HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021_03_09 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes
Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative
Meeting Notes, March 9, 2021
(Meeting via Zoom, 6pm – 8pm)
Attendees: Mitch Green, Nancy Seligson, Jeff King, Sue Odierna, George Roniger, Karen Khor, Mark Kramer,
Kevin Crowe, Arlene Novich, Michelle Lewis, Elizabeth Poyet, Nick Zuba, June Wallach, Lizzy
Kaplan (College student intern), Jacob Levitt, Mark Manley, Marc Karell, Lisa McDonald, Judy
Caputo, Denise Dunn, Eliza Pertz, Kari Weisburgh, Matt Thomas, Steve Moser, Chris Hofstedt,
Todd Isberg
New volunteers/participants: Renee Allen, Robert Irwin (please let us know if we missed your
name here or above)
Special Guest, County Executive George Latimer
Mitch G welcomed everyone.
George Latimer said hello to all. He mentioned he would be meeting with Peter McCartt, the County’s Director of
Energy Conservation and Sustainability the next day to discuss the county’s food scrap program. George also
mentioned the County’s environmental conference taking place on April 1.
Notes of February 2021 meeting were accepted.
Update from Nancy: New resident Patrick Haggerty made a tree donation to the Town of $1,000. He is working
with Nancy and also two local nurseries who will also donate trees. Arlene met with Elizabeth Aitchison,
Conservation Planner to discuss details of tree placement. Nancy requested that Mitch and Arlene attend the
April 7 TB meeting to share the “white paper” on trees with the Board
Cleaner, More Resilient Energy:
Town Energy Data:
Nancy mentioned what a terrific and thorough job college intern Lizzy Kaplan is doing. Lizzy explained that she
has entered into the NYSERDA Energy Star portfolio manager portal the data information (electric, gas, oil – both
usage and cost) through 2020 for the five buildings we have been monitoring for several years – Town Center,
Senior Center, Firehouse, Hommocks Ice Rink and the Maxwell Avenue Garage. The remaining data to be
entered is for the Town’s fleet, which Lizzy expects to finish inputting by April 1.
Note: Lizzy’s last day with the Town was April 1, 2021. We wish her well in her future endeavors and are happy
to announce she has completed all data inputting through 2020, including fleet data.
Town-wide Emissions Targets
Nick and Mark M mentioned they had looked into other organizations who offer data entry/analysis but it seems
for now, the Town will make use of the Energy Star portfolio, due to its lack of a fee and the ability for us to
accumulate points towards Clean Energy Community (CEC) certification by doing so. Mitch asked if we could get
a sense of types of car usage in the Town. Could NYS let us know what types of cars are registered here? Would
be great to have a program that estimates energy usage in a community, whether by NYS or a non-profit agency
that could give us a guesstimate.
Action Item: Mitch said he and the energy committee would get on a call and come up with suggestions and
proposals and follow up on this topic
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Hommocks Rooftop Solar
Mark M updated the group that the solar panels are being installed on the roof. Once fully installed, these
panels can generate electricity equivalent for 50 homes. The offering of the community solar program begins
with lower and moderate income (LMI) residents first, along with apartment dwellers. Nancy and Steve Altieri
met with the Housing Authority to help promote the program to residents of Hommocks Apartments (about 50
families) there. They will go out to the Town’s Section 8 Housing residents as well.
Update:
Construction of the Hommocks Solar Farm will be completed by mid-April. Inter-connection with the ConEd grid
and inspections are expected by the end of April, and the Solar Farm will “go live” in May. Community Outreach
to low- and moderate-income families continues with assistance from Sustainable Westchester.
Community Solar and GridRewards – Tri-Municipal Campaign
Mitch and Lisa M. updated the group regarding a joint Tri-Municipal Campaign to promote two money- and
energy-saving campaigns this Spring – Community Solar and GridRewards.
Community Solar
Community Solar enables residents who sign up to receive a 10% reduction on the portion of their electric usage
that is credited to the regional solar installation the resident selects. The program is specifically for those who
cannot install solar panels on their rooftops which, according to Sustainable Westchester records, was well over
50% of all residents who inquired about solar during the “Solarize” campaigns. Residents benefit by saving
money, depending on the number of Town residents who sign up the municipalities involved receive NYSERDA
reward dollars.
Grid Rewards
GridRewards saves residents money when they reduce electricity demand during “peak power” periods in the
summer, while helping the environment by enabling ConEd to avoid turning on its “dirty peaker” fossil fuel power
plants on hot and humid days. When a resident signs on to this demand response program, they receive
messages from Con Ed to reduce their power during high demand times (mostly in summer). If the resident uses
less power during these times, they receive a rebate at the end of the year. The amount of the rebate check is
based on the amount of kilowatts saved by decreasing their power usage.
Regarding in person promotional events, Todd I. offered his business, the Center for Green Building site as a
location to promote sign-ups for both Community Solar and GridRewards. Sustainable Westchester also plans to
promote the programs with the help of the three muni environmental committees during virtual kick-off events
on March 30 and April 8 as well as in-person at Larchmont Farmers Market, the Earth Day event run by LEC on
April 17 and the April 24 Compost GiveBack Day at Maxwell Ave.
Update: The Campaign started the week of March 29 with a press release going out to the Town’s media list
(which includes the Villages), posts to social media and e-blasts from the three municipalities’ websites. Several
volunteers with the Collaborative have emailed Sue that they have signed up. As of April 7, at least 10 Town
resident/families have signed up for GridRewards, and at least 7 Town residents/families have signed up for
Community Solar.
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Strengthen Community Health:
Trees
Arlene N mentioned her committee, The Tree Team, are finalizing their “white paper” which will be presented to
the TB on April 7. The paper will note how important trees are and how many trees were removed/came down
and how many were planted in each of the last three years, showing the net loss of tree canopy. The paper will
conclude with a proposal to the Town Board to undertake a multi-year, public-private campaign to restore and
expand the Town’s Tree Canopy.
One part of the Tree Team is working on Community Outreach, starting with a give-away program for residents
to receive one of 40 small trees from the Arbor Day Foundation. Another part of the Tree Team is reviewing the
Town’s Tree Code. Nancy emphasized the value of replacing trees now. Code can be discussed during the public
engagement part of the Comprehensive Plan. During the Collab meeting, Collab member Eliza Pertz made a very
generous tree donation.
Update: Arlene and Mitch presented the Tree Canopy White Paper to the Town Board on Wednesday April 7. As
a result, the Board asked the Collab to return, before the summer break, and submit a detailed proposal for
revisions to the Town’s Tree Code. The Collab is also encouraged to present its thoughts on the multi-year Tree
Canopy Restoration and Expansion Plan. In a separate meeting, Liz Aitchison has requested that the Tree Team
provide detailed information of street locations where new “Street Trees” could be planted either in the grass
strip between the sidewalk and the curb or just inside the sidewalk on resident property
Update: Arlene and the Tree Team have worked with CUNY Professor Andrew Reinmann to obtain preliminary
information on the percentage of the Town covered by our Tree Canopy, based on satellite data from 2016, the
most recent year available. This information will be sent to the Town Board and distributed to the Collab.
.
Pollinator Pathways
Elizabeth P. wanted to let everyone know that she is developing a Pollinator Pathway (PP) group here in
Larch/Mam’k and would love volunteers to assist. If interested in HY, Trees, and so many other related themes,
planting trees/flowers that helps draw birds and bees, please let her know epoyet@gmail.com .
OCRA (Original Science Research Action) MHS Students “ToM Green” App
Michele L. reported the target for the app going live is middle of May following the Beta testing period during
April. The OCRA Team will be sending series of screen shots of various app pages so Collabs can see how the app
will look on their phones. Comments should be sent to Sue who will f/w to Michele.
Action Item: Michele has communicated with both the students and Joe Liberti regarding progress and
content. Michele expects an update from the OCRA team in early March. Once this is received, Michele will
coordinate distribution to the Collab through Sue O.
Update: Screenshots have been sent and comments have been sent to Michele.
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Minimize Waste:
Food Scrap Recycling:
Karen reported that volunteers spent several days at Maxwell Avenue Recycling Center distributing “We
Compost” stickers. They also plan to keep count of how many go to Maxwell Ave to recycle their food scraps
while promoting the program to those at Maxwell for other reasons. Karen reminded Collabs that there will also
be a presence of volunteers at Larchmont Farmers Market (starting April 24) to promote food scrap recycling/kits
and other Collab programs like Healthy Yards and Love your Food. Karen also mentioned that Larchmont Library
th
would like to host a Zoom event to discuss food scrap recycling on April 7 at 7pm. Karen to get us details.
Update/Follow-up: Real estate agent promotion proposed by Karen -- and Laura W. offered to design enviro
flyer/brochure for this. Events coming this month Compost GiveBack and Spring Cleanup (both on April 24 – see
flyers attached)
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.
The next meeting will be held on: Tuesday, April 13, 2021 via Zoom @ 6pm
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