Environmental Commission

Minutes of the Madison Environmental Commission October 26, 2017 Meeting called to order at 7:35 p.m. Present: Stephan Stocker, Chair Claire Whitcomb Ann Huber Brian Monaghan Members of Public present: Sue Young, Environmental Commission, Morris Twsp Joan Maccari ( jmaccari@foveal.com) Minutes of September meeting approved by voice vote. Correspondence- Julie Hagovsky re: sports fields Mrs. Hagovsky was referred to Sandy. She will be coming back to the MEC after additional research. Discussion by Commission members ensued regarding the rubber pellets used on artificial fields to fill in the green fibers matt. Madison’s fields date back to 2006 when the artificial fields replaced natural grass. The thinking then was that it was cheaper, but the infill has become costly to maintain because of annual replacement costs. Now there are concerns about possible carcinogens in the infill materials. Baseball no longer uses it; football still uses it but European sports have banned it. Meeting was opened to public- Sue Young reported that the Morris Twsp community gardens are doing well. Their Commission reviews major and minor subdivisions including the Mennen and Honeywell properties. Morris Township has also gone to single stream recycling. Old Business- Discussion about Bottle Hill Day. The consensus was it was a great day with many of the informational materials (from the Green forum) with the new logo being distributed to the public. There was some discussion about some fundraising initiatives that might help recycling. Claire volunteered to chair the BHD fair in 2018. Claire reported that composters were sold to the public at the MEC cost of $55 with the help of MEC member Ellen. 54 units were sold. New Business- Local businessmen Fran Curran (Green House Solar) and Scott Lee (Ciel Power) are co-hosting an evening on sustainability and renewable power with the MEC. Permission was granted by MEC chair. The event, Fall in Love with Sustainability, will be held on Nov. 9 at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts from 7-9 PM. Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM Next MEC meeting is November 16, 2017