HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes 12-9-13City of Falcon Heights
Environment Commission
Meeting Minutes
December 9, 2013
Present: Commissioners Isaac Mielke, Brian Goodspeed, Patti Holmes, Peggy Hall, Nathan
Thorvilson, Council Member Beth Mercer-Taylor (by phone), Deb Jones (Staff).
Absent: Rebecca Montgomery, Jeff Connell, Ethan Wagner, Nina Semmelroth
1. The meeting was called to order at 6:45 by Commissioner Mielke. A quorum was
present. September minutes were approved.
2. CERT SEED Grant Application Update. Deb Jones reported that the Commission’s
grant application was not chosen for funding. It was a very competitive year. However,
Metro CERT encourages the Commission to move forward with the idea. CERT may be
able to provide other kinds of support, especially expertise, networking and training
help.
3. Sustainability Fair Report. Those who went to the November 14 Sustainability Fair at
Silverwood reported on their experience and impressions. The variety and quality of
student projects received favorable comments from all. Both Patti and Deb noted that
St. Anthony has already set up a community sustainability group, Citizens for
Sustainability, similar to what the Commission was envisioning for the CERT grant.
Patti has made contact with the group, joined their mailing list and plans to visit their
meeting in January. Peggy asked how this year compared to last year’s forums. Beth
said the down side was that there was less teamwork among students. They would
welcome feedback from the Commission.
4. Directions for 2014. Staff asked Commissioners for ideas on where the Commission
should focus in 2014. The following list was compiled:
a. Food waste and organics
b. Sustainability Plan for Falcon Heights
c. Earth Day event for 2015 (may be too late for April, 2014)
d. Solar
e. Sustainability Group (i.e. go ahead with CERT grant idea without grant)
f. Measuring sustainability effectiveness – how we tell how well we are doing
The next step in January will be to prioritize the list and map out a plan. Commissioners
agreed to wait until that is done before reaching out to outside resources such as CERT,
the 3Actions people, and St. Anthony’s CFS.
5. Announcements – None noted.
6. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:45 p.m.