Environmental Advisory Council

EAC February 18, 2025 Minutes Members in Attendance: Steven Nelson, David Reidel, Grant Alger, Jason Wood, Dan Ford, Patrick DeBiasse, and Building and Zoning Director Karyn Hyland. Borough Council Member Dennis Livrone was also present. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:32 pm. Approval of Minutes January 21, 2025: Minutes were approved. Goal: Grant used the opportunity of reorganization to reevaluate the EAC's goals. This is a good time to recap who leads each report and goal. The members gave an overview of each report for the new members. Reports: Farmer’s Market/Outreach & Communication: There is nothing new to report. Earth Day: Dan provided the Earth Day report. Caitlin will organize the children’s activities, and Dan will work with the event volunteers. One activity will be a pinecone bird feeder. Caitlin will develop a passport to encourage families to participate in each vendor station. Caitlin is also in talks with a local beekeeper for a presentation. Nook Nook will be there performing music. Several ideas for the event include making planters with native plants for the park, identifying native plants in the park, and a bird walk in the morning, before the event begins. A lengthy discussion centered around food trucks and the timing event also happened. It was decided to stick with the 10–12-time frame, food trucks are to be determined. DCAP: Steve gave an update on the DCAP. A few pieces of modeling still need to be completed, and the document is being formatted. Once finalized, the subcommittee will present it to the EAC, which will then forward it to the Environment & Recreation Committee of Council with a request to present it at a promoted public meeting and to the Planning Commission for consideration as an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. Bird Town: Grant submitted the report with activities to maintain Bird Town status. The Bird Town secretary asked whether enough volunteers were involved with our activities to maintain our status. Comprehensive Plan Update: Karyn reported the Comp Plan has been opened for a 45-day public comment period and is scheduled to be considered for adoption by the Borough Council at their March 17, 2025 meeting. Index of Open Areas: Dan shared the list and explained how he organized the index. He will also share the URL he created to host all the information. Grant suggested an action point on the map, which could be a list of private yards that are habitat-, bird-, or pollinator-certified yards. One goal for the Index is to create a map, and the second is to establish how the information can benefit the various planning considerations throughout the Borough. Old/New Business: Under new business, Dennis Livrone will attend meetings as a liaison to the Borough Council. He discussed the positive relations between the EAC and the ERC, the committee he sits on. Grant notified the members that an attendee at the recent Comprehensive Plan meeting is working on a capstone project for school. The scope includes evaluating ebike share programs and whether it would be a good fit for the Borough. Adjournment: With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:42 pm. Respectfully Submitted by: Erika Fellman Minutes Secretary