11-16-2005 ECC MIN • MEETING OF THE ENERGY CITY COMMISSION
NOVEMBER 16,2005 ELK RIVER CITY HALL
Members Present: Rachel Leonard-Sherburne County Commissioner,Bryan Adams-
ERMU,Vance Zehringer-ERMU Consultant, Sharon Kampa-NW
Builders Association, Ed Stoutenburg-NRG,Arnie Hendrickson-
CenterPoint Energy,Ron Bratlie-ISD 728,Deb Walters-ER
Landfill, Stephanie Klinzing
Members Absent: Jeff Gongoll-ER Chamber of Commerce/ER EDA, Susie
Overholser-ECONAR Energy Systems Corp., Gary Connett- GRE
Others Present: Michael Schrock, Schrock DeVetter Architects and Mark Rathbun,
GRE
Staff Present: Heidi Steinmetz,Rebecca Haug
1. Consider November 16,2005 Agenda(agenda items numbered as they were
discussed)
Agenda was approved as submitted.
2. Consider October 19,2005 Energy City Commission Minutes
Minutes were approved as submitted with the word"endorse"under the Summary
111
of Proterra changed to say"encourage movement".
3. Chair Terms
MOTION MADE MY COMMISSIONER ADAMS AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER BRATLIE TO APPROVE THE CHAIR TERMS. MOTION
PASSED.
4. Budget
The ECC has$23,000 in the 2006 budget for publishing and advertising(website
update). The 2005 budget only had$3,000.
9. Update on New Elk River School
Commissioner Bratlie introduced Michael Schrock who is the Architect for
the East Elk River Elementary School. Mr. Schrock discussed the
certification process for the school to receive the Gold Certification through
LEED. This will be the fifth LEED elementary school in the nation. Mr.
Schrock distributed a sheet showing the different materials that will be put
in this school to obtain the LEED certification and the scoring sheet. There
was much discussion on how this school will save money over time and how
many of the technologies are not more expensive to incorporate in mainstream
• technologies. Commissioner Bratlie will be showing a video at the next ECC
meeting on Westwood Elementary School.
•
• MOTION MADE BY COMMISSIONER KLINZING AND SECONDED BY
COMMISSIONER STOUTENBURG TO PROMOTE THE SCHOOL
DISTRICT THROUGH THE ENERGY CITY WEBSITE BY PUTTING
TOGETHER INFORMATION TO INCREASE AWARENESS. MOTION
PASSED.
Commissioner Leonard informed the Energy City Commission(ECC)that
Sherburne County will be receiving an award at the Minnesota County
Association Conference in December on the Landfill Gas to Electricity Project.
5. Website Consultant Questions
Ms. Steinmetz reminded the ECC that the Action Committee for Energy(ACE)
had directed her to contact website consultants to revamp the ECC website. The
consultants provided several questions in January 2005 that they needed answered
prior to providing an estimate. Due to the Action Committee for Energy's
transformation into the ECC,the website revamp was put on hold until recently.
Staff and Vance answered the questions but wanted ECC feedback. It was the
consensus from the ECC that the website is out of date and needs many more
images and links. It was also mentioned that Sherburne County and the School
District should link to the Energy City website once the site is revamped.
MOTION WAS MADE BY COMMISSIONER BRATLIE AND SECONDED •
• BY COMMISSIONER ADAMS TO HAVE STAFF AND VANCE INTERVIEW
THE CONSULTANTS AND BRING THE CHOSEN CONSULTANT TO THE
NEXT ECC MEETING.
Any comments the ECC has for the consultants need to be provided to Ms.Haug
within one week.
6. Incentive Programs for New Businesses
Commissioner Klinzing stated that no specific financial program is currently
available to bring energy related businesses to Elk River and that if money
became available, it should be set-up as a no or low interest loan.
Commission Stoutenburg indicated that businesses constructing new buildings in
Elk River should be educated on the importance and money saving opportunities
of incorporating energy efficient technologies into their buildings. Heidi
Steinmetz mentioned that a possible way to promote Energy City education may
be to include a thirty-minute session as a requirement in any business subsidy
application. Commissioner Klinzing concurred,yet noted that the ECC must
work closely with the Economic Development Authority(EDA)to make sure
these ideas do not push businesses away.
A MOTION WAS MADE TO HAVE STAFF EXPLORE FEDERAL GRANTS •
AND OTHER COMMUNITIES TO SEE WHAT IS AVAILABLE. ONCE
INFORMATION IS GATHERED, STAFF, COMMISSIONER ZEHRINGER,
AND COMMISSIONER KLINZING WILL DISCUSS HOW THE
INFORMATION SHOULD BE PRESENTED TO THE ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OR CITY COUNCIL.
10. Energy House III Update
Commisioner Zerhringer gave a short slide show presentation showing the
progress of Energy House III. Commissioner Kampa informed the ECC that they
have hired someone to do the marketing.
11. New Technology Update
Commissioner Zehringer introduced Mark Rathbun of GRE to update the ECC on
wind energy. Mr. Rathbun went through a slide presentation of how much energy
is produced through wind in the United States and how that compares to other
countries. Minnesota ranks 9th in the United States for the best wind resource
with North Dakota being 1st, South Dakota being 3rd and California 17th. Out of
all the renewable energy resources,per capita,MN is#1. He also talked about the
economic benefits of wind energy,the policy issues, and how much more energy
can be produced by wind.
7. Energy City Designation
Commissioner Klinzing stated that she has spoken with both Senators Jungbauer
and Wergin and hope to have something in the next session either through
legislation or a proclamation.
8. Energy Issues Conference
Postponed until the December meeting.
12. Other
Commissioner Klinzing thanked Commissioner Zehringer for writing a letter to
the editor about Energy City
13. Schedule Next Energy City Commission Meeting
Next scheduled meeting is December 14,2005, 1:00 p.m. Elk River City Hall.
14. Adjourn
Respectfully submitted,
.ihr/r/C - 74e1AA,
Rebecca Haug
Environmental Administrator
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