2025-5 Agenda PacketSUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION
Regular Meeting Agenda
Thursday, May 22nd, 2025, 7:00 pm
Heredia Room, City Hall
Commission Members Staff/Others Liaisons
Amanda Kueper, Adam Burnside, Craig Heinen, Helen
Burk, Katy Boone, Chris Danner, Alexa Wozniak
Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Coordinator)
Zachary McCarty (Solid Waste Specialist)
Gael Zembal (NMCWD)
Rori Coleman-Woods (City Council)
Hayley Tompkins (CSC)
1. Call to Order
2. Approval of Minutes/Agenda
Regular Meeting Minutes: April 24, 2025
3. Public Comment
Any resident comment and items not printed on the agenda
4. Staff Reports (Lindholm, McCarty)
General updates: Climate Action Plan, Solar on Public Buildings
Solid Waste updates: Shred event recap, Volunteers for organics audit and fix-it clinic video,
Reusable cups at UWHM, Swap event
• Trashwalking event recap (Burk)
5. Discussion Items
Nine Mile Creek Watershed Presentation (Zembal)
May Workplan Items (Kueper):
Outreach to condo buildings to learn about their sustainability efforts Boone, Danner
Community outreach to increase participation in curbside organics
collection Wozniak; Kueper
Increase homeowner and multi-unit homes awareness about
invasive plants such as creeping bellflower Wozniak
6. Action Items
None
7. Committee Reports
Community Services Commission (CSC) (Tompkins)
8. Next Meeting
Thursday, June 26th, 2025, 7:00 pm
Heredia Room, City Hall
9. Adjournment
REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING
Thursday, April 24th, 2025
Heredia Room, City Hall
PRESENT
COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Kueper, Craig Heinen, Helen Burk, 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 Boone
Call to Order
Kueper called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm.
Approval of Minutes/Agenda
Heinen motioned, Wozniak seconded, approved by all.
Public Comment
None
Staff Reports
Lindholm and McCarty reported.
• City’s tree sale is underway. Commissioners are encouraged to spread the word. Pickup is first Saturday in May at Citty Hall.
As of this meeting, ~40 trees were still available.
• Earth Day – The Community Center will have family activities. Commissioners can help “table” if interested. It is Saturday,
April 26 from 1-4pm. Burk and McCarty will facilitate a youth trash clean-up at Washington Park on Sunday, April 27. Plans are
in place to have supplies available.
• Solar on Public Buildings – City is close to choosing its contractor for project work and is working to finalize agreements.
• Veterans Park grant – City is working to have a contractor come out for a site visit. Project would focus on prairie restoration.
• State of the City – June 11th from 4:30pm – 7:00pm at the Richfield Community Center. Commissioners are encouraged to
attend and help with tabling.
• City has ordered compost for organics program participants. It will be available for pickup at WLNC on May 9th.
• Paper shredding and personal device recycling event is May 8th at Richfield Ice Arena (parking lot).
• City is starting to organize its annual organics audit to get a sense of how well residents are following program guidelines.
Volunteers are welcome; reach out to McCarty for details.
Discussion Items
Community Services Commission Joint Meeting Report-Out
Commissioners who were available to attend the meeting discussed key items from the joint meeting. Several sustainability-focused
projects are underway as part of the WLNC reconstruction, such as buckthorn removal.
Emerald Ash Borer grant was paused due to federal funding uncertainties.
The city is planting close to 300 boulevard trees this year, trying to reach parity with a higher-than-normal number of trees requiring
removal.
WLNC groundbreaking for new building is May 28th. Free woodchips are available on-site; community members are advised to respect
the orange fences and not climb over them.
Trash-walking Event (Burk)
The commission held brief discussion confirming the event is good to go; communications/posters are in place and details have been
planned.
Richfield Farmers’ Market Tabling
May 10th, Heinen will be at the market and invited commissioners to join if interested. The commissioners discussed potential hand-outs
and resources that could be made available to community members at the table. The commission does not have a regularly scheduled
table at the market but discussed potentially collaborating for a table in the future.
Wozniak also discussed the agenda item for increasing awareness around BPI-certified compostable products at the market. Lindholm
cautioned against trying to talk with vendors while the market is active as they are focused on serving customers. Lindholm discussed
the need to put together resources, including translated ones, and do some in-person research first to see where the gaps are.
Individually following up with vendors may be a better approach. Wozniak discussed a potential phased approach where vendors are
provided with education in the first year. The group agreed about the need for proactive outreach because vendors order supplies in
advance. Danner proposed the idea of creating a placard vendors could display to recognize those who are following zero waste
guidelines.
Tree Health Education Campaign
DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED BY THE COMMISSION
Kueper discussed how past campaigns have focused on emerald ash borer and oak wilt, but there is a goal to broaden the scope to
general tree care. Kueper will be tabling on Saturday, April 26 to connect with community members at the Earth Day event and
commissioners are welcome to join. Kueper will also host Farmers’ Market tables on May 17th and May 31st discussing tree health in
recognition of Arbor Day. Kueper worked with Lindholm for an article in the Sustainability Scoop newsletter focusing on spring tree care.
Lindholm will investigate the potential for using postcard mailers for additional awareness. Wozniak suggested there is also an
opportunity to educate community members about invasive plant species.
Danner asked if the city had leveraged the Hennepin County urban heat island mapping project for insights on where more trees may
be most useful.
Filling the Youth Commissioner Position
Burk offered to help recruit new high school students to join the Sustainability Commission. Tompkins offered to support this work and
shared about a grant the city is seeking to enhance the youth commissioner experience.
Committee Reports
• Community Services Commission:
o New splash pad is opening soon near the Richfield pool.
o Richfield High School is hosting a youth breakdance battle after the Earth Day event on Saturday April 26th in the gym
from 3 pm to 7 pm.
o City will be kicking off its strategic planning for its parks system next year and will be seeking volunteers.
Next Meeting/Adjournment
Next Meeting: Thursday, May 29, 7:00 pm
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm. Danner motioned, Wozniak seconded.
PRIORITY EQUITY ZONE
ENGAGEMENT PLAN
2025 - 2026
April, 2025
I. BACKGROUND
1
PRIORITY ZONE ENGAGEMENT
2
At the February 2025 Nine Mile Creek Watershed District (NMCWD) board meeting, district managers
adopted a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) Plan to help guide the integration of a DEIA
lens into district policies and programs. Developing an education and outreach plan to better connect with
and understand communities within the district’s “priority equity zones” is one identified action within the
district’s DEIA plan.
The NMCWD vulnerability map was developed using the Hennepin County Climate Vulnerability data. Scores were
calculated using a combination of environmental and social vulnerability variables. NMCWD’s five priority equity
zones are the areas of the district that are most vulnerable in responding to environmental impacts.
NMCWD currently does not have strong community connections in many of its priority equity zones. Through
the identified engagement tactics listed within this plan, NMCWD staff aim to:
• Make connections with community members that live or work in the priority equity zones
• Create trust between NMCWD and the community
• Increase awareness of NMCWD as an organizational resource
These three identified purposes for engagement are foundational. NMCWD needs to develop relationships
and trust within the priority equity zones as a first step that will eventually lead to NMCWD’s more traditional
mission-driven initiatives. The district has five priority equity zones. To keep this effort manageable, NMCWD’s
internal DEIA workgroup selected the Edina-Richfield priority equity zone as the focus for 2025.
Land use within the Edina-
Richfield priority equity zone.
The portion of the equity
zone in the City of Edina is
dominated by commercial
use and multi-family housing.
Most of the City of Richfield
portion is dominated by
single-family housing.
I.I PURPOSE
2
II. EDINA - RICHFIELD EQUITY ZONE
3
Each of NMCWD’s priority equity zones have different demographics and different social and environmental
vulnerabilities. NMCWD believes that it is important to understand who lives in the community and what
their environmental burdens are to create an effective outreach and engagement plan. The Edina-Richfield
priority equity zone has two distinct areas through land use and community composition.
II.I EDINA
The portion of the priority equity zone in Edina has a high poverty level. 28% of the population live below the
185% poverty level, 23% of the population live with a disability, and 19% of the population are people of color.
Social vulnerability metrics defined from 2020 census data. Decimals are shown out of 1 rather than 100. The
185% poverty level is calculated using 2020 data to align with the last 2020 census data collection. It is calculated
using defined federal poverty levels and multiplying by 1.85 times. For example, the 2020 annual poverty level for
a household of four is $26,200. Multiplied by 1.85, the 2020 annual 185% poverty level for a household of four is
$48,470.
The residential properties in this area of Edina are primarily multi-family housing. However, most of the land
use is commercial. The commercial land use has defined the environmental pressures of this area. This part of
Edina has more pavement than green space and there is a very limited urban tree canopy. The Southdale Mall
complex in conjunction with other large parking lots and roads increase the need for road salt application
in winter. Correspondingly, all three sub-watersheds that encompass the area—Lake Cornelia-North,
Centennial Lakes, and Adams Hill Pond are increasing in chloride levels. Adam’s Hill Pond is above the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) 230 mg/L chronic chloride standard (Richfield 2022 annual
monitoring report).
4
The pervasive coverage of impervious surfaces in this area has also led to a high heat island effect (City
of 2021 Climate Action Plan). Census data shows that 46% of the population is aged 65 and older—a
demographic particularly vulnerable to high heat events (2020 Census data viewer).
4
II.II RICHFIELD
The portion of the priority equity zone in Richfield has a slightly lower poverty level with about 19% of the
population living below the 185% poverty level. However, there is a much higher percentage of people
of color making up almost 35% of the population. Most people of color are Asian and Latino. Another
important factor to note while thinking about outreach tactics is that most people living in this area of
Richfield do not own their property. Although single-family homes make up most of the area, 66% of the
population rent their property.
The single-family homes in this area are predominantly within the Adam’s Hill Pond sub-watershed. So
again, chloride pollution is an environmental issue of concern. There are also significant areas of localized
flooding identified through NMCWD’s Atlas 14 flood study that has been confirmed with the City of
Richfield. Several school and church campuses, some multifamily housing, and the large Best Buy Campus
fall within the Penn Lake Sub-watershed. Penn Lake is listed on the MPCA’s impaired waters list for high
nutrients.
5
III. AUDIENCES FOR ENGAGEMENT
Measuring the success of an education and outreach campaign can be difficult. Many positive results can
only be measured qualitatively. A good understanding of what success means for this campaign will be
important to ensure useful data collection throughout the engagement effort. Following this initiative, staff
should be able to answer the following questions:
• Do staff and CAC better understand the demographics of the community?
• Do staff and CAC better understand the community’s needs/concerns as they pertain to the
environment?
• Did NMCWD build new relationships/community connections?
• Did target audience learn what a watershed district is? Did they learn something new?
• Did NMCWD reach the audience it was trying to reach?
• Do staff have a better understanding of what engagement tactics are successful to help inform
future engagement plans?
Pre and post engagement surveys, demographics surveys, and interviews are data collection methods that
staff can use to track whether NMCWD is engaging its target audiences, inspiring behavioral outcomes,
shifting knowledge bases, and developing lasting relationships.
6
IV. MEASURING SUCCESSES
There will be some direct costs associated with this engagement plan—paper promotional materials and
materials for new lesson plans. However, the biggest resource needed for this initiative is staff time.
Meaningful engagement that builds relationships and trust takes time. It is also important that full-time
staff are involved in the initiative. NMCWD should strive to be a reliable resource to the community so,
when possible, contacts should remain constant from year to year. That said, CAC volunteer time and
potentially GreenCorps member time can support staff led efforts to engage the community.
IV. RESOURCES