2020-01-27 EC Minutes 7800 Golden Valley Road 1 Golden Valley,MN 55427 city 0
763-593-8027 1 TTY 763 593 3968 1 763-593 8198(fax)1 www.goldenvalleymn.gov golden .1 .14Environmental Commission vaey
January 27, 2020—6:30 pm
Council Conference Room
Golden Valley City Hall
7
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 800 Golden Valley Road
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 6:28 pm by Chair Seys.
2. Roll Call
Commissioners present: Tracy Anderson, Tonia Galonska, Dawn Hill, Susan Phelps,Joseph
Ramlet, Scott Seys, Jim Stremel and Debra Yahle
Commissioners absent: None
Staff present: Eric Eckman, Environmental Resources Supervisor;
Drew Chirpich, Environmental Specialist;
Emma Pierson, MN GreenCorps Member;
Carrie Nelson, Administrative Assistant
3. Approval of Agenda
MOTION by Commissioner Hill, seconded by Commissioner Yahle to approve the agenda of January
27, 2020 with the following change: Switch items 5A and 5B under Old Business, and the motion
carried.
4. Approval of November 25, 2019 Regular Meeting Minutes
MOTION by Commissioner Stremel, seconded by Commissioner Anderson to approve the minutes
of November 25, 2019 as submitted and the motion carried.
5A. Partners in Energy update
Eric Eckman gave an update on the Partners in Energy program.
• Commission approved the City's participation in the Partner's in Energy Program with
Xcel Energy in October.
• City Council approved applying for the Partners in Energy Program in December.
• An energy action plan will be developed over the next two years for residents and
businesses.
• Application was completed and sent in in mid-January. We haven't heard back from
Xcel yet but should by next meeting.
• If accepted in the program:
o 6 months of plan development and understanding the goals of the community.
o Moving forward with implementation with energy actions from residents and
businesses.
■ This will include other programs such as Home Energy Squad and others
that benefit residents and businesses, provide efficiencies, save money,
and reduce electricity use.
■ Exploring how to incorporate energy reductions and electrification in the
transportation sector.
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City of Golden Valley Environmental Commission Regular Meeting 2
Jan 27, 2020—6:30 pm
o Eric asked the Commission if one or two members would be interested in joining
a community group that will be created for the planning phase of the Energy
Action Plan to determine the goals and priorities of the community and refine
what is in the Resilience and Sustainability Plan. The community group will also
include staff members, business owners, multi-family apartment interests,
school interests, and 1-2 planning commission members. The group would meet
3-5 times in the next year.
■ Commissioners Hill and Golanska expressed interest in serving on the
community group.
5B. Organics Recycling Considerations
Emma Pierson gave an update on the organics matrix presented to the Commission at the
November 2019 meeting to address comments and questions at the last meeting.
• SCORE funds are affected by participation. The higher the participation, the more the
SCORE funding will be from the County. The funds can be used toward residential recycling
related items.
• There are no grants for education however, the County does have the ability to provide
speakers/education for recycling and organics and will work with the City to customize this.
We will reach out to the County about having a staff person at a booth at the Farmer's
Market to plan dates and what information will be at the table.
• Education Requirements
o If opting for a licensing requirement:
■ Haulers will need to follow the Hennepin County Ordinance 13 Education
Requirements Section 2: Subsection 2B
o Regardless of which route we go:
■ Cities will follow Hennepin County Ordinance 13 Education Requirements
Section 2: Subsection 3
• City Code Sec. 22-23 States: "Containers shall be stored no more than three feet from
the primary or accessory structure and shall at all times be located behind the front of
the primary structure."
• Participating in organics can help you reduce the size of your garbage container by
diverting waste to an organics bin.
• Saint Louis Park: Curbside Organized 1.76% Contamination Minneapolis: Curbside
Organized 0.47%-1.45% Contamination. Contamination rates change when outreach is
done.
• Trash containers are taxed by sales price, which is determined by Haulers based on the
volume of containers. County taxes 15.5% on trash and the State taxes 9.75% on trash.
There are no taxes on recycling or organics recycling. If adding a separate organics bin to
your property, there will be no additional tax to your hauling, and you may be able to
reduce the size of your trash bin, in turn reducing taxes. If you are co-collecting in a
durable bag system, there is no tax on the price to participate in the organics program,
however,the volume of your trash bin will likely stay the same, causing no reduction in
taxes, depending on the program.
City of Golden Valley Environmental Commission Regular Meeting 3
Jan 27, 2020—6:30 pm
• Timing depends upon what decision City Council makes and when. Must have curbside
opportunity available by January 1, 2022.
• There is no specific data showing contamination differences between the durable bag
vs. separate bin programs. While discussing options with haulers, some have mentioned
a durable bag program is a risk; others like the program.
• In general, an organized system requires more staff time than an open system since
issues will need to be addressed by a staff person.
• There are no known methods to provide more compost to those participating more in
the organics program. There isn't a way to determine who participates more.
• Republic Services currently does a curbside pick-up in Fridley and will soon be in
Richfield.
• Cities and haulers have been moving away from yard waste co-collection bin to separate
bin collection because of certain challenges with the recipes at compost facilities.
• The only known co-collection system currently available is the blue bag program and
they do have one consistent bag that is heavier duty than a standard, green,
compostable bag.
• Minneapolis does their own compost pick-up. They have a separate cart so they can use
a paper grocery bag or certified compostable bag. There is no limit to the amount of
bags that go in the cart.
6A. Curbside Organics Program Draft Pros-Cons
The commission reviewed the draft pros-cons of different options included in the packet and
recommended the following edits.
Organized 'All-in, Everyone Pays' Program (Cart):
'Pros' Changes:
• Change to 'Increases participation' i.e. SLID
• Change to Resident can use certified compostable bags or paper grocery bags
'Cons' Changes:
• Add —City manages so there will be additional staff time required
• Add — Resident must provide bags
Can either give a cart to every resident or only give a cart to residents who choose to
participate. Maybe more people would participate if they get the cart.
Organized 'Opt-in' Program (cart)
'Pros' Changes:
• Change to Resident can use certified compostable bags or paper grocery bags
'Cons' Changes:
• Change to Lower participation is likely to avoid the cost, i.e. SLP
• Delete last three items.
• Add —City manages so there will be additional staff time required
License Requirements Organics Recycling Collection (Cart)
City of Golden Valley Environmental Commission Regular Meeting 4
Jan 27, 2020—6:30 pm
'Pros' Changes:
• Add from Cons column —Hauler is responsible for education
• Add - Less city staff time required
• Change to Resident can use certified compostable bags or paper grocery bags
'Cons' Changes:
• Delete second item
• Move Hauler is responsible for education to 'Pros'
• Add —City has less input on education
• Delete 6th item since it's a duplicate
License Requirements Organics Recycling Collection (Durable Bag Program)
• Add /Co-Collect to Durable Bag Program
• Can this work in the parks?
• Only Randy's offers this option at this time
'Pros' Changes:
• Add from Cons column —Hauler is responsible for education
'Cons' Changes:
• Add—City has less input on education
Staff will update the pros-cons list and present it for review and approval at the next meeting.
6B. SCORE Funding
Emma Pierson reviewed SCORE Funding. The money helps cities with any operational expenses of
a recycling program. 50%of SCORE funding in 2020 will go toward recycling and 50%will go to organics.
The amount of SCORE funding the city receives fluctuates based on the number of active participants in
the City. An active participant is one who puts their bin out for collection at least once per month. The
participation number is determined in September. An increase in SCORE funds could offset having to
raise recycling rates. Golden Valley has about 7,000 household accounts.
6C. GreenStep Cities-City Hall Organics
Proposed Update#1:
MOTION by Commissioner Hill, seconded by Commissioner Galonska to approve Proposed
Update of the Existing Entry of Best Practice 22, Action 1 with the following amendments:
• Include how education of the employees made a difference in participation.
• Include that Plastic Film Recycling was also added to the break room.
Proposed Update#2:
MOTION by Commissioner Stremel, seconded by Commissioner Yahle to approve Proposed
Update of the Existing Entry of Best Practice 22, Action 2 with the following amendment:
• Add 'to every household' when talking about the bi-monthly newletters being sent out.
Proposed Update#3:
City of Golden Valley Environmental Commission Regular Meeting 5
Jan 27, 2020—6:30 pm
MOTION by Commissioner Phelps, seconded by Commissioner Ramlet to approve Proposed
Update of the Existing Entry of Best Practice 22, Action 5 with the following amendments:
• Change 'there are currently 114 participating households' to 'In 2019 there were 114
participating households'.
• Change the last sentence to: In 2019, (2 out of 8) haulers reported 267.7 tons of yard
waste was collected.
61). 2020 Work Plan Ideas
Eckman reviewed the 2019 work plan (items complete and not yet complete) and engaged the
Commission to offer ideas for the 2020 work plan. The 2020 draft work plan must be approved by the
Commission by April to be considered by Council in May.
The Commission kept most unfinished items on the list and added new topics to consider:
• If accepted— Partners in Energy Program (Energy Action Plan)
o Add private buildings energy benchmarking
• Reducing chemicals - look into salt use on roads; products used on weeds
• Look into options for maintaining the sidewalks in the winter—residents help clear them?
• Reducing single use plastics and styrofoam
• Update on Emerald Ash Borer—Possibly have Tim Teynor come talk—part of Natural Resources
Management
• Downtown Redevelopment Study-Take opportunity to be a part of this planning process
• Climate Action Plan (GreenStep Cities as guide or separate plan?)
• Work with the Human Rights Commission on Climate Justice and Environmental Justice with a
speaker on climate change or promoting community gardens and local food production —possible
joint project and commission meeting.
6E. Program/Project Updates
• Staff recently met with the Garden Club and People for Pollinators group to share information
about the upcoming plans for 2020. Consistent with the MOU executed last fall, the City will be
promoting the Garden Club's events and activities in a variety of ways in 2020. The Garden Club
website is https://gvgardenclub.com and the Facebook page is
https://www.facebook.com/Peopleforpollinatorsgoldenvalley/.
• The Board of Water and Soil Resources has a program called "Lawns to Legumes" that will
reimburse people to convert portions of their lawn to pollinator habitat. The link to the program
website is: https://bwsr.state.mn.us/121 . The Metro Area is the highest priority for the program,
and the application deadline is February 28th, 2020.
6F. Council Updates
None
6G. Other Business
City of Golden Valley Environmental Commission Regular Meeting 6
Jan 27, 2020—6:30 pm
Bike/Ped Task Force has been dissolved. Bike/Ped will now fall under open space. Consider adding
bike/ped involvement to the work plan.
7. Adjournment
MOTION by Commissioner Ramlet, seconded by Commissioner Stremel to adjourn the meeting at
8:33pm and the motion carried.
ATTEST:
-o
Carrie Nelson, Administrative Assistant Scott Seys, Chair