Thank you for all this, Elizabeth. One thing the Mayor made me feel good
about at our Beating was Blooming St. Paul spreading out of "the heart and
into the arteries." (But hopefully not just plantings in the deserted
plastic dirt-holders left behind by some former West Enders... BTW, did
you know at Joseph's Coat on my block, they simply tore the boulevard trees
out and filled the spots with concrete? Not very pleasant to look at at
all...)
I thought you might find this interesting. It's about the Green (re)Design
of the Schmidt Brewery's twin brother in Baltimore,MD. I think you'll
agree that it's a very innovative and sensitive approach to the mixed,
adaptive reuse underway at the Brewers Hill site (Gunther and Natty Boh
Breweries, later known as Hamm's and then Schaefer.) It boasts 550,000
s.f.. of Office Space/Flex Space, 90,000 s.f. of Retail, and apartments and
lofts. Floor plans are available at the website.
http://www.brewershill.net/greendesign.html
On another note, my boss, who is one of the nation's (world's?) leading
experts on nanotechnology, recently gave an internal introductory talk on
the subject. I was amazed to hear him say, during his "Health and Safety
Concerns" section, that "22% of Los Angeles' particulates are produced by
fast-food restaurants." This was shown to be the case because of the
cholesterol present. So put that arrow in your quiver if you haven't
already... Someday we may be rallying to Ban The Bun.
Keep on greenin'. I'm likin' the Blue Green marketing idea. No, "I'm
lovin' it!"
A Hine
Fort Road
Andrew M. Hine
Corporate Research Materials Laboratory
3M Center 201-1W-28
St. Paul MN
55144-1000
USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: (651) 733-1070
Fax: (651) 737-5335
Lab 201-W110
Elizabeth
Dickinson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To
spring.com> <[email protected]>
Sent by: cc
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
forum.org Subject
[StPaul] Notes from Mayor's
Environmental Streetbeat
03/01/2005 01:14
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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