EC SUM 2011 10 12
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Regular Meeting
October 12, 2011
Members Present:
Dennis Hansen, Amy Wenner, Glenn Kaufmann, Matthew Myers, David Christianson, Katie
Mahannah, Robert Kircher
Members Absent
:
Staff Present:
Jill Sinclair, Environmental Resources Specialist
Guests Present:
None present
Minutes:
September minutes were approved with typo corrections.
City Tour Review:
Commissioners thought the joint city tour with the Planning Commission was informative and well-received. It
was very useful for the commission to be there with the Planning Commission and see what issue are going on
and get their perspective. The commissioners were interested in seeing the erosion examples at The Preserve and
Kerber Pond Park. A thank you was extended from the Environmental Commission to the Planning Commission
and staff for organizing a good tour.
Environmental Excellence Award:
The Lake Action Alliance is a possible nominee. They are being honored by the Minnehaha watershed district
and have done a very good job as a volunteer group at educating the public about zebra mussels. A commissioner
mentioned that the Lotus Lake Homeowner Assoc is working with RPBCWD to correct erosion problems on
Lotus Lake along the south side of the lake. Katie will look into that. Amy will look into past Villager articles to
see if any other environmental actions have taken place this year.
Environmental Assessment Report for Chanhassen:
Commissioners began the discussion of the report, but admitted progress hadn’t been made in any of the sections.
Bob did review the stormwater section and noticed that ‘floatables’ haven’t been included as an issue. He will be
revising the section to include management option for floatables in water bodies. The commission discussed the
work schduel for the project and their abiality to meet the Arpil deadline. It was decided that a report
discussion/update be included on each month’s agenda. By the November meeting, it was agreed that all
commissioners will have a gmail account and have accessed the google document. Katie will update the report
document and send invites out to the commission.
General Discussion:
Katie reviewed the GreenStep communities program with the commission. She had heard about it from a
Minneapolis city staff person. The commission is interested in the program and will re-visit it sometime
in the future. David suggested that at a minimum some of the BMPs can be incorporated into the
sustainability report.
Amy is working on the article for the Villager “Storm Drains 101”. She will try to get it out for review to
the commissioners in the next day or two and then to city hall for review in order to submit to the paper
by 10/18.
The commissioner would like to schedule Terry to speak on the SWMP at a meeting in the future.
The commission discussed the benefit of having an educational portion to their meetings on a regular
basis.
The next meeting will be held Wednesday, November 9 at 6:00pm.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 7:40 PM.
Minutes prepared by Jill Sinclair