HomeMy WebLinkAboutenvironment commission meeting minutes 10-05 (2)City of Falcon Heights
Environment Commission
October 10, 2005
Present: Linda Smith, Susan Harding, Debbie Tretsven, Council Liaison Bob Lamb, Staff Liaison Deb Jones
Absent: Heather Worthington, Frank Meah, Jim Kielsmeier
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM.
Approval of August 2005 meeting minutes, passed.
Deb Jones began by mentioning that no applications have been received for new commissioners. Commissioners are encouraged to actively seek new commissioners, especially student commissioners.
Deb Jones will forward the commissioner application to all commission members. Debbie Tretsven will make initial contact with Roseville Area High School’s E.A.R.T.H. club staff leader
to get the word out to that group of students.
In reference to the memo given by Heather Worthington, commissioners were updated on the recycling contract. Waste Management has agreed to abide by the provisions in the existing contract,
and the new contract starting in 2006.
The recycling schedule will change in 2006. Pick up will occur every other week. Citizens will need to be informed of these changes. The commission agreed that the best way to get
the word out would be to:
include a note in every flyer, starting in October, with more details offered in each flyer to avoid confusion. In December’s flyer, include the new recycling calendar and more specific
info on the 2 sort process, etc.
add information to the city web page
post information on channel 15
announce at the council meetings
Questions:
Is there a possibility of a second flyer, if the budget allows? Deb Jones said she would investigate that possibility.
Are the “Recycling Pick-Up this Friday” yard signs still around? If so, could block captains post these? Susan Harding agreed to call waste management to see if they have collection
day signage.
Future Plans & Projects
The commission would like to have a meeting with Bell Museum planners. City staff will coordinate this meeting. Deb Jones also mentioned that Oct. 18th at 7:00 PM there will be a public
meeting held regarding the Bell Museum.
Commissioners agreed that it would be beneficial to have an environmental blurb in each flyer and newsletter. Flyers and newsletters should also have a statement about recruiting new
environment commissioners.
The mission for 2006 will focus on educating citizens about environmental issues. Commissioners discussed several topics to educate and inform citizens about. One topic commissioners
seemed particularly interested in was storm water run-off. Several ideas were sparked in this discussion. Some of the ideas were:
Fact finding and data to show what happens to run off, such as
the S.E. corner projects efforts to deal with run off (Bob Lamb thought it would be easy to find with Heather’s help)
how run off quickly becomes polluted by lawn chemicals, road chemicals, etc. The “upstream/downstream” pollution cost.
Where our run off ends up - Como Lake, and other watersheds (Deb T. will find all watersheds for the city)
How other cities have dealt with this issue, specifically the Como park neighborhood ( Susan Harding will contact them the get some info)
How rain gardens work (Linda Smith is interested in this topic, as well as Jim. They will communicate on this)
The necessity of green space
It was agreed that commissioners would bring their findings on the issues to the November meeting.
Other issues that were touched on briefly were:
electronics recycling and the lack of public knowledge of where and when to bring items. Deb Jones agreed to check out some local resources that do electronics recycling.
Waste reduction and how to educate people – contact businesses to see how they handle their waste, or reduce waste – Possibly offer a “green business award”?
For next time:
Report on data, facts, and info regarding water run off.
Hash out a calendar and plan what topics we will cover in each flyer or newsletter, month by month.
Possible guest speaker(s) regarding Bell Museum project.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 PM
Submitted by Debbie Tretsven