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2025-5 AgendaSUSTAINABILITY 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.