02-12-20 MIN1
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Regular Meeting
February 12, 2020
Members Present: Keith Butcher, Greg Hawks, Jeff Harken, Don Vasatka, Rachel Popken, Kristin
Fulkerson
Members Absent: Bill Chappell
Staff Present: Jill Sinclair, Environmental Resource Specialist;
Minutes: January minutes were approved.
Commission candidate interviews: The commission interviewed three applicants: Dr. Jesse McAtee,
Markus Fischer, and Lucy Rehm.
Arbor Day event planning: Jill updated the commission on activity planning for the day. Species and
locations for the plantings have been generally set. After the snow is gone, Jill will verify the locations
with the park staff. Jill has ordered the supplies for the seed ‘bombs’ and for potting up tree seedlings.
Jill has also ordered acorn seeds for a Guess the number of Acorns game. Jill has asked the street dept
to supply her with small stumps and tree discs for use on Arbor day. Ideas were to create a large tic tac
toe or checkers game on the lawn with the discs and use stumps for seating or climbing. A 20-year
anniversary cake will be ordered along with the usual donuts and beverages.
Earth Hour promotion: The commission decided they will only promote this on FB.
Regional Environmental Commission meeting: Jeff and Greg attended the regional meeting held on
Jan 22. They estimated that there were around 50-60 attendees. There were 3 breakout sessions on
Clean Energy, Efficient Buildings and Transportation. The focus was on energy. Greg attended Clean
Energy and heard that many cities are setting a goal to be self-sufficient by 2030. Jeff attended Efficient
Buildings and learned that city code can’t be more strict than State code and so there is potential
movement at the state level towards upgrading the State code regarding energy efficiency in buildings or
eliminating the city restrictions in that part of the code. One way to get around that is if a city gives
money to a building project then it can have a say in the energy efficiency in the building. Some cities
are now requiring Efficiency Scores in real estate. Jeff and Greg also leaned that the commissions in
Edina, St Louis Park and Eden Prairie among others seem to be solely focused on climate. Wayzata has
a brand new EC – they haven’t even met yet – called the Energy and Environmental Commission.
General Discussion:
• Don said he was at the high school and noticed a poster for a Environmental Commission there.
He gave the contact info to Jill.
• Jill told the commission that the joint meeting with City Council is scheduled for Mon, April
13 at 6 pm
2
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm
Minutes prepared by Jill Sinclair