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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-14 EEC Minutes Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/14/2019 Minutes City Of Edina, Minnesota Energy and Environment Commission Edina City Hall Community Room Thursday, February 14, 2019, 7:00 PM I. Call To Order Chair Jackson called the meeting to order at 6:59 p.m. II. Roll Call Answering Roll Call were Chair Jackson, Commissioners Horan, Hussian, Manser, Seeley, Lanzas, Satterlee, Glahn and Fernands Absent: Hoffman, Maynor Staff Present: Liaison Brown, Casey Casella III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Manser made a motion to approve the February 14, 2019 meeting agenda. Horan seconded. All voted aye. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion made by Manser to approve the January 10, 2019 minutes. Motion seconded by Lanzas. Motion carried. V. Special Recognitions and Presentations A. Recycling and Organics Contracted Services Jeff Brown and Solvei Wilmot from the Health Department presented the staff’s recommendation for residential curbside organics and recycling collection providers. The staff recommendation was to sign a contract with Vierkant for curbside organics and Eureka for curbside recycling weekly collection. The Commission commented on the recommendations. Commissioner Hussian abstained from commenting because of a conflict of interest, but asked clarifying questions during the discussion. Overall discussion topics for recycling were: • How each vendor responded to the RPF regarding recycling contamination and resident education • Risks and impacts of different market scenarios of recycling in the future • Impact and communication plan of the increased resident rate for recycling • The weekly option for recycling pickup and the environmental impacts • The amount of trucks on the road • Impacts of the recommendation on garbage hauling Overall discussion topics from organics were: • Comparing other peer city organics situations Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/14/2019 • Risk of organics contamination and request for more information on this topic • Added pickups and trucks for organics and the environmental impacts • The rise in total monthly cost for residents to do both recycling and organics Commissioners then provided review and comment for each of the following questions. Bullets are highlights of each question’s comments. Regarding advantages of shifting recycling form bi-weekly to weekly: • Perceived resident demand for weekly pickup • Perceived cost and environmental impact of additional trucks • Most commissioners agreed the benefits outweigh the costs of weekly recycling • One commissioner commented it was not worth it to shift to weekly recycling Regarding fixed fee vs market base cost: • Preference fixed fee for consistency Regarding vendor approach to contamination and behavior change: • Importance of resident education • Low worry of contamination because of Edina’s good record Regarding pay regardless of participation: • Commissioners agreed paying regarding of participation was the Commission’s initial recommendation and they stand by it • One commissioner expressed a preference in an off-doubt system Regarding business practices of the vendor: • Business practice was something the Commission wanted to monitor • Expressed interest in Eureka’s race and equity component as a shared goal with the City • Discussion on trucks that would plan to reduce emissions Regarding current cost versus new cost and level of service: • Discussion on the goal to reduce solid waste • Importance of resident education and communication • One commissioner expressed the new level of service would not be worth the cost Regarding any last comments: • Excitement for this project moving forward Staff will present the curbside recycling and organics contracted services to City Council on March 5, 2019. VI. Community Comment None. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/14/2019 VII. Reports/Recommendation A. Election of 2019 Chair and Vice Chair Manser made a motion to elect Chair Jackson as Chair of the EEC. Hussian seconds. All votes aye. Motion carries. Jackson made a motion for Commissioner Manser as Vice Chair of the EEC. Hussian seconded. Horan, Seely and Lanzas voted aye. Motion does not prevail. Manser made a motion for Commission Satterlee as Vice Chair of the EEC. Horan second. Chair abstains. Hussian, Horan, Seely, Lanzas, Fernands, Glahn vote aye. Motion prevails. B. Energy Benchmarking Chair gave an update on the energy benchmarking program. The Chair, Commission Satterlee and Maynor participated in benchmarking workshop with the Center for Energy and Environment and city staff. The chair asked for the commission feedback on the following topics: • Which businesses to benchmark • Use of energy efficiency study or audits • Timing of disclosure • Required energy upgrades Commissioners Lanzas and Fernands expressed interest in participating in future benchmarking workshops. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions A. Resident Correspondence • Received correspondence regarding a Proposal for a Building Height and Shadow Solution IX. Chair And Member Comments A. Chair Jackson: updated the commission on an event about Fresh Energy's Building Electrification. B. Commission Fernands: testified at the State Legislature about a climate plan bill and met with the Governor. C. Commission Horan: gave an update on the Business Environmental Working group’s work. D. Commissioner Satterlee: Started research on climate action plan. E. Manser: Reported the Edina Community Solar garden is generating some electricity. He is a subscriber. F. Chair Jackson: Reported the school district plans to put solar on two school buildings. X. Staff Comments A. SolSmart Certification Casey Casella reported the City of Edina received a SolSmart gold certification. Draft Minutes☐ Approved Minutes☒ Approved Date: 3/14/2019 B. Ethical and Respectful Conduct Reminder Liaison Brown provided a reminder about commissioner conduct. C. Comprehensive Plan Update Liaison Brown extended the invitation from the Planning Commission to an open house on the comprehensive plan on March 11. D. Water Liaison Brown updated the Commission on the recent salt reduction symposium. A resident group and Master Water Stewards, Stop Over Salting (SOS), was recognized for their work. E. Statistic Liaison Brown shared that according to recent City statistics, 80% of theft from auto in Edina was in an unlocked car. A reminder to lock your cars. XII. Adjournment Motion made by Glahn to adjourn the February 14, 2019 meeting at 9:10 p.m. Motion seconded by Manser. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Casey Casella City Management Fellow