Environmental Advisory Council Meeting

EAC November 21, 2023 Minutes Members in Attendance: George Mullikin, Grant Alger, Steven Nelson, David Reidel, Dan Ford, and Building and Zoning Director Karyn Hyland. Borough Council Member Wendy Margolis was also in attendance. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm Approval of Minutes October 17, 2023: Minutes were approved as submitted. Community Choice Aggregation Presentation: Dennis Rowan from the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) gave a presentation. A CCA enables municipalities to become representatives of their participating residents to procure electric power. CCA for PA has taken the position that PA Boroughs can participate and will soon notify the PUC. Mr. Rowan explained how the CCA program would work for Doylestown Borough and gave the EAC a timeline and outline for how they initiate the process if it is something the Borough would be interested in. He asked that the members present to consider their options before making decisions. Mr. Rowan also gave many examples of places throughout the Northeastern US that already have CCA programs and how energy choice works. After Mr. Rowan left, the EAC held a lengthy discussion weighing the pros and cons of the proposal. The EAC decided not to take any action at this time. Steve Nelson suggested they take some time to explore the process. Reports DCAP (Steve): A list of possible actions will be developed. A revised timeline with more detail has been created and is in Google Drive for the members to review. The steering committee will meet with students in the Environmental Club from CB West High School. Farmer’s Market (Dan): There was some interest from the public at the last Farmer’s Market to join the EAC. Two residents will meet with the EAC to see if they are a good fit. Dan wants to take the off- season from the Farmer’s Market to become better organized before the upcoming season. Outreach and Communication: Some discussion took place around how to reach out to the public about EAC initiatives. It is agreed that there are better places and events at which the EAC can be present other than the Farmer’s Market. Dan wanted to look at other opportunities, such as Pride Fest, to reach the target audience of the EAC better. Bird Town (Grant): The annual Bird Town Summit occurred recently. There is a DCNR grant available for Bird Town. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding finding grants and which ones are worth applying for. Dan suggested some organizational ideas for sorting through grant options. Comprehensive Plan Update (Steve): The Planning Commission reviews facilitator notes of the focus areas. Once this process is completed, another workshop meeting will be scheduled to discuss ways to accomplish the suggested actions. Index of Open Areas (Grant): This was approved by the Environment and Recreation Committee. Ms. Margolis confirmed that the EAC can begin working with this program immediately. Old/New Business: The topic of activities for 2024 came up during the reports. An idea was floated for an Earth Day activity of clearing non-native species from Harts Woods, which would involve a partnership and approval from non-borough organizations. The EAC will revisit this topic and others in the new year. Solar panels are a capital budget item requiring further research to determine prices. The EAC agrees they can help with some groundwork in getting quotes from various installers. Steve wants to look into options for using grants to help offset the costs of installing solar on Borough Hall. The EAC network will be hosting a virtual conference in late February. The EAC was asked if they are interested in submitting a proposal for a lightning session. It would be about 5 to 8 minutes long and 3 to 5 slides on any topic we choose. Steve suggested maybe they could do something about the plastic bag ban. The members present at the meeting think this is a good idea since this is already a completed project. Adjournment: With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm. Respectfully Submitted by: Erika Fellman Minutes Secretary