CFS February Meeting Notes

Introductions

Meeting with Mark Casey and Jay Hartmann

• Parks Commission Meetings
  • Do our Tuesday morning meetings just before their meetings. Invite Parks Commission members to them or our Saturday meetings
    • March 6, 2017
    • June 5, 2017
    • September 5, 2017
    • December 4, 2017
• Earth Day cleanups (April 22, 9-11am)
  • Locations
    • Salo Park: 9:15am – noon (Clif & Bettye)
    • Trillium Park: SAV gardeners need help pruning if we could help organize
    • Central Park: get help from an NHS student
    • Faith: Rain garden cleanup. Should check with MWMO about master water steward volunteer hours or cub scout
  • Tasks
    • Village Note article
      • Bring work gloves
    • Write emails, too
• GreenStep Cities Step 5 criteria is just out
  • Can city order street signs like you can order Tree City USA signs? Also, order those?
• Adding “Sustainability” to the name of Parks Commission
  • Receptive to this change, but will have to check
• Sustainability coordinator position?
  • No
• Ice melt?
  • Salt/brine
  • Don’t use sand as much due to watershed
  • Staff are up to date on training
• Organics Collection
  • No plan until demand
  • When pressed on a central option, they asked us where it should be
  • Notes from the CFS group:
    • There is a student from U of M interested in using organics collection as their capstone project
      • Nate, Dan, Mark, Lona to meet with student
    • Hennepin County has funding to expand organics collection
      • How has Minneapolis decided this
• City water use
  • Stick with Odd/Even watering ban
  • Splash pads may run a few days this year
  • Can CFS help reach out to kids about water conservation contest?
    • Lona will check with ecology clubs
  • Can CFS look into neighbor comparison on use like Xcel does?
    • Lona is working on this, too
  • Rain Barrel offerings again in April
• Lowry Grove
  • City has not gotten involved
  • Notes from CFS discussion:
    • PUD could be used to specify green space minimums
    • Feb 17: Affordable Housing discussion surrounding Lowry Grove re-development–could we bring up lack of green space?
    • Can CFS help organize help to preserve affordable housing
• Silver Lake Carp removal
  • Success, but allowed more weeds to grow
  • Did DNR re-check lake?
    • Don’t know
• Mirror Lake dredging
  • It’s ongoing
• Water treatment project
  • It’s ongoing
• 25% of city energy comes from Chisago County solar garden
• Pollinator pathway signs are available–ask Jay
• We received a copy of the Comp Plan
  • Send feedback to Mark

Legislative updates

• Education legislation
• Environmental legislation

Kristin will provide update on grants

• Kristin was not present–we’ll have to follow up
• Water Stewards could use projects

Next Parks Commission Meeting- prepare update/proposal for Park Clean Up for Earth Day?

• What to talk about at March 6 Parks Commission meeting
  • Request the name change
  • Pollinator Pathway next steps
  • Bike/walk component? Kathy has
  • 37th Ave sidewalks
  • Bring up organics to place in a park
    • Works at Minneapolis parks
  • Liaison to our meeting

Notes/Agenda items for next time

• Nativity redesigning their outdoor learning environment
• Wilshire Park’s rain garden
• What to add to the Village Notes before April 1
  • Promote SAV sustainability section on their website
  • Earth Day cleanups
• Faith: Solar panels are going up in June
• Nativity: could make only 2% of power through solar
• CERTs has a “Right Light” guide
• Make better use of the CFS Facebook page
• When do we start planning VillageFest topics? Potential ideas:
  • Kid-friendly activity
    • clippings
  • Feature LEDs?
  • Feature solar?
  • Get sponsorship?!

Upcoming Events

• Feb 12 on TPT: Twin Cities Co-housing Network
• March for Science: April 22, 11am-1pm; Capitol
  • Bus leaving from Nativity at 10am
• Sustainability: A Documentary: February 28th 6:30pm at Columbia Heights Library
  • Free and open to the public, co-sponsored by SEICA