10-15-2008 ECC MIN IIIMEETING OF THE ELK RIVER
ENERGY CITY COMMISSION
HELD AT ELK RIVER CITY HALL
UPPERTOWN CONFERENCE ROOM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15,2008
Members Present: Vance Zehringer, Mayor Stephanie Klinzing, John Setala, Ron Touchette,
Denny Chuba, Susie Overholser, Todd Berreman, Bruce Sayler, Maureen
Griffiths,Arnie Engstrom
Members Absent: Stephen Rohlf, Bryan Adams
Staff Present: Rebecca Haug, Environmental Administrator
Nicola(Nicki)Blake-Bradley,Environmental Technician
• Jeff Gongoll, Community Development Director
Lisa Kelleher, Permit Technician
Cathy Mehelich, Economic Development Director
Others Present: .,13,artoOrekls, Ethanol Technology of Mi m.t g
0 The regular meeting of tlEnergy Doty Commission was called to der by hair Zehringer at
1:33 p.m.
1. Approve October 15, 008C Agenda 4
Environmental Admiu trato1 ug added several items to the 4nda regarding an update on
RRT(Resource Recooly Tec x •gies), League of Minnesota ties (LMC)update, and
LMC State of Cities kt. Ma,tr> linzing added discussi aferobic digesters and a
photovoltaic contact from Germany. Chair Zehringer added an update on the fluorescent light
bulb collection program.
MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TOUCHETTE AND SECOND BY MAYOR KLINGZING
TO APPROVE OCTOBER 15, 2008 AGENDA WITH CHANGES. ALL IN FAVOR.
MOTION CARRIED.
2. Consider September 17,2008 ECC Minutes
MOTION BY MAYOR KLINGZING AND SECOND BY COMMISIONER BERREMAN
TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED. ALL IN FAVOR. MOTION CARRIED.
3. Elect Vice Chair
Chair Zehringer opened nominations for vice chair of the Commission. Environmental
Administrator,Haug stated there are not a lot of obligations as vice chair unless Vance is
41) absent. Chair Zehringer nominated Commissioner Setala for the position. Commissioner
Setala accepted the nomination.
Energy City Commission Minutes Page 2
October 16,2008
MOTION BY MAYOR KLINGZING AND SECOND BY COMMISSIONER TOUCHETTE
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TO CLOSE NOMINATIONS. ALL IN FAVOR. MOTION CARRIED. CHAIR
ZEHRINGER CALLED FOR THE VOTE. ALL IN FAVOR.
Congratulations to Commissioner Setala for becoming vice chair.
4. Presentation by Bart Wells-Ethanol Technology of Minnesota
Mr. Wells gave a presentation regarding retrofitting existing vehicles to be able to run on
ethanol only, mix fuels, or switch back and forth with gasoline. He has been in business since
2003 and provides a 3 year,unlimited guarantee on his invention. A typical vehicle running
only E-85 receives approximately 25%less fuel efficiency than with gasoline. Vehicles using
his retrofit require less oil changes and are able to have the same fuel economy or even
slightly better gas mileage than that of gasoline. This is because an oxygen sensor is used to
determine what mixture or blend is needed. The vehicles also run cooler and"more lean and
clean" with ethanol.
The biggest issue facing this company is the size of tile retrofit unit which sits under the hood
(and has a switch for the interior of the car).An effort is being made to reduce the size of the
unit as small as possible. It poses no problems for trucks, but cars are a challenge. Mr. Wells
stated that he has a considerable back log of orders, but he's interested in working with the
„FP v of.4*k River for city fleet vehicles to use as a demonstration. Costs for re „1 • �.
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• 8-c 1i r vehicle are $299, $349, and $400 e spectively. Anyone is welcome t• sit tIi
Abp here uwn and may drive a demonstratibiyehicle if interested.
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-s company ay be discussed with the Project dinserve group.
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5. Project Co ; e” Upadate °-,....- �;
s ®mmissio ug informed us that there were 124 a $icants for"project conserve Fifteen
the ap O its were non residents and therefore cut�‘m the group immediately. ii otal of
�„>--� i eFleafions were selected and 30 wrfl used with&remaining 10 being held ii rve
in case someone backs out. The kick-off meetings will be held on October 27th and 28th from
6:30 p.m.to 8:30 p.m. in the Uppertown Conference room. The applicants chosen included a
variety of families in the number per household as well as the size of the home. Mayor
Klinzing encouraged the commissioners to consider coming to the meetings to meet the
participants.
6. 2009 Energy Expo
Chair Zehringer asked for volunteers for the subcommittee. A date still needs to be set for the
Expo as well as the location to be held. A facility that can hold a larger number of people is
necessary since the City Hall campus was not successful. Commissioners Chuba, Touchette,
and Griffiths expressed tentative interest in participating.
7. Energy House Make-over
Commissioner Chuba informed the group that the Energy House III was sold. He added the
first question regarding remodeling an existing house in place of building a new energy house
is "who's paying for it?"with the next questions being whether there is a decent lot and if a
III
loan can be procured. He questioned whether a Project Conserve participant may be interested
in remodeling. Commissioner Chuba would be willing to discuss possible reasonable
alterations with Project Conserve participants. Commissioner Engstrom concurred that
Energy City Commission Minutes Page 3
October 16,2008 •
• retrofitting an existing home may be an"easier sell"in the future rather than a completely new
construction project.
8. Zenn vehicle update
Community Development Director Gongoll and Environmental Administrator Haug test drove
a ZENN(Zero Emissions No Noise)vehicle in the Twin Cities. It is a completely electric car
which is smaller than a Ford Focus but larger than a golf cart. They're made in Canada. The
only potential drawback is that they are designed for inner city driving since the maximum
speed is 40 mph. Commissioner Sayler stated that the company is working on a"fast"version.
The cost is approximately $16,000 - $20,000 per car. A representative will be invited to a later
meeting (possibly December).
9. Home Depot Display
Environmental Administrator Haug gave a reminder of the Energy Fair that Home Depot will
be hosting on October 25th and 26th. The Energy City display will be set up. Any
commissioners with materials to place at the booth should give them to Rebecca or Nicki. If
there are further questions regarding this you can contact Margaret Johnson at Home Depot.
10. Other
RRT: Environments Adpi 4 gyrator Haug stated that a person;; ed has been
appointed temporarily by'1dt I,be their representation on the mnuss*;
Energy City Commission Minutes Page 4
October 16,2008
Little People, Big World: The edition featuring ECONAR will be aired next Monday, October III
20th and will continue to have some component or comments for several episodes.
Fluorescent light bulb program: Chair Zehringer stated that Walmart has begun the collection
and has placed boxes near the compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFL) and paint aisles. All bulbs
4' or smaller can be collected and Elk River Municipal Utilities will pay for the proper
disposal. He added that he checked the box when he was there and there were only two bulbs
in the box. Chair Zehringer encouraged the commissioners to bring in all their C F Ls for
disposal.
11. Schedule Next ECC Meeting and Identify Agenda Items
The next meeting is scheduled for November 19 at 1:30 p.m. in Uppertown Conference
Room. There will be two speakers, Jamie Burrell (with the photovoltaic company that
installed the system at the newest demonstration site) and Maggie Mattacola from the
RecycleMORE campaign.
12. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45pm
Respectfuly submitted by.w; -e g a,-%,-:,,z
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e Lisa Kelleher and Nicki 1),,111(„, e Br
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