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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/20/2019 Environmental Board Minutes APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF LINO LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL: Mr. Sullivan called the Lino Lakes Environmental Board meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. on November 20, 2019 Mr. Asleson introduced Andy Nelson, the new City of Lino Lakes Environmental Coordinator to the Environmental Advisory Board. Andy shared his prior experience with the group. Mr. Nelson gave a brief history of his education and background. Mr. Nelson graduated with a Conservation Biology degree from the University of MN. He spent time working with Anoka County as a Natural Resources Technician and most recently was the forester for the City of Mounds View. II. APROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Sullivan added to the Agenda the following discussion items: ADD: Pledge of Allegation Board members share information, special interest and goals City Newsletter Agenda approved as presented DATE : November 20, 2019 TIME STARTED : 6:31 P.M. TIME ENDED : 8:08 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : John Sullivan (chair), Paula Andrzejewski, Liz Kaufenberg, Shawn Holmes, Wendy Nelson, Alex Schwartz MEMBERS ABSENT : Eric Flower STAFF PRESENT : Marty Asleson, Connor Kvendru, Andrew Nelson Enivonmental Board Minutes November 20, 2019 Page 2 DRAFT MINUTES III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Ms. Andrzejewski made a MOTION to approve the September 25, 2019 Meeting Minutes. Ms. Kaufman supported motion. Motion carried 6 - 0. IV. OPEN MIKE Mr. Sullivan declared Open Mike at 6:40 p.m. Open Mike closed at 6:41p.m. V. ACTION ITEMS – No Action Items VI. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Woolens Park Wetland Restoration and Banking Credits, Jason Husveth Mr. Asleson introduced Jason Husveth, owner of Critical Connections Ecological Services, and he discussed the wetland resortation and banking credits. Mr. Husveth shared a power point with the history of the wetland restoration project. Mr. Husveth has worked with the Anoka Sandplain since the 1990s and has focused work to incentivize and justify ecological restoration of very important wetlands. He worked on the Lino Lakes Natural Resources Assessment and Comprehensive Plan and recommendations for the city to develop a wetland mitigation process to be followed by future developers. Mr. Husveth reviewed the abundance of wetlands across the city and the potential impacts and opportunity to identify high quality and unique habitat, such as Woolens Park. He shared a series of maps to show the amount of wetlands, the areas that are suitable for development, new rare plant detections, aerial photos, wetland credit area maps, and rare plant locations. Mr. Sullivan asked whether the Nature’s Refugee project had come back through the Environmental Board and noted the board’s concerns about how the developer’s would pump water. Mr. Asleson responded that the project had not come back to the board yet. Mr. Husveth said the Wetland Banking Application for Woolan’s Park was completed in 2010, which earned the city credits for restoring an existing wetland. This process also manages evasive plants and trees by using seeds from the original seed bank. The Wetland Banking Plan for Woolens was approved in 2014 and the implementation stage went through 2018. The park is still undergoing restoration and management. Ms. Kaufenberg asked what type of herbicides are being used. Jason acknowledged the recent scrutiny about using Roundup. Enivonmental Board Minutes November 20, 2019 Page 3 DRAFT MINUTES Mr. Husveth shared several photos of area’s transformation resulting in over 150 species coming up in the seed bank. Annual monitoring reports on Woolens Park are developed and available to share. He also shared some estimates of the credit costs and noted the city is intending to use the credits for their own projects. Mr. Asleson mentioned how neat it is to see the new wildlife coming back into these restoration areas, such as birds, dragonflies, and insects. B. Emerald Ash Borer Grant The City of Lino Lakes submitted an Emerald Ash Borer Preapplication to the DNR in October for $100,000 to replace the 127 Ash trees in the Clearwater Creek development. The city removed 275 Ash trees out of Country Lakes Park last year, but there are many more to deal with. Last winter delayed the progression of the borer. West Shadow Lake Drive also has another long line of Ash trees. Most of the other parks have had the Ash trees removed. C. Recycling Updates, Connor Kvendru Mr. Kvendru said they were working on recreating the design that board members chose for the t-shirts. The Fall Recycling Saturdays have had a good turnout. Residential recycling numbers have been about the same as last year. He also noted that there has been no contamination seen recently with organics recycling. We do not need to put locks on the compost bins at this point. The Lino Park organics site will be open as soon as the bins are there. Ms. Kaufenberg recommended that we send a flyer to people in that area to raise awareness about the opportunity for organics recycling and how easy enrollment is by signing up online. The City of Lino Lakes will be hosting a Fix-It Clinic on February 1st at the senior center. Anyone wanting to volunteer should let Mr. Kvendru know. Mr. Sullivan talked about the city newsletter that is printed three times per year – Spring/Summer, Fall, and Winter. One of our goals as a board is to educate the public and the most recent issue included several of the ideas we discussed at the last meeting. Mr. Sullivan will keep track of which topics are used and we will review our list before the Spring/Summer newsletter deadline – which is February 10th – to make recommendations about topics we would like to see in that issue. D. Other Mr. Sullivan asked city staff to assure the Stern Addition planting plan is shared with the board. Enivonmental Board Minutes November 20, 2019 Page 4 DRAFT MINUTES Mr. Sullivan reminded board members to send in a brief summary about their background and areas of expertise and interest. The summaries from Mr. Flower, Ms. Holmes and Mr. Schwartz are still missing. Mr. Schwartz submitted his immediately following the meeting. The next board meeting is scheduled for December 18 th. Mr. Sullivan asked board members to share any potential agenda items with him by December 9th. VII. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Andrzejewski made a MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 8:08 p.m. Ms. Kaufenberg supported the motion. Motion carried 6 - 0. Respectfully submitted, Shawn Holmes Environmental Board Member