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EQEM 06/06/2017 ENVIRONMENTALQUALITYANDENERGYCOMMISSION FridleyMunicipalCenter,6431UniversityAveNe MINUTES WǒƓĻЏͲЋЉЊАͲАʹЉЉƦ͵ƒ͵ Location: City Hall, Conference Room A (Main Level, City Hall) Call to Order Chair Hansen called the meeting to order at 7:01pm. Members present: Mark Hansen, Justin Foell, Heidi Ferris, Nick Olberding, and Kyle Mulrooney. Staff present: Julie Jones, Planning Manager. Absent: Paul Westby and Sam Stoxen. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Olberding moved to approve the May 2, 2017 meeting minutes as written. Commissioner Mulrooney seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. New Business Environmental Planner Opening 1). Julie Jones reported that staff just completed all the background checks this afternoon and officially offered the job to the top candidate. She explained that it was a lengthy process due to the fact that there were three top candidates out of the six staff initially interviewed that were very close in scoring, so staff decided to interview those top three candidates a second time. Assuming the top candidate accepts, she said she thinks the Commission will be pleased with the City’s decision as this person is highly qualified with a Master’s Degree from Duke University, has spent three years in the Peace Corp in Peru, is well versed in the Spanish language, and has storm water management experience, working with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District. Ms. Jones was sure the new Environmental Planner will be on board in time for the next EQE Commission meeting. Election of Officers 2). Chair Hansen said he is okay with continuing to serve as Chair, which also involves serving on the Planning Commission, which involves another meeting each month, but he is enjoying serving on the Planning Commission. Justin Foell asked if anyone else wanted to serve as Vice Chair as he wanted to give someone else the opportunity if they wanted it. Nick Olberding volunteered to serve as Vice Chair. Julie Jones clarified that this does not involve filling in for the Chair at Planning Commission meetings when the Chair is absent. That practice was done in error in the past. Commissioner Foell nominated Mark Hansen for the position of Chair. Commissioner Ferris seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Commissioner Mulrooney nominated Nick Olberding to the position of Vice Chair. Commissioner Ferris seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. Tree Steward Workshop 3). Julie Jones distributed a flyer for the June 10 Tree Steward Workshop that all commission members are invited to attend. Those who had done the workshop last year explained what it covered and encouraged others to attend. Ms. Jones said the new Environmental Planner is planning to attend, as well. Chair Hansen asked if this event, like the past Arbor Day event, helps the City qualify to be a Tree City USA. Ms. Jones said she thought the workshop is a requirement of the DNR grant and admitted she is not sure where the City stands in meeting the current Tree City USA qualification requirements. June 1 Tree Planting Recap 4). Commissioner Mulrooney reported that 20 of his fellow BMO Harris rd Avenue June 1. The event went well and he was surprised at how employees planted 57 trees along 73 quickly they got everything done. Having the holes pre-drilled made a big difference. Commissioner Ferris said the boulevard area looks great now. June 16 SRTS Event. 5) Julie Jones distributed a postcard, showing how the City is notifying 360 thst Street from 61 households to join a public event designed to get input on proposed improvements to 7 rd Avenue to 53 Avenue. She explained that the City Council wanted to know there was general public support for the concepts included in the Fridley Safe Routes to Schools Plan that they are being asked to approve before that grant project ends the end of June. The commission members voiced support for the effort the City is putting into making this a fun event to attract participants to attend. June 17 49ers Day Events. 6) Julie Jones explained that she was not planning to collect organics at the one-day 49ers Day events. She had talked to Recreation staff, and with the scaled back events, it did not seem worthwhile to attempt that this year. Instead, she was hoping to take advantage of the parade crowd to obtain feedback for the 2040 Comprehensive Plan update. Chair Hansen volunteered to help with that effort if she needed help. Green Expo Update. 7) Julie Jones explained that the City of Coon Rapids has decided to go back to hosting their own event as they were not getting enough assistance from the City of Blaine and the National Sports Center staff in creating a successful event. In addition, if other partners want to carry on with their own event, we were requested to not use the “Green Expo” name. Chair Hansen explained that Coon Rapids initiated the Green Expo event concept and used to host it in Coon Rapids, but they outgrew their location, and that is how it got moved to the National Sports Center. Ms. Jones said she had approached her counterpart in Coon Rapids about partnering with Fridley and holding the event at Springbrook Nature Center. She had also suggested this idea to the SNC Director, suggesting that the event that 4-H has held at SNC could be incorporated, along with Arbor Day activities, into one larger event. She said she thinks the City staff from various departments and EQE Commission needs to combine activities together to try and get a better draw from multiple interest groups. Commissioner Ferris provided information on contacts she had for other events and groups, including some she got by attending the April 5 Green Step Cities workshop. Commissioner Olberding suggested partnering with Columbia Heights, because the new Mayor is interested in environmental activities. It was concluded that this is something to work on in the months ahead. Bike and Hike Event 8). Chair Hansen and Commissioner Foell reported that about a dozen residents attended the event on June 3. The turnout was disappointing in light of all the advertising that was done with the elementary schools. They said the Mayor did a great job and was very knowledgeable about Springbrook Nature Center. They thought it would be great if the annual event could be called a “Bike with the Mayor” event. Commissioner Foell suggested getting out thank you notes right away. There was discussion on how to better promote the event. There was a comment that Springbrook was a good start and end point for the event. Potential locations for next year were discussed. Chair Hansen pointed out that they need to make sure the selected start point location has a restroom next year. Old Business May 6 Recycling Day 1). Julie Jones reported that over 600 cars came through the May 6 Recycling Drop Off event at the Public Works Garage in four hours. She did not have weights to report yet, however. May 20 Town Hall Meeting 2). Julie Jones reported that City staff had a great turnout for the Town Hall meeting. Some very valuable feedback was obtained about barriers to accessing the River, transportation safety concerns, and potential redevelopment areas. Tree Planting Events 3). Julie Jones reported that besides the BMO Harris Group, a group of volunteers from Medtronic planted about 70 trees in the Hyde Park neighborhood on May 9. Other Code Enforcement Case 1). Commissioner Ferris explained her experience dealing with the reaction to the Hügelbed she created in her front yard. The bed involves burying wood waste and is a way to use decaying plat material to absorb storm water ant provide fertile soil for gardening. One of her neighbors complained, so the City had to inspect and send her a letter. Her entire neighborhood is upset by someone anonymously sending letters asking for minor code violations to be corrected besides complaining to the City. This frustrated Commissioner Ferris as she had talked to her neighbors before building the bed, and they were okay with it. She felt the City should change its code to recognize new concepts like the Hügelbed. Julie Jones explained that staff is required to inspect when they receive a complaint, so these types of cases, while not health/safety concerns, do consume a lot of staff time. She said that the City Council looks to the EQE Commission to provide guidance on needed code changes, but there may be bigger policy discussions that need to occur. For example, she said, staff was just discussing code requirements for parking and its impacts to storm water runoff this morning. Commissioner Ferris suggested reviewing outdated code on sustainability topics such as Hügelbeds, beekeeping, salt/sand use, etc., cross-checking these policies with the Green Step Cities plan for sustainability. Next Meeting 2). Julie Jones asked if the Commission normally met during the summer months. Chair Hansen said yes the Commission has and plans to meet continuously. It was decided to add the topic of potential policy discussions for updates to the Comprehensive Plan for the City. Adjournment Commissioner Olberding moved to adjourn the meeting and Justin Foell seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned at 8:56 p.m.