Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee

Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes November 21, 2019 Chairperson, Kathleen Caccavale, called the meeting to order at 1:07 pm. STATEMENT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT: “In compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act, adequate notice of this meeting of the Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee (SMAC) Meeting was provided by transmitting a copy of the meeting notice to the Madison Eagle and Morris County Daily Record, posting a copy on the bulletin board at the main entrance of the Hartley Dodge Memorial, and filing a copy in the office of the Clerk. This notice was made available to members of the general public.” The following members acknowledged their presence: Kathleen Caccavale, Chairperson Angelique Devost, Resident/Regular Member Peter Fried, Resident/Regular Member Gene Cracovia, Resident/Regular Member Lisa Jordan, Resident/Regular Member Joan Maccari, MEC Representative/Regular Member Maureen Byrne, Council Liaison Marilyn Musielski, Regular Member October 29 minutes were unanimously approved. Minutes will be submitted to Rosenet. It was announced that Madison’s silver certification plate for 2019 through 2022 was added to our Sustainable Jersey (SJ) plaque, at the SJ Awards Luncheon on November 19. Maureen noted that recycling at the DPW depot is being reorganized to include a space for curated swapping of reusable household items and materials. SMAC intends to keep the momentum going in 2020, with plans to re-certify again in 2020. To that end, the committee intends to update expiring actions, make progress on some actions that were not approved in 2019 and expand to new actions. Some of the actions that may be focused on are: Complete Streets Safe Routes to schools (not expected to be a conflict with sustainable schools) EV charging stations Hybrid vehicles Green Team and Environmental Commission Farmers Market Energy Tracking and Carbon footprinting Software for energy tracking from year to year Fleet Inventory Community Visioning Gold Star energy Because SMAC intends to recertify in 2020, we agreed to scheduling monthly meetings and to move starting time for future SMAC meetings will be changed to 1:30pm to accommodate members who have other meetings that conflict with our schedule and that we will meet monthly. It was suggested that: • SMAC should work to demonstrate the value to the borough of these action items. Perhaps we should ask to have a SMAC representative sit in on some of the appropriate department meetings periodically. • SMAC develop an outreach education presentation to educate departments on the use of green cleaning products. It was agreed generally that scheduling a focused topic of discussion, and inviting the appropriate borough personnel to that SMAC meeting, would be a good way to proceed. Peter has been talking with borough officials about the purchase of an all-electric van. Currently all vehicles in the borough fleet go to DPW for service. At this time there is little or no repair/service infrastructure for EVs in NJ. Also, all electric vehicles will need indoor parking during winter months. The first meeting of Green Connections at Shanghai Jazz on January 8th was confirmed. All members of SMAC, as well as other green committees and commissions in the borough, are invited. This group will meet from 7 – 9 pm on the first Wednesday of the month unless that date falls on a holiday. It appears to be premature to apply for a grant from Rivers and Trees for town trails. The borough may apply for one of four complete streets technical grants. Mayor Conley is interested in a walkability grant; deadline: December 20, 2019. The PS&G grant cycle closes on February 14, 2020. Kathi asked everyone to think about possible items that might fall into these grants. Peter reported that a Gardinier Grant application has been submitted for a solar feasibility study that could generate a portion of the borough’s need. If we are awarded the grant, it will be for $10,000 and will come through in January. Several towns in Morris and other counties have been working together to support one another in passing local ordinances to ban single use plastics. This coalition would be a natural SJ “Hub”. We may be able to invite towns in this group to join us in a regional approach to sustainable housing. The suggestion was made to invite other towns to Green Connections to share and discuss projects. Perhaps a speakers’ bureau could be organized. Perhaps invite someone from county government. SMAC hopes to make a presentation to the Borough Council early in 2020 about our 2019 achievements and 2020 intentions. Student interns may be invited to be recognized at the meeting. This will be discussed at the December meeting. The next SMAC meeting will be scheduled for December 17, at 1:30pm. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:50 pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Joan Maccari.