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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022_01_11 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative 2022.0111 Collab Meeting Notes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative Meeting Notes January 11, 2022 (Meeting via Zoom, Senior Center 6pm—8pm) Attendees: Mitch Green, Sue Odierna, Arlene Novich, Mark Kramer, Mark Manley, Marc Karell, Karen Khor, June Wallach, Michele Lewis, Nick Zuba, Kevin Crowe, Beth Radow, Elizabeth Poyet, Eliza Pertz, George Roniger, Mireille (Miray) Ferrier, Arlene Novich,Judy Caputo, Laura Wertkin,Judy Caputo, new volunteers Dami and Evie Burckin, TB members Jeffery King and Robin Nichinsky Newly-appointed Co-Chair June Wallach, along with Co-Chair Karen Khor, welcomed everyone to the meeting. Town Board Liaison Jeff King thanked the Collaborative for their volunteerism and explained that liaisons are often changed so that they can experience different committees. With that,Jeff introduced new TB member Robin Nichinsky, who will now be the liaison to the Collaborative from the Board. Notes of December 7, 2021 meeting were accepted. Karen shared her screen to show the Collaborative that we would be focusing on three topics 1)Climate Smart Community recertification 2)Climate Emergency Action Plan 3)Community Outreach &Engagement Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Certification June updated on behalf of Denise Dunn and Kat Warwick who have been working on the CSC recertification for the Town. This was an effort they made consisting of over 100 hours of work over several months. (Though the CSC certification application was submitted on January 61", Denise and Kat are still working to gather data for additional actions to lead to additional points to move us toward "silver"certification during a future recertification time period.) For newer volunteers in the Collab,June explained what the program is all about, that it is sponsored by the NYS DEC and its goals are for communities to take various actions in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To motivate communities to do so, grants can be applied for, rebates are available(the Town has received grants for our EV Charging Stations)and municipalities enjoy the status of being a top environmentally-aware community in NYState. June added that since the Collaborative is also supporting the Climate Emergency Declaration the Town has adopted, the tasks, goals and results overlap. There was spirited discussion about all of the efforts the Collaborative has made over the years and questions about whether or not this work was included in the application and "counts." June explained that the work is arduous and some actions one would think would result in a large amount of points actually do not. She felt it would be helpful for the Collaborative to see exactly what the actions are, and the labor involved in them. Update: See attachment created by Collab/CSC Volunteer Denise Dunn illustrating the many actions involved in the CSC certification. Actions relevant to the Town are color-coded based on whether they were approved (gold), 1 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative 2022.0111 Collab Meeting Notes completed and awaiting review(green), require further attention to gain points (yellow), and not yet undertaken (no color). As mentioned above, the Climate Smart Community application was submitted to the DEC earlier this month. Climate Emergency Declaration Plan Karen reminded Collabs that on November 17, 2021 the Town Board adopted the Climate Emergency Declaration, joining over 2,000 other municipalities worldwide. This means that the Town recognizes there is a climate emergency and this commits the Town to take actions to respond to the requirements of NYS Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. The Collaborative has been directed to help the Town develop a response to this climate emergency and present a draft response by Sept 2022 to the Board. Karen then reviewed what the Collabs' "Climate Emergency Response Plan"involves. • Phase 1:Reviewing the original draft plan that the Collaborative wrote in 2014. (June reminded the Collabs that this draft plan is listed on the Collab page of the website), creating three sub-groups a)quality of life led by June, b)resilience led by Mitch, c)sustainability led by Karen. The goal is to complete this phase by end of January. • Phase Two—Gather additional input(case studies, interviews with Town staff, NYS-level research, etc.) to fully inform the recommendations to the TB, goal by end of February. • Phase Three—Integrate phases one and two to outline the Climate Emergency Plan • Phase Four—Draft Climate Emergency Response • Phase Five—Finalize Climate Emergency Response Discussion ensued about various elements of the above including if it would be helpful to partner with the Villages on above. Council Member/Liaison to the Collaborative Robin Nichinsky reminded the group that this is a declaration adopted by the Town and while it may be helpful to see what the Villages are doing, this plan is solely responsive to the Town. Community Outreach and Engagement June explained that the Collaborative will be creating a communications strategy that encompasses all the projects the group does. A worksheet will be provided that will be part of the planning process for each event/project. June reiterated that in order to get residents more involved, the "ask"has to be fun, easy and rewarding. We need to help residents to see that environmental efforts do not have to be labor intensive, that any small effort is valuable and is appreciated. Discussion about the fact that community outreach is not a "side project,"it actually is part of everything the Collaborative does. June mentioned other ways we can get the word out--increased social media presence, PSA's with LMC Media, increased person-to-person events. Discussion about "branding"--June emphasized that our brand needs to be that of the Town (not the Collaborative or specific Collab projects, though "Love your Food"has a logo/brand, but that's more of the exception to the rule). June explained we are actually promoting Town resources for residents. Robin added that the Comprehensive Plan is getting started and that the Town is committed to it and part of that plan may be a (potentially new)branding of the Town. General Discussion followed related to Maxwell Avenue Recycling Center's hours and the fact that the facility has been closed several times on Saturdays. Also, discussion about when the Tree Code will get revised, when/if we 2 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative 2022.0111 Collab Meeting Notes will have a Compost Day this spring, an Emelin-held event from about a decade ago that Beth Radow was part of regarding trees(can still be viewed on LMC Media's website under League of Women Voters'page). A big thank you went out to Mitch Green who was Chair of the Collaborative for six years and all are happy to see he will remain an active member. Also thanked was long-time member Frank Owens who needed to step away to tend to personal affairs. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM The next meeting will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, February 1, 2022. 3