05-13-20 MIN1
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Regular Meeting via Zoom Online Meeting
6:00 pm
May 13, 2020
Members Present: Bill Chappell, Kristin Fulkerson, Jeff Harken, Greg Hawks, Don Vasatka, Lucy
Rehm and Markus Fischer
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Jill Sinclair, Environmental Resources Specialist
Minutes: March minutes were approved.
Introductions to New members: The commissioners each gave a brief introduction to the new
members and welcomed them to the commission.
Annual Review of By-laws: The following changes were recommended for the by-laws:
• 1.1 …benefits and necessity of conserving Chanhassen’s natural resources.
• 2.3 … may shall result in ..
• 3.2 (capitalize) Commission
The commission voted and approved the changes.
Election of Chair/Vice-Chair: The commission unanimously voted Kristin Fulkerson as Chair and Jeff
Harken as Vice-Chair.
Arbor Day and Poster Contest update: Jill shared that the tree planting scheduled for Arbor Day at
Meadow Green Park will go ahead as planned with the contractor planting the trees. The trees will be
planted in late May/early June by Hartman Tree Farm.
The poster contest awards presentation is scheduled for the June 8 City Council meeting. Jill has sent
letters to all of the families of the winners and has heard back from about half as to their attendance at
the presentation. There’s a chance that the presentation could be cancelled, but no change has been
made as of yet.
The commission talked about other ways to recognize the winners. Ideas included posting the posters
on the city’s Facebook page and submitting them to the Chanhassen Villager. Jill will look into both of
those options.
2020 Focus Topic Approach – Recycling: The commission discussed how to provide public education
on their 2020 focus topic in light of events being potentially cancelled for the year. Greg was directed to
get in touch with the recycling team who was going to attend the Trade Fair and see if they have videos
2
or other methods of communication that the commission could share with the public. The discussion
also included talk of the commission making a video or creating online quizzes. Perhaps there’s an
opportunity to share a video with the ‘virtual trade fair’ being explored by the chamber. The
commission will discuss again in June.
Fall Connection Article: Lucy volunteered to write the fall newsletter article. The topic will be Zero
Waste and will potentially include an interview with Ashley Kennedy who runs a Zero Waste consulting
company in Chanhassen.
City Event/Natural Resources Project Updates: Jill gave the following updates on spring events and
projects:
• Brush Day- still waiting to reschedule event at Public Works. Hope to have a June date for yard
waste collection.
• Paper Shredding event – event has been scheduled for May 30, 9-Noon at Public Works.
Recommended to arrive early since event ends when truck is full.
• Recycling Day at Env Center – waiting to re-schedule event at Environmental Center. Maybe
June or July?
• Env Comm tour of Env Center – hope to reschedule tour for a summer date.
• Joint meeting with council – postponed indefinitely
• July 4 th – only fireworks and fly over scheduled. No trade fair.
• Chanhassen Day at Arb in August – unknown if this can be held or will be cancelled.
• Chanhassen Nature Preserve – Great River Greening and the city still planning on completing a
native species planting project. No date set for the work. It will be done by contractors, GRG
and city staff possibly.
• Pollinator Meadow at Bluff Creek Nature Preserve – project to install a 1 acre pollinator meadow
at the north end of Century Blvd is moving forward. Grant received from CSWD to contract
with Prairie Restorations to install meadow. Seeding and planting will be done in August/Sept.
• WaterWise program – rebates happening now for purchases of WaterSense toilets and smart
irrigation controllers and EnergyStar clothes washers. Irrigation consultations to maximize
efficiency taking place with High school and parks dept.. HOAs also being offered irrigation
consultations.
General Discussion:
• Commissioners reported that the Environmental Commission was no longer included on the
city’s website. It didn’t come up in a search and is no longer listed under ‘Boards and
Commissions’. Neither was the Planning, Park and Rec or Senior. Jill said she will look into it
tomorrow.
• Kristin updated the commission on the GreenStep Cities talk that was to have been held at her
church earlier this spring. The event was cancelled due to Covid-19, but hopefully it will be
rescheduled in the future.
3
• Greg gave a watershed update. The watershed district (WD) is working on a new project – the
Lake Riley midstream connection which will restore the creek slope to eliminate the existing
erosion problems. The Bluff Creek streambed restoration project is complete. The 101/Pioneer
wetland restoration project is going forward but may take 2 years to complete. Part of the project
will be removing fill to create open water conditions.
• Markus asked about commission training in light of all in-person training and education
opportunities are cancelled for the near future. Jill said she would be on the lookout for any
online or virtual training that commissioners could take advantage of.
Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm
Minutes prepared by Jill Sinclair
\\cfs5\cfs5\shared_data\plan\js\311 ec meeting\3-11-20 min.docx