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HomeMy WebLinkAboutECPacket060820City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission City Hall 2077 Larpenteur Avenue W. Monday, June 8, 2020 6:30 p.m. A G E N D A Note: This meeting will be held via web conference. A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:30 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: Jim Wassenberg ____ Nick Olson ____ Martin McCleery ____ Patrick Mathwig ____ Jordyn Bucholtz ____ Esha Seth ____ Pedro De Filippo Vannucci ____ Council Liaison Andrews ____ Staff Liaison Markon ____ C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: March 9, 2020 and May 11, 2020 D. AGENDA 1. Discuss Sustainable Speaker Series 2. Discuss garden ordinance process E. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS F. ADJOURN Next Meeting: July 13, 2020 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. City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission City Hall 2077 Larpenteur Avenue W. Monday, March 9, 2020 6:30 p.m. MINUTES A. CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chair Olson called the meeting to order at 6:42 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: Members present: Olson, Mathwig, Seth, and De Filippo Vanncci Also present: Council Liaison Andrews, Staff Liaison Markon Members absent: Wassenberg, McCleery, and Bucholtz Those present introduced themselves for the new Commission member. C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: January 13, 2020 Mathwig moved, seconded by Seth to approve minutes for January 13, 2020; motion carried. The February 10, 2020 meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum. D. AGENDA 1. Bee keeping ordinance i. Commission members discussed a possible bee keeping ordinance and information provided by Commissioner McCleery. It was determined that the best path forward would be to request information and model ordinances from other cities and the University of Minnesota Bee Lab, with a possible presentation at a future meeting. E. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Home Energy Squad update i. Markon shared that he met with representatives from Center for Energy and Environment in mid-February to discuss the partnership on HES. ii. Flyers promoting the program have been posted on social media, in the weekly newsletter, and at City Hall. 2. Potential Minnesota GreenCorps member partnership i. Members felt that the 2020 work plan had many activities already on it. 3. Upcoming events/meetings i. March 21 – Breakfast with the Council ii. April 4 – 2020 EC conference – Hennepin Ave UMC iii. April 22 – Earth Day – https://www.earthday.com/earth-day- 2020/ iv. June 6 – Spring Together F. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission Monday, May 11, 2020 6:30 pm Meeting Minutes 1. Call to Order: Chair Jim Wassenberg called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. 2. Roll Call: Present: Jim Wassenberg, Jordyn Bucholtz, Martin McCleery, Esha Seth, Patrick Mathwig, Nick Olson Also Present: Justin Markon, Staff Liaison and Kay Andrews, City Council Liaison Absent: Pedro De Filippo Vannucci 3. Approval of Minutes: March 9, 2020 Agenda item 1 requires a change to update the bee keeping topic. Upon completion of revisions, the Commission will approve the minutes at the next meeting. 4. Agenda: a. Sustainable Actions Fair update i. In lieu of the previously planned Sustainable Actions Fair in Fall, September 12, 2020, the Commission discussed the possibility of hosting a virtual sustainability series. The Commission decided that the series would begin with a lecturer on the topic of native landscaping from either Metro Blooms, Lawns to Legumes, or Capital Region Watershed District in light of the recent native landscaping ordinance that passed. Staff Liaison Justin Markon will be contacting a representative from the City of Shoreview to discuss their partnership with Metro Blooms. The Commission decided that the pilot session will take place at 3:00pm on a Thursday at the end of June. The intention of the pilot session will be to gauge the level of participation and interest and learn what future topics the audience would like to hear. If the pilot is successful, the Commission will plan to host virtual lectures spread out for a couple weeks at the end of June and middle of July. b. Review 2020 work plan i. The Commission reviewed current progress on the 2020 work plan and concluded that the January events are complete, and discussed the success of the composting program. Completion of February events were reviewed. The February environment corner (EC) on the topic of ice melting was not completed, but the Home Energy Squad was completed. The March EC on workplace recycling was not completed, and it was discussed that this topic could shift to the environmental benefits of working from home, environmental benefits of telework, and marginalized communities affected by pandemic and, similarly, climate change. The April Environment Commission Conference was held online and attended by Commissioner Mathwig. The April EC on native landscaping is in works and will be published in May or June. For May, Commissioner McCleery will write an EC on the topic of rainfall and stormwater. For June, Commissioner Seth will write an EC piece on bicycling. The June 6 cleanup will be canceled. The Commission decided that instead of the sustainability fair, a sustainability speaker series will take place in June. The scheduled EC corner pieces are still going as planned. 5. News and Announcements: a. Staff Liaison Justin Markon gave updates on the quarterly reports from CEE. He stated that during the first quarter 5 people participated and received a $50 discount, leaving $2,250 from the $2,500 budget. b. Commissier McCleery gave updates on an estimated price to conduct aerial thermal photography for Falcon Heights and surrounding cities. The price is estimated to be $35,000. 6. Adjourn: a. Meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION MEMO Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Item Sustainable Speaker Series Description During the May 2020 meeting, the Commission voiced support for a continued effort to bring educational presentations to community members with topics that are similar to those planned for our Sustainable Actions Fair, which was to be held this fall. One of the initial ideas was for a presentation on native landscaping, given the recent approval of the native landscaping ordinance in February 2020. The idea was that this presentation would be held via Zoom or another online platform. Depending on the amount of participation and further interest, more presentations could be scheduled. Staff reached out to Shoreview, who is a partner with Metro Blooms. Shoreview had positive comments on the partnership. They are hosting a virtual Lawns to Legumes workshop on Thursday, June 11 from 6:00 to 8:00. As of Friday, June 5, over 50 people had signed up for the virtual workshop. Staff have reached out to Metro Blooms to inquire about a possible virtual workshop “in” Falcon Heights. Meeting Date June 8, 2020 Agenda Item Agenda D1 Submitted By Justin Markon, Community Development Coordinator ENVIRONMENT COMMISSION MEMO Families, Fields and Fair __________________________ The City That Soars! Item Garden Ordinance Description The City Council passed an Interim Ordinance that prohibited the cultivation of front yard vegetable gardens. They have tasked the Environment and Planning Commissions to work hand-in-hand on creating an Ordinance that will establish formal rules and regulations for gardens. Staff anticipate that this process will follow a similar path as the native landscaping ordinance that was approved by the City Council in February. They have asked that a subcommittee be formed with members from both Commissions to work on drafting the Ordinance. While the Interim Ordinance allows for up to one year of study, we anticipate that the process for this topic will take a few months. Meeting Date June 8, 2020 Agenda Item Agenda D2 Submitted By Justin Markon, Community Development Coordinator