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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEC Packet 081219 City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission City Hall 2077 Larpenteur Avenue W. Monday, August 12, 2019 6:30 p.m. A G E N D A A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:30 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: Jim Wassenberg ____ Nick Olson ____ Martin McCleery ____ Patrick Mathwig ____ Jordyn Bucholtz ____ VACANT VACANT Council Liaison Miazga ____ Staff Liaison Markon ____ C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: June 10, 2019 D. AGENDA 1. Update on Sustainable Actions Fair – September 7 2. Update on native landscaping 3. Discussion on compost site 4. Discussion on EV charging and zoning i. More information available here. E. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS F. ADJOURN Next Meeting: September 9, 2019 If you have a disability and need accommodation in order to attend this meeting, please notify City Hall 48 hours in advance between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 651-792- 7600. We will be happy to help. BLANK PAGE  City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission June 10, 2019 6:30 p.m. Meeting Minutes A. Call to Order: Chair Jim Wassenberg called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. B. Roll Call: Present: Jim Wassenberg, Nick Olson, Martin McCleery, and Patrick Mathwig Absent: Farook Meah, Ned Mohan, Jordyn Bucholtz, and Council Liaison Miazga Also present: Justin Markon, Staff Liaison C. Approval of Minutes: May 13, 2019 Motion by McCleery, seconded by Mathwig to approve the minutes from May 13, 2019; motion passed. D. Agenda: Special guest Patti Holmes spokes with the Commission about her time on the Cities Charging Ahead! group (CCA), which is interested in electric vehicles (EVs) and the policies around them. She attended the Commission meeting to get feedback before the final CCA meeting. The Commission discussed the proposed redevelopment at 1667 Snelling Ave N, which will include conduit for EV charging stations. 1. Update on Native Landscaping A subcommittee of Olson, Wassenberg, and Mathwig met to discuss native landscaping. They presented a draft ordinance and requested feedback from the Commission. Discussion focused on how other communities currently regulate native plants and how to set standards for the setback and maintenance of native plants, ornamental plants, turf grass, and weeds. Members of the subcommittee will plan to attend the Planning Commission meeting on June 25 to discussion the proposal with the Planning Commission in a workshop. 2. Update on Sustainability Fair and Resilient Cities workshop Patti Holmes, former member of the Environment Commission, discussed plans for the 2018 Sustainable Action Fair. The Commission is planning a similar event for September 7, 2019 at Community Park. Wassenberg has been in contact with members of the Citizens for Sustainability in St. Anthony Village to determine if they would like to collaborate. Holmes noted that in 2018 there six tabling organizations, five speakers, and the EV owners group. Commissioners felt that a similar setup would be appropriate for the 2019 event. Holmes said that the speaking sessions focused on actions that people could implement personally. Commissioners discussed possible topics, including minimalism, reuse and fixit clinics, and single use plastics. Holmes noted that she could help get in touch with the EV owners group and also share information on organizing the 2018 event. Mathwig said that he would also be willing to help recruit speakers. He also said that GreenCorps members would be starting in September, and they may be able to assist as waste monitors during the event. Markon said that the City could provide the advertising for the event. Markon shared that the Alliance for Sustainability is hosting a Resilient Cities Workshop on June 20 in Roseville. Members of Environment Commissions, staff, and elected officials are invited to attend one of two sessions that afternoon. 3. Discussion on VW Phase II Funds Markon shared that the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is holding listening sessions to discuss how the state should use monies from the VW settlement. The state is awarding grants through three phases, with a total of $47 million available. Phase II will begin in 2020. Commissioners expressed interest in a possible electric vehicle charging station on City property. 4. Discussion on compost site in the City Commissioners discussed a proposed compost collection site on City property. Through an agreement with Ramsey County, the County would build and install the site. Markon met with representatives from the County to discuss two possible locations: in the City Hall parking lot near Larpenteur Ave and at Community Park near the Community Garden. Commissioners discussed possible concerns with parking and access at the park, since it can be busy at certain times. Markon will ask the Staff Liaison and Council Liaison to discuss the proposal with the Parks and Recreation Commission during an upcoming meeting. E. News and Announcements: None. F. Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION MEMO Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Item Update on Sustainable Actions Fair – September 7 Description The Sustainable Actions Fair is set for just a few weeks. The event will take place at Community Park (2050 Roselawn Ave). A subcommittee of Patrick Mathwig, Jim Wassenberg, and Jordyn Bucholtz have met a few times to discuss planning for the event. They have been joined by former commissioner Patti Holmes and Kristin Mroz from the Citizens for Sustainability group in St. Anthony. At the meeting, the subcommittee will discuss their progress on tabling organizations, guest speakers, and other pieces of the event. The flyer for the event is also attached. Meeting Date August 12, 2019 Agenda Item D1 Submitted By Justin Markon, Community Development Coordinator S U S T A I N A B L E A C T I O N S F A I R Saturday, September 7 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Falcon Heights Community Park 2050 Roselawn Avenue Resiliency for your home, yard, and purchases  Featuring guest speakers and tabling organizations co-Sponsored by the Falcon Heights Environment Commission & Citizens for sustainability if you have any questions, please contact falcon heights city hall 651-792-7600 ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION MEMO Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Item Discussion on compost site Description Ramsey County is partnering with cities in the county to install organics recycling/compost collection sites. We discussed a possible site at the June 2019 meeting. At the Ice Cream Social in July, staff from Ramsey County discussed the possible site with some commissioners. The county will pay for the vast majority of installation and signage costs for the facility. As part of our yearly SCORE grant for recycling, the city can use $1,200 for other expenses not covered by the county. A draft of the memorandum of agreement with the county is included. Staff visited three active organics recycling sites to observe conditions in the heat of summer. Some pictures from those visits are included. Staff recommend having a discussion and endorsing a location for a compost facility. Meeting Date August 12, 2019 Agenda Item D3 Submitted By Justin Markon, Community Development Coordinator Organics Collection MOA Revised 2/2019 MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT FOR ONGOING ORGANICS COLLECTION ENCLOSURES This Agreement is made between Ramsey County, a political subdivision of the State of Minnesota, through its Public Health, Environmental Health Division (“County”) and the City of Falcon Heights (“City”), a municipal corporation under the laws of the State of Minnesota. WHEREAS, the County shall construct a Source Separated Organics (SSO) collection site that will serve as a public drop off location for residential SSO and be available free of charge to all Ramsey County residents that will operate in accordance with State and local laws, rules and ordinances; WHEREAS, the County and the City will have ongoing responsibilities related to the maintenance and performance of the SSO program; THEREFORE, the parties enter into this Agreement for the purpose of setting forth the role of each party in relation to providing the SSO program site, monitoring performance, promoting the program, and performing ongoing maintenance. I. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES Each party will participate, as designated, to provide the following: 1. Siting and Design: a. The City will work with the County to identify a SSO collection site location. b. The City and County will agree on a final location prior to construction. Considerations for siting will include, but not be limited to: 1) Compatibility with local zoning and permitting. 2) Accessibility to residents and the SSO hauler. 3) Security a) Visibility b) Lighting 4) Surfacing (hard surface required). 5) Available nearby parking. 6) Compatibility with existing city services/operations. c. The County and City will agree on a final design prior to construction. d. The County will be responsible for development of final design plans. 2. Construction and Maintenance: a. The County will procure and oversee construction of the collection site. b. The County will make direct payment to site construction contractor(s) following build completion. c. The County will be responsible for ongoing maintenance costs of the collection site. 3. Signs: a. The County and the City will agree on a final design for collection site signs including directional signs. Organics Collection MOA Revised 2/2019 b. The County will develop and pay for collection site signage including directional signs. c. The County will install collection site signage and directional signs. 4. Compostable Bags: a. The County will purchase and provide the City with compostable bags that meet ASTM D6400 standards and are certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI). b. The City will provide at least one distribution site for compostable bags. Compostable bags will be available free of charge to Ramsey County residents. 5. Promotion: a. The County will actively promote the SSO collection site to Ramsey County residents utilizing current County recycling messages and resources. b. The City will promote the SSO collection site locally. 6. SSO Hauling: a. The County will procure and pay for SSO hauling from the collection site. b. The City will monitor site capacity and hauling and inform The County of any issues such as missed service on the collection container(s) or need for added capacity or an increase in the hauling service interval. c. The County will coordinate SSO hauling services and directly address any issues with the SSO hauling vendor. 7. Designated Employees: a. The County and the City will assign one or more persons to serve as direct contact(s) for the SSO collection site. These individuals will coordinate efforts in the siting, development, and ongoing maintenance of the SSO collection site. These employees shall assure the site operates effectively and operates in conformance with all applicable laws, rules and ordinances. 8. Snow Removal: a. The City will be responsible for snow removal, sanding/salting and other means necessary to maintain access to the SSO collection site by residents and the SSO hauling vendor. 9. Administration: a. The County will keep ongoing record of: 1) SSO hauling costs. 2) Weight or volume of SSO collected as reported by vendor on biannual waste audits. Organics Collection MOA Revised 2/2019 II. LIABILITY Each party agrees that it will be responsible for its own acts and the results thereof to the extent authorized by law and shall not be responsible for the acts of the other party and the results thereof. a. TERM OF AGREEMENT This Agreement is in effect when fully executed by both parties, and shall remain in effect until terminated by either party. This Agreement may be terminated immediately by either party in the event of any violations of the material terms or conditions of this Agreement by the other party, with a follow-up letter confirming termination delivered to the other party within seven (7) days. Either party may terminate this Agreement without cause upon giving at least thirty (30) calendar days written notice thereof to the other party. b. RECOVERY OF MATERIALS Upon termination of this Agreement the County reserves the right, but is not obligated, to retain materials and signage used in the construction of the SSO enclosure. In such an event the County will be responsible for deconstruction and hauling of materials off site. c. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATION The County and the City each agree to bear their own costs associated with this Agreement and that no payment is required by either the County or the City to the other party. d. CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE AGREEMENT Any changes or additions to this Agreement must be in writing and signed by authorized representatives of each party. e. MINNESOTA GOVERNMENT DATA PRACTICES ACT The parties understand that all data collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated for any purpose in connection with this Agreement is subject to the provisions of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. Ch. 13, any other applicable state statutes, and state rules adopted to implement the Act and statutes, as well as federal statutes and regulations on data privacy. In signing this Memorandum of Agreement, we agree to work together to fulfill the purposes identified in this Agreement. CITY COUNTY Signed: ____________________________ Signed: ___________________________ Name: _____________________________ Title: ______________________________ Date: ______________________________ ______________________________ Name: ___________________________ Title: ____________________________ Date: ____________________________ Como Park site Mac-Groveland site St. Anthony site ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION MEMO Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Item Discussion on EV charging and zoning Description Patrick Mathwig requested that the commission have a discussion on electric vehicles and zoning. He also passed along a document from the Great Plains Institute, a think tank that works on energy and environment issues. Additionally, staff were reached out to by a Great Plains staff member who is looking to highlight the work of the commission around the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, specifically around electric vehicles. Their questions for discussion are included here along with EV specific language in the plan. Meeting Date August 12, 2019 Agenda Item D3 Submitted By Justin Markon, Community Development Coordinator Email from Joe Cella, Great Plains Institute Cities right now are exploring different ways to guide EV readiness, and I see Falcon Heights as a firm example of using public documents to carve a path forward. I’m curious to know a little bit more about what the process was like for deciding on the language included in the comp plan, and what other cities who are just getting started can learn from Falcon Heights. First question: Can you give me background on the language? Why did Falcon Heights consider EV goals in the comp plan? What was the process like for getting the goals included? Has anything come of them since the comp plan was published? Why Falcon Heights? There are a lot of cities in Minnesota, what happened in Falcon Heights that lead to the city taking action? Next up, what lessons have you learned? The audience of my piece will be other cities, here is a chance to share with them. Do you have any advice for other cities? What did you learn along the way that you/the city wishes you would have known when you started your EV work? Finally, could you please discuss the challenges and the future of the comp plan language? Where were the snags, what did you do to address them? They could be anything from a reluctant city council to odd findings in the zoning codes. What’s next for Falcon Heights? FH Comp Plan 2040 Draft – June 13, 2018 Page 7 of 149 as ongoing effects of the changing climate on the local tourist economy). The urban heat island effect may worsen chronic stresses. These stresses often affect marginalized and low-income individuals the hardest. The City will keep environmental justice a part of its goal making and policy development processes. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. The City has this goal for all communities and persons across this community. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys:  the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and  equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work. Falcon Heights faces a number of resiliency challenges, those challenges and opportunities can be found in the resilience analysis, Appendix F. The City will strive to make the community more resilient, save energy and reduce its carbon emissions and become more sustainable. The City’s Energy Goals are as follows: 1. Reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 2. Secure 50% of the community’s electric energy from renewable energy sources by 2030, including 10% of its electricity from local renewable energy resources 3. Continue to secure nearly 100% of municipal facility electricity from renewable energy sources 4. Make the community “EV-ready” with electric vehicle charging stations in every public and private parking lot or ramp by 2030 5. Substantially increase participation of low- and moderate-incoming housing in energy efficiency programs so that 80% of these building have completed deep energy efficiency retrofits by 2030. 6. Assess critical public facilities for potential for “renewable energy plus storage” options installations to improve the resiliency of these facilities. The City’s Energy Policies are as follows: 1. Promote utility, government, and nonprofit programs that encourage energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy. 2. Encourage net-zero energy development. 3. Engage the community in energy goal setting exercises. 4. Offer regulatory incentives within zoning. 5. Offer technical assistance for private sector developments to incorporate net-zero and/or solar-ready designs. 6. Require energy efficiency and renewable energy within PUD ordinance. 7. Adopt an energy benchmarking ordinance in cooperation with local energy utility providers. 8. Regularly re-evaluate zoning and permitting procedures to remove barriers to renewable energy. 9. Adopt a voluntary net-zero energy code. City of Falcon Heights – 2040 Comprehensive Plan FH Comp Plan 2040 Draft – June 13, 2018 Page 33 of 149 Housing: Goals and Policies Housing Goals 1. Support the reconstruction of dilapidated properties in an environmentally just way through equal opportunity to affordable housing repairs and energy efficiency practices. 2. Encourage sustainable and resiliency practices that reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions and promote alternative energy sources in existing and new housing. 3. Keep housing affordable, maintenance affordable, and accessible to all income levels 4. Promote the following practices: a. Residential access to electric vehicle infrastructure b. Expanded urban tree canopy c. Preserve pervious and indirectly connect impervious surfaces, minimize directly connected impervious surface d. Maintain stormwater infrastructure e. Add compost hauling for residents f. Reduce irrigation and water usage for turf grass Housing Policies 1. Create incentives and programming to increase tree plantings on private lots and in public right of way. 2. Develop an ordinance to allow alternative turf grass/ground covers. 3. Develop a resiliency checklist to ensure that all projects consider energy efficiency, sustainability and resiliency elements before they start. Find a way to promote the checklist so homeowners are aware of it at the beginning of any project. 4. Create a policy to include informational resources on efficiency, resiliency and sustainability with any permit pulled. 5. Consider requiring new construction of multi-family and residential housing units to include Electric Vehicle readiness. 6. Develop a policy to define dilapidated and vacant properties and a ordinances to promote redevelopment of these properties and a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. 7. Develop an ordinance to allow pollinator habitats and rain gardens within the City boulevard.