HomeMy WebLinkAboutEC Minutes 4-11-16
Falcon Heights Environment Commission
April 11th, 2016
6:30 p.m.
Meeting Minutes
Present: Chair Miazga, Vice Chair Montgomery, Secretary Olson, Staff Liaison
Moretto, Council Liaison Mayor Lindstrom, Commissioners Wassenberg and Hall.
1) Approval of Minutes
Minutes of the March 14th, 2016 meeting of the Environmental Commission were
approved.
2) News and Announcements
Parks Liaison, Tim Sandvick, wants to make the Falcon Heights Ice Cream Social a
low waste event. A handout on low waste event planning was provided to the
Commission. There were questions raised on how to define or quantify a low waste
event. Commission discussed first focusing on refuse reduction. Liaison Moretto
recommended that the Ice Cream Social organizers provide a list of items used
during the event to evaluate what could be composted or recycled. This item will be
discussed again at future meetings.
3) MPCA Event Sponsorship
Falcon Heights was awarded a $3,000 grant from the MPCA to host an event for resiliency
education and outreach. This event will be co-hosted with the Great Plains Institute by June
2016.
4) EA Grant Update – Letter of Support
Liaison Moretto requested a recommendation from the Commission to the City Council for a
letter of support from the Commission to be sent to the MPCA stating it’s commitment to
sustainability planning. This commitment letter will be used in the application for a $15,000
grant from MPCA that would go sustainability planning and outreach. See Paul’s recent
email.
Motion was passed to allow the Chair to craft a letter to be sent to the City Council.
5) Smart Climate Grant- Updates
Application has been submitted and accepted. Evaluation will be made shorty.
6) Sustainable City Award
The Chair has prepared a portion of the award application to be reviewed by the
subcommittee, which was created at the last commission meeting.
7) Solar Garden meeting with CERT – Update
The meeting with Cert was held on April 5th at City Hall. It is estimated that over 40
residents attended. The Commission discussed the event and information provided.
Motion was passed to recommend that the event’s success and meeting details
should be included in the City’s electronic newsletter with links to more
information.
The Commission would like to find ways to get resident feedback and encourage
those who attended to share the meeting information with their neighbors.
8) Public Comments
Vice Chair Montgomery asked Liaison Moretto if there had been any follow up to
the January meeting presentation on urban forest resiliency planning. Moretto said
that there has not been available staff time for follow up due to all the recent grant
applications. Moretto will follow up and report status at the next Commission
meeting
Secretary Olson asked about the City ordinance regarding bees. Olson had heard
interest expressed by community members.
Secretary Olson suggested the Commission look into Capitol Region Watershed
District grants for the city. A 2016 special grant application was available to cities
and businesses in August 2015 and awarded in October 2016. The same timeline
might be expected this year
Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 7:55 PM
Next Meeting: Monday, May 10th, 2016