HomeMy WebLinkAboutEnvironmental Commission Meeting Minutes_May2016
Falcon Heights Environment Commission
March 14th, 2016
6:30 p.m.
Meeting Minutes
Present: Chair Miazga, Secretary Olson, Staff Liaison Moretto, Council Liaison
Mayor Lindstrom, Commissioners Hall and Holmes.
1) Approval of Minutes
Minutes of the May 9th, 2016 meeting of the Environmental Commission were
approved.
2) News and Announcements
Commissioner Hartman will be resigning from the Commission. The Commission
discussed adding a youth position.
Ramsey County is offering discount compost bins and rain barrels. This will be
advertised on the list serve.
3) Water Conservation- Mark Miazga
Chair Miazga found a potential grant that the Met Council offers to help with water
efficiency. Commission will prepare ideas for the future when the grant application
becomes available.
4) Regional Indicators Initiative- Mayor Lindstrom
Mayor Lindstrom gave a brief summary of the Regional Indicators Initiative. The
City collected data for a number of metrics (e.g. water usage, energy consumption,
etc) from 2008 to 2014. This data has been used in Council decision-making. The
Mayor will present more to the Commission in the future.
5) Grants- Updates
MPCA Sponsorship Grant- $3000 was granted to the City to host an
information meeting on resiliency and other topics. Meeting will be held in
June.
The City did not receive the grant to work with a partner city in Germany.
However, the City was granted “Affiliate Status,” which will allow Falcon
Heights to benefit from the information exchanges that will occur.
The City received money from the Good Neighbor Fund. This money has
been put towards bike fix-it stations and racks.
6) Low Waste Events
Tim Sandvig and Liaison Moretto have drafted a letter to the City Council on the
intentions to provide a low waste event at the Ice Cream Social. The Commission
discussed a number of ideas on how to balance financial and low waste priorities.
7) Low Cost Trees
The Commission discussed pursuing a subsidized tree purchase event next fall or
spring. It was suggested that money from a potential Good Neighbor Fund again
could be used towards subsidies. The City would need to procure a Nursery Stock
Certificate to distribute the trees.
8) Forestry and Climate Change
The Commission discussed the ongoing exchange between Leslie Brandt and City
Staff on a potential workshop to complete an urban forestry assessment worksheet.
The Commission would like to involve other nearby cities, but priority should be to
get this done sooner than later.
9) Public Comments
No public comments.
Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 7:48 PM
Next Meeting: Monday, June 13th, 2016