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10-19-2011 ECC MINMEETING MINUTES OF THE ELK RIVER ENERGY CITY COMMISSION HELD AT ELK RIVER CITY HALL ELK RIVER, MN WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011 Members Present: Bruce Sayler, Ryan Setterholm, John Setala, Ron Touchette, Vance Zehringer, Tim Steinbeck, Tim Rybak, Dennis Chuba and Scott Hagen Members Absent: Stephen Rohlf and Councilman Matt Westgaard Staff Present: Rebecca Haug, Environmental Administrator Nicki Blake-Bradley, Environmental Technician Clay Wilfahrt, Economic Development Assistant Others Present: Debbi Rydberg, Elk River Chamber of Commerce Duane Kozitka, Chuba Company 1. Call Meeting to Order Vice-chair Setala called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. 2. Consider October 19. 2011 ECC Agenda Vice-Chair Setala requested that Debbi Rydberg, Chamber of Commerce President be added to the agenda as item number 4 ahead of the Eco-House presentation. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER SAYLER AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER CHUBA TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS AMENDED. ALL IN FAVOR. MOTION CARRIED. Tim Rybak was welcomed as the newest Energy City Commissioner. 3. Consider August 17. 2011 Minutes MOTION BY COMMSSIONER CHUBA AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER SETTERHOLM TO APPROVE THE August 17, 2011 MINUTES WITH NO CHANGES. ALL IN FAVOR. MOTION CARRIED. 4. Debbi Rvdberg. Elk River Chamber of Commerce Ms. Rydberg was present to have an open discussion and dialog with the commission about joining the Energy Expo with the Business and Lifestyle Expo scheduled for March 25, 2012. She expressed concern on behalf of the Chamber Board about Energy City discussions in the paper because the Chamber sees Energy City as an economic driver. Ms. Rydberg added the Chamber Board's support for Energy City through a resolution. The Chamber of Commerce supports the vision of Energy City and offered the merge of expos as a potential budget saving measure. Discussion followed that the Chamber has been thinking of making some sort of change and the merge may help both entities. The Business and Lifestyle event draws between 2,500 - 3,000 people and generally has between 75 - 100 vendors as opposed to approximately 700 people and 35 or so vendors at the Energy Expo. Both events are four hours long, but the Business and Lifestyle Expo is normally held on a Sunday in March versus a Saturday (March 10) for the Energy Expo. Chamber members are charged approximately $155/booth and non-members pay $360 as Page 2 Energy City Commission Minutes October 19, 2011 opposed to "for profit" companies paying $125 this year and non-profits paying $30 at the Energy Expo. Non-profit organizations are offered the Chamber member cost for the Business am Lifestyle Expo. Concerns raised centered around planning already done for the next Energy Expo, losing the Energy focus, and questions about the keynote speaker. A comment was made that the ERX snow cross event (national level) will be going on the same weekend and may affect attendance at the Energy Expo. Commissioner Hagen discussed the trade-off of numbers and supported a merge by looking at the audience numbers versus the message. He noted that the same 700 people may be attending both events. Chair Zehringer arrived at 8:47 a.m. Discussion followed with a suggestion that there be an "energy alley' to keep the two entities separate or setting up a center stage with presentations on the stage and energy alley around the stage. Commissioner Setterholm expressed that he likes the idea of merging. Chair Zehringer commented that "freebies" and the sheer number of exhibitors has been the draw in the past for the Business and Lifestyle Expo. He noted that presentations were not popular in the demonstration area. Commissioner Steinbeck noted that with the controversy surrounding Energy City, perhaps . would be good to merge the two expos to show the connection. Ms. Rydberg commented that Elk River IS Energy City. Ms. Haug commented that a main concern would be the connection Energy City has with the Community Ed and ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) groups. She does not want to lose that partnership. She discussed the methods that Community Ed and ECFE have been involved in the past. The Expo planning committee will discuss and Ms.Haug added that the Chamber would be contacted following the meeting. 5. Eco-House Presentation -Chuba Company Commissioner Chuba introduced Duane Kozitka (one of the owners) from his company to give a power point presentation on the Bill Newman Residence in Brooklyn Center, MN which they call the Eco-House. Mr. Kozitka discussed lot design, preparation and development, resource efficiencies, energy efficiency, and water efficiency measures that went into the plan for building this home. SIP (Structurally Insulated Panels) and salvaged materials for reuse, recycled material use, Tmass (foam core mass poured foundation walls), geothermal, and photovoltaics were all "green" measures used in the construction of the 3,000 square foot (finished) house. 6. Energy Expo Discussion The keynote speaker will be Mike Furtman, a photographer from MN, thanks to Commissioner Setala for setting that up. The date will be March 10, 2012 at the high school. There will be a medallion hunt this year. A QR code has been created for the Expo. Fees have been raised to $125 for businesses and $30 for non-profits. Page 3 Energy City Commission Minutes Octobez ]9, 2011 The EDA may not be sponsoring this year. Discussion followed regarding the River's Edge group, the prize for the winner, and a potential contest with students. 6. Project Conserve Phase II and III Update The staff memo was discussed. The plan is to follow the Pilot project people for three years to determine whether goals are being met or not. ERMU (Elk River Municipal Utilities) staff is working on that now. 7. City Council Meeting Discussion Discussion of how to incorporate the City's Brand into Energy City started this topic. Comments received: • the City Council is missing the impact of having foreign tours because a LOT of companies would pay many marketing dollars to be able to make that claim, • the foreign tours are priceless with regard to economic development, • two areas needed when moving forward are awareness (even those who support Energy City don't know what we do) and leadership (by commissioners), • can the public be invited to the Commission meetings? (yes) If so, how would a resident know? (meetings are posted on the website, at City Hall, and through Energy City), and • there is a need to quantify things for substantive answers when asked. Mr. Wilfahrt commented that social media needs to be used extensively, especially regarding the tours. Press releases are great tools as well. Commissioner Setterholm stated that the Energy City Commission is a commission BY Elk River, FOR Elk River. He is in a supporting role of Energy City and its vision through Centerpoint Energy. It is up to Elk River to make Energy City a priority. In his opinion, leadership should be coming from Elk River residents. Commissioner Sayler concurred with Commissioner Setterholm, stating that as far as the idea of the utilities contributing $3,500 each toward Energy City, Connexus does not see the value and cannot step into politics. He stressed that his position is an advisory role. Commissioner Setterholm agreed with Commissioner Sayler's comments as well. Further comments were offered that stressed "ownership" of Energy City and that it's not appropriate to ask supporters to pay for a program. The mission and vision need to be articulated. Ways to lower costs and quantify results need to be discussed and developed. Commissioner Sayler left the meeting at 10:32 a.m. Staff time is the biggest part of the budget. A suggestion to link the Energy City Commission more to the Energy Expo was offered. Using the brand 'Powered by Nature' will be important. A request to show where we have come from, regarding a timeline and history was made. Finally, a discussion with a "SWOT" (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, etc) analysis was recommended. Page 4 Energy Ciry Commission Minutes October 19, 201 t 8. Other Commissioners Touchette and Setterholm announced they will not be available for the Novembe- meeting. Commissioner Setala requested that a standing item at the end of the meetings be "social media" or "marketing" to assist with messages for the Facebook page and Twitter account. Commissioner Touchette announced that he is not applying for re-appointment and will not continue on the Energy City Commission so December will likely be his last meeting. 9. Schedule Next ECC Meeting and Identify Agenda Items The November meeting will be held November 16, 2011 at the Elk River City Hall in the Upper Town Conference Room at 8:30 a.m. Items for the agenda include: • Approval of October 19, 2011 Minutes • Energy Expo • Project Conserve Phase III Update • SWOT analysis 10. Adjournment With no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned at 10:47 a.m. Minutes prepared b Nicki Blake-Bradley ~/~ Tina Allard City Clerk G Vance Zehrin r Energy City ommissi Chair