Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee

Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes March 15, 2022 This meeting is being conducted on Zoom. Chairperson Kathi Caccavale called the meeting to order at 1:01 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 Marilyn Musielski, Resident/Regular Member Rachel Ehrlich, Borough Council Liaison/Regular Member Special Guests: Elisabeth Sauerman, Drew University student Mary Ellen Hennessy-Jones, Madison resident and volunteer Absent: Joan Maccari, Resident/Regular Member The special guests introduced themselves. February minutes were approved. We discussed meeting by Zoom moving forward, if possible. Several members expressed a preference for Zoom. Rachel provided an update on borough activities. Waverly Place redesigns are being considered; community outreach will follow and play an important part of the process. Madison is collaborating with Chatham Borough to expand use of Java Compost pick-up at the Madison Recycling Center. Madison Public Works is upgrading the cardboard recycling compactor. Madison has high quality recycling (because it is not single stream recycling) and, as a result, has received money back for our paper and cardboard recycling. Kathi was interested in learning how to provide better conditions for paper recycling at the recycling depot, to keep the paper in the bins from getting rained on. One solution is to provide a lid on the dumpster used to collect paper. Rachel agreed to follow up with Ken at DPW on the subject. Kathi shared event updates on behalf of the MEC: The Green Vision Forum on Zoom, March 31, 7pm; EV Expo at Sunday Motor Co. is planned for Earth Day, April 22. Angelique shared about a webinar, Trash2Action, about trash in our waterways. The EPA Clean Water Act (CWA) does not cover trash. There was interest in modifying the CWA to include trash blooms in waterways. Here is the link to the recording of the webinar: https://rivernetwork-org.zoom.us/rec/share/Sa_cVDQUK0Od_FSsvhHtMkuitWC- UuogMWbcwG_Jib1PP7l6ZYGnX7SW__bty9_W.6kUgwqFuItZTBshH. Peter reported on meeting with Sustainable Jersey on including the climate action template developed by the multitown group. There is hope to increase support both within and outside of Sustainable Jersey to adopt climate action plans among towns in New Jersey. Peter also reported on town solar plans moving forward. Before the end of the year, there is hope that a contract with a developer for three proposed municipal solar installations will be identified. The town joined the SolSmart program, which is a certification program, like Sustainable Jersey, and Sustainable Jersey is a co-sponsor. A study of Madison’s electric grid and the impact of solar on the grid is planned (in collaboration with an engineering professor at NYU). A Green Jersey article is needed for April. These columns are being published in all the New Jersey Hills Media Group news outlets (17 community newspapers and 15 online news sites), not just the Madison Eagle. Kathi reported on upcoming events: Green Jobs Listening Forum Mar 18, 2022 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Best Practices in Planning and Zoning for Solar Mar 22, 2022 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM A World of Difference: Green Infrastructure Resources for Your Town Mar 22, 2022 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM Preparing for the Statewide Single-Use Plastic Ban Mar 23, 2022 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM What’s New in 2022? Program Updates Webinar Mar 28, 2022 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM New Jersey’s Changing Climate Webinar Professor David Robinson, NJ State Climatologist Mar 28, 2022 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM Health in All Policies Online Course offered by Rutgers, the Planning Healthy Communities Initiative (PHCI) This training will help meet the training requirements of the Sustainable Jersey Integrating Health in Municipal Decision Making action. May 13, 2022 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Save the Date! 2022 New Jersey Sustainability Summit Jun 24, 2022 (in person) 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM Bellworks, Holmdel We reviewed the Sustainable Jersey tracking sheet and our progress towards 2022 actions. Rolling action items are as follows: Action Item: Peter Fried would like information on upcoming events in order to share information to the Madison Eagle. The next SMAC meeting will be on April 19 at 1:00 P.M. on Zoom. The meeting was adjourned at 1:58 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by Lisa Jordan