Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee

Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 16, 2021 Due to the coronavirus outbreak, this meeting is being conducted on Zoom. Chairperson Kathleen Caccavale called the meeting to order at 1:36 P.M. STATEMENT IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN 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/Regular Member Peter Fried, Resident/Regular Member Lisa Jordan, Resident/Regular Member Marilyn Musielski, Resident/Regular Member Angelique Devost, Resident/Regular Member John Hoover, Borough Council Liaison/Regular Member Sarah Fischer, School Board Representative/Regular Member Judy Honohan, Shade Tree Commission Representative/Regular Member Absent: Joan Maccari, Resident/Regular Member February minutes were unanimously approved. Minutes will be submitted to Rosenet. We reviewed the action items from the last meeting, providing updates. Rolling action items are as follows: Action Item: Peter is following up with leads on interns moving forward. It remains an ongoing process. Action Item: Lisa (LJ) and Kathi (KC) will write to Bob Vogel requesting to convene a meeting about forming a working group that would review current policy on reducing light pollution. [Observations worth being aware of are: this action relates to the transition to LED lighting, D. Tallamy recommends motion sensors to promote wildlife health and improve energy conservation. Moving forward, we might consider including information and observations from astronomy professor(s) from Drew.] Update: LJ will send a draft message today to KC for approval (3/16/2021). Action Items: Peter (PF) and Kathi plan to go through the LGEA (local government energy audit) audit in the next month to begin prioritizing items for the town to consider. Update: (1) PF and KC will reach out on a building-by-building basis to see if they can get more details. (2) PF and KC will ask about the street light roll out plan. Peter explained that the electricity used for street lights cannot be tracked. Because they are not metered. Action Item: PF to reach out to Bob Vogel, and Council members, to learn more about the Hartley Dodge Memorials restoration project and possibilities for sustainable interventions. John Hoover provided updates. New borough policy supports property owner stewardship of sidewalks. Complete streets meetings continue to move forward. Peter shared the details on the grant submission process for the electric van. It takes almost two years to learn the results. Sarah shared an update of school activities. Budget review is going on now. Kathi provided an update on the Sustainable Jersey award ceremony. Madison was recognized as a sustainability champion for its highest point total for a medium sized population, with the second highest total in the state (Woodbridge is the leader, and a larger city). Action Item: If interested, consider attending the Sustainable Jersey Water Story webinar on March 18th. There is also an inclusive health community focus group meeting several days in March and April, which may be of interest. Two grant deadlines are coming up: Sustainable Jersey (PSE&G) and ANJEC. The ANJEC grant is for open space for stewardship projects, new signage for Summerhill park is one possibility. Options for the $2000 Sustainable Jersey grant were discussed. Concerns about the rain gardens by the Community Garden were discussed. Kathi reported on a meeting that she and Peter attended with Nancy Quirk from Sustainable Jersey (SJ) and members of the North Jersey Sustainable Municipal Alliance (NJSMA). There is a question about whether NJSMA should become a SJ “hub”. For example, Summit is part of a regional hub that is recognized by Sustainable Jersey. One of the benefits includes that Sustainable Jersey will provide a location to share documents electronically (the resource is called BaseCamp, which can be used to schedule meetings too). There are other meetings and resources that hubs can access. Action Item: Pursue becoming a regional hub with Madison and other members of the NJSMA. Kathi provided an update on the Madison Environmental Commission. Several green checklists are being considered by the Planning Board. Claire and Kathi attended a department heads meeting, where various departments reported on their sustainability activities. LEDs were discussed. Action Item: KC will share the notes from the department head meeting (Rachel Ehrlich took notes). [complete] We reviewed Sustainable Jersey action updates. Specific actions both ongoing and discussed include: ● Community Education & Outreach ○ Update: The planned rain barrel event would be suitable to include here. This event is being planned in collaboration with the AmeriCorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassadors. Another idea is a tour of the MRC, which could explain the role of the deer fences. Sarah also suggested Community House events, which might qualify, but we might need to explore the possible Borough connection. LJ agreed to read the action, and write up completed and upcoming events. She will also look to see if the MEC newsletter would help fulfill the action. ● Community Paper Shredding Day should be written up as an action. Judy Honohan (JuH) agreed to look into it, with help from KC. ● Diversity on Boards and Commissions (LJ) - LJ will coordinate with JuH on next steps ● Lead Education and Outreach (LJ) - will update this fall ● Vulnerable Population Identification for Emergencies (MM) ● Energy Tracking and Management (PF - updates) ● Municipal On-site Solar (PF) ● Fleet Inventory (PF - will update) ● Make Your Town Electric Vehicle Friendly; Meet Target for Green Fleets (PF will read the action) ○ Update: Make your town EV Friendly requires an EV awareness event. ● LJ agreed to read the Green Development Checklist. ● JuH will update the tree maintenance action. ● AD agreed to update several waste initiatives. ○ Update: Specifically, she will write up the changes to the recycling depot. She will also follow up on the backyard composting action. A possible upcoming event on zero waste might be suitable for the innovative demonstration action. Peter announced the April 22 EV Expo - Sunday Motor Company event. LJ and KC shared information about the ERI training event. Action Items: Put on the agenda for next month: (1) Peter will provide an update on the solar canopy at the next meeting. (2) LJ and PF can review some of the data resources available on the Sustainable Jersey website, some specifically related to EVs. The next SMAC meeting will be on April 20 at 1:30 P.M. Zoom information can be found here. The meeting was adjourned at 2:54 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by Lisa Jordan.