CFS Meeting Notes – April ’16

    1. Introductions
    2. April 11 Comprehensive Plan Community Visioning meeting (Planner is Breanne Rothstein). For Monday, we want to list goals.
      1. Send motto: Transform City of St. Anthony Village into an award-winning leader in sustainability.
      2. Capture the opportunity
      3. Reminder: “Our mission is to be a progressive and livable community, a walkable village, which is sustainable, safe and secure.”
      4. 2013 Sustainability Plan
        1. Transportation
        2. Utilities
          1. Energy Use
          2. Recycling and Waste Reduction
          3. Composting
        3. Natural Resources
          1. Surface Water Management
          2. Landscaping
          3. Local Foods
        4. Housing
        5. Neighborhood Development
        6. Public Awareness
      5. Ideas for SAV 2040 Comprehensive Plan Visioning Session (A regular city position to usher grants, sustainability projects, etc.–perhaps a volunteer coordinator, even with Lauderdale and Falcon Heights). Use our time till the June meeting to expand upon this.
        1. Electricity
          1. Achieve GreenStep Cities Step 4 and 5.
          2. [PW comment: SAV should reduce electricity use by X%, and] Encourage and facilitate SAV non-municipal electricity consumers to reduce consumption by 10%. ((needs work))
          3. The City shall consume electricity meeting MN RES standards of which, at least 10% shall be generated (solar or wind) within city limits.
          4. Encourage and facilitate SAV non-municipal electricity consumers to achieve sustainable energy goals
            1. Eliminate regulatory and financial barriers to installing renewable energy systems
            2. Develop city outreach events and educational materials
      1. Bike/Walk
        1. Meet legal requirements (ADA, etc.)
        2. Recognize biking and walking as transportation methods.
        3. Break mindsets about crosswalk placement.
        4. Active Living
      2. Green Space (11 items)
        1. Changing maintenance plan, as well as plantings for 88 corridor
        2. Chemical use in public spaces
        3. Bee ordinance
        4. Transitioning Trillium Park gardens
        5. Transitioning all parks to incorporate natives
        6. Enhancing natural setting at Salo Park
        7. Negotiating plantings along railroad corridor
        8. Farmers market space and online presence
        9. Funding for design assistance
        10. Connecting aging home owners with interested apartment gardeners
        11. Community gardens (local ordinances to allow, metered water access at potential public sites)
      3. Refresh targets on the 2013 sustainability plan–suggest they adopt it.
      4. Waste?
        1. Composting
        2. Banning plastic bags and styrofoam to-go containers
  1. Water quality updates: Dioxane
    1. Twin Cities Ammunition Plant leaches chemicals and Dioxane was only recently testable
    2. 1ppb is arbitrary max state level
    3. Water restrictions on city
    4. How long has the city known about this before telling everyone?
    5. The city should be more transparent about water quality
    6. How resilient are we? For how long?
  2. Rain Barrel Workshop 4/19
    1. Sold out.
  3. Salo Park Clean up – 4/23 9:30
    1. Working with Inland, Equinox, and city to get 20 volunteers to clean up. City lending tools and donating garbage bags.
  4. Pollinator garden funds have 11 applicants and looking for a bulk design
  5. Electronics Recycling drive: Wilshire collected 100 lbs of cell phones. St Charles just finished theirs, Nativity is planning theirs.
  6. City Cleanup – May 7.
  7. Federal educational mandates are underfunded due to open enrollment students not counting.
    1. This weekend is a key deadline for talking to your legislators
  8. Solar update
    1. We discussed the talking points for the visioning session.
    2. Forest lake schools solar installation covers ⅓ of the school building electricity use. Saving money now through third-party financing for 7 years, then they will wholly own the solar benefits. Federal tax credit for solar will help for the next few years.
    3. Can we suggest this to the SANB school board? It will save money right now and more in 7 years if we use the Forest Lake model.
      1. How do we bridge into the school board. ROI is real.

Notes

  • Email CFS about the April 11 visioning session, then there will be a half-day workshop in June where we can put our group’s points out. Also link to sustainability plan and visioning thing https://mysidewalk.com/organizations/291895/st-anthony-comprehensive-plan-2040
  • Central Park is jointly owned between city and school district
  • Can school board be encouraged to include sustainability
    • The city cannot ask them to
    • Troy Urdall (SANB) is the one to talk to about adding solar to schools
    • There is
      • ecology club elementary
      • waste management curriculum
      • rain barrel curriculum
      • Recent recycling grant awarded (including an ecology club at the middle/high)
      • high school science classes related to sustainability (at teacher’s discretion)
  • Mary has been working to develop a meeting North Minneapolis, East St. Paul, Columbia Heights, St. Anthony Village, with Keith Ellison on bike/walk issues surrounding transportation civil rights. Addressing transportation equity across gender, religion, age, language, ethnicity.
    • Looking at 4/21.
    • Would aid comprehensive planning on bike/walk

By Dan Kunitz

Dan Kunitz is a Minnesota native interested in decarbonization. He is a business analyst at the University of Minnesota and volunteers his website and design skills to Citizens for Sustainability.

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