2018-07-23 EC Agenda PacketAGENDA
GOLDEN VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
July 23, 2018, Monday @ 6:30pm
Council Conference Room (across from Council Chambers)
Golden Valley City Hall, 7800 Golden Valley Rd
1.Call to Order
2.Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of June 25, 2018 (5 min)
3.Introduce new staff member – Drew Chirpich, Environmental Specialist (5 min)
4.Update on Solid Waste discussion (20 min)
5.Nature Area prioritization (30 min)
6.GreenStep Cities – Step 4 – Buildings and Lighting (15 min)
(Action Requested)
7.Program/Project Updates (5 min)
8.Council Updates (5 min)
9.Other Business
10.Adjourn
Page 1
GOLDEN VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
Regular Meeting, Minutes
June 26, 2018
Commissioners Present: Tonia Galonska, Lynn Gitelis, Dawn Hill, Scott Seys, Jim
Stremel and Debra Yahle
Staff Present: Heather Hegi, GIS Technician and Claire Huisman, Administrative
Assistant
Also Present: Council Member Larry Fonnest
Absent: Commissioners Tracy Anderson and Joseph Ramlet
Call to Order
Chair Hill called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.
Council Member Larry Fonnest gave a brief update on Council business. He attended
the League of MN Cities Conference in St. Cloud last week where he received
GreenStep Cities, Step 3 Award on behalf of the City of Golden Valley. He also spoke
briefly on the issues going on at the state level and the possibility of a tax increase on
the county level since they are funding the Blue Line Project.
Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes
MOVED by Gitelis, SECONDED by Galonska, and the motion carried unanimously
to approve the minutes of the May 21, 2018 regular meeting.
Program/Project Updates
The complete Program/Project Update is on file.
Other Business
Commissioner Gitelis reported that Senator Marty has convened a group to develop the
bill language on carbon pricing for the next legislative session.
Adjourn
MOVED by Yahle, SECONDED by Stremel, and the motion carried to adjourn the
meeting at 6:45 pm.
Heather Hegi took Commission members Galonska, Hill, Seys, Stremel and Yahle on a
tour of the City’s nature areas from 6:45p to 8:45p. (Van was loaned to the Commission
by the Park and Rec Dept.) The Commissioner’s will discuss their thoughts and
impressions of the nature areas at the July meeting.
Claire Huisman
Administrative Assistant
Page 2
Date: July 13, 2018
To: Environmental Commission
From: Eric Eckman, Development and Assets Supervisor
Subject: Update on Solid Waste Discussion
Physical Development Director Marc Nevinski will be on hand to provide an update on the City’s
solid waste and recycling discussion and to discuss next steps with the Commission.
Page 3
Date: July 13, 2018
To: Environmental Commission
From: Eric Eckman, Development and Assets Supervisor
Subject: Nature Area prioritization
In June, the Environmental Commission participated in a tour of the City’s nature areas and larger
open spaces. Seeing these open spaces in person provides perspective and background that is
essential to planning and guiding future management and investment. One of the Commission’s
mission statements is to develop and make recommendations on management practices for the
city’s nature areas, public and private ponding areas, and other such city-owned properties. The
work plan for 2018 includes assisting with implementation of the Natural Resources Management
Plan which includes managing nature areas.
The goal of this year’s tour was to help the City prioritize future activities, improvements, and
investment in these areas. Long term capital investment in each area is laid out in the Natural Resource
Management Plan, however, the areas themselves were not ranked or prioritized in any order.
At the July meeting, the Commissioners will discuss their thoughts and impressions from the tour and
review additional data provided by staff. Input from the Commission will help provide a framework for
prioritizing maintenance and improvements, volunteer projects, grant applications, and larger capital
investment.
Page 4
Date: July 12, 2018
To: Environmental Commission
From: Eric Eckman, Development and Assets Supervisor
Subject: GreenStep Cities Step 4 – Buildings and Lighting
The City is working toward Step 4 in the GreenStep Cities Program which involves the
documentation of metric measurements in seven core topic areas and five optional topic areas.
Measuring for Step 4 is important as the City must show improvements in each topic area to
advance to Step 5. Improvements within these topic areas will help the community reduce
energy use, save money, and increase resilience to short and long term shocks and stressors.
Core topic areas
Open Space, Parks, and Trees
Stormwater
Wastewater
•City Buildings and Lighting
•Transportation Modes and Miles
•Renewable Energy
•Land Use
Optional topic areas (in priority order)
•City Fleets
•Infrastructure for Biking and Walking
•Car, Transit, and Bike Options
•Surface Water
•Green Buildings
•Local Food (only if green buildings
does not prove to be workable)
The next core topic area that the City is completing is City Buildings and Lighting. The
performance metrics are attached to this memorandum and are mostly derived from the B3
Benchmarking tool. Also attached is the guidance document for completion of this action. After
discussion, staff requests that the Commission consider making a motion to approve the entry for
Step 4 City Buildings and Lighting into the GreenSteps Cities website.
Page 5
Units
Previous
Year
Values
(2016)
Current
Year
Values
(2017)
Annual
Change
1.1 kBTU/ft2-year 76.92
1.2 $/ft2-year $1.13
1.3 Actual:Predicted 0.57
CO kWh/Year
CO Therms/Year
1.4 % LEDs 0.00%90.00%90.00%
1.5 % LEDs 99.00%
1.6 % LEDs 25.00%
CO kWh/Year
For City buildings, use B3 or a similar benchmarking tool to:
Ratio of actual energy use to predicted energy use:
kBTU per square foot, per year:
Dollars spent on energy per square foot, per year:
Traffic Signals:
City buildings and property:
Street lights:
Enter any justification or explanation for variation of metrics:
City buildings and property - 100% of outdoor city hall campus lighting is LED. Additional inventory is required to determine exact lighting
in buildings.
All standard street lights have been converted to LED. Decorative street lights and lights in City streetscape areas have not been
converted, but will be in the near future.
Enter the percent of lighting that uses LEDs for:
Buildings and Lighting
Electricity consumption for all buildings
Natural gas consumption for all buildings
Electricity consumption for streetlights and traffic signals
#1 City Buildings and Lighting CORE
Page 6
#1: CITY BUILDINGS & LIGHTING
CORE METRIC FOR CATEGORY A & B & C CITIES
Bold, green font indicates data elements that are eligible to be recognized at Step 5 if
improvement is demonstrated.
DATA ELEMENTS
City Buildings: 1.1 kBtu per square foot, per year
1.2 Dollars spent on energy per square foot, per year
1.3 Ratio of actual energy use to predicted energy use
Percent of LEDs in:
1.4 Street lights
1.5 Traffic signals
1.6 City buildings & property
DEFINITIONS
•City buildings include all city-owned or leased buildings fueled by two or more sources of energy. Excluded are
unheated garages, pump houses, and some park buildings. Category C cities may not own or lease such buildings
and thus do not report these three data points. Water use by city buildings and properties is reported under Metric
10: Drinking Water. (Elements 1.1-1.3)
•Ratio of actual energy use to predicted energy use – This is called the B3 Benchmark Index Ratio – it is an
engineering model that predicts how much energy all buildings would use if they were built to and operated under the
current State energy code. This ratio divides the actual energy use for the most recent twelve months of data
available by the predicted energy use for the same period, and expresses the result as a number. Numbers 1.0 or
under mean the city’s buildings are performing better than predicted. (Element 1.3)
•Street lights include all street lights owned by the city and all those owned by any utility under a franchise
agreement and should be counted as one fixture, regardless of the number of bulbs contained. (Element 1.4)
•Each traffic signal should be counted as one for purposes of calculating a percentage; thus, as sometimes only one
of the three colors is changed out before changing out another color, counts may include 0.33 of a signal. (Element
1.5)
•City buildings & property includes both interior and exterior lighting for buildings (interior includes ambient and task
lighting fixtures), garages, other city facilities (e.g. drinking/waste water plant), parking lots and ramps, ball fields,
park lighting, trails, and the like. (Element 1.6)
•Alternative data elements: if you have been gathering or want to gather slightly different data, report those and
explain in the notes section of the GreenStep reporting spreadsheet why they are a better fit for your city. For
example, you may use Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager or a proprietary building program, though GreenStep has not
seen the ability of these programs to calculate actual-to-predicted ratios based on Minnesota’s changing building
code, nor to compare your city’s data to other city data by type of building in Minnesota.
DATA SOURCES
•B3 Program Data at https://mn.b3benchmarking.com (Elements 1.1-1.3)
o Note: Energy bill data through December 31st for all buildings must be put into the B3 system before the
system can accurately calculate the GreenStep measures.
•Public works data; work orders; city purchasing data. (Elements 1.4-1.6)
Page 7
•Utility data reported under franchise agreements. (Elements 1.1-1.3)
CALCULATION AND PUBLIC REPORTING
•Category C GreenStep cities that do not own or lease buildings should note that on the Step 4 reporting
spreadsheet.
•kBtu per square foot, per year in all city buildings is calculated by the B3 database for the year proceeding the
reporting year. When logged into your City’s B3 Benchmarking Database page, use the “Report” dropdown menu to
select EUI Report. Click “Show Report Options” and set the “Duration” section dropdown as Jan to Dec for the
reporting calendar year. In the “Consumption Summary By Year” table, report the number shown under “Actual
kBtu/SF.” (Element 1.1)
•Dollars spent on energy per square foot, per year in all city buildings is calculated in a similar way by the B3
database for the year proceeding the reporting year. Under the REPORTS tab, use the “Report:” dropdown menu to
select EUI Report. Click “Show Report Options”, then under the “Meters & Units” section and the “Units” dropdown
menu select Dollars. Set the “Duration” section dropdown as Jan to Dec for the reporting calendar year. In the
“Consumption Summary By Year” table, report the number shown under “Actual Dollars/SF.” (Element 1.2)
•Ratio of actual energy use to predicted energy use is also calculated in a similar way by the B3 database for the
year proceeding the reporting year. Under the Reports Tab, use the “Report” dropdown menu to select Benchmark
Report. Click Show Report Options and set the “Duration” section dropdown as Jan to Dec for the reporting calendar
year. In the “Consumption Summary By Year” table, find the number under “Actual kBtu/SF” (includes only the sites
that can be benchmarked), and divide it by the number under “Benchmark kBtu/SF” to get a ratio above or below 1.0
(lower is better) and report the ratio. If there is no Benchmark number, report the number shown next to “Index Ratio”
from the BENCHMARK tab, note on the report where the number was taken from, and contact the B3 staff to correct
the problem on the REPORTS tab. (Element 1.3)
•Percent of LEDs can be a calculated number or an estimated number. First, count or estimate the number of
installed LED fixtures in street lights on the December 31st before the reporting year. Then, divide by the count or
estimate of total street lights. Repeat this procedure for traffic signals and building/property lights. Express the ratios
as percentages. (Element 1.4-1.6)
RATIONALE
In city buildings, the owner is also the tenant and thus all cost savings from short and long-term efficiency investments will
accrue to the city and its taxpayers. Additional benefits from such investments include reducing greenhouse gases and
lowering exposure to fuel price volatility. Energy efficiency (and other sustainability) opportunities abound in existing buildings,
which are in a constant drift toward inefficiency. Many of the opportunities not only reduce operating costs, but improve
occupant quality of life, create higher resale value, and improve worker productivity. The B3 database allows cities to compare
sq. ft. energy use among all buildings of the same type across Minnesota. This makes it possible to target energy
improvements to the lowest-performing buildings, investments which yield the greatest ongoing payback.
LEDs: probably the easiest and most cost-effective measure a city can do to improve energy efficiency is to convert lighting to
LED technology. Payback periods can often be measured in months, not years. Utility and other financial incentives exist, and
city staff need only assess and choose equipment, vendors and payment options. Therefore this is a simple measure that
aims to focus attention on completing a transition to 100% LED fixtures such that savings begin accruing faster.
STEP 5 TARGETS
Though no state targets exist for cities, a relevant target is an Executive Order that requires state agencies with operational
control over state buildings to achieve an aggregate 20% reduction in energy use from the baseline data entered into the B3
Benchmarking tool after the agency initiates their energy improvements. 20% in the Executive Order is a cumulative number
Page 8
over many years: a very large reduction for one year unless most of the city’s buildings undergo major retrofits at the same
time. Year over year improvement targets are move reasonably in the 2 -5% range. To calculate yearly improvements:
Under the Reports Tab, in the Report drop down menu, select Baseline Report. Click Show Report Options, then in the
Duration section set the dates from Jan to Dec of the reporting calendar year. Then, in the Options section, check Weather
Normalize, and immediately underneath select Normalize Baseline from the dropdown menu. In the Comparison section,
select Baseline and then click on the calendar and in the Baseline Editor that pops up click on January of the calendar year
immediately preceding the reporting calendar year (e.g. Jan 2014 for CY2015). Click on Save and Close. Report both the
Change From Baseline kBtu/SF and the % Change.
NEED HELP? CONTACT
Laura Millberg, GreenStep best practice advisor for green buildings, MN Pollution Control Agency
651-757-2568 or Laura.Millberg@state.mn.us
Susan Zarling, GreenStep best practice advisor for lighting, MN Dept. of Transportation
651-234-7052, susan.zarling@state.mn.us
February 2017
Page 9
PROGRAM/PROJECT UPDATES – July 2018
NATURAL RESOURCES
Sentencing to Service crews have been working on landscaping and restoration tasks around the City:
•Weeding streetscape planters, median planters, public buildings, etc
•Line trimming around public buildings and parks.
•Assisting with storm damage (public trees that have fallen into residential back yards) where equipment cannot
be used.
•Litter picking
•Sod damage repairs near utility breaks.
WATER RESOURCES
Storm sewer stenciling project
A Golden Valley family volunteered to stencil approximately 30 storm drains in their neighborhood through the City’s
Storm Drain Stenciling program. The stencil designs include a graphic of a fish and the statement “Dump no Waste –
Drains to Creek”. In addition to the stenciling of the storm drains, the family is handing out flyers to proximal
landowners about the importance of keeping contaminants out of our storm sewers, which are direct conduits to our
surface waters. The City appreciates the group’s efforts to help keep our surface waters clean.
2016-2018 Bassett Creek Native Vegetation project
In June, staff inspected the entire stretch of the project which extends along both sides of the stream from 10th Avenue
to Duluth Street. The native vegetation buffer is establishing well and will help filter sediment and pollutants while
creating habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Staff will continue to monitor progress. The project will terminate in
late 2018.
PLANING AND ZONING AND DEVELOPMENTS
Jul 5, 2018
529 Burntside Drive—Variance from the height limitations on fences in the front yard in order to provide a buffer
from the noise of vehicles on Highway 55. The applicant is requesting an additional 2 feet of height beyond the 4 feet
allowed in order to construct a 6 foot fence. Approved (4-0) at the June 26 meeting.
2081 Indiana Avenue North—Variance from the height limitations on fences in the front yard in order to provide
screening of a rear yard. The property is bounded by three streets and therefore has three front yards. The applicant
is requesting an additional 2 feet of height beyond the 4 feet allowed in order to construct a 6 foot fence. Scheduled
for the July 24 meeting.
Material and Architectural Standards—On July 9, staff will lead a discussion on potential changes to the Zoning Code
to introduce material and architectural standards in many of the City’s Zoning Districts. The City Council has
expressed interest is setting minimum standards for the types and amounts of materials used on building façades, as
well as requiring basic architectural elements be utilized to provide visual interest in new construction.
Tenant Protection Ordinance (First Reading)—Ordinance to restrict the displacement of renters within the first three
months of the sale of a property containing an affordable housing building. Action by the new property owner
including: termination or non-renewal of lease without cause, an increase in rent, or re-screening of tenants within
the tenant protection period (three months) would result in the payment of relocation assistance to the tenant. The
first reading is scheduled for the July 17 City Council meeting.
Page 10
Downtown Study—The Urban Land Institute will be convening a Technical Assistance Panel of real estate and
development experts on July 18-19 to help the City better understand the downtown area and to make
recommendations for possible actions moving forward. This process will involve a tour of the area, interviews with
key property owners, and discussion with staff and elected officials.
City Council Members and Planning Commissioners are encouraged to attend a discussion held at City Hall at 5 pm on
July 18 in order to help set the context for the exploration that will follow the next day. Dinner will be provided and
all attendees are welcome to participate in a walking tour of the downtown following the meal. A final written report
will be presented to the City Council at a Council/Manager meeting later in the year.
Page 11