--- ## title: 5/28/26 Sustainability Commission Minutes --- ## REGULAR SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION MEETING Thursday, May 28, 2026 ## Heredia Room, City Hall COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Kueper, Craig Heinen, Katy Boone, Chris Danner, Alexa Wozniak, Rose Thompson, ## Mohamed Noor, Ray Sookchain, Katrina DeVore ## STAFF: Rachel Lindholm (Sustainability Coordinator), Zach McCarty (Solid Waste Specialist), ## PRESENT ## LIAISONS: Margaux Meyer (CSC), Rori Coleman-Woods (City Council) ## ABSENT Heinen, Noor ## Call to Order Danner called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. ## Approval of Minutes/Agenda Agenda: Boone motioned, Sookchain seconded, approved by all. Minutes: Boone motioned, Wozniak seconded, approved by all. ## Public Comment ## None ## Staff Reports McCarty reported that shred event went well. 6000lbs paper and 4000lb electronics. Organics audit on June 16 - volunteers needed. GreenCorps member approved. July 16 building materials swap, Furniture donation event in Donaldson parking lot on August 1. Penn Fest (Sept 20) - recycling will be offered; number of stations will depend on number of volunteers available. Fourth of July will also offer recycling - volunteers would be helpful. Lindholm reported rain barrels sold out. After tree sale 13 trees planted in parks (11 unsold, 2 sold and not picked up). Ten trees planted at Sheridan Elementary - good learning opportunity. Is there an opportunity to get more official buy-in from school board? Commission can try to organize a way to communicate support to school board. Summer kick-off event will be at City Hall, June 10 5- 7pm. ## Other Business Condo Building outreach (Boone): Buildings visited: City Bella, Gramercy Park, Lake Shore Drive, Kensington Park. Not yet visited: Wood Lake Point. All buildings visited so far are doing recycling. City Bella is only building that currently has organics. City Bella and Gramercy have similar waste streams (e.g., plastic bags, pill bottles, glasses). Gramercy does not have organics collection but drop-off at Woodlake. Lake Shore Drive - waste streams similar to City Bella/ Gramercy; Also collects moving boxes; they get stored and are available to be reused for people moving out. Kensington Park - very different setting to others; many renters and younger residents. Only have recycling. Buildings that have initiatives lead by residents are successful. May be opportunity for GreenCorps member to table at buildings and distribute compost bags. McCarty will work on communication/ social media post to highlight work being done in condo buildings. Homeowner awareness about tree health (Kueper): Have had two tabling events - Earth Day event and first farmers market Saturday. Planning another event in September - focus on planting trees. Commission will get presentation at June meeting about boulevard Ash trees and opportunities for maintaining mature trees. Public Event Recycling (Danner): Events needing special event permit are required to have plan for solid waste. Staffing is a challenge for monitoring solid waste at events. City events should be priority for improving solid waste streams/ recycling. Staff would like to do more education/ outreach for events, especially events that may not need a special event permit. Suggestion to include request for ## DRAFT MINUTES UNTIL APPROVED BY THE COMMISSION recycling/ compost frames in special event permit. Frames could also be offered for people who rent park buildings, bandshell events, sports leagues at parks. RMS/RHS resource rooms (Wozniak): Have not heard from contact at RHS. Wozniak plans to reach out to other contact - will report more in June. ## Committee Reports CSC report (Meyer): Updates on city construction projects. Ice arena construction starting in August - will remain open during construction. Goal is for ice arena to add a public skate session on weekends. Pool on track to open June 12; locker rooms have also been redone. Woodlake on track to open in Nov; science museum of MN is curating exhibits. Parks master plan in progress - website being developed to get resident feedback. Community Center next upcoming project. ## Next Meetings/Adjournment Next Meetings: Thursday, June 25, 2026 - 7 P.M. Heredia Room, City Hall Adjournment: Danner motioned, Kueper seconded, all approved. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 pm