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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021_07_13 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative 2021.0713 Collab Meeting Notes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative Meeting Notes, July 13, 2021 (Meeting Live, Senior Center, 6pm – 8pm) Attendees: Mitch Green, Jeff King, Sue Odierna, George Roniger, Arlene Novich, Michelle Lewis, Nick Zuba, June Wallach, Eliza Pertz, Ellen Silver (VoM CFTE Chair), Karin Weisburgh, Beth Radow (via telephone) and interns Anna Brause, Alex Boswell and Sebastian Gold Notes of June 2021 meeting were accepted. Summer Interns for the Sustainability Collaborative/Supervisor’s Office Anna Brause gave a brief history of the Town’s efforts regarding our Climate Smart Certification, achieved in 2016 and that we are now renewing this certification as it expires after five years and the municipality must continue to make environmental progress to stay certified at the same level. Anna reported that, per the advice of our Hudson Valley Regional Coordinator consultant, the Town submitted many actions even though some may not be awarded. The main effort was to continue our bronze level certification which is pretty certain and we will find out in late August. We have the opportunity to submit more actions and try for silver certification before their next review period in January 2022. Update: Supervisor Nancy Seligson informed the Collab that, as of July 30, 2021, the Town of Mamaroneck holds the second-highest Clean Energy Community rating within all of New York State! Sebastian Gold is helping the Tree Team prepare for the Tree Committee’s presentation to the Town Board next week, and then will be assisting with the GreenMamaroneck App and other initiatives. Alex Boswell is working with Michele Lewis, June Wallach and Mitch Green on edits to the OCRA “Green Mamaroneck” app. Alex reported that he can track usage through Google Analytics. There are a couple hundred users. Feedback has been very good regarding the app. The goal is to update the app every three months (as well as this summer) to tune up certain areas where text and icons can use some improvement. Specific areas for attention include:  TEXT Edits to make sure that the content for each Topic and Sub-Topic is clear and accurate  Review of each Sub-Topic’s LINKS, to see if better/more current information can be included  Reviewing each Topic’s ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, to focus on relevant, interesting, & action-inducing content In addition to these near-term tasks, Alex will help the Collab:  Learn how to edit, add items and delete items from the app (including “passing the torch” to Sebastian G, who has agreed to assist the Collab going forward as his time allows  Take a step back to consider our target audience(s), and see how we can improve the Visual and Verbal identity of the App to make it more relatable and engaging  Consider how best to integrate a “Sign-up-Calendar” feature into the “Get Involved” section of the App  Think about how we might tie our Topics to the seasons, perhaps including a monthly “Quick Tips” feature 1 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative 2021.0713 Collab Meeting Notes MINIMIZE WASTE Repair Café George Roniger has put together a planning committee. Both Villages have offered their assistance and George will be reaching out to potential volunteers. George will be working with his team to organize their pre-event tasks, identify key people to be in charge of certain components, and coordinating community outreach and education. th Update: The Mamaroneck Senior Center has been booked for Saturday, October 16 for the rescheduled and first-ever Town of Mamaroneck Repair Café! STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY HEALTH Tree Team – Updating Mamaroneck’s Tree Code Arlene Novich explained that the committee sent their revision of the Town’s Tree Code to Nancy Seligson, Jeff King and the rest of the Town Board to review; the Tree Code Update will be presented to the Town Board for discussion later in July. Arlene explained they took a very thorough look at the tree code and the result is a much more detailed code. Discussion ensued about trees, moratoriums on tear-downs, and concern about the tear-down moratorium ending and how that could affect trees coming down once again. Jeff K. said the moratorium on teardowns is in effect until October and that AKRF, the Comprehensive Plan Consultant, hopes to present recommendations to the Town Board before the moratorium ends. Update: Due to a very heavy agenda, focused primarily on the Comprehensive Plan, the Town Board postponed the Tree Code discussion until the August 17 Town Board Work Session. Also, the Town Board has decided to discontinue working with AKRF on the Comprehensive Plan update (and the Residential Housing Study). Councilman Jeff King can give a brief update at the Collabs meeting STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY HEALTH Climate Emergency Declaration Beth Radow called in to explain this initiative, which focuses on inspiring local leaders to prepare for climate change by treating it as the emergency it is, thereby potentially unlocking emergency powers/funding for use by the Town. As a member of the Larch/Mamk League of Women Voters, Beth explained that the New York State LMV delegates as well as League chapters in seven other states passed the Climate Emergency resolution. More th than 1,920 jurisdictions around the world have adopted this declaration, including several countries. On May 13, New Rochelle passed their own resolution declaring a climate emergency. The Climate Emergency resolution requires the municipality to look at their codes, regulations and procedures through the lens of climate change minimization, preparation and adaptation. Passing a Climate Emergency Declaration would potentially enable the Town to access funding that is under an “emergency umbrella.” Perhaps we could then get action more quickly, and put less strain on existing Town resources. It’s also a way to get more people involved. First, a policy is built – the procedural structure to combat and respond to climate change -- and then the Advisory Committee (which the Collaborative could take on) looks at specifics to effect change. Update: The Collab will discuss the Climate Emergency Declaration at our August 10 Meeting, with the goal to forward a recommendation to the Board before the end of the summer. 2 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative 2021.0713 Collab Meeting Notes STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY HEALTH Healthy Yards – Robomowers Heidi and Erik Pande Horn gave us a demonstration of the Robomower outside on the front lawn of the Senior Center. As they explained it, the Robomower gently “nibbles” at the grass and as such, can be used daily to maintain a healthy lawn. It can be charged and set up to run without supervision once the barriers are properly set up and it is quiet and gasoline-free. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 pm The next meeting will be held on: Tuesday, August 10, 2021 @ 6pm at the Mamaroneck Senior Center, 1288 Boston Post Road, on the back deck if weather permits. Otherwise, in large dining room (enter via ramp on side of building). 3