HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes 11-20-07City of Falcon Heights
Environment Commission
Meeting Minutes
November 20, 2007
Present: Diane Ross, Ron Kroese, Sam Bontrager, Jim Kielsmeier, Peter Lindstrom, Justin Miller
Absent: Frank Meah, Gretel Keene, Susan Harding
Guests: Anne Hunt, Ethan Wagner
The commission meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM.
The minutes of October 8th were reviewed and unanimously approved.
Kielsmeier began the single sort recycling discussion by inviting our guests to introduce themselves. Anne Hunt was invited by Ron Kroese to come to the meeting and discuss St. Paul’s
history/philosophy on recycling issues. Hunt’s position is Mayor Coleman’s deputy policy director for environmental issues. She explained the process for companies that purchase recycled
materials and how contaminants impact what the recycled material can be used for. She explained that Waste Management is a vertically aligned company and can use broken glass and other
materials elsewhere in their organization so sometimes they may not be as concerned about producing the best quality recycled materials. She mentioned that St. Paul is going to be adding
compost recycling next year, and they received many compliments for moving to weekly pickup. After much discussion, it was decided to not immediately pursue single sort recycling but
to study alternative programs and current practices over the next year to come up with suggested improvements.
The commission then reviewed draft logos as presented by staff. The commission elected to go with a combination of the two logos, with a tree on one side and the recycling logo on the
other.
Ross updated the commission on the University’s master planning meeting that was held on November 15th at city hall. Kroese, Lindstrom, and Miller also attended and echoed that environmental
issues were heavily discussed.
Nominations were opened for a new commission chair. Ross nominated Kroese, and Kielsmeier nominated Ross as vice-chair. All voted in approval.
The community gardeners presented a year-end report and solicited input for improvements for the 2008 garden.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.