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2022-4 AgendaSUSTAIN ABILITY COMMISSION Regular Meeting Agenda Thursday, April 28th, 2022, 7:00 pm Heredia Room, City Hall Commission Members Staff/Others Liaisons Amanda Kueper, Jeremy Barthels, Adam Burnside, Craig Heinen, Logan Thein, Amy Utley, Santwana Dasgupta Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Specialist) Roxanne Nelson (MN GreenCorps) Ben Whalen (City Council) Jenna Hanson (CSC) 1. Call to Order/Welcome 2. Approval of Minutes/Agenda  Regular Meeting Minutes: March 24th, 2022 3. Public Comment  Any resident comment and items not printed on agenda 4. Staff Reports  Organized Collection (Lindholm)  Partners in Energy (Lindholm)  Miscellaneous Items (Lindholm) 5. Discussion Items  Commissioner 2022 workplan items 6. Action Items  None 7. Committee Reports  Community Services Commission (CSC) (Hanson) 8. Next Meeting Thursday, May 26th, 2022, 7:00 pm City Hall, Heredia Room 9. Adjournment REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, March 24, 2022 Virtual Meeting PRESENT COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Kueper, Jeremy Barthels, Adam Burnside, Craig Heinen, Logan Thein, Santwana Dasgupta, Amy Utley STAFF: Rachel Lindholm LIAISONS: None ABSENT Ben Whalen (City Council) Call to Order Kueper called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Approval of Minutes/Agenda Barthels moved to approve the agenda and previous minutes, seconded by Heinen, approved by all. Public Comment None Staff Reports Organized Collection Lindholm reported that a newsletter on organized collection was sent out. The process to conduct an audit to determine the contaminants present, major sources of contamination, and effort required to remove them. Yard waste removal will start on April 15th and educated the commissioners on why food waste and yard waste need to be kept separate for collection and the two cannot be mixed. Approximately 24 percent of Richfield homes have signed on for food-waste collection. The current effort is focusing on continuing to make the foundation of food-waste collection more solid. Other (PiE, commissioner application) The city is partnering with Wood Lake Church on its energy efficiency efforts and this is in the beginning stages. Additionally, energy kits for multi-unit housing is being made available. A survey to learn on what sustainability efforts related to energy usage were most important to Richfield residents, the top three were: options for renewable energy for homes, learning how to use less energy, and increasing the number of charging stations for electric vehicles. Earth Day The city is holding a joint event with members of the Sustainability and Community Service Commission to help clean up Richfield Lake on Saturday, April 23, 2022. No Mow May Lindholm stated that the city had reviewed other cities experience on this and found that in many cases the grass had grown so long that it created safety issues along with the homeowner ending up needing professional help to mow the grass. Instead, the city will focus on educating homeowners on keeping the grass to the highest allowable level (six inches), mowing every other week, reseeding to replace the lawn with more sustainable ground cover, and focusing on creating pollinator friendly yards. All the commissioners supported this approach. Tree Planting Lindholm and Amanda gave an overview of the presentation done by the Forestry Department. This department does a lot more than plant and maintain trees in Richfield and faces staffing challenges. Despite this, the department is very active and doing its best to protect / remove diseased trees (EAB). The department has received a $100,000 grant from the DNR and its efforts will focus on: 1) ensuring there is diversity in the canopy; 2) focus on climate adaptation; 3) expand tree canopy along boulevards; 4) there is interest in planting native trees (cultivars are also included); 5) seeking out nurseries that sell the identified species of trees; 6) host joint planting events; 6) increase awareness on how to protect Emerald Ash trees in one’s yard and how to arrange for removal if diseased. Discussion Items Review of brainstorming ideas developed by the previous Sustainability Commission members. The members added the following ideas to the list. Please note that a few recommended items are strategic in nature and a few are specific action items. They include: 1. Having a class on how to construct and use rain barrels. Exploring the possibility of the city giving an incentive by reduction in a person’s water bill. DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED BY THE SC 2. A community tour that packs in diverse items that encourage sustainability and not limiting it to native garden tours. Ideas included: house with chicken / duck coops, usage of solar energy, usage of rain barrels, and so on. A suggestion was made to develop this list and have it ready by the city-wide garage sale event. As people are out and about already, they could also go to the sustainability sites that were of interest to them. 3. Raise awareness on options for recycling unsold garage sale items as opposed to putting it in the trash. 4. Develop a digital booklet that is housed on the city’s website that people can easily access to get information on resources available for recycling items instead of putting them in the trash. 5. Member (s) of the Sustainability Commission have representation or opportunity to be heard in Planning Commission meetings on items related to development of new multi-unit housing to recommend that the developers take sustainability into consideration. Members also recommended that the current focus on single-family homes to practice sustainability shift also to multi-unit housing. Action Items Commissioners: Review the list of items on the “brainstorm” and identify one or two items that one can champion and work with Lindholm and Kueper to actualize it. Lindholm: Find out if a member of the Sustainability Commission can be invited to the Planning Commission when reviewing applications for multi-unit housing. Committee Reports None. Other/Next Meeting/Adjournment Next Meeting: Thursday, April 28th, 7:00 pm, Bartholomew Room. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn by Heinen, seconded by Utley. Meeting adjourned by Kueper at 8:30 pm.