Environmental Advisory Council Meeting

EAC August 15, 2023 Minutes Members in Attendance: George Mullikin, Grant Alger, Steven Nelson, P.R. West, David Reidel, Karen Graziano, Building and Zoning Director Karyn Hyland. Also in attendance were residents Linda and Dennis Book (10 Hillcrest Circle) and Borough Council member Curtis Cowgill. Call to Order: 6:33 pm Approval of Minutes July 18, 2023: Minutes were approved as submitted. Tick Awareness George asked if any action items were taken from the previous month’s meeting on ticks and Lyme Disease. Steve read through the brochures that were provided to the EAC. Steve believes the EAC can do something with regards to education and making people aware of tick-born diseases. There is a robust amount of information available. Steve thinks educating the public is something that should be considered, perhaps using the Farmer’s Market to help raise awareness. P.R. suggested sending a PSA reminder in a DMail in the spring to remind people to check themselves, their children, and pets, for ticks. The Penn State Extension also has a lot of useful information the EAC can link to. Ultimately, the content we provide to the public should focus more on prevention than information on Lyme Disease. George wants to create a list of sites to link to the EAC website. P.R. volunteered to create this list. The EAC agrees a “one-pager” is a good amount of information and can be used to refer people to other organizations, such as the CDC and Penn State Extension websites. Reports LCAP (Steve): The first LCAP steering committee met along with 2 Borough residents. We discussed our greenhouse gas emission inventory and what we hope to accomplish. We will meet again in mid- September. At that meeting, we will try to set a goal for greenhouse gas reduction, whether it is 0 by 2050 or some other date. We still hope to have a Drexel student for the Fall semester to help with our needs in creating this goal. Community engagement will also be discussed in the September meeting. Farmer’s Market (David): There is a lot of interest in the native plant giveaway. Approximately 80 plants were given away. We also ran out of reusable shopping bags. Most of the negative feedback in reference to the single- use bag ban has come from business owners, although the initiative has been well received by the public. There have been a few requests for extensions on adoption from various businesses. A lot of the vendors, specifically the ones selling produce, are exempt from the bag ban. George suggested the EAC table have a space for people to trade in plastic bags or a “bag-share” program. There was also a discussion about whether to purchase “give away” items such as reusable bags, and if so, how many bags should be purchases. Additionally, would a table cloth or some other display item help draw more attention to the EAC’s table at the Market. Outreach and Communication (Grant): Grant drafted web content related to the Borough’s operational initiatives. Karyn is confirming the information and will post to the website. Bird Town (Grant): Caitlin will work on distributing the Lights Out Initiative in DMail and other Borough social media channels. Grant provided the EAC with some information on how the Lights Out Initiative could work. Grant has confirmed the Justice Center is one of the only buildings in town that is heavily illuminated. The next migratory season is in March. Grant wants our green points system to consider bird friendly construction and bird-safe glass and has  examples of other municipalities ordinances. He would like this to be considered. Karyn mentioned people in the historic district wouldn’t be eligible for things like bird-safe windows and glass. Comprehensive Plan Update (P.R.) There isn’t much to report since the last Comp Plan meeting was in May of 2023. The next workshop/focus group meeting will be September 12 at 7:30. The principles have been tweaked a little bit and they are now generalized statements. Old/New Business: New Business: Ms. Book came to the meeting to discuss an issue concerning the water at her home. Ms. Book reports the water from the hose appears to be soapy and the tap water has a white hue. She has reached out to numerous testing facilities and has gotten a lot of run-around. Her chief concern is that the water coming out of the faucet is white. She would like to find a way to mitigate the concerns. Ms. Book has reached out to the mayor and to Jeremy Matozzo in the Water Department. Ms. Book was referred to Karyn Hyland to discuss these concerns further. Karyn explained the Borough tests the water that is put into the public drinking system and publish the reports on the Borough website. Property owners would hire testing specialists for concerns related to the house itself or factors beyond the Borough’s testing. Also under New Business, the EAC discussed the budget for 2024. The EAC will look into costs of supplies and include it in a budget request. Old Business: Open areas were brought back onto the table by Grant. There is still the question of whether open areas can be included in the Comp Plan. One thing that needs to be decided is the difference between an open area and open space. Additionally, what is the value of an open area? Adjournment: There being no further business to discuss, a motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 8:15 pm. Respectfully Submitted by: Erika Fellman Minutes Secretary