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04/20/1999 - 00002318CITY OF FRIDLEY ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING APRIL 20, 1999 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Sielaff called the April 20, 1999, meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Brad Sielaff, Rich Svanda, Peter Panchyshyn, Rosalie Landt, Michelle Maher, Barbara Johns Members Absent: Jack Velin Others Present: Julie Jones, Recycling Coordinator APPROVAL OF MARCH 16, 1999, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Mr. Panchyshyn, seconded by Mr. Svanda, to approve the March 16, 1999, Environmental Quality & Energy Commission minutes as written. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIELAFF DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. NEW BUSINESS: a. Welcome New Commission Members: Michelle Maher & Barbara Johns Mr. Sielaff welcomed the two new Commission members and asked them to explain why they were interested in the Environmental Quality & Energy Commission. Ms. Maher stated that she was a long time resident of Fridley, living in Ward 3. Ms. Johnson explained that she has been a Fridley resident for 4'/ years. She stated she enjoys nature and wanted to have an opportunity to improve the community for her two small children. Mr. Sielaff explained that the Commission advises the City Council on environmental matters. b. Discuss Plans for June, July, and August Meetings Ms. Jones stated that the City is hoping to hire a summer intern to cover her position on a part-time basis during June, July, and August while she is on maternity leave. She warned that it is a possibility that a suitable candidate may ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 20, 1999 PAGE 2 not be found, or that the intern may not be able to work evenings. She explained that there does not appear to be any urgent agenda items on the horizon unless the Comprehensive Plan becomes ready for review. Ms. Landt asked if the Commission could record its own meeting minutes. Ms. Jones stated she would need to verify how this could be handled. Mr. Sielaff stated he believed it was reasonable to skip the June meeting since the Commission will be in the parade, but he would like to meet in July. There was general agreement among the Commission members that three months was too long to go without a meeting. 2. OLD BUSINESS: a. Update on Commission Letter Regarding BFI's Mobius0 Curriculum Ms. Jones stated that the letter to the schools regarding the Mobius curriculum in the meeting packet was sent out last week. So far, only one response has been received from one of the Columbia Heights District schools. Since the last meeting, she discovered that the Springbrook Nature Center has a much more comprehensive environmental curriculum program that the Fridley elementary schools pay the City to provide. Several Commission members believed the Mobius Program should be used to supplement Springbrook's curriculum. Ms. Jones stated that she believed that would be inappropriate since Springbrook's curriculum is much more comprehensive and is already covering the material the Mobius curriculum covers. The Commission members agreed to wait to see what the response is to the letter. Ms. Maher suggested that BFI be approached about developing a shortened curriculum for K-2 grades because those kids are being missed in the system. Mr. Sielaff suggested that the City approach the Mobius project intern about this idea. Ms. Jones warned that Jennifer Schol's position is a part-time internship, and her position could be cut during the merger this fall. She further explained that the Springbrook Nature Center staff's curriculum is directed at grades K-12. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 20, 1999 PAGE 3 The Commission members decided that staff should ask Jennifer Schol to follow up with telephone calls to the schools to attempt to find out why they have not responded. c. Report on First Monthly Recycling Drop-off Day on April 10 Ms. Jones reported that most vendors have not yet reported weights of materials collected, and that turnout was very light since the City newsletter, announcing the drop-off days, was delivered to most Fridley homes after April 10. The vendors who have reported have reported a minimal amount of material collected. Ms. Sielaff asked how future drop-off days are being publicized. Ms. Jones stated that there are no other promotions planned for the rest of the collections. The Commission member discussed other promotion opportunities. Ms. Jones stated she would have more useful information available at the next meeting following the May 8 collection. d. Review City Curbside Recycling Survey Ms. Jones summarized the results she had thus far on successful curbside recycling programs in other counties across the metro area. A copy of the chart was distributed. She stated attempts were made to analyze correlation under certain categories. There appeared to be a correlation between household income and same day refuse/recycling collection and higher pounds/household. She warned that the information is not yet complete and the Commission should wait until the next meeting before drawing any conclusions. Ms. Landt suggested that Blaine and Coon Rapids be added to the survey as more comparable communities related to median income range. Ms. Jones questioned if the Commission then wants to change the intent of the survey from only looking at the cities with the top recycling efforts. Mr. Sielaff agreed that it would be best to attempt to get more Anoka County city information for comparison purposes. Ms. Jones asked what the Commission wants to do as the next step in conducting a waste management fact-finding study so she can fit it into the ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 20, 1999 PAGE 4 recycling intern's work plan, if needed. The Commission gave no direction regarding the next step in the study. Ms. Jones reminded the Commission that they need to start thinking about possible questions for the fall 1999 citizens' survey if they want that to be part of the study. The Commission members discussed the previous survey's questions. Mr. Svanda suggested including copies of last year's survey questions in the next meeting packet for background information. e. Update on Plans for 49'ers Day Parade Ms. Jones asked who should be the contact person for parade information in her absence. The Commission members agreed to ask Jack Velin to be the contact person. Ms. Jones stated that the recycled denim pencils have been ordered for handouts to supplement the recycling information refrigerator magnets already available. She needed to clarify what the Commission wanted to do about banners and t-shirts that BFI has agreed to provide. The Commission members decided to use the BFI shirts and add the Fridley logo with the words "City of Fridley". Ms. Jones stated that the Commission will only have two golf cars available, and she will attempt to have signs made with the Commission members' names. Ms. Maher suggested having plastic bags on back of the golf carts to collect recyclables if needed. Update on Fridley's Web Site Ms. Jones distributed a copy of what is currently on the City web site. The Commission members asked questions about how the web site will be updated. Ms. Jones stated that it appears that each City division will be responsible in the future for maintaining its information. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 20, 1999 PAGE 5 3 OTHER BUSINESS: a. Update on Springbrook CWP Project Ms. Jones stated that the monitoring resumed again a few weeks ago and will be wrapped up in June or July of this year. Ms. Sielaff briefly explained the project to the new members. He asked staff to clarify the timeline of the project. Ms. Jones stated that an open house is tentatively scheduled for September that will be the Commission's opportunity to comment on what they would like to see in the implementation plan for the project. Ms. Jones distributed copies of a report on the WOMP grant data regarding monitoring at the outlet of the Springbrook wetlands last year. b. Update on Wellhead Protection Ms. Jones stated that John Flora had no new information to report since MDH was holding up the process. Mr. Sielaff briefly explained the purpose and procedures of the Wellhead Protection program to the new commission members. c. Virgin Material Subsidies Ms. Jones distributed an additional article relating to virgin material subsidies. d. Used Oil Legislation Ms. Jones reported that an amendment to the House Omnibus Budget Bill was approved last week that will remove industry requirements for provision of adequate used oil drop-off sites. Apparently, the amendment includes the removal of many other environmental initiatives that have been in place for a long time without any committee discussion or public input. Mr. Svanda stated that it is frustrating that irrelevant topics are often tacked onto other bills at the last minute without debate. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Mr. Svanda, seconded by Mr. Panchyshyn, to adjourn the meeting. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY & ENERGY COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 20, 1999 PAGE 6 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON SIELAFF DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE APRIL 20, 1999, MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:46 P. M. Respectfully submitted, Julie A. Jones Staff Liaison