Bordentown City Environmental Commission

BCEC MINUTES - Meeting of March 9, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. via zoom Submitted by Lynn Robinson --Meeting was called to order at 7:05pm. --Present at meeting: Joel Dowshen, Ralph Tolemeo, Lauaren Drumn, Mike MacEwan, Dan Preston, Ralph Simon, Cathy Elliot-Shaw, Lynn Robinson --Minutes of the last meeting were approved. Priority Items ◼ EV Charging Stations The City plans to have two charging stations. --AARP Community Challenge Grant Program There is no update on this project. --Planning Board Report: Comprehensive Plan Survey - A survey will be posted on the website to allow more residents to have input in the comprehensive plan. -- Status of Ocean Spray Development Now that the Ocean Spray Property has a new owner the plans may change. There is speculation that the new owner may want to go in the direction of Cannibus distribution. --Point Breeze (Divine Word) The City Hall portion is going well. It may be ready in the spring or early summer with the administration portion. The City is still waiting for a permit approval from the state for the Police Station. The state still plans on demolishing building #3 by late spring or early summer. There is a sewer problem in the gym. Presently they are exploring the cause. --D&R Greenway & Abbott Marshland Reports Cathy Elliot-Shaw is now a member of the Abbott Marshlands Council. This is a non- profit stand alone organization. BCEC members are invited to join at a cost of $35. --BCEC & Green Team Membership Recruitment The Mayor is promoting new membership but so far no new recruits. It was suggested that we do a write up in the city newsletter about the Green Team recruitment. Lauren Drumn has volunteered to draft something. --2022 BCEC Budget Cathy Elliot-Shaw went to a Webinar which was paid for by our budget. We have also paid our ANJAC dues through our budget. So far we have spent around $1,000. The Webinar that Cathy attended was Sustainable Landscaping and consisted of a selection of four speakers who had experience in doing landscaping. Good feedback on do’s and don’ts with native plants. Return to In-Person Ralph asked if we were ready to go back to regular in-person meetings. No one opposed so our next meeting will be in person at Carslake Community Center. 2022 Initiatives --Sustainable NJ/Green Team re-certification Cathy met with Joe Myers and others. They went through some of the action items to be written. Grace will be the point person. Sruti will be the point person to write the summaries. Some of the categories are Environmental, Economic, Social, Creativity, and Public Safety. It will be more of a municipal effort with BCEC contributing and assisting. For example, the Green Fair will be under the BCEC. Kathy, Dan, and Ralph T attended the Township environmental meeting. The Township will do the Rain Barrel workshop with us. Each attendee will pay the $45. -2022 Green Fair status report A new sign was ordered for the Green Fair. The City said we can use the shuttle to assit with the parking problem. Cathy said we have a good division of labor this year. The plans are coming along. We must decide on some topics that we want to promote at our table…. maybe give away seeds. Also we need to think of some family oriented projects. --Invasive species remediation—both insect (SLF) & vegetation An Eptomologist from the Township will come and lecture on the SLF. If there are sites in the Township we can help them. Cathy spotted some in the Carslake Community Center area. Dan will set up a meeting with Peggy for more discussion on how we might be able to proceed with this project. --Plastic Bag Collection In order to get a bench we must have 500 pounds of plastic. We probably can get two benches because the Township is willing to give us their extra bags. (We will table this project until we get more information.) --May Street Fair We must decide what do we want to promote during the street fair. It was suggested that we promote something with the ERI. We could do a poster board to display the ERI. We could get points by doing a challenge and counting how many people actually participate… maybe something with invasive species. We need two green challenges. Suggestions: Replacing old light bulbs with energy efficient light bulbs; checking your yard for English Ivy. --Social Media Firm The Township has a Social Media Firm that they are willing to share with us when we are doing projects together. --Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) Hoping to have ERI finished by May. --Pedestrian and Bicycle crossings of Rte 130 & 206 The Township has a interest in this area so perhaps we can meet together. It could be a long term committee. Short term we could do a bike rack. Perhaps put a bike rack in the city and at Crystal Lake Park. A 1st Pilot at Crystal Lake and a 2nd Pilot could be within the city. One of the first areas could be at the bus stop. (Bike Share – Lauren will look for a corporate sponsor.)  --Earth Talks/Clean Ups We should look around for someplace to clean up….. maybe the beach. Lime Kilm Garden can be a small group project maybe for late April or early May. --NJ ban on plastics (bags & straws)--Publicity? (no comments) --BCEC Storage area Clean Up and Organization (on hold) 2022 BCEC Calendar of Events Our calendar of events is up to date. We can register people from our website. We have an extensive email list to make direct contact and get fast feedback. Joel says that is easy to do. It was also suggested that we can do the SLF egg hunt and clean up on the same day. Perhaps the Girl Scouts may want to help. Joel can put this information on the Website. --Saturday, March 19—Spotted Lantern Fly Egg Hunt (10 a.m-?) --Saturday, April 9--City Shade Tree Commission annual tree planting --Friday, April 22—EARTH DAY...Plans?? Publicity?? --Saturday, April 23—Rain Barrel Workshop at Carslake (10 a.m.-noon) --Saturdays, May 7 & Oct 8—9am--Paper Shredder co-sponsored w Township --Wednesday in May 11—at noon at Carslake--Annual Public Works Pizza Party --Saturday, May 21 & Sunday, May 22—Street Fair (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) --Saturday, June 4 & Sunday, June 5—Citywide yard sale --Saturday, June 11—Green Fair --Saturday, October 1 & Sunday, October 2 –Cran Fest (10 a.m.-4 p.m.) Quarterly Check-In Report (Q1 in March, Q2 in June, Q3 in Sept, Q4 in Dec) Representatives of these subcommittees/initiatives will present a status report on a quarterly basis. --Farmer’s Market No update yet. --Community Garden – There will be a report next month. Applications are coming in. --Pizza Box Recycling This project is going well. *****PUBLIC COMMENT**** John Brodowski had comments and suggestions during this period. - Suggested 2 areas for clean up. (Elizabeth Street by Empire Pizza and an area near Ann Street.) --Mentioned that state money is set aside for pedestrian projects. He will send a link to Joel and Lauren --Said there is money available for Solar study and maybe the BCEC could look into it. --Stated that the Streetscape and Parking Study will have a steering committee along with a consultant. He was hopeful that BCEC will have some input in the planning. Meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm. Next meeting: WEDNESDAY, April 13, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. at Carslake.