Environmental Commission

Madison  Environmental  Commission   Meeting  Minutes—January  30,  2013     Call  to  order  and  Open  Public  Meetings  Statement  at  7:30pm.   PRESENT:    Missy  Durham,  Judy  Honohan,  Mary  Lewis,  Susan  Niculescu,  Jeff  Sarrett,  Stephan  Stocker,   Betsy  Uhlman,  Claire  Whitcomb.   ABSENT:    Jeff  Gertler,  Robert  Catalanello  (Council  Liaison).     Minutes:  The  minutes  of  the  meeting  of  November  15th,  2012  were  approved.   Guests:    Jim  Burnet.   Mail  received:      B.  Uhlman  reported  that  no  mail  was  received.  Jeff  Sarrett  noted  that  he  had  received  an   email  from  ANJEC  about  an  introductory  workshop  for  members  of  Environmental  Commissions.  B.   Uhlman  stated  that  all  members  of  the  Madison  Environmental  Commission  are  members  of  ANJEC  and   are  entitled  to  attend  their  educational  workshops  at  no  cost.  She  encouraged  J.  Sarrett  and  the  new   members  J.  Honohan  and  M.  Lewis  to  attend  the  introductory  workshop  at  the  first  opportunity.  She   noted  that  other  members  of  the  Environmental  Commission  have  already  taken  the  workshop  and   found  it  to  be  quite  informative  and  very  useful.   Discussion:   1. Rosenet  email:  J.  Sarrett  asked  if  the  lack  of  Rosenet  email  use  by  the  members  of  the   Environmental  Commission  was  a  conscious  decision.  B.  Uhlman  stated  that,  to  the  contrary,  it   was  policy  that  the  members  should  all  use  it,  however,  there  were  some  difficulties,  and  not   everyone  was  easily  able  to  use  it.  She  encouraged  all  members  present  to  become  more   familiar  and  capable  of  using  it.    J.  Burnet  stated  that  email  policies  for  staff  and  volunteers  are   forthcoming.   2. Calendar:  B.  Uhlman  proposed  some  changes  to  the  posted  annual  calendar  for  MEC  meetings:   The  meeting  proposed  for  Maundy  Thursday  should  be  on  April  4th.  The  meeting  proposed  for   Halloween  should  be  on  November  7th.  The  proposed  changes  were  discussed  and  agreed  to.  B.   Uhlman  will  inform  the  Borough  and  ensure  that  the  changes  are  posted  in  conformance  with   the  Open  Public  Meetings  Act.     3. Green  Forum:    B.  Uhlman  reported  that  the  Green  Forum  went  very  well.  There  was  a  large   turnout  and  many  people  volunteered  in  various  fields  of  interest.  There  was  discussion  about   cleaning  up  fallen  trees  in  parks.  Some  trees  are  too  large  for  volunteers  and,  according  to  J.   Burnet,  the  Borough  in  considering  hiring  a  logging  company  to  cut  them  up  and  remove  them.     There  was  discussion  of  the  need  for  further  education  and  outreach  to  the  public  about   1      recycling,  water  conservation,  pesticide  free  playing  fields,  energy  efficiency,  use  of  renewable   energy,  Sustainable  Jersey  etc.  B.  Uhlman  noted  that  Sustainable  Madison  was  making  efforts  to   make  the  website  more  useful  and  informative.  C.  Whitcomb  asked  what  was  in  progress  to   date  and  what  needs  help  from  us  all?  B.  Uhlman  responded  that  she  and  a  small  team  (Ellen   Cranfies,  Manaly  Patel  and  Steve  Eget)  are  working  on  the  website.  There  will  be  a  Sustainable   Madison  meeting  on  Monday  in  which  they  will  discuss  the  overall  vision  and  set  up  two  month   long  action  teams  to  push  ahead  various  issues.  One  issue  they  are  interested  in  is  getting   energy  audits  by  PSE&G.  S.  Stocker  mentioned  that  there  are  grants  available  for  energy  audits.   S.  Stocker  asked  if  we  were  to  expect  the  results  of  the  surveys  that  were  done  of  people’s   desired  issues  for  action.  He  suggested  that  it  was  important  to  use  more  than  just  Rosenet,  the   Eagle,  the  Daily  Record,  and  the  Patch  to  reach  people  on  environmental  issues  since  not   everyone  received  or  read  those  publications.    J.  Burnet  noted  that  the  Borough  will  have  the   ability  to  add  more  newsletters  to  the  electric  bills  and  the  MEC  would  have  more  opportunities   to  send  out  newsletters  this  way.  C.  Whitcomb  was  concerned  to  continue  the  educational   effort  regarding  recycling.  J.  Burnet  suggested  that  the  MEC  could  put  together  a  letter  about   recycling  and  it  could  be  included  in  the  Electric  Bill  mailing  also.  (He  left  the  meeting  at  this   point  to  attend  to  Borough  business.)  B.  Uhlman  noted  that  recent  research  suggests  that  when   people  are  informed  about  what  their  neighbors  do  it  inspires  them  to  change  their  ways  also.   She  noted  that  three  volunteers  from  the  Green  Forum  specifically  requested  to  work  on   Recycling.  C.  Whitcomb  volunteered  to  work  with  the  Recycling  volunteers.  But  she  suggested   that  lawn  care  is  also  a  big  issue  that  should  be  worked  on.  M.  Durham  volunteered  to  work  on   the  water  conservation  aspect  of  lawn  care.  S.  Stocker  noted  that  Tom  Patterson,  the  Science   Officer  at  the  High  School  is  working  on  Energy  Efficiency  at  the  High  School.  S.  Niculescu  noted   that,  along  with  Chris  Kellogg,  she  has  been  collecting  information  on  energy  usage  in  local   residences,  with  a  view  to  improving  energy  conservation.    S.  Niculescu  volunteered  to  work  on   energy  conservation  in  residential  buildings  (after  the  Green  Fair).   4. Sustainable  Landscaping  Seminar:  B.  Uhlman  reported  that  the  seminar  is  scheduled  for  March   2nd  and  that  the  Chase  Room  is  reserved  at  the  Library.  There  will  be  a  Professor  from  Rutgers,   local  landscaping  suppliers  and  contractors.  There  will  also  be  a  Master  Gardener  booth  where   people  can  ask  questions.  S.  Stocker  reported  that  he  had  recently  been  certified  by  Rutgers  as   an  “Organic  Land  Care  Specialist”,  but  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  attend  the  seminar  since  he   was  committed  to  another  event  at  the  Frelinghuysen  Arboretum  Community  Garden  at  that   same  time.  He  noted  that  the  course  he  took  covered  alternative  grasses,  native  plants,  and   alternative  pesticides  and  was  aimed  primarily  at  lawn  care.     5. MRCC:  S.  Stocker  noted  that  the  original  plan  for  the  MRCC  included  tot  lots,  a  roller  skate/skate   board  park,  trails,  a  dog  park,  a  bocce  court  and  other  activities.  He  wanted  to  get  it  going  again   now  that  the  Community  Garden  is  getting  established.  He  also  noted  that  Councilman   Catalanello  has  announced  a  public  tour  of  the  Community  Garden  on  February  9th.  Everyone  is   invited.   2      6. Hazel  England  “Using  water  wisely  in  the  landscape”:  B.  Uhlman  noted  that  this  event  is  taking   place  on  March  10th.     7. Green  Fair:  S.  Niculescu  noted  that  the  preparations  for  the  Green  Fair  are  underway.   8. Environmental  Resource  Inventory:  B.  Uhlman  noted  that  the  ERI  was  not  yet  approvedby  the   Planning  Board.  It  has  to  be  officially  voted  on  and  passed  in  order  to  be  put  into  effect.  J.   Gertler  is  working  on  obtaining  approval  and  hopes  to  achieve  it  in  the  coming  month.   9. Pesticide  free  playing  fields:  B.  Uhlman  noted  that  there  is  a  new  initiative  by  the  State  of  NJ  to   ensure  that  all  playing  fields  used  by  children  are  pesticide  free.  In  order  to  do  this  we  need  to   understand  what  has  been  used  on  the  fields  in  the  recent  past.  And  to  do  that  we  have  to   understand  who  has  been  maintaining  them.  Although  the  Borough  DPW  is  responsible  for  the   fields,  in  fact,  some  have  been  “adopted”  by  various  parental  and  sporting  groups  who  have   been  maintaining  them.  B.  Uhlman  has  much  of  the  information  but  would  like  to  consider   testing  some  of  the  fields,  both  to  verify  that  they  are  free  of  pesticides,  and  to  determine  if  the   soil  needs  amendments.  S.  Stocker  volunteered  to  look  into  what  tests  might  be  appropriate   and  estimate  a  cost  to  submit  to  the  Borough  for  consideration.   10. Meeting  adjourned:    The  meeting  was  adjourned  at  9:10  pm.       3