[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