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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/27/2021 Environmental Board Minutes APPROVED MINUTES CITY OF LINO LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL: Mr. Sullivan called the Lino Lakes Environmental Board meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. on October 27, 2021. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE III. SWEARING IN OF BOARD MEMBERS Mayor Rafferty swore in new members Lindsay Buchmeier and Jonathan Parsons. IV. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mr. Sullivan stated to approve the Agenda as it stands. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES September 29, 2021 Mrs. Holmes made a MOTION to approve the September 29, 2021 Meeting Minutes. Ms. Cavegn seconded the motion. Motion carried 7 - 0. VI. OPEN MIKE Mr. Sullivan declared Open Mike at 6:36 p.m. Open Mike declared closed at 6:36 p.m. VII. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Review of Annual Work Plan and Ongoing Tasks List DATE : October 27, 2021 TIME STARTED : 6:31 P.M. TIME ENDED : 7:40 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : John Sullivan, Cassie Cavegn, Shawn Holmes, Ella McNulty, Alex Schwartz, Lindsay Buchmeier, Jonathan Parsons STAFF PRESENT : Andy Nelson, Phillip Davis Environmental Board October 27, 2021 Page 2 APPROVED MINUTES Mr. Nelson presented the approved annual work plan to the Environmental Board. The annual work plan includes initiatives concerning current environmental issues in the major areas of focus of the Environmental Board, including environmental stewardship, forestry, natural resources, water, and solid waste management. Mr. Nelson provided an update that residents were using the Rainbow EAB treatment discount and the city hired Rainbow to treat 100 city-managed ash trees this year. Mr. Sullivan wanted to confirm Rainbow Tree Care company is offering discounts on injections, but not tree removals for residents. Mr. Nelson confirmed, while the company does provide tree removal services, Rainbow Tree Care is only providing discounts on the emerald ash borer injection treatment. Mr. Parsons inquired about the City’s annual tree sale and wanted to know what species of trees would be included and if the goal was to not have all one species in an area. Mr. Nelson responded the City is trying to increase the diversity of the local forest canopy and we select species for boulevards to that end, but we do not put limitations on which trees residents can purchase from the tree sale for planting on private property. The city sells roughly 100 trees per year in the tree sale. Mr. Sullivan asked when the City’s Winter 2021 newsletter would be sent out. Mr. Nelson responded the newsletter was being printed and should be sent out within the next two weeks in early November. Mr. Schwartz inquired about the dates for the tree sale. Mr. Nelson responded the cut off date for sales is usually in February. Residents will pick their trees up at Public Works. Mr. Nelson provied a brief background on wetland banks and used Wollan Park wetland bank as an example. A property under consideration as a potential wetland bank is the Winters property, which is close to an area that has a lot of development going on in the east part of the city. This potential bank is currently in the draft prospectus phase, which is a preliminary review of the site. A more in-depth study would be conducted if the intial evaluations return with positive results. This property would be an opportunity for the City to obtain more wetland credits. Mr. Sullivan mentioned the City also has a wetland bank near Otter Lake and Main Street, which should be inspected in the spring for potential maintenance needs such as burning or thatch removal. Mr. Nelson mentioned an update to MLCCS data would be evaluated in the future with the DNR. Environmental Board October 27, 2021 Page 3 APPROVED MINUTES Mr. Sullivan asked for clarification and recommended staff work on this update and periodically update the Board on its progress. Mr. Nelson confirmed, noting he could call attention to updates when we have development reviews in these areas. Mr. Sullivan shared his experience working with the Adopt-a-Drain program and the importance of cleaning up the storm drains before winter. Mr. Nelson noted the next newsletter has an article about the Lawns to Legumes program, which has good information and links related to rain gardens and native plants in general. Mr. Sullivan mentioned importance of long-term maintenance of raingardens. Mr. Nelson responded long term maintenance requirements are written into installation agreements and there are grants available for installation and maintenance of raingardens. Mr. Sullivan requested the Board get a chance to look at a maintenance agreement in the future. Mr. Sullivan inquired about whether or not the City has residents who have ponds in their yards that are connected to the City stormwater system. Mr. Nelson said yes and working on this project would require ordinance updates to allow residents to install their own stormwater pond aerators. Mr. Sullivan asked for a map of some ponds in this category be presented to the Board in the future. Mrs. Holmes asked if the situation of increased manganese in the City’s water supply could be included in the educational outreach efforts on water conservation. She also asked about the possibility of including wildlife impacts in development reviews and the Natural Resources section of the work plan. Mr. Schwartz seconded the idea of including wildlife impacts as well as impacts to the greenway system and adding both to the annual work plan. Mr. Nelson responded these ideas can be added into consideration for future developments. This work plan was already approved by City Council, but these items can be incorporated into future development reviews. The manganese water issue has been largely dealt with by Public Works, Engineering, and Utilities staff, and the City has recently increased their enforcement of watering restrictions. The education focuses on trying to limit water use during heavy irrigation periods. A feasability study was conducted on implementing a new water treatment plant for the City. Mrs. Holmes requested future outreach include a clearer connection between water quality, water conservation, and the current situation with manganese content. Environmental Board October 27, 2021 Page 4 APPROVED MINUTES Mr. Schwartz added education on this connection between wells, water conservation, and water quality would encourage residents’ efforts to conserve water. Mr. Sullivan agreed wildlife impacts should be kept in mind both for endangered and threatened species and more common native species. Mr. Sullivan asked for updates on local businesses taking part in recycling related grant programs. Mr. Nelson noted roughly one business per year took part in this program and staff can update the Board with new businesses using the program. Mr. Nelson provided an update on evaluating the feasability of biodegradable pet waste bags for use in public trails and parks noting that, due to cost, containment of the excess nutrients, and health risks to workers, it does not seem feasible to switch from the typical plastic pet waste bags. Mr. Sullivan asked why do we not want the pet waste to break down with the bag it is in. Mr. Nelson responded breakdown outside of landfills has the potential to impact groundwater and the workers and keeping the waste contained seems to be the most important. Mr. Sullivan noted when the Board discussed this issue before the importance of picking up waste and adding stations was connected to groundwater quality. Mr. Nelson then presented the Annual Tasks List. Mr. Nelson noted 47 oak wilt trees were marked this year. Mr. Schwartz wanted to know where oak wilt was most prominent. Mr. Nelson responded areas around Lois Lane, Rohavic Lane, and Linda Lane were three hotspots with heavy oak density that are experiencing oak wilt. The City has been working with homeowners to coordinate root trenching services. Mr. Nelson provided an update on the current status of the heron rookery on Lake Peltier Island. The island’s ash tree population is dying as a result of the emerald ash borer. A tree planting sponsored by the Rotary club added 8 trees to the island in October. Mrs. Holmes asked about the nesting habits of the blue herons on the island and how the loss of trees will impact their re-nesting habits. Mr. Nelson said he is not sure if they reuse nests, but assumed they did due to the nests all being concentrated in one part of the island. The herons use other tree species on the island for nesting. Mr. Sullivan shared a brief overview of how recycling tonnage is collected and how the SCORE grants work in conjunction with Anoka County. Environmental Board October 27, 2021 Page 5 APPROVED MINUTES Mrs. Holmes inquired about whether there has been outreach to other waste haulers in town to see if they would offer curbside organics recycling similar to what Walter’s offers. Mr. Nelson responded haulers are required to accept specific materials per city ordinance, but one of the issues pertaining to organics is that there are only two locations within the Twin Cities metro area where the materials can be taken to. He provided a brief update on the Rice Creek compost site expansion project, but noted the locations of the compost sites are a barrier to entry for curbisde organics recycling. The City has about 400 households signed up to use the program compared to 35-40 for Walter’s curbside service. The convenience of the City’s program being offered for free likely brings in more residents. He added staff could look into curbside organics program availability with the other haulers. Mr. Sullivan asked Mr. Nelson to confirm the City does not receive tonnage credit when residents bring materials to the Rice Creek Compost Site. Mr. Nelson confirmed. B.Organics Program Overview Mr. Davis presented an overview presentation of the City organics recycling drop-off program. The overview covered the specifics of site locations, resident participation, tonnage and materials collected, signage and contamination, and prospects for future program growth. Ms. Cavegn and Mrs. Holmes commended Mr. Davis on the presentation and the work he has done on the organics drop-off program. Mr. Sullivan recounted the history of the organics drop-off program, including having volunteers monitor sites and the use of locks to limit contamination. He proposed the Environmental Board take a trip to the sites in spring and educate residents on organics and composting. Mr. Parsons asked how considerations are made for contamination in larger scale operations. Mr. Nelson provided an explanation of how certain materials have different levels of acceptable contamination. Glass is an example of a material that would lead an entire load to being deemed garbage, whereas few numbers of plastic bags would not be enough to trash a load. Compost sites like the Rice Creek site also have staff available at all times of operation, meaning contamination rates are very low due to the nature of having supervision at all times. Building enclosures also act as a measure to keep contamination down. Mr. Sullivan mentioned he is interested in having the Environmental Board take a trip to the new Rice Creek Compost Site once the expansion has been completed. Environmental Board October 27, 2021 Page 6 APPROVED MINUTES VIII.ADJOURNMENT Mr. Schwartz made a MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 7:40 p.m. Motion was supported by Ms. Cavegn. Motion carried 7 - 0.