Environmental Commission

Madison  Environmental  Commission   Meeting  Minutes—August  30,  2012     Call  to  order  and  Open  Public  Meetings  Statement  at  7:30pm.   PRESENT:    Jeff  Gertler,  Jim  Greene,  Susan  Niculescu,  Roy  Redmond,  Jeff  Sarrett  ,  Stephan  Stocker,  Betsy   Uhlman,  Claire  Whitcomb.   ABSENT:  Missy  Durham,  Don  Links  (Council  Liaison).     Minutes:  The  minutes  of  the  meeting  of  June  28,  2012  were  approved  with  changes.   Guests:    Bob  Vogel,  Town  Engineer.   Mail  received:    NJ  Local  Government  Guest  Book.   Discussion:   1. Solar  Power  and  Municipal  Utility:  Steve  Stocker  reported  that  net  metering  (for  those  with  solar   panels)  is  now  in  effect.  However,  the  payback  period  on  solar  panels  is  still  about  15  years.  It  is   unlikely  that  a  solar  array  on  a  house  will  produce  adequate  power  to  supply  the  house  and   return  some  to  the  town.  Resolved  to  disseminate  information  on  Bottle  Hill  Day.   2. Water  Pollution:  Betsy  Uhlman  noted  the  recent  report  from  the  town  regarding  pollution  of  our   water  supply.  Bob  Vogel  joined  the  meeting  at  this  time  and  stated  that  the  pollution  was   coliform  bacteria  which  are  not  an  issue  but  are  indicative  that  there  might  be  some  other   issues.  He  noted  that  there  were  two  wells  where  the  chlorine  chemical  feed  systems  (which   take  care  of  bacterial  pollution)  had  been  eroded  and  needed  to  be  replaced.  They  are  now   replaced.     3. Storm  water  Management  at  the  MRC:    Bob  Vogel  presented  the  status  of  the  investigation  of   pollution  at  the  49  acres.  PK  delivered  a  report  on  the  area  adjacent  to  the  Board  of  Education   Property  (at  the  entrance  from  Ridgedale  Rd),  the  scattered  piles  on  the  site,  and  an  area  close   to  Burnet  Rd.  The  only  area  of  concern  is  the  area  by  the  entrance  where  there  is  arsenic,   presumably  from  an  old  greenhouse  at  that  location.  The  options  for  mitigation  are  either  to   fence  off  the  area,  cap  it,  or  dig  it  out.  The  first  option  is  the  only  one  that  will  preserve  the   trees.  The  pollution  has  no  impact  on  the  groundwater.  There  is  a  fourth  area  of  concern:  the   large  pile  of  fill  at  the  rear  of  the  site  near  the  AT&T  property.  This  fill  was  cut  and  dumped  there   by  the  NJ  DOT/MTA  during  the  construction  of  Rte.  24.  It  is  a  capped  pile  of  construction  debris.   PK  was  not  helpful  regarding  the  fill  pile.  Metalloy  (another  environmental  consultant)  has   indicated  that  they  can  solve  the  problem  so  they  may  be  given  the  contract  for  this  issue.  The   hill  of  capped  fill  and  debris  is  about  40  foot  high  and  covers  about  three  acres.  Jim  Greene   1      noted  that  there  is  no  reason  not  to  test  the  runoff  from  the  fields  at  this  time.  Bob  Vogel   agreed.  Betsy  Uhlman  asked  about  the  status  of  the  modifications  to  the  drainage  from  the   fields.  Bob  Vogel  reported  that  Sandy  Kolakowski  and  Jeremiah  Bergstrom  did  a  summary  of   what  need  to  be  done  to  complete  the  work.  The  drains  have  now  been  reset  at  the  correct   elevation.  Still  to  be  completed  are  the  cleaning  up  of  silt  deposited  by  construction  runoff   around  the  field  house,  and  the  stabilizing  of  the  uphill  slope.  This  will  be  done  as  soon  as  the   last  construction  item  (the  concrete  paths)  is  completed.  Then  the  entire  area  will  be  covered   with  topsoil  and  seeded  for  grass.  Also  still  in  progress  are  the  digging  out  of  the  basins  of  the   rain  gardens  in  order  to  place  the  gravel  that  was  specified  to  be  located  at  the  bottom  but  was   omitted  during  construction.  Then  new  augmented  soil  and  new  plantings  will  be  placed  and   planted.  There  is  a  proposal  from  the  NJ  Tree  Company  to  do  this  work.  The  proposal  is  for   $4,000  of  which  about  $2,000  can  and  will  be  done  by  the  Borough  Public  Works  Department.   4. Other  areas  of  contamination:  Bob  Vogel  reported  progress  on  the  other  areas  of  pollution:  At   the  Bayley  Ellard  Fields  PK  has  been  asked  to  provide  a  proposal  for  remediation.  The  Borough   has  provided  a  plan  which  includes  multipurpose  fields,  parking  and  fencing.    The  plan  is  well   developed  and  has  been  reviewed.    At  the  Hartley  Dodge  building  there  is  a  20  year  old   underground  tank  to  the  rear  of  the  building,  under  the  cobblestone  drive,  which  was  removed   and  the  area  was  decontaminated.  However  it  appears  that  there  is  still  some  contamination   there.  It  is  possible  that  there  is  another  chamber  of  tank  that  was  not  previously  known  about.   It  is  possible  that  further  excavation  and  disposal  of  soil  may  be  necessary.  At  the  Walgreens  site   post  excavation  sampling  was  done  and  the  site  itself  is  now  cleaned.  At  this  time  sampling  and   testing  is  being  done  around  the  site.  It  will  be  complete  in  30  days.  Will  then  know  what  the   next  step  should  be.   5. Anti-­‐Idling  Measures:  Jim  Greene  reported  that  the  resolution  he  drafted  was  sent  to  the   Council.  However,  it  is  necessary  to  continue  to  educate  the  public  as  to  the  importance  of  anti-­‐   idling  since  merely  passing  a  resolution  and  putting  up  signs  seems  to  have  little  effect.  Jeff   Sarrett  noted  that  since  the  law  provides  no  penalty  it  is  difficult  to  enforce.  Claire  Whitcomb   discussed  better  informing  the  children  at  the  schools  on  the  subject  of  idling  and  respiratory   problems  with  a  view  to  educating  their  parents.  She  wondered  if  it  was  possible  to  ask  the   police  to  send  out  a  “back  to  school”  notice  about  how  idling  is  bad  for  the  health  of  children.   Jeff  Sarrett  noted  that  the  “back  to  school”  notice  might  be  better  coming  from  the  Board  of   Education.  Jim  Greene  noted  that  it  could  easily  be  done  by  the  police  as  a  “Nixle”.  Claire   Whitcomb  has  drafted  a  letter  which  will  go  out  to  parents.  She  reported  that  Tom   Haralampoudis  sent  an  email  to  his  Board  of  Education  colleagues  on  the  issue.  She  also   reported  that  Carol  Rawding  is  the  “Green  Team”  teacher  at  the  high  school  and  that  she  is   concentrating  on  raising  funds  for  a  water  fountain  adapted  for  water  bottles.  The  Green  Team   at  the  Torey  J.  School  is  also  very  active.  However,  the  Green  Team  at  the  Junior  School  is  not   doing  much.  Steven  Stocker  suggested  that  Carol  approach  Mr.  Rossi,  the  school   superintendant,  for  aid.  Steven  Stocker  reported  that  he  is  working  with  the  high  school  to   rehabilitate  the  ecological  courtyard.  He  reported  that  Tom  Patterson,  the  new  science  officer   2      for  all  the  schools,  who  is  also  a  teacher  at  the  high  school,  is  developing  an  ecological  course.   Part  of  this  entails  planting  vegetables  in  September  in  a  hoop  house  in  the  courtyard.  He   suggested  that  Claire  Whitcomb  also  talk  to  Tom  Patterson.  Bob  Vogel  suggested  that  school   children  (maybe  those  who  have  suffered  from  asthma)  be  encouraged  to  help  distribute   informational  fliers.    Betsy  noted  that  in  Chatham  the  children  from  the  Green  team  counted  the   percentage  of  idlers,  then  passed  out  fliers,  then  recounted  the  percentage  of  idlers,  as  an   experiment  and  a  learning  experience.   6. Automated  Meter  Reading:  The  objectives  are  money  savings  for  Borough  (will  not  require  so   much  manpower  to  visit  each  house  and  read  each  meter),  and  education  of  the  residents  as  to   peak  usage,  since  it  is  peak  usage  that  determines  the  rate  at  which  we  can  purchase  electricity.   Jim  Greene  noted  that  the  health  impacts  of  the  RF  equipment  are  not  clear  at  this  time.  There   is  considerable  literature  that  is  very  critical  of  the  RF  option  for  relaying  the  meter  reading.   There  was  general  discussion  and  we  all  agreed  that  the  $20  per  month  penalty  for  opting  out  of   the  automated  reading  seems  excessive.  After  discussion  in  which  Steven  Stocker  expressed   grave  concerns  regarding  the  health  safety  of  the  RF  equipment  to  be  installed  in  every  house,   we  made  a  motion  to  send  a  letter  to  the  Mayor  and  Council  expressing  the  inability  of  the  MEC   to  reach  a  conclusion  about  the  safety  of  the  RF  systems  based  on  the  current  state  of  research   and  suggesting  that  a  hard-­‐wired  system  would  avoid  controversy.  If  an  RF  system  is  specified,   the  residents  who  opt  out  should  not  be  excessively  penalized  by  high  monthly  charges.  The   motion  was  proposed  by  Jim  Greene  and  voted  on.  It  was  unanimously  agreed  to.   7. Bottle  Hill  Day,  Saturday  October  6th:  What  to  show:  rain  barrels,  the  Anti-­‐Idling  information,   solar  net  metering  information,  CFL  Llght  bulb  sales,  recycling  rules  (see  if  we  can  use  the  game   Jim  Burnet  developed),  plants  (Steve  Stocker  is  working  on  this).  Bob  Vogel  noted  that  he  has  a   large  color  plotter  so  that  images  can  be  made  and  mounted  on  foam  board.  A  shift  schedule   was  circulated.   8. Sustainable  Madison:    B.  Uhlman  reported  that  the  next  meeting  will  be  on  September  12th.  She   will  forward  lists  of  what  has  been  decided  so  far.  The  Borough  has  established  a  Complete   Streets  Committee  which  gives  10  points  for  Sustainable  jersey.  There  is  also  a  new  “Walk  to   School”  initiative.       9. Meeting  adjourned:    The  meeting  was  adjourned  at  9:30  pm.       3