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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/20/2012 Environmental Board MinutesENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING June 20, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 1 APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES DATE : June 20, 2012 TIME STARTED : 6:35 P.M. TIME ENDED : 8:05 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Mary Jo O’Dea, Barbara Bor, Martha DeHaven and Theresa Klaman MEMBERS ABSENT : Steve Heiskary, Paula Andrzejewski and Nancie Klebba STAFF PRESENT : Environmental Coordinator Marty Asleson 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. O’Dea called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 25, 2012. Ms. DeHaven made a motion to approve the April 25, 2012 minutes with a few small changes. Ms. Klaman seconded the motion to approve the minutes. Motion carried unanimously. 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Ms. Klaman made a motion to approve the agenda. Ms. Bor seconded the motion to approve the agenda. Motion carried unanimously 4. OPEN MIKE Open mike closed at 6:37 p.m. 5. ACTION ITEMS A. Anoka County Recycling Enhancement Grant Program Mr. Asleson presented his staff report. He stated the grant could be used for programs such as “Trash to Treasure,” aluminum can cages and perhaps commercial, industrial and business recycling expansion. He stated city staff recommends that the Anoka County Recycling Enhancement Grant be applied for and forward on to the City Council ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING June 20, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 2 Ms. O’Dea stated this sounds like a great opportunity. Ms. Bor questioned if the grant requires a cost match. Mr. Asleson stated it does not require a cost match from the City. He stated we could use up to $50,000 of the grant at no cost share. Ms. Bor questioned if the priority is to invest on how to engage commercial business to recycle. Amy Ulbrecht, Anoka County, stated the County will be hiring an intern to work with the City on making contact with Lino Lakes businesses. She stated the intern cost does not come out of the recycling grant. Ms. Ulbrecht stated the County is already working with schools to create better recycling. She stated the City should focus more on internal recycling and businesses. She stated the City should think about holding more recycling events in the community or maybe even building a recycling center. She stated to think really big in terms of recycling. Mr. Dave Roeser, City Council member, stated in every business you have a building full of people trained to recycle. We need to lead the way and have a champion in every business. What we have to do is make goals for employees and have recognition such as t-shirts, etc. He stated getting behind employees to makes a difference and is a great motivator. He stated trying to get a tax increase to get park land developed is not going to happen. Recycling is one of the ways to raise money and then take the funds raised and plow them into the park systems. He stated we need to have a reward and recognition system. If we had a big container next to the Centennial Fire Station, we could find a champion to take every beer can and throw it in the recycling bin. We need to help businesses do the right thing. Ms. Bor stated Mr. Roser is a creative visionary. Applying for a grant is a component of that. Ms. Ulbrecht stated contacting businesses one on one regarding recycling is important. Ms. Ulbrecht stated we want to describe the goals and actualize some part of this. Mr. Roeser stated a good start would be to work together and make a to-do list for the intern and go from there. Mr. Asleson stated the County may have ideas on how to proceed. Ms. Bor stated it would be nice to set aside say $200 towards the set up to reward businesses. Mr. Roeser stated we have to have a goal and have some prizes. He stated we need to illustrate what a park can be for the City. He stated there are so many pieces of rewards. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING June 20, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 3 Ms. Ulbricht stated she envisioned an intern helping making calls with a list of businesses from the City. The intern would then make contacts and find out who is recycling, who isn’t recycling and why not, and leave them with the carrots as to why they should be recycling and offer site visits. She is not sure if the recycle grant would cover prizes, t-shirts, etc. Ms. Ulbrecht stated a part of what we can do with current recycling is to get basic data and work forward with the goals. Ms. O’Dea stated we need a motion to recommend that Mr. Asleson apply for the grant and forward it onto the City Council. Ms. DeHaven made a motion to apply for the grant and forward on to the City Council. Ms. Bor seconded the Motion. Motion carried unanimously. 6. DISCUSSION ITEM A. Commercial/Industrial/Business Recycling Discussion. Special Guest Jim Kordiak, Anoka County Commissioner and Amy Ulbricht, Anoka County Integrated Waste Management. Mr. Asleson presented his staff report. He stated the Lino Lakes Environmental Board is responsible for overseeing the Residential Solid Waste and Recycling Program. The board established a new recycling goal for 2012. The goal is to investigate the expansion of recycling efforts with particular attention to commercial, industrial and small business. The board would like to address means to communicate with Lino Lakes businesses on recycling. Staff is looking for direction on the next step to increase business recycling goals. Mr. Jim Kordiak, Anoka County Commissioner, stated he meets with Anoka County Solid Waste Advisory Committee once monthly to talk about what the County can do to meet recycle goals and objectives. He stated every goal needs a champion. As a commissioner, an area he has spent a good deal of time on is garbage and recycling. He appreciates what the City is trying to do in expanding recycling. He stated two areas that fall short are businesses and apartment buildings. There are endless ways to go about this such as recycling aluminum cans, glass bottles, batteries, ink cartridges, etc. He stated we could make a list of all the things that could be done. He thinks that a key component is to find out what businesses want to do and what they do now and to talk to individual businesses. He stated Wastewise is a non-profit company who would work with the City. We could possibly be able to use a grant to do this. Wastewise will step into a company and let them know what they are doing and where they should be. Mr. Kordiak stated the reason he is present today is to learn what the Board’s ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING June 20, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 4 desires are. He stated his role in leading the solid waste cause is to make sure resources are available. We are helping him meet his objectives by focusing on businesses. It was stated a survey of 10 businesses should be done to see what businesses want. He stated when the City is applying for a recycling grant from the County, the City will need to outline what we would like to do in the grant. The application then goes through the County Board for grant and approval. Ms. Bor stated we have not been able to articulate where to start. She stated when she looked at the Anoka County questionnaire it was very long. People do not have time today or are unable to articulate. We really need to understand what commercial business want to do and are willing to do. We need to start with generic little things and go from there. She stated our commitment has been here but we are not sure how to move forward. Ms. O’Dea stated the first thing the County could do for us is to provide an intern to help us determine what we can do. Without the data from businesses, we cannot put together a plan at this time. Mr. Kordiak stated many businesses have not been pushed to move into the right direction on recycling. He stated that we will find the right people who will want to do the responsible thing. He stated information is the key to getting in the door. Certainly some businesses are doing the right thing. Mr. Asleson stated we need to make businesses feel like they are part of this group. Ms. O’Dea stated the Solid Waste Management credit might not be enough of an incentive for businesses. Auditing businesses on recycling would be a good step for an intern to do as well as letting the business know other benefits they could receive by recycling. Ms. Bor questioned contacting Wastewise. Ms. Ulbricht stated we could try and contact them through the Chamber of Commerce as they have a connection with them. Ms. Ulbricht handed out a letter from the recycle coordinator of Coon Rapids regarding improving recycling. A similar letter could be written for Lino Lakes as well. Anoka County printed the letter, paid for the postage and put the letters in City envelopes. Ms. Ulbricht stated if we had an intern who could make initial contact with businesses and send out the letter, it would be helpful. The intern could possibly get an email address to email the information and save on postage. Ms. Bor stated if the Environmental Board only meets once a month, we need a committed group to form a task force. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING June 20, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 5 Ms. O’Dea stated staff is asking for direction on the next step. She stated the Board has identified that the next step would be to apply for the grant and coordinate contacting business. Once we have data, we can go from there. B. Trash to Treasure and Spring Recycling Mr. Asleson presented the 2012 Spring Recycle Day material totals. He stated recycle day totals have been going up each year. If the City is able to have a second recycle day, it would be a fall recycle day. Ms. Bor stated she would like to find out how White Bear Lake handles their Trash to Treasure program. She stated she would make an appointment to meet with the person in charge of the program and will summarize the process for us. Ms. DeHaven stated she thinks this is a bad idea. She does not want to see junk lying all over. C. Peltier Island Heron Rookery Update Mr. Asleson presented his report. He stated the Heron Task Force scheduled an inventory of Peltier Island. It was noted that there are roughly 45 active trees with 123 active nests. He stated Bill Hudson from WCCO TV accompanied the Heron Task Force onto the Island and featured a story on how well the Heron Rookery is doing. D. Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization/Summary of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study Mr. Asleson presented information to the Board on the impact to local communities. Ms. Bor questioned if the intent is to do this to one of our lakes? Mr. Asleson stated we need to reduce the loading to Peltier Lake. E. Community Garden Update Mr. Asleson stated the Community Garden is running pretty well. Mr. Asleson stated the YMCA will be starting a farmer’s market in July. There will be more information on this to come. 7. ADJOURN It was noted that the next meeting of the Environmental Board will be on Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING June 20, 2012 DRAFT MINUTES 6 There being no further business, Ms. DeHaven moved to adjourn at 8:05 p.m. Ms. Klaman seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Transcribed by: Lisa Hogstad Community Development Secretary