Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee

Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes August 15, 2022 Chairperson Kathi Caccavale called the meeting to order at 1:07 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) 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 Angelique Devost, Resident/Regular Member Mary Ellen Hennessy-Jones, Resident/Regular Member Joan Maccari, Resident/Regular Member Marilyn Musielski, Resident/Regular Member Absent: Rachel Ehrlich, Borough Council Liaison/Regular Member Sarah Fischer, Board of Education liaison Lisa Jordan, Resident/Regular Member July minutes were approved. There was an extended review of the slide presentation prepared by Jim Burnet and Councilman Robert Landrigan about the proposed location(s) for new summer pickleball and basketball courts. The following comments were made: • It was noted that Drew University has (a) abundant tennis courts that are lightly used in the summer and (b) a fieldhouse with basketball courts lightly used in the summer. Drew University is in need of financial revenues. It was questioned why the Borough and Drew had not discussed renting space at Drew instead of building new facilities in Madison. • An action was taken (Peter) to check if the Drew tennis courts are lighted. • It was questioned why the Borough had not asked the BOE to possibly move one or more tennis courts to facilitate locating the new pickleball and basketball courts • For the proposed locations near the MRC, it was questioned why we can’t collaborate with Florham Park and/or the Rockefeller Group to provide more parking when the MRC lots overflow.  • It was questioned why funding is being requested from Borough Capital and Open Space Funds when no attempts had been made to seek grant funding as has been done for past facilities of this nature. The Environmental Commission Report highlighted the up-coming Eco Tour. With 6-8 gardens to tour the event will be held from noon until 3 PM on Saturday, September 17. There was no schools report. However, there was discussion about on-going discussions about installing solar power facility at one or more school locations. Peter asked those in attendance to try out the new solar-information web pages recently deployed on the town’s website, Rosenet. Peter mentioned that a new group was coalescing around the issue of reducing vehicle traffic in Madison by fostering more bicycle ridership. We reviewed the Sustainable Jersey actions that required revisions for resubmission in August. 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. Jersey Green column volunteers needed for the coming year. The next SMAC meeting will be on September 20 at 1:00 P.M. The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by Peter Fried