[0:30] Good evening. I

[0:30] d like to call

[0:33] the

[0:35] SEPTEMBER 10th, 2025, Natural

[0:37] Resources Commission, lead to

[0:39] order, and we will start with,

[0:40] uh, roll call, um,

[0:42] coordinatorsrier.

[0:45] Thank you, Vice Chair Stein,

[0:48] Commissioners present, um, Vice

[0:51] Chair Stein, um, commissioners2

[0:53] or sorry, Commissioners

[0:56] McCaslin and Daw, um, currently

[0:58] we do not have a quorum, um,

[1:00] commissioners, they are not

[1:01] present our commissioner

[1:01] s

[1:05] tuning, husbands and sheets, um,

[1:07] I believe we still are

[1:08] expecting a couple

[1:10] commissioners, um, but MR. Vice

[1:12] Chair, if we could move along

[1:13] with the agenda

[1:16] but not take formal action

[1:17] unless we do get a quorum at

[1:20] some point. Ok, thank you.

[1:22] So, the next item was to

[1:23] approve the agenda. We will

[1:25] table that at this time and

[1:27] just use the

[1:28] the agenda that you have before

[1:31] you as, as sort of a, a draft

[1:33] or a I guess a unofficial

[1:34] agenda and we

[1:35] ll still kind of

[1:37] follow that, that flow for the

[1:38] meeting.

[1:40] And same thing with the

[1:42] approval of the minutes from

[1:44] our last work session which was

[1:45] in JULY.

[1:46] Um, we will not take formal

[1:47] action on that at this time

[1:48] since we

[1:49] re we do not have a

[1:52] quorum

[1:54] um, but please do review those

[1:55] minutes, um, when you, when you

[2:01] have time.

[2:03] And the next item is the uh

[2:05] citizen comment period. We

[2:05] don

[2:07] t have any in-service

[2:09] in-person visitors this evening.

[2:11] Um, we would like to

[2:12] um

[2:14] put out a warm invite for any

[2:15] citizens of Maota Heights that

[2:16] would like to attend one of our

[2:17] meetings. We

[2:18] d love to to have

[2:19] you here to hear, um, any

[2:21] concerns you have about the

[2:21] city

[2:23] s natural resources, any

[2:24] positive things that you

[2:24] d like

[2:27] to share as well, um, one other

[2:28] opportunity I

[2:29] ll mention is

[2:31] once or twice a year we do have

[2:32] like a field or a site visit.

[2:34] We just had one last month to,

[2:36] um,

[2:37] the Interstate Valley Creek

[2:39] restoration project, so that

[2:39] s

[2:40] another opportunity for

[2:43] citizens to come and meet, meet

[2:45] the commission, um, talk to us,

[2:47] um, see, see some really

[2:48] interesting and cool projects.

[2:51] Um, so I just want to remind,

[2:52] remind, uh anyone that MAY be

[2:53] watching on Town Square of that

[2:56] opportunity.

[2:57] Um, coordinator Sreer, can we

[2:59] go back now and, and do those

[3:01] approvals, or is that the, yes,

[3:02] that would be great. Thank you.

[3:05] Uh

[3:05] so we

[3:07] re gonna go back in the

[3:09] agenda to take care of a few

[3:11] items here, um, you should have

[3:13] the agenda in front of you.

[3:15] And

[3:18] is there a motion to adopt

[3:19] tonight

[3:19] s agenda.

[3:22] So

[3:24] So the motion by Commissioner

[3:26] Dahl, is there a second?

[3:28] Second by Commissioner Sheets.

[3:32] Any discussion on the motion?

[3:34] Um, hearing none, all in favor,

[3:35] please say aye. Aye.

[3:38] Paul Poino

[3:41] we have an agenda

[3:42] And then let

[3:43] s move, um, back

[3:45] again a little to approval of

[3:48] the of the minutes from the

[3:50] JULY 9th, 2025, um, commission

[3:52] work session.

[3:52] Um, hopefully y

[3:53] all had, had a

[3:55] little bit of time to review

[3:56] those minutes prior to the

[3:57] meeting.

[4:00] And um

[4:03] yeah, so is there a motion to

[4:05] approve the minutes from the

[4:07] JULY 9th work session.

[4:09] I look to approve

[4:12] that the motion is made by

[4:14] Commissioner Tony, is there a

[4:16] second?

[4:18] Second by Commissioner McCaslin.

[4:22] Any discussion on the motion?

[4:25] Ok, hearing none, all in favor

[4:27] of approving the minutes.

[4:29] Please say aye.

[4:32] All opposino.

[4:32] And the the minutes are

[4:37] approved.

[4:40] Um, so going to item 6 on your

[4:42] agenda, new business

[4:42] and

[4:46] this one has an action item of

[4:48] discussion, discussion of the

[4:50] trickerteen event.

[4:53] As well as some, um, a decision

[4:54] on our level of involvement in

[4:56] the trick routine event.

[4:59] Um

[5:01] and who specifically that that

[5:02] might be if we choose to

[5:03] participate in that event. Um,

[5:05] to kind of kick this off for my

[5:08] benefit, can you remind me, did

[5:09] we participate in that event?

[5:11] We did participate in that

[5:12] event last year.

[5:15] Yes, um, thank you, MR. Vice

[5:18] Chair Stein, um, we did

[5:21] participate last year, uh, last

[5:21] year

[5:23] s participation was

[5:25] focused on stormwater education

[5:27] and promoting the adopted Dream

[5:31] program.

[5:33] And I can, I can, if the

[5:36] commission is ready, I can, um

[5:37] present on that item. Yeah,

[5:40] please do.

[5:43] Um, so this is an annual event.

[5:43] It

[5:47] s held at the Par 3 city

[5:49] golf course and so again we

[5:52] will be having the event in

[5:56] 2025. Um, it is scheduled for

[5:58] Saturday, OCTOBER 18th, from 4

[5:59] to 6 P.M. It

[6:00] s open to the

[6:00] public. It

[6:02] s a free event, um,

[6:05] each hole on the golf course,

[6:07] uh, features giveaways and

[6:10] candy for kids and um other

[6:10] partic

[6:12] ip ant s

[6:15] Um, we have been discussing on

[6:17] how to incorporate partners in

[6:20] energy, um, in city events as

[6:22] well as this one in the in the

[6:24] past and the commission has as

[6:29] well, um, so some ideas

[6:30] proposed including um

[6:33] uh, some ideas were also

[6:37] proposed by staff to um move

[6:38] the commission to the first

[6:41] hole on the golf course and

[6:44] then also incorporate waste and

[6:49] recycling organics, um, uh, and

[6:51] education on other

[6:53] sustainability efforts in the

[6:56] city. Um, so one of the things

[6:57] from Partners and Energy

[6:59] standpoint would be promoting

[7:00] the home energy squads as well

[7:03] as other partners in energy

[7:03] programs.

[7:05] For residents and businesses in

[7:08] Mendota Heights. So

[7:10] um, if the commission could

[7:12] please discuss the event and

[7:15] interest and ability to be

[7:18] involved or attend at this time.

[7:21] I think it

[7:22] s a great, seems

[7:23] like a great opportunity to get

[7:25] information out and would

[7:26] wondering in terms of the home

[7:28] energy squad, I know, I think

[7:30] at one of the events we had a

[7:31] drawing for a free home energy

[7:32] audit? Would that be a

[7:34] possibility to do that again at

[7:36] this event? Yeah, thank you for

[7:38] the question. Um, I believe so.

[7:40] Um, I will check with Partners

[7:42] in Energy. They might still be

[7:45] offering free, um, home energy

[7:47] squad visits through the fall,

[7:49] if not, I think we can sponsor,

[7:50] I, I think that wouldn

[7:51] t be an

[7:53] an issue to sponsor another one.

[7:56] And I would add we

[7:56] ve got our

[7:58] materials for the

[8:00] the partners in energy booth

[8:01] pretty well prepared. We

[8:02] ve got

[8:04] a slide show, um, for some of

[8:06] our events in the spring, we,

[8:08] we brought along some some lawn

[8:09] equipment, some things like

[8:10] that. So

[8:11] I guess the preparation for

[8:13] that

[8:15] should be, would be pretty

[8:16] minimal, I would think.

[8:20] To, to do a boot there

[8:23] Was there any

[8:26] any insights from

[8:28] doing this last year from the,

[8:29] I guess the education outreach

[8:30] committee here.

[8:35] Well, a piece of it is, um.

[8:36] Implementing whatever you

[8:37] re

[8:38] boozing or talking about into

[8:39] the hole, right? That

[8:40] s a piece

[8:42] of it. So, um

[8:42] we

[8:45] d want to think about how to

[8:48] be engaging at the whole, um,

[8:50] with the.

[8:55] Materials that we have.

[8:57] And would it be pretty much

[8:58] engaging with the, the adults

[9:00] that come with the child,

[9:02] probably from the home energy

[9:03] perspective or is there a way

[9:05] to engage kids in that topic?

[9:05] It

[9:07] s a good question. I mean, I

[9:09] think we should adjust it. I

[9:11] was not present

[9:13] myself last year, but I can be

[9:16] on this date. So if we need

[9:17] people there, I can be there.

[9:21] Ok.

[9:23] And just

[9:24] make sure sheets just, uh, just

[9:25] so I understand because I

[9:25] ve

[9:26] never been to this event. What

[9:28] does that mean? Like,

[9:30] coordinated with the whole, is

[9:32] it gift, uh, well, the idea

[9:34] that we had last year that our

[9:37] student commissioner, um,

[9:40] Hannah was super instrumental

[9:43] in was we created a great setup

[9:46] to go over the whole to look

[9:49] like leaves and engage with

[9:51] talking about stormwater, um,

[9:52] and

[9:54] cleaning leaves out from your.

[9:55] From the drains and like if

[9:56] you

[9:57] re on walks and you see

[9:58] that there are leaves, you can

[9:59] do something about it. So I

[10:01] created an engaging way to talk

[10:02] about it. I don

[10:04] t know, um,

[10:05] coordinatorsrayer, if you would

[10:09] say it differently, but it made

[10:11] a topic, um, simple to talk

[10:12] about with.

[10:13] Kids and attendees, but also

[10:15] kind of fun.

[10:17] Mck had like, I think it had

[10:18] the

[10:20] drinks to the river stencil on

[10:21] it, you know.

[10:21] Like.

[10:24] Uh.

[10:25] To help you recognize that

[10:25] where you

[10:26] d see it in your

[10:28] neighborhood or

[10:29] around the city. And then the

[10:30] other halls are sponsored by

[10:33] like an orthodontist and

[10:34] a martial arts place in the

[10:35] handout.

[10:38] Each one, so

[10:41] sort of the sponsoring. Um, and

[10:42] just to confirm all of the

[10:44] material that was used last

[10:46] year is still available to use

[10:48] this year.

[10:49] Um, uh, Commissioner Tuning,

[10:52] yes, however, the focus has

[10:54] changed to Partners in Energy

[10:57] and sustainability, so we

[11:00] probably could not reuse those

[11:02] materials for this year, yeah,

[11:03] yeah, and there

[11:05] s been some

[11:08] talk about um costumes if

[11:09] commissioners want to dress up

[11:11] in costumes. I think staff will

[11:13] be in costumes, um, vegetable

[11:15] costumes, it sounds like

[11:17] another waste in organics

[11:19] themed. So if there is

[11:20] something it creatively you

[11:22] want to come up with for a

[11:24] costume for Partners in Energy

[11:26] or another sustainability.

[11:28] Topic.

[11:29] Um, or something else. You

[11:29] don

[11:29] t have to dress up in a

[11:32] costume either.

[11:34] I mean, I think uh perhaps our

[11:35] education committee and

[11:36] outreach committee could come

[11:39] up with something, but in terms

[11:42] of um educating younger people.

[11:42] I mean, there

[11:42] s opportunities

[11:44] to educate about light bulbs,

[11:45] light switches, that type of

[11:47] thing perhaps in terms of

[11:48] conserving energy, so I think,

[11:49] I think we could probably come

[11:50] up with something to have on

[11:52] the whole and then

[11:54] um, encourage

[11:54] whoever

[11:55] s there to dress up in

[11:59] a costume appropriate to that.

[12:01] Um, just recently engaging with

[12:04] a young child on this, um, I

[12:05] found that there

[12:05] s, it

[12:07] resonated when talking about

[12:09] fossil fuels and dinosaurs and

[12:10] all of this, uh, so maybe that

[12:11] could be an engaging way

[12:13] looking at what is fossil what

[12:14] are fossil fuels in a very

[12:16] basic way and what do renewable

[12:18] energies mean in a very basic

[12:20] way, but, um, considering the

[12:21] timeline is only a month. I

[12:22] m

[12:23] not quite sure. I would have to

[12:24] just kind of discuss more

[12:27] logistics, how much we want to,

[12:28] um, how much

[12:30] capacity we have and

[12:31] availability to create this

[12:32] material. I definitely agree

[12:35] with you, Commissioner Dahl. I

[12:37] think education, the education

[12:38] community committee could jump

[12:40] in on this, but maybe that

[12:40] s

[12:41] something that we can chat

[12:43] about.

[12:45] Yeah, and on that question,

[12:47] coordinator Sreer, do we have,

[12:49] do you need a commitment

[12:50] tonight that we are going to

[12:52] take a hole at this event, or

[12:54] is this something we can have

[12:55] the education outreach

[12:57] committee put a little more

[12:59] thought into how we would

[13:01] how we would, um

[13:01] I don

[13:04] t know, decorate the, the

[13:05] area or whatever the, the word

[13:06] is there.

[13:08] Um, or do you need a

[13:10] with the time, what is it?

[13:12] OCTOBER 18th, do you need a

[13:13] firm commitment tonight that

[13:13] we

[13:15] ll be taking

[13:18] one of the slots. Thank you,

[13:20] Vice Chair MR. Uh, Vice Chair,

[13:24] I think that, um, not maybe

[13:26] individual commitments, but

[13:27] maybe a commitment from the

[13:29] commission as a whole that

[13:29] they

[13:33] ll put some effort into um

[13:36] coming up with some um

[13:37] things to have at the hole if

[13:38] they

[13:38] re not, if you

[13:39] re not

[13:40] going to be able to make it, um,

[13:42] to help promote partners in

[13:43] energy, um

[13:46] I, I think that would be enough,

[13:48] and then we can get individual

[13:49] commitments. Um, I would like

[13:51] to have individual commitments

[13:52] by the end of the month for

[13:56] sure.

[13:59] Thank you for the clarification,

[14:00] coordinator Sreer, um, and I

[14:02] would say as a whole I think it

[14:04] sounds like a great opportunity

[14:06] for our commission to engage

[14:07] with the public on on energy,

[14:08] so.

[14:11] Generally positive feedback.

[14:11] ok.

[14:14] I would say

[14:14] Well, I

[14:17] d like to move then

[14:19] that uh we sponsored the whole

[14:21] I had um.

[14:22] This is the second portion, but

[14:24] that the education and outreach

[14:26] committee design the whole for

[14:27] our committee.

[14:30] So I have a motion from

[14:32] Commissioner Dah to sponsor a

[14:35] whole with with um

[14:37] some additional work from the

[14:38] education outreach committee on

[14:40] on how to stage that the best?

[14:41] Is there a second to that

[14:44] motion?

[14:45] Second by Commissioner Sheets.

[14:49] Any discussion on the motion?

[14:53] Ok. All in favor say aye. All

[14:54] those say no.

[14:56] Ok, the motion passes. We will

[14:57] commit to that coordinators

[15:03] spreader. Thank you.

[15:06] And the next item on the agenda

[15:09] of new business is.

[15:10] The geothermal planning grant,

[15:12] and I will, um, kick this over

[15:15] to coordinator Sreer for an

[15:16] information only update on this

[15:17] grant.

[15:20] Thank you, Vice Chair Stein.

[15:23] The city had originally applied

[15:25] for a geothermal planning grant

[15:27] from the Minnesota Department

[15:30] of Commerce back in MARCH of

[15:32] this year we were placed on a

[15:35] waiting list and then recently

[15:36] were notified that we were

[15:38] taken off that waiting list and

[15:43] awarded, um, up to $150,000 for

[15:45] the planning of a geothermal

[15:47] energy system. The plan would

[15:49] be to

[15:50] assess the city

[15:51] s public works

[15:54] facility with that grant, um,

[15:59] so I, I brought up this graphic

[16:01] from the Department of Energy,

[16:04] um, for those not familiar with

[16:06] geothermal energy systems or

[16:08] geothermal energy in general.

[16:12] So this is kind of a nice basic,

[16:15] um, graphic that shows how

[16:18] geothermal energy works, uh,

[16:19] basically

[16:19] it

[16:22] s taking or utilizing the

[16:24] constant temperature of the

[16:27] ground and moisture water

[16:30] within the ground sometimes to

[16:33] heat and cool buildings, um

[16:35] the, the, uh, it, it

[16:36] s only

[16:39] maybe uh below 30 ft in in

[16:41] depth where you reach that

[16:44] constant temperature of 50 to

[16:45] 59

[16:50] f, and so, um, Wells are

[16:51] dog and it

[16:53] s on a looped system,

[16:55] so the water moves through the,

[16:58] the well or the pipes, um, it

[16:59] doesn

[17:00] t take water from the

[17:01] ground. It

[17:02] s just passing

[17:03] through

[17:06] the ground and it can be

[17:08] installed vertically as well as

[17:12] horizontally, these systems, um,

[17:16] but we would then be using this

[17:18] grant to assess installing one

[17:20] of these systems at the public

[17:23] works facility and eligible

[17:25] expenses through the grant

[17:25] include

[17:27] analysis analysis of the

[17:29] heating and cooling demand of

[17:32] the building evaluation of

[17:32] equipment that

[17:34] s needed, um,

[17:37] analysis of the geologic

[17:39] conditions of the site and then

[17:41] preparation of a financial and

[17:44] analysis or final report for

[17:47] the project, so the city has,

[17:48] um, about 16 weeks to enter

[17:50] into a contract with a

[17:51] consultant to lead and

[17:53] implement the project, um,

[17:53] we

[17:55] re currently working on

[17:58] a request for proposals to go

[18:01] out to qualified consultants

[18:03] and contractors for the project.

[18:06] And, um, no action is needed.

[18:06] It

[18:08] s just an update to the

[18:09] commission.

[18:10] If there are any questions by

[18:12] the commission, I can attempt

[18:14] to answer those at this time as

[18:16] well.

[18:17] I

[18:18] ll just start with a comment,

[18:22] which is um

[18:24] we installed this exact type of

[18:26] system at our house back in

[18:28] 2010, so for 15 years, it

[18:28] s

[18:30] both heated and cooled our

[18:31] house, so we haven

[18:32] t used

[18:34] natural gas or any sort of

[18:36] combustion to, to do that.

[18:37] And it

[18:38] s been extremely

[18:40] reliable and, um,

[18:44] efficient, low cost, um, the,

[18:46] the trick is the

[18:48] that initial drilling of those

[18:50] of those loops is where the

[18:52] added cost is or the, the

[18:53] higher upfront cost, so that

[18:54] s

[18:54] kind of what

[18:55] s cool about this

[18:56] grant is like,

[18:56] they

[18:58] ll

[18:59] analyze that the economics of

[19:00] it, the

[19:02] you know, the effort to drill

[19:03] those in and everything and

[19:04] and see if this is something

[19:06] that makes sense for the city

[19:08] or not before you just jump

[19:10] into it. So really happy to

[19:11] hear that we

[19:12] were pulled off the waiting

[19:13] list and

[19:16] and and got the grant and

[19:18] I just want to thank staff, um,

[19:20] coordinator Sreer, but also, um,

[19:21] public works director Rutzek. I

[19:23] know you guys put a lot of like

[19:25] effort into just like

[19:27] understanding all of this and

[19:29] talking to to companies that

[19:31] have expertise to to be able to

[19:32] submit that grant. So, so thank

[19:33] you for doing that and it

[19:33] s,

[19:33] it

[19:34] s really great that we got

[19:40] it.

[19:44] And congratulations

[19:47] I have a question about how we

[19:49] will share those results back

[19:50] with the city for people who

[19:52] might be thinking about doing

[19:53] something like this at home,

[19:55] and also of course how we

[19:55] ll

[19:57] use it as a city going forward?

[20:00] Is that part of the

[20:01] plans later once the project

[20:03] has been implemented and you

[20:05] have data to talk about. Yes,

[20:06] uh, thank you, Commissioner s

[20:08] Sheets for the question. Um,

[20:11] the report would be posted on

[20:13] our sustainability page after

[20:15] the project is complete, um,

[20:16] for sure, and then along the

[20:17] way, we

[20:18] ll be sharing

[20:20] information as well through the

[20:29] usual outlets.

[20:32] Ok, we will move on next to old

[20:35] business and the first item is

[20:37] the Shoreland Management

[20:38] Ordinance Development.

[20:39] Uh coordinator Sreer, I don

[20:39] t

[20:40] know if you want to kick this

[20:41] off or if you want one of the

[20:42] committee members to kick it

[20:43] off.

[20:45] Uh, thank you, Vice Chair Stein.

[20:49] I can give some background for

[20:52] um launching into discussion,

[20:57] so, um, as, um, an initiative

[20:59] of the goal One ordinance and

[21:01] Policy Development Committee,

[21:01] um, they

[21:03] re 20, on their 2025

[21:07] work plan, um, the committee is

[21:09] exploring and working to

[21:11] develop a shoreland ordinance

[21:12] for recommendation of approval

[21:14] by the city council Currently

[21:15] the city does not have a

[21:18] shoreland ordinance, um.

[21:20] If adopted this, there

[21:21] s a

[21:26] placeholder under Title 15

[21:27] Environmental environmental

[21:32] standards of city code, um

[21:33] and the Shoreland ordinance

[21:35] would uh serve to protect

[21:37] natural water bodies within the

[21:38] city that are not already

[21:40] protected under current city

[21:42] codes such as we already have a

[21:44] wetland ordinance, so it would

[21:45] be water bodies other than

[21:48] wetlands, um, that would be a

[21:51] part of this proposed ordinance.

[21:52] In the past couple of work

[21:55] sessions, the commission has

[21:56] briefly discussed the ordinance

[21:58] and, um, Shoreland ordinances

[22:00] in general, um, at the JULY

[22:03] works session. It was briefly

[22:07] discussed, um, there was a

[22:09] comment that we need to obtain

[22:11] more public information on

[22:12] water bodies within Mendota

[22:15] Heights, especially Lake

[22:19] Augusta might pose, uh, a

[22:21] specific challenge because that

[22:22] water level

[22:23] continues to rise since it

[22:24] s a

[22:28] landlocked basin, um, so the

[22:30] established ordinary high water

[22:31] level, which is usually what

[22:31] we

[22:33] re basing setbacks and

[22:35] regulations on in a shoreland

[22:37] ordinance would um maybe not be

[22:40] relevant, um, so, um, that

[22:40] s

[22:42] something that we will have to

[22:44] work out during discussion. I

[22:48] have reached out to the dnr, um,

[22:51] to get advice and um

[22:53] also will possibly be working

[22:55] with the wmo, um, who

[22:56] s been

[22:57] heavily involved in Lake

[22:59] Augusta as well, um, to get

[23:01] some input from them, but um

[23:04] that uh will

[23:07] possibly pose a challenge and

[23:09] then also at the JULY work

[23:12] session, the, um, commission

[23:14] talked about including

[23:17] non-public water bodies a

[23:18] couple of them into the

[23:20] ordinance ordinance possibly

[23:22] such as Ivy Falls Creek and

[23:24] Interstate Valley Creek.

[23:26] So at this time, the commission

[23:28] has just asked to continue the

[23:32] discussion, um, add any

[23:34] comments into the template or

[23:37] the draft ordinance, um, that

[23:39] has been distributed and is in

[23:41] your packet, um, committee

[23:43] members go on committee members

[23:47] have already made some comments,

[23:49] um, everyone is encouraged to

[23:50] continue to make comments,

[23:51] including, um, the commission

[23:53] as a whole as well, and

[23:59] suggestions.

[24:00] And I guess I

[24:01] ll start out with

[24:03] a few comments from the

[24:05] from the ordinance committee,

[24:06] um.

[24:07] And you MAY remember some of

[24:09] this discussion from our work

[24:11] session, but I guess, I think

[24:12] the, the view of the committee

[24:16] so far is that the this

[24:18] model that the dnr has put

[24:20] forward is quite comprehensive

[24:21] and

[24:23] in my opinion, good

[24:24] So we

[24:26] at least in our comments so far,

[24:26] we

[24:28] re not really suggesting

[24:30] too many changes to that other

[24:34] than they have some suggested

[24:35] ways to clarify and make it

[24:36] maybe easier to enforce or

[24:38] easier for the

[24:40] for citizens and home builders

[24:42] and and others to understand,

[24:43] um, but for the most part, I

[24:44] think we

[24:44] re, we

[24:45] ve been

[24:46] um,

[24:47] our read through this whole

[24:48] thing. It is pretty long and

[24:49] kind of daunting when you look

[24:52] at the length of it. Um, but,

[24:53] but I think it

[24:53] s quite

[24:55] comprehensive and and quite

[24:55] clear. There

[24:57] s some pictures

[24:58] and graphics that help you

[24:59] understand some of the

[25:00] dimensions, the key dimensions,

[25:00] that

[25:01] s good.

[25:02] Um

[25:04] I see coordinator Ssreer has, I

[25:06] guess, put in some of the or

[25:08] put in the public water bodies

[25:10] that are in Mendora Heights on

[25:12] page 21, right?

[25:13] Which would be Rogers Lake,

[25:16] Lake Augusta.

[25:20] Clemey Lake, and Club Lake.

[25:22] And then on the next page has

[25:24] added those 22 creeks that that

[25:27] she mentioned too, so

[25:29] so again, this would have

[25:31] applicability.

[25:33] Only to public water bodies or

[25:35] if we choose to put

[25:38] add any to those

[25:38] Um, that

[25:39] s what, that

[25:40] s kind of

[25:41] a, I think helpful to to

[25:43] understand I guess what the

[25:54] applicability of this is.

[25:56] Just to jump in, um, thank you

[25:58] for for the

[26:00] summary. Thank you, uh, to the

[26:02] whole ordinance and committee

[26:03] for subcommittee for reviewing

[26:04] it. I know it

[26:05] s um, it

[26:05] s a

[26:07] heavy lift, so appreciate that

[26:11] as well. Um, just reflecting on

[26:14] our JULY session, um

[26:17] we also said with your

[26:19] recommendation saying that the

[26:20] optional text that is in blue,

[26:23] um, I just want to return to

[26:24] that. I recall you said that a

[26:27] lot of those seem also quite

[26:28] reasonable. Um, so maybe we

[26:28] could.

[26:31] Bring those up to speed who

[26:33] were not there um and just

[26:35] address those.

[26:38] The optional text in blue.

[26:46] And give me comments on those.

[26:47] Yeah, and there is quite a bit

[26:49] of

[26:51] as you kind of flip through

[26:55] this, um,

[26:58] it is just a summary

[27:00] throughout the entire text

[27:02] there are um sections that are

[27:04] highlighted in blue, which the

[27:06] dnr have said are

[27:08] stipulated as optional. So it

[27:08] s

[27:08] something that

[27:09] s recommended,

[27:10] but it would go above and

[27:12] beyond, um, just our

[27:12] conversation was kind of

[27:15] looking at what those seem

[27:17] pretty reasonable, um, so

[27:19] it sounded like we

[27:19] d feel

[27:22] comfortable

[27:23] um recommending keeping those

[27:24] optional

[27:26] texts inside of the document.

[27:26] Yeah, and I

[27:27] m trying to find a

[27:28] good example. Maybe is the best

[27:35] way to

[27:36] page 17, there

[27:38] s a big blue

[27:38] section that

[27:39] s kind of has a

[27:41] line through it, kind of that.

[27:45] The one I was looking for, um,

[27:47] was the one related to like

[27:49] decks where they, there was

[27:51] some in their basic language,

[27:52] it says dex.

[27:54] That are, I think it

[27:54] s said,

[27:56] greater than 3 ft.

[27:58] Above the

[28:00] the ground line right

[28:01] And their suggestion was just

[28:03] like, just for simplicity.

[28:04] Just make it all

[28:06] all decks, right

[28:07] So that

[28:08] s an example of I that

[28:11] I think we should just, I think

[28:19] page 13, page 13

[28:27] yeah

[28:28] I, I, I think that we, you know,

[28:29] that there

[28:29] s, there are a lot

[28:32] of them, um

[28:34] we should definitely include

[28:35] them for consideration, you

[28:36] know, the, the ones, probably a

[28:36] few that don

[28:37] t quite fit, but.

[28:42] Yeah.

[28:45] Um, on page 48,

[28:49] uh, as we get into a 47, 48, 49,

[28:51] um, that also provides a lot of

[28:53] optional types through, uh, and

[28:55] one thing that another

[28:56] conversation we had talked and

[28:59] brought to the table last week,

[29:01] uh, in the JULY session was

[29:02] around vegetation and so we

[29:04] want to make sure to tie our

[29:07] urban forestry land um

[29:09] ordinance to this document

[29:09] because that

[29:10] s quite a robust

[29:11] ordinance, so I just want to

[29:13] make sure to align that, um,

[29:14] and even

[29:18] I think.

[29:22] 8.2.4 on page 48, um, we

[29:22] d even

[29:27] said maybe that line a 8.2.4, a

[29:29] vegetation to be maintained.

[29:31] To screen structures, vehicles,

[29:32] or other facilities by at least

[29:35] 50% as viewed from the water.

[29:37] Um, and that was even proposed

[29:39] in the previous session that

[29:40] that could be

[29:43] um

[29:46] maintained actually at 100% of

[29:47] uh leaving it be as where it

[29:48] was.

[29:49] Um

[29:50] instead of allowing

[29:52] any vegetation removal

[29:54] Do I remember that correctly

[29:56] from our discussion

[29:58] Yeah, so to change this by at

[30:00] least or change the by at least

[30:03] 50% to a higher, that was the

[30:04] discussion, but that

[30:04] s

[30:05] that

[30:07] s why I bring it here and.

[30:09] Yeah, so I guess my suggestion,

[30:11] I guess at this point, because

[30:14] it is a pretty lengthy

[30:16] draft is, is

[30:17] kind of go through those and

[30:19] yeah, if you see anything like

[30:20] anything like that,

[30:21] particularly where we, where

[30:23] you think

[30:24] you know, we should be more

[30:25] stringent

[30:29] um

[30:30] yeah, those will be good ones

[30:32] to like

[30:33] flag and have some discussion

[30:34] on, I think. So yeah, Kusher

[30:35] and McKesson. There

[30:36] s, there

[30:36] s

[30:37] a, a word document or something

[30:38] where we

[30:39] re putting in comments,

[30:39] so.

[30:42] Um.

[30:44] That

[30:45] yeah, I think that

[30:46] s a good way

[30:49] to do it. But we also had a

[30:51] uh Google Doc of some kind.

[30:52] But I think we

[30:52] re mostly

[30:54] operating within them

[30:55] I forget which one it

[30:55] s been a

[30:57] little while, if it

[30:58] s the Word

[31:00] document or the Google Doc.

[31:02] Yes, and, um, if I can just

[31:05] interject, so the, the ver that

[31:06] is in your packet is the most

[31:08] recent version that I have with

[31:10] comments.

[31:13] So if commissioners have

[31:15] additional comments, um, such

[31:16] as Commissioner t Toing

[31:16] s

[31:18] comment. Um, if you can send

[31:20] those to me in writing so I can

[31:22] incorporate them in the

[31:23] document if you don

[31:23] t, if you

[31:23] can

[31:24] t or don

[31:25] t wanna put, put

[31:27] them in the document yourself.

[31:29] Um, so we can make sure to

[31:29] include everyone

[31:31] s comments.

[31:32] For bringing it back to the

[31:34] group

[31:34] I

[31:36] m happy to look back. I think

[31:37] I also have notes on the

[31:38] computer from the JULY session,

[31:39] so I

[31:40] m happy to review that and

[31:42] send it over. Thank you.

[31:43] First

[31:46] And that is a good point to

[31:47] make sure we have, I guess,

[31:48] cross reference our other

[31:49] ordinances like the Tree

[31:50] Preservation ordinance, the

[31:51] other one that

[31:51] s in here quite

[31:53] a bit is like impervious

[31:56] surfaces, which we have uh.

[31:57] A separate ordinance for that

[31:58] too. So if that

[31:59] s

[32:00] um

[32:00] yeah, we

[32:01] ll just have to work

[32:04] on

[32:05] um, I guess if that one is more

[32:06] stringent than some of this,

[32:08] maybe we just need to provide

[32:12] reference over to that.

[32:12] So there

[32:14] s some more work to be

[32:15] done there to to see.

[32:18] How that, how the impervious

[32:20] surface material in this

[32:21] ordinance.

[32:22] Meshes or doesn

[32:22] t mesh with

[32:22] what we

[32:23] ve already.

[32:25] Adopted

[32:27] Um

[32:28] apologies, I

[32:29] m still new on on

[32:31] the commission. The name of the

[32:33] ordinance is called Impervious

[32:35] Services Ordinance.

[32:36] You

[32:38] Uh

[32:41] I will have to check. I think

[32:45] if you just um go to our city

[32:46] code online and put that

[32:49] keyword in. It will pop up.

[32:53] Um, I can try to do that.

[32:55] While you are continuing to

[32:56] discuss and bring that back to

[32:58] you, the official.

[33:01] I have to look it up though.

[33:03] Committee one subcommittee.

[33:06] That looking for some of those

[33:07] those cross reference things

[33:08] might be a good.

[33:10] Little effort for us to do.

[33:10] That

[33:11] s your assignment the next

[33:14] time kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah.

[33:15] Yeah, and then the other part

[33:17] of that

[33:17] yeah, I

[33:18] m not sure what it

[33:18] s

[33:18] called if it

[33:19] s called

[33:19] impervious surface, but that

[33:20] s

[33:20] really what it covers is if

[33:21] you

[33:23] re, but it covers

[33:25] not just these lots that are

[33:27] along these public water bodies.

[33:27] It

[33:29] s citywide, so it

[33:30] s how much

[33:33] you know, of a lot can be

[33:34] covered by

[33:36] structure, driveway, sidewalk.

[33:38] You know, any impervious

[33:39] surface, so it

[33:41] s a little more

[33:42] it

[33:43] s applicable to more

[33:45] basically

[33:46] citywide, whereas this is

[33:48] applicable to just certain lots

[33:52] along these water bodies.

[34:00] Thank you.

[34:02] And I know this is a long, a

[34:04] long ordinance, but, um, yeah,

[34:04] it

[34:05] s uh

[34:06] I don

[34:08] t know any other way than

[34:09] Canada

[34:10] to slog through it and to see,

[34:14] see what comments you have. So.

[34:16] i think there were a few, and I

[34:17] slogged through it a couple

[34:18] months ago, so I

[34:19] m pulling up

[34:21] memory. There were a few

[34:22] sections that were less

[34:24] applicable to our city. Um, so

[34:24] that

[34:27] s also a point where we

[34:28] can look at removal. Yep,

[34:31] absolutely.

[34:33] Commissioner, just in glancing

[34:34] and reading a little bit. I

[34:36] mean, it appears that it gets

[34:38] more specific about, you know,

[34:41] the impervious, um, surfaces

[34:42] and trees, that type of thing

[34:43] as you get deeper into it, and

[34:44] I appreciate you leaving the

[34:46] blue sections in there. I think

[34:47] that makes sense if it doesn

[34:48] t,

[34:51] you know, is it redundant or uh

[34:53] contrary to what else is

[34:54] written.

[34:55] In another variants

[34:57] or something

[34:58] Coordinatorsrier looks like you

[35:01] found the

[35:07] Yeah, so, um, it is 12, Title

[35:10] 124a 6, um, and it

[35:12] s entitled

[35:13] Just Impervious surface

[35:17] Requirements.

[35:18] Commissioner Caslin

[35:19] s point, I

[35:22] think, I think the committee

[35:23] should

[35:26] sort of compare this to what

[35:27] the requirements are in the

[35:29] shoreland ordinance.

[35:31] And kind of see which

[35:33] you know,

[35:35] if the requirements in this are

[35:36] all more restrictive than

[35:36] what

[35:37] s in this. We could

[35:38] probably just

[35:39] provide a cross reference to

[35:51] this one.

[35:57] Thank you.

[35:59] So, any other comments on the

[36:00] on the ordinance? I know it

[36:00] s,

[36:01] it

[36:02] s kind of long and yeah.

[36:07] A lot in there, but so

[36:08] thank you for your work. I

[36:08] think it

[36:09] ll be wonderful when

[36:10] it

[36:12] s complete.

[36:14] All right, let

[36:15] s move on to

[36:18] um

[36:19] Interstate Valley Creek

[36:22] stabilization and bmt.

[36:24] Bmp project tour coordinators

[36:24] spreader.

[36:27] Thank you.

[36:30] Vice Chair Stein, um, in lieu

[36:32] of our AUGUST meeting, as you

[36:35] know, we took a tour of the

[36:37] recently completed, um,

[36:40] Interstate Valley Creek

[36:43] stabilization and bmp project,

[36:47] um, we made it to all of the uh

[36:49] areas within the project except

[36:51] for 11 of the infiltration

[36:55] basins, um, but just as, uh, a

[36:56] brief overview again, the

[36:58] project include

[37:02] d stabilization of two reaches

[37:04] of the stream, um

[37:08] in some re meandering and it

[37:11] also included installing a weir

[37:15] to um

[37:18] um create wetland habitat, um,

[37:21] so in, in the wetland by the

[37:23] ballpark, um

[37:25] so the tour are involved um

[37:27] seeing all these different

[37:29] aspects of the project. I just

[37:31] have some pictures I was gonna

[37:33] kind of click through. So this

[37:35] is reach

[37:39] um one. This was a meandering

[37:41] and reshaping, um,

[37:43] stabilization of the stream

[37:48] Bank, um, where the erosion was

[37:51] the worst uh throughout the

[37:53] stream bed. There were over 10

[37:56] ft vertical banks, so they re

[38:00] meandered the, the stream to

[38:03] help with um with

[38:05] uh, rate and energy dissipating

[38:07] some of that energy. They also

[38:09] installed cross beams for

[38:12] different cross veins and um

[38:14] stabilize the banks using

[38:16] bioengineering, so root wads

[38:18] from trees were taken and

[38:20] placed in the side of the bank

[38:22] as well as footer logs, um, to

[38:25] hold the bank, um, using

[38:27] natural materials you can see

[38:29] the vegetation has already

[38:31] started to fill in quite nicely.

[38:33] Um

[38:35] there is another photo of the

[38:37] same reach, um, this was the

[38:40] bank that was over 10 ft and

[38:40] now it

[38:42] s sloped back at a 3 to

[38:44] 1.

[38:45] And there

[38:46] s a photo of the

[38:47] group.

[38:49] Cannot reach one. This is a

[38:51] photo of the weir that was

[38:54] taken, um, so you can see the

[38:56] water backing up behind it, um,

[38:58] this area of the channel was

[39:01] down cutting quite a bit, and

[39:03] so historically there was a

[39:05] weird place, a small weir, um,

[39:07] placed by the dnr that was

[39:09] wooden that had failed um.

[39:11] Quite a few years ago, uh, but

[39:13] the stream continued to downcut

[39:16] and no longer flooded its banks

[39:18] so that it no longer provided

[39:20] water to the wetland. The

[39:22] wetland was starting to dry up,

[39:24] so this brought back a good

[39:25] amount of hydrology, as you can

[39:27] see to that wetland. Um, we

[39:27] ve

[39:29] noticed a lot of waterfall and

[39:30] other wildlife, taking

[39:33] advantage of it as well.

[39:37] Um, so, uh, next steps for the

[39:41] project we will be after so

[39:43] currently, um, the public and,

[39:45] and everyone has noticed that

[39:47] Valley Creek Park is under

[39:49] construction for the river to

[39:50] river Greenway project, so the

[39:52] trail is currently torn up.

[39:53] They

[39:54] re replacing the bridges,

[39:56] um, so we are going to wait

[39:59] until that project is

[40:01] substantially completed before

[40:03] doing any more restoration work.

[40:03] There is more

[40:05] restoration work to be done,

[40:07] adding some woody vegetation,

[40:09] tree plantings, um, with this

[40:10] project and also with the

[40:12] Greenway project, um, but we

[40:12] re

[40:12] gonna, we

[40:13] re gonna wait on that

[40:16] and kind of do it all at once

[40:17] so that um we don

[40:19] t risk any

[40:20] more disturbance to new

[40:22] plantings.

[40:25] So that is kind of the, the

[40:27] next steps for that project, um,

[40:29] but the Creek project is

[40:31] substantially complete. Um

[40:33] minus those two things, um,

[40:35] plantings of the infiltration

[40:37] basin will basins will also be

[40:39] done, um, after completion of

[40:41] the Greenway project. We did

[40:42] have an inspection and

[40:45] walk-through by the Army Corps

[40:49] of Engineers recently and um

[40:51] they had only good things to

[40:53] say, so that was nice to

[40:54] hear as well and that

[40:55] s all I

[40:55] have. It

[40:57] s just an update for

[40:58] the commission. The

[40:58] commission

[41:00] s willing to or

[41:02] welcome to comment, but um, no

[41:05] action needed.

[41:06] Any comments from commissioners,

[41:08] I guess especially

[41:09] from seeing it in person, which

[41:11] was great.

[41:14] Last month, the impressions are

[41:16] the comments

[41:18] Just, just that it

[41:20] really came together quickly in

[41:22] a lot of good work got done for

[41:23] it seemed like not a whole lot

[41:25] of budget, so

[41:27] the project

[41:29] That was just

[41:31] yeah, just see it in person. I

[41:33] was just really impressed like

[41:36] this weird location here, um.

[41:37] Just the amount of

[41:39] water that stores in a big like

[41:41] rain event and can control the

[41:42] velocity of, you know,

[41:45] of the water

[41:46] you know, going down that

[41:49] stream and causing so much

[41:50] erosion, coordinator Schreer

[41:51] has mentioned, you know, the

[41:52] waterfowl that she

[41:52] s starting

[41:54] to see in this sort of

[41:55] replenished wetland now that

[41:56] because it had pretty much

[41:58] dried out, correct, you know,

[41:59] from the

[42:00] from the elevation I guess of

[42:02] the creek being

[42:05] being kind of like

[42:07] um, going down, so it kind of

[42:08] drained this whole wetland area.

[42:09] So

[42:10] um,

[42:12] yeah, just to really impressive

[42:12] project and it

[42:13] s really to me

[42:15] really satisfying because we do

[42:16] a lot of plans and natural

[42:17] resources management plan and

[42:19] the partners and Energy plan

[42:20] and just to see.

[42:21] See the fruits of that labor

[42:23] kind of come.

[42:26] Come to life is really cool. So.

[42:26] I

[42:28] d say I was very impressed by

[42:30] the project, um, and I think

[42:30] it

[42:32] d be really, um

[42:34] satisfying for a lot of

[42:36] residents to know kind of what

[42:36] was before and what

[42:37] s after,

[42:37] and I maybe we

[42:38] ve talked about

[42:39] this at our tour, but if

[42:39] there

[42:40] s even some kind of a

[42:42] placard with pictures that

[42:43] could be put up to say this is

[42:44] how it used to look, this is

[42:46] how it looks now, and educating

[42:47] about what was done and why it

[42:48] was done for the local

[42:51] community because it is such a

[42:52] heavily used area trail, you

[42:53] know, once all the trail is

[42:54] completed and so forth. I think

[42:55] that would could be really

[42:57] beneficial to the community in

[42:59] terms of education and just

[43:04] knowledge.

[43:05] I agree because there

[43:05] s like

[43:07] this the even is, is a little

[43:08] bit hidden and it

[43:08] s like

[43:09] there

[43:09] s so much good work that

[43:11] was done here and I just, that

[43:12] was one

[43:14] one thing I was leaving the

[43:16] field visit with is like I wish

[43:18] more, just more citizens from

[43:19] the city could could see what

[43:20] was done here because it was

[43:22] really a great project.

[43:25] I

[43:26] also left thinking a lot about

[43:27] that. Um, it

[43:28] s a really neat

[43:30] project. The scale is hard to

[43:35] see in pictures, this weir is

[43:37] massive project and we

[43:38] ll make

[43:41] a large difference to the

[43:44] water flow in that area and as

[43:45] a neighbor who walks through

[43:48] this area all the time. Um, I

[43:49] know that the Greenway project

[43:51] is going to be much more felt

[43:52] by people. It

[43:52] ll be, it

[43:53] s

[43:54] experience as you

[43:55] re walking on

[43:57] the paths and you see that

[44:01] but I, I do hope the visible

[44:03] parts can be appreciated. And

[44:04] so I do think there

[44:05] s

[44:07] storytelling that, um, our

[44:08] committee can help in thinking

[44:11] about how do we help share this

[44:12] in a way that

[44:14] helps people understand why

[44:18] this was important and um how

[44:19] it will be

[44:21] seen for many years to come in

[44:22] in the different

[44:25] ways that it continues to grow,

[44:28] especially the plantings which

[44:30] already the wildflower and one

[44:32] of the areas near the stream

[44:33] where

[44:34] already quite lovely and it

[44:34] ll

[44:37] be fun to see the native

[44:38] plantings and trees as they

[44:42] continued to grow to.

[44:44] One other comment I would make

[44:46] is, you can see from being out

[44:48] there just sort of the pressure

[44:50] of all the invasive species

[44:52] coming at it from all

[44:53] directions, and that

[44:54] s why I

[44:54] think

[44:55] I, I

[44:56] m proud of our commission

[44:57] that we

[44:57] ve we

[44:58] ve been

[44:59] supportive of

[45:02] of

[45:03] maintenance funding to, you

[45:04] know, once he

[45:05] s

[45:06] once the areas like the

[45:08] infiltration basins are, are,

[45:10] are seeded and planted with

[45:14] native native plantings that we

[45:16] really prioritize maintaining

[45:17] those areas and kind of holding

[45:18] them.

[45:18] Because they

[45:19] re under a lot of

[45:20] a lot of pressure if you

[45:21] re not

[45:23] kind of constantly vigilant. So

[45:23] I think that

[45:24] s something that

[45:26] the commission has really

[45:27] been supportive of, and I think

[45:27] I

[45:34] m proud of that and I think

[45:35] Any other comments before we

[45:37] move on? Thank you.

[45:39] And next item on the agenda,

[45:41] our staff announcements.

[45:42] Coordinator Sreer.

[45:47] Thank you. Um, Vice Chair Stein,

[45:50] um, one of my, or I guess my

[45:54] only announcement is um that we

[45:58] have posted uh a opening for a

[46:01] new student commissioner on um

[46:04] our commission, um, very, again,

[46:07] very appreciative and impressed

[46:09] by the work that um student

[46:11] commissioner Trudeau had done,

[46:15] she was with us for 2 years.

[46:19] Um, and so it has um moved on

[46:21] and, and we

[46:21] ll be a senior this

[46:23] year and has been busy with all

[46:26] things senior. And so, um, we

[46:27] are looking for a new student

[46:30] commissioner, um, the posting

[46:35] is on our website and um

[46:37] um, you can go, uh, or

[46:38] interested students can go

[46:40] there to look for the

[46:42] application. They can also stop

[46:46] by City Hall, uh, the term runs

[46:50] from OCTOBER 25th to AUGUST

[46:51] 26th, or I

[46:52] m sorry.

[46:54] The month of OCTOBER of 2025

[46:57] through AUGUST of 2026. Um, it

[47:00] is open to all high school

[47:04] students in grades 9 through 12

[47:06] and um student commissioners

[47:08] serve as non-voting members of

[47:10] the commission, um, but very

[47:12] valuable members and that they

[47:13] provide a youth and student

[47:15] perspective, um, to the

[47:17] commission.

[47:20] So any interested students

[47:23] should submit the student

[47:25] commissioner application, um,

[47:29] which is different than the um.

[47:34] The adult, um, or non-student

[47:35] application, um, but submitting

[47:38] that to the city by 10 A.M. On

[47:41] SEPTEMBER 19th. So I encourage

[47:41] anyone that

[47:42] s interested to

[47:45] apply or if, um, anyone knows

[47:46] someone that would be a good

[47:49] fit, encourage them to apply as

[47:51] well, please, and that is all I

[47:51] have.

[47:55] Thank you

[47:58] Hey, next item is commission

[48:00] comments.

[48:02] Any comments from the

[48:03] commissioners on any other

[48:05] any other items

[48:07] ok, hearing none. Let

[48:07] s go to

[48:10] committee reports

[48:12] um, Committee one is ordinance

[48:13] and Policy development, which

[48:13] we

[48:15] ve, I think already covered.

[48:17] Anything else we need to, I

[48:17] mean, we

[48:18] re

[48:18] we

[48:20] re pretty much just on that

[48:21] Shoreland ordinance right now

[48:23] um

[48:24] but we will, yeah, we

[48:25] ll kind

[48:26] of tackle some of those where

[48:28] they overlap with some of our

[48:29] other ordinances maybe as a

[48:30] next step for the for the

[48:33] committee.

[48:34] Um, Committee to Education and

[48:38] Outreach.

[48:38] We

[48:39] ve not met recently, but we

[48:42] will be meeting soon to discuss

[48:44] the um tea

[48:48] the hole in one project trick

[48:51] or teeing project and the

[48:52] valley.

[48:54] Park project we should talk

[48:55] about that. And I would also

[48:58] say um just as part of the

[48:58] commission because it

[48:58] s

[48:59] outreach and education, I think

[49:01] it would also be a lovely thing

[49:03] to hear from the public or on

[49:05] what they would like to see

[49:06] more from our commission, um,

[49:07] and really create a good

[49:09] channel of communications so we

[49:10] can gather your

[49:11] priorities as well and bring

[49:14] that back to

[49:16] the natural resources

[49:18] commission. So please public

[49:19] engagement, we like to hear

[49:20] from you.

[49:23] Ok, um, committee 3 urban

[49:27] forestry and restoration

[49:29] um, we, we MAY meet

[49:31] tomorrow to, to discuss the

[49:33] planning by the stormwater pond

[49:37] at the Mendota village, um,

[49:37] that

[49:38] s to be determined, but,

[49:39] um

[49:40] we

[49:40] ll, we

[49:41] re due for a meeting

[49:42] soon, so.

[49:44] Uh, and maybe looking at some

[49:45] fall planting.

[49:46] That

[49:48] s good. Um, Committee 4 is

[49:50] strategic planning.

[49:51] Um, so we

[49:52] ve had a busy year,

[49:54] uh, because

[49:54] we

[49:55] ve got two line items on our

[49:59] work plan. One is Valley Park

[50:02] to create a site-specific

[50:04] strategic plan for Valley Park.

[50:04] Um, so we

[50:05] ve been very

[50:06] fortunate to come to bring all

[50:08] of the stakeholders together in

[50:09] the last month, so that was the

[50:13] wmo, um, and Dakota County and

[50:15] be able to do site visits as

[50:17] well with coordinator Sreer, um,

[50:19] to really get an idea of all of

[50:21] the different projects and the

[50:22] timelines because there are

[50:22] there

[50:23] s a lot going on and

[50:23] there

[50:24] s a lot of overlap

[50:25] between the different

[50:28] organizations. Um, so we

[50:29] decided we met with all the

[50:31] stakeholders a couple of months

[50:33] ago decided that it was helpful

[50:34] to meet again, so we

[50:34] ll plan to

[50:36] do that, uh

[50:37] at the in DECEMBER at the end

[50:41] of the year, um, with hopefully

[50:43] an updated gis file with all of

[50:46] the most recent um

[50:47] updates on, on the different

[50:48] projects.

[50:51] So that has been great to kind

[50:52] of

[50:53] bring everybody together and

[50:56] get a really uh aligned on that

[50:59] park, the current status, um

[51:01] and we also decided that it

[51:05] makes sense to delay the sites

[51:07] specific natural resources

[51:09] management plan for Valley Park

[51:11] until after all of this work,

[51:12] um, comes down and settles down.

[51:15] Uh, so we looked at delaying

[51:18] that until 2026, 2027, um, so

[51:18] in the meantime, we

[51:19] ll just

[51:22] continue the updates with the

[51:24] stakeholder groups, um, and

[51:25] then keep an eye on, of course,

[51:27] as you mentioned, invasives.

[51:27] It

[51:29] s like a ongoing battle

[51:31] against, um, invasive, so just

[51:33] keeping an eye on that as well

[51:35] and coordinator Sreer has been

[51:36] great about keeping us updated

[51:38] on the

[51:40] vegetation situation.

[51:42] Um, yeah, so that is Valley

[51:45] Park, the 2nd point on our work

[51:47] plan is exploring potential

[51:50] funding sources and so we have

[51:53] looked at um as mentioned in a

[51:54] previous meeting, the climate

[51:56] action planning grant, um.

[51:58] And in our last meeting

[52:00] yesterday, we also started

[52:01] discussing other potentials, um,

[52:03] but important is also to make

[52:04] sure that we have a good idea

[52:05] of what we

[52:06] re wanting to, what

[52:07] kind of projects we

[52:07] re wanting

[52:10] to fund. Um, so very happy to

[52:11] also open that up to the wider

[52:14] group as well. Um, as we move

[52:20] into planning for 2026.

[52:22] And Commissioner Tony, the

[52:23] the climate action planning

[52:25] grant you mentioned, is that?

[52:27] Is that out or have a deadline

[52:28] or it

[52:28] s, it

[52:29] s still been

[52:29] released yet. Ok, hasn

[52:30] t been

[52:32] released yet. Ok.

[52:35] Ok. Thank you for that update.

[52:38] Um, the sustainability

[52:39] committee, um, I think we

[52:39] re

[52:40] going to play our video that

[52:42] was produced by Town Square,

[52:43] but I guess I

[52:43] ll just mention

[52:44] before that.

[52:45] We are

[52:48] kind of in the initial stages

[52:50] of, um, so Commissioner Kosland

[52:52] is the other commissioner on

[52:54] this, on this committee, and

[52:54] we

[52:55] ve had some initial

[52:57] discussions with coordinator

[52:59] Sreer on possibly some more

[53:00] direct outreach with the

[53:01] businesses to try to get the

[53:03] businesses more um engaged in

[53:04] this work and maybe it

[53:04] s going

[53:05] to take

[53:08] yeah, some more kind of like.

[53:10] Face to face interaction. So

[53:12] just some discussion going on

[53:12] there

[53:15] um

[53:16] the little background on this

[53:19] video, which has been, um, I

[53:21] think was finalized in JULY, I

[53:23] believe, and was put on Town

[53:23] Square

[53:24] s website, the city

[53:25] s

[53:28] website, uh social media feeds

[53:29] and uh so if you didn

[53:29] t see

[53:30] that, it

[53:31] s just a few minutes

[53:31] long, so we

[53:32] re going to go

[53:34] ahead and play that.

[53:36] Thank you, um, Vice Schstein,

[53:38] as, as you

[53:39] ve mentioned, who

[53:42] was done um by Town Square uh

[53:47] tv as an insight 7 story, so,

[53:51] and it was um filmed at

[53:52] uh, Vice Chair Stein

[53:54] s home, um,

[53:56] so I will, it

[53:57] s only a few

[53:58] minutes long, but I will play

[54:00] it.

[54:01] Sustainable future

[54:03] They

[54:04] of our advisory

[54:04] so.

[54:05] The

[54:06] suit

[54:09] and they

[54:11] natural resources directive,

[54:12] everything from

[54:13] physical energy

[54:15] poetry, surface water.

[54:17] In 2024, the commission

[54:19] collaborated with Excel Energy

[54:19] on the

[54:21] partners and Energy

[54:22] Tell Energy Purpose Energy

[54:23] Program. It

[54:23] s a program that

[54:25] excels to develop.

[54:27] To offer our cities who are

[54:29] interested in developing and

[54:31] implementing customized energy

[54:33] action plans, and the process

[54:35] that we use for that is we

[54:38] partner with a local

[54:39] stakeholders and community

[54:42] leaders to identify the energy

[54:43] holes, city is interested in

[54:45] achieving. And then we actually

[54:47] develop an actionable plan that

[54:48] will achieve those goals.

[54:51] For the energy action team made

[54:53] up of residents, commissioners.

[54:55] We even had some students, uh,

[54:57] city staff to form this action

[54:58] plan and

[55:00] on that we came up with 3 goals

[55:03] from the Sydney, saving energy,

[55:05] obviously, cost savings as well,

[55:09] and then reducing emissions

[55:10] residents, you save the city

[55:12] money, hopefully for businesses

[55:14] within the o to to, to save

[55:15] them money as well.

[55:15] The city

[55:17] s Energy action plan

[55:20] calls for saving $1.6 million

[55:22] in energy costs and avoiding

[55:24] 9000 metric tons of carbon

[55:25] dioxide equivalent of

[55:27] greenhouse gas emissions by

[55:28] 2030. The approach, I think

[55:29] we

[55:30] ve taken here at our house

[55:30] is like we

[55:31] ve really looked for

[55:33] things that will just save us

[55:34] money because all of us have

[55:36] better things to spend money on

[55:38] than utility bills, right?

[55:39] Natural Resources Commissioner

[55:41] Will Stein has been making

[55:43] gradual upgrades toward energy

[55:45] efficiency around his home.

[55:46] Convenience of just not having

[55:47] to go get gas, not having to

[55:49] get oil changes. Over several

[55:51] years, the Steins have upgraded

[55:52] to an electric car, electric

[55:54] lawn care tools, the lawn mower

[55:54] just takes, it

[55:55] s the same

[55:57] battery, but it just takes one.

[55:58] An induction stove preheats up

[55:59] the

[56:01] pan or the contents of the pan,

[56:02] so they do need to be like.

[56:04] Stainless steel or whatever. A

[56:06] heat pump dryer, so instead of,

[56:09] you know, burning natural gas

[56:11] or electric resistance heat to

[56:13] create heat. It again uses heat

[56:15] pump technology and more. So

[56:15] we

[56:16] ve done a lot of upgrades,

[56:16] but we haven

[56:17] t done them like

[56:20] all in like one time just like

[56:20] they

[56:21] ve been really stretched

[56:24] out over 1517 years now.

[56:25] Mendota Heights residents can

[56:28] qualify for home energy squad

[56:29] visits through xl. So they were

[56:31] here at our house for about 2.5

[56:33] hours. Shortly after that, they

[56:34] send you a nice written report

[56:36] that summarizes everything, the

[56:38] recommendations, potential

[56:39] incentives and rebates that are

[56:41] out there available if you

[56:41] re

[56:42] looking at, at, at doing one of

[56:44] the upgrades too. That would be

[56:45] the first step I would take if

[56:46] you want to get more involved

[56:48] with this effort because they

[56:50] do a lot of the work for you if

[56:50] you

[56:51] ve got inefficient lighting

[56:52] or other things, they

[56:53] ll just

[56:54] go in and replace those things

[56:54] for you if it

[56:55] s with your

[56:57] permission, obviously.

[56:58] Opportunities for businesses

[57:00] are also available through

[57:01] Partners and Energy, and those

[57:03] might be in the areas of energy

[57:05] efficient programs that they

[57:06] can participate in and they

[57:07] might be able to participate in

[57:09] renewable programs. Some

[57:11] companies have renewable goals,

[57:13] and we can help assist them in

[57:14] terms of how they meet those

[57:15] renewable goals.

[57:16] Residents and businesses can

[57:18] learn more about partners and

[57:19] energy opportunities, including

[57:21] cost saving programs on the

[57:21] city

[57:22] s website.

[57:23] You know, there

[57:23] s different

[57:24] levels of people

[57:25] s, I guess,

[57:26] interest in environmental

[57:27] issues and things like that,

[57:27] and to me that

[57:28] s not even the

[57:29] critical issue. I think if you

[57:31] just focus on

[57:33] the improvements that are going

[57:35] to save you money, make your

[57:36] life more convenient if you

[57:38] implement those things.

[57:40] A lot of the rest of the

[57:42] benefits will come along for

[57:43] the ride. For Insight 7, this

[57:49] is Carmen Haw.

[57:51] Yeah, so they really took a lot

[57:53] of video and took a lot of

[57:56] comments. So kudos to Town

[57:58] Square tv for putting all that

[57:59] together and uh

[58:01] a short but

[58:03] I think I just think they did a

[58:04] really nice job putting all

[58:05] that together, so

[58:07] Thanks for letting him into

[58:10] your house.

[58:13] And I think you also, um,

[58:14] highlight the point that not

[58:16] everybody is motivated from the

[58:19] natural resources side, but the

[58:22] financial side is a very

[58:24] important factor to take into

[58:24] consideration.

[58:25] Yeah, and in addition to that,

[58:27] I would add just some of the

[58:30] convenience of these like.

[58:32] VVs are the best example. It

[58:35] just saves you a lot of chores

[58:36] for like that

[58:37] s what I like

[58:37] about some of that. It

[58:38] s just

[58:39] like simplifies your life and

[58:41] and, uh, yeah, it

[58:42] s

[58:43] definitely worth looking into

[58:44] some of these things, so.

[58:46] Um

[58:46] so that

[58:48] s all for committee

[58:51] reports, um.

[58:51] And that

[58:53] s the last thing on

[58:56] our agenda. Is there a motion

[58:58] to adjourn. So motion to

[58:59] adjourn by Commissioner

[59:01] McCaslin. Is there a second???

[59:03] 22 by Commissioner Dahl. All in

[59:04] favor say aye. And we are

Mendota Heights Natural Resources Commission

Agenda

Transcript