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08-19-2020 ECC MINCity of Elk - River Meeting of the Elk River Energy City Commission Held at the Elk River City Hall virtual Zoom meeting Wednesday, August 19, 2020 Members Present: Chair Tom Sagstetter, Commissioners Garrett Christianson Trish Curtis, Henry Griner, Becky Herbert, Alec Plaisted, Tim Steinbeck and Vern Iverson Members Absent: Commissioners Aaron Brixius and Harley Hanson Staff Present: 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 Curtis requested adding the societal cost of carbon discussion as item 5.6. The amended agenda was approved, motion by Commissioner Curtis, second by Commissioner Herbert. 4. Consider Minutes Consider minutes from the May 20, 2020 meetings. One minor change regarding GRE update 5.10, there will still be one small coal plant operated by GRE. Minutes approved, motion by Commissioner Steinbeck, second by Commissioner Curtis. 5.1 Member Updates Members provided brief updates as applicable. Commissioner Iverson discussed the solar picnic table, he has contacted a few builders for information but has not had any luck finding anyone interested in building the structure. He will continue to work- on orkon this and report back with updates. Chair Sagstetter updated about a new initiative from ERMU. They are offering customers the opportunity to sign up for their newsletter and receive free LED bulbs for doing so. It has been incredibly successful, and they are hoping to get 200 resident sign ups for the program. Commissioner Iverson would like to work on promoting ERMU's Clean Energy Choice program for residential customers. There are about 12,000 residential meters in the City of Elk River. Additionally, the Drive Electric Week event at the Farmers Market will not be held this year due to COVID concerns. 5.2 eBike updates and next steps Chair Sagstetter and Ms. Erickson went to Lakeville to Rambo Bikes to test drive electric bike options earlier this week. The selected model is a 750w, Kevlar fat tire bike, which was a returned bike from Costco and offered at a discount. It charges in about five hours and will be easy for staff to use. The standard warranty applies even though it is a returned model. We will also be getting front and rear racks and saddle bags for storage. ERMU will assist with adding decals to promote Energy City and Clean Energy Choice. We are hopeful to get the purchase finalized in the next couple weeks. 5.3 Energy City budget update — compostable products at city events Ms. Erickson included funding for compostable products for collection at city events for the 2021 Energy City Budget. More details to come on how Energy City Commissioners can get involved with this. 5.4 MMPA Wind Turbine Construction has begun for the MMPA Wind Turbine at the Youth Athletic Complex city park. The driveway and foundation have been completed already and the install is moving along quickly. Ideally the turbine will be installed next week. It is 160kW and hopefully will be online and producing power by the end of September. Chair Sagstetter discussed a possible event at the park once the turbine is installed and functioning to promote it. 5.5 Economic Development Updates Ms. Eddy discussed the EDA budget, which is currently in discussion right now and will be approved in September. They are proposing to allocate $10,000 for Energy City rebates and programs for EDA, Energy City and ERMU partnership programs. This would include Action Item initiatives and rebate programs. 5.6 Societal Costs of Carbon Commissioner Curtis discussed Minneapolis' societal cost of carbon which was discussed during the last ECC meeting. She did additional research on this declaration by Minneapolis City Council. The goal is to provide a value stream to carbon and to fund/prioritize initiatives that reduce carbon emissions. She discussed encouraging our commission to request the City Council put a societal cost on carbon and use that as a tool for prioritization. This could also help to add value to projects that may not have high cost savings. The city's budget process was 2 discussed. Councilmember Christianson suggested the idea be presented sometime in the coming months to Council so it can be digested and discussed with the Commission members. Chair Sagstetter suggested working more on specific metrics for the calculations and working through that as a commission as a next step. Commissioner Curtis expressed understanding that this discussion would take some time and dialogue with Council and strategic planning to show the value of this information for the community. The value of carbon can be subjective but there is existing data to help evaluate this including utilities organizations, MMPA and others. The goal is to focus on Minnesota to keep the discuss more relevant. Councilmember Christianson asked if any other Minnesota cities have determined a similar cost to carbon for comparison, Commissioner Curtis is going to look into this further and utilize CSM contacts. Commission Curtis hopes this can take our commission to the next level and be a leader related to sustainability rather than focusing only on small projects. The goal is to meet with Council sometime soon, perhaps early 2021 since there will be a new councilmember sworn in at that time. Commissioner Steinbeck suggested the commission have a work session to discuss this in more detail and ensure everyone understands the details and is on the same page. Commissioner Herbert expressed the need to better explain and educate everyone (including commission members) about this topic, which would be helpful for councilmembers as well. The group agreed there is a need for another meeting to get the commission members on the same page and discuss in more detail. This will be scheduled before the next meeting. Next Meeting Agenda Items (Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 8:00 a.m.) Discuss the cost of carbon and make a plan to meet with Council Announcements None 8. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:53 a.m. tes prepared by Amanda Erickson. Tina Allard, r'ity Clerk 3 7 Q Tom Sags etter, Chair Energy City Commission