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05/16/2000 - 00008233CITY OF FRIDLEY ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING MAY 16, 2000 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Johns called the May 16, 2000, meeting to order at 7:34 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Barbara Jones, Rich Svanda, Pete Panchyshyn, Jack Velin Members Absent: Rosalie Landt, Michelle Maher Others Present: Julie Jones, Recycling Coordinator APPROVAL OF APRIL 18, 2000, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Mr. Panchyshyn, seconded by Mr. Svanda, to approve the April 18, 2000, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission minutes. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON JOHNS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. NEW BUSINESS: a. Commission Openings Ms. Jones stated that Rosalie Landt submitted her resignation to the City Manager that day. Ms. Landt has volunteered to attempt to attend meetings until a replacement can be found. Ms. Jones stated an applicant for Brad Sielaff's vacancy is being considered by the City Council on May 22. b. Antifreeze Poisoning Ms. Jones stated Ms. Landt asked staff to relay a concern to the Commission which revolves around the recent loss of her dog to antifreeze poisoning. She wanted to notify the Commission about the danger of people using antifreeze to poison pests like squirrels and chipmunks. She requested the Commission's input on how best to educate the public about this problem. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 16. 2000 PAGE 2 Mr. Svanda questioned if a City ordinance would be beneficial to prevent the practice of using antifreeze to poison animals, because it is a hazard to children also. Ms. Jones questioned if other cities have ordinances banning the open storage of antifreeze. Ms. Jones agreed that staff needs to obtain more information. She stated she would be willing to work with the Community Service Officer to draft a press release to the Focus News. It may also be possible to submit an educational article for the fall 2000 City newsletter. Mr. Svanda questioned if there is already an ordinance on the books regarding the irresponsible storage of antifreeze as a nuisance. The Commission members concluded that more information was needed. They expressed interest in discussing this issue further at the next meeting. c. Review Superfund Site/Rail Transportation Information Ms. Jones asked if there were any additional questions regarding the Light and Commuter Rail information. She also asked if the Commission was interested in being involved in the review of the "station area plan" and necessary "environmental reviews". The Commission members expressed a definite interest in being involved in both the station plan review and the environmental reviews. They also expressed concern that the environmental reviews also include information about possible impacts to the Nature Center. The Commission members discussed the seven Superfund sites in Fridley and how these sites relate to the TCE contamination at the Commons Park wells. Ms. Jones clarified what the scoring on each site meant. No further information was requested about the sites at this time. d. Update on Status of Tree Zoning Text Amendment and Tree Sale Plans for 2001 ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 16. 2000 PAGE 3 Ms. Jones reported that the Planning Commission held the public hearing about the tree preservation zoning text amendment proposed on May 3. The zoning text amendment was approved in concept and forwarded to the City Council. The Planning Commission requested staff to reconsider where the amendments should appear in code. Staff is maintaining its recommendation for placing the tree preservation requirements in the subdivision application portion of the code since placing the requirements in Section 205 would trigger the requirements when someone is adding onto his/her existing property. Another area of concern is the possibility of someone clear-cutting a lot prior to applying for the subdivision as an attempt to escape the tree replacement requirements. Staff, however, believes that this problem can be rectified by placing stipulations for tree replacement in the subdivision-approval requirements. Ms. Jones stated the City Council is scheduled to conduct the first reading of the zoning text amendment on May 22. The second reading would likely occur June 5. Ms. Johns questioned what is happening with plans for a tree sale in 2001. Ms. Jones stated that Rosie Griep in the Police Department is applying for Wal-Mart grant funds. It is planned that if grant funds are received, they would be combined with Project Impact funds for the use of underwriting the cost of trees in a 2001 tree sale project. Ms. Johns asked if additional discounts could be offered to people who lose a tree in a storm. Ms. Jones stated that staff has considered that but has not concluded how to carry out such an effort, because they cannot predict if Fridley will be hit by a storm next year. e. Review Staff Report on Recycling at Mobile Home Parks Ms. Jones reported that a two-week recycling participation survey at the City's two mobile home parks revealed only a 4-25% weekly participation level, which is far short of the City's current average of 55%. She further reported the mobile home park residents receive the same amount of information about recycling as other residents in the community. She did explain, however, the difficulties in placing materials out for collection at Fridley Terrace. She believed these difficulties have likely led to missed collection problems, resulting in a lack of participation. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 16. 2000 PAGE 4 Several Commission members questioned if education is difficult due to the transient nature of the mobile home park residents. Ms. Jones explained her concerns about the large amount of corrugated cardboard that is not being recycled. She stated that many households cannot fit all their trash into the garbage cans and are placing additional containers out for collection. Ms. Jones welcomed the Commission's suggestions on how to educate the mobile home residents about the City's recycling program. She noted that these two parks represent 5% of the households serviced by recycling, which has a significant impact on the City's ability to meet its goals. The suggestion was made to have staff approach the owners of both mobile home parks and volunteer to draft a recycling article for their resident newsletters as an attempt to boost recycling. 2. OLD BUSINESS a. Finalize Plans for 49'er Days Parade & Consider Cancellation of June Meeting Ms. Jones reported that she has been informed that line-up for the parade will begin at 5:00 p.m. on June 15 and that the parade runs from 6:30- 8:30 p.m. The BFI recycling parade truck and the OEA Reducemobile are both scheduled to be part of the EQE Commission's parade unit. One golf cart has been reserved for the Commission's use. The Commission members are asked to wear their BFI shirts from last year's parade. Ms. Jones stated she has about 500 soybean crayon packs left over from the Earth Day event at the Springbrook Nature Center and 1,500 magnets on order. She decided against ordering the rulers due to a poor experience with the company last month. Ms. Jones stated she would call or mail each Commission member regarding parade line-up details a few days prior to the parade. Staff suggested that the Commission cancel the regular June meeting since there is no pressing business and because it is so close to the parade date. MOTION by Mr. Velin, seconded by Mr. Svanda, to participate in the ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 16. 2000 PAGE 5 49'ers Day parade in lieu of the June meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON JOHNS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. b. Continued Discussion of Deconstruction Opportunities with City-Owned Buildings Ms. Johns reported that she has not yet spoken to the HRA Housing Coordinator, and she would like to do that before the Commission discusses the topic. Ms. Jones reported that she has been attempting to gather information, but has found no other municipal examples of deconstruction policies or contracts. She did, however, secure a copy of Hennepin County's contract with the Green Institute. She stated she would be contacting the Green Institute to gain more information for the next meeting. Further discussion was postponed until the July meeting. c. Update on May 13 Monthly Drop-Off Ms. Jones reported that participation on May 13 was improved from April; however, she had hoped for more material to be dropped off. She was unsure if the fact that it was Mothers' Day and Fishing Opener weekend had any effect on the turn-out. She had received very few calls in response to the mailing. Ms. Jones stated another article about electronics recycling is scheduled for the June City newsletter issue. 3. OTHER BUSINESS: a. Update on Springbrook CWP Project Ms. Jones reported that she is concentrating her efforts on combining the consultant's work into the shell of the final report on the CWP project. She stated she is hoping to schedule a committee meeting to be held soon after Memorial Day, giving people at least two weeks to review the draft report. She stated the consultant came up with some valid recommendations that will not be very costly for the SCWMO to implement. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES MAY 16, 2000 PAGE 6 b. Update on Wellhead Protection Ms. Jones reported that she had no new information on the drafting of the Wellhead Protection Plan. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Velin, seconded by Mr. Panchyshyn, to adjourn the May 16, 2000, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON JOHNS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MAY 16, 2000, MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Julie A. Jones Staff Liaison