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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018_04_10 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes TOM Sustainability Collaborative 2018.0410 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative Meeting Notes, April 10, 2018 Attendees: Nancy Seligson, Mitch Green, Michele Lewis, Marc Karell,Arlene Novich, Sue Odierna, Karen Khor,June Wallach, Gabrielle Arcangeli, Colin Goldberg (VOM), George Roniger, Shannon Purdy, Christine Bessin,Jeffery King, Denise Dunn, Diane Neff, Mark Manley We welcomed new volunteer Denise Dunn. Minutes of February 2018 meeting were approved (March 2018 meeting was a Tri-Municipal Environmental meeting.) Food Waste Recycling June W. created and presented a powerpoint presentation, complete with talking points, to be used by volunteer"ambassadors"to promote the food waste recycling program and raise awareness about its benefits to various community groups including scouts,schools, houses of worship, neighborhood organizations, etc. Marc K suggested changing the title to "Food Waste Recycling—Right for Larchmont/Mamaroneck"and reducing the amount of take-away messages to three. Much appreciation was shared with June for the presentation. Colin G. reported the Village of Mamaroneck has included a full-time employee in its budget to facilitate food waste recycling drop off and they are hoping to start the program shortly. Karen K. reported that Scarsdale will begin picking up food waste for residents who sign up. The program will start in a few weeks. Mitch G. asked Karen to check with Scarsdale on the cost data of this new pickup program, and whether Scarsdale can manage this additional level of service within their existing Sanitation Budget. Colin mentioned the potential use of"intelligent trash bins." These bins have trash sensors so once trash reaches a certain level, it gets compacted. Sanitation workers would be electronically notified when a trash can fills up and is ready to be picked up. Nancy S. noted this would be helpful for commercial areas, but would not be applicable for residential pickup at this time. It's something to keep in mind for the future. Nancy reported that during yesterday's TVS(Town/Village/School)meeting, Dr. Shops reiterated that the school district is still interested in exploring food waste recycling at Murray Avenue school, but they need to figure out the logistics. Karen reported that Hommocks Middle School plans to relaunch the Rocket composter. Karen helped students separate food waste for the Rocket today at Hommocks.. Karen mentioned that they need more wood chips for the Rocket to compost properly. The Collabs would like to see the Town provide compost to residents as a "resident appreciation give- back". Nancy will investigate.All agreed it would be nice to have a "give-back"day. In Scarsdale, they offered their food waste recycling residents the opportunity to bring a bucket to the sanitation facility and fill it with compost located in a big pile there. Jeffery K. thought it would be a good idea to align the program with the popularity of kids'sporting events. He mentioned how popular hockey is here and thought on a hockey night,parents and kids could have the opportunity to drop off food waste and a few months later, those same families would receive the finished compost product. Action Item 1: June to make suggested edits and send finalized version out TOM Sustainability Collaborative 2018.0410 Action Item 2: Mitch suggested that Karen and Sue should work together to compile a list of groups, schools, organizations, etc. that our"ambassadors" could present to. Action Item 3: Karen to check with Scarsdale on "cost data" of new pickup program Action Item 4: Sue/Nancy to check with Ulster Compost facility on availability and cost of compost Action Item 5: Sue to check with Steve A./Lou/Elizabeth Paul on wood chip availability for Hommocks Rocket Composter Mobility/Complete Streets New volunteer Denise Dunn discussed the NYS EV Charging Station grant. The state is offering 80%of the cost of a charging station. Denise, Nancy and Mitch spoke with Sustainable Westchester's Ron Kamen, electric vehicle consultant. The Town is looking at two types of charging stations: Level 2 station that could potentially be placed at the Hommocks Ice Rink parking lot(Town-owned area)and would charge up to two cars in about 4-5 hours per car, and Level 1 charging station that could be placed at the Town's commuter parking lot#1 at Larchmont Train Station and would charge up to two cars in about 8 hours per car(during the resident's workday). This grant also offers$5,000 per electric vehicle leased. Action Item 1: Nancy, Sue and Highway Department Superintendent Lou Martirano to meet with Ron Kamen for field site inspections for Charging Stations. (Completed April 11th—sites included Baldwin Avenue parking lot,TOM Parking Lot 1 at Train Station and Hommocks parking lot). Additional details regarding voltage and amperage are needed. EV charger location and placement discussions and decisions are needed as well. Please see Action Item 2 below. Action Item 2: Mike Gibson will provide electrical information. Nancy will discuss placement and location with Town Board at April 18th meeting. Denise will work on grant. Ron Kamen will provide application language. Denise will meet with Sue to upload data to NYS DEC site. Noise and Sustainable Gardening George R. has researched various towns'leaf blower legislation. In general, towns with larger residential acreage do not have seasonal leaf blower bans. Most towns down county(south of 1-287), where communities have smaller lots, do have bans. The idea was raised about a county-wide leaf blower law. For now, George is hoping to work with the two Villages to enforce leaf blower laws once the seasonal ban begins(June 1 through Sept. 30th.) Jeffery mentioned that heavy duty construction equipment for excavating and rock removal are required to have noise-reducing filters. George hasn't found such items for leaf blowing equipment. Jeffrey will ask his business contacts for information on noise-reducing muffler equipment. George liked the"Police Sweep"program LPD initiated for a week last summer and hopes the Town and Village of Mamaroneck will implement it this summer. Mitch suggested we invite Kristin Andersen, Chair of VOL Enviro Committee, volunteer Caroline Birnbaum, VOL Trustee Malcolm Frouman and VOM Trustee Vic Tafur to work together on this. Nancy reminded the group that Sustainable Westchester has created an IMA (intermunicipal agreement) for municipalities to purchase various types of electric landscaping equipment. (NOTE: The contract with vendors should be finalized by the end of April. The agreement will enable municipalities AND residents to participate in this aggregate purchase.) From February Collabs meeting: George spoke about his interest in Green Gardening and would like to move this concept forward. Nancy reminded the group that we had discussed the idea of having a "model neighborhood" in the Town to have pesticide-free and slow-release, low-nitrogen lawns. The neighborhood initially interested has not been able to move forward. George offered to take on the TOM Sustainability Collaborative 2018.0410 healthy yard program to try and get it started in the Town. Guest from Rye's Sustainability Committee, Patti offered to help Action Item 1: Nancy to reach out to VoM and VoL elected officials to invite them to May 1st Collabs meeting to discuss working together regarding Leaf Blowers/Noise Action Item 2: Sue/Mitch to reach out to VoM and VoL Enviro Committee Chairs to invite them to May 1st Collabs meeting for same purpose. Action Item from Feb meeting: George to meet with Patti from Rye Sustainability Committee to determine best practices to implement"Healthy Yard" program in the Town Reusable Bag Initiative(RBI) The artwork design contest for the RBI concluded. There were 7 entries from Mamaroneck Ave School and 4 from Sts.John and Paul School(other schools were notified but did not submit.) All students will have their artwork posted to Town Facebook pages and their designs will also be used in promotional efforts regarding the RBI.All students will receive certificates of achievement presented to them at the May 2nd Town Board meeting. In addition, the two winners(one from MAS and one from Sts.John and Paul) will each have their designs printed on reusable bags, receive winners'certificates and a$50 prize. In regard to the specific RBI legislation, Nancy suggested we propose the same legislation that Suffolk County recently enacted. Their law requires vendors to collect a five cent fee on any store-supplied paper or plastic bag. June and Gabrielle reported that pushback from businesses is very low with this model. Nancy reported hearing that the Suffolk County law changed the percentage of people using reusable bags from 6%(prior to the legislation) to between 60%and 80%after three months of the law being enacted. The next step is to discuss the proposed law at the May 1st Collabs meeting with the intent of Gabrielle presenting the proposal to the Town Board at their meeting on May 2nd. She will have signatures from residents supporting the legislation and the art students will be there to receive their certificates. Gabrielle is creating palm cards to give to businesses and suggested we put student artwork on the reverse side. Action Item 1: Sue to alert winners of contest and invite all participants to TB meeting on May 2na Certificates to be prepared for all and $50 checks to the two winners. Action Item 2: Collabs to discuss RBI legislation based on Suffolk County model at May meeting. Community Solar Frank and Steve A. are putting an RFP together for this project which involves mounting solar panels on the roof of Hommocks Park Ice Rink and having the power applied to the Hommocks Apartments making energy bills lower and apartments,therefore, more affordable. Frank and Steve A. have spoken to developers. They would pay rent to the Town for the use of the Hommocks Ice Rink roof. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm. The next Collaborative meeting will be Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at 6 pm at the VFW/Senior Center in the large dining room.