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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-05-14 PACKET 06. City of Cottage Grove Environmental Commission Meeting March 12, 2014 A workshop meeting of the Environmental Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 12800 Ravine Parkway South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on Wednesday, February 12, 2014, in the Council Chambers and telecast on Local Government Cable Channel 16. Call to Order Chair Owen called the Environmental Commission meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. Attendees Members Present: Karla Bigham, Ryan Fleming, Rita Isker, Shauna Klug, Thaddeus Owen, Brandon Smith Members Absent: Rosemary Palmer Others Present: Ryan Burfeind, Graduate Engineer Emily Schmitz, Code Enforcement Officer Jen Peterson, City Council Liaison Approval of Agenda Bigham made a motion to approve the agenda. Isker seconded. The motion was ap- proved unanimously (6-to-0 vote). Open Forum None New/Unfinished Business 5.1 Green Award – Review Nominations and Select Winner Schmitz stated that the City only received one nomination for the City’s first Green Award, which was for Werner Electric. She explained that Werner Electric installed solar panels and a wind turbine on their property. They also, internally within their company, do a lot of work with recycling, trash management, and reducing their waste. Bigham stated that this is a good choice. Owen asked for a vote from the Commission on awarding the City of Cottage Grove Green Award to Werner Electric. The motion passed unanimously (6-to-0 vote). Schmitz stated that the award will be presented to Werner Electric on Earth Day, April 22. Breakfast will be provided breakfast for the entire company and the Mayor will present the award. The City Council and Environmental Commission are invited to participate. Environmental Commission Minutes March 12, 2014 Page 2 of 4 Klug asked if there were any nominations for the residential award. Owen responded there was not. The Commission will work to publicize this award program better for next year’s award. Klug suggested a press release on the award to Werner Electric to help generate more interest for next year. 5.2 Waste Prevention: A UK Consumer Perspective Owen stated that over the last three to four years, there has been a series of webinars every month, called “Sustainable Consumption” with a number of speakers from all over the world talk- ing about different aspects of sustainable consumption. A month ago the presentation focused on waste and waste prevention, recycling, how to prevent waste, and a couple perspectives from the State of Oregon and the UK on what they are doing to minimize waste. He provided information from the Oregon presentation. The State of Oregon was working on a waste minimization project and published a paper called “Materials Management in Oregon 2050 Vision Framework for Action,” which is available on the U.S. EPA website. The studies they conducted included life cycle assessments, carbon footprint, weight measures of waste minimization, and dollar variation of efforts. They concluded that in general focusing on recycling or green/sustainable procurement tends to create more waste, because consumption remains the same but people don’t feel guilty about it because purchasing was done in a sustainable manner and it will be recycled. Food composting, bulk item re-use, and light weight in packaging for commercial products were the three areas their studies show would reduce or minimize waste the greatest. Food composting could reduce waste weight by almost 40 percent in their state. He noted that he did a study through the MPCA from an EPA grant on reducing packaging by utilizing re-usable plastic totes to ship all products from a major office supplier to the State. Instead of shipping products in cardboard boxes, plastic totes are utilized and returned to the company. Other advice from the Oregon study includes facilitate conditions and situational fac- tors versus using direct outreach and partnering with manufacturers or people who create products that are used. Owen received permission to use the UK presentation and provided a summary to the Com- mission. Bigham stated that reusing shopping bags has a huge impact, noting that retailers have started programs for recycling bags and organizations are giving out reusable bags to encourage it. Isker asked if any suggestions were given on identifying sources to fund incentive programs. Owen stated that was not mentioned in the presentation but he believes that the consulting firm who put together the presentation or the U.S. EPA may have information. There was a sugges- tion to sell the shopping bags that were handed out at the Strawberry Festival at various stores in the city and use the money towards environmental programs, and to track if there is a reduc- tion in the amount of plastic bags that each store purchases. Owen stated that the key is to get the right type of material and bag so it will last and people will want to reuse it. He noted that a bag that is reused every week for eight or nine months does not offset the cost to produce that reusable bag. Approval of Environmental Commission Minutes from February 12, 2014 Fleming made a motion to approve the minutes from the minutes from the February 12, 2014, Environmental Commission meetings. Bigham seconded. Motion passed unani- mously (6-to-0 vote). Environmental Commission Minutes March 12, 2014 Page 3 of 4 Reports 7.1 City Council Update Peterson congratulated Owen on his reappointment as Chair of the Environmental Commission. She reported that at the February 6 City Council meeting, the Council approved adding two youth seats to the Environmental Commission. At the February 19 City Council meeting, the Council reappointed Fleming and Palmer to the Commission for terms ending on February 29, 2016. At that meeting, the Council approved agreements between the South Washington Watershed District and the City of Cottage Grove related primarily to East Ravine stormwater issues. She announced that Walmart opened today and suggested that Commissioners spend some time there looking at the environmentally-friendly building, such as the many skylights in the ceiling that provide natural light. Peterson reminded the Commission about the All Commis- sion Meeting on Saturday, March 29, and the Annual Volunteer Dinner on Tuesday, April 22. 7.2 Response to Commission Inquiries None 7.3 Environmental Commission Comments and Requests Fleming asked if the terms for the youth seats are two years. Owen responded yes. He asked if those seats have been advertised yet. Schmitz responded that the City’s Communications Specialist will be posting information on the City’s social media sites and publicizing it through the School District. 7.4 Annual Meeting Accept Environmental Commission Bylaws: Owen asked if there were any suggestions for changes to the Commission Bylaws. Peterson suggested that the two youth seats should be referenced in D, Membership, 1) Number and Term, so it would be in agreement with the City ordinance. Schmitz pointed out that the lan- guage is generalized and there is nothing the bylaws that would not allow for the two youth seats. Bigham stated that the reason to keep it general is if the two youth seats could not be filled. Owen suggested that it could read “two of the seats may be filled by youth members.” Schmitz stated that staff would make the change and bring the bylaws back for a vote at the next Commission meeting. Isker asked if the term limits are based on the signing of the bylaws or the formation of the Commission. Owen believes it is from when the Commissioner was appointed, noting that the bylaws are being renewed and not created. Election of Officers: Owen asked if there were any nominations for Vice Chair. Isker nominated Bigham for Vice Chair. Bigham declined the nomination. Bigham nominated Klug for Vice Chair. There were no other nominations. Motion passed unanimously (6-to-0 vote). Owen asked if there were any nominations for Secretary. Owen nominated Fleming as Secre- tary. Bigham seconded. There were no other nominations for Secretary. Motion passed unanimously (6-to-0 vote). Environmental Commission Minutes March 12, 2014 Page 4 of 4 Adjournment Isker made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Klug seconded. Motion passed unanimously (6-to-0 vote). The meeting adjourned at 7:47 p.m.