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2024-5 AgendaSUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION Regular Meeting Agenda Thursday, May 23rd, 2024, 7:00 pm Heredia Room, City Hall Commission Members Staff/Others Liaisons Amanda Kueper, Adam Burnside, Craig Heinen, Logan Thein, Santwana Dasgupta, Matthew Dobratz, Helen Burk, Amanda McKnight Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Specialist) Ben Whalen (City Council) Kris Anderson (CSC) 1. Call to Order/Welcome 2. Approval of Minutes/Agenda  Regular Meeting Minutes: April 25, 2024 3. Public Comment  Any resident comment and items not printed on the agenda 4. Staff Reports (Lindholm)  Spring event recap: Rain barrels, tree sale, community garden, citywide garage sale  Digital Sustainability Guide  Solid Waste: staff position, EPR passage  Misc notes from Communications staff 5. Discussion Items  2024 Workplan (Kueper) • Research action steps to reduce plastic trash and microplastics in Richfield’s land and water (Burnside) • Educating residents on solid waste: rightsizing carts and increasing participation in curbside organics collection (Kueper, Dasgupta) • Utilize the Sustainability Govdelivery listserv and send out a quarterly newsletter (McKnight, Lindholm) 6. Action Items  None 7. Committee Reports  Community Services Commission (CSC) (Anderson) 8. Next Meeting Thursday, June 27th, 2024, 7:00 pm Heredia Room, City Hall 9. Adjournment REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, April 25, 2024 Heredia Room, City Hall PRESENT COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Kueper, Logan Thein, Craig Heinen, Matt Dobratz, Amanda McKnight, Santwana Dasgupta, Helen Burk STAFF: Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Specialist) LIAISONS: Kris Anderson (CSC) ABSENT Ben Whalen (City Council liaison), Adam Burnside (Commissioner) Call to Order Kueper called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Approval of Minutes/Agenda Dobratz motioned, Heinen seconded, approved by all. Public Comment No public comments. Staff Reports Commissioner Dasgupta asked for an update on the USDA grant. Sustainability Specialist Lindholm reported they are waiting for information back from the federal government before a plan can be put in place. Sustainability Specialist Lindholm reported: ● There are only 18 (out of 100) trees left to sell in the annual tree sale. A community member has inquired about whether she can buy multiple trees if there are some left at the end of the sale. Lindholm is working on a plan for how to equitably handle the extra trees, which could also be planted in Richfield parks. ● Rain barrels have sold out - there were approximately 144 for sale. ● Earth Day cleanup went well. There were about 15 people there, and they gathered trash from the wooded areas around the park. Staff and commission cleanup day on Tuesday, April 23, went well also. Lindholm said the parks seemed cleaner this year than in the past which could be due to the lack of snow over winter, parks maintenance staff having easier access to empty the trash receptacles more often, community members contributing more to trash disposal, etc. ● There will be a compost drop at Wood Lake Nature Center again this year. The tentative delivery date is May 3, and the information will be distributed via the email list of households already using organics recycling. Discussion Items 2024 Work Plan Sustainability Email Newsletter Lindholm discussed the plan she and McKnight discussed for a quarterly email newsletter based on the seasons of the year. Lindholm and McKnight are figuring out the schedule and logistics for sending the email. There will be opportunities for commissioners to draft content for the newsletter. McKnight presented a couple of name ideas for the newsletter and said she could create a logo for it. Lindholm and McKnight agreed to bring a draft for Summer 2024 to the May meeting. Thein brought up the idea of commissioners posting to social media about subscribing to the newsletter to get involved in the city’s sustainability efforts. Kueper suggested a link to sign up for the sustainability newsletter be included in the Richfield Recap email. Dasgupta said she thinks people are interested in topics that can save them money, so the newsletter should focus on angles that highlight how sustainability practices can save money. She also suggested linking to other local resources or the digital guide. Commissioners discussed creating a flyer with a QR code to distribute at the Farmers Market or other events where the city may already have a booth. Sustainability Recognition Program Dobratz said he was thinking a twice-a-year sustainability recognition would be appropriate, especially since the commission plans to recognize one business and one resident. The recognition program could be promoted in the new email newsletter and the Richfield Recap, as well as the city website. Dobratz suggested the award nominees would be reviewed by the commission for eligibility and to determine the recipient. Commissioners discussed whether a rubric should be created to judge the nominations and, if so, what the rubric should include. Dobratz suggested the recipient could be recognized by the City Council and receive a certificate or plaque of some kind. Lindholm showed commissioners the web page for the City of Eden Prairie’s sustainability award to provide some ideas for eligibility. Dobratz said he would contact the Eden Prairie sustainability coordinator to ask if they have a rubric the commission could use as a guide. Alternative Landscaping Community Engagement and Education Thein reported he was brainstorming about “direct to resident” education and engagement and suggested the commission implement a campaign that highlights new themes each month on social media. The strategy would involve commissioners posting and sharing about personal stories and expertise about specific areas of sustainability. Thein said the new email newsletter could tie into the campaign and vice versa. Kueper suggested creating a calendar and structure for planning posts and topics. Lindholm discussed how this initiative could tie into the city’s overall climate action plan, which will require the creation of a communications plan and calendar. DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED BY THE COMMISSION Dasgupta suggested making sure the commission’s information is accessible and wondered if an event at the library could be successful someday due to a community thirst for information about sustainable living. Dasgupta suggested we start the social media engagement campaign in May. Thein said he will manage the May post on the Richfield Community Facebook page, as well as a Google document with some ideas for a calendar and topics going forward. Action Items No action items. Committee Reports For the Community Services Commission, Anderson reported: ● The park buildings at Jefferson, Washington, and Madison Parks will now be available for rent four hours at a time. Some Wood Lake classes may relocate to those sites as the building project moves along too. ● Any park areas that are low-mow will turn into pollinator areas. ● The CSC discussed ways to reduce trash in the parks. Other/Next Meeting/Adjournment Next Meeting: Thursday, May 23, 7:00 p.m. in the Heredia Room. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:11 p.m.