Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee

Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes May 18, 2021 Due to the coronavirus outbreak, this meeting is being conducted on Zoom. Chairperson Kathleen Caccavale called the meeting to order at 1:38 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 Angelique Devost, Resident/Regular Member John Hoover, Borough Council Liaison Judy Honohan, Shade Tree Commission Representative/Regular Member Joan Maccari, Resident/Regular Member Sarah Fischer, School Board Representative Special Guest: Claire Whitcomb, Resident/Chair, Madison Environmental Commission Absent: Marilyn Musielski, Resident/Regular Member Ken O’Brien, DPW April minutes were unanimously approved. Minutes will be submitted to Rosenet. John Hoover provided an update on borough activities. He reported that the DPW submitted a successful bid for a used snow thrower. The parks advisory master plan was rejected, and will be reconsidered in the summer. It was determined to be too expensive. The borough council approved the June scavenger hunt, organized by Madison High School in collaboration with the Madison Environmental Commission. Sarah Fischer provided an update on school business. The green team was reapproved by the school board. Action item: Sarah will discuss possible sustainability actions with the superintendent, particularly related to faculty development. Kathi provided a chair’s update. She presented at the Sustainable Jersey Champion Showcase. She noticed that several schools presented their outdoor classroom areas and greenhouses, including culinary arts programs that use school-grown food. There is a Sustainable Jersey webinar coming up called tag-teams about municipality collaboration with schools (Wednesday, 7pm). Claire Whitcomb provided an MEC update: several activities are coming up. There will be a pollinators program, scavenger hunt, and others. Drew University is looking to develop property to restore the financial health of the institution. A group has organized to advocate to preserve 45 acres of university lands: Friends of the Drew Forest. A resolution will be brought to the Open Space committee on Thursday. On May 26th there will be a Friends of the Forest organizing meeting. It is recommended to attend the open space meeting this Thursday. We reviewed the action items from the last meeting, providing updates. Rolling and new action items are as follows: Action Item: LED lights and heating systems in Hartley Dodge Memorial are the two key energy efficiency areas the town is working on. Peter Fried will ask Bob Vogel for more information about the key issues concerning heating in Hartley Dodge Memorial. Action Item: Peter Fried would like information on upcoming events in order to share information to the Madison Eagle. Sustainable Jersey Actions were reviewed. Please complete before June 4th. The next SMAC meeting will be on June 15 at 1:30 P.M. Zoom information can be found here. The meeting was adjourned at 2:42 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by Lisa Jordan.