Sust Commission Minutes Aug 2025RICHFIELD COMMUNITY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION
DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED BY THE COMMISSION
REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING
Thursday, August 28, 2025 Heredia Room, City Hall
COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Kueper, Adam Burnside, Craig Heinen, Chris Danner, Katy Boone, Alexa Wozniak
STAFF: Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Coordinator), Zach McCarty (Solid Waste Specialist)
LIAISONS: Hayley Tompkins (CSC), Rori Coleman-Woods (City Council)
ABSENT
Tompkins, Coleman-Woods
Call to Order
Heinen called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm.
Approval of Minutes/Agenda
Boone motioned, Wozniak seconded, approved by all.
Public Comment
None
Staff Reports
Lindholm and McCarty reported:
Solar on public buildings – the solar array on top of the Public Works building is completely installed, just not connected to grid yet.
Richfield Ice Arena’s solar array will be installed in October. Both projects continue to be on track to comply with federal timelines.
SolSmart – City webpage is created and Rachel has finished documents to submit to the org for a Silver Award.
Hennepin County has been convening regional city staff for dialogue on the topic of climate resilience. Richfield, for example, shared thoughts on an official Parks & Recreation policy
related to air quality and cancellation of events.
Solid waste updates – city has “enough” volunteers for the upcoming events below but more are always encouraged:
Winter clothing swap – Sat Sept 13th, 2-4:15p, pre-drop at farmers market from 7-12
Pumpkin smash – Sat Nov 8th, 9:30-12
Unity in the Community – Rainy but went well. Some changes anticipated to materials used for events, esp. for youth.
Starting Nov. 12, the Bartholomew Room at City Hall will host county-organized “fix-it hubs” with volunteers assisting community members with repairs. Looking for local volunteers –
contact Zach McCarty if interested.
Twin Cities Marathon is recruiting “Green Team” volunteers to assist with waste sorting – Oct 4th and 5th.
Urban Wildland Half Marathon went smoothly with the introduction of reusable cups. Only 18 out of ~3,000 were lost! Other waste from the event was minimal.
Discussion Items
New Youth Commissioner
A Richfield High School student will be joining in September as a youth commissioner. The group discussed continuing school outreach to continue building awareness in the fall/winter.
Workplan Updates
Richfield HS Clothing Drive – Wozniak and Lindholm will reconnect on events that would be good for promoting in the fall.
Condo/Apt Building Outreach – Danner still getting started on his work. Boone has connected with some condo buildings with mixed success reaching the right people – not easy to find
the right person. Here are some issues she learned about:
Buildings reported getting fined for contamination in recycling/compost
One building does not have yard waste pickup and has been using landfill for this
Some buildings looking at EV chargers and upgrades to make them happen
One building contact asked if city could provide free bags for organics recycling (we already do)
More advanced buildings have created committees and resident ownership of waste streams. Giving away compost buckets, refrigerator magnets. Education around compostable bags. Special
collections for difficult-to-handle waste. Partnership with Trex to collect plastic bags to receive a free bench.
Tree Health Awareness – Kueper to contact city arborist to plan another event in the fall (farmer’s market).
Kueper and Lindholm discussed how there may still be some action items related to city tree preservation policy, though further exploration is needed related to legal risk, given ongoing
litigation in other Twin Cities suburbs.
Curbside Organics Awareness – Commission has tabled at multiple events this year so far; next will be pumpkin smash in Nov.
City pursuing additional funding/assistance for organics outreach – McCarty to keep us updated.
There will be a remembrance gathering for Santwana Dasgupta on Aug. 30, 10a-1p at Oak Grove Lutheran Church for anyone who might be interested in attending.
Action Items
None
Committee Reports
Salvage crews (Better Futures MN) have been on-site at WLNC to salvage fixtures and deconstruct parts of the building.
Construction/demolition at WLNC starts after Labor Day.
Next Meeting/Adjournment
Next Meeting: Thursday, September 25, 7:00 pm
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm