Environmental Advisory Board Meeting

Ogden Dunes Environmental Advisory Board May 21, 2024 - Town Hall, 5:30 p.m. EAB Members: Ted Davenport, Vicky Albritton Bianca Passo, Frank Lani. Karen Berrier also attended. 1. Review and Approve Agenda - Vicky moved, Bianca seconded 2. Discuss notes about April 16th Meeting - We discussed how the EAB could organize the clearing of invasives and planting of native species in various areas around town as suggested by Scott Kingan. The easiest site to begin with seems to be the area across from Kratz field. We could help restore these wetlands and create a picnic area. The idea for a roundabout at Diana and Sunset is more complicated as it requires a good deal of demolition and new construction. Frank indicated he would get bids from Jan Hunter of Naturally Native Nursery in order to help design a work plan. 3. Beach Monitoring Grant - Karen gave us a summary of what she has been doing to monitor the health and safety of our beach waters since 2012. She described this project as a great success. Our water is a lot cleaner today than in 2012 thanks to continued monitoring. Dredging Burns Ditch in 2017 probably helped. Bianca noted that OD has few beach closures compared to East Chicago and Hammond--perhaps because of the number of birds on those beaches. But E. coli may still be present in the sand on our beach. Bianca said all current contracts have been sent out and will be signed soon. 4. Bird Town Follow-up - Our Bird Town Inaugural Day on May 18th went well. Brad Bumgardner, Director of the Indiana Audubon Society, gave a brief talk, noting that there are 370 species of birds in the Indiana Dunes and that the area is critical as a way station for migrating birds.  Andrew Gurschick, Scott Kingan, and Tom Davenport also said a few words. We agreed that the Street Department deserves thanks for all their help. 5. Invasive Species Activities - The Bird Town subcommittee has undertaken and overseen a lot of work at Pollywog Pond lately. A great deal of Asian Bush Honeysuckle and other invasive species have been removed. The obsolete electric pole and the decaying bulletin board were also removed. We also hope to erect a new bulletin board to display our plans and progress. Another Pollywog Pond Workday will soon be planned pending Frank obtaining an accounting of Jan Hunter’s charges to date and her ideas and availability for next steps. Tom mentioned some ideas for better publicizing volunteer events. 6. Septic Coordination Workgroup Report - Nothing to report. 7. Monitoring Nearby Industries https://www.in.gov/idem/resources/lake-michigan-sites-of-interest/ a. Cleveland Cliffs - n/a b. U.S. Steel Midwest - Nothing to report c. PreCoat Metals - Nothing to report 8. Save the Dunes Pollution Prevention Roundtable Update - Bianca said that the ELPC will be sending out a public letter with comments regarding a new air pollution permit and we should ask Scott Kingan to sign it. 9. Recycling (Karl Public Works) - Karl was promised a new, larger recycling dumpster for the town, but he has not seen it to date. He also wants to put a large informational sign on the Street Department barn wall above the new dumpster. He would like to develop a more comprehensive OD Recycling Center. 9. Facebook Activities - Tom discussed publicizing our activities online. Vicky said she would send him photos from the Bird Town event. Frank asked to be included in order to edit the best available photos. 10. Other: Beach Educational Event, Educational Presentation Jointly with Beautification - To be discussed at our next meeting. 11. Additional Item: Karl mentioned that the Town Clean-Up Day ought to have been better organized. Next year, the EAB should probably help the Street Department run it. We could help put up signs and make sure people are there to advise residents. Too many items were cast into the wrong containers. We also need to educate people more about repurposing items. 12. Memorial Day Table - We will not have a table at Memorial Day this year, but will focus on overall messaging going forward. 13. Next Meeting –June 18th. Meeting adjourned at 6:45pm. Minutes taken and posted by Vicky Albritton.