Citizen's Environmental Quality Committee

November 1, 2021 Citizens Environmental Quality Committee Winona, Minnesota 55987 Dear Committee Members: The next meeting of the Citizens Environmental Quality Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall. 1. Call to Order 2. Review of September Meeting Minutes 3. Sustainability Plan Update (20 minutes) 4. Community Garden Task Force Update (10 minutes) 5. Water and Stormwater Update (10 minutes) 6. Other Business (5 minutes) 7. Adjournment Sincerely, John Howard Natural Resources Sustainability Coordinator CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES DATE: Thursday Sept. 2, 2021 TIME: Scheduled for 4:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers PRESENT: Paul Schmitt, Dan Hall, David Ruff and Niki Ciulla GUESTS: STAFF: John Howard 1. Call to Order: Call to order at 4:38 PM by Dan Hall (Chair) 2. Review and Approval of Aug. 2021 Meeting Minutes: Motion by Paul, second by David. Approval unanimous without alteration. 3. CEQC and Sustainability Plan Discussion: John described that the he and the consultants presented to the City Council about the plan framework in mid‐August, and received feedback that the Council desired more specific cost details. The consultants and steering committee were not intending to include detailed cost information, as such information is not typically included in sustainability plans. The current budget also does not facilitate that level of detail. Dan and Niki shared their reflections of the meeting. Dan suggests highlighting the co‐benefits of sustainability for businesses in the plan. Also include the soft sell, value arguments to support sustainability work. David suggested using a long term vitality argument that sustainability helps retain businesses and attracts new businesses. Livability and environmental quality are important consideration to attracting and retaining new employees. Requires long term thinking. Dan said Winona is blessed with both medium and large sized business. David said bringing regional offices or retaining allows for a better diversity of jobs and income brackets. John said that the CEQC status was not a major discussion point, although the mayor did mention he has heard support for making the CEQC a commission and is open to the idea. Dan suggests talking to your Council member to let them know your support for the plan and CEQC. John hopes a full draft of the sustainability plan will be ready for CEQC review in the next month or two. 4. Tree Planting Grant Update: John gave an update on the various tree related news. The City will have a Community Forestry Corps member over the next year to help with tree planting. The tentative City budget approved by the City Council for 2022 does not have funding for tree planting or an additional tree planting staff member. Niki saw in the paper that a tree crew position was removed from the staff list and is wondering if this is the same one John is referencing. John believes the position listed in the paper is a different position – it would remove an unfilled standard tree crew position. John said the City did not receive funding for a contractor led planting project, but does have grant funding for a full planting slate in 2022. David asked about the size of the trees the City has funding for. John relayed that the grants would fund 1.5‐2 in bareroot trees, with about 260 in 2022 and 300 over three years for the second grant. Dan asked about the green ribbons 5. Water Related Grant Proposals: John shared about the We Are Water exhibition coming to Winona in March and April 2022, and asked for interest from CEQC members to help with local aspects of the exhibit. David interested, but busy. Paul interested in helping with archival research, and engaging Cotter students. Niki interested in the project too. John said there is chance to attend a training session in three weeks in St. Paul, but is not necessary. David suggests contacting the Winona Dakota Unity Alliance. John invited CEQC members to attend the WinLac watershed planning open house later this month on Sept. 20th. Doors open at 5pm. John shared that the City is installing fishing bait disposal and invasive species cleaning station. 6. Other Business: Dan relayed WSU business class that is doing a Cal Fremling boat cruise to have business sustainability discussion. He gave the example of RTP saving water by ending the instant redraw of water. John said the U of MN extension is looking to assemble a cohort of outstate Minnesotans to work on climate change communication. Contact John for the information on this opportunity. 7. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by David, seconded by Niki. 5:11 pm. Approval unanimous. Notes prepared by John Howard.  CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM: 4. Community Garden Task Force Update PREPARED BY: John Howard DATE: November 4, 2021 The Community Garden Task force commissioned by the Mayor met recently to discuss the new Minnesota State College Southeast (MSCS) garden, and the potential for providing a formal recommendation on community gardens. The MSCS garden had a mostly successful first year, and was supervised by Bruno Borsari. An agro-ecology class regularly monitors and observes the garden. It was not used extensively outside the MSCS faculty and students, but is being considered to be a more public community garden. On the topic of a formal recommendation, the members are leaning towards recommending that the City have at least two garden locations, and be distributed geographically. Staff hopes to have a recommendation formulated by group by the end of the year, which can then be mentioned in the sustainability plan.  CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM: 5. Water and Stormwater Update PREPARED BY: John Howard DATE: November 4, 2021 Attached for your information are the public survey results for the watershed wide planning effort spanning portions of Winona, Olmsted, Wabasha and Houston counties. The City is well represented amongst the respondents. The annual City Stormwater meeting will be held Monday Dec. 13th at 6 pm in the City Council Chambers. Any and all members of the public are welcome to attend. Public Survey Responses The Mississippi River Winona / La Crescent (WinLaC) Watershed One Watershed, One Plan Planning Work Group issued a public survey to understand the issues most important to the watershed’s residents. The survey was available at the public kickoff meeting in Winona, MN on September 20, 2021. It was also made available online on the plan’s website. The survey is included as Attachment A for reference. A total of 28 responses were received. A summary of the responses is provided below. What is your WinLaC Watershed County of residence? 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Houston Olmsted Wabasha Winona No Answer Which of the following activities do you do in the area around the WinLaC Watershed? (Check all that apply.)? 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 What do you see as the largest issues facing natural resources in the area? (Please choose 5) 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Are there specific waterbodies or natural areas you are concerned about? 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2 Using 4-5 words, when you think of the WinLaC Watershed, what comes to mind? Are there any topics, resources, problems, or opportunities we did not cover in this survey you'd like to comment on? Where are the high value / rare biology/natural areas? How can we highlight or incentivize protection / enhancement of these Protecting farm land and communities Bacteria loading to streams is a major problem that is being inadequately addressed I have an environmental science degree and would be interested to volunteer / work towards water quality in any capacity (other than conserving and re-using h2o on my own and donating to honor the earth and MN350). Overpopulation - involve youth in education - How to resist big BS ridiculous development - how to stress the value of natural resources and the importance of honoring the earth to sustain the pople - where does city water come from. Making sure we can protect water while keeping the agriculture economy strong 3 No, I felt like there was a good range of important topics covered Shrinking of wetlands Soil health, buffers Healthy Lake Winona What are the monitoring mechanisms? Who are the decision makers? What are the costs? 4