Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee

Sustainable Madison Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes June 18, 2024 Chairperson Kathi Caccavale called the meeting to order at 1:34 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 Lisa Jordan, Resident/Regular Member Mary Ellen Hennessy-Jones, Resident/Regular Member David Duran, School Board Liaison Peter Fried, Resident/Regular Member Absent: Bob Landrigan, Borough Council Liaison/Regular Member Pam Hogan, Resident/Regular Member Loretta Davidson, Resident/Regular Member Deanna Schmidt, MEC Liaison, Resident/Regular Member We discussed the May minutes. They will be shared for approval next month. No report from the council liaison. Report from School Board Liaison - David Duran ● The shared service committee meets regularly - between the Madison school board and Madison Borough Council (Jim Burnet and Mayor Conley). ○ This is an appropriate venue to bring up a discussion of solar ports on the public school properties. ● There is a referendum update tonight at the school board meeting (June 18, 7pm). ○ https://www.madisonpublicschools.org/page/board-meeting-agenda Climate Action Committee - Submitted by Mary Ellen-Hennessy-Jones: ● The Community Energy Implementation grant application was completed. ○ There will be up to $500,000 in grant monies ($250,000 to start) per municipality to support projects related to climate action plans.  ○ Madison is submitting proposals for the following projects: Hartley-Dodge heat pumps; Former Masonic Lodge electrification and heat pumps; Madison electric grid analysis and simulation; Rooftop solar for Reford Tucker senior apartments; Energy efficient windows for DPW garage; Solar carport for MPD. ● We are working on compiling updated metrics and summaries of where we are on our climate action initiative (2024 annual report). Report from the Madison Environmental Commission - Submitted by Claire Whitcomb ● We tabled at the Repair Cafe and did education on light pollution and had yellow bulbs from Ace Hardware for show and tell. The cafe had 140 people come for repairs; the sewing table did about 20 repairs. A fall cafe is being discussed. ● Joan Maccari gave away 90 pollinator plants at the Farmers Market—she was impressed by the enthusiasm for native plants. Her total for the last six years of giveaways is about 1200 plants. Kirsten helped out and got a lot of folks, particularly young families, to take her Eco Yard Survey. ● July 13 is the Parks Master Plan community input and design sessions at 4 parks: EVENT DETAILS: Madison Parks Design Day! When: Saturday July 13th. 9am-11am Livesy Park, 12pm-2pm Delbarton Park, 3pm-5pm Summerhill Park/Central Green (Meet at Central Ave side of Summerhill) What: Come join the design team of Square Acre Studio and Land Design and help shape the future of four of Madison’s parks! This will be a fun filled event where residents have the opportunity to share their concerns, desires, and overall vision for what they want their parks to be! Make your voice heard and learn what the park dreams of your neighbors are as well. This is the first step in the overall design process so any and all input is welcome. Come for a little or stay the whole time! There will be a 10-minute kickoff presentation at the beginning of each session where we will outline the charrette process and provide a general overview of each park. After that we explore, discuss and get creative! Update on Grants - Submitted by Pam ● On June 12, 2024 Kathi, Lynn Favreau and I met with the Rutgers survey team headed up by staff member Allison Nevulis. Measurements were taken of the area that is parallel to the library’s main parking lot. Project planning, which includes finalizing the GI Strategic Plan, will continue when Dr Chris returns to the US after June 18th. Report from Shade Tree Board - Submitted by Gene Cracovia: ● Discussions have begun for Fall plantings. Reach out to DPW if you would like a tree. ● Stephan Stocker is stepping down from oversight at the Madison Recreation Complex. A plan is needed to remove the deer and mend the fence. Chair’s Report: ● We await Sustainable Jersey feedback on our submitted actions and next steps for revisions. For the July 31 submission, we may be able to submit:  ● Energy Tracking & Management (Peter is ready to upload when the dashboard is unlocked) ● Road Salt Action (Lucas Cohen preparing presentation for June MEC meeting, which will then be shared with Council & DPW) ● Residential Energy Efficiency (it looks like we qualify for this action except for one stipulation that Kirsten W. and I are trying to address) ● Make Your Town Solar Friendly - SolSmart Silver Other Business: ● We discussed the process for the solar project at the MRC, which is moving forward. ● We discussed Bottle Hill Day (October 5) - there will be a Sustainable Madison and Climate Action table. ● A summer intern with the Borough of Madison can help us with benchmarking and working with energy data. ● We are exploring meeting Gold Star for Energy with Sustainable Jersey. ● Action Item: Lisa will check back in July for the NJ plastics assessment (year 2), and will send links on reusable bag drop offs sites and Walmart/Target packageless-options to Kirsten and Bridget. ● Action Item: Deanna agreed to look up information on sprinkler ordinances by other towns and NJ law around water use. Updates on North Jersey Green - Peter Articles for the North Jersey Green column are requested on an ongoing basis. A skip the stuff article is coming out next. The next SMAC meeting will be on July 16 at 1:30 P.M. The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by Lisa Jordan.