6-21-23 MIN1
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
East Water Treatment Plant
6:00 pm
June 21, 2023
Members Present: Kristin Fulkerson, Leslie Elhadi, Greg Hawks, Scot Lacek, Julia Adams, Scott
Grefe, Billy Cripe
Members Absent: Kaisa Buckholz
Staff Present: Matt Unmacht, Assistant City Manager, Jamie Marsh, GreenCorps Intern, Jake
Casebeer, Water Production Foreman
Visitors: Judy Harder
Tour of the Facility
Jake Casebeer, Water Production Foreman gave a tour of the East Water Treatment Plant
Minutes
May minutes were approved.
July 3rd Trade Fair Planning
There will be a table for the tent from 2-4 PM on July 3rd. Billy Cripe gathered information from the
Arboretum, and he was able to get a list of master gardeners that could help. Three of them, Kelly
Eshleman- beekeeper, Mary Kemen, and Laurel Schnabel will be able to come to the volunteer at the
table during the Trade Fair. They have handouts and things to give away. Matt Unmacht can assist with
having the City of Chanhassen Communications Department create some materials (name tags, handouts
and QR codes for Environmental Academy sign-up, posters, etc.) for the table as well. It was discussed
that the focus might be just on pollinators since the master gardeners are available. Scott Grefe can come
at 1:30 pm to assist with setup. Billy Cripe offered to assist during the entire event. Greg Hawks offered
to assist as well. Jamie and Matt will help with the setup as well. Billy shared the downloadable content
that could be reproduced from Smithsonian Institution. The suggestion was to give away seeds as a
reward for the trivia contest.
Environmental Academy Planning
Matt Unmacht reported that the Communications department has started posting about the Academy and
so far there have been 5 people that have signed up to attend all three events. Manuel Jordan will be
running the August Academy of “What is Wrong with My Tree”. Livestreaming may not be an option.
August date of the Environmental Academy is now Tuesday, August 22nd to help facilitate having
Manuel be there. Communications will continue to advertise the academy. A conference room at City
Hall will be used for the August Academy.
2
Chanhassen Connection
Matt Unmacht is wondering how involved the Environmental Commission has been in the past with
writing articles for the Connection. Commissioners stated that they had written the articles in the past.
Matt will facilitate how to get articles from the Commissioners for each publication. He shared the
“How the City Communicates” information.
Plan Promotions for a Plastic Free July
Commissioners have tried a plastic free month and found it difficult. A day without plastic seems more
feasible than a month, or suggestions of using no bottled water. Plastic Free will be September’s social
media topic and Matt will add this item to the July meeting to discuss further.
Youth Commissioner Update
This was Julia’s last meeting as she will be gone to college this fall. There will be advertising for a new
Youth Commissioner in the coming weeks. July 1 – 31 applications will be accepted, August 14
interviews will be held and a new Youth Commissioner for the Environmental Commission will be
appointed August 28 with their first meeting being in September. Julia was asked for her
recommendation for any new Youth Commissioner. She said she would reach out to the High School
Environmental Club and see if there is any interest and will let her Environmental Sciences teacher
know about the position. Julia was thanked for serving two terms and for being part of the Commission.
2023 Environmental Commissions Conference Recap
Greg Hawks attended the Conference that was held in person on May 13 at Ridgedale Library and also
on Zoom. There were 30 people in person and many online. The first presentation was from the City of
Eden Prairie. There was a study for a comparison of costs between a Dodge Charger and a Tesla police
car. The results came out that the Tesla was more economically feasible than the Charger. As Eden
Prairie replaces their vehicles, they are looking at purchasing the Tesla instead of the gas vehicle. The
City of St. Cloud did the second presentation about their dam and their hydroelectric power as well as
their own waste treatment and water treatment plant. St. Cloud was taking waste material that came out
of the water and was using it to make energy as well as giving the waste products to the local farmers for
fertilizer.
Commission Presentations:
Watershed meeting update from Greg Hawks:
Lake Susan Pond Refuse Intake Modification Project only got one bid and it was too expensive. The
project was tabled. The second item was an authorization of a joint agreement with the City of
Chanhassen for Lake Susan Park project and only one bid came back and was too high so that project
was tabled as well.
A discussion was had about monitoring chloride in the water along Hwy 5.
Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm
Minutes prepared by Jenny Potter