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05-20-2020 ECC MIN Meeting of the Elk River Energy City Commission Held at the Elk River City Hall virtual Zoom meeting Wednesday, May 20, 2020 Members Present: Chair Tom Sagstetter, Commissioners Aaron Brixius, Trish Curtis Henry Griner, Becky Herbert, Alec Plaisted, Tim Steinbeck and Vern Iverson Members Absent: Commissioners Garrett Christianson and Harley Hanson Staff Present: Amanda Erickson, Environmental Coordinator and Colleen Eddy, Economic Development Specialist 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 Chair Sagstetter at 8:00 a.m. via virtual meeting. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Sagstetter led the Pledge of Allegiance virtually. 3. Consider Agenda Commissioner Plaisted added item 5.9 Highway 169 Discussion. Commissioner Steinbeck added item 5.10 GRE Update. The amended agenda was approved, motion by Curtis, second by Brixius. 4. Consider Minutes Consider minutes from the February 19, 2020 meetings. One minor grammatic change mentioned by Commissioner Brixius. Minutes approved, motion by Brixius, second by Griner. 5.1 Member Updates Members provided brief updates as applicable, especially during restricted work due to state stay at home orders. Commissioner Herbert explained that distance learning for ISD 728 continues to be an adjustment. They had planned for an Earth Day event with Coborn’s but that was not possible, however there was still Earth Day curriculum for students. 5.2 COVID updates- Clean Up Day, Energy City Insights, waste rates 2 Many changes have occurred with normal city operations due to COVID including cancelling the planned spring clean up day in April. Although staff would like to hold another event (especially as people continue to clean out their homes), it is not possible at this time. The fall event is still planned for now. Energy City Insights are still being posted monthly and the May post was discussed. The Commission felt more information about household clean up would be beneficial, especially how to safely store items at home if you are not able to dispose of them right away. The promotion of Recycle Coach was also mentioned which has information about local recycling and disposal options. Elk River residential waste haulers have seen an increase in trash and recycling as people are spending more time at home. This has caused some issues with extra trash and additional customer service calls. 5.3 Climate Smart Municipalities update – Ripley Retreat The Climate Smart Municipalities program hosted a virtual retreat earlier this spring which a few Commissioners were able to attend. All felt the virtual retreat was well organized and allowed for beneficial large and small group discussions. It was also advantageous for the Minnesota cohort to meet virtually and not require travel for many that are spread throughout the state. Commissioner Herbert expressed interest in connecting more with St. Cloud staff to learn from their sustainability initiatives and success. The hope is these meetings will continue but no additional information has been shared from CSM leadership yet. No further information about the delegation has been shared yet but it seems likely no delegation will occur in 2020 but perhaps 2021 to Germany. 5.4 E- Bike update and next steps Staff has selected an e-bike from Rambo Bikes and plans to purchase it soon. Ideally staff would test drive the bike first but COVID has delayed this. Staff is hopeful it will be purchased soon and utilized by city staff this summer. Elk River Police Department will also be purchasing their own e-bike as well. 5.5 Wind Turbine progress ERMU, in partnership with MMPA, will be installing a small wind turbine in Elk River Youth Athletic Complex. Chair Sagstetter is working to finalize the site agreements. The turbine will be shipped to Minnesota from California soon for installation. The Commission discussed how best to promote and educate the public about the turbine and its benefit. Ms. Eddy is going to connect with other cities that also have a wind turbine in partnership with MMPA to see how they utilize it for education. 5.6 2021 Budgets 3 City staff has begun working on budgets for 2021, which includes the very small Energy City budget. The Commission discussed how best to incorporate Energy City projects within other specific city budgets, focusing on topics in the 10-year Action Plan. The Economic Development Authority specifically discussed this during their most recent meeting as well, related to green jobs and other economic development associated with sustainability. Commission members will review the Action Plan and provide comments. Chair Sagstetter and Ms. Erickson will follow up with specific city staff soon as well. Commissioner Curtis discussed the concept of assigning value to carbon reduction, which has been done in other cities nationally and countries internationally. She is going to send more information to group and possibly provide a follow up during the next meeting. 5.7 ERMU APPA Presentation Chair Sagstetter recently presented to APPA regarding electric vehicles and charging in Elk River. The focus was on municipal utilities and the benefit they can provide for specific sustainability initiatives. Right now, the economics for electric vehicles is changing due to low gas prices. 5.8 Summer projects, EC Insights, Farmers Market Due to COVID, many of the planned summer programs and projects are looking quite different this year. The ECC had planned to participate at the Farmers Market but that is no longer an option in an effort to reduce extra people at the markets this summer. The Commission was encouraged to continue to add ideas for the Energy City Insights postings throughout the summer with relevant topics and information. 5.9 Redefine 169 Project Commissioner Plaisted discussed that he recently participated in the 169 Open House and is interested in the future of the project. He suggested the commission think about how they could get involved and offer suggestions, perhaps related to native plantings or other water conservation aspects to suggest for the project. 5.10 GRE Update Commissioner Steinbeck provided a brief update about the GRE Plant in Elk River which is currently being deconstructed. Much of the exterior work will begin this summer and wrap up by the end of the year. GRE also recently announced plans to shut down a large coal power plant and by the end of 2022. These decisions are mainly based on economics but also provide significant environmental benefits. 6. Next Meeting Agenda Items (Wednesday, August 19, 2020 at 8:00 a.m.)