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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-16 MINUTES WASHINGTON COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS JOINT MEETING September 16, 2013 Meeting Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a meeting was duly held at the Woodbury City Hall, 8301 Valley Creek th Road, on the 16 day of September 2013. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Jennifer McLoughlin, Sustainability Specialist for the City of Woodbury called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. INTRODUCTIONS Following are the names of the individuals who attended the meeting: Cottage Grove Mahtomedi Oakdale Woodbury Shauna Klug Kevin McCalib AJ Moses Ken Scott Rosemary Palmer James Persoon Roger Splinter Ryan Fleming Mike Saarela Nanette Ewald Rita Isker Daniel Krier Jim Muehlbauer Karla Bigham Jen Hassebroek Steve Kernik DerrickLehrke Caitlin Bergh Jennifer McLoughlin Jennifer Levitt Stephanie Wang COMMISSION Q&A A. MAHTOMEDI Mr. Kevin McCalib stated that one highlight from the City of Mahtomedi in 2013 was that they received a grant from Washington County for multi-family recycling. Once they received the grant, they met with the five multi- family unit managers and were surprised to find out that they already do recycling. They now want to work on how to increase that recycling and asked for information on metrics available or how the City could measure the recycling from the multi-families down to unit levels. The only metrics they currently receive is from the haulers themselves; sometimes the hauler measurements are not always accurate or reliable for various reasons. Mr. McCalib continued by sharing that the City of Mahtomedi has a 98% recycling participation and one of the reasons for that is that they charge all of the residents on a city basis for recycling as part of their contract. They have a single stream hauler for recycling and that contract was just renewed for another five years. So everyone pays for it whether or not they use it. He also stated that he would like to know more about Styrofoam recycling; which he heard about at last year’s joint meeting. Their current recycling hauler does not take Styrofoam and would like to know where that comes from and where to go. Mr. AJ Moses from Oakdale replied that he was the one who brought up the Styrofoam recycling topic last year. Since that time he has visited the City of Coon Rapids and two private companies who do Styrofoam recycling; one of which is Warner’s Stellian. However, Styrofoam recyclers do not take any soiled Styrofoam; i.e. cups or food containers, only packing Styrofoam. The reason is that the Styrofoam gets compressed by the machinery and is shipped overseas where the appliances are manufactured and it gets re-established as light-weight Styrofoam and molded into new packing. He expressed his disappointment that the County was not in attendance as he would like to see them get excited about Styrofoam recycling. - 1 - WASHINGTON COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS JOINT MEETING September 16, 2013 Meeting Ms. Jen Hassebroek mentioned that the City could do some kind of purchasing policy and inform everyone that they would no longer purchase Styrofoam cups. A concern expressed is that compostable cups cost ten times the amount of Styrofoam cups. Another suggestion was to purchase paper cups rather than compostable or Styrofoam. Mr. McCalib was asked where the trash was hauled to. He replied that there are six haulers operating in the City; all operating on the same day; the recyclers go to Wayzata while some of the trash haulers take their trucks to the transfer station, some to Rosemount, and others to landfills. B. OAKDALE Ms. Jen Hassebroek gave a status update of the state solar rebate program and explained that this is important to them because they installed a solar system on their City Hall, which was finished last year. At that time, there were two Xcel Energy rebates available solar awards, and a Made in Minnesota rebate. They would not have been able to install the system without all of these rebates. Last fall, the City approved putting two more systems on the fire station but did not receive rebate funding in 2013. The rebate systems in the state are changing and Ms. Hassebroek listed the positive and negative points of these changes. Incentives being paid out over ten Negative: previous two were either years paid out immediately or over five years – increases the cost to the city Made-in-Minnesota rebate will have Negative: the city takes the risk and Positive: will encourage solar a varied incentive amount puts the investment out there and manufacturers to put out a better (production-based) then if the system does not produce product as anticipated for various reasons, the rebate amount changes, causing uncertainty in the financials Statute states: An owner of a solar Negative: locked in rate over the Positive: want to do a rebate that is photovoltaic [PVC] device receiving term of the 20 years structured around the total value of an alternative tariff rate under this that solar and not just the electrical section must bepaid the same rate value – but the environmental value, per kilowatt-hour generated each security value, and the social value year for the term of the contract – they are recommending a 20 year contract Discussion occurred around how (if possible) to quantify the environmental value of a solar system. Additional information can be found on the Department of Commerce website. Mr. Jim Persoon shared information on the Trillion BTU program, which is available through the St. Paul Port Authority and funded by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and ARRA funds. It is available to all commercial and industrial properties in the Xcel Energy territory. The first part of this program is an energy audit and engineering study which would be done by Xcel. The estimated cost is between $500 and $3,000 and Xcel would cover 75% of that energy audit cost. The audit identifies the project opportunities and the rebates that are potential for the property. The customer gets to choose if the suggested project opportunities are feasible and then they get to choose the project, scope, and the contractors that will save the energy. There is 100% financing available for the project at competitive rates. The loan repayment is structured to have an immediate positive cash flow based on estimated energy savings. - 2 - WASHINGTON COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS JOINT MEETING September 16, 2013 Meeting Ms. Stephanie Wang asked how the city is communicating this program. Ms. Hassebroek replied that it was shared in their newsletter, was presented to the Economic Development Commission, and some direct mail campaigns to the business owners themselves. Mr. Roger Splinter asked if there were any criteria stating that a business has to be a particular size or can an office environment do this as opposed to a manufacturing facility. Ms. Hassebroek relied that it is a very broad program. Ms. Jennifer McLoughlin asked if it was known what the difference is between this program, PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy), and the agreement that was done with the City of Eagan. Ms. Hassebroek replied that she is unsure how they structured the agreement with the City of Eagan. However, there are not a lot of differences; it’s just that the city is not involved at all. Additional discussion occurred around the agreement with the City of Eagan, other questions regarding the Trillion BTU program, and whether or not the cities have or could get a listing of their largest energy users. C. WOODBURY Ms. Stephanie Wang asked the others present how they expand the reach of what they do to actually get things done – businesses, schools, neighbors, churches, etc. She mentioned that the City of Woodbury sends out a survey and she was surprised at the number of responses received.  Do a smaller scale project; consistent programs  Cottage Grove had a booth set up at the Strawberry Festival where they shared brochures and information on what the commission was doing  Cottage Grove Public Works has an open house  Public access television  Facebook connection  Twitter connection  Woodbury Bulletin, newspapers  Website Ms. Caitlin Bergh asked if anyone has seen any negatives in the use of social media. It was noted that there have been some posts that had to be taken down, inadvertently started a dialog that the community watched (lesson learned), and take into consideration that it is not community exclusive. (continued)  Talk to neighbors and fellow citizens – get the community involved  Host a neighborhood discussion and get input on different projects Ms. Karla Bigham asked if any of the cities have hosted an environmental commission specific open house. Mr. McCalib replied that they have a Rite of Spring Annual Event and that the environmental commission is the lead in that. (continued)  Home Improvement Fair where the commission has a table or booth  Booth at the Business Expo  National Nite Out information packet – provide recyclables  Reach out to social clubs, churches, business affiliates, scouts – commissioner speaker Ms. Wang asked the participants what project or activity their commission is excited about.  Woodbury – GreenStep Cities Program (solid waste recycling, environmental purchasing, green streets)  Water conservation – rain barrels, rain gardens, getting people to want to conserve water - 3 - WASHINGTON COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSIONS JOINT MEETING September 16, 2013 Meeting  South Washington County Watershed District is a resource to share with citizens as they will help design and supplement the cost of developing a rain garden; Washington County Master Gardener Program; University of Minnesota Master Gardener Website Mr. Splinter stated that there is a perception that a city has to have two things in order to look nice – green grass and black asphalt driveways – and asked if anyone has made any headway on convincing people that this perception is not necessarily the best.  The used coal tar issue should take care of itself because of a state-wide ban in 2014. There are other driveway sealants that are acceptable.  No headway made on the grass or the watering thereof. However, more and more lawns have some native plantings or rain gardens.  Education is key and it takes patience – it’s alright and normal to let grass go dormant in the hot summer months  Educate councils and staff that an irrigation system on a commercial property does not have to be a requirement. Discussions occurred regarding automatic sprinklers, rain sensors, and issuance of a sprinkler permit being a good educational contact point. D. COTTAGE GROVE Ms. Jen Levitt shared a public service announcement on Get Caught Recycling Program in their middle school. The school’s resource officer ‘catches’ the student recycling and gives them a gift card to a local business (i.e. Jimmy John’s, Starbucks) – creates a positive relationship between the student and the officer. Their next step is to get the high school engaged in the same type of program; has to find principals who are willing to sponsor. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 p.m. - 4 -