Environmental Advisory Council

EAC May 21, 2024 Minutes Members in Attendance: Grant Alger, Steven Nelson, David Reidel, Karen Graziano, PR West, and Building and Zoning Director Karyn Hyland. Council Member Dennis Livrone was also in attendance. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:34 pm. Approval of Minutes April 16, 2024: Minutes were approved. Regional Benchmarking Program: The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) reached out to Doylestown Borough, offering an opportunity to participate in a pilot Regional Benchmarking Program. This program, essentially an energy usage inventory of commercial buildings throughout the municipality, aims to publicize the results and encourage energy efficiency. The DVRPC's legal counsel is reviewing the component that would require private property owners to participate, a crucial aspect still in progress. Considering this, the DVRPC has invited interested municipalities to initiate the inventory with their buildings. For Doylestown, this would involve Borough Hall, Public Works, and potentially the Fanny Chapman Pool building. Karyn Steve made the motion, seconded by PR, to recommend the Borough participate in the DVRPC’s program to benchmark Borough Buildings. Reports Farmer’s Market/Outreach & Communication (Grant): The Earth Day program was active during the event. David will send thank you notes to the businesses participating in the event. On the topic of the Farmer’s Market, a preliminary schedule was set for members to be at the table at the market on the first Saturday of the month during the Farmer’s Market season. A different theme will help draw people to the EAC’s table each month. DCAP (Steve): Steve provided an update on the DCAP, including identifying various priorities of the plan, the survey, and actions that still need to be taken. The members held a conversation, debating the different aspects of the plan and how they can be measurable and attainable goals. Bird Town (Grant): No report Comprehensive Plan Update (P.R.): PR updated the EAC on the draft document Lynn Bush of the Planning Commission wrote. Karyn added additional information about the upcoming Comprehensive Plan meeting on June 11 and what the Borough is expecting to receive from the consultants from the County’s Planning Commission. Index of Open Areas: Karyn let the members know this was brought up as a part of the Comp Plan. Old/New Business: Under Old Business, the group debriefed on the Earth Day event. There was a lot of positive feedback on the overall event, from the number of volunteers to the education and information offered. Other groups have offered to volunteer time for future Earth Day events should the Borough decide to have another more significant scaled event for Earth Day. Planning for the next Earth Day event should begin sooner, perhaps in October. Also, under Old Business, Steve wanted to return to ticks and Lyme disease and how awareness and education can be increased. It was decided that a “tick awareness” DMail should be sent to Borough residents. Under the topic of New Business, during the Earth Day event, it was noted that mugwort, an invasive plant, has become prevalent in the rain garden at Broad Commons. Karen G. let the members know it looks like a chrysanthemum and it is best to remediate it during the spring months. The best way to deal with it is to pull it out. It was agreed upon this could be an activity for the community to bring their gloves and help remove the invasive weeds from the rain garden. There is no date for this activity; perhaps a weekend day in June would work. Adjournment: With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm. Respectfully Submitted by: Erika Fellman Minutes Secretary