Minutes - Environmental Policy Board - 08/21/2017

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Motion by Board Member Valentine and seconded by Board Member Hiatt to recommend approval of a Conditional Use Permit for the installation of a solar energy system on the subject property with contingencies. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Stodola, Board Member Valentine, Hiatt, Anderson, Covart, and Trossen. Voting No: None. Absent: Board Member Bernard. 6. BOARD/STAFF INPUT • Staff Update Chairperson Stodola stated that he picked up a compostable kit the previous week and noted that he would recommend it. He stated that he and his wife are really enjoying the process. City Planner Anderson confirmed that kits are still available. He stated that 41 residents have signed up for the program, 32 of which have picked up their container. He stated that people can sign up online or you can sign up at City Hall and pickup your kit at that time too. He stated that during the summer recycling event he did an audit of the carts at the public works site and everything was extremely clean,except for one regular plastic bag that was used to store someone's smaller compostable bags. He stated that the City is working with Ace Solid Waste on a weekly or bi-weekly picking up of carts to cut down on things that could become a nuisance (smell and maggots) if you choose to have pickup only when the carts are full. He stated that when people sign up for the program they are given the combination for the locks on the bins at the public works drop off location,which ensures that only people in the program have access to the bins and others are not using them to drop off other materials. He explained the items that are included in the kit that residents receive when they sign up for the program. Board Member Hiatt asked if there would be a potential in the future for Ace to create a separate container that would be picked up curbside. City Planner Anderson stated that he does see the potential for curbside pickup in the future. He noted that part of the concern is that there are two processing sites on the south side of the metro, so there is a logistics issue with serving the north metro. He noted that Ace does provide that service to commercial businesses (food service) and so the Ramsey materials are measured and then combined with the commercial pickup material for drop off. He noted that the City's pilot program is off to a good start. He stated that the City held the first ever summer recycling event in July, which was a carbon copy of the spring and fall events. He stated that the event was relatively slow compared to the spring events but noted that it was a constant trickle of cars, with 260 vehicles in total. He noted that the total amount of traffic outpaced some of the fall events and noted that he will be interested to see if the additional event impacts the number of vehicles and materials collected during the fall event. 7. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Board Member Valentine and seconded by Board Member Covart to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m. Environmental Policy Board/August 21, 2017 Page 4 of 5