HomeMy WebLinkAboutEC Minutes 4.14.2025 - Approved
City of Falcon Heights
Environment Commission
City Hall
2077 Larpenteur Avenue West
Minutes
Monday, April 14, 2025
6:30 p.m.
A. CALL TO ORDER: 6:30 p.m.
B. ROLL CALL: Beth Mercer-Taylor (Chair) _ X __
John Pellegrini (Vice-Chair) _X_ Sophie Nagel __X__
Pedro De Filippo Vannucci _X_ VACANT
Adam Keester _X_ VACANT
Staff Liaison Lynch _X_
Council Liaison Mielke _A_
GreenCorps Member Siebert _X_
C. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Vice-Chair Pellegrini made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion passed by consent.
D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. February 10, 2025
Vice-Chair Pellegrini made a motion to approve the February 10, 2025 minutes. Motion
passed by consent.
E. NEW BUSINESS
1. Climate Action Plan Draft – Ted Redmond
Ted Redmond of paleBLUEdot gave an overview of the drafted Climate Action Plan. The
planning process has taken nine months with over 100 community members involved.
There have been two community events and two online community input surveys. A
total of five foundational research documents were completed and there were 31 planning
team members engaged in the process. The initial survey showed residents are concerned
about climate change and have experienced the effects of climate change personally. Ted
Redmond explained the different goals and actions to meet those goals and the strategy
behind coming up with these goals. Baseline documents were established by paleBLUEdot
and example goals/actions that helped to lead the Climate Action Plan team to make
changes/remove/add goals as needed and as would be appropriate for Falcon Heights. The
next steps for the plan will be for online review of the draft to continue online and there
will be an opportunity for input by residents at the Sustainability Fair on April 26. After
that it will be finalized and go before City Council for review and adoption.
2. Undergraduate Leadership Program Students – Project Presentation
This agenda item was moved from E-1 to E-2.
Undergraduates Ethan Cederberg, Janelle Barlan, and Megan Cunningham presented a
video they created for a leadership program at the University of Minnesota. The video
described different strategies the City could use to incorporate green/eco-friendly housing
throughout the City on currently vacant sites. It also described mitigation efforts that
would need to be made on different sites, such as the dry cleaning site at 1407
Larpenteur. They spoke about eco-districts and highlighted other similar sites throughout
the Twin Cities.
3. Tree Dashboard Update – Olivia Siebert
GreenCorps Member Siebert gave an update on the tree dashboard and boulevard tree
mapping she has been working on. She has created a GIS map with a Survey123 form for
Public Works to input when a new boulevard tree has been planted. It also enables staff to
update trees when they are removed. The hope is that another version of this can be
created for residents to input their own trees in their yards, outside of the boulevards.
4. Sustainability Fair Update
GreenCorps Member Siebert gave an update on the planning for the Sustainability Fair.
The volunteer list will be sent out prior to the event so volunteers can confirm their start
and end times and chosen stations. She discussed the collaboration with the City of
Lauderdale and how the bingo cards will work for residents to receive food scrap bins. She
also discussed the parking and traffic flow for the recycling events.
5. SolarAPP+ Discussion
Staff Liaison Lynch explained the SolarAPP+ program to the Environment Commission.
This is a program that can be incorporated with the City’s existing permitting system to
handle building and zoning permits for solar installations. It is a free program for the
City and there is state funding available for municipalities who incorporate it. The
Environment Commission was interested and advised staff to move forward with talking
with City Council about it.
F. Information and Announcements
1. Staff Liaison Report – GreenCorps Member Siebert gave an overview of a waste audit
that took place at City Hall for staff and the plastic bag recycling initiative that has been
ongoing for around two months. 65 lbs of plastic was recently taken to Merrick for recycling.
Staff Liaison Lynch reminded Commissioners of the R&E Center tour on April 30 at 3:30
PM in Newport for those interested. She also reminded them about the ongoing tree sale and
let them know that Falcon Heights reached steps 4 and 5 of the GreenSteps program again for
2024.
2. Council Liaison Report – None.
G. Adjourn
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Next regular meeting date: May 12, 2025