Bordentown City Environmental Commission

BCEC Meeting Minutes of December 14. 2022 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom The meeting was called to order by chairperson Ralph Tolomeo at 7:06pm. Members present: Ralph Tolomeo, Joel Dowshen, Mike MacEwan, Cathy Shaw, Lynn Robinson Visitors: Dan Aubrey, Liz Backman (Environmental Science Teacher), Chloe Arnold (Student) Introduction: --Liz Backman wanted to know what the Environmental Commission is all about. Ralph and Cathy explained that our group gets involved with the local government and community to help make the city a better place. Ralph named our activities. They gave a synopsis of what we have done all year. They also explained that we are not a policy making group. Liz said if we needed volunteers, she has many student volunteers who would like to help out with some of our activities. -Chloe who is a senior at the high school will be majoring in Environmental Science when she graduates and might be interested in working with us. --Dan is a Bordentown resident who is interested in sound related issues. He is a writer. He has stated that noise pollution is destructive and unhealthy. Current Items --BCEC Meeting venues for 2023: In person at Carslake or via zoom or both??? The majority vote was that we stay with Zoom through March and revisit this question again for April. --Pumpkin Recycling Collection Update The Pumpkin recycle is complete and was successful again this year. Last year we collected about 8,000 pounds. This year we collected approximately 5,000 pounds. Farmers Against Hunger helped us by collecting the pumpkins however someone other than those farmers took quite a bit of the pumpkins. We do not know who took them but we will be investigating just so we are aware of who else might want the pumpkins in the future. --Sustainable NJ/Green Team status— Cathy will be working with South Jersey Sustainable Alliance. This is a hub for Green Teams and Environmental Commissions. Cathy will be working in the area of food waste reduction by helping the community to be more aware of their household vegetation waste and better ways to utilize it so it does not go in the garbage. Liz Backman suggested she could help in this area by teaching units on food waste reduction in her Science classes and sharing with other Science teachers. --Awards Luncheon Recap Bordentown received the Small Community Champion Award for sustainable NJ. There are 450 of the 560 communities enrolled in the program. There is a menu of things a city can do, and the city receives a certain amount of points for each item completed. Bordentown City is certified at the Silver Level which is a higher level. Hopefully we can display our awards in the new city hall. Many of the communities bring several people to the luncheon. Bordentown only had two representatives. Cathy suggested it would be nice if more members attended the awards luncheon in the future. -- --Planning Board Report: BCEC Participation on Planning & Zoning Board Applications City waterfront zone meetings The Waterfront Zone runs from the NJ Transit to the Point Breeze Property. It is mostly single family residential. The Planning/Zoning Board is considering redefining this area as a waterfront zone. This would allow for future uses that would be appropriate for that area. Next the application will go to the commissioners for review and adoption. --D&R Greenway & Abbott Marshland Reports D & R Greenway has put a couple of sculptures on the grounds. The state will do a permanent signage at the entrance of the property with names of all stakeholders. We can coordinate some clean up events with volunteers, but we must be sure volunteers know what they are needed to do. --BCEC & Green Team Membership Recruitment High School Student “Membership/Participation” in BCEC --2022 BCEC Budget There is $200 left in the budget. The hand truck was processed and paid for. We were unaware that we had to use money from our budget to pay for the City Engineer who did the storm water calculations needed for the report on the NJ Sustainability Application. --FEBRUARY 13 – COMMISSIONER’S MEETING – Mike Van Clef, (the person the city hired to do a survey on the invasive species in Bordentown and how to eliminate them) will give a presentation 2022 Initiatives --Invasive species remediation—both insect (SLF) & vegetation Tabled until next month.  --Pedestrian and Bicycle crossings of Rte. 130 & 206 Set aside for later --Hilltop Park Native Planting & Plant Identification Markers This will take place in the spring --Storm water downspout planters & materials Storm water planters are complete Snow fence put around the library native plant garden --BCEC Storage area Clean Up and Organization Would like to have a storage area in the new city hall area that is open during business hours. 2023 Calendar of Events --City Shade Tree Commission Tree Planting day—Saturday in April TBA --Earth Day...Saturday, April 22 It was suggested that we have a plant sale at Carslake Community Center along with a Green House and Garden Tour using a self guided map. Solicit anybody who has something sustainable about their home or garden. Also, an Earth Talk about sustainable landscaping to round out the package of events. --Paper Shredder Co-op with Township...Saturday, May 6—9 a.m. to noon Saturday, October 1—9 a.m.to noon --Street Fair—Saturday, May 20 (rain date Sunday, May 21) ...9 a.m. To 5 p.m. --Annual Public Works Pizza Party—Wednesday in May TBA --Green Fair—Saturday, June 10...10 a.m. To 4 p.m. --Cranberry Festival—Saturday & Sunday, October 6 & 7...9 a.m. To 5 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT (throughout meeting) Meeting adjourned 8:05pm. Next meeting: WEDNESDAY, January 11, 2023 at 7:00 via Zoom Submitted by Lynn Robinson