Loading...
2020-10 AgendaSUSTAINBILITY COMMISSION Regular Meeting Agenda Thursday, October 22nd, 2020, 7:00 pm Virtual Meeting - WebEx Commission Members Staff/Others Liaisons Jeremy Barthels, Laura Durenberger-Grunow, Carolyn Engeldinger, Amanda Kueper, Kameron Murray, Alyssa Sanden, Brian Shaw Amy Markle (Recreation Services Director) Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Specialist) Ben Whalen (City Council) Heather MacDonald (CSC) 1. Call to Order/Welcome 2. Approval of Minutes/Agenda  Regular Meeting Minutes: September 24th, 2020 3. Public Comment  Any resident comment and items not printed on agenda 4. Staff Reports  CAP approval (Lindholm)  Sustainability-related emails from residents (Lindholm) 5. Discussion Items  Lunds & Byerlys Tree Situation (Lindholm, Markle)  Organized Collection (Lindholm, Markle) 6. Action Items None 7. Committee Reports  Community Services Commission (CSC) (MacDonald) 8. Next Meeting Thursday, November 19th, 2020, 7:00 pm Virtual Meeting held on WebEx 9. Adjournment REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, September 24h, 2020 Held virtually over WebEx PRESENT COMMISSIONERS: Laura Durenberger-Grunow, Carolyn Engeldinger, Amanda Kueper, Alyssa Sanden, Jeremy Barthels, Brian Shaw, STAFF: Rachel Lindholm, Amy Markle LIAISONS: Heather MacDonald (CSC) ABSENT Kameron Murray (Commissioner), Ben Whalen (City Council Liaison) Call to Order Kueper called the meeting to order at 7:32 pm. Approval of Minutes/Agenda Shaw moved to approve the agenda and previous minutes, seconded by Barthels, approved by all. Public Comment None Staff Reports Lindholm & Markle: Playground building volunteer reminder next Tuesday at Madison Park. First build at Washington Park - residents, city staff, commissioners volunteered. National playground recreation site - one of three in MN. Contains multiple components of play. Markle shared that 50 trees were planted by 50 people at Donaldson Park. Residents seemed excited by the climate action plan. Discussion Items PiE Energy Action Team: Two city staff committed to team, working on a third from Wood Lake. Kueper is volunteering from the Sustainability Commission. Lindholm talking to businesses such as Best Buy, a business called Lighten Up, and public and private schools. Lindholm is looking for connections in social service and faith connections. Latinx, Tibetan, or other apartment/renter community. Durenberger-Grunow asked about the Richfield Chamber of Commerce. Engeldinger and Markle recommended Assumption. Engeldinger recommended W halen and Dave Snyder for connected apartment living. Dave is a good connection to the Jewish Community. Kueper recommended Hope Church and Lakewinds. Sanden said she has a connection to Best Buy Corporate if needed. MacDonald recommended the Richfield His tory Center. Climate Action Plan draft/Lunds & Byerly’s Tree Issue: Lindholm mentioned the design and formatting changes made from last meeting. All updates the sustainability commission made last meeting were included. Work session with council on T uesday, September 22. Council gave feedback and suggestions. They are super excited to see the work of the staff and residents of Richfield come to fruition. Next steps: Lindholm to take suggestions, edits, and feedback. Council will then vote on approva l on October 13. Richfield HS environmental club was consulted and asked to review and provide perspective. Hoping to partner with them. Kueper asked if Lindholm was able to make the document ADA accessible. Neil Ruhland put into InDesign, and Lindholm is not sure if the changes saved, but will check. Markle added that she was happy that the council was able to make a lot of connections between equity and climate change. They asked if we could make that more prominent as data shows that lower income peo ple will likely be most affected by climate change. DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED BY THE SC Engeldinger asked if anyone saw the discussion on the FB community page about the oaks at Lunds/Byerlys that are going to be removed. Community member and head of FOWL Gordon mentioned that some cities have a program/ordinance that protects legacy trees. She is wondering if that is included in the climate action plan? Lindholm provided insight on the legality of getting involved with trees on private property and whether the city can get involved. Kueper pulled up Facebook conversation to provide more insight. Kueper and Engeldinger asked if protecting legacy trees should be something the sustainability commission takes on. Lindholm stated that builders who remove trees do have to replace them. She has been talking to the Housing Department about improving residential standards for that. Markle recommended people can contact the developer, council members, and the mayor to talk about the ecological and community benefits of the Lund’s tree. MacDonald echoed these suggestions. Kueper asked if we could work on wr iting a letter. Barthels suggested that the commission write in to the Sun Current about the issue. Lindholm is going to check with the City manager to make sure we could do that. Kueper recommended sending an open letter. MacDonald asked when the tree was going to be taken down. Markle is going to check on the timeline of the project. Kueper asked if we could cite the CAP in any letter that is written. Kueper said that we could specify that council still needs to approve it. Kueper offered to draft the letter. Lindholm specified that due to open meeting laws, there can’t be more than three people on an email. Engeldinger also volunteered to help write the letter, and then will send the draft to Lindholm who will then send to the commission. Markle mentioned that the council was really complimentary that the citizens pushed for this sustainability commission and the group was formed. Shaw expressed an interest in looking at other ordinances for protecting legacy trees, even on private property. Lindho lm recommended reaching out to Gordon Hansen or contacting the city attorney. Action Items Kueper called for a motion to write an open letter to the developers about the Lunds/Byerlys legacy oak tree. Sanden seconded motion. Motion passed. Committee Reports MacDonald reported on the CSC’s last meeting. The dog park is under construction. Augsburg playground build will be delayed until 2021 because the Tribal Council, who needs to approve the project, isn’t meeting right now due to COVID - 19. Update on programming: youth programs, equipment rentals, ice rink back open, but revenue is down by two -thirds. Markle added that any event/programming creates a COVID safety plan that goes through the public safety and public health department. Wood Lake Halloween and the great pumpkin giveaway will be events with pre-registration. Farmers market runs through mid-October. Troubleshooting a winter farmers market. Programming is really focusing on trying to get people outside. Other/Next Meeting/Adjournment Next Meeting: Thursday, October 22nd, 2020, 7:00 pm Virtual Meeting held on WebEx Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Kueper, seconded by Engeldinger. Meeting adjourned by Kueper at 8:30 pm.