09-14-2022 EC Minutes1
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Chanhassen City Hall, Fountain Conference Room
6:00 pm
September 14, 2022
Members Present: Kristin Fulkerson, Leslie Elhadi, Scot Lacek, Julia Adams, Greg Hawks, Markus
Fischer, Kaisa Buckholz, and Scott Grefe
Members Absent:
Staff Present: Jill Sinclair, Environmental Resources Specialist
Visitors: none
Minutes: July minutes were approved.
Fall Education Event: The commission discussed its fall education event – trivia night at the
Chanhassen Brewery. Kristin confirmed the Oct. 4 date with the Brewery. Kristin says the brewery
capacity is 140 people, so the event will work just fine with adequate seating. The commission decided
there will be 25 questions with 5 categories each having 5 questions. Teams will be given 1-2 minutes
to answer each question. The questions will be designated as easy, medium and hard with
corresponding points of 1, 2 and 3 per question. There will be 2 easy, 2 medium and 1 hard quest ion in
each category. The commission will also compile a list of tiebreaker questions to have on hand if
needed. Jill will print answer sheets for the event which will have team name, team captain, team
number, along with answer slots for the 5 questions. Answer sheets will be picked up at the end of each
round. Question categories will be General MN State, Water, Recycling, Trees, and Chanhassen. There
will be a 5-minute break between each round. Kristin will make a google doc with the questions to
project on the screen during the event. She’ll also have the list of rules at the start of the event. Prizes
will be awarded to the top 3 teams so 15 prizes are needed. Prize ideas include maple syrup, MN tree ID
book, yard waste coupons, paddle board rentals, Chico reusable shopping bags. Jill will make the
Registration sign, score sheet, and team answer sheets. Tiebreakers will be 5 hard questions.
Responsibilities for the event:
Kristin will format and write the questions and tiebreakers, and run the computer during the
event
Emcee assistant/gopher – Markus
Registration and timers – Scott and Scot
Score keepers – Greg and Kaisa
Runners and rule monitors – Julia and Leslie
Commissioners should arrive between 5:30 and 6p. The event will be advertised on the city website and
social media.
2
Public education outreach update: Jill shared an informative report from the Communication
department breaking down the impact of social media posts for the year so far. Jill will send the
commission a copy. The commission may use it to plan for 2023 public education outreach.
Plastic Free July: Commissioners discussed how very hard it is to avoid using plastic each day. Scot
thought recycling and reusing are the best things that can be done. Kaisa said she has started recyc ling
apple sauce packets through Terracycle. They have recycling programs for a variety of plastic
containers. Perhaps the commission should promote that option.
GreenStep Cities update: Markus contacted the cities of Hutchinson and Jordan to see if their
Environmental Commissions work on GreenStep initiatives within the city and found that the
commissions don’t. The cities said it really needs to be a dedicated staff person that tracks and promotes
the initiatives.
2023 Environmental Academy: Jill shared the city of Plymouth’s information on their Environmental
Academy that’s offered to residents as a free program. The commission would like to know how the
program is going for Plymouth, how many people sign up, and if they have any advice on what
works/what doesn’t for the program. The commission wondered if businesses in the city could do the
presentations. They asked for more information at the October meeting.
Commission Updates: Greg gave an update on RPBCWD. The watershed is giving away trees and
shrubs for free to residents within the watershed. There’s an upcoming watershed conference.
General Discussion: None
Meeting adjourned at 7:50p
Minutes prepared by Jill Sinclair