[0:17] well good evening everyone I'd like to welcome our community to the February 10th 2025 meeting of oakdale's [0:23] Environmental Management commission uh we will be begin this evening by um do we any call to [0:32] order chair gerding present commissioner Anderson present commissioner Brendan [0:39] present commissioner Yang present commissioner lash present commissioner fener maker [0:47] present great thank you next up on our agenda is [0:53] the Pledge of Allegiance so if we can all rise and recite [1:01] I to flag of the United States of America to the Republic for it stands [1:09] one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for [1:24] all all right moving right along our next item on tonight's agenda is the approval of the [1:32] agenda as everybody was sent it in advance I'm looking for a motion to [1:38] approve the agenda as presented for the February 10th 2025 meeting of the EMC so [1:44] moved wait a second second all in favor of approving tonight's agenda for [1:49] February 10th 2025 say I I I opposed awesome thank [1:56] you passes next up um approval of minutes these are from our November 18th [2:03] 2024 EMC meeting right here in council chambers you were all sent a [2:10] um you so there any comments questions [2:25] amendments no hearing none hearing none I would ask for approval of the November [2:31] 18th 24 2024 meeting minutes of the EMC so [2:37] moved need a second [2:43] second in favor of all in favor of approving the minutes from November 18th from the EMC meeting say I I [2:51] opposed great thank you now we've reached the point in the [2:57] meeting where we invite the community members is present to uh step [3:03] forward i' open that open the Forum now anybody [3:12] present all right we're here Community hearing none [3:18] seeing none uh open uh open forum is now closed moving on to the EMC [3:25] Environmental Management commission review first item is the eair update [3:31] Hannah take it away thank you the ecoair is about 3 months away um and I just wanted to provide the Environmental [3:37] Management commission with an update since we haven't met since November um the ecoair was discussed at the June and [3:44] October meeting so in your packet you'll find the memos from those meetings as well as the minutes from those meetings just to refresh yourselves of the [3:51] discussion discussions that were had um we're currently in the process of securing and finalizing vendors and [3:57] Communications and promotion of the event will start to ramp up shortly this meeting is another [4:02] opportunity for Commissioners to discuss the event and share any Communications ideas for reaching a wide audience uh [4:08] the event has already been shared in the Oakdale update newsletter that is sent to households and then um starting soon [4:15] we'll use social media to promote the event and we'll also consider sharing the event through the so the school [4:20] district's family communications platform um but if Commissioners have other ways to spread the word about the [4:25] ecoair either generally or to specific groups um please share we'd love to have [4:31] as many Comm Communications channels as possible um so I'll I'll open up the floor for discussion if anything has [4:38] come across your mind in the last two months about the ecoair um in March we'll um be just about a month away and [4:44] then we'll um discuss assignments and and now please let me know if if any Commissioners are unable to make the [4:50] event just so that we can plan accordingly yeah I have an idea well I [4:57] do a lot of community engagement and um you know we do use a lot [5:03] of we have a different a lot of different ways right social media and then the paid advertising about [5:10] especially about like how do we advertise for people to come to our events because I work for men do right A [5:17] lot of it is career Affairs and job opportunities and since I'm there um to [5:24] talk on behalf of the uh of menot and you know why I promote people uh to work [5:30] there one of the things I started asking them was well how did you know about this event right and you know social [5:37] media everything's great but one of the things that um we always try to do at the events with mad is we just stick a [5:43] road sign along the side of the road basically saying the event is this way [5:48] and then we have other signs saying it's this way because sometimes truck stations are kind of hidden is that [5:54] something that's possible for us to do I know we're not supposed to begin in a way of MOT right away but you know you [6:00] stick it there on sun on Friday it's going to be they're not going to take it down because mot doesn't work on the [6:07] weekends unless they have to yep our our Recreation Department [6:13] uses yard signs for their farmers markets or the indoor market on you know city city streets so that definitely is [6:18] an opportunity and I know they put those out there um not just on the day of the event but leading up to the events so [6:24] that's certainly something to consider well you know since it's the same time as the Arbor Day right we can put up [6:29] there too yes there definitely will be a plann for some sort of sign since they're only a block away that anyone [6:35] who's picking up a tree at the Arbor Day will know about the event just down the [6:42] road I had some ideas um one was the local chamber will they be notified or [6:49] yes okay um I was thinking churches um I thought about the fire department [6:57] like are there groups within the city that maybe do their own e newsletter or something to [7:04] people so I was thinking that um WCCO and Carol 11 news always have a um [7:11] calendar of events that we could get on maybe um and I was wondering about [7:17] Washington County what what do they do do they have a a calendar of events page [7:23] or an e newsletter or something I know they have variety of things that go out so I was thinking about that yeah I can [7:28] certainly reach out um the county and the food scraps pickup program will be a vendor at the event so I'm sure it'll be [7:34] a good opportunity to promote their presence as well as the ecoair that's cool I um I know it says to I was trying [7:42] to think about for the Youth that might be coming right we're trying to focus on [7:47] some of them too MH um I just watched this video before I came it's called [7:54] composting 101 for kids I don't know if you've seen that or not don't think I have um anyways it was [8:02] great it was really cool this person um used a 2 L bottle and had cut the top [8:09] off and then just had you know kind of the brown and the green and the different stuff and she had um eggs and [8:16] leaves and the composting dirt and whatever and it was just I don't know it was maybe 15 all of 15 minutes but it [8:24] showed literally the benefits first how to do composting and then she talked [8:29] about the benefits of it I thought it was really cool and I thought wow we could have somebody do this and maybe you do it a couple I don't you know [8:36] throughout the time period that we have maybe she can do it three times with three different groups or something I [8:41] say she but that's who the person was doing it it was an easy demonstration and um I can get you the [8:48] link to that um so I thought that was kind of cool and then um the only other [8:54] question that I had was about the one food truck are we only doing one food truck [9:01] that does that make sense to do one I was just wondering if there was just one or there we specifically talk about [9:06] quantity of food trucks yet we have not um I always envisioned one um okay I [9:12] just didn't know like if we had I think the question maybe a dessert one and then you had a main one you know [9:18] one that does two or three different types of foods C can I ask what the hours are for the fair 9:00 a.m. to 1 [9:25] p.m. I think the question with the food truck has to do with how many people are we expecting mhm right [9:32] sure right so how how many people are we expecting that's a great question um [9:38] since it's the first one it's kind of hard to ask oh is that okay this is the very first one okay gotcha okay I [9:47] don't depends how many of these other things we can get I'm I'm happy to help too with any reaching out communication [9:54] wise yes so let me know sounds good okay I have one more thing with the [10:00] communication stuff um cuz I did I did attend a training on community uh based [10:07] Outreach and actually getting out to community one of the things we talked about was being more intentional on [10:13] communicating in ways that how the communities um communicate right and a [10:18] lot of it had to do with the um the Asian community and the small communities that were around here and [10:25] part of it was well you know with social media everything shared a lot of it was [10:30] they get a lot of their news through the radio right especially the small radios and the Mong radio and is that something [10:36] we can look into yeah because um I used to be in radio and that's what that's another thing I had down was public [10:42] service announcements right on the radio I don't know how much that's done today but um that is another option yeah yeah [10:51] absolutely something to explore and can I just give one more [10:57] idea um on a kids project thing that we could do tooo is um just thinking about the young people because they are what's [11:04] coming up behind us um I was thinking you we could do a um uh making bird [11:10] feeders you know just out of nature products pine cones peanut butter string [11:18] real simple but fun so those are my [11:25] ideas yeah I can talk with Recreation um department they are going to organize some kids activities see if that's an [11:32] option um and then we'll also look for other Partnerships maybe the library or the [11:39] county see what other sorts of activities at this point it's um whether people are available just with Earth Day [11:44] being on that Tuesday and Arbor Day and the Friday there's it's kind of a heavy event week so just um seeing who what [11:50] organizations have capacity and availability well if you need somebody to do the composting I can watch the [11:57] video again and then I can do the composting if you'd like I can be the designated kid [12:05] composting person yeah yeah Hannah do I've seen some some fun [12:13] confirmations come through over email in terms of you know um vendors that have moved from Prospect to confirmed for [12:20] instance how are we feeling generally I know we're like N9 weeks is 10 weeks out but how are we feeling now and then is [12:26] there anything that this commission can do uh feeling pretty good um we've um had some people some organizations say [12:32] that they're unable to because they've got other events going on um but we're slowly getting yeses so I think we're [12:39] looking pretty good okay great [12:48] good other comments from Commissioners on our first ever formal [12:56] ecoair I can't remember is this event outside or inside inside that's great [13:02] thanks the food truck will be the only thing outside you never know if April yeah you don't [13:18] Fair it's right there um that there's a church right in the same parking lot are right next door to Castle Elementary [13:25] School too what is it hope hope church I think I mean that's another person to maybe [13:31] get the information [13:43] to great well we know it's it's a lot of work to organize an event for the first time [13:49] so thank you for you have Partners in your corner as commission members so thank you for helping us see this one [13:56] through from Vision to implementation one more question do we have flyers or [14:01] are we going to have Flyers made up we will be working on Flyers um when our [14:06] communication specialist is on maternity leave um I've tried to to draft uh one [14:12] um but when if if it's not done by the time she return she'll help get that get that finished up so I was going to say [14:18] you know there's boards like at buger and um cub and things like that we could [14:24] all say we're going to hang a few up around you know yeah [14:30] Burgers is in Wood Berry but it's [14:37] okay have you guys figured out what you're doing as far as like the kid [14:43] family or the kid and family friendly activities for the ecoair has those been decided yet or still figuring all that [14:50] out that that that piece is a little bit um not quite as worked through at this [14:56] point we're just trying to kind of get the vendors lined up and then we just know recreation department will organize [15:02] some activities gotcha so you can get in on it though you could make the nature [15:07] yeah bird feeder I love it yep I'm all about that stuff so cool all [15:19] right any other comments about the [15:24] eare great discussion thank you everyone um moving on to I think new [15:33] business it is February at our meeting which means it is election time uh and [15:39] we are going to be looking for an election of a chair and vice chair I [15:45] believe it's an annual process yes so in your packets uh there [15:50] are ballots and the process for the election of of uh chairperson and vice [15:57] chairperson positions and so for the ballot portion we asked you to write [16:04] in your choice first first we will nominate we [16:11] will all right so people can make nominations for a chair and vice chair thank you um uh somewhere in your packet [16:17] if you keep going there's kind of the process number one um it states how you [16:22] can make that motion and you can just insert a name um for whoever you would like to [16:28] nominate for chair or vice chair um and then once there are no more nominations we will close the nominations and then [16:34] move to using the ballots so right now we're on step one got it no second is required so for verbal [16:43] nominations no second is required correct correct [16:50] okay shockingly nobody ever wants to go first all right um yeah I'll go I uh [16:59] motion to nominate um commissioner Gering for the position of chair person [17:24] MH oh thanks more pens good pens [17:37] do we ask if anyone has an interest in these positions or does anyone have an [17:42] interest in being the vice chair contesting for chair contesting [17:50] for chair for chair is is the vice chair of somebody who is going to serve like Miss America [17:57] if you are not able to serve or what's is there a difference in duties yeah we're new so we don't really [18:03] know right that's essentially it yeah okay all right in in function it's that's what it [18:09] is M we are missing a commission member he is still eligible to be nominated and [18:15] elected uh for any position I just wanted to point that commissioner ditt commissioner D was also somewhere [18:21] warm tonight is Mr dittle the one who's been [18:28] your Vice chair correct yes okay that's what I thought and as far as you know [18:34] would that commissioner would like to be Vice chair again do you have any [18:41] sense I I do have a sense is that I don't know if that's my place to say okay I would like to move that [18:48] commissioner dittle um be nominated for vice chair [19:03] there any other nominations for chair or vice [19:15] chair can anyone make the motion to close I'm so new at this no I make a [19:22] motion to close the nominations and the motion does require a second a [19:30] second [19:35] okay great thank you now we we move to formal ballot is that [19:42] correct because there was only one nomination for each position we can we can verbally we can verbally [19:50] really okay you really want to I mean we have the pens mayor the [19:56] pens were passed out already here [20:04] do you want us to write it down or do you want toos WR just totally verbal verbal it's totally fine [20:11] okay so we have a motion to elect uh commissioner gerding for the position of [20:18] chairperson um of the EMC for a period of one calendar year commencing with the [20:23] February 10th 2025 meeting [20:30] and we my apologies do we do one at a time and we have a motion to elect uh [20:37] commissioner dittle for the position of Vice chair of the EMC for a period of one calendar year commencing with the [20:44] February 10th 2025 EMC [20:51] meeting we need to do we need to May [20:57] yes is was there a motion you you made it is there a second [21:04] I just asked if I could second it oh I'm sorry I totally missed that part is there a second a [21:11] second all in favor of um the motion the motion as presented [21:18] for electing commissioner Gering for the person of chairperson and commissioner doitt for the position of Vice chairperson say I I [21:26] opposed great thank you [21:34] everyone thank you ustria staff done for your excellent [Laughter] [21:39] help next up on new business is our 2025 adopted drain schedule there's a memo [21:45] presented by Hannah you want to walk us through that yes at the beginning of each year uh the EMC determines the [21:51] schedule for clearing three drains that the EMC adopted in the city hall and Walton Park parking lots uh this is done [21:59] through the adopted drain program the proposed schedule in your packet will help ensure that there is regular clearing of leaves trash and other [22:06] debris the level of commitment per month for each commissioner is low all that is needed um is volunteering maybe 15 [22:12] minutes uh a couple times during your assigned month to collect and remove leaves trash and debris from the drains [22:19] and kind of the immediate area and then it would be great if Commissioners after their month at the you know the next EMC [22:25] meeting share their experience and um you know you know estimate how much debris they cleared um so taking a look [22:32] at the schedule do any Commissioners have conflicts with the months that have been assigned I just moved down the list and started over once we had everyone [22:39] was assigned so I have a question um how frequently during your month do you [22:46] clean them and maybe somebody who's done it could you just say what that process [22:53] is I mean you said you clear it do you put the debris in a [22:59] composting bag and I just don't know what the process is sure sure I'm I'm [23:04] happy to speak speak to it so the drains that I've we adopt three drains and as you can see from the map and generally [23:11] what I find is limited to no compostable items so it's a lot of like plastic [23:19] bottle caps plastic bottles that are crunched driven over cans those kinds of things there is some sediment um and [23:27] leaf leaves if you will and just maybe some tar chunks or something but in [23:32] terms of supplies I use I bring gloves of course and a grabber if I have one if I get really in there um but really it's [23:39] it's a pretty simple process and gloves and a light broom and some you know [23:44] maybe not plastic bags but something to dis something to dispose of the items in [23:51] safely um and depending on the month I will add that um as it's proposed [23:58] commissioner gang you have the duty of Summerfest which the city does a great [24:03] job of cleaning up so but these three the three drains do get some action I'd [24:08] say May June July and August because we have a lot of points of Entry to our city and great activities and events [24:14] that are happening so it's the only thing to to to monitor but yeah I don't [24:19] know if that helps answer the the question it did how far down do you go is it is it just kind of the oh it's [24:25] surface on the surface entering the drain you don't reach into the drain [24:32] okay that requires very long draer gloves a license yeah okay [24:38] probably wasn't sure yeah okay got it you can if you are [24:45] really into it you can go every week but I think maybe twice a month okay it's [24:50] really all that we're expecting but feel free to do more if if you have time if [24:55] you're so inclined okay I will that the drain in the roundabout uh the West [25:01] drain by the first field um I I have found over the last few years uh does [25:07] not have as much debris as the drain U adjacent to City Hall and the parking lots up front [25:16] so full disclosure I've done once a month on that other drain but twice a [25:23] month because I'm just here more often for the other two drains by the skate [25:28] park and the tennis [25:34] courts [25:44] okay any other questions on adopted rain this one needs no vote it's a voluntary [25:50] thing we love doing it thank you for putting together the schedule thank you for doing [25:55] it uh moving on to the next new item of business bus we have our 2025 EMC environmental commissions environmental [26:02] commissions communication strategy discussion yes again at the beginning of [26:07] each year the EMC discusses the environmental communication strategy plan and develops an editorial calendar [26:14] um it's a flexible strategy that can be rearranged things can be added if something um is more relevant or timely [26:21] um so it's certainly not set in stone in your packet I included the 2024 Ed editorial calendar many of the theme [26:28] and the months that go with the themes can be repeated in 2025 however we can also Veer and mix things up if there's a [26:35] desire so I did not put together a draft 2025 plan um I figured we could just [26:41] discuss 2024 um what we want to carry over what we want to stay the same if there's [26:46] completely new ideas new resources that people have come across um I know April [26:51] um of last year that's when the food scraps pickup program was rolling out to Oakdale um so obviously that's not happening in 2025 [26:58] um but we could make April a just a food scraps pickup program we can still keep [27:04] that as a theme for the month um or if there's something else that people think would make more sense in April we can [27:11] switch it up but I will open up for [27:18] conversation just don't want to get too complacent with just repeating the same calendar year to year and not digging [27:25] into it [27:40] well look looking ahead a little bit to April um I know that this year we have our ecoair event um that may be [27:48] something we want to Market probably earlier in the month if it ties [27:53] into a theme [27:59] yep we will start advertising the ecoair more probably before April but we can [28:05] certainly have a concentrated effort for that month to really drive it [28:12] yeah or maybe it could be even and one other idea could be even February just because it's recycling is a theme and it [28:18] seems like some of the vendors were prospecting towards may may have a recycling Bend to them yes [28:42] do we and so even well strike that never mind we are in February I was looking at [28:49] January my fault are we going month by month yeah [28:54] we look uh yeah when at at the first meeting when we do this we look generally over the course of the year [29:00] and then each subsequent meeting we kind of look a quarter ahead at the time is how [29:11] we've how would we feel about potentially moving water conservation to [29:17] like May or June potentially just driving around the city the amount of water waste I see with sprinklers going [29:23] off like maybe promoting time sprinklers or humidity sprink sensors on sprinklers [29:29] that they have so it already rained you don't have those sprinklers going off at all all hours of the day [29:35] um just you know limiting water usage throughout the summer as well I like that might be a [29:42] good I like that good opportunity to remind people of our odd even process [29:47] that we have I don't think anybody actually uses [29:53] or follows that rule good reason good reason good reason to [30:00] promote it right y y and I'm with you it's really irritating when you see [30:06] people one when sprinklers are going off and it's raining or whatever and two when they're doing it at 3:00 in the [30:12] afternoon In the Heat of the day I'm [30:19] like good idea so when did you want to propose [30:26] that for me did you say may either May or June I think probably May because you know people are excited about their [30:32] lawns and getting everything nice and green for the year and kind of [30:38] forget proper etiquette with that [30:55] so looking at July just thinking of visual content surrounding plastic [31:00] single-use plastic and um plastic bag recycling is there how does that stream [31:06] look how if somebody were to follow that stream you know where does that plastic [31:11] bag if someone brings it to Target and leave yeah or like when we for example when we go to the Environmental Center [31:17] we have our our plastic bags of plastic bags and we drop them [31:23] off I personally don't know much about that but um kind of like what was done with uh the composting years ago with [31:31] didn't the EMC put together a video that showed where the kind of Journey of the compost [31:38] U bag we can see if there's if the county has information on what happens to plastic bags when they go to the [31:45] Environmental Center um one good resource and not for plastic bag recycling specifically but six of the [31:52] seven Metro Counties have this recycling exists campaign that's currently going on to um [31:58] and it was in our Oakdale update newsletter um to kind of break down myth [32:04] the myths that when you put something in the recycling can it's not being [32:09] recycled so um I wonder if that campaign has any good information on and what's [32:15] the campaign called recycling exists did see that I did see that yeah we [32:20] definitely wouldn't have to recreate any Wheels here if there's already content or copy that's out there with any visual assets we could reshare frame them yep [32:28] absolutely [Music] [32:38] mhm and I think when we talk about this in February as a commission I I believe August we've always held just open for [32:45] anything that's topical is just what why it's miscellaneous and what the strategy has been behind it I think yeah yep okay [32:58] intentional vagueness yes other comments on content calendar [33:06] or editorial calendar excuse me in April are we highlighting the food scraps pickup program again we can um [33:15] April it's not rolling out so it doesn't um doesn't have to stay there for April um ecoair will probably end up being [33:24] maybe the theme for that month just um since it's the event is at the end of April um we'll probably be doing some [33:30] big pushes so I'm guessing there might not be a ton of social media room for other things [33:37] um unless something timely comes up we could always move food scraps to August [33:43] yeah where did we move bicycling and walking some of these themes line up [33:49] with days in the month side there okay may is National Bike month but we can also have multiple themes if there's if [33:57] Communications has room in the social media calendar we can promote multiple themes throughout [34:02] gotcha cuz we're going to do Sprinklers and biking right yeah and the food [34:07] scraps prick up program is just something that ongoing it's ongoing we want to continue to boost our [34:13] participation numbers for sure um yeah well one of the things I thought about [34:19] instead of having a call out with the Eco day was sustainability right because that's not on the list [34:26] yet right yeah yeah just general sustainability yeah plus I'm working [34:31] with the uh sustainabil and public health office in [34:37] transportation and I know they have a lot of communication okay [34:45] great I know that for the month of October we talk a lot about Energy Efficiency and having just gone through [34:51] uh at our house a home energy audit I'm wondering [34:57] would it how would Commissioners feel about [35:02] sharing that maybe in like June I us be able to do better cuz I [35:08] think that would be better cuz you know I know fall is when people start thinking about it but um they really [35:16] should be doing it ahead of time before it gets cold also I mean I think of like air flow and flow rates and people also [35:23] close up their house and turn on their air conditioning too so there may be another opportunity to Market or to [35:29] educate the program also the uh rebate program is [35:35] going to end correct at some point or no there's still money and the contract [35:41] with Center for Energy environment still has over a year okay so it has a time limit though yes so the sooner though we [35:47] tell people again the more chances while people use the money so I think June's a [35:53] good great time yeah [36:10] okay any other comments on the communication [36:15] strategy [36:21] calendar do we do anything here um and maybe this was what happened at the [36:27] cleanup day do we do any type of um cardboard recycling like if a person is [36:35] just moved or a person wants to move and needs boxes do we do anything at the [36:40] city with cardboard the county and the Environmental Center would be the place [36:47] that we direct people to bring cardboard I don't know if their free product room or their reuse room has right I was just [36:53] wondering how that worked if like yes if they break down the boxes and put them [36:58] there in case people want to come and get boxes yeah know okay don't know if the [37:05] if the county and the Environmental Center consider does that with cardbo boxes or if they just simply put them in [37:10] the recycling but that um the two count two environmental centers the one in Forest Lake and the one in Woodberry [37:16] would um be the place that we direct people or would tell them to call um if [37:21] they want to bring large amounts of cardboard okay I don't know if anybody's moved recently but I think next store [37:27] and Facebook are where everybody goes for boxes and where everybody gets rid of their boxes just yeah you know people [37:34] just show if you need boxes let me know they need to be gone and the next person says yay picks them up and so I don't I [37:41] mean I don't know if anybody actually just throws them in the recycle yeah versus doing that because most people [37:46] don't take them apart they'll show you pictures and they're all ready to go and they'll just say come get them so again [37:52] I don't know percentage wise how many people do that versus not but that seems to be the way get a box these [38:00] days I usually go to hiy and ask and go in the morning when they've just done [38:05] their fruits and vegetables then you get the best boxes but I was just curious [38:11] yeah if we did anything with them the liquor store's good too probably so [38:18] yeah I mean the bigger issue is people with Amazon getting so many boxes versus [38:23] moving I think it's when you're having you're buying something it's being shipped to you that's where I think there's cardboard [38:29] Galore but yeah and then there's also the shipping boxes that are coming with the stuff that you can't recycle inside [38:35] the box right the the styrofoam stuff the TVs and stuff yeah yeah yeah yeah and that's [38:43] where I'd go down to Woodbury though with like the big um styrofoams and stuff any other comments on the [38:50] editorial calendar great well as always thank you [38:55] Hannah for preparing this thank you comprehensive annual snapshot of what we're going to be sharing this year um [39:03] any other themes or ideas I think it's safe we can just get them to you yes as we digest all this [39:09] right great moving to the next section in our EMC um meeting we have staff [39:16] liaison updates starting with Community Development Hannah yes I just have a few um Metro Gold Line you already heard [39:23] about this um at our work plan discussion prior to the meeting um that's service for the Gold Line brt [39:28] begins March 22nd um so there will be opening day activities and as um I hear [39:34] about them or or were informed of them um I will pass information along to you if you want to participate in those [39:40] Opening Day activities um there's also a new shared ride service through Metro [39:46] Transit micro Mobility Metro micro um I don't know if you heard about that we promoted on Facebook a few weeks ago so [39:53] through this service you can book a ride from wherever you are within a designated service area and then an ADA [39:59] accessible mini buus will pick you up and drop you off anywhere within that same designated um service area the [40:05] Metro micro recently started operating in parts of Woodbury Oakdale and Lake Elmo um and they already had service [40:11] areas in North Minneapolis in the Roseville area um the Woodberry service [40:17] area includes many schools Parks Park and rides clinics and Retail areas so if you Google Metro micro Woodberry [40:23] Woodberry area there's a web page dedicated to that service area and it shows a map and it has lots of um [40:29] answers and questions so um just wanted to share that that is a a new shared ride service in our area and then also [40:36] the 3MP fast priority to settlement money the DNR finally opened that RFP up [40:43] um so I don't have the timeline right in front of me but um we've been talking about that over the past couple of years [40:49] so um City staff is going to meet and um I'll review previous ideas and [40:54] conversations that the EMC has had around that money um but just wanted to let you know that that that's finally [41:00] open after many many months of um hearing that it would the RFP would open soon [41:05] so some news to share great thank you [41:12] Hannah moving to commissioners of this group any updates from anyone [41:20] here no I will put a plug in again I did let [41:26] the cat out of the bag but we went through the uh the home energy Squad the audit and it was delightful it took [41:33] functionally probably 3 and 1 half hours because of their thoroughness I was astounded at [41:40] every every inch of the house they they checked with a heat gun and it it was and they taped everything off and they [41:46] were clean and nice and they respected our animals and respected our kids' rooms like it was [41:53] really really intentional so if anybody has yet to do it it is mind-blowing pardon the expression when [41:59] they tap into your HVAC system but it's really neat to do and it gives you a wonderful report in terms of things you [42:05] can think about and how to prioritize these Investments because so many of them have rebates that we've talked [42:11] about here at this at this commission so it's a great great experience for us as a family to go [42:21] through updates all right well another update we [42:27] have here tonight is our esteem mayor our liaison mayor zabel the floor is [42:33] yours thank you thank you Mr chair thank you Commissioners uh I want to make a plug on that home energy audit so if you're watching from home and you want [42:39] to learn more or take part go to the city website just search for Home energy audit um and the information will pop up [42:45] the city picks up 50% of the cost of it so um and the other 50% I think it's [42:51] just $50 right $100 total we pick up half the resident picks up half um but the half covered by the resident is is a [42:57] tax deduction the feds will give you that as a tax credit so for doing home energy audits so um go to the city [43:03] website lots of great information I've done it myself um I agree very thorough I also appreciated just the laundry list [43:10] of suggestions and here are the credits to go pay for it they do all the leg work for the residents to make those [43:15] important improvements on your homes as for the city um we typically [43:21] start each year a little quieter you know we have two new council members so we like to ease them in and not scare [43:26] them um and so uh typically it would just be kind of our organizing items you know [43:32] getting our our commission assignments figuring out where the bathrooms are all that good stuff um but uh the interest [43:38] from developers has we laided that a little bit so we have fielded uh a [43:44] number of development requests um so many so that we had to have a special workshop last week to uh meet with a few [43:50] developers so uh development is still hot um housing is still off and running [43:55] um Willow Brook is quickly wrapping up which is great um and so developers are looking at other areas of the city which [44:01] is pretty exciting so um we continue to to work our way uh through those development applications with our [44:07] Planning Commission so um a big thank you to them for their work on that as well um otherwise big things going on in [44:13] the city the first walls went up at the new Public Works campus today um so that is very exciting to see that building [44:20] materialize um as far as I know they are still on track to complete construction this fall and then they will be moving [44:25] in so very excited about about that um the other big development at the city council level is our Park system update [44:32] we've been working on that for Hannah Year yes close um and it's been a very [44:38] methodical process going through every single one of our 28 parks in this city [44:44] 27 28 now 29 with willbrook Commons yeah this is growing um but residents may [44:50] have seen you know um public engagement opportunities over the any number of [44:55] months um we have compiled all of that feedback from our residents incorporate Incorporated it into a park system [45:02] master plan and then um council is starting to look at the dollars and cents associated with uh doing a lot of [45:09] that work so um in the coming month or so we will button up that plan get it adopted get it out for the public to see [45:16] um and then over the next number of years we'll be slowly implementing all of those changes into our city parks [45:22] which is pretty exciting everything from uh getting rid of some unused turf grass making at Native pollinators to new [45:28] playground equipment so and everything in between so it's pretty exciting but um definitely a long time coming um it [45:34] has been there's been a lot of really great public feedback along the way um a lot of great feedback from our [45:40] commissions as well so thank you um and now we need to put it into action which is pretty cool so with that I am happy [45:47] to answer any questions you may have also Keegan welcome you thank you [45:53] glad to have you here what do we got [45:58] question about the Public Works building yes um only it's because it's less than 10 blocks from our house um in terms of [46:05] it means your roads will get cleared first did I say that out loud I would like the record to show that mayor [46:12] Z if you're next to the plows where there are parks you know that's just how it works order of operations exactly um [46:19] what how how is the city thinking about Landscaping erosion water things any [46:24] other kind of Environmental investment that could be a showcase for Oakdale at [46:30] the new Public Works campus yeah so a full environmental and Landscaping plan was designed when the building was [46:35] designed so um obviously with um site constraints you know the pfast cleanup [46:42] was a big Endeavor that had to that had to take place before construction so that was all taken care of um [46:49] fortunately unfortunately we pretty much had to clear out all the trees you know a lot of them were just scrub trees [46:55] anyways um so really did give us a clean slate to think about you know 30-year [47:00] environmental happenings on that site so um all of that has gone through the the [47:05] bidding process and this uh the design process so um it'll be it'll be [47:11] something pretty cool when Once the building is open but um you know obviously with big vehicles going in and [47:16] out of there that does limit size of trees and all those types of things um I know one area of focus for the tree [47:23] board and this uh commission has talked about it in the past is having the brush drop off site so residents can go and [47:28] dispose of their unwanted brush um so that was something incorporated into the site as well um in terms of storm [47:36] runoff or storm water runoff I don't think there will be much [47:42] because we tried to limit the the asphalt and concrete as much as possible so there is still um Green Space and [47:48] buffer around the building as well so hopefully that limits it as well and then things like the salt storage those [47:55] are going to have enclosed toine spaces for for that to live um that you know anybody that's been to the current [48:00] Public Public Works campus knows that's a challenge cuz it's right next to a wetland well as land settles it yep so that will [48:10] be a huge Improvement at the new campus thank you any other [48:17] questions all righty well thank you everybody thank you mayor thank [48:25] you well Commissioners it brings us to the end of [48:32] the February 10th 2025 meeting of the EMC our next regularly scheduled meeting [48:38] will be held on March 17th 2025 at 7 p.m. here in council chambers at City [48:44] Hall I will look for a motion to adjourn tonight's EMC meeting for February [48:50] 10th seconded is that what you say no [48:56] soon you can move to accept the motion and then I will look for a second [49:03] please SEC second awesome there we go all in favor of a journey tonight's February 10th EMC meeting say I I [49:11] closed awesome thank you everyone thank you I [49:25] don't e