Chestertown Environmental Committee Minutes
April 1, 2021
Attending: Jon Hanley, Andy Goddard, Darran Tilghman, Jenny Freebery, Ford Schumann, David Foster, David Sobers, Annie Richards
Administration
February & March Minutes approved.
Harold Somerville is stepping off the committee- too many other commitments. Committee Guidelines:
• Attend 10 out of 12 meetings
• Do not strictly follow Robert’s Rules of Order
• Currently no official nominating committee
• Minutes posted publicly on town website
Action Item: Darran to send Tim’s membership guidelines
Committee still seeking new members- potentially industry representative
Communication/Promotion
Post CEC accomplishments on town website.
Each work group to send image & a couple of sentences
Sustainable Maryland – Jon to work with Kees & Mike Hunnicat on keeping town current
• advertising ED21 on their website and f/b page
• new webinars
o bicycle friendly community 3/31 – Owen
o MD Smart Energy 4/21 – Jon
o EV charging stations 4/28 – Jon
o adopt pesticide regulations 5/12 – ???
Earth Day Festival- April 24, 9 am to 1 pm
• town permit issued & approved by HD
• event details & sponsors – Andy
• trash walk – Jenny
• recycle & EV cars – Jon
Hospital Oil Spill
Still no guidelines from MDE. Hospital wants to use different testing technique- silica gel process. Only approx. half of oil has been captured. Potential letter writing campaign to address issue.
Food Security
• SNAP still not rolled out at the Farmers Market
• needs a dedicated champion to assist with roll-out
• Dollar General total store re-do will expand “grocery” concept to include more refrigerated (not frozen) food and fresh produce!
Roadmap to Resilience Meeting
In attendance: Kees, Meghan Efland, Tom Herz, Salisbury Mayor & members of their sustainable team, Darran. Discussion on how Chestertown can use Salisbury plan with our fewer resources. They have 2 different plans: Comprehensive & Sustainability
Waste Management
• Keep America Beautiful. 4 recycle & 1 trash can now installed in town
• SEEC looking to begin composting WAC dining hall food in spring
• WAC compost club- containers by dorms
Energy & Transport
• site surveys were conducted for the EV charging stations at the Acme & Redner’s parking lots, construction to begin early April
• drawings for the EV charging stations at the Foot of High Street have been submitted, construction to begin late summer
• the EV Institute of MD (501c3 organization) has been contacted about more EV charging stations at Wash Coll and 200 High Street
• EV chargers at the Cannon Street municipal lot seem to have stalled, complications from Ajax…
Water & Habitat
• Dunkin Donuts plants- Unity installed in the stormwater collection basin
• pedestrian island with trees at Foot of High Street – Owen
• 2 grants with Fish & Wildlife Another storm water mgmt. grant
Tree Steward Program. Training on growing native trees. 4 sessions in summer. Committee members welcome to attend