20210603 - Green Ridgewood/Green Team Virtual Meeting Minutes
Green Ridgewood-Green Team Virtual Meeting Minutes 20210603
Attendance:
Green Ridgewood: Bob Upton, George Wolfson, Christine Amundsen, Beth Creller, Mary Mogerley (Parks & Recreation Rep),Saurabh Dani (School Board Rep), Pam Perron (Village Council Liaison).
Green Team: Justin Manger, George Wolfson, Bob Upton, Mike Faherty, Abby Clothier (Student liaison), Mike Sedon (Village Council Liaison).
Additional: Miles Luo (RHS).
1. Welcome/Introductions:
Apologies had been received from Diala, Ellie, Yvone, and Jill. Diala has advised that her Thursday conflict will have ended before our next meeting.
Again, we extend thanks to Dylan Hansen for hosting us on Zoom.
2. Approve April and May Meeting Minutes:
The “3rd draft” minutes from the April meeting and the “3rd draft” minutes from the May meeting had been e-mailed to members on May 29th and June 1st respectively. A correction to attendance was noted and an addition to paragraph 3 of the May minutes had been requested. Both were approved unanimously as amended.
3. Membership/Recruitment:
Nothing to report.
4. Communications: Website, Social Media:
Yvone & Beth continue to post on our Facebook and Instagram pages and info for posting can be sent to them.
5. Green Team/Sustainable Jersey:
Silver Recertification: Justin and Mike have been gathering and entering information prepared by committee members responsible for SJ Actions to meet the June 6th submission deadline. Justin will provide a status report after that date. We will have the opportunity to supplement the application later.
The Sustainable Jersey Annual Summit took place virtually again this year during May and the segments can be viewed on their website. Bob reported on the “Road ahead” session, including that a new Gold Star Standard “Water” is now available with “Health” to be added next.
6. Sustainable Bergen Hub:
(a) Upper Saddle River hosted a Zoom Hub meeting on May 24th which included a discussion about the mission and goals, concluding only that further wider discussion is needed. Bob will host next meeting July 28th. The agenda will continue that discussion and James Pfeiffer of Green Waste Energy is invited to speak. Meetings will probably continue on the 4th Monday each month, probably to exclude August & December.
(b) The Single Use Plastics sub-committee has not met.
(c) The Styrofoam Sub-Committee has not met. Next meeting expected to focus on game plan now the grant is exhausted. Mostly Styrofoam collections will be conducted by individual towns for their own residents only. We will have to consider our own plans for Ridgewood in due course.
(d) Creative Bergen – The county wide Arts Amble event is being publicized and Pam reported Anthea has provided brochures and posters for distribution. The Ridgewood dance performance and art exhibit are as reported last month. Art of Motion has provided an insurance certificate so hopefully all Village requirements have now been met. Thanks to Anthea for her hard work putting this event together.
(e) EV Sub-Committee – As reported last month this group is interested in holding a small EV car show in Ridgewood but specifics plans are awaited.
(f) Solar Sub-Committee – Bob reported that this new sub-committee has been formed.
7. RGEA (Renewable Government Energy Aggregation) Sub-Committee:
The Sub-Committee is compiling a list of FAQs and answers for education purposes.
8. Planning Board/Master Plan:
Following the Board’s review of the Hopper ridge Condominium project Bob had distributed a public notice received by Green Ridgewood which we agreed required no action.
The only project addressed by the Board in one meeting since our last meeting was 315 East Glen. Some of our members expressed concern with the removal of trees and we reviewed past unsuccessful efforts to pass a tree ordinance, still ongoing. Depletion of trees is especially of concern given the vulnerability of the ash trees and the necessary removal of many.
9. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA):
It was felt that the availability of delivery programs from some CSAs and issues with handling refrigerated items probably prevent a drop-off program being worthwhile unless it could serve people who are homebound.
10. Adopt-a-Drain:
Miles has not yet had an opportunity to discuss this with the RHS Green Club. Another option may be to approach Boy/Girl Scouts.
11. CBD Balloons:
Bob spoke at the May 12th Village Council work session on behalf of Green Ridgewood expressing general opposition to single use plastics in general and balloons in particular. We were advised the CBD Committee is considering reusable balloons.
12. NJ Green Amendment:
Copies of the NJ Assembly and Senate Bills ACR80 and SCR30 known as Green Amendment Bills and a suggested resolution supporting them were distributed to members and will be discussed at next month’s meeting.
13. ERI (Environmental Resource Inventory):
It was noted that during a proposal to the Village Council by the Land Conservancy of NJ about developing the Open Space Plan they also listed among their capabilities the creation of ERIs. The benefits of having an ERI on record and its inclusion in the Master Plan have been discussed previously. We believe the cost might be expected to lie in the $15 – 20K range.
14. New Business:
Also at the latest Village Council meeting the possibility of creating a thrift shop in Ridgewood was mentioned. This suggestion was applauded but with the caution that a suitable location would need adequate parking for drop-off.
17. Next Joint Meeting will be Thursday July 1st at 7:00 PM, venue to be advised.
We believe an in-person meeting will be possible. Bob will check availability of a larger space than the Garden Room. In the past we have skipped a meeting in one of the summer months. A decision about the August meeting will be made at the July meeting.
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