was separating out the "catch all" work plan item into individual projects, and recommending the EEC reach out to an already established community event that supports EVs rather than host their own standalone event. Commissioners expressed an interest in still hosting an EV event and will be requesting it be added back to the workplan. Sustainability Manager Bayer noted that she will be presenting the benchmarking ordinance updates discussed in November at the Dec. 17 City Council meeting. 10. Adjournment Haugen made a motion, seconded by Tessman, to Adjourn. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:24 p.m. Page 5 of 21 BOARD & COMMISSION ITEM REPORT Date: January 9, 2025 Item Activity: Action Meeting: Energy & Environment Commission Agenda Number: 7.1 Prepared By: Marisa Bayer, Sustainability Manager Item Type: Report & Recommendation Department: Engineering Item Title: Paved Area / Community Gardens Work Plan Item Action Requested: Approve report and Advisory Communication. Information/Background: Commissioner Weber will discuss the work plan item, including the report and Advisory Communication. Approving the report will complete this 2024 Work Plan item. Following approval, the report and Advisory Communication will be submitted to City Council. Supporting Documentation: 1. Advisory Communication, Pavement Conversion and Community Gardens 2. Report, Pavement Conversion and Community Gardens Page 6 of 21 City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424 Date:January 9, 2025 To:Mayor & City Council From:Energy and Environment Commission Subject:Converting Underutilized paved areas and community gardens xxApproved Work Plan Item: Yes No Council Charge: 1: Study & Report 2: Review & Comment 3: Review & Recommend 4: Review & Decide Items not on the approved work plan: Council action is rarely taken mid-year for items not on the current approved work plan. Action is only taken if Council chooses to discuss the Advisory Communication at the Council meeting and provides specific direction through a Council vote. Commissions are encouraged to submit new initiative proposals through the annual work plan process. Action Requested: Receive the study and report Situation: Workplan item for 2024, objective was to determine where underutilized paved areas may be located and consider conversion to greenspace or pollinator habitat. Workplan item also called to investigate whether or not any of these potential converted green spaces could be community gardens. Background: These items are included in the 2021 Climate Action Plan from the City of Edina. Transportation and Land Use, Local Food and Agriculture and Greenspaces and Trees all have action items that correspond directly or indirectly to this topic. Assessment: Commission believes that TS 3-4 should be undertaken once the Land Conversion Opportunity Study is completed. Commission also believes that additional community gardens can benefit the city, but need to determine appropriate sites prioritizing with equity in mind and explore other ways to administer and fund. Page 7 of 21 Conversion to Green Spaces and Community Gardens Report December 2024 Page 8 of 21 Contents Situation ..........................................................................................................................2 Background.....................................................................................................................3 Land Use in Edina.......................................................................................................3 Community Gardens.....................................................................................................6 Assessment.....................................................................................................................6 References .......................................................................................................................7 Situation Around the world, many communities are in the process of reducing the amount of impervious ground cover and surfaces and/or increasing pollinator habitats. This can have many desirable impacts – flood mitigation, critical pollinator support, reduced potable water usage along with helping decrease urban heat islands. At the same time, food insecurity is growing in many places. With supply chain issues and inflation, the cost of food can be prohibitive for many. Each year, thousands of Edina residents require support from local food shelves such as VEAP. This report looks at the conversion to green space or pollinator habits, and the feasibility of any of these spaces should be turned into a community garden. Specifically, this directly relates to two items on the CAP: TL 3-4: Identify underutilized paved areas and incentivize conversion to sustainable green space or infill development. Conversion focus should take into consideration neighborhood’s greenspace, heat island mitigation, affordable housing, and bike/walk mobility needs and prioritize site utilization based on addressing the greatest needs at each site as determined through appropriate engagement with the community, particularly people traditionally underrepresented. (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021) LF 1-2: Support existing school and community gardens and provide opportunities to expand community growing spaces with a focus on locating garden infrastructure to serve youth, immigrant, and people with lower incomes or who are experiencing food insecurity. Community growing and garden spaces may include use of park space, unused city owned space, or public right of way/boulevard areas. Program should prioritize conversion of impervious spaces to garden space and preservation/increase of overall green space benefit. (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021) Page 9 of 21 Background The Climate Action Plan (CAP) approved in Edina in 2021 addresses several targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. From that report, actions under Transportation and Land Use, Greenspace and Trees, and Local Food and Agriculture apply to this topic. (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021) Along with the CAP, the 2015 Parks Strategic plan is also relevant to this report. This plan provided a clear vision for the next 20 years of Edina parks, including redevelopment of parks, trails and recreational opportunities. Land Use in Edina 93% of grasslands in Edina are manicured lawns (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021). According to the 2021 CAP, Edina has a goal to reduce turf coverage from 25.2% to 22.6% and reduce dark impervious surface cover from 25.5% to 23% by 2030. Reducing turf leads to better stormwater mitigation, less potable water use and increased carbon storage. Impervious surfaces contribute to urban heat islands and can hinder stormwater mitigation. (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021) The below image displays the percentage of ground cover that is grass (by Census Tract) Page 10 of 21 This diagram illustrates by type of impervious surface coverage According to the CAP progress portal, item TL 3-4 is upcoming and has not yet been started; however many other actions under Greenspace and Trees have been started or completed, and many of them have an indirect positive relationship with our work plan item. (City of Edina, 2024) Greenspace and Trees CAP items already completed by the city that help advance pollinator/native habitats: (City of Edina, 2024) 1. Remove lawn/grass requirements in ordinances 2. Manage city-owned natural areas to enhance and maintain diverse native communities, implementation of best practices for stormwater management, increased plant diversity and improved pollinator habitat 3. Manage city-owned lawn/turf areas to enhance and maintain diverse native communities, increase turf replacement with native wildflower and prairie grasses, increased plant diversity, improved pollinator friendly habitat, and carbon gardening practices including elimination of synthetic fertilizer and pesticide use, high mow deck settings, use of biochar amendments, and polyculture lawn mixture. Page 11 of 21 The following actions are underway: 1. Land Conversion Opportunity Study – analyze public and private property for unused turf and impervious areas, create implementation plan to convert to native plant and pollinator restoration areas (on track, percent complete unknown) 2. Install roadside pollinator vegetation that creates effective barriers to prevent drifting of air pollutants to adjacent schools and residences. (on track, 4% complete) 3. Establish policy to require use of native plants in landscaping at City owned properties. Continue natural vegetation conversion for passive park areas (on track, 75% complete) – add 100 acres of native plant and pollinator restoration area on city property by 2040 4. Establish policy and identify, create and promote incentives to assist homeowners and households with low incomes by covering some of the cost of converting traditional lawns by planting pollinator friendly food gardens, permaculture, wildflowers, clover or native grasses (on track 25%, exploring grant opportunities) In accordance with the 2015 Strategic Parks plan, nearly 200 acres of Edina parks are in some phase of planning or active construction in the next few years. This includes removing invasive buckthorn, restoring wetlands, establishing native habitats and other climate adaptive species. (Engineering, 2024) Edina has also consistently been providing residents with opportunities to learn and get assistance in creating pollinator habitats in their yards with Metrobloom. Community Gardens Edina currently has two community gardens – one run by the City of Edina (Yorktown Plot), and the other the co-op at 7500 York. The Yorktown community garden has 55 plots and has had a consistent waitlist since opening in 2014. The rental fees are $45 for a 10’ x 10’ plot and $50 for a 10’ x 15’ plot. Fees are used to cover soil preparation and tilling, compost, water and garden improvements. Residents are responsible for the upkeep of their plots and receive warnings when not in compliance. (City of Edina, 2024) The city staff manages the administration for the garden – helping reserve plots (Feb – March), opening the garden early May, inspecting the garden July/Aug/Sept, and then closing mid-October with communications throughout the year. Page 12 of 21 City staff believes there may be more demand for additional community gardens. Assessment The commission believes that the following actions should be continued/advanced •TL 3-4 identify underutilized paved areas – this should be completed once the Land Conversion Opportunity is completed. According to the CAP, GS 2-1 calls for a Land Conversion Opportunity study to be completed, along with a Ground Cover Conversion Implementation plan to convert to native plant and pollinator restoration areas, wetlands, permaculture areas, tree coverage or urban agriculture. This action covers both private and public property and should be used as input for evaluating which impervious surfaces can and should be converted. (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021) According to the Ground Cover Survey (Pale Blue Dot LLC, 2021), dark pavements comprise 50% of all impervious surfaces in the city of Edina (dark roofs at 30%). As roof replacement would be less feasible for many, the opportunity to reduce dark pavement is a great opportunity to reduce impervious surfaces and replace with pollinator habitats. •Parking lots are a top target for paved areas; however, most of the parking in Edina is not city owned, requiring the city to work with the private owners to depave parking lots. Edina city staff has not looked at paved areas for conversion at this time. o Edina could consider a program like St. Louis Park “depave” program for businesses or homeowners who would like to replace pavement with pervious surface (ideally pollinator habitat). Park maintenance staff could be consulted regarding Edina parking lots, but many of our public lots near parks are already overflowing with parking and not likely to reduce what is there. o Southdale area would be the largest target for impervious surface reduction (along with helping decrease urban heat island affect). City would need to determine best way to incentivize property owners to depave. •Recommend that wildflower/pollinator/native habitats be prioritized over community gardens for converting underutilized paved areas. These habitats provide more biodiversity benefits and require much less maintenance. Community gardens require ongoing maintenance and administration. Page 13 of 21 •Continue advertising and promoting services like Metrobloom and encourage residents to apply for local grants to help install pollinator habitats. •As food insecurity is growing, the commission recommends that we include LF 1- 2 in the 2025 workplan item for the EEC on food security. This initiative can dig into where there may be hotspots for food insecurity to help drive prioritization for community gardens. •Commission also recommends further investigation into ways to manage community gardens without city staff oversight. Local schools as part of education, local churches with large properties, or other organizations may be able to host and maintain a community garden. There are also grants available to help with community gardens that may be utilized. o Explore if developers can be required to include community gardens in new developments References City of Edina. (2024). Community Garden. Retrieved from City of Edina: https://www.edinamn.gov/255/Community-Garden City of Edina. (2024). Plan Sectors. Retrieved from Climate Action Plan Progress Portal : https://performance.envisio.com/dashboard/ClimateActionPlan-Edina Engineering. (2024, August 16). Water Resources Manager. (L. Weber, Interviewer) Pale Blue Dot LLC. (2021). Climate Action Plan. Edina. Pale Blue Dot LLC. (2021). Ground Cover Survey and Carbon Sequestration Study. Edina. Page 14 of 21 BOARD & COMMISSION ITEM REPORT Date: January 9, 2025 Item Activity: Discussion Meeting: Energy & Environment Commission Agenda Number: 7.2 Prepared By: Marisa Bayer, Sustainability Manager Item Type: Report & Recommendation Department: Engineering Item Title: Approved 2025 EEC Work Plan Action Requested: Discuss approved 2025 EEC Work Plan. Information/Background: City Council approved the EEC 2025 Work Plan at their Dec. 3, 2024 meeting. The attachments include the approved work plan and an overview of the Council Charges. EEC should advise if any changes are needed to the Work Plan leads to be updated in Envisio, and discuss next steps for the work plan items. Supporting Documentation: 1. 2025 EEC Work Plan 2. Council Charge Overview Page 15 of 21 Page 16 of 21 Page 17 of 21 Level of Impact Council Charge 1: Study & Report 2: Review & Comment 3: Review & Recommend 4: Review & Decide 5: Event Commission Role Study a specific issue or event and resport its findings to Council. Provide a report to Council. Review a specific policy issue and staff will seek comments from each individual member of the group to pass on to Council. Commission comments included in staff report. Review a specific policy issue and provide a recommendation on the issue to Council. Provide report and recommendations to Council. Study, review and decide on an issue. The Decision will be the City’s official position on the matter unless the issue is formally reversed by Council. Commission makes the decision. Plan & implement a community event. Commission Vote Majority vote required for advisory community report No vote is taken by the commission Majority vote required for advisory communication report A majority vote is required No vote is taken by the commission Commission Recommendation No official recommendation is provided to Council or staff No official recommendation is provided to Council or staff An official recommendation is provided to Council No official recommendation is provided to Council No official recommendation is provided to Council Report Type Needed Required: Advisory Communication & Staff Report Required: Staff Report Required: Staff Report Advisory Communication at commission discretion or requested by staff Required: Staff Report Advisory Communication if requested by staff None Report Information Needed Cover Sheet: Description initiative, additonal staff involvement Staff Report: Staff recommendations based on expertise and City’s stance Staff Report: Inclusion additional staff impacted by decision Progress update should be recorded on work plan progress portal Progress update should be recorded on work plan progress portal Presentation to Council Commission Presentation Optional None Commission presentation encourgaged None None Council Action None or mid-year work plan modification directed None Majority vote by Council required None None Staff Considerations Liaisons should communicate what City staff will recommend Individual comments of each commissioner should be included in the staff report Liaisons should communicate to the commission what City staff will recommend Not every decision must have commission action. Not every decision for an event must have commission action Page 18 of 21 BOARD & COMMISSION ITEM REPORT Date: January 9, 2025 Item Activity: Information Meeting: Energy & Environment Commission Agenda Number: 9.1 Prepared By: Marisa Bayer, Sustainability Manager Item Type: Other Department: Engineering Item Title: Commission Work Plan Transition Action Requested: No action requested. Information/Background: City Council approved a new, two-year work plan development process to allow better connection of commission work plan initiatives to the overarching strategic priorities, long-term objectives and available resources. The goal is to make work plan initiatives more intentional, and provide opportunity to adopt a phased approach for items (e.g., use year one to study and report and in year two, develop recommendations if directed by Council). Commissions will implement their approved 2025 Work Plan. EEC will have a joint meeting with City Council in 2025 to discuss the upcoming work plan, with Council being asked to provide more direction on projects. EEC will then develop a two-year work plan (2026-2027) with an opportunity to review and update as needed during work plan implementation. Supporting Documentation: 1. Staff Memo, Commission Work Plan Transition Page 19 of 21 City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424 Background The City Council establishes boards and commission to increase resident engagement in city work and provide opportunities for residents to serve the community and participate in meaningful work. Currently, the work plan process is conducted on an annual basis. For up to six months, commissions simultaneously work on their current initiatives while discussing and developing a new annual work plan. Work plan development starts in June and final work plans are approved in December. There were no proposed adjustments to the 2024 work plan process. Starting in 2025, commissions will transition to a two-year work plan process. Purpose The purpose of adjusting the timeline allows better connection of work plan initiatives to the organization’s overarching strategic priorities, long-term objectives and available resources. The goal is to make work plan initiatives more intentional and include the budget values (Sustainability, Stewardship, Engagement, Equity, Health). Two-year work plans provide the opportunity to adopt a phased approach and allocate time to ensure each aspect of a project or task is executed and implemented effectively. Commissions are asked to continue to keep their work plans to 4-5 work plan items and use a phased approach for work plan items. For example, a commission will use year one to study and report and in year two, develop recommendations if directed by Council after the study and report. This alignment will provide focus, track progress, adapt to evolving needs and optimize our resources to deliver impactful results. Administration Department EdinaMN.gov Date:December 16, 2024 To:Commission Members cc:Staff Liaisons From:MJ Lamon, Special Projects & Engagement Manager Subject:2025 Commission Work Plan Transition June - August •Work Plan Development October •Chair presents proposed work plans November •Staff presents proposed changes December •Council approves work plans Page 20 of 21 City of Edina • 4801 W. 50th St. • Edina, MN 55424 1. Strategic Alignment: Strategic alignment ensures that the budget and work plans are directly tied to the organization’s overarching goals and objectives. It involves mapping resources and planned actions to strategic priorities, ensuring all efforts contribute to long-term success and addressing the community's needs effectively. 2. Prioritization & Resource Allocation: Prioritization and resource allocation focus on ranking initiatives and distributing available resources—such as funding, personnel, and time—according to their importance and impact. This process ensures that the most critical and high-value projects receive the necessary support while balancing constraints and competing demands. 3. Phased Approach & Completion: A phased approach breaks down the work plan into manageable stages aligned with realistic timeframes and resource capacities. This approach acknowledges the limits of what individuals or teams can achieve within a two-year period, prioritizing tasks to avoid overcommitment. Each phase sets clear, attainable goals, ensuring steady progress while maintaining quality and efficiency. Completion emphasizes finalizing deliverables for each phase before advancing, promoting accountability and the feasibility of meeting long-term objectives. Highlighted Changes •Commissions develop two-year work plans •Divide commissions into two groups and annually four commissions will develop their two-year plan while the other group will do a review and update, if needed •Adjust the purpose of joint work session meetings with Council to focus on discussion around development of the two-year work plan. Council will be asked to provide more direction on projects for the upcoming work plan. Timeline Group 1 = HRRC, CHC, ACC, PARC Group 2 = HPC, EEC, ETC, PC 2025 2026 June-Aug • Group 2 Joint Meetings with Council Aug-Sept • Group 1 work plan review & amendments Sept-Dec • Group 2 Develop Two-year Work Plan June-Aug • Group 1 Joint Meetings with Council Aug-Sept • Group 2 work plan review & amendments Sept-Dec • Group 1 Develop Two-year Work Plan Page 21 of 21