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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-03 ENR Minutes CITY OF MAPLEWOOD ENIVRONMENT AL AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION March 3, 2009 515 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - MAPLEWOOD CITY HALL 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 515 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Present Chair Carol Mason Sherrill Commissioner Judith Johannessen Commissioner Carole Lynne Commissioner Frederica Musgrave Commissioner Bill Schreiner Commissioner Dale Trippler (via telephone) Commissioner Ginny Yingling Citv Council Liaison Councilmember Kathy Juenemann Staff Shann Finwall, Environmental Planner 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Chair Mason Sherrill asked for a motion to approve the agenda and asked for additions or changes. Commissioner Musgrave stated she would like to add an item under Commission Presentations regarding the Metro Transit subcommittee hearings that are to be held in Maplewood. She also wanted to add Community Gardens under Commission Presentations. Environmental Planner Finwall requested to add three items under Staff Presentations March 18 2009 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting update, Sustainable Communities Conference, and an update on the Wetland Ordinance. Commissioner Johannessen made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Commissioner Schreiner. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Commissioner Musgrave stated when someone presents documents to be included in the record, they must be included, and the commission should not vote on those items. She said she submitted items on January 20,2009 to be included in the record, including an e-mail on the creation of subcommittees and a request for information from the city attorney, Mr. Kantrud. Environmental Planner Finwall stated that Alan Kantrud submitted a statement regarding items which are submitted for the record. Mr. Kantrud states that there is no statute that mandates commissions include in the minutes written public comments and materials which do not impact decision-making of the commission. 1 Mr. Kantrud also said that unless the material written is for decision-making purposes on behalf of the commission, it does not have much value to be included in the minute of the meetings. Commissioner Johannessen made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Commissioner Yingling. The motion carried by a vote of five to one, with Commissioner Musgrave voting against. There was one abstention by Commissioner Schreiner. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. EUREKA RECYCLING - YEAR-END RECYCLING REPORT 2008 Environmental Planner Finwall introduced Christopher Goodwin from Eureka Recycling who presented the 2008 Year End Recycling Report. Mr. Goodwin said the most noticeable highlight this past year was an increase in the percentage of residents participating in the recycling program. Seventy-two percent of the residents recycled this past year, which is a five percent increase from other years. There are approximately 500 residents that had not recycled in previous years and were now participating in the program. Mr. Goodwin said the revenue share that Maplewood has been receiving is significant, and in the early part of 2008 it was up considerably, particularly in the first three quarters In the last quarter of 2008, the global economy took a downward turn and the amount of revenue coming back into the city dropped. The revenue received by Maplewood comes from the sale of recycled materials. Manufacturers buy the material and manufacture new, similar items. Mr. Goodvvn said the quality of the material generated in Maplewood is higher than in most communities. Quality material means how "clean" it is; that is, how many items are mixed together or kept separate The cleaner the material, the easier it is to sell and the more value it has. He said there have been initiatives undertaken in Maplewood, and among them is an ongoing effort to educate the residents about the additional materials that can be recycled. Items like milk cartons and juice boxes, frozen containers, and linen materials are items that Maplewood can now recycle. He said when new materials are introduced such as milk cartons and juice boxes; it takes time for people to realize that they are recyclable. The second initiative involved distributing recycling bins to residents. On National Night Out teams made up of Maplewood and Eureka staff and members of the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission attended block parties around the city, brought recycling bins and answered questions of residents. He believed that part of the reason the recycling efforts have elevated in areas is because they have been going out and talking with residents. He said they extended hours at the Public Works building in October 2008 when residents could pick up bins and receive information on recycling. Home Depot was doing a large green fair at that time, and on a Saturday in October they had Maplewood bins for distribution at the Maplewood store. The last big initiative in 2008 was working with the newly established Maplewood Green Team. As part of a broader initiative, they assisted the Green Team with recycling at city buildings; specifically City Hall. In an attempt to ensure that recycling was being done to the highest standards there, city staff and university students did a waste sort of trash from city hall. They stored the materials for a week and then sorted it by hand so they could see what was actually in the recycling bins. They created a report on what was actually in the trash bins that could be recycled. They will provide the information to the Green Team as a motivation and inspiration tool to the staff. They did an assessment of City Hall and looked at the recycling set ups, what signage was used, and what information was given to people visiting City Hall, and then they provided a report with recommendations on what could be done to make it easier for people to recycle. They are now in the process of compiling all of this information. He said the main goal is to make sure that 2 everything that can be recycled is recycled. It will result in more revenue for Maplewood and will make everything "greener". There were questions addressed to Mr. Goodwin from the commission. He answered the questions. Mr. Goodwin added that they have been educating residents in Maplewood about waste material composition and backyard compost bins. There are some items that cannot be com posted in gardens and backyards easily, so they have been trying to work out logistics on how to collect that material. 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. ANNUAL REPORT Chair Mason Sherrill stated that all commission members had an opportunity to e-mail city staff on this item. Commissioner Musgrave said it would be helpful to have a breakdown of meeting dates and attendees. She understood that everyone attempted to be at the first meeting of each month; however if there were additional meetings during the month, or if meetings were rescheduled, it was difficult to have all the commissioners present at the meetings. Environmental Planner Finwall said she could note in the description on the calendars which meetings were held on the "off" nights. Commissioner Musgrave asked about the November 18, 2009 meeting in which the commission came up with three main goals. She asked about subcommittees and their role in fact-finding, researching and bringing forward information; and carrying out the mission of the commission. Chair Mason Sherrill said the purpose of the subcommittees is to research, fact-find and bring forward information back to the commission to publicly discuss items and move forward with them. The subcommittees do not make the decisions; they are merely doing the fact-finding and research and will bring back that information for the full commission. Chair Mason Sherrill made a motion to adopt the 2008 Annual Report, seconded by Commissioner Lynne. The motion carried by a vote of six to one, vvth Commissioner Musgrave voting against. b. WIND TURBINE ORDINANCE Environmental Planner Finwall introduced Felicia Szott. Felicia is an undergraduate student at Hamline University and is interning vvth the city researching vvnd turbine ordinances. Ms. Szott said she is specifically looking at wind turbine ordinances vvth other cities. Maplewood has been receiving ongoing requests and questions from residents and commercial businesses regarding wind turbines. She said Maplewood has an ordinance for towers, such as cell towers, and she said this ordinance could be used for wind turbines installed on commercial properties only. She has been consulting with the city attorney and Environmental Planner Finwall to determine whether or not Maplewood could sustain wind turbines. She presented some historical facts on vvnd energy, in that it has been used since ancient times. Egyptians used vvnd energy to power their boats along the Nile River. The earliest known windmills were created in Persia. She said Holland is most known for their windmills and they have improved technology over time. Americans used vvndmills in early settlement times to help with milling and energy. 3 She explained the different kinds and sizes of wind turbines, and gave statistics to the commission on how much energy the vvnd turbines produced. She said companies that produce turbines are working on improvements; on noise in particular. There are also tax breaks for citizens that utilize them, and also green pricing, which allows customers to be charged less for their energy if it involves a renewable resource. She said one of the top states that would benefit from wind turbines is Minnesota. She pointed out the negative aspects of wind turbines in that wind towers should not be near wetlands because of the danger of birds flying into the blades. Environmental benefits would include cleaner fuel, no air or water pollution being created; and it is a very economical power resource because once there is only the initial costs of constructing a turbine, and the energy costs will not fluctuate as prices for fuel or oil does. Ms. Szott also found a statistic that showed the impact of vvnd turbines in the United States. To generate the same amount of energy that the vvnd turbines generate, it would require 30.4 tons of coal or 91 billion tons of oil each year. Chair Mason Sherrill thanked Ms. Szott and stated due to time the commissioners should hold their questions until the next meeting. She said there is an e-mail address for Ms. Szott available as well. 7. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS No visitors present. 8. COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS Commissioner Musgrave said that she would like to discuss Metro Transit. She said there was a hearing on Thursday, March 5,2009 in the City Council Chambers; which is the Senate Transit subcommittee meeting. They vvll have a representative at this meeting and she thought it would be helpful to send this information out to the residents regarding this issue. She said there is also a presentation in the Planning Commission meeting regarding community gardens. She realized there was a zoning issue with this item, and asked if it was something that the Environmental and Natural Resources commission would be discussing and working on this year. 9. STAFF PRESENTATIONS Environmental Planner Finwall asked to table the items that she had added for this meeting until next month. 10. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned by Chair Mason Sherrill at 7.00 p.m. 4