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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20200818 ESC - PACKETAGENDA Environment & Sustainability Commission Tuesday, August 18, 2020 5:30 p.m. Virtual Meeting via Go To Meeting 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO AGENDA 3. ANNUAL MEETING 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 5. PRESENTATIONS 6. OLD BUSINESS 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Goal Setting 2020 Discussion 8. ANNOUNCEMENTS 9. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT a. Set Next Meeting Agenda for September 15, 2020 10. ADJOURNMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Environmental & Sustainability Commission Meeting: August 18, 2020 AGENDA SECTION: AGENDA ITEM: 2020 Goal Setting Discussion New Business PREPARED BY: Jane Byron, Stormwater Specialist AGENDA NO. 7.a. ATTACHMENTS: Pre-meeting Goal & Activity Setting Brainstorming APPROVED BY: BLE Goal Preference Survey Exercise RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion. DISCUSSION: At itsJuly meeting, the ESC decided to continue a conversation on setting goals and activities to pursue for the remainder of 2020 and early 2021. To facilitate the discussion, Commissioners provided City Staff with a list ofthe top issues they would like to pursue and will participate in a non-binding survey exercise i.e. virtual dot voting exercise) to help visualize which issues are most important to the group as a whole. The Commissioners may choose to complete the survey exercise prior to the meeting. SUMMARY: No action required. C:\\Users\\jab\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\7.a. Goal Setting Discussion_609578\\7.a. Goal Setting Discussion.docx August 18, 2020, ESC Meeting Pre-meeting Goal & Activity Setting Brainstorming At its July 21, 2020, meeting, the Rosemount Environment and Sustainability Commission decided to embark on a goal and activity setting discussion at its August 18 meeting. To facility discussion, each Commissioner agreed to submit to City Staff their top goals and activities to pursue in 2020 and the beginning part of 2021. Below is a compilation of what was submitted by each commissioner; some minor edits were made to make references included in the submissions more clear. Please note, names are not included so as to remove bias. Additionally, the submissions are not organized or categorized in order to give individuals an unfiltered idea of what was submitted. Reach out to conservation organizations and gauge interest and possible support of a conservation project in Rosemount. o This idea comes from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions. The ANJEC is a non-profit organization in New Jersey that works with city commissions to sponsor and complete projects. Looking at Minnesota, we do not have an ANJEC "equivalent", however there are other non-profit, environmental based organizations (Conservation Minnesota for example) which might be willing to sponsor a project in Rosemount. This goal would focus on applying to environmental organizations to receive grants to complete projects. In terms of what the project might look like, anything could work and we would have to look into their application process for funding and opportunities. Request the ability to advise the city council on building projects and management of open spaces. o The Planning Commission is largely responsible for dividing up the land of Rosemount. The Environmental and Sustainability Commission should also be providing feedback to developmental plans. This goal would focus on creating a dialogue between the Planning Commission and the ESC. As a commission, we could provide suggestions on ways to incorporate a high level of environmental concern in development plans. This could mean requesting more parks and wildlife areas, or increasing the size of housing lots to incorporate more green space. Create an online/in person environmental education activity for youth of Rosemount. o Due to COVID-19, engaging the public has become more difficult. This goal focuses on community outreach by creating an engaging environmental activity for the youth of Rosemount. This could be something like a "take home" environmental bag that has planned activities, or it could be an online video series, or a combination of both. We could try to incorporate activities normally done at the Leprechaun Booth and encourage participation with prizes or a drawing. Energy Efficiency and Conservation. Continue to support the City’sEnergy Plan. Promote energy efficient actions in the community to promote resources for residents and businesses. Green Development. Development in the city isexpected to continue to grow significantly for many years and growth should be balanced with environmental preservation. Research policy approaches in model cities for balancing development to share with staff/identify possible consideration here. Increase recycled content paper in city operations. Develop standards for city to increase amount of recycled content in copy and print paper. State law requires cities to purchase 30 percent recycled content copy, but 100% is readily available. Buying recycled content helps support recycling markets. This is also an easy green steps check if in compliance with state law! Composting education - educate the community more on composting. What does it entail? How does it help? Where are the sites to take it to? Can we increase the number of collection sites (a complaint I have gotten from friends)? Community education on energy/water efficiency rebates available whether for appliances or irrigation systems or alternative energy choices. Along with this would come an awareness of efficiency options available in all these areas and help people make better choices. There is a lot of new development both residential and commercial. What kind of requirements can we help put in place that would help the city meet and exceed goals for clean energy, sustainability, water conservation, and the like? Green building standards, natural landscaping, surface water requirements Pollinators continue to be a concern in our environment. More education to the community about how to attract and sustain pollinators. What are chemicals that need to be eradicated to help sustain these populations? How can these things be adapted into the city'sparks and open/natural spaces? Practice what you preach type of strategy! Be able to have some input on budget and help find places where different areas can maybe find more environmentally sustainable options o I remember last year there was some discussion on the budget and how the city didn’t have enough “man” hours to do more street cleaning to reduced phosphorus levels BUT then we were told that the lawns are mowed 3x a week at local parks. This amount of lawn cutting increases water usage and seems not environmentally friendly. I’d like to return to this conversation and spread it further to include other areas where we may have budget space to make recommendations for more sustainable options that are also easier on the budget. o identify a connection with parks and rec and work with them Encourage healthy lawn practices Look at the city’s relationship with Koch facility and what we benefit and where we can encourage them to make changes More attention to conservation programs for low-income residents. Information in the Resilience Chapter of the Rosemount 2040 Comprehensive Plan. More attention to conservation programs for home energy audits. Information in the Resilience Chapter of the Rosemount 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Green Step Cities: pursue Step 3 Share and promote opportunities with residents and business owners to increase city- wide energy efficiency and renewable energy use. Improve reuse, recycling and composting at city facilities to prevent going into landfill. Provide education for Landscaping for waterwise best practices. Develop a list of local purchasing preferences for sustainability Discourage the use of one-time-use plastic bags and other plastic materials. However, I disagree with banning one-time-use plastics. Education about alternatives will help but banning as a first step may not work well, as it may seem too heavy handed. 2020-21 Rosemount ESC Goal Preference Survey Exercise The object of this exercise is to facilitate discussion of goal and activity preferences of the ESC for 2020 and early 2021. The 15 goals/activities listed in the table on page 2 are based on suggestions of the ESC Commissioners. In this exercise each Commissioner will “vote” on their top choices. To vote, acommissioner places a symbol of their choice in the third column. Here are the rules and guidelines for the voting: Each Commissioner gets 7 votes and only 7 votes. Each Commissioner can vote for their suggested goals/activities if they choose but does not have to. A Commissioner can use more than one of their votes for the 15 activities/goals. For example, ifa Commissioner felt very strongly about goal/activity 4, they could choose to use 4 of their 7 votes for rdgoal/activity 4 by placing 4 of the symbol of their choice in the 3 column for choice 4, but would then only have 3 remaining votes (symbols that they could place). Commissioners can use the symbol of their choice, so long as it is appropriate for public viewing. A commissioner could use the letter X or an emoji for example. The exercise should help the Commissioners to focus in on which activities/goals the group as a whole feels most strongly about. Please note, these “votes” do not constitute abinding or any other decision made by the ESC and are only used for the purpose of facilitating discussion. ESC Commissioner Proposed Goal or Activity Place a Mark in this Column if You Like this Idea limit 7 per commissioner) Apply for grants to complete environmental projects 1 from non-profit, for-profit, and government organizations. Request the ability to advise the city council on building 2 projects and management of open spaces. Create a dialog and partnership with the planning commission to provide environmental feedback on projects. Create an environmental activity for Rosemount youth 3 that has COVID-19 safety precautions built in. Continue to support the City’s Energy Plan. Promote 4 energy efficient actions in the community to promote resources for residents and businesses, including home energy audits. Improve reuse, recycling, and composting at City owned 5 facilities, including increasing recycled content paper in city operations to comply with State Statue and pursuing sustainable purchasing preferences. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/16C.073 Provide composting education opportunities and 6 additional collection sites. Research green development regulations and policy to 7 consider implementing in Rosemount: green building standards, native landscaping, water resource protection. Look for examples in other communities. Present information to staff and City Council. Provide education on pollinator protection, including 8 what chemicals to avoid. Engage with the City on environmentally friendly 9 management of City owned open/green space. Look for areas to decrease inputs or switch products used: reduce pesticides for pollinator protection, reduce irrigation, reduce mowing. Engage with City Staff and the Council on the City 10 budget and ensuring resources for sustainable city infrastructure management (e.g. having staff and equipment for increased street sweeping). Provide education and incentives for residents, 11 businesses, and institutions on healthy lawn practices, including waterwise practices. Explore ways to engage with industrial property owners 12 to encourage environmental improvements. Explore beneficial partnerships that result in positive environmental impacts. Provide education and engagement for residents on 13 environmental programs for low-income residents. Discourage the use of single-use plastic bags and 14 materials through education about alternatives. Pursue obtaining Step 3 certification for the City under 15 the MN GreenStep Cities Program