07-15-2009 ECC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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spring centered upon water, and summer on gasoline/transportation) with "freebies" for each session specific to the topic so that participants don't get all the "carrots" at once. A comment was made that because of this being a first experience for the staff, a lot has been learned so the next set of participants will potentially benefit even more. For example, the blower door tests may need to be done at the end rather than at the beginning of the program. Environmental Administrator Haug made a presentation to the League of MN Cities because Project Conserve won an award in the area of sustainability. Environmental Technician Blake- Bradley retrieved the award from the office and passed the award around for all the commissioners' review. At the next workshop session, the participants will be asked to continue for another heating season since the blower door tests were not able to be done until midway through the heating season. District Energy Update Environmental Administrator Haug stated there isn't much to discuss. GRE is working on a grant and she's not sure if it's been submitted yet, but it's due within the next couple of days. The City sent a letter of support. Chair Zehringer and the Mayor signed the letter for the ECC and the City, respectively. GRE is having a problem with easements. The City will make an effort to assist with this. When asked if he'd heard anything about this, Commissioner Setala said that he had not heard of any developments. Commissioner Sayler questioned whether he could get a copy of the presentation. Environmental Administrator Haug stated she would get a copy to him. d. Elk River Landfill &RRT The Elk River Landfill expansion/comprehensive plan amendment and zone change request has been postponed until August 17~h. It's still in the public hearing phase. Hennepin County has pulled out of the agreement to send waste to RRT for processing. RRT (Resource Recovery Technologies) has a one year contract with GRE (Great River Energy) to continue processing waste into refuse derived fuel (RDF). GRE has offered to purchase that portion of RRT if the waste (180 tons daily) is guaranteed. Becker is against tire ash disposal. Discussion followed regarding tip fees being an issue. The tip fee covers charges paid to the burners (in this case, GRE) to use RDF. The fee paid to burn RDF is the difference between the cost of burning coal and that of RDF. Chair Zehringer commented that it doesn't sound good for a land use amendment and re-zone for the landfill. If the landfill were to expand, more methane burners could be installed which could supply approximately 30 - 35% of the energy needs of Elk River (currently methane burning is producing enough energy for approximately 12% of Elk River's needs. A reduction from 15% is due to increased demand from United Health). The Energy City Commission has not taken a stand regarding the request by the landfill. If the landfill does not get the expansion request approved, it could close as early as 2012. The City does receive a host fee which would end at closure. .~. Green Corps Intern Opportunity Americorps and the MPCA have approached green cities to see if there is interest in hosting interns which they would pay for, but the cities would give experience to for one year. Elk River