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12/13/2005 - 00028029�-�� CITY OF FRIDLEY ����� ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING F���-� DECEMBER 13, 2005 C � L' \ � � C � Z � ] :7 � ] � :7 i Chairperson Johns called the December 13, 2005, meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Del Jenkins Anne Andrews, Barb Johns, Paul Westby, Rich Svanda Members Absent: Jack Velin Others Present: Rachel Harris, Environmental Planner John Healy, Intern, Anoka County Integrated Waste Management APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 18, 2005, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Commissioner Westby, seconded by Commissioner Jenkins to approve the October 18, 2005, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission minutes. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON JOHNS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW BUSINESS Multi-Unit Recycling in Fridley Ms. Johns introduced tonight's guest speaker. John Healy, an intern with Anoka County Integrated Waste Management, has worked over the past five (5) months to inventory the recycling rates at apartment buildings in Anoka County. He has worked with Ms. Harris to determine the level of participation and contamination at Fridley's apartments. He presented his findings to the Commission members. Mr. Healy surveyed the number of recycling at apartment buildings, placement of the recycling carts on the property and level of contamination in recycling carts. He gathered data and compiled a spreadsheet for each address. Hr. Healy observed that the data he collected on the recycling rates proved useful when Ms. Harris asked for his help in determining which of the recycling haulers had not reported their share of tonnage. He also worked with building managers to educate tenants about proper sorting and proper placement of recycling carts. When creating educational materials, Mr. Healy adopted the format of the Fridley Apartment Recycling brochure. Other cities in Anoka County liked the format so much that they wanted it for their own city. Anoka County also plans to print enough copies of the Apartment Recycling brochure for each municipality. Mr. Healy noted that every building, except for one, offered recycling service to tenants. To educate tenants, he labeled recycling carts that were without labels and he developed posters explaining sorting. Education pieces have been distributed to 50 percent of these buildings. Anoka County has plans to order and distribute small, narrow recycling buckets with handles to each building. The hope is that these buckets will make recycling easier for tenants and they will be more likely to recycle. Mr. Healy summarized his work. Fridley has already established a great program. Fridley is unique compared to other Anoka County municipalities in that the City has passed an ordinance requiring recycling at buildings with five (5) or more units. This requirement may explain why Fridley has the highest apartment recycling rate compared to other cities in Anoka County. He thought the ordinance is something that Commission members can be proud of adopting. He plans to continue working on increasing apartment recycling participation and reducing cart contamination. Ms. Johns asked if any other cities in Anoka County are working to adopt a similar ordinance. Mr. Healy said that Coon Rapids was interested in adopting an ordinance. Ms. Harris said that the Coon Rapids Recycling Coordinator contacted her a few weeks ago to request a copy of the ordinance. Revise 2006 Meeting Calendar (Discussion) Chairperson Johns introduced the revised 2006 Meeting Calendar Schedule. She asked for comments about the dates. Hearing none she asked for a motion to approve the 2006 Meeting Calendar. MOTION by Commissioner Mr. Svanda, seconded by Commissioner Mr. Jenkins to approve the revised 2006 Meeting Calendar. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, Chairperson Johns declared the motion carried unanimously. Create list 2006 Environmental Essentials (Discussion) Ms. Johns invited Commission members to share their topic ideas for the 2006 Environmental Essentials. Mr. Jenkins: Tree lights. Get people to consider LED lights instead of incandescent bulbs. Mr. Westby: Water quality. 1.) Drainage into the Mississippi River. 2.) Drinking water and lead levels. Mr. Westby: Reuse rainwater. Use a rain barrel to collect roof runoff. Mr. Svanda: Storm water health. Focus on effect of leaves/grass in storm sewer. Ms. Johns and Mr. Svanda: Decrease velocity (velocity contributes to erosion) and increase filtration of water runoff by directing gutters to discharge on to pervious surface instead of a parking lot. Ms. Andrews and Mr. Svanda: Energy efficiency. Reduce energy costs by using compact fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs are inefficient compared to fluorescent bulbs. Ms. Johns: Solar energy. Use solar energy to provide power for exterior lighting. Mr. Jenkins: Plant shade trees. Benefits include improved air quality and reduced energy bill. Mr. Westby: Encourage preservation of open space. Use native plantings to return open space to natural habitat. Ms. Andrews suggested that the Environmental Essentials include statistics. She has learned that people identify with statistics because it gives the reader something concrete to measure their own performance. Ms. Johns: Remodeling your older home? You may have lead-based paint on the wall. Ms. Harris added: Use a lead testing kit to find out. Ms. Harris asked the commission members to recommend a topic for the February newsletter. The Commission reached a consensus about the need to further provide cost saving energy tips. They would like to educate people about choosing compact fluorescent bulbs over incandescent bulbs. OLD BUSINESS Design Web Page about Energy for Fridley's Web Site (Discussion) Ms. Johns reintroduced the item that was postponed from the October 18th EQEC meeting. Ms. Harris presented a draft of the web page design that was presented at the October 18th EQE meeting. Ms. Johns asked for any input about modifications to the proposed energy tips web page. Mr. Svanda acknowledged the thorough research performed by Ms. Harris. He thought the draft looked good as presented. He had no further comment. Ms. Johns asked how frequently the page would be updated. Ms. Harris replied as often as needed. Ms. Johns asked if Ms. Harris is the person who updates the Community Development Department's web pages. Ms. Harris said that she maintains the recycling pages. Mr. Westby suggested adding water quality resources to the web page. Ms. Harris replied that she thinks adding information about water quality is useful. But, she didn't know how it would fit into this page designed for energy tips. Mr. Westby offered that a place would be made for water quality information when the topic was important enough. Ms. Johns introduced the idea of advertising the new Energy Tips web page in an Environmental Essential. Ms. Svanda, Ms. Andrews, Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Westby thought this was a good idea. Service Exchange Fund Update (Verbal Update) Ms. Harris reported on the Service Exchange Fund status. At the November 14th Council work session, the Council approved funding for seven projects totaling $73,400. However, there is a problem administering the funds. So far, Ms. Harris has not been able to administer any of the projects that the Council approved. BFI/Allied Waste is bound to following generally accepted accounting principles. Their finance department is limited to paying the funds directly to the City of Fridley. Therefore, BFI cannot, on behalf of the City of Fridley, write a check to pay a third party for printing costs or signage or electronic recycling. Ms. Harris continued. Accepting cash to pay for additional recycling services greatly complicates the administration of the Service Exchange Fund. If Fridley accepts the payout, it will show up as revenue in the Solid Waste Abatement Program (SWAP) fund. Additional revenue, when not spent within the calendar year, will reduce the SCORE grant dollar for dollar. Then, Fridley residents will not receive services for the money they have paid in taxes. Staff is considering approaching the County to see if the SCORE grant policy could be altered. Ms. Johns, Mr. Svanda and Ms. Andrews suggested that the administration problem lies with BFI/Allied Waste. And that during the contract negotiations BFI/Allied Waste implied that they would pay for educational literature, recycling services. Ms. Harris replied yes, that was her initial perception of the contract. But, the contract states that the Service Exchange Fund can be used 1) in exchange for recycling services (that BFI can supply); 2) as a cash payout; or 3) toward payment on the existing service curbside recycling bills. Nowhere does the contract state that BFI/Allied Waste would pay a third party vendor for recycling services on behalf of the City. Ms. Harris added that staff will continue to hold meetings to determine the best outcome. Environmental Quality and Energy Commission Vacancy Ms. Harris reported to Commission members that the Council interviewed persons for the open EQE Commission seat on December 12th. They selected Martina Nelson from the pool of candidates. She is tentatively scheduled to be appointed at the next Council meeting on Tuesday, January 10, 2006. Ms. Nelson will join the Commission in January. OTHER BUSINESS Medical Waste Reports Ms. Harris distributed the Anoka County Medical Waste report from the months of October and November. Ms. Andrews and Ms. Johns noted that there were no issues to report. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Mr. Jenkins, seconded by Mr. Svanda, to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON JOHNS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE DECEMBER 13, 2005, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:08 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Rachel A. Harris Environmental Planner and Staff Liaison