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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-21 ENR Minutes July 21, 2014 Environmental and Natural Resources Commission Meeting Minutes 1 MINUTES CITY OF MAPLEWOOD ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION 7:00 p.m., Monday, July 21, 2014 Council Chambers, City Hall 1830 County Road B East 1. CALL TO ORDER A meeting of the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Chair Palzer. 2. ROLL CALL Randee Edmundson, Commissioner Absent Deborah Fideldy, Commissioner Present Judith Johannessen, Commissioner Present Ann Palzer, Chair Present Cindy Schafer, Commissioner Present Dale Trippler, Vice Chair Present Ginny Yingling, Commissioner Present Staff Present Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Staff added item 9. f. - ENR Commission Reappointments. Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the agenda as amended. Seconded by Commissioner Johannessen. Ayes – All The motion passed. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Trippler moved to approve the May 19, 2014, Environmental and Natural Resources Commission Meeting Minutes as submitted. Seconded by Commissioner Yingling. Ayes – Chair Palzer, Commissioner’s Johannessen, Schafer, Trippler & Yingling Abstention – Commissioner Fideldy The motion passed. 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. Tree Ordinance i. Environmental Planner Finwall gave the update on the revised draft tree ordinance. July 21, 2014 Environmental and Natural Resources Commission Meeting Minutes 2The ENR commission asked for additional information on incentives that would ensure the preservation of specimen trees and proposed minor edits to the draft ordinance. Staff will update the ordinance with the proposed changes and bring back additional information on specimen tree preservation tree incentives for review by the Commission in August. 6. NEW BUSINESS a. Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area Draft Rules i. Environmental Planner Finwall gave the report The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has completed a draft of the new Mississippi River Corridor Critical Area (MRCCA) Rules and released them for review. Public comments are accepted until August 15, 2014. Maplewood’s south leg includes a small section of the MRCCA. Within that area there are approximately 35 existing single family homes. The rest of the land is County and City open space. The one change that might affect the existing single family homes is the new requirement for bluff setbacks. The setback was increased from 40 feet to 200 feet. Pre-existing nonconforming structures can expand as long as they do not encroach further toward the bluff. A few of the single family homes adjacent the Fish Creek corridor might have what is defined as a bluff behind their homes and would thus be affected by the new rule. Once the new MRCCA Rules are adopted the City will be required to update our ordinance to meet the new requirements. The DNR estimates this to take place sometime next year. 7. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS None present. 8. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS None. 9. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a. Wicklander Pond Dredging Report i. Environmental Planner Finwall gave the report on the dredging of Wicklander Pond. Wicklander Pond is located within the city hall campus. The watershed and the City partnered on the project, which included dredging material from the pond to allow for additional storm water storage capacity to improve water quality with the Wakefield subwatershed distric. b. Recycling Update i. Environmental Planner Finwall gave the recycling update. 1) Tour – The Tennis Sanitation recycling tour was held in St. Paul Park in June. City Council members and Environmental Commissioners attended the tour. The tour was videotaped and will be edited for a future Spotlight on Maplewood cable television show. 2) Workshop – Tennis Sanitation’s work plan includes a workshop with the Environmental Commission. Now that the tour is complete staff will work with Tennis to schedule the workshop in September or November. The workshop will focus on recycling education and recycling markets. 3) Bench – Tennis Sanitation collected red recycling bins during the roll out of the recycling carts in March. These bins were recycled. Tennis donated a bench to July 21, 2014 Environmental and Natural Resources Commission Meeting Minutes 3the City that was made from the bins. The bench is located in front of City Hall and includes a recycling saying “Recycle today for a better tomorrow.” 4) 4th of July – Tennis Sanitation collected 700 lbs of recyclables during the City’s Fourth of July event. c. Maplewood National Night Out (Tuesday, August 5, 5 to 9 p.m.) i. Environmental Planner Finwall said National Night Out is Tuesday, August 5, 2014, from 5 – 9 p.m. Environmental Commissioners are invited to attend National Night Out parties to distribute compostable bags and brochures about the County’s new organics drop off program. d. Urban Agriculture Subcommittee Tour (September) i. Environmental Planner Finwall said she would like to schedule an urban agriculture tour with the Urban Agriculture Subcommittee in September. During the tour the subcommittee will visit sites in Maplewood that are practicing different urban agriculture practices (community garden, raising bees, raising chickens, etc.). e. Maplewood Nature Center Programs i. Environmental Planner Finwall presented the upcoming Nature Center Programs. For more information visit the Nature Center’s webpage at www.ci.maplewood.mn.us/nc or contact them at (651) 249-2170. f. ENR Commission Reappointments i. Environmental Planner Finwall said ENR Commission members Cynthia Schafer and Judith Johannessen are up for reappointments on September 30, 2014. If commission members are interested in reapplying to serve on the ENR Commission please notify Lois Knutson in the City Manager’s Office at City Hall by August 4, 2014. 10. ADJOURNMENT Chair Palzer adjourned the meeting at 8:13 p.m.