HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023_06_06 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative
Meeting Notes—June 6, 2023
Attendees: Karen Khor, Sue Odierna, Mark Kramer, Kevin Crowe, Arlene Novich, Robin Nichinsky,Judy
Caputo, Robin Nichinsky, Allen Reiter, Elizabeth Poyet, Karin Weisburgh,John Zox, Melissa Hughes,
Emmanuelle Colot, MHS student Sebastian Gold
Volunteers were welcomed to the meeting by Mark Kramer and the notes of the May meeting
were accepted.
CSC and Other Grand Funding Opportunities
Karen Khor mentioned that the CSC program and the NYS DEC(Consolidated Funding Opportunities)
have grant opportunities that the Town can apply for. One is for a tree program and has an August
deadline. It relates to planting trees along waterways. Arlene said she'd mention to Luke Brussel
re:planting trees by the Brook. Mark Kramer referenced an article he read in a LI newspaper re:
the Department of State offering over$26 million in funding to municipalities for a variety of
programs (https://libn.com/2023/05/24/state-offering-26m-in-funding-for-municipalities/
Comprehensive Plan Update
Mark and Karen mentioned that the Comp Plan Working Draft was e-blasted to distribution lists
and is on the website. Karen is asking for feedback by June 25th so she can give the comments from
the Collabs to the committee. Specific suggestions are most valuable. There was discussion
regarding how these actions will be implemented. Robin Nichinsky explained that some actions are
long-term, others can be implemented sooner, but there isn't a specific timeline.
Update: The Collab submitted the collective feedback to the Comp Plan Team website by the July
5th deadline.
Food Scrap Recycling
Judy Caputo reported that the County contract with Suburban has ended and now the County has
contracted with CRP Carting whose transfer station is in Cortlandt Manor. Mark said the options
for our Town are either to have CRP pick up the food scraps at Maxwell Avenue site or for our
sanitation staff to bring them to Cortlandt Manor ourselves. Currently, our sanitation staff are
transporting the food scraps to the composting facility in Cortlandt Manor. Based on feedback from
Frank Giordano, the sanitation foreman, the roundtrip takes about 3 hours.
Note: The option for CRP to pick up our food scraps from Maxwell Avenue involves a registration
process with the County to obtain the permit for this service.
Curbside Food Scrap Pickup Study
Judy says she will draft a memo to Jaine and Meredith on the study regarding food scrap pickup. It
will contain statistics on how much food scrap poundage we are now getting at Maxwell.
Note: As a reminder, at the December 6, 2022 Collab meeting, the Town Supervisor said she would
like the Collabs to go forward with the proposed workgroup to study and develop an implementation
plan for curbside pickup of food scraps in the unincorporated Town of Mamaroneck.
July Collabs Meeting to feature Supervisor& Administrator
Mark Kramer asked the Collabs present at the meeting to write down any questions for the Town
Supervisor and Town Administrator so that he could start compiling them in advance. He also asked
volunteers to email other questions before the July meeting.
Update: Questions for Jaine and Meredith were gathered from the Collabs, organized, and
submitted for their review on July 3rd (see attachment).
Tree Update
Arlene reported that Zach Hughes and his fellow MHS Green Tigers'students planted 25 tree
seedlings. Most were planted at MHS, a few at Hommocks Middle School and a few at Hommocks
Conservation Area. Overall, most seedlings have survived so far and are being watered. Melissa
Hughes added that the boys enjoyed planting the seedlings and that her son, Zach, will ask Dr.
Andrew Reinmann from The City University of New York if he can speak to students. Dr. Reinmann
has been studying the change in tree canopies over the years, how urbanization alters rates of tree
growth and carbon sequestration, and how the trees in our communities influence our local
climate.
Separately, in the Village of Larchmont, by Manor Park, Arlene saw 12 trees cut down at the corner
of Grove and Magnolia. Arlene called the VoL Mayor, Sarah Bauer who said the VoL was not
responsible for this.
Upcoming and Fall Events
• Larchmont-Mamaroneck Pollinator Pathway Garden Tour to take place on June 25th—this is
the second LMPP garden tour this spring and will take place at resident Jenny Geer's house.
Elizabeth to send Sue info. to post on FB to promote the tour. Also, residents can sign up
to be on the LMPP distribution list to get notices of future garden tours.
• Larchmont Day, Saturday, September 23, 2023.
• Love your Food (LYF) Cooking Demo, Wednesday, September 27, 2023, from 7pm — 8pm.
• Repair Café, Sunday, October 15, 2023.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm.