This transcript is for the **Oakdale Environmental Management Commission (EMC)** meeting held on June 17, 2024. Based on the dialogue and provided city official names, I have identified the speakers. Note: Since specific timestamps were not provided in the source text, I have used sequential placeholders. [00:00:00] **Chair Gerding**: I can't compete good evening and welcome to the June 17th 2024 meeting of the Oakdale Environmental Management commission very glad to see each of you and for those watching online thank you for being in this space with us we will begin uh this evening with our roll call of uh Commission members present and commission staff liaison Hannah Dunn will now be taking role. [00:00:25] **Hannah Dunn**: chair gerding. [00:00:26] **Chair Gerding**: present. [00:00:27] **Hannah Dunn**: Vice chair Miller. [00:00:28] **Vice Chair Keith Miller**: pres. [00:00:29] **Hannah Dunn**: commissioner dittle. [00:00:30] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: present. [00:00:31] **Hannah Dunn**: commissioner Wilson. [00:00:32] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: present. [00:00:33] **Hannah Dunn**: commissioner Yang. [00:00:35] **Chair Gerding**: great thank you um tonight we also recognize uh council member in attendance and uh again and then she's not here yet so I will move move to that one um next item is to move to our Pledge of Allegiance so if we all plan to rise together I pled to the flag the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands indivisible andice for all great moving uh onward the to the approval of tonight's agenda as the next item I think everyone received a copy prior to the meeting so assuming no amendments or further discussion I'd like to ask for approval of the agenda for the tonight's uh June 17th EMC meeting. [00:01:20] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: so moved. [00:01:21] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: second. [00:01:22] **Chair Gerding**: great all in favor of appr approving tonight's agenda of the EMC meeting for June 17th say I. [00:01:28] **Commissioners**: I. [00:01:29] **Chair Gerding**: I opposed great thank you very much next up uh we have approval of our meeting minutes from our commission meeting last month on May 20th um as these were also sent prior to the meeting and assuming no Amendment I am looking for a motion to approve the minutes from the May 20th EMC meeting. [00:01:45] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: so moved. [00:01:46] **Chair Gerding**: is there a second. [00:01:47] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: a second. [00:01:48] **Chair Gerding**: thank you all in favor of approving the May 20th EMC meeting minute say I. [00:01:52] **Commissioners**: I. [00:01:53] **Chair Gerding**: I closed thank you great well moving to the public and open Forum time of our agenda uh inviting any community members present to join this space at the podium. [00:02:05] **Leavon Dorn**: hi um my name is leavon dor and I live in the community I've been here for about 35 years and um I have two things that I've interested in um and I'll just kind of just kind of go over them quickly because I know my time is short um I follow your minutes um monthly as best I can and I just have two things that I thought might be relevant to the committee or the community um the first one is um it's in regards to recycling um I don't know if the the city or the committee or whoever has ever thought about re re uh requiring uh recycling containers at gas stations and then also that would be like the first major place to put them and then also adding them at our grocery stores Target and Fleet Farm and I know that you just got grant money this year and um you're putting recycling containers into some of the parks and I know that that's kind of an ongoing yearly thing that you had talked about or had posted but um I just feel like gas stations are such a logical place to be putting recycling containers so many people are emptying trash as they getting gas and um we're also encouraged to be recycling at home and so it just seems like gas stations that are so heavily used it would just be a logical place to put them and and then like I said you could add them at grocery stores and Target and Fleet Farm or whatever or other places in the community and then my second idea or thought was um I know that you do like a monthly calendar that you kind of focus you have a certain topic per month that you kind of focus on and um it seemed like and it when I'm reading the things a lot of the topics that you focus on the way you attack tackle it or deal with it is more through social media blast or on the electric signage in um you know at the community entrances and by the police station and the the electric signs are tough because you're driving and you're just kind of seeing them quick so you don't really you can't really focus on some of the messages that are there um and then the social media blasts they're just sometimes people when they see these things coming from the city they just say oh it's just another ad and they skim over it so um one of the topics I saw that you have coming up is uh I think I wanted to say I thought I read it it was like July 3rd don't use plastic bags or something and um so my thought is instead of just saying that and saying oh okay we covered that that idea um how about this is just an idea like I said at the in at the end of the month in September and it's once kids are in school and they're kind of settled in and they've got a few weeks behind them have maybe one of you or somebody from the county or somebody that kind of deals with recycling environment kinds of things go out and talk to um K1 and two uh two grades and talk to them about the importance of not using plastic plastic bags let's say and you know talking about the litters things it's they accumulate in The Lakes Etc and then um after that little talk or speakership um the person could hand out a Rec a cloth bag to each kid K1 and two um and that they could take it home and give it to their family and say Hey you know we have this speaker and and you know we can use this bag now when I go to HIV or I go to the dollar store or wherever I'm going and um the bag you know again a cloth bag you could have the city of oakdale's logo on it you could do whatever logo or whatever you want on it but I picked K1 and two is because um I am also a retired teacher and I worked with the young kids and they're very willing and interested to share information and take it home and tell their families about it um and I think that they would want to use the bags and so you could kind of do this on a yearly basis again just tackling those young kids and then hopefully kind of keep filtering it up they would be you know a familiar with it each year but then um you could also hand the bags out at Summerfest or or whatever I mean the state fair does it all the time so I thought maybe again if there's grant money or money somewhere that that that could be done um and I know that your committee focuses on a lot of L I always I kind of look at it as more worldly things like you know electric charging stations or solar panels and things like that which are great but um you know a lot of people can't afford solar panels right now a lot of people aren't going out and buying new cars and so I was just thinking that this is these two things at least would be kind of practical relevant um people kind of are used to seeing these things around and it would just be something that um might be more Hands-On and practicable for the community so anyway that's all I have any questions or anything okay thank you for your time I appreciate it. [00:07:35] **Chair Gerding**: thanks for your time thank you very much appreciate it yeah any other open comments great okay we will now close the public forum and we're moving on to the uh EMC review section and specifically old business from last month U beginning with a project update by Hannah uh regarding our efforts in helping the city of Oakdale think through how our city can host an environmental Fair. [00:08:05] **Hannah Dunn**: yes thank you um I'll just Briefly summarize the memo in the packet uh the envir environmental fair is starting to shape take shape based on some further Direction um the memo lays out that General outline of the event um first it'll be branded as the Oakdale ecoair and will uh take place in conjunction with Arbor Day next April um in order to draw families and kids um there will be activities such as Recreation programming crafts coloring um just trying to brainstorm some activities that would draw families um we'll also see if we can incorporate some reuse components like a library book swap or a bike Fixit Clinic um we're planning to reach out to some different organizations and and see if we can um create some Partnerships for the event um staff's going to handle the planning um with the assistance of the EMC um and I'm currently in the process of drafting a letter or email that will go to a long list of potential vendors and then once we get get their response and we see what interest looks like will determine a venue so Discovery Center is a um viable option if um there's a smaller number of vendors that would want to participate um but if we get really good response then we might have to look at a bigger venue and then the emc's role uh will be to recommend potential vendors and then provide that day of support um like vendor check-in set up tear down um just to make sure that the day goes smoothly um um so I can open it up to conversation questions. [00:09:50] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: I I guess in terms of a suggestion for other people to solicit other organizations there's a there's an Oakdale Garden Club uh and I think there's a Washington County one too that either one of those might be interested in putting something up. [00:10:05] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah those are great ideas especially with the timing of the fair being in April people start thinking more about gardening and prepping for spring. [00:10:15] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: and I also wonder uh kind of inspired by lavon's comments maybe ISD 622 or one of the schools. [00:10:25] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah absolutely. [00:10:26] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I think Oakdale Wellness 50 plus could help with the bike repair clinic oh because we've had that some of that at the Discovery Center through our um CommunityWide events every spring so that'd be great I think we could combine that. [00:10:45] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah then I can reach out to um Oakdale Wellness 50 plus via email and um get that conversation going and then once I send that email out I'll I'll um pass it along to you and then you can feel free to if you've got connections to organizations like LW 50 plus um feel free to pass it along um still working out the process of how they would apply um whether we can use our kind of existing uh online platforms like open gov to have them um apply so that's still being worked out so kind of figuring out some of those Logistics before we send out the email but it should be hopefully um drafted soon and then I'll pass it along to you. [00:11:35] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: great want oh oh I a couple of other things came to mind were in addition to bike repair uh bicycle safety and I know Minnesota or bike Minnesota has a program on that that they have people that can come out and and also um as far as vendors I think vendors that are involved in energy conservation for homes. [00:12:00] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah I'll I'll add those to the on um the growing list and then I'll I'll share that list with you just so you know who's already received um the letter or email so that we're not sending organizations the same thing twice but yeah probably be a good list other cities do these Fridley Richfield still water so there's a good um you know can look at their resources and and get some ideas. [00:12:25] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: and it would be also another opportunity to do something with uh cloth recycling bags and again lean brought that up and I think that would be a good place to uh distribute those. [00:12:40] **Chair Gerding**: and yeah that that was my other other comment to piggyback um uh resident Dorn's comment and uh what what's been said is that um coordinating with other vendors in terms of giveaways um I I I have 25 nope 27 bags in the back of my car cloth bags just 27 but it'd be nice to not have people come away with a lot of stuff right so however we coordinate the vendor vendor takeaways and whatnot um that'd be I think that'd be helpful but I love the idea of having it family friendly all ages kiddos it's great. [00:13:15] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah we'll also look into the possibility of a food truck um another draw. [00:13:20] **Chair Gerding**: great your comments or Reflections for planning okay thank you Hannah um moving to to any new business in our agenda uh I think Hannah's up again I am talk about our a park plan I think and a presentation. [00:13:35] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah yes so tonight I'll be providing an update regarding the park system plan this is the first time the EMC is being presented this project so the the presentation tonight will be very high level there will be opportunities to provide feedback and thoughts and I'm more than happy to answer any questions that Commissioners have so from the city Side um I'm the Project Lead SL manager I work closely with other staff members including um Andy Goff the community development director Julie Williams the recreation superintendent and Jeff Kling the park superintendent um and then the city has hired srf Consulting Group as a consultant to provide professional planning Services uh the four main srf staff that the city works with are shown on the screen um Ken Stuart Shauna and Norman so um there's a chance you run into them if if we're out at an engagement event and they're then they're there so um might have an opportunity to meet them the purpose of this project is to do a park Plan update so that the city has a comprehensive and guiding road map that identifies and prioritizes recommendations for Park improvements schedules costs Staffing and funding opportunities Oakdale has a lot of parks in its system uh there are currently 28 parks with over 473 Acres of park space and in the coming years um four new parks are planned to be added into the system so there's three in the Willowbrook neighborhood development and then one is planned near the Gold Line helmo station so we already have a wellestablished park system and it's growing um however there are a variety of reasons why the city needs to um why the city's in need of a new plan with all that growth um devel with all the development the city will grow um there's the will Willowbrook neighborhood like I mentioned there's new multif family commercial projects down by the Gold Line and then there's General infield development throughout the city as as you all saw on the bus tour um and that's going to bring an estimated 20% population growth um over the next four to six years as a result of this development um so growth is one of a big reason why we need a new park system plan um in addition to growth there's changing demographics there's interest in different Park amenities and much of our Park infrastructure is aging um so from many different angles there's um a need for an updated plan throughout the entire planning process Community engagement is going to be very foundational um a later slide will detail some of the past and upcoming engagement but um it is a a primary focus of the study this is a brief overview of of the project schedule it kicked off at the beginning of the year and is anticipated to take about a year to complete at the beginning of 2024 the consultant spent time looking through the city's previous planning efforts and studies and conducted a demographic Trends analysis then in February they shifted their attention to assessing our existing infrastructure and facilities and because weather was so warm we were able to get out into the parks in February um to tour them and inspect the infrastructure and then at the be end of April and beginning of May srf and City staff did some shet D design sessions where we looked at each individual Park to come up with ideas that could go into their concept plans um which will be shared with the public very soon so a um a big focus of the study aside from the operational Staffing costs is to come up with concepts for each of the parks to see um how we can create um a system that meets demand and the needs of the community uh Tanner lake has its own master plan so that more in depth in-depth attention could be given to it um just to think of how to Envision the space and um and use it use it in uh the best possible way this summer is really uh dedicated as you can see on the schedule to uh big engagement pushes and Gathering feedback and then once fallHits the planning team will focus on more of those operational pieces such as Staffing and funding opportunities and putting everything together to create a final document that's a usable road map for the city um this slide shows a majority of the public engagement has that has occurred or will occur throughout the project U during March and April there was an initial survey that went out to the public um that intended to gather pretty highle General feedback about gaps people are seeing in the system what amenities people like in the current system what they wish to see in the F in the future system uh this was promoted in the mayor's Monday morning minute there was also an interactive map um aside from the survey that allowed people to leave comments on specific Parks um and this is still open so um if people are listening there's that interactive map if you're out in the park this summer and you think of um some feedback that you want to give that is um an engagement tool that you can take advantage of and then on March 23rd um Stuart from srf and I were at the Oakdale indoor market to talk with attendees and gather in-person feedback um there we encouraged people to take that survey or give us in-person feedback um I believe about 60 people stopped by our table throughout the 4-Hour indoor market and the picture on the slide is um from that event and then looking ahead for to Future engagement we've got stakeholder meetings with Community groups and organizations there will also be a second online survey for those Park Concepts that we um that estf has um created which I'll get into in a little bit there will also be more in-person engagement uh throughout the summer though dates and events um haven't been solidified yet but our goal with these engagement opportunities is to go where people are at so we've kind of forgone the traditional open house um come to us style of of Engagement um and we want want to interact with people at the parks um where they're doing the activities that theyve use the parks for and then lastly the public will have an opportunity to review the draft report and provide comments much like what happened with the bike and ped plan and then I can pause briefly right now to answer any questions that you might have about the project scope the schedule um and the engagement the planned public engagement that I just went through. [00:20:45] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: could you elaborate on the stakeholder meetings Who are the stakehold. [00:20:50] **Hannah Dunn**: yes so we've identified some to reach out to so the Oakdale Athletic Association might be a stakeholder Oak Oakdale Wellness 50 plus um the school district but um because school is out of sessions School District might be something that's done in the fall um but those are a few of the identified um organizations that we'll be reaching out to to see if they're interested in um meeting with us about the park system plan thank you. [00:21:20] **Chair Gerding**: can you uh so online engagement I see that it it has started and it will continue through yes um summer months can you share about how people are are informed of that or what the call to action is because I know for me personally I need to be told like eight times before I do something yeah curious about that. [00:21:40] **Hannah Dunn**: so um working with Communications um we will make sure that there's pushes for these uh surveys um on social media um I think in the last survey um Communications put out a news flash email that so if people are subscribed to emails through our website they were informed that there was a survey available um Monday Morning Minute um I don't believe we do did any Communications on the TV Lobby out front um uh word of mouth was a big one so when Stuart and I were at the um at the parks and W commission um that was after the survey closed but um you know we told them when the next survey push comes we we'll let them know so that they can get that word out to their neighbors um family friends so um I've worked with Communications on how to get get that out there if you have other ideas of how to to communicate with people we were at the Oakdale indor Market um for that iners um but I know some people still um don't hear you know don't follow us on Facebook or don't get the emails um one thing I did forget to mention was with the second push we'll actually have yard signs that are going to go up in all of the parks um and a park like Walton will have multiple yard signs and it's just going to it's a simple sign it's in English Mong in Spanish and we'll direct people to that engagement website where they can um take the survey so that's another that's another way to connect with people. [00:23:15] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: commission I was just going to ask if if we'll have a like a QR code on it. [00:23:20] **Hannah Dunn**: the yard signs will have a QR code yes making it super easy but also the link um if someone doesn't have a phone um and then you know at the summer um engagement events srf um we're still working on what events we go to depending on when the survey goes live um but when we were at the indoor market we had little sheets of paper that we handed out to people with a QR code so there'd be similar something similar for this next survey if there are no other questions I can keep moving along um as you can see on the screen uh this is the word cloud and as Stuart said at the during his presentation of the parks and rec commission back in April they're fun to look at but not particularly helpful but um this was something that the survey tool kind of generated um and then looking at public engagement from that first survey so throughout the four or so weeks the preliminary survey was open we received 250 responses um and during the same time period the interactive map received 80 unique comments and is still open what were some of the top responses we heard um install a water feature improve Playing Fields add more pickle ball courts update playgrounds get new playground equipment um many people said Tanner Lake Park needs updating and then another big one was add accessible and inclusive playground amenities so aside from inclusive Play features for kids of all abilities this also includes trails to get into the parks and around the parks um I think there's a good number of our parks that have no Trails throughout it it's just grass so um not the easiest for some people to maneuver around um and then on the right that's a screenshot of the interactive map uh the different color dots are associated with different types of comments that people can leave um so if you've used this feature then you already know that the green dots are comments of what people like red comment red dots are for comments that um of things people think dislike and then yellow comments are for what can be improved so um if you haven't used the map um it's still open so I highly suggest um giving some feedback it's um I'll admit not the easiest to maneuver but once you kind of get the hang of it um it it's it's a really powerful tool um so in the packet in the presentation there were um screenshots of some of the results we've gotten for some some of the questions I'm not going to go through each of them one by one um and and you know read off to you the different um responses we've gotten um since you got this ahead of the meeting but i' I'd really rather like to open up to conversation about the results if you've had a chance to review them um I've got a few questions to get the juices flowing um so I can open it right now if you've had a chance to look at any of the responses and if you have any feedback you'd like to provide otherwise I can kind of throw some questions out to to get the conversation going. [00:26:50] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: I I did notice that Parks do not provide amenities I want to use as a number one U barrier mention um um and then favorite city um or the U I'm sorry the Improvement um that people wanted to see there's two that seem to be pretty front and center which is the water feature and the extra playground so hopefully those match with the uh opposite of people that say they didn't like the amenities but is there a way to find out when people answer the part do not provide the amenities what amenities that they wanted or. [00:27:30] **Hannah Dunn**: yes so in the survey we had that question then there was an opportunity to leave a more open-ended response um those results um aren't going to be shared publicly but they were super helpful looking at um when the consultants and the project planning team were starting to develop Concepts so we were able to get a little bit more insight than just this kind of people didn't think that the amenities were um there for them we got we got a little bit more information than that that that we're using were there any anything things that surprised Commissioners or um you know are there are gaps or barriers that you feel should be immediately addressed in in your experiences in the Oakdale Park system. [00:28:15] **Chair Gerding**: for me personally there were nothing nothing was shocking um from the results um although I was I was taken to commissioner D's point about not providing the amenities and the second highest one was yet many people have found that they aren't really aware of what the amenities are so I'm wondering actually this my question is is there is there a way to share prior to these next next round of stakeholder meetings and is there a way to capitalize on what we know now and putting that content out there as another way for people to get interested in taking the survey because they maybe it's like the social proof thing maybe they need to see and hear what other people have already said yet they may not feel um compelled to do so themselves so I don't know if there's a way to combine these two. [00:29:05] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah something to to think about maybe another question is um you know we the you're the EMC um are there environmental initiatives or features that you think should be more carefully or intentionally incorporated into Parks um just to make a bit more of a tie in between parks and um your work as the Environmental Management commission I don't know if you've thought about that or. [00:29:30] **Chair Gerding**: I have one idea Tim commissioner D's point is about water features and I'm un I'm unclear how new parks lean into or align with ordinances and codes in terms of where water features are even more General where curb Cuts or entrances we all those kinds of things in the park but as those AB but main streets or thorough fars or easements has the city or is the ordinance welcoming an inclusive to um operationalizing some of this feedback from our residents. [00:30:10] **Hannah Dunn**: um I haven't I don't know the code inside and out but we've had um you know this this feedback this survey feedback and responses was taken by the planning team and the consultant to develop Concepts and then those Concepts were reviewed by our development Review Committee which has fire police engineering community development building um so they've had a chance to review and and we went through um the concepts so um you know they're the experts in their different areas so um they you know if something was flagging as a concern or out of alignment with the code they informed us and then we took that into consideration and and re um revised the concept plan so um yes we're we're trying to get that alignment between all the different departments and code and comp plan and previous planning efforts and trying to make it all tie together great. [00:31:05] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: well there are some amenities like lights that could be solar powered is there a an effort to identify a few not terribly expensive installations that could make people more aware of solar power. [00:31:20] **Hannah Dunn**: that's a good idea with uh lighting has come up in some of the concept plans but not in relation to solar lighting um I you know that's something we can look at um either LED or solar powered and make our lighting more efficient um I feel like lightings mostly come up as a safety a safety issue um but we can kind of tie the two together it's a good idea. [00:31:45] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: I always think it's cool when I see a little solar panel underneath something and sometimes it's powering things that I didn't expect it could power so that might be yeah something to think about. [00:31:55] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah absolutely. [00:32:00] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: I I don't know it I U what the U every park has a little bit different personality if you will and some are oriented towards you Plain Fields and stuff like that and others are um more U maybe more forested or whatever but is there any kind of it seems like and I'm definitely not an expert in all the Oakdale Parks but it seems like a lot of them have a lot of open sort of modow grass that um often isn't like all fields and uh I I don't know if there's a a plan to maybe add a few trees into some of these some of these things with picnic table underneath or something like that uh and I don't know uh again that might be a way to add some environmentally um useful message about hey we're you know oakal is adding 500 trees to our Parks or whatever the thing is um that we could make known by some by a sign or something like that um as we go through this park design thing. [00:33:05] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah absolutely there's a couple parks that come to mind like preservation and power line or just a lot of modowe turf grass um so there might be opportunities to look at um grant funding for you know restoring some of this to um pollinator habitat or rain Gardens um absolutely. [00:33:25] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: or you know add more trees or or even if it if it's not a rain Garden just have a few trees there for shade you know keep it in mode but little shady spot to sit in a hot day or something right make it'll draw people to the park if they can have some shade in a picnic table. [00:33:45] **Hannah Dunn**: absolutely. [00:33:50] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: U couple of things that came up from the survey here is uh Beyond not providing the amenities are people just not aware of what's available in the Parks and so maybe just uh some Communications about what's available in each Park maybe a feature a park each month or something. [00:34:05] **Hannah Dunn**: yeah that's a good idea tell what's in it and what you can do there. [00:34:10] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: and uh and then also um as far as amenities the top favorite the top five favorite uh parks are all parks that have more amenities to them so they're probably getting more use and uh because they have certain amenities but I think maybe people knowing Beyond those top five what these other Parks have I know I haven't been to a lot of these other ones to know even know what exists there right right. [00:34:35] **Hannah Dunn**: and maybe even a you know how in a like a a state park they have what's available in each each of those state parks and that maybe to have maybe like an abbreviated guide to The Parks of Oakdale and you know page on the website that shows the various amenities of each Park what's available are their restrooms or their running water whatever it might be yeah absolutely we we do have a web page um lists all the parks but I think you have to click on it to get the amenities list so maybe more of like a if it's an interactive GIS map that has some icons or some something to kind of get a better picture of the whole system. [00:35:15] **Chair Gerding**: yeah absolutely yeah I would agree that wayf finding is great um and if if there's a way to even at least with the the newest parks to test out like what um sounds like we're going to be doing with the survey signage with the QR code if there's a way to kind of overlay that and a at a local park level because I know for example Bethy Park which is right down the dirt road from our house there's no there's no Paving there's no nothing but it is all Native and Bee and grasses and it's beautiful but nobody knows about that. [00:35:50] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: yeah yeah and I think to Tim's point about parks that have these open areas that are not you know ball fields or soccer fields that um yeah that they provide more of a green space for people and to you know develop that green space maybe a little more with additional vegetation. [00:36:15] **Hannah Dunn**: maybe another just quick question um about Tanner Lake Park since that has its own master plan um if maybe you have any thoughts specifically about that Park you know it's got the shoreline so there's some natural environmental features. [00:36:30] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: well it has a wonderful little fishing dock that maybe there could be an interpreter there once a month or something to talk more about the fish in the lake and how to make the lake more fish friendly and that kind of thing because it is a really nice place to go fishing. [00:36:45] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: yeah yeah as I remember for Tanner Lake um we were going to look at the water quality data and I think that would be helpful in determining what environmental things we can do around the park um if it's a runoff issue or whatever I know there were uh years back we installed a couple of Water Gardens um too because there was a lot of runoff from the ball field and that so um yeah I think taking a look at that uh would be good to do and see where amenities might be um possible there or if there also if there's need for more rain Gardens or whatever. [00:37:30] **Hannah Dunn**: with the rain likey we've had there might be yeah I was before all this heavy rain we visited um in May and um it was still it seemed like maybe even more rain Gardens with more capacity could would be beneficial there CU there was some flooding at the at the back um and that wasn't even before this recent trend of rain every day. [00:37:50] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: yeah and I think the development along the shoreline and uh and that may is that a possible impact on the water quality too with more runoff from impervious surfaces. [00:38:05] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: you know I I I really like the idea of somehow telling telling the story about the lake it's it's sort it's a very unique you know there's not many lakes plopped in a place like Tanner's Lake and uh and especially with the um with the new bus line it will probably get more sort of out of town attention and it'd be interesting to sort of paint a picture about um how it's doing may maybe maybe there's a story about the impact that we're dealing with now and you know what and and now um you know all the other growth that's happening what the plans are to address it and just kind of track progress um it you know sometimes people don't really think about the uniqueness of a setting like that until they read a little story about it and realize that there's you know there is a story there's people monitoring what's going on it's going better worse whatever and here's the plan to uh to try to keep it on the right track I I I kind of like that idea of a storytelling panel or something like that right by the fishing dock. [00:39:15] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: Al to your point too Tim it's a very interesting story that is why they used to cut ice back in the day before there were roads and you know street cars so yeah the first first business was it the. [00:39:30] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: believe so first industry of town. [00:39:35] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: yeah that's right did you learn on the development bus tour. [00:39:36] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: no I actually knew that. [00:39:40] **Hannah Dunn**: great this is all super helpful great feedback it's nice to have other perspectives um that's why we're we're going to the various commissions just to get their unique um perspectives are there any final thoughts and and as you all know you're um free to email me any time with any ideas um so I'm almost almost at the end of the presentation but I just first wanted to inform the planning or inform the commission about upcoming engagement um so using the responses and feedback received from the first survey and accompany accompanying engagement the planning team created preliminary concept plans for 27 Parks um because Tanner Lake Park has its own master plan with its own um engagement and concept plan development timeline um that's not part of this package that will be sent out to the public very soon um but there will be Tanner Lake Park engagement um actually multiple preliminary Concepts will be developed just to explore trade-offs um since it's got you know it's got its own master plan so it's just um thinking through a little bit more since it's such an important Park in the system um and now that those preliminary Concepts for 27 parks are complete we're going to go out to the public soon get feedback um see what people like or dislike about Concepts um see what elements people feel um should be incorporated see what um priorities they have um since all you know all improvements can't be um completed implemented at one time you know got finite resources um so this survey is hoping to kind of tease some of that out um it should be Rel released soon um and then the consultant and I will be tabling at various events um community recreation events together in person feedback another education piece so that people um who maybe don't have social media or receive emails are aware that this is something that's going on um so I will send an email to the EMC once that's live um so that you can go in and provide feedback and and please encourage your neighbors and family friends that use parks in Oakdale to also take the survey um we want want to get really good feedback um so stay tuned um if Commissioners like I said just before um have any follow-up questions after the meeting in the weeks months to come since you know we're only about halfway through this plan um please don't hesitate to reach out to me um and if there are any questions that you just thought of right now I'm I'm happy to answer them. [00:42:35] **Chair Gerding**: great thank you very much of course well next up on our new business agenda looks like we have a nomination and election of a new commissioner Vice chair you have the forms in front of you yet is this one that we can allow for verbal vote. [00:42:50] **Hannah Dunn**: it depends on the nominations sir. [00:42:52] **Chair Gerding**: okay great so the vacancy is for vice chair of the EMC is there a I have to open nominations don't I or open someone could just make a motion to nominate a vice chair I would invite somebody to make a motion right now to nominate a vice chair. [00:43:05] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I know nominate Keith as a vice chair. [00:43:10] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: um I would like to nominate Tim dittle as Vice chair. [00:43:15] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: I would second the nomination of of do little. [00:43:20] **Hannah Dunn**: there any other no there just needs to be a motion to close the nominations now and that needs a second. [00:43:30] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: so moved. [00:43:32] **Chair Gerding**: it works thank you and then a second. [00:43:34] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: a second. [00:43:35] **Hannah Dunn**: so now there's a motion second can so then people can use the ballots to ballot to write down and then I can collect them. [00:43:40] **Chair Gerding**: you want to collect okay you want to use the ballots and write down your nomination well chairperson is on the ballot just ignore that one ignore that it's just viice for [Balloting occurs]. [00:44:10] **Hannah Dunn**: okay um I'll read off the results now so one vote for Keith Miller one for Tim dittle another for Tim dittle and a third for Tim dittle so then there just needs to be a motion in a second to make the election official. [00:44:25] **Chair Gerding**: yeah I will make a motion to elect Vice chair dittle for the position for a period of one calendar year commencing with June 17th 2024's meeting. [00:44:35] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: now second that motion. [00:44:40] **Chair Gerding**: that motion great discussion all in favor to elect commissioner dittle for the position of Vice Chair say I. [00:44:50] **Commissioners**: I. [00:44:51] **Chair Gerding**: congrats thank you right next up we move to staff commissioner and Council liaison updates beginning with our monthly review of the 2024 editorial calendar always in coordination with our wonderful Communications Communications Department at Oakdale um thank you for always preparing this would you want to walk us through this Hannah and. [00:45:15] **Hannah Dunn**: yes absolutely share what's ahead yes so I'll um first start with the review of the editorial calendar and once discussion about that's wrapped up then I'll give a few Community Development updates um looking ahead the theme for July is going plastic free um we can push the reusable bags that we um used Grant dollars for last year um or we can educate again people about the places in Oakdale where they can recycle plastic bags and film the theme for August was designed to be flexible so it just um says miscellaneous whatever is timely or relevant um I haven't identified a potential theme that makes sense um quite yet so if Commissioners have any ideas I would um love to hear them otherwise I can continue to brainstorm and and come up with some potential topics to promote and then the theme for September is electric vehicles um there's lots of resources to share some are already listed in our 2024 Ed editorial calendar um we could promote resources for Ira rebates for electric vehicles um Drive electric Minnesota has a really good guide for finding the right um electric vehicle um so there's um quite a few resources so if anyone has um stumbled upon something new that's not on the editorial calendar um please free please feel free to share or if you feel strongly that um one resource is is something that we should promote um I invite conversation or sharing of your ideas now. [00:47:00] **Chair Gerding**: I can't even think about August okay July uh what month is it yeah so I don't know if there's any way to dovetail we talked a lot about the um the park park piece if there's a real social media real estate's valuable content spacewise so I don't know if there's a way to dovetail um a little bit about the vision of a future State and public input for August as related to again an EMC topic um not that it has to be a a national month of to have it but um aligned with her work plan I'm thinking so I'm just talking this out. [00:47:45] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: I think last August we focused on water um conservation because we were in drought um you never know it come August. [00:47:55] **Hannah Dunn**: it's true. [00:48:00] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: yeah I think water conservation is still relevant even though um it doesn't won't impact uh uh lawn watering but conserving water showering and doing dishes laundry whatever um in your home because that water is processed water and uh drinking water and so I think conservation tips could be um more focused on on those things in your home conserving water rather than um I think past Focus has been more on Watering your Lawns and that type of thing and also you know flow faucets and all that uh can be part of that Communications as well and I I do like in general you know schools are letting out now but um I think I have brought this up previously that uh we had a Communications person in the city of Oakdale who did go out to the schools and visit classrooms and and talked about primarily waste and that and that but could also talk about water conservation different topics but um I think that would be something uh really good to add to our our Communications in the future if we could get someone in the communications here some staff person to go out regularly to the different schools and do a program. [00:49:15] **Chair Gerding**: in the past I know we've talked a lot about um so with runoff but it's rain barrels rain barrs have is that that's still I would assume a county. [00:49:25] **Hannah Dunn**: yes they went they the sale opened up I want to say April 1st and they normally sell out quite quickly but that's something I can look at to see if there's some that are still available or just promoting rain barrels in general um but if you know cost is a barrier that the county I don't know if they were selling them at a a lower rate a discounted rate or if that was a full price um but I can look more into rain that might be a good one rain barrels. [00:50:00] **Hannah Dunn**: okay if there aren't any other ideas I can just move on to Community Development as always feel free to send me an email anytime um so first I received an email from Monica stigl with information regarding prior priority to funding for the 3M PFAS settlement um the timeline is again being pushed back a bit so um looks like late 2024 is when they looking to do letter of intense screenings and then in the spring of 2025 the full RFP will be released and then applications are going to be due in summer 2025 so um more time to think about it um you know we talked about Tanner Lake Park as part of the park system plan and Tanner Lake was previously mentioned as a a potential project site um you know don't know exactly what the you know that project would look like but there's more time um to continue thinking about it um second a followup from the May meeting um I'm still looking into the green step City Sign um I might have to do some digging over at public works because um the people I talked to don't recall whether the city was in a in possession of a sign um but it's a it's a fairly low cost so I'll keep exploring the issue if if we don't have one um and then another followup from the May meeting regarding Tree City USA um that designation that's through the Arbor Day found foundation so um to be designated as a tree City USA there are four standards that you have to meet one the city must have a tree board or Department two there has to be a public Tree Care ordinance three um there has to be a community forestry program with an annual budget of at least $2 per capita and fourth um there has to be an Arbor Day observance and Proclamation so um like I said the last meeting it's an annual application and Oakdale continues to receive that award year after year so those looked into it those are the four standards that cities have to meet to be designated as one and then last update I have is there are two EMC applicants who will be interviewing with council at an upcoming Workshop so um very exciting news that um we've got some interest and those are all the updates I have. [00:52:45] **Chair Gerding**: thank you um moving next to I think commissioner updates. [00:52:50] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: well this is my last meeting um I've proudly served on the commission for six years and I've learned a lot um really enjoyed it and I encourage any citizen to apply because it's really a good commission. [00:53:05] **Commissioner Keith Miller**: and also it is my last meeting uh with the Environmental Management commission I've been on the commission for 20 years now about 17 years as the chair and uh so I decided not to renew my uh term and uh be sad to leave but uh you know I have many things doing I'm doing in retirement and uh they'll give me more time to pursue other things so appreciate the time on um on the commission and also the improvements that have been made over the year in the city so happy to uh to leave and to leave in in good hands thanks to both of you. [00:54:00] **Chair Gerding**: yeah well thank you Bonnie um first and I know that given our you dropped the bus tour earlier in our meeting tonight Hannah so given our bus tour her and the growth and learning where Oakdale is heading I know that Wellness 50 is um perfectly positioned to be that voice to those communities so great thank you for prioritizing that as well as you have with the EMC and you know Keith when you work alongside volunteers or advisory bodies and Commissioners it isn't often that one says 20 years so I just want to acknowledge that that is a huge gift and I know that the city council will um formally recognize and thank him for um his efforts but just a personal sentiment of gratitude for all that you've done for leaving this city much better than you found it thank you. [00:55:00] **Chair Gerding**: any other updates from missionar I think the only other thing I have is just a touch point on the adopted rain program I brought it up last month and uh as a reminder we have voluntarily adopted did the three three drains right outside um these offices in uh Walton Park um and again while the I know Hannah has sent a a draft schedule for the months that we would self self-select to voluntarily clean again the effort needs no formal action at this point or vote but I know that that draft um the draft schedule will be forthcoming amongst all of us so just stay tuned for that so hearing no other updates moving into the last part of our agenda um we'd like to invite our council member Morcomb up potentially as our liaison sitting liaison to the EMC for some Oakdale updates. [00:55:50] **Council Member Andy Morcomb**: yes thank you very much for having me thank you Commissioners I'm filling in for mayor zabble who had to attend to a family matter but first of all thank you both to Commissioners Wilson and Miller for all of your time and your commitment um we rely in the city council on the feedback from these commissions and even just hearing all the feedback on the parks plan which I'm very excited about in the city of Oakdale is exciting because there's certain things that were shared that I had ideas on as well and then there was new ideas that came out of it which is what makes this a better process so thank you for all the feedback a few things one uh a birdie tripped in my ear while we were speaking that the rain barrels in Washington County are all sold out for 2024 so they're in high demand um and we would love one ourselves but we haven't got there yet so you're aware also uh right now the acorn awards for the city are open and we're looking for more feedback more nominations so as residents are going on walks in the neighborhood in the community we're looking for nominations for residential commercial and uh other categories as well so go to the city website and that's open for a few more weeks still and then we get to tour them all which is fun also of course we have Summerfest coming up a lot of excitement a lot of use in our parks and Walton so get out there and encourage uh interacting with the community and and sharing what you're doing here on these commissions one so we can continue to find new commission members and get their new voices their new ideas and also just to to be a part of the community and finally I'll say I am excited about the parks plan and what we're doing but building out Parks is expensive proposition and the city does work with contract grant writers and there's a number of different opportunities out there in the community whether it be for solar or passive park park space native pollinators whatever it may be a safe walking safe Trails if there's any ideas or opportunities that you as a commission come up with or the public in general for grants that could support Oakdale in building out our Park system please let us know because it's great to hear about those opportunities and sometimes they're one time only they come and they go so we can't be everywhere at once happy to take feedback from anybody but otherwise there's a lot going on I'll stand for any questions if you have any. [00:58:30] **Chair Gerding**: sounds good well thank you so much thank you thank you thank you Council this brings us to the end of of the agenda for this evening our next meeting of the EMC will occur on Monday August 19th 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in these council chambers at Oakdale City Hall if there is no further discussion I will call for a motion to adjourn tonight's June 17th meeting of the EMC. [00:58:55] **Commissioner Bonnie Wilson**: so moved. [00:58:56] **Commissioner Tim Doolittle**: second. [00:58:57] **Chair Gerding**: in favor of adjourning tonight's EMC meeting for June 17th say hi. [00:59:01] **Commissioners**: hi. [00:59:02] **Chair Gerding**: hi great meaning [adjourned].