04-10-24 MIN1
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Chanhassen City Hall, Fountain Conference Room
6:00 pm
April 10, 2024
Members Present: Leslie Elhadi, Scott Grefe, Billy Cripe, Ryan Farnan, Sid Lindmark, Paget Pengelly,
John Stutzman
Members Absent: Kaisa Buckholz
Staff Present: Jamie Marsh, Environmental Resource Specialist; Jenny Potter, Admin Support
Specialist
Visitors: Judy Harder
Oaths of Office:
Jenny Potter administered Oaths of Office to Paget Pengelly, Sid Lindmark, and John Stutzman.
Elect Environmental Commission Chair and Vice-Chair
Commissioners re-elected Scott Grefe as Chair and Billy Cripe as Vice-Chair. Both votes were
unanimous.
Minutes
Commissioner Cripe motioned to approve the minutes as amended, and Commissioner Elhadi seconded.
The March 13 minutes were approved unanimously.
Adopt Environmental Commission Bylaws
Commissioner Elhadi motioned to approve the bylaws as written. Commissioner Cripe seconded the
motion. Bylaws were adopted as written.
July 3rd Expo Planning
The Commission discussed last year’s expo and how they can build off the success of the event.
Commissioners in attendance agreed that having the Master Gardeners there was a successful
partnership. Commissioner Pengelly agreed to reach out to Master Gardeners for the event this year. The
Commission also discussed how they can expand their outreach through gathering contact information
and potentially starting an Environmental Commission Newsletter. Jamie Marsh will confirm the hours
the expo will be taking place, and that the location of the table will not be impacted by summer
construction. Ms. Marsh will also reserve a table for the Environmental Commission.
Finalize Arbor Day Event Plan
2
The event will be held at Meadow Green Park beginning at 10 a.m. on May 4. Ms. Elhadi will finish
making an invasive species identification game and Ms. Marsh will see if there are existing invasive
species on site she can point out to the volunteers at the event. Other activities will include yard tic-tac-
toe, stump frisbee, and milkweed seed bombs. Volunteers from Minnetonka High School will assist with
activities and setting up tools and materials. Manuel Jordan will be in attendance and will do a planting
demo before volunteers plant trees. Tree stock will be different this year- bare root and containerized
instead of B&B trees that have been used in the past. Holes will be tilled beforehand to loosen up the
soil and volunteers will do the rest of the digging. There will have been postcards mailed to neighboring
residents about the event and social media posts to let people know where and when the event is
happening. The Commissioners will arrive around 9:15 am to help Ms. Marsh prepare for the event.
Select Arbor Day Poster Contest Winner
Winners were selected through a voting system, and the student artists will be presented with their
awards at the City Council meeting on April 22.
Commission Presentations:
Billy presented the idea of partnering with the Buy Local group and the Economic Development
Commission on outreach efforts related to downtown development. The outreach would focus on what
steps the city takes to ensure construction impacts on the environment are minimal. The Commission
also discussed how supporting local businesses relates to the environment because buying locally
reduces the need for importing products from overseas and therefore reduces carbon footprint. Billy will
bring more information about the Commission's involvement to the May meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 7:57 pm
Minutes prepared by Jamie Marsh, Environmental Resource Specialist