Citizen's Environmental Quality Committee

January 31, 2022 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, February 3, 2022 at 4:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. 1. Call to Order 2. Review of January Meeting Minutes 3. Sustainability Plan Update (5 minutes) 4. We Are Water (10 minutes) 5. Water Bill Insert (5 Minutes) 6. Other Business (5 minutes) 7. Adjournment Sincerely, John Howard Natural Resources Sustainability Coordinator CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE MEETING NOTES DATE: Thursday January 6, 2021 TIME: Scheduled for 4:30 pm in the City Hall Council Chambers PRESENT: Paul Schmitt, Niki Ciulla, Julie Fassbender and Dan Hall GUESTS: STAFF: John Howard 1. Call to Order: Call to order at 4:39 PM by Dan Hall (Chair). Chair Hall asked for clarification on remote meeting policy. 2. Review and Approval of Nov. 2021 Meeting Minutes: Motion by Dan, second by Paul to approve. Approval unanimous. 3. Sustainability Plan Update: John updated that the consultants provided their sections of the plan, which focus on the background and baseline data. In the near future, this will be discussed with the plan steering committee and hopefully then ready for public comment. There is still significant work to be done on the strategies section to complete the overall plan document. Dan was not surprised by concerns of the public through the survey as it matches American public at large. Seems the more day to day and immediate concerns are what are on people’s minds. Dan saw information indicating that college educated people tend to be more concerned with global issues. Winona survey respondents appear to have a higher education background than the Winona population in general, but focus is still more local in our survey. Julie likes how the plan summarizes the issues and is happy to see a plan coming forward. Dan was intrigued by the electric vehicle data, and the lack of vehicles in the area. This seems to be in line with the general national trends for small town America. Dan said the City looked into EVs. John summarized that the City’s use case hasn’t aligned yet with EVs, mostly due to generally lower than average use and not having to pay the gas tax. Electric buses haven’t fit our needs for range due to near constant use for 11 hours a day. Used EVs may be a good entry point for the city to begin using electric vehicles. Paul is wondering if the perception of the City’s ability to impact an issue led to the lower engagement ranking of climate change since it is global in scale. Dan discussed how emissions from China and India are counteracting climate efforts of the US. Niki asked about the formatting and how the document will be structured. John said that based on guidance from others, he plans to structure it by focus area so the format will be baseline info then strategies for each  focus area rather than the complete baseline section and then all the strategies as it currently stands. There will also be an executive summary at the beginning. Dan perceives that the premise for the plan focus areas is based on the issues people raised during outreach. Julie expects some of the strategies will really blossom, much like the Healthy Lake Winona group emergence. Niki wondered how the list of strategies will be laid out in plan? John said the goal is to have the majority of the list written out into prose, and will keep the full list as an appendix. Niki asked about John’s perception of the consultant’s work. John said he was very satisfied with the engagement consultant. The technical consultant work is good and accurate, but didn’t present new information. Niki was hoping for more from the consultant. John said the limited budget may have played a role in how much the consultant was able to do. Julie summarized the sentiment that we would have liked the budget to do more. Niki said how we intend to use the plan also can impact how it should be prepared. In Niki’s view, the plan is taking more of a visioning approach rather than concrete strategies. John replied that the main goal of the plan is to provide visioning because that fits well with the comprehensive plan, however some specific steps are also directly referenced. Niki thinks more broad goals may be easier to endorse politically. Julie asked about how the comprehensive plan would fit with the sustainability plan, and whether it is decided. John believes the intent is still to have a very extensive executive summary of the sustainability plan inserted into the comprehensive plan to serve as the environmental section. Niki suggests having sustainability be considered as a theme throughout the comprehensive plan. Paul asked if we can get food security data for 2020 or 2021. The important question is whether we have the capacity to respond to a crisis, and data doesn’t really answer that. If data is not available, then we should note the limitation. Dan wondered how rising wages and full employment in the current economy will impact food security. Paul asked about the schedule for plan completion. John hoped the draft is complete by mid-Feb. and then open to review. Paul asks whether it makes sense to include the climate declaration (Agenda item #4) with the adoption of the sustainability plan. 4. Climate Declaration Consideration: Niki asked for some background on the existing resolution from 2007, and who brought forward these resolutions. John relayed that he’s been contacted by a few organizations about the City signing onto resolutions, and seeks CEQC input. Dan is only comfortable with the Global Covenant of Mayors resolution. Dan does not like the definite cuts outlined in the first two resolutions, and feels efforts could be negated by increase in emissions in developing nations.  Niki discussed her thoughts and experience with the climate emergency topic when she was on the St. Louis Park sustainability commission. Can be meaningful if modeling a solution leads to more people doing it, but sees that bringing forward a climate emergency resolution could be controversial. Niki asked John on the council’s interest in the climate declaration. John does not know if the Council would approve the climate emergency or the other declarations. Julie is concerned a new resolution would rile up opposition to sustainability plan, and thus not be productive. It is a symbolic gesture, so its benefit is limited. Niki suggests considering the actions listed in the declaration on their merits as action steps, and include in the sustainability plan as appropriate. Julie made a motion to table any declaration until the sustainability plan is presented to the City Council. Second by Paul, all in favor. 5. Other Business: John let the CEQC know that the comprehensive plan process will include the CEQC on various aspects, but much of the environmental aspects will be addressed in the sustainability plan. John announced that the City is again planting boulevard trees, and looking for homes for trees. 6. Adjournment: Unanimous at 5:36 pm. Notes prepared by John Howard.  CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM: 4. We Are Water PREPARED BY: John Howard DATE: February 3, 2022 The We Are Water Exhibit is opening on Thursday March 3 at the Winona County History Center. The opening reception will begin at 4 pm and last through 6 pm, so will take the place of the regularly scheduled CEQC meeting. If the CEQC wishes to reschedule the March meeting, staff can make arrangements. The organizers of the exhibit certainly welcome your attendance and participation in any of the following other events occurring in conjunction with the exhibit: Activity Date Time Location Smart Salting Workshop 3/7 11:30-1 pm Zoom Water Trivia 3/24 7:30 PM Island City Brewing Creek Clean up 4/16 10-noon Speltz Creek Well Testing 4/23 1-4 pm Wanek Hall at History Center Winona Arts Center Earth Day 4/23 TBD Winona Arts Center Gilmore Creek Clean up 4/24 1-3 pm Parking Lot by WHS Softball fields Trout Unlimited Fishing Demonstration 4/30 TBD Garvin Brook Lastly, the exhibit may need docents to help exhibit’s contents to visitors. If interested, John will register you with the volunteer coordinator. We Are Water MN personal narratives, historical content, and scientific information. Combining these ways of knowing water strengthens Humanities Center, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Historical Society, and the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources. Goals The We Are Water MN partners work to accomplish seven goals: 1. Deepen relationships among state level partners. 2. -based approach. 3. Support the expansion of local networks within host communities. 4. Share state and local histories and narratives about water. 5. 6. 7. Build relationships between Minnesotans through community engagement events and activities before, during, and after the exhibit. 2022 Host Sites January 20-February 28, 2022: Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul March 3-April 25, 2022: Winona County Historical Society, Winona April 28-June 20, 2022: Lake City Public Library, hosted by the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance, Lake City June 23-August 15, 2022: Legacy of the Lakes Museum, Alexandria August 18-October 10, 2022: Fergus Falls Public Library, Fergus Falls October 13-December 5, 2022: Pleasant Hill Library, Hastings, AND Lebanon Hills Visitor Center, Eagan Our Work Together State and Local Partnerships Build a network of people who protect and affect water in your area. Public Events Create community engagement activities and public events (at least four) that build relationships and responsibilities to water and address water issues in your area Traveling Exhibit Examine water issues statewide and in your community through personal narratives, historical content, and scientific information while sharing new perspectives with visitors. Impact Overview Over 55,000 people have seen the exhibit so far. Over 28,000 people have attended a community event. Over 2,700 stories have been collected. Over 400 community organizations have been involved. History We Are Water MN is a partnership that was initially formed to Water/Ways community engagement initiative of the Museum on Main Street program. The Humanities Center and its partners selected six Minnesota communities to host Water/Ways and built a companion We Are Water MN about water in Minnesota. These sites developed local exhibits, built partnerships, planned public activities, and inspired the partners to and responsibilities to water. Links Partnership Website: mnhum.org/water Water Stories: http://arcg.is/2hue8lL Flickr Gallery with exhibit photos: http://bit.ly/2Dt8vPX  CITIZENS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM: 5. Water Bill Insert PREPARED BY: John Howard DATE: February 3, 2022 The Healthy Lake Winona group created an insert for water bills to help educate consumers on stormwater runoff best practices. Any feedback on the design is welcomed before we print later this month.  L P C an HE You i n onah!e river La ke W nd t a Don’t feed the weeds and algae! Keep grass clippings, leaves, fertilizers, dog poop, salt and other pollutants out of the streets and storm sewers. Too much phosphorus and nitrogen is getting into the lake and river through the storm sewers that drain our streets and parking lots. Phosphorus and nitrogen promote algae and weed growth. The Min- nesota Pollution Control Agency requires Winona to clean it up. Technical solutions, such as dredging, are expensive and will cost taxpayers a lot of money. We can save money and have a clearer, cleaner lake to swim and fish in — if we clean up our act.