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Home My WebLink AboutEC Packet 1.13.2025City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission City Hall 2077 Larpenteur Avenue West AGENDA Monday, January 13, 2025 6:30 p.m. A.CALL TO ORDER: 6:30 p.m. B. ROLL CALL:Beth Mercer-Taylor (Chair) ____ Jared Mehlhaff ____ John Pellegrini (Vice-Chair) ____ Amy Christiansen ____ Adam Keester ____ Sophie Nagel ____ Pedro De Filippo Vannucci ____ Staff Liaison Lynch ____ Council Liaison Mielke ____ GreenCorps Member Siebert ____ C.APPROVAL OF AGENDA D.APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1.December 9, 2024 E. NEW BUSINESS 1. 2025 Officer Nominations 2. 2025 Schedule & Priorities 3. F.INFORMATION AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Staff Liaison Report 2.Council Liaison Report G.ADJOURN Next regular meeting date: February 10, 2025 City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission City Hall 2077 Larpenteur Avenue West Minutes Monday, December 9, 2024 6:30 p.m. A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:30 p.m. B. ROLL CALL: Beth Mercer-Taylor (Chair) _A_ Jared Mehlhaff _X_ John Pellegrini (Vice-Chair) _X_ Sophie Nagel _X_ Adam Keester _X_ Amy Christiansen _A_ Pedro De Filippo Vannucci _A_ Staff Liaison Lynch _X_ Council Liaison Mielke _X_ GreenCorps Member Siebert _X_ C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Vice-Chair Pellegrini made a motion to approve the agenda. All were in favor. Agenda was approved by consent. D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. October 14, 2024 Vice-Chair Pellegrini made a motion to approve minutes from the October 14, 2024 meeting. All were in favor. Minutes were approved by consent. E. NEW BUSINESS 1. Tree Trust Information – Karen Zumach Karen Zumach from the Tree Trust presented information on the organization and tree sales with communities. The Tree Trust was founded in 1976 when Dutch Elm Disease was rampant. It was an organization which aimed to remove diseased or otherwise damaged trees and replace them. They work with youth, young adults, and other residents, and focus on employment training, for-profit landscaping services, community forestry, and volunteer organization for tree plantings. She spoke about tree sales and explained that the Tree Trust organizes the sale, including a website, acquiring the tree stock, confirming orders, answering questions, and organizing pick-ups. They can also look at the City’s tree canopy for gaps to allow the City to potentially reach out to residents in those areas about purchasing trees. She stated the cost of the tree is generally between $30 and $70 for the resident, with the City covering $100 to $110. This includes the tree and mulch. Environment commissioners discussed a potential tree sale and decided $50’/tree would be a good price point for residents. Staff Liaison Lynch stated she would follow up with the City Administrator about organizing this with Tree Trust. 2. Undergraduate Leadership Program Students – Project Presentation Megan Cunningham, Madison Cocker, Janelle Barlan, and Ethan Cederberg, students from the University of Minnesota, presented a project around the University of Minnesota’s golf course and potential future development of the site. Their goals for development include sustainability, affordability, and recreation. They spoke about Just Housing, a Duluth company that produces replicable and scalable homes that do not use any fossil fuels, as the type of home imagined for the site. Additionally, they discussed researching if the site would be suitable for geothermal energy and/or active solar and including recreational green space throughout the site. They hope to engage with residents and create a formal presentation including GIS maps and zoning information for their school project. Staff Liaison Lynch thanked them for coming and informed them of the recently completed Snelling and Larpenteur Corridor Development Study. She encouraged them to look at the community input in that. She also advised them to be sure, if they reach out to residents, to be clear this is for a school project as the University of Minnesota has directly informed the City that there are no future plans for selling or developing the golf course. 3. Plastic Bag Recycling GreenCorps Member Olivia Siebert spoke about the feedback from residents in the Climate Action Plan survey about the desire for plastic bag recycling at City Hall. She has researched the ability to recycle these plastic bags outside of grocery stores and found a company called Merric, Inc. out of Vadnais Heights. They accept many hard-to-recycle products and charge $10 for a load of recyclables to be dropped off. Commissioners discussed and had questions about the reliability and suitability of the company, and expressed desire to make sure they are recycling the plastics. They also discussed the soon-to-open recycling center in Roseville and what will be able to be recycled there. Commissioners discussed placement of the recycling bin(s) for the bags and decided outdoors would be best, in an accessible location for all residents. It was determined near the food scraps area would be the best option. 4. Sustainability Fair GreenCorps Member Olivia Siebert discussed the possibility of holding a sustainability fair near Earth Day in 2025. It would be indoors and consist of tables with information from organizations on a variety of sustainability topics, as well as possibly including a few speakers. She asked commissioners for ideas of organizations to reach out to. Commissioners suggested topics such as reuse/repair, native plantings and gardening, and organizations such as: Friends of the Mississippi River, Reuse MN, Ramsey County Fix-It Clinics, tool library, the Horticulture Society, MetroTransit, local thrift stores, solar installers, bike shops, and others. F. Information and Announcements 1. Staff Liaison Report Staff Liaison Lynch advised commissioners that December 10 is Human Rights Day and Just Deeds combined with the CEC is holding an event at City Hall to discharge racial covenants from deeds. She also gave a brief update on the status of the development of the climate action planning team. 2. Council Liaison Report Council Liaison Mielke advised commissioners that she heard from Christine Chitambar about the goldfish rehoming she and her son, Theo, have been working on. She stated the goldfish that were rehomed from the Community Park pond were not doing well, and another solution may need to be considered. G. Adjourn Meeting was adjourned at 8:27 p.m. Next regular meeting date: January 13, 2025 ITEM FOR DISCUSSION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item 2025 Environment Commission Officer Nominations Description City of Falcon Heights, City Code – Section 2-115 (e) (e.) Chairperson; officers. Each commission shall elect a chairperson from among its appointed members for a term of one year. The commissions may create and fill such other offices as determined necessary. Generally we will also appoint a vice-chair and secretary, should the Commission wish to do so. Budget Impact None Attachment(s) None Action(s) Requested Staff recommends nominating and electing officers for 2025. Meeting Date January 13, 2025 Agenda Item E-1 Attachment N/A Submitted By Hannah Lynch, Community Development Coordinator / Planner ITEM FOR DISCUSSION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item 2025 Environment Commission Schedule & Priorities Description Attached is an updated schedule for 2025 Environment Commission meetings. As part of this, we generally discuss priorities for projects for the year. A few suggestions for priorities include planning and assisting with the Sustainability Fair, working to further the implementation of the Energy Action Plan, and working on the Climate Action Plan. Budget Impact None. Attachment(s) 2025 Environment Commission Schedule Action(s) Requested Staff recommends reviewing schedule for 2025 meetings and discussing priorities for the year. Meeting Date January 13, 2025 Agenda Item E-2 Attachment See notes below. Submitted By Hannah Lynch, Community Development Coordinator / Planner City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission 2025 Schedule (2nd Monday of each month) January 13 Officer Nominations, Schedule / Priorities, Sustainability Fair Updates February 10 March 10 April 14 May 12 June 9 July 14 August 11 September 8 October 13 November 10 December 8 ITEM FOR DISCUSSION City of Falcon Heights, Minnesota __________________________ Item Sustainability Fair 2025 Description Update on the Sustainability Fair: We will be partnering with Lauderdale for the event and have organized a paper shredding, electronics recycling, and textile collection event concurrently. We are currently assembling organizations to table at the event and speakers to give lightning talks. Budget Impact Budgeted for in SCORE grant funding Attachment(s) None Action(s) Requested Staff requests Environment Commission discuss topics to be covered at various tables and requests volunteers to help direct the outdoor collection event and staff a table for residents as well as hand out compost scrap bins. Meeting Date January 13, 2025 Agenda Item E-3 Attachment None Submitted By Olivia Siebert, GreenCorps Member