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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20180417 ESTF MinutesENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY TASK FORCE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES April 17, 2018 1. Call to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the meeting of the Environmental & Sustainability Task Force (Task Force) of the City of Rosemount was called to order on April 17, 2018 at 5:34 p.m. in the Conference Room of City Hall, 2875 145th St West, Rosemount. Attendees included Task Force Members: Katie Koch-Laveen (Chair), Mark Glende, Renee Burman, Colleen Corrigan. Staff present: City of Rosemount Public Works Director Brian Erickson, City of Rosemount Senior Engineer Technician Derick Anderson. Residents in attendance: Vanessa DeMuth and Victoria Schlautman. 2. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO AGENDA The following items were added to the agenda: discussion of Mayor Droste’s wife’s passing. 3. APPROVAL OF JANUARY MINUTES Motion by Glende, Second by Corrigan Ayes: 4 Nays: 0. Motion carried. 4. PRESENTATIONS None 5. OLD BUSINESS a. Budget Presentation/Approval Check-in – Brian The Mayor requested the Task Force develop a budget for consideration during the 2019 city budget and work plan process. The Task Force met on February 1, 2018 to draft a proposed budget based on priorities presented at the November 21, 2017 City Council meeting. No further information from Brian. b. Road Salt Legislation Resolution and city facility road salt application, certification Vanessa – Link to Smart Salt Certification Training (please pass on to council): https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/salt-application-training . Issue keeps moving ahead and getting support. Vanessa has send around a first draft of policy recommendations. Task force members should review these and then the recommendations will go to Council. Table until next meeting. Vanessa and Rebecca Higgins had shared their notes from the Sustainability Alliance gathering and the TF discussed some of the interesting findings, including the use of a dedicated street sweeper to keep phosphorus reduced. Brian said that park staff are already very busy. Public lawns are mowed three times per week in summer. The city has two sweepers and sweeps once in spring and once in autumn. Action point: TF will look at study from Rebecca Montgomery on phosphorus reduction. c. Green Corps Application Interview – Vanessa, Derick 50 applications for 42 positions so there is a positive outlook. The person would start in October. d. Partners in Energy (PiE) –Meeting and Implementation Updates – Wade, Derick, Katy and Vanessa Derick can send an email with the implementation summary, which is currently at 62 pages. Comments are being accepted for the Energy Action Plan. Goal is to cut energy use by 5% by 2020 and 15% by 2030. This had been 20% but city wanted to have a more realistic goal. The TF discussed the importance of pursuing aggressive energy conservation, with attention to critical issues in the city such as affordable housing and smaller footprint houses. The TF still needs to sort out a way to consolidate comments on the plan. Derick will determine how we can access this. e. Alliance for Sustainability –Metro Environmental Commissions Conference (4/7) Rebecca and Vanessa shared notes and thought it was a good group of committed people. All are welcome to participate in the next one, date TBD. f. Resilient Cities Workshop Webinar (4/11) – email report from Rebecca. Rebecca didn’t send preliminary notes so will be moved to next agenda. g. Vote on changing bylaws to increase membership to 9 members and set length of terms Everyone agreed that adding members to the TF is a good idea, and that additional volunteers will be needed to help implement the energy plan as well as other possible subcommittee tasks. TF members will be on three year rotating shifts, membership will increase to 9. Mark motioned to vote on updating of the bylaws. Colleen seconded the motion. 4 ayes, 0 nayes. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Mayor’s wife. Katie mentioned concern about the Mayor’s wife’s recent unexpected passing. Vanessa attended the visitation. He has been a strong advocate of the TF and provides frequent positive comment. Colleen will bring a condolence card to the next meeting for all TF members to sign and deliver to the Mayor. b. 7 minute video presentation by Mark. The adventures of Reuzm, the recycling super hero. Mark created a short YouTube video with an audience focused as children, topic is city lawn watering policy. Vanessa said this is a great response to the Council’s question about how to get the community involved. It’s a good basic video that could be followed by additional information such as water preservation and a movement away from “set and forget” mentality. All agreed additional videos on different topics would be valuable. Options for involving community include having students compete to create videos or having local citizens star in various videos. c. Earth Day litter cleanup. Due to the heavy snow, the date has been postponed from Sunday 22 April until Sunday 6 May from 1-3 PM. Vanessa will promote it. There are 4 spots. Renee will cover the Family Resource Center area, Mark will cover Central Park, Victoria will cover Bloomfield Park, and Katie will help with the High School area. Everyone will have a big box from the city with gloves and other equipment, plus two different bags for litter and recycling. Renee will have access to the 20 grabbers since her group will be near fences and the road. Children under 12 will need to be accompanied by an adult. TF members should meet at City Hall at 12:30 to pick up bins. d. REST Webpage. City council wants REST to have more of a web presence. Renee will lead this effort. e. Leprechaun Days. Katie will manage the organization of the booth. The dates are July 27 and 28. f. Low waste/green event guide for Rosemount. Renee said she is discussing this with Tom Schuster as the city is currently using non-compostable supplies at its events, such as the volunteer recognition gathering on April 17. More information will be available in the future. 7. ANNOUNCEMENTS None. 8. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn 7:00 pm by Glende, second by Corrigan Ayes: 4 Nays: 0. Motion carried. Next Task Force Meeting May 15, 2018.