Hi Elizabeth,
Thanks for sharing your notes from the Mayor's Streetbeat on
environmental issues. I hope that over the next several months through
a series of envrionmantal roundtables we can develop action plan for
making St. Paul the cleanest and greenest city in the nation.
We have a great opportunity to reshape our local economy in ways the
support and reinforce our commitment to sound environmental policy. I
am hopeful that the blue/green alliance of labor and environmental
groups will help to create the political will necessary to refocus our
economic development efforts to create good paying jobs in the renewable
energy industry, reduce cost through high performance building design,
and rethink our transprortation policies.
Best wishes,
Lee Helgen
Councilmember - Ward 5
>>> Elizabeth Dickinson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 03/01/05 1:14 AM
>>>
The mayor referenced some of the environmental achievements and concerns
for
St. Paul:
Blooming St. Paul (the flowers planted in downtown)
Removing foreign aquatic species
Dutch Elm
I shared the priorities brainstormed at the January environmental
potluck
with several district council environment committees including the need
for:
1. Better communication and p.r. from the city, including notification
of
the range of existing environmental projects as well as community
opportunities to be involved in environmental concerns.
2. The need for green and clean, safe areas to recreate in regardless of
an
area's ethnic make-up/degree of home ownership/economic
status---environmental justice issues.
3. The need to separate the duties of LIEP's department (Licensing,
Inspection, and Environmental Protection). It was felt quite strongly
that
these duties were "competing concerns" and that environmental protection
was
secondary to the other duties. It was also felt quite strongly that
existing laws were inconsistently carried out. In particular, WSCO had
invited LIEP several times to send a representative to gain clarity
about
how departmental decisions were made, and the department would not send
anyone. At our joint meeting, it was suggested that a charter amendment
be
considered to separate the duties into different departments.
4. Green Energy/Municipal Power. Xcel's franchise agreement with the
City
of St. Paul will expire June 30, 2006 and the city council will
re-negotiate
the terms of the agreement. There is interest and support in setting up
a
municipally run utility (the city does not have to generate the energy
itself to be considered a municipal utility). If the city chooses to
renew
the franchise agreement, there is interest in negotiating that St. Paul
receives a greater percentage of green energy--esp. wind power--than it
currently does---and getting a better franchise fee from Xcel.
5. City-wide water standards, especially around any proposed river
development. Many believe industry should pay more for water useage and
that the city should use tax incentives to increase responsible use of
water
by industry and other methods to minimize fish kills.
6. Phasing in stricter Green Building Standards, particularly for
publicly
financed housing. Include "Energy Star" energy efficient appliances and
lighting in all new and retrofitted buildings.
7. Better enforcement of existing environmental laws. See #3.
8. Phasing in all hybrid vehicles to the existing city fleet.
9. Better maintenance of existing parks.
Here are what other folks shared as priorities:
1. Avoiding high rise buildings near the river and overdevelopment near
the
river.
2. Coordinating neighborhood clean-ups so they don't conflict with each
other.
3. Holding a Christos event similar to the one held in NYC to encourage
tourism and to beautify the city.
4. To NOT build the $30 million Holman Field Dike because it has no
cost
benefit to the city. (The mayor disagreed, saying that Gander Mountain
had
moved here because the CEO/President could fly his plane in; and that
3M,
Medtronics, etc. used the airport).
5. The mayor was asked to sign onto the city council resolution against
President Bush's Clear Skies initiative which would allow more pollution
than exisiting laws. They mayor said he would look at it.
6. Come up with a "green vision" for St. Paul that would reinforce its
ability to attract economic development and tourism.
7. To use more native plants around St. Paul.
8. Rock Tenn's Tom Trotsky and Steve Hazelman (sp?) were invited to
speak
about the need for their company to find a long term solution to provide
energy for the plant since they would no longer be able to receive
energy
from the High Bridge plant. They recycle 1000 tons of paper a day and
have
been in business since 1908. Their existing burners are capable of
using
gas and fuel oil. They've looked at biomass, but it would only be able
to
supply 4% of what they need.
9. Eureka recycling employees spoke about the need for more
environmentally
preferential purchasing, creating ordinances to ensure there is space in
new
apartment buildings for recycling, creating better recycling
opportunities
for attendees at Harriet Island events and other events, and rejoining
other
ICLEI cities to reduce greenhouse gases.
10. Make St. Paul the number one "bicycle friendly" city in the
country.
11. Make "Blooming St. Paul" part of the comprehensive plan.
In addition, I shared some of what came up in St. Cloud today from the
CERTS
(Clean Energy Resource TaskForce).
St. Paul has been a leader in replacing pedestrian and street lights
with
LEDS which save money and enable people to see more clearly. Public
Works
has been leading the way (and apparently keeping track of cost savings
and
pollution reduction---we'd like to see those figures). As part of the
cities to address climate change, it has adopted a higher level
reduction of
greenhouse gases than many other cities (20%).
SE Como in Mpls. has incorporated passive solar panels for water heaters
as
part of their community grants, so people can receive low interest/no
interest loans (like they do for new siding or a new garage). It would
be
good to have something similar here.
The Duluth environmental coordinator shared that in the mid-80s, that
there
was a city contest to see which buildings could save the most energy
over 6
months. Through simple behavioral changes (like turning off lights when
leaving a room) the city saved $90,000 or 10% of its energy costs. One
can
only wonder what St. Paul could save if city buildings, industry, and
schools all held a contest to see how much energy they could save as a
percentage of their total useage if St. Paul held such an ongoing
contest.
One man had cut 25% of his total home energy use by installing solar
shingles when he built a new $13,000 garage--
The Department of Commerce loans wind tower machines which measure and
help
determine the availability/feasability of installing wind turbines.
Northfield used something similar to find a site for their wind turbine.
I
think we could try something here on the West Side bluffs, possibly at
Humboldt High School, if they might be interested. Spirit Lake Iowa was
able to install a wind turbine at their school and recoup the cost in
less
than seven years. The money saved could go to hiring additional
teachers
(!)
Apologies for spelling/grammar mistakes---
Elizabeth Dickinson
West Side
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