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Record of Proceedings

City Sustainability Commission Meeting: January 14, 2026

Boards and Commissions — Monday, January 19, 2026
BodyRochester, Minnesota
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateMonday, January 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:30:38

Original source
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0:03

Perfect.

0:04

Well, welcome everyone.

0:05

I'll call the meeting to order.

0:07

It is January 14th, 2026, 4:30 PM.

0:13

And we will go through roll call first.

0:20

We have some new members.

0:21

No, we'll be doing introductions in a bit, but Liam Arroyo present.

0:27

Seth Barons.

0:29

Edward Cohen.

0:30

Amy Cockett?

0:31

Here.

0:32

Amanda Holloway is present.

0:33

Tara Kinsey here.

0:35

Casey Asa McQueen here.

0:37

Brian Morgan.

0:38

Here.

0:39

And Stuart Rath.

0:40

Sure.

0:41

Excellent.

0:42

All right.

0:48

Liam.

0:50

Stuart.

0:53

Thank you.

0:54

And I understand that our consultants have a time, a bit of a time crunch.

1:00

So I'm going to make a motion to actually change the order of the agenda to move our new business five B so the discussion about regional indicators.

1:11

That we move that to first.

1:14

And then we'll proceed through the agenda as it's scheduled.

1:19

All in favor, please say aye.

1:20

Aye.

1:23

All right.

1:23

So we'll just kick things off with regional indicators and then we'll do uh introductions and celebrations of it.

1:33

All right.

1:33

And so question.

1:34

So we have our consultants online here.

1:36

Um start with a presentation from LHB and ask members to hold their questions until the end of the presentation.

1:43

We'll have some time for a question and answer.

1:46

And then commissioner comment period.

1:48

So if anyone has thoughts or feedback that they'd like to share about this discussion item.

1:52

Question for our consultants online.

1:55

Do you all want me to go through the slides on my end, or would you prefer to share your screen?

2:04

I think I think it would be easiest if we could share our screen if that's okay, Kayla.

2:10

Sure.

2:14

Can you please turn on sharing for this meeting?

2:19

Yes, you should be good to go.

2:23

Thank you.

2:31

Okay.

2:32

Can everyone see that there?

2:36

Now I see.

2:37

Yeah.

2:38

Yes.

2:39

Okay, great.

2:40

Thanks.

2:42

Well, thank you so much for inviting us.

2:44

Uh we've been here uh a few times, and so we're really happy to have the opportunity to share again this year.

2:53

Um I'll just do a quick intro for our team.

2:58

I'm Laureen Colburn with LHB.

3:02

I'm an architect and our climate solutions leader.

3:05

We are located in Minneapolis and Duluth.

3:08

And here with me is Becky Alexander, our technical advisor for the Regional Indicators Initiative, and Ingrid Sokup, our research assistant for the Regional Indicators Initiative and many other climate action projects.

3:35

We are very excited about that.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Sustainability Initiatives██████████████████████████████30%
Energy Independence███████████████████████████27%
Procedural███████████████15%
Environmental Protection████████8%
Public Transportation████████8%
Waste Management████4%
Public Engagement████4%
Community Engagement██2%
Water And Wastewater Management█1%
Summary of Proceedings

City Sustainability Commission Meeting: January 14, 2026

The City Sustainability Commission convened on January 14, 2026, to conduct a presentation on the Regional Indicators Initiative, welcome new members, approve the 2026 work plan, and hold officer elections. The meeting featured a comprehensive data review regarding Rochester's energy, travel, and waste emissions, followed by community engagement updates on the natural gas franchise fee project. The session concluded with the election of new officers and the approval of the upcoming work plan.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the minutes from the December 2025 meeting without objection.
  • Approved the 2026 Sustainability Division Work Plan by majority vote, which includes 18 priority items with updated greenhouse gas reduction impact rankings for each.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • A public comment was solicited; no comments were submitted by any members of the public or online attendees (specifically Chris).
  • Commissioner Amy Cockett expressed full support for advancing the sustainability commission's work and urged alignment with the Mayor's priorities regarding multimodal transportation.
  • Commissioner Stuart Rath expressed a position focused on the 'people problem' in sustainability, viewing the role as one of change management and communication rather than a science problem, and offered his consulting expertise to support the commission.

Discussion Items

Regional Indicators Initiative Presentation

  • Consultants from LHB presented data on Rochester's greenhouse gas emissions. They noted that total emissions have decreased by 29% since 2007, with a 4% decrease between 2023 and 2024.
  • Commissioner Amy Cockett stated she was surprised that Rochester's electricity use appears low, questioning the data given the prevalence of electric vehicles and gadgets.
  • Consultant Becky Alexander clarified the data sources, noting that vehicle miles traveled data comes from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and fuel economy data is based on national averages.
  • Commissioner Amy questioned the methodology regarding travel emissions, asking if the data counts travel entirely within city limits versus commutes passing through, suspecting Rochester's lower travel emissions might be due to its self-contained nature compared to suburbs.
  • Commissioner Edward Cohen questioned why the baseline is set at 2007 rather than a year more aligned with current scientific methods (e.g., 2015).
  • Consultants explained the 2007 baseline was used because they began collecting Rochester's data back to 2008 and wanted to align with historical statewide goals, though they emphasized cities can choose their own baselines for local reporting.

2026 Work Plan Discussion

  • Staff updates highlighted that the commission has 18 priority items for 2026, an increase from the previous year. Commissioner Edward Cohen noted the document was "enormous" but essential.
  • Commissioner Stuart Rath expressed that the volume of items was "overwhelming" and asked for clarification on prioritization and risk/reward assessments.
  • Commissioner Terry Kinsey suggested aligning commission priorities with the Mayor's stated priorities, specifically regarding multimodal transportation challenges, to secure moral support and visibility.
  • Commissioner Sean Barons moved for approval of the work plan, noting the ambitious nature of the goals.

Natural Gas Franchise Fee Project

  • Staff announced the launch of the project website and the start of the community engagement phase through early March. Sessions are scheduled for February 3rd (in-person) and February 12th (virtual).
  • Commissioner Stuart Rath requested talking points to advocate for the fee against potential public opposition regarding increased costs. Staff directed the commission to the project website for FAQs, bill estimators, and a list of over 62 other Minnesota cities with similar fees.

Key Outcomes

  • Officer Elections:
    • Terry Kinsey was elected as the new Chair for the 2026 term (February 2026 – January 2027).
    • Casey McQuaid (Ace) was elected as the new Vice Chair for the 2026 term.
    • Seth Barons withdrew his nomination for Chair but continues to serve as a commissioner.
  • Strategic Directives:
    • The 2026 Sustainability Work Plan was officially adopted.
    • The commission agreed to act as advocates for the Natural Gas Franchise Fee, directing the public to the project website for detailed data and impact estimates.
  • Upcoming Meeting:
    • The February meeting is scheduled for the last week of the month, focusing on the Natural Gas Franchise Fee engagement feedback and the sustainability newsletter spotlight.

Meeting Transcript

Perfect. Well, welcome everyone. I'll call the meeting to order. It is January 14th, 2026, 4:30 PM. And we will go through roll call first. We have some new members. No, we'll be doing introductions in a bit, but Liam Arroyo present. Seth Barons. Edward Cohen. Amy Cockett? Here. Amanda Holloway is present. Tara Kinsey here. Casey Asa McQueen here. Brian Morgan. Here. And Stuart Rath. Sure. Excellent. All right. Liam. Stuart. Thank you. And I understand that our consultants have a time, a bit of a time crunch. So I'm going to make a motion to actually change the order of the agenda to move our new business five B so the discussion about regional indicators. That we move that to first. And then we'll proceed through the agenda as it's scheduled. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All right. So we'll just kick things off with regional indicators and then we'll do uh introductions and celebrations of it. All right. And so question. So we have our consultants online here. Um start with a presentation from LHB and ask members to hold their questions until the end of the presentation. We'll have some time for a question and answer. And then commissioner comment period. So if anyone has thoughts or feedback that they'd like to share about this discussion item. Question for our consultants online. Do you all want me to go through the slides on my end, or would you prefer to share your screen? I think I think it would be easiest if we could share our screen if that's okay, Kayla. Sure. Can you please turn on sharing for this meeting? Yes, you should be good to go. Thank you. Okay. Can everyone see that there? Now I see. Yeah. Yes.

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