03-09-2022 EC Minutes1
Chanhassen Environmental Commission (EC)
Tour – Carver County Environmental Center
6:00 pm
March 9, 2022
Members Present: Kristin Fulkerson, Leslie Elhadi, Scot Lacek, Julia Adams.
Members Absent: Jeff Harken, Greg Hawks, Markus Fischer
Staff Present: Jill Sinclair, Environmental Resources Specialist
Carver County Environmental Center (EC) Tour: Bill Fouks, director of the center, started with a
presentation on the history, participation rates and material volumes, and plans for the future of the
center. The facility was purchased in 2001 and began operations in 2002. Participation continues to
trend upward mirroring the population growth in the county. There was a short reprieve in 2019/2020
due to the elimination of yard waste at the center and the pandemic. There have been 500,000
vehicles/visits in 20 years. 2017 had the highest participation rate of nearly 40,000 visits. The
breakdown of customers by city includes 38% from Chanhassen, 32% from Chaska, 7% from Victoria,
and the rest from western Carver County. 4% of customers are from Hennepin County. In 2021, 75%
of general recyclables were corrugated cardboard. The center collected 515,000 lbs. of cardboard in
2021. There were 396,000 lbs./4500 units of electronics. In 2021, 2.3 million lbs. of materials were
collected and shipped through the EC. When planning for the future, the center needs to establish a
vision for the future of household hazardous waste and problem materials as well as consider hiring a
consultant to develop a plan. Bill then lead the commission on a tour through the facility showing them
the Product Reuse Room and the warehouse where all the materials are collected, processed, and
prepared for shipping.
Minutes: February minutes were approved.
2022 Onboarding document review: Jill had updated the Onboarding document for this year’s events
and information. The commission had no changes or corrections at this time.
Assign list of term accomplishments: This was postponed to a date to be determined.
City updates:
Arbor Day posters are due March 31. Jill will let the commission know how many
received.
Earth Hour and Earth Day will be promoted by the city on social media.
In May, the commission agenda packets will be switching to a new format consistent
with other commissions.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm
Minutes prepared by Jill Sinclair