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11/16/1999 - 00002341CITY OF FRIDLEY ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING NOVEMBER 16, 1999 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Sielaff called the November 16, 1999, meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Brad Sielaff, Rich Svanda, Jack Velin, Peter Panchyshyn, Barbara Johns, Michelle Maher Members Absent: Rosalie Landt Others Present: Julie Jones, Recycling Coordinator APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 19, 1999, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Mr. Velin, seconded by Ms. Johns, to approve the October 19, 1999, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission minutes as written. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIELAFF DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. NEW BUSINESS: a. Review Comprehensive Plan Draft Ms. Jones explained that Barbara Dacy, Community Development Director, is giving the advisory commissions an opportunity to comment on the Comprehensive Plan process. Portions of the draft plan were included in the meeting packet. She explained that this is only the first of many opportunities to review the plan, including the particular sections included in the packet. Ms. Dacy also wanted to extend an invitation to all Commission members to attend the November 18, 1999, open house where the consultant will be making a presentation and there will be an opportunity to provide feedback. Mr. Svanda stated that there should be some mention on page 15 of the Redevelopment Site 2 section that environmental contamination problems need to be addressed. Mr. Panchyshyn pointed out that clean-up of environmental problems is ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES November 16. 1999 PAGE 2 mentioned in that section. Mr. Sielaff stated he was concerned that Redevelopment Site 4 would likely also have environmental contamination issues. Mr. Svanda suggested adding a statement to the redevelopment section stating that any redevelopment must include an environmental assessment to identify areas of potential environmental concern and to require appropriate corrective environmental action, if necessary. Mr. Sielaff stated he would like to see promotion and protection of green spaces added to the Future Land Use Policies section on page 19. He also saw a need to add language in the same section regarding preservation and protection of wetlands. b. Report on Fall 1999 RAM/SWANA Ms. Jones reported on some of the interesting sections that she attended at the Fall RAM/SWANA conference on October 28, 1999. (Ms. Maher arrived at the meeting during this discussion.) Mr. Sielaff inentioned that there was an article in the Wall Street Journal on beer being produced in plastic bottles and how it is expected to negatively impact plastic recycling. He requested staff to attempt to locate the article and put a copy in the next meeting packet. 2. OLD BUSINESS a. Review 1999 Citizen Survey Results Ms. Jones reported that public satisfaction with the City's various recycling programs appears to be very high based on the 1999 citizen survey. The Commission members agreed that there did not seem to be a need to change the existing programs since satisfaction is so high. Ms. Johns questioned if it would be possible to get respondent age data on the recycling questions. Ms. Jones stated she would check to see if that information is available. b. Discussion of California Recyclinq Study ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES November 16. 1999 PAGE 3 Ms. Jones reported that she has not received a copy of the study, even though she requested it several weeks ago. c. Discussion on Recyclinq at Mobile Home Parks Ms. Jones thanked the Commission for raising questions about recycling at mobile home parks. A serious mistake was discovered and corrected because of the Commission's questions. It was discovered that residents living in mobile home parks have never been charged for recycling service, nor had the City been paying its contractors for that service, even though it has been provided for many years. This mistake will be corrected as of the first of the year. Ms. Jones also reported that Fridley Terrace Mobile Home Park management has been delivered some recycling bins, which they will be promoting to their residents through their newsletter at the end of the month. 3. OTHER BUSINESS a. Update on Sprinqbrook CWP Proiect Ms. Jones confessed that she has not had much time to work on the CWP project in the past month. Options for moving forward with the project were discussed. b. Update on Wellhead Protection Ms. Jones stated that she had no new information on the progress of the Wellhead Protection Plan. Mr. Velin stated that one of his neighbors recently experienced problems with muddy tap water. The cause has been undetermined. Ms. Jones stated that she thought the City had a water quality report posted on the City's web site. c. Discussion of December Meetinq Aqenda Ms. Jones reported that besides the Smart Growth presentation, the December meeting agenda may include an item on establishing a tree preservation ordinance in Fridley. She explained that the City Council has passed this item on to the Commission for study. If the December agenda is too long, however, the tree preservation discussion may be delayed until January. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES November 16. 1999 PAGE 4 d. Staff Report on Electronics Drop-off Event Ms. Jones reported that participation at the November 13, 1999, drop-off day was overwhelming. She expected that tonnage of material collected that day alone would surpass her projections for all eight drop off days combined. There were 259 vehicles that brought in electronic items, but an overall count was not taken. Reports on weights from the various vendors will likely not be in for several weeks. Mr. Sielaff requested a report on the electronics collection at the December meeting if numbers are available. e. Approve 1999 Commission Meetinq Dates MOTION by Mr. Svanda, seconded by Mr. Velin, to approve the 2000 meeting dates as presented by staff. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIELAFF DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1999 Workplan Ms. Jones distributed an update of the 1999 workplan. Due to the late hour, the Commission members decided that any concerns could be discussed at the next meeting. Mr. Velin suggested that work on the 2000 workplan be on the December meeting agenda. g. GRE Tour Ms. Jones stated that she had the opportunity on November 15 to tour the Elk River RDF plant and the Great River Energy (formerly UPA) Power Plant where Anoka County's garbage is processed and burned to generate electricity. She highly recommended that the Commission tour these facilities in the future. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Svanda, seconded by Mr. Velin, to adjourn the November 16, 1999, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission meeting. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES November 16. 1999 PAGE 5 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIELAFF DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE NOVEMBER 16, 1999, MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:16 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Julie A. Jones Staff Liaison