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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025_10_07 Sustainability Collaborative Minutes Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative/CSC Task Force 3�r of Marndr0 2025.10.07 Meeting Notes s� c� TOWN OF MAMARONECK SUSTAINABILITY COLLABORATIVE .4r/ October 7,2025 Meeting S4stainabtt%t' Attendees: Mark Kramer, Mitch Green, Arlene Novich, Roger Weiss, Allen Reiter, Robin Nichinsky, Arthur Katz, Kevin Crowe,Steve Moser, Michael Gottfried, Meg McNeel, Nick Zuba,Darren Moss,Julia Love, Frank Owens, Sophie Cowles, Kevin Crowe, Sue Odierna, Melissa and son (student), Dylan Hughes, Deirdre,John Z.,Jake Levitt,June Wallach Approval of the Meeting Notes The Notes from the Sept Sustainability Collaborative Meeting were accepted. New Topics and New Ideas—Mitch Green Mitch mentioned that the Collab began about 12 years ago, and about six years ago, the Town embarked on the Comprehensive Plan. It didn't contain an implementation plan. Mitch felt that nothing has been done. Need to pay attention to the five themes of the Comp Plan: Healthy Connections, Quality Neighborhoods, (three more)issues to think about re future planning: • Incinerator(reimagining Maxwell Ave Recycling Center) • Boston Post Road Plan for Future(less retail, multi-family housing) • Myrtle/Memorial Park Neighborhood Association Robin noted that a company has been hired and they are working on an implementation plan for the Town, and there was one meeting, but it hasn't happened since. Mark said he had the impression that the collabs would be involved with implementation, but no Collabs have been contacted nor given a timeline. Frank asked name of consulting firm. Could the scope of work be shared with Collabs? Michael G. noted importance of incinerator project getting moved. Repair Café—Sunday Oct.26,2025 Kevin reported that plans for the Repair Café were proceeding well and that the event was shaping up with a strong group of fixers, and some related activities (including a Native Plant&Seed Swap) are being organized. LMPP (Larchmont Mamaroneck Pollinator Pathway) will be there as well to talk about the importance of native plants. Still need someone else for glueing. Discussion about should residents have priority over non-residents. Also, should people be limited to one item? Sue thinks that was the original plan. Cleanup — Hommocks Conservation Area — Sue reported there was significantly less trash/recycling and fewer plastic bags. Tree—Nov. 15th deadline for Fall Tree Exhibit. Arlene wants flyers out to schools and FB (Sue to do) Mark suggested we put a bulletin board on first floor,since more people will see flyers and such then. Green Tiger Club-- Dylan and Melissa Hughes—at the MHS Club Fair, he will gage interest for this club,which his brother ran at the HS two years ago, but last year there wasn't a club. Mark mentioned there was an OCRA group that planted, and Mark suggested Dylan reach out to Joe Liberti to see if there's some overlap. Mitch mentioned there's a candidate for TB who was involved with Field for Kids, and how do high school students (who may be voting) feel about artificial turf vs grass. Mark mentioned that MHS installed solar panels, but who advises them? Is there an environmentally- 1 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative/CSC Task Force 2025.10.07 Meeting Notes focused person or committee in the school district? Frank reported that he and Mark Manley will be meeting with New Rochelle (who?School?) Sust Collab Webpage: Need photos on the page to make it livelier. Sue to add. Mark would like to form a committee of volunteers to go through the website and check if links are working, and then email Mark K. if links are not working. Sanitation/Recycling: Mark asked if anyone has noticed sanitation workers mixing recycling and trash. Consensus was that that is not an issue this week. Trees:Watering of Trees. Ralph gave the history. In 2024, Ralph Engel organized a donation of$50k to purchase and plant 110 trees throughout the community. Plan included watering the trees of two years. Mitch has asked what specifically is in the contracts, how often do the workers show up? Steve M. added-what can the Collabs do to help? Robin will raise the issue at work session. When Mark spoke to Liz at the Cleanup, she reported that there is an invoice every month of the tree company's work, but the Town doesn't know the specifics. Steve M. mentioned in the Implementation Plan,there should be a segment about planning to plant trees. Arlene mentioned they took down trees while working on the sidewalk work. John Z says 10 large trees on Weaver Street came down. There should've been protection zones around the trees. Mitch asked if the Trees for our Town page could be linked to the Collab page and vice versa. Town Awarded CSC Silver Status-Update Mark thanked the Town for their work on the CSC initiative and Robin pointed out that we also need to thank Karen Khor for all of her work throughout the last few years before she relocated to CA. Meeting ended at 8:00 pm. Q&A with Town Leadership-follow-up It was noted that several issues related to Resilience, Sustainability and Quality of Life remain outstanding from our August Meeting with Supervisor Eney. The Collab had invited Supervisor faine and Administrator Meredith to join the September Collab meeting,but due to ongoing work to answer our questions;the response was that it was not the time to join us. Update: Supervisor Eney will join the October Collaborative Meeting to update the Collab on the outcome of the Town's most recent submission to CSC. At that time, there may be an opportunity to ask the Supervisor to address some of the following: • Comprehensive Plan Implementation-next steps before the end of 2025; • Boston Post Road re-paving-Town Government's specific Complete Streets Goals; • Sanitation Commission Food Scraps - 2026 plans for Farmer's Market and curbside collection; • Public Space Pollinator Gardens-Private/Public Partnership; • Restoring the Town Tree Canopy-updating"Trees for our Town"in line with 2024's"110 trees with 2-year watering"program; • Sanitation Commission organization and funding dispute resolution; 2 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative/CSC Task Force 2025.10.07 Meeting Notes • Maxwell Ave Incinerator Abatement & Demolition - timing, funding, Maxwell Ave redevelopment opportunities afterward; • Sanitation Commission organization and funding dispute resolution; • Fast EV Chargers and Washington Square-ongoing implementation schedule;and • "Empty Nester"and Work Force Housing- Town proposals to implement Comprehensive Plan Goals Fountain Side of Memorial Park-Noise Issue In response to the discussion at the August Meeting, Co-Chairs Kramer and Green emailed the Supervisor and the Administrator on this issue, proposing that the Town immediately engage the Acoustic Consultant to perform their studies during fall 2025 so that funding to reduce the Noise and improve the Quality of Life in the Town could be improved.Since no response to the Co-Chairs'email has been received as of September 9, the Co-Chairs will follow up again on this issue. Update-Noise at the Memorial Park Fountain Area: There may be an opportunity to ask the Supervisor directly about this issue during her visit to the October 7 Collab Meeting. Collab Website,and"Getting the Word Out" Rafael,a Town resident/Scarsdale High student, reported on his tour of Sustainability Collaborative section of the Town's website. From the point of view of our younger audience, the website was informative....but mundane. Rafael advocated for a considerable "make-over"to the Collaborative section, with emphasis on being much more "bold" and "flashy", with lots of photos and videos, particularly emphasizing showing young people doing things and enjoying themselves, noting that if students see their peers doing good while having fun, that will be compelling and help attract new activists. Rafael urged us to reduce the amount of text and emphasize "InfoGraphics"to capture the attention of his peers. Rafael also advocated adding a large "VOLUNTEER NOW!"button, so that interest can turn quickly into action. Collaborative members applauded Rafael's comments and agreed with him. How to move forward was discussed.Steve Moser pointed out several areas where the current website fails to make cross- connections between areas of overlap between Departments, Boards and the Collaborative. The recommendation was to start with the Collaborative page, helping web visitors make those connections through a "WANT TO KNOW MORE?"button or something similar. 110 Tree Watering Program-did it stop? Several Collab members reiterated their observations that the Tree Watering Program seems to have been suspended at a time when the weather was still hot and dry, with trees showing the adverse impacts of lack of water. Collab members agreed to investigate at multiple levels. Update-Tree Watering-clear information still required Collaborative members have reported on a number of discussions, resulting in contradictory and incomplete information. If the 110-tree donation's durability and legacy is being threatened, as quite a number of trees in the 110-tree"class"are showing: Does Town Leadership realize this? Is the current situation the result of deliberate action, or just a combination of"errors of omission"? 3 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative/CSC Task Force 2025.10.07 Meeting Notes This topic will be prominent on the October meeting agenda,and there may be an opportunity to"Ask the Supervisor"about this issue. Sanitation Issues-Schedule,Staff Shortages,Shredder Timing, Mixing Trash and Recycling The Collaborative addressed several Sanitation issues in rapid order. Highlights: In discussion with Robin N, the Collaborative suggested that,if the staffing shortages were predicted to continue, that Sanitation make it VERY CLEAR to ToM and VoL residents that the "temporary" schedule will be made permanent as it is better organized to deliver the expected service even with less staff. The Board needs to be made aware of the "contamination" issues caused by mixing trash and recyclables,thereby"polluting'the recycling and causinga$0/ton disposal item(Recyclables)to turn into the most expensive disposal item (Trash, with costs in excess of$35/ton). As a Collaborative member put it, these actions are "LITERALLY THROWING OUR TAX DOLLARS AWAY" 4 Town of Mamaroneck Sustainability Collaborative/CSC Task Force 2025.10.07 Meeting Notes Tree Code-Time to Modify? The Collaborative discussed the impact on the Town's Quality of Life, Healthy Community, and Quality Neighborhoods and Resilient Infrastructure. John Zox distributed a "one-pager" that highlighted the"must-haves"for any modifications of the Tree Law,the most important including that "trees have a right to live"and that "no tree in the Town can be cut down without a review by a qualified,multi-disciplinary team. The Collab will continue this discussion at our October meeting Collab Goals for the Second Half of 2025 Myrtle and Memorial:the Collaborative engaged in a discussion about"Myrtle and Memorial Park," and the need to engage in a holistic planning and development program based on the Comprehensive Plan's five themes: • Healthy Community • Resilient Infrastructure • Quality Neighborhoods • Safe Connections • Sound Economy Myrtle and Memorial is defined as that area bounded by 1-95, North Chatsworth, the west edges of Memorial Park and the northern edge of LotA byJ&FAuto. Questions considered in the discussion: • Can Memorial Park be expanded by having LotA provide the same number of parking spaces in less space? • How can townhouse and/or multi-family housing development help pay for fixing the long- term flooding problems experienced by Myrtle Avenue Neighbors AND create housing for older-adult"downsizers"and/or WorkForce? • How can 1-95 noise problems be reduced while making Larchmont Station truly accessible? The Collab will continue this discussion at our October meeting The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm 5