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Commission Minutes April 2022 REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, April 28, 2022 </w:t></w:rHeredia Room, City Hall PRESENT COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Kueper, Jeremy Barthels, Craig Heinen, Logan Thein, Santwana Dasgupta, Amy Utley STAFF: Rachel Lindholm, Roxanne Nelson LIAISONS: Jenna Hanson (CSC), Ben Whalen (City Council) ABSENT Adam Burnside Call to Order Kueper called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm. Approval of Minutes/Agenda Heinen moved to approve the agenda and previous minutes, seconded by Thein, approved by all. Public Comment None Staff Reports Organized Collection Roxanne Nelson shared some information about the upcoming organics audits the City will be conducting to gain a better understanding of contamination. Rachel Lindholm discussed the organics educational brochure that was sent out to households participating in the curbside program. City staff will be using the email newsletter to share tips for summer organics collection. Lindholm mentioned that there will be a load of finished compost in the WLNC parking lot on Monday 5/2 for residents to pick up some for personal use. This was an effort to come full circle on the organics cycle and share the product with residents who helped create it. Partners in Energy (PiE) Staff shared that some congregation collaboration ideas were shared at a recent SW metro sust meeting, but no details have been determined at this time. The city will be doing a renewable energy campaign later this year – several commissioners participate in Windsource. Lindholm will connect with them later re: an interview. Staff are planning a webinar about energy efficiency, renewables, EVs to have a future recording for residents to watch at their convenience. Commissioners asked about community solar (it is hard to find openings in sites in Hennepin County) and if there are sites in Richfield. Lindholm said there aren’t really, but she would ask RPS if they have onsite solar, as asked by a commissioner. Other Information The city will be rescheduling a joint event with members of the Sustainability and Community Service Commission to help clean up Richfield Lake. It was canceled due to weather. Details will be provided by email re: rescheduling. Lindholm reminded the commissioners of the opportunity to provide feedback on Hennepin County’s Zero Waste Plan. Commissioners brainstormed some ideas for exhibitors for the LWV’s sustainability fair. Discussion Items Review of workplan ideas developed by Sustainability Commissioners Some commissioners identified projects that they were interested in working on. Thein identified pollinator planting by Hwy 62 and tree sales and policy review/referral around sustainability. Kueper said she hoped to help lead on a tree planting project and assist with the Tree Canopy Preservation Policy. She is also interested in the idea of a 'food forest' in Apple Blossom Park or elsewhere. Heinen discussed presenting his climate change educational class at WLNC. Dasgupta shared that a local group has applied for a grant through Green Partners to reduce lawn sizes for 35-40 homes through planting pollinator gardens and other efforts. Barthels reiterated his commitment to the digital resource guide previously discussed. Dasgupta brought up an ask for widespread code review. Lindholm and Whalen explained that that is not easy or feasible but that code is updated as issues are identified or outdated code is identified. Whalen said that if sections are identified by commissioners, then staff can look at them and determine if revisions are necessary. Lindholm shared that while the Planning Commission doesn’t have liaisons like other commissions do (they are more like the City Council when it comes to liaisons/reps), commissioners are still welcome to attend the meetings. The only difference is that they wouldn’t give a recap of the Sustainability Commission meetings to the Planning Commission. Whalen mentioned that it might be a possibility for commissioners to attend work sessions. Lindholm said she’d look into that and talk to other staff to see if this is a possibility or not. Lindholm and Whalen also mentioned that development projects have a variety of factors and steps in the process where sustainability initiatives are addressed, but due to code requirements, funding, and other factors, it is not always feasible to have a project adopt numerous sustainability aspects in addition to their other requirements and restrictions. Action Items None Committee Reports Jenna Hanson gave an update on the most recent CSC meeting. Other/Next Meeting/Adjournment Next Meeting: Thursday, May 26th, 7:00 pm, Heredia Room. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Heinen, seconded by Thein. Meeting adjourned by Kueper at 8:30 pm.