REAC-Green Team Joint Meeting Minutes 20181016

REAC-Green Team Joint Meeting Minutes 20181016

Attendance:
REAC: Bob Upton, George Wolfson, Lisa Summers, Christine Amundsen, Pam Perron,  Michael Sedon (Village Council Liaison), Mary Mogerley (Parks & Recreation Rep), Jennie Smith Wilson (School Board Rep).
Green Team: Justin Manger, Bob Upton, Michael Sedon (Village Council Liaison).
Other: Serena Iacoviello, Leslie Lello
1. Introductions/Membership update:
Serena is resubmitting her GT application. GT still has positions open.
Mike advised that Robert Kearney from Ridgewood Water has agreed to join REAC as Village Staff Representative.
2. The minutes from the September meeting were adopted by consensus.
3. Plastic Bags:
Lisa & Ellie have looked into available suitable reusable bags and selected a few styles. Lisa offered to provide info. Some suggested there are already too many bags being offered. Best timing would be to hand out bags just as law/ordinance becomes effective. Decided to wait and see how State legislation develops before (a) proceeding with bag purchase, (b) proposing local ordinance or (c) submitting resolution to the Governor.
4. Sustainable Jersey:
a. Gold Star Standard in Waste
Waste Reduction & Recycling Level Reporting: SJ has provided some clarification on requirements so Justin & Bob will ask Johanna what parts of the required data are currently available.
Food Waste Pilot & Composting Info Session: These were discussed and situation remains as reported in September minutes.
b. Green Business Program
Jiffy gave Justin the paperwork on our current 4 Green Businesses (Ridgewood Cycle, Backyard Living, American Bulldog Coffee Roasters, Jekyll & Hide. He has requested they be listed on the GT web page and will add to Facebook. A question was raised if Organic Mattress Co has also participated. Also Double Take has joined the NJ Sustainable Business Registry so we will approach them. George, Bob & Pam will work on this program.
c. SJ Annual Summit: Waiting for grant writer to provide Mike with copy of previous grant application to compare with others supplied at workshop.
d. SJ Bergen Hub
Ridgewood will host the monthly Steering Committee meeting on Monday 10/22 at Village Hall. Justin will issue the agenda which will include discussion of the SJ Hub Grant awarded to the Hub for “Styrofoam” collection/education and Ellie will speak about possible grants for HoHoKus Brook restoration as a Hub project.
5. Grant opportunities/Projects for grants: No discussion.
6. Uses for REAC Funds.
a. Reusable shopping bags: Still under consideration. See Plastic Bags, above.
b. Grant program for schools: See schools, below.
c. Support for Tree Nursery: George reported the planning/relocation of the nursery is in process and supplies will be needed. He will obtain detailed needs in due course.
7. Educational events 
a. All were reminded the LWV Water Forum is tomorrow, Oct 17th.
b. Yingying had provided a list of movies suitable for a children & parents event. These were discussed. Bob will forward the list with comment & an addition. It was agreed we should try to stay with our waste reduction theme.
8. Schools
Jennie spoke to Dr Fishbein about the suggestion we support sustainability education in the schools, for example by sponsoring field trips, and he suggested we offer grant funding. It was decided this might best be offered for middle schools and could be offered for field trips or projects with an environmental theme. A sum of $1,000 was agreed as appropriate with the option of repeating annually. Jenny will provide a proposal document format for us to work with.
9. By-Laws: Mike has sent out draft by-laws for approval at our next meeting.
10. Plaque for Andy Antista Tree: No update.
11. Good Life Ridgewood Event: This event was held on Sept 30th. Bob attended and felt we had concluded correctly that it was not an ideal venue for our committees to exhibit.
12. Village Master Plan: Mike advised that NV5, the organization that will develop the visioning document is gathering input and has wants to meet with our committees. Justin has some information concerning the cost and process of developing an ERI (Environmental Resources Inventory) and we will examine how this fits within the Master Plan development process.
13. North Bergen Liberty Power Plant: Pam & Serena are attempting to edit the suggested resolution opposing the planned construction of this plant provided by the organizers of opposition. Bob commented on the difficulty of finding impartial information about the proposal and asked Pam to share additional information as available since, if we are to take a position it must be an informed position. However it was noted numerous environmental organizations are opposing the plan.
14. Regenerative Environmentalism Meetup Group: Leslie has provided an outline expanding on her plans described at the September meeting. We noted that her proposed screening of the introductory movie, Inhabit, could be presented in partnership with REAC/GT and her proposed composting workshop could also be combined with our own plans. Bob will share the outline with committee members.
15. Low Impact Checklist: Topic deferred to next meeting.
16. Next Joint Meeting Date:  Currently the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday Nov 20th but due to proximity to Thanksgiving it may be inconvenient. Other options also create conflicts so Bob will poll members by e-mail.