Author: Dan Kunitz

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

Notes from Saturday, January 28, 2017 CFS Meeting

Introductions

2017 schedule

• survey shows top results 1.5 hr, monthly meeting on Saturdays; then second best is Tuesday earlier.
• Decision:
  • monthly Saturday meetings (2nd Saturday, 10-11:30) —Feb 11, March 11, April 8, May 20, June 10,  July 15, August off (VillageFest), Sept 9, Oct 14, Nov 11, Dec 9.
  • Ask Jay: Quarterly Tuesday morning meetings (7am)—April , July, Oct, Jan

Prioritize topics and plan a discussion with Jay and Mark

questions beginning with highest priority
Attendees: Clif, Bettye, Paul, Lona (where will meeting take place?)

Topics for Tuesday:

1. Quarterly Tuesday morning meetings in April, July, Oct, Jan for overlap with city staff
   • Pick Dates
2. What sustainability initiatives are in comp plan?
   • (comp plan report from June meeting is on the SAV website)
   • When draft is done in the summer, there will likely be a public event
   • We could coordinate volunteers
3. Earth Day/Week park cleanup event(s)
   • What can we do to help the Parks Commission plan this?
   • Could we place the city staff at parks to thank residents?
   • Can city provide bags and pick up?
   • Can city put up signs in each of 5 couple weeks in advance?
   • Adopt-a-park for organizations?
4. GreenStep City Step 4 (Kristen has electronic copy)
   • Is there any way the residents can help city apply?
   • Perhaps CFS members could focus in on specific areas
   • Any relationship to resilience section of the comp plan
5. Since Parks commission does sustainability, add “Sustainability” in the name?
6. Sustainability Coordinator
   • Can we get a full-time SAV sustainability coordinator shared with Falcon Heights?
   • Can we help right write the application/choose projects for a green corps member?
7. Street ice melt composition?
   • Brine/Salt/etc.
8. Organics collection
   • The city hauler collection agreement required haulers to be ready to implement organics collection 1/1/2016, what came of that?
   • In Elk River it cost $250/month for a large organics dumpster
   • Now that organized collection is settling in, add organics pickup?
   • Can we just put organics bins in parks/city parking lots?
9. Regulations on water efficiency
   • Is there any policy for city water use?
   • Add odd/even restrictions officially?
   • Can we help educate residents?
10. Lowry Grove
    • Awesome that kids are able to finish school year!
    • Are there meetings for public input?
    • Sidewalk requirements? Any coordination with public transit?

Topics for a future meeting:

1. Tree diversity
   • What trees are suggested to residents for streets project? Any food trees?
   • Tree sale/discount to residents?
   • Can we connect with Roseville arboretum
2. Transition plantings at city hall and in parks (changing)
   • Does the city have any plans, how can we help (pollinator benefits, not spraying)
   • Apply for a watershed grant for Trillium park/Silver Point Park?
3. Light pollution
   • Is there any policy? Can we help educate?
4. Energy efficiency
   • Are there city buildings codes regarding efficiency? Can we suggest improvements?
   • Can we promote Excel energy audit
   • Campaign to recognize both a business and resident in efforts to conserve energy
5. Sustainability Fair
   • Can we/city plan it? Tie in to Earth Week.
   • Instead of a student poster session with talks, focus on brief talks/panels with vendors. It’d be great to hear Mark and Jerry about city sustainability?
   • Have it in the Spring instead?
   • Maybe have it at city hall? Outdoors?
6. As an alternate plan to U of M-planned Sustainability Fair Elk River paired up with University of St. Thomas
   • The city of elk river and also the Mississippi WMO have partnered with the program which pairs city sustainability project needs with university classes. They are looking at add more partners for the fall semester and I would be happy to coordinate a meeting with the director, Maria Thomas. You can see the projects completed and get her contact information at https://www.stthomas.edu/osi/sustainablecommunitiespartnership/

Earth Day/Week cleanup

• Communicate in March and ask if anyone has relationships with: Scouts, Ecology Club, Key club, NHS, Kiwanis

Can we work with another college/university for a Sustainability Fair?

• What other students/classes can we work with?
• Thoughts on kitchen composting using enzymes/bacteria

Brain storm with Kristin S areas to focus in 2017 to build on her work, and areas she thinks have greater likelihood of success getting city support

• Will work with MWMO grant on water related project which includes part of SAV
  • Events: Sweep up clippings off the street into the grass
  • Adopt a storm drain
  • Maybe a grant to reduce runoff going straight from lawns to street

Brief updates:

• Nativity seed exchange/pollinator event
• Nativity outdoor learning environment
• Parks Commission update on Pollinator Pathway success?
  • Kristen already presented an update

Upcoming Events

• Next CFS Meeting: 2/11
  • Cover legislative updates
  • Kristen will provide update on grants
• Transition Town Meeting: 7/27-31
• The Energy Fair
  • Custer, WI: 6/16-18
  • St. Paul, MN: 9/9-10

Survey of Tuesday vs Saturday

• Brianne is in on Tuesday, so Tuesday mornings would be a good time

Organics Collection

• U pays $64/ton for waste, $15/ton for organics
• Minneapolis is opt-in organics
• Hennepin/Ramsey drop off sites do collect organics (except Arden hills)
• Elk river (and others) participate in a blue bag program where residents are sent blue compostable bags and put in regular garbage bin
• Is SAV requiring haulers take waste to waste-to-energy
• Do SAV haulers offer organics anywhere else?
• Could we ask haulers to put organics bins in parks and other large parking lots like Minneapolis?
• Columbia heights has community collection locations
• We usually meet with Jay in January, this can be included

Communications

• Better leverage quarterly Village Notes

3 meeting series at Nativity

• Latest was on trees
  • maple are no longer suggested
    • diversity is more important
  • perhaps we could suggest what trees are offered to residents after street replacements
    • tree city should have done an assessment
  • what does the city plant on its own land?
  • work with landscaping companies to influence
  • gather list of trees more resilient to climate change

Dark sky compliance

• suggest compliance in comp plan
  • members could do an informal assay

Working with the city

• City could sponsor xcel/centerpoint energy audits
• What ordinances can the city write toward business energy?
  • there is a state energy code for remodeling and new construction
  • what about when a building’s use changes?
  • aging natural gas line replacement taxes?
• how do we incentivize energy efficiency?
  • is there funding for a city award

Water quality

• water/fertilizer/pesticide use
• salt use
• could we work with watershed?
• do the master water steward program (fresh water society, water districts)
  • participants are required to volunteer/educate
  • we could ask for volunteer participation
• grass alternatives
  • cut high, leave clippings, spread compost not commercial fertilizers, normalize native plantings/grasses
  • make city property an example
    • more broad plantings, not just feature gardens
    • attach to storm water efforts
      • golf courses, cemeteries, schools, business complexes
  • awards?
    • we have pollinator and rain garden awards, can we setup an award for responsible landscaping

Lowry Grove

• city has a lot of leverage when a large space is redeveloped
  • make an example
  • too high?
  • additional traffic
  • additional students in a crowded district
  • alert each other when Lowry Grove meetings occur
  • environmental review?
    • citizens can petition for an environmental review, if it hasn’t happened
  • with higher density, we need to be sure it has green space
• letter writing campaign (create form letter)
  • environmental review
  • density
  • affordability (how does developer care for existing residents)
  • write to city council
  • invite Brianne to meeting with Jay

Sustainability plans to review

• Falcon Heights
• Maplewood

Next GreenCorps member

• Nothing known yet

GreenSteps city

• request SAV data from step 4

SAMS

• Ecology club weekly meetings, 2:15/2:30 on Tuesdays
  • opportunity for citizens to come in

Kudos to NE Middle School’s rain garden

• MWMO funded
• 5 contractors involved

January 28th meeting

• should be potluck