All right.

Good afternoon.

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Climate and Infrastructure Committee for October 30th, 2025.

I'm Katie Cashman, the chair of this committee.

Before we call the meeting to order, I want to offer a friendly reminder to all the members and staff that these meetings are broadcast live to enable greater public participation.

These broadcasts include real time captioning as a further method to increase the accessibility of our proceedings to the community.

We ask all speakers to moderate the speed and clarity of their comments.

Thank you.

At this time, I'll ask the clerk to call the roll to verify quorum.

Councilmember Rainbow.

Present.

Present.

Is absent.

Chavez?

Present.

Vice Chair Koske.

Present.

Chair Cashman.

Present.

We have five presents.

Alright, let the record reflect that we have a quorum.

And please sign in to speaker management.

With that, we'll start our consent agenda items one through four.

Item one is a resolution levying various public works special assessments and adopting the related assessment roles.

Item two is approving an appointment to the bicycle advisory committee for Jackson Hampton for seat 14.

Item three is authorizing a grant application for the 2026 Private Property Inflow and Infiltration Grant Program.

And item four is approving a concept layout for 35th and 36th Street from Chicago Av to Blazedale with a resolution seeking a variance from municipal state aid rules.

So I'm going to move items one through three and pull out item four for a brief question.

So on the motion to approve items one through three, is there any discussion?

Seeing none, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say nay.

All right, that motion carries.

And then item four is approving a concept layout for 35th and 36th Street from Chicago to Blazedle.

And I just had a couple of questions for either Director Sexton or someone from the public works department about the process for the MSA variants that we're seeking.

Yeah.

Thank you, Chair Cashman.

Uh, I'd like to invite Fontaine Burrus, the project manager for the corridor to address your questions.

All right.

Good afternoon, Fontaine Barris, Transportation Planner with Public Works.

Okay, thank you so much.

We just had a couple questions from community members about the bike facilities and plans for MSA variances.

So can you explain a little bit more about what MSA variants are seeking and what the process will be like for getting that approved?

Sure.

Chair Cashman, the 35th and 36th Street are both MSA streets.

So we are using MSA funding for this project, and because they are MSA streets and using MSA funding, we are required to follow the design guidelines of MSA.

There is a segment that we are seeking a variance.

And meet our MSA guidelines.

Because of that, we are seeking a variance to reduce lane width there in order to provide us enough space to separate the bikeway rather than having a shared use path.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

And then what is the timeline for that MSA variance decision to be made?

Uh the variance committee meets quarterly.

Uh their next committee is coming up this December, which is why we are asking for the variance in order to uh meet that, make that next committee date.

Uh the following one wouldn't be until this spring, which may impact our ability to meet federal authorization for this project, which is in June of 2026.

Okay, thanks.

Yeah, and then I was just gonna ask about the federal funding aspect.

So we need to have like design confirmed by June.

Correct.

And the plan is to construct this next year.

Uh it's 2027-2028 construction.

2027-2028.

Okay.

Thank you so much for answering those questions for me.

I think there is just some community members who are wondering why that stretch was the way it is and what the plans were.

So the plan is to get that variance and then adjust the concept layout accordingly.

Correct.

Uh the concept layout right now shows a shared use path for one block.

Um the variants would allow us to improve that shared use path that's being shown to a two-way bikeway if the variant is granted.

Great.

All right, thanks.

Well, that was my main question.

Was there anyone else on the committee who wanted to speak on this item?

All right, seeing none, I'll move this for approval to full council.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

And those opposed say nay.

Any abstentions?

That motion carries.

Our next uh item is a discussion item related to a legislative directive on the city's recycling rates and zero waste program.

Um the legislative directive was passed last month.

I'll invite Director Nick Gerald to begin presentation.

Um I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak here today.

I'd like to start by introducing kind of the background behind this.

The city and the county have collective goals to reduce waste generated and disposal.

Um, the status updates and the future goals requested through the county resolution and the head of the county or the city's council's LD will be discussed here today with this presentation.

Sorry.

So, we got the eight bullet points essentially that came down from the LD that was set out there before here.

Which these are the things we'll talk about here today: the the recycling rates by sector, the organics recycling rates by sector, um, cycling organic recycling targets through 2030, compliance rates, necessary steps to develop authority and assign responsibility, capture rate targets.

We'll talk about the update to the action for the food and zero waste circular economy strategies and the funding mechanism study update.

So can we kind of broke it up into the sections so that you can see the first slide is gonna talk about legislative directive items one, two, and three in one kind of section?

So diversion rate projections in 2015, city council adopted a goal of 80% diversion by 2030.

This was in response to the state opening and its commercial and composting goal for the metro region to 75% by 2030.

Um significant changes needed to move on the path from the path of Ron to a path to get us to that number.

Um when you look at the chart here, we've got you know, we understand that our target is 80% by 2030, but what we have in there reaching 50% by 2030, but we the current path we're projected at wouldn't kind of get us to that point, not all the way to the 80.

And that again comes without if we don't have significant change in some of the areas which we'll talk about today.

Um we have high confidence in the current residential diversion rate as we've control over the residential waste sector, data from the current commercial rate is from the state required hollow reporting, and there are no gaps in this data, and the city will continue to work with the county to find ways to improve that data collection and the data that's being submitted.

So the next one was I'm gonna jump to is legislative directive item number six, which talks about the capture rate targets by material type for the residential sector by 2030.

So this was this um study we did or the capture rate study we did in 2022.

The yellow bars talk about where we were at for actual numbers, the blue bars talk about where we think we can be in 2030.

So that's our targets for 2030 capture rate.

Some of the battles with some of the stuff.

For example, we're still, in the study, we found that 50% of aluminum cans was still being placed in garbage.

So there's there's a ton of opportunity, and we do that through our recycling awareness campaign, which starts later this year, and I'll talk about that in a little bit as well, as far as educating the residents to continue to be better about those capture rates.

One thing we'll be doing, like I discussed is, and this was part of the CLI funding is that we have a study going out and a marketing plan to help residents understand the best ways to recycle through diversion and things of that nature.

And that starts probably next month and will run consistently into the next year, educating the residents on proper recycling techniques, and that's running ahead of the future plan for 2027 mandatory recycling, which we'll touch on in a little bit.

Um legislative directive item number four was talking about reporting on compliance rates with existing ordinances and annual targets through 2030, or the necessary steps to collect and report the compliance rates if the data is not currently available.

So we'll look at that slide.

Two columns here, left and right, right, left side being the commercial buildings.

I'm currently in the CMI sector ordinances that are enforced by various departments.

Um in this situation, it's regulatory services inspection division.

Um we've got solid waste recycling, which is our division, which has the authority to enforce recycling at multi-units using funding provided by Hennepin County, and then the third component will be the health department through the food, lodging, and pools enforces the green to go ordinance.

So starting with mandatory recycling, recycling at commercial buildings is enforced on a complaint basis.

It's inspected by reg services once every seven years in those large buildings unless a complaint comes in to jumpstart another inspection.

For multi-units, solid waste recycling is able to perform some of these duties using score funding from Headhammer County.

Our waste, our residential waste reduction recycling funding policy includes some funding for multi-units, which allows us to do work for these non-solid waste recycling customers.

As of now, our staff have verified that 91% of buildings in Minneapolis have recycling.

We have 347 buildings left to verify at currently.

All right, continuing on with the same subject here.

The last item report for active enforcement in 26 and 27 steps for climate equity plan strategies is the green to go ordinance.

The green goal ordinance requires all to go containers be reusable, recyclable, or compostable.

The health department food and lodging pools enforces the green to go ordinance in a couple of ways.

During routine inspections, which is once I'm sorry to interrupt, Director Gerald.

Can you just slow down the rate of your speech a little bit?

Yes, I will.

So during routine inspections, like every one to two years, they will go out and inspect, and that that can change on the risk level of the restaurant specifically.

On reinspection when the correction order has been made, or after a complaint that has been reported for non-compliance to 311.

Health enforces two major components of the ordinance.

They're using approved to go containers, and if the compostable plastic using the front of the house organics for customers to properly manage the compostable plastic.

Legislative directive item five was to report on the necessary steps to develop authority, responsibility, enforcement, and funding to collect data from commercial industrial and multi-sectors and implement organized collection.

So the steps needed for this kind of layout in this type of order.

So moving to commercial and industrial and multi-unit sectors, the solid waste and recycling division or enterprise fund covers all activities, programs, and services in the residential sector.

These enterprise funds cannot be used for external customers that are non-that do not pay into that enterprise fund.

So the first step in getting to more reliable data and control over is to formally assign responsibility over the communities known for the zero waste efforts to have one department responsible for the program development administration attracting these sectors.

The attorney's office will be consulted to determine the best procedure to allocate responsibility for non-residential waste sectors in Minneapolis.

Solid waste and section using climate legacy initiative funding, hire to consultant to evaluate possible funding mechanisms for citywide zero waste work.

The study has transitioned to evaluate the pros and cons of different types of organized collection for the CM CLCIM sector.

Not only will organizing a collection be viable funding mechanism, but for programs and initiatives.

So referencing legislative directive item number seven, the 2026-2027 actions with details about implementation of food and zero waste circular economy strategies and climate equity plan.

Mandatory recycling at city service properties.

So the first major program change for the residential sector is to make a mandatory for city service properties to be recycling.

Recycling is currently currently voluntary.

Approximately 3% of solid waste recycling customers do not have a recycling cart.

Starting this year, we began taking the necessary steps to move toward a mandatory recycling by 2027.

And that started with is starting with this advertising campaign to help people understand the proper ways to recycle.

It's also been reintroduced into additional training for our field staff and for foreman to make sure that we're properly tagging it and uh educating the residents at the on the street level.

Next year we will consult attorney's office for the best way to amend the city ordinances to require recycling at city service properties.

Additionally, we will be evaluating updates and determining changes needed with the goal of implementing mandatory recycling in the year of 2027.

Mandatory recycling does mean that instead of carts being removed currently right now, for if a resident has a contaminated cart, they get tagged, it's clean, and then the second time they have one of the carts removed, and we require them to go through an educational step to get the cart back.

With mandatory recycling, eventually fines would be assessed.

We would start with a warning system, though, and gradually implementing low level fines to eventually match our MSW status.

One of the issues with the current multi-unit ordinance is that it says buildings must have adequate recycling, but there's no definition for adequate.

Is this the next slide?

Oh, sorry, yes.

Thanks.

Um, so there's no definition for adequate, but we know that they're like two ninety-gallon carts for a six-unit building or twenty-unit building isn't enough.

So in the next year, solid waste recycling and regulatory services will work together to amend multi-unit ordinances and licenses to address this issue.

Setting a volume limit and ordinance, like several other metro cities have already done, will help ensure adequate capacity at all multi-units for increased diversion.

The plan is for a requirement to go into effect in 2027 and provide education and assistance to property managers.

Fines for noncompliance would not be issued until 2028.

In addition to defining adequate regulatory services will work on updating the rental license to require multi-units to submit recycling plans as part of their licensing process.

This is a strategy that the city's climate equity plan.

To do this, reg services will need to evaluate their existing reporting system, determine fines for noncompliance, and determine the process for reviewing and approving the plans.

Piling and the mandatory recycling plans will happen in 2027.

The ordinance will be updated in 2028, and for effective date in 2029, with all new requirements.

There will be a period of education and support before citations will go into effect.

Both setting a defined recycling amount and requirement recycling plans will help reiterate to the property managers that recycling is the expectation and that it's valued by many residents, and that's their responsibility to provide and promote the recycling program.

Following the mandatory recycling is the future for potential mandatory organics.

Minneapolis residential organics program is seen as the best in the country for a high participation rate and low contamination of only one percent.

Moving forward too fast on mandatory organics would have the potential to negatively impact and losing the status and also resulting in higher processing fees due to increased contamination.

We have identified several necessary steps to take prior to evaluating mandatory organics for city service properties, and these include compliance with mandatory recycling, educational campaigns, and increased opportunities for reuse, repair, donation, and proper disposal of other materials, and a rate study to understand how building structure needs to change to incentivize waste reduction and participation in these programs.

Mandatory programs as stated earlier mean that instead of removing carts for contamination, residents would be fine.

There's no pre-sorting of organics before they go into a compost pile, so taking the time to rule out the mandatory organics program is essential not only in finding residents for the non-participational contamination, but also to reduce microplastics ending up in the finished compost as an increased cost due to rejected loads at the compost facility.

On the green to go update, as far as updating for the green to go ordinance, environmental health department, FLP already has this underway.

They're evaluating the to go ordinances from other metro cities, including St.

Louis Park, Edina, St.

Paul, and Roseville to prepare for future amendments in Minneapolis.

An example as an example of possible change is to require the entire item to be the same category.

So if a cup is compostable, then the lid should be compostable rather than one or the other being different from each other.

The goal is to amend the ordinance in 2026 and the changes to go into compliance in 2027.

Education and support for establishments to come into compliance will continue throughout.

Organics for recycling.

Requirement for multi-units.

As far as organics for multi-unit buildings is concerned, like in the residential sector, making organics mandatory at multi-units is not a good idea at this time.

There are significant barriers for traditional recycling and multi-unit buildings that should be addressed first, including capacity, participation, and reduce contamination.

Also implementing mandatory organics and multi-units result in a significant increased cost for property managers and frustrations by commercial composters due to contamination.

The zero waste climate equity plan includes a strategy to evaluate a way to require certain multi-units to offer recycling upon request of certain percentages of tenants.

So for example, if we had a 50% of the tenants in a six-unit building requesting organics, then we would proceed to bring it in place.

If you had a 200 unit building and 20% request, we would pursue the same in that avenue.

So it gives an opportunity to implement it slowly without increasing the contamination at an exponential rate.

Organic subversion requirements for certain food generators.

The climate legacy or climate equity plan also includes a strategy to develop a new ordinance supporting Hedeman County's ordinance 13 and require large generators of food scraps to have a diversion program.

This is another strategy where formal responsibility needs to be signed and additional discussions need to occur with county staff.

It's possible a similar ordinance in Minneapolis is not necessary if there's another way and method to inform Henry and County staff of food establishments not in compliance with ordinance 13 requirements.

Okay, moving to legislative directive number eight.

So this is on the status of the clean community fee study.

For multiple reasons, they all have some type of different funding mechanism to do this work.

So it was important that we found the different ways to look at it and find the best that would work for our city.

Zero waste funding mechanism study will be completed this year.

We should have the final draft by sometime in December.

Our plan would be in 2026 to share that study outcomes and determine the best approaches, and in 2027, work with the attorney's office to develop authority to implement and enforce recommendations.

Oh, sorry, I didn't have that slide up for you.

Reporting.

So the last component is regular reporting updates on the climate equity plan strategies will be reported regularly, updated regularly, either manually or semi-annually on the climate legacy or equity dashboard, which launched this past Tuesday.

Solid waste and recycling reports, residential metrics on outcomes Minneapolis Dashboard.

It's assumed the outcomes of Minneapolis will include reporting requirements for the CIM sectors after authority and responsibility for the sector has been determined.

So, in summary, the city and county have shared goals.

Determination and authority and responsibility over CIM sector is needed.

Zero waste funding mechanism study will be completed by the end of 2025.

Recycling awareness campaign will be launching soon.

An increased education and opportunities to reduce, reuse, recycle, and drop off difficult to recycle items are needed.

With that, I will conclude and stand for questions.

All right, thank you so much, Director Gerald.

Just to give a little background, we're looking into these report these reporting mechanisms and ask this from you because we are aggressively working to reduce our waste in the city so that we can shut down the incinerator that is taking on uh so much of the waste that comes through our our community and our inner residential and commercial sectors.

So I'm really grateful that you put the time in with your team to develop these metrics year by year until 2030 so that we can track our progress and align behind these goals together.

So thank you for that.

I think a couple of my biggest priority areas would be recycling in multifamily because there's so much volume in big buildings that's just a huge amount of waste that we can recycle and I ideally getting organics into multifamily as well and I'm wondering if there's any building requirement that we currently have that requires new buildings new apartment buildings that are being built in our city to have that capacity some of the new buildings I believe regulatory services now requiring shoots and different spaces for um commodities there's not we are I know our team's working with them to identify other areas for like reuse set asides we haven't come to agreement on that yet but we're working on those those ideas for finding more space and opportunity for different systems or different uh material types to be recycled.

Okay thanks and then the second area that I think is the big opportunity is organics at food establishments like restaurants for example and I know that we don't want to burden restaurants with too much that uh impacts their business model but I do think it's really important that if we have a green to go ordinance that we're creating the conditions for them to comply with it and one thing I'm curious about is whether there's a requirement for a building owner if you have a food establishment in your building to pay for and serve them with organics pickup because a lot of times folks go to a restaurant and they'll get a compostable container but then there's nowhere to dispose of it.

So I there is so if there's providing the to go containers they're required to have containers out front for those organics or those compostable materials to go into that's a requirement on their business license that I I would have to check and report back to on that one.

Okay we can we can talk offline about that because I'm interested in on more of like the building side of it not just the business license but requiring the building owner to provide that for their food establishment that's a their tenant.

I think we would be beneficial to include regulatory services in that conversation as well or maybe even health department too.

Okay.

Well thank you for the information uh is there anyone else on the committee who wanted to ask any questions of Director Gerald while he's here seeing none we'll uh go ahead and ask the clerk to file this report thank you so much and seeing no further business to come before the committee we are adjourned to the