HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019_04_02 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative
Meeting Notes, April 2, 2019
Attendees: Mitch Green, Shannon Purdy, Arlene Novich, Sue Odierna, Mark Kramer, Matt Thomas,
Colin Goldberg, George Roniger, Karen Khor, Michele Lewis,June Wallach, Frank Owens,
Katherine Pannell
First-time attendees were introduced: Todd Isberg, Chris Hofstedt,Anita Levy and Karen Weisburgh.
Welcome to the Collaborative!!!
Minutes of March 5th meeting were accepted.
Question was asked of where on website minutes can be found. "Agendas and Minutes" are viewable
under the dropdown category"Government"via the homepage of our website. Recent months'
editions are not up yet due to change to "Novus" system late in 2018. Waiting for IT to upload.
Village of Mamaroneck's Vision Zero Campaign
Shannon Purdy updated the group that Mayor Tom Murphy and the VOM Board recently adopted the
Vision Zero resolution, a policy that states clearly that traffic deaths are preventable and unacceptable.
The Village has lowered the speed limit to 25 mph on Village roads based on statistics that the chances
of surviving a crash increase substantially from making this small change.
The premise of"Vision Zero" is that our systems should be built to accommodate for human mistakes as
over 90%of collisions are based on human error;they are not"accidents." When collisions are reduced,
injuries/deaths are decreased thereby making streets more bike-able and walkable as pedestrians and
cyclists feel safer on the roads/sidewalks. Shannon also reported that the Village police department
personnel are taking a one-day workshop called "Edu-forcement" about public education with regard to
traffic safety. The police will be distributing educational warnings in advance of issuing citations.
Questions were asked regarding what it would take for the Town to adopt a Vision Zero resolution.
Action Item: Shannon to follow up with Nancy/Steve to determine potential interest in and process
for Town adopting Vision Zero resolution; Shannon to send Sue Odierna the VOM Resolution and
back-up materials for distribution to the Collaborative and other interested parties
Healthy Yard Initiative
Michele reported that the HY group is preparing for their kick-off event which will be at Larchmont
Library on April 27th at 2pm when Sandy Morrissey, President of the Bronx River-Soundshore Audubon,
will give a presentation on Monarch Butterflies and how having a healthy yard increases their numbers.
The committee is working hard to promote this event through signage,flyers and cards and Sue will
promote via the Town's FB pages. Yard signs will be available for pickup at the library event and also at
Maxwell Avenue's facility and Town Center. Residents will take the "healthy yard pledge"in the
webpage or by signing on at library event and then display their sign in their lawns to help us promote
this program.
Sub-committee to give out signs to Collabs to display on our lawns. Arlene announced that Larchmont's
Annual Tree Walk is also on April 27th and she was hoping that the Tree Walk could end its walk at the
Library for the HY event.
1
Webpage design was finalized and we are hoping IT is able to make the webpage live in the next week or
two. Suggestions were made that the flyers and information cards be given to area pediatricians as well
as pet stores and animal hospitals/vets to draw attention to children and pet safety regarding pesticides
usage. Village of Larchmont approved use of their village seal on materials as did Village of
Mamaroneck.
Michele announced she will take leave from the Collaborative for about six months for personal reasons
and felt that the HY sub-group is in excellent hands with Diane,Arlene and June. Michele was thanked
for all she has done and asked to hurry back!
(Note following up on last month's meeting—the Healthy Yard budget was approved by the Town
Board and members of the sub-committee are actively ordering signage, info cards now.)
Action Item: HY sub-committee to make a list of areas where HY literature can be dropped off and
perhaps Collabs members can help distribute. Doctors' offices, pet shops,vets/animal hospitals are all
good places to drop off. Schools perhaps, especially nursery schools, might be other good options.
Action Item 2: Arlene to follow up with Tree Walk organizers to see if they could promote the HY event
at the Larchmont Library by ending the walk there.
Action Item 3: In response to Collabs' request, Sue to email out a calendar of upcoming local
environmental events due to large amount of scheduled Earth Day-related programs.
Spring Internship Program
This program, run by Mamaroneck High School, provides seniors a chance to work for six weeks for local
businesses, schools and government offices.Through the popular AP Enviro class at MHS,we received
three requests for interviews. All three students interviewed here and were hired for the program
which begins Monday, May 6th and ends on Monday,June 17tn
The students will work here daily from 10am—3pm and have been asked to adjust their hours so that
they can attend Sustainability Collaborative meetings as well. Nancy had asked Mitch to think about
ways in which the interns could help out with Collaborative projects. Mitch asked June to write up a
template intern job description that we could send to Collaborative members to see if they'd like
assistance on their projects for this six week period.
June will write up a specific job description for the Healthy Yard project. New Collab Karen W. suggested
she could work with interns on a program called "Bicycle Friendly Community"where they could learn
about how government collaborates to ensure safe roads and sidewalks for cyclists.
Action Item 1: June to draft intern job description template, Sue to send out to all Collabs to see where
interest lies in having internship help. Any member who is interested should complete the form and
return to Sue/Nancy/Mitch by Friday April 26, so decisions can be made on what each intern will work
on.
2
Food Waste Recycling
There was interest from the group in having interns work at Maxwell Avenue to gather metrics on food
waste recycling population. On Saturdays, in particular, it is very busy at Maxwell and Mark K felt there
was value in having a count of how many people recycle their food waste. Currently we can estimate the
weight but we don't know how many people participate in the program. Karen wasn't sure we needed
this tally but she did feel it was important to separate out the weight on the food waste from the schools
vs the weight on the food waste from residents. (Note: Sue spoke to Steve A. who said the school cans
are separate from the resident cans.). Given the interns'difficulties with working weekends, it was
suggested by Frank 0 that if a webcam could be mounted above the area where residents drop off food
waste, the camera might record the numbers of vehicles using the drop-off during the week and
therefore give us some sense of the households that are active
There was also discussion about having summer interns(paid) work at the Farmers Market for some
weeks so that residents could drop off food waste at the market. Nancy and Steve feel unless this could
be done for the entire season, it could be confusing for residents as the probability of them dropping off
food waste when a volunteer is not there is somewhat high. Also,several vendors complained to the
Market Management last summer about the smell of the food waste. Karen and Arlene would, however,
like to have a sustainability table at the market where our various initiatives could be promoted. This
table could be staffed by volunteers whenever available for the season. Please contact them if you'd like
to help out.
The next compost giveback day is proposed for Saturdays in May,probably May 4th and May 18th. More
discussion on this to follow and details on where/how to get compost and will we be able to use Maxwell
facility for give back location again.
Action Item 1: Karen K and group to firm up their role/volunteers' role for the farmers market season
with market manager.
Action Item 2: Sue to find out from Steve A.which date Compost Giveback Day can be held (this was
subsequently scheduled for Sat. May 4th and a second round was held on Fri., May 10th and Sat., May
11th)
Action Item 3: Steve A awaiting email from NYS DEC regarding the awarding of the food waste grant;
Sue to convey results as soon as we hear
Action Item 4: Sue 0 to reach out to Frank 0 about organizing a camera for the food waste drop-off
Reusable Bag Initiative(RBI)
Sue reported that NY State has passed a reusable bag law. Effective March 2020,stores will not be
permitted to provide(or sell)carry-out plastic bags to customers, though the thin plastic bags for
produce, meats, bulk items will still be permitted as is the case in most reusable bag laws. Also dry
cleaners can still use plastic garment bags.
Stores affected in the NYS law include grocery, hardware, "7-11"type stores, clothing, all types of stores
except for restaurants and some delis(the specifics defining "deli"are not completely clear yet). There is
a 5 cent fee for paper bags that counties and cities can opt in to and that fee would go to NY State for
3
the Environmental Protection Fund(3 cents)and stay with the local municipality for the purchase of
reusable bags(2 cents). What is not clear yet is how Towns and Villages can legislate, but the thinking so
far is that current village and town RBI laws will stand as will new laws passed prior to March 2020
though there is some confusion about what happens if the County opts in to the NYS law. Will the
Villages/Towns then need to opt-in as well? We are hoping for clarification in the coming weeks.
Sue is working with Katherine on the second order of 1,000 reusable bags(we have 1,000 ready to go
with winning student artwork from last year's Collabs contest). Katherine has been helping with the art
design and we are waiting for final art proofs and final pricing. Price quotes are$1,600-$1,800 for
1,000 bags, though we are waiting on a new vendor's quote. Please contact Sue if you know a business
interested in sponsorship.
Action Item: Sue will update group on NYS law once clarification is received, may need to then lobby
the County to ensure their law is what the Town is looking for.
Sustainable Energy--Community Solar
Frank O. updated the group that there are two issues regarding this project involving solar panels being
installed on the Hommocks Ice Rink roof. First, the Town Attorney is concerned about the Town's
liability,for example if there is a power outage. Secondly, the premise of community solar is to provide
solar panels to lower income residents, but Sustainable Westchester is having difficulty getting people to
sign up easily--they need to read a ten page lease agreement.
Mark K asked why there hasn't been an open house to facilitate this for residents by reviewing the lease,
but SW hasn't hosted this yet. SW is potentially interested in making the solar energy available to
residents other than those with lower incomes, but the interest in the project stemmed from wanting to
make this available to those who could use the discount most. (As a reminder, electricity generated from
the project will result in cost savings for those residents that subscribe to the program. Any additional
electric capacity will be offered to other low and moderate income residents of the Town. The Town
will receive lease payment for the use of the HMX Ice Rink roof.)
Action Item: Frank O.to meet with Steve A. later in week to try and work out these issues
Meeting was adjourned at 8:50 pm.
The next Collaborative meeting will be Tuesday, May 14,2019 at 6 pm at the VFW/Senior Center—
room to be determined.
4