Sustainability and Resiliency Commission Meeting - March 23, 2026
Sustainability and Resiliency Commission Meeting - March 23, 2026
The Sustainability and Resiliency Commission met on March 23, 2026, to discuss the natural gas franchise fee engagement, appoint members to support 2026 sustainability events, and receive staff updates. The meeting lasted from 4:31 p.m. to 5:57 p.m. with eight members present and one absent.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the February meeting minutes unanimously (8 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the open comment period.
Discussion Items
- Natural Gas Franchise Fee Engagement (Old Business): Staff (Kayla) presented an overview of a potential natural gas franchise fee on Minnesota Energy Resources bills. Three fee structures were discussed: a flat monthly fee ($2 residential, $5 commercial; estimated $1.1–1.4M annual revenue), a per-therm fee (3 cents/therm; estimated $3.1M annual revenue), and a tiered flat fee ($2 residential, $5/$15/$120 commercial based on size; estimated $1.1–1.4M annual revenue). The engagement period ends March 28, 2026, with a city council study session scheduled for April 13, 2026. Commissioners shared feedback: Brian Morgan expressed strong support for the per-therm fee, citing fairness and behavior change; Seth Behrends noted potential disproportionate impact on low-income apartment dwellers under a flat fee; Stewart Rassier preferred the per-therm or tiered fee, emphasizing community benefit allocation; Amanda Holloway urged fairness and equity but noted only 4% of peer cities use per-therm; Liam Arroyo advocated for per-therm to incentivize conservation; Terri Kinzy warned of public pushback due to rising natural gas prices and distrust after the sports center debate, urging specific program details.
- 2026 Sustainability Events – SRC Participation (New Business): Commissioners discussed staffing two events: Arbor Day Celebration (Friday, April 24, 2026, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., at McQuillan Field Park) to assist with stormwater mini-golf activities, and Earth Fest (Saturday, May 2, 2026, 9 a.m.–2 p.m., at St. Mary’s University) to staff a city sustainability table. Multiple commissioners volunteered for Arbor Day (Terri, Brian, Seth, Dan, and others) and Earth Fest shifts.
- Staff Updates: Staff announced the rebranding of the Healthy Air and Homes Initiative to “Healthy Home Helpers,” updates on the Air Quality Alliance (including a participatory science component), a $50,000 Healthy Institutional Communities Award for a “Move to the Market” program, and a survey for the Rochester Regional Sports Center programming. The spring Adopt-a-Drain program and upcoming candidate training events were also highlighted.
Key Outcomes
- The commission unanimously approved the February meeting minutes.
- No formal action was taken on the natural gas franchise fee; the discussion will inform a recommendation letter to city council at the next meeting.
- Commissioners volunteered to staff the Arbor Day and Earth Fest events; staff will coordinate schedules via email.
- Staff will present a draft recommendation report on the franchise fee at the April commission meeting, with the final city council session on April 13, 2026.
- The meeting adjourned at 5:57 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Well, welcome to the uh March Sustainability and Resiliency Commission meeting. Um, we're going to call the meeting to order and start with a roll call uh vote of the attendees, Seth Fairens. Present. Amy? Here. Amanda Holloway present. Terry Kinsey here, Casey McQueen's here. Edward Cohen is out of town since um Brian Morgan? Leah Arroyo? Here. Stuart, Risier. All right, great. So do we have anyone on uh oh, we're gonna approve the February minutes. The February amendments were included in the package that you received in advance of the meeting that were posted on the website for the general public. Or were there any additions or corrections to the minutes? Not see not seeing any. I move to approve the minutes. Move to approve. I second vote. Second, all in favor? Anyone opposed to the minutes? No, good. Okay. Do we have anyone online? We have one person present. So our open comment period is an opportunity for the public to provide comments to the commission regarding items not in the agenda. The commission will not discuss or take action on them. According to the advisory board, committee, and commission rules of procedure and operation, each speaker is limited to four minutes, and there's a 15 minute limit for open comments uh on the agenda. Uh anyone like to make any comments? No, right now, thank you. Okay. All right. So our moving right along. All right, next item on the agenda under old business is the natural gas franchise fee engagement, which we I think we've talked about for the last maybe three meetings for the meeting for a while. So on topic. It is yes. Thank you. So ready to go? Right. And if just wanted to mention, we just open those windows to cool it down in here. So if it gets too loud, or if you want to close the windows, feel free. Um, so we'll start with the presentation. Um we'll be talking about the gas franchise fee both at this month's meeting and next month's meetings. And so, really, because we're actually you all are the last engagement um official community engagement um event of the engagement period, we're leaving the online survey open through Friday at 5 p.m. And then we as of Friday at 5 p.m., kind of the engagement period of this project is wrapped up after that. So, what that means is for the next few weeks, there'll be kind of analyzing all the data from both the online survey, all the community events that we've presented to, feedback from you know the in-person events, virtual events, small group events, things like that, and drafting a recommendation report to city council. Um, we are scheduled for the city council study session to talk about the results of the engagement period on Monday, April 13th. Um, and so if you think about the timeline of XRC next month, our meeting is the meet before that. So it'll be Wednesday the 8th, I believe. Um, but the council packet isn't published until after that.
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