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12-6-2017 ECC MIN Meeting of the Elk River Energy City Commission Held at the Elk River City Hall Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Members Present: Chair Tom Sagstetter, Commissioners Anne Anderson, Dennis Chuba, Harley Hanson, Glenn Hauck, Matt Herman, Jason Hoskins, Asa Kingsbury and Jerry Olsen Members Absent: Paula Bernard and Trish Curtis Staff Present: Amanda Bednar, Environmental Coordinator 1. Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Energy City Commission was called to order by Sagstetter at 8:32 a.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Sagstetter led the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Consider Agenda Sagstetter added 5.05 Member Introductions and item 5.11 SustainER update to the agenda. Moved by Herman and seconded by Hoskins to approve the August 16, 2017 Energy City Commission agenda with the addition of item 5.05 and 5.11. 4. Consider Consent Agenda One correction was noted on the minutes. Moved by Hoskins and seconded by Herman to approve the consent agenda. 5.05 Introductions All members introduced themselves as this was the first meeting Anderson had attended. Commissioner Chuba will not be renewing his term in 2018 and this was his last meeting with the group. Chair Sagstetter spoke about the impact Chuba has had on the group since the very beginning. Originally the Energy City designation was focused on increasing energy related businesses in the city and has drastically expanded over the years to include broader sustainability topics. Sagstetter thanked Chuba for his important role and dedicated service to the group. 5.1 Commission member update: new members and expiring term for Denny Chuba 2 5.2 Commission Meeting Calendar 2018 The Commission Calendar for 2018 was reviewed by the group with one change; the Wednesday, November 21 meeting has been changed to Wednesday, November 28, 2018. 5.3 2018 Energy Efficiency Rebates All available funds from ERMU were spent during the 2017 year and their energy efficiency rebate goals were met. ERMU will offer a similar program to residents in 2018 with the addition of options for commercial kitchens and electric forklift charging systems. The total rebate amount per project was decreased to allow more people to utilize the funding. They will no longer offer engineering studies as part of the program. The efficiency program also includes water conservation for homes. All the rebates provide great incentives for residents and businesses to become more efficient. 5.4 Electric Vehicle & Charging Equipment updates ERMU now has the DC fast charger up and running at Coborn’s in Elk River. It has been listed on the plug share website and has already been used. There will be signs up soon to advertise and educate residents about the EV option. ERMU plans to purchase a fully electric vehicle in 2018 for their fleet. Another resident has also installed a charging station in their home, bringing the total to five in Elk River. The YMCA also hosted an EV event and 28 people attended. The group also discussed larger expansion for EV infrastructure state wide, which will receive funding from the Volkswagen settlement. The hope is to install more charging points to help with range anxiety and create long range routes for EVs throughout the state and county. The City of Elk River and ERMU has been tracking 20 vehicles via a program called Fleetcarm for the past year. The final report will summarize driving habits and make determinations about what vehicles could utilize EVs and the feasibility for various vehicles options. All the data should be back in the first quarter of 2018. ERMU purchased the data trackers and is exploring the possibility of allowing residents or businesses to also use them temporarily. Drivers could use the trackers for a month or two and then receive a report about what EV or hybrid options could work for them. ERMU is considering cost sharing options for the fees for renting the tracker and generating the final report. The project would allow residents who are interested in EVs to determine if it’s a good option based on their real life driving habits. 5.5 Trash, Recycling and Organics fee changes for 2018 The City will be updating trash, recycling and organics fees to residential households in 2018. Fees have not been changed in many years and the update will itemize trash and recycling which was previously one sum. The change will also reduce the price of organics for households interested in participating. Currently the organics are collected using the Blue Bag program and separated by hand at GRE. City staff is 3 hoping to increase organics recycling participation. Anderson and Herman further discussed options for organics recycling at the school districts. There are some challenges since there is not a composting facility near Elk River and not all haulers can provide this service. 5.6 Solar Picnic Table The solar picnic table designed by students from the University of St. Thomas will be located a Lions Park as part of the larger park improvement in 2018. City staff including the Parks and Rec Department felt this was a better fit and will potentially allow for added solar panels. More information will be available in 2018. 5.7 Fall Clean Up Day recap: 520 participants, 33,927 lbs. of appliances/electronics, 29,060 lbs. of scrap metal and 21 tons of trash to GRE The annual clean up events continue to be very well attended and residents often wait in line over an hour. Herman and Hanson recommended increasing education about other drop off opportunities throughout the year at both GRE and Lake State Recycling. Staff with work with them on updating the website with this information and distributing it to residents. 5.8 City website and RecycleCoach app Bednar shared the new city website including updates about Energy City, trash and recycling and the RecycleCoach app. 5.9 Tom Bovitz Memorial Scholarship Sagstetter shared information about the Tom Bovitz scholarship. ERMU is looking for more participation for the scholarship program which is open to any municipal utility customer. More information is available online. 5.10 “Climate Smart: Cities Working Together” film, Twin Cities Public Television Bednar and Hauck attended the screening of the short film created for the Climate Smart Municipalities partnership. The film does a great job describing the program and focusing on energy issues relevant for both Minnesota and Germany. The film will be available for distribution in February 2018 and will be shared with the group. 5.11 SustainER update Anderson has been working with the high school on the PowerED program and is hoping to get students involved, in partnership with SustainER. Anderson and Bednar are going to meet with an interested student soon and work on hopefully getting a program moving forward at Elk River High School. The group is still 4 hoping to get more students involved from local schools, boys and girls clubs, homeschool organizations and others. 6. Next Meeting Agenda Items (February 21, 2018) Reminder on the Climate Smart Film and recap Review 10 Year Action Plan to discuss future projects Discuss the Ice Arena plans and any options for adding sustainable design School District update from Anderson Update from Kingsbury 7. Announcements None 8. Adjournment There being no further business, motion by Chuba to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Anderson. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Minutes prepared by Amanda Bednar. ___________________ ____________________ Tina Allard, City Clerk Tom Sagstetter, Chair Energy City Commission