Canton Sustainability Minutes January 6 2020

Source page 1

Canton Sustainability Committee
MINUTES - JANUARY 6, 2020
Canton Public Library
786 Washington Street, Canton, MA
Maker Space Room
Members Present: Christine Smith, Tim Calabrese, Phil Brown and Patricia McDermott
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm
It was moved and seconded and voted Unanimously to approve the December 2019 minutes.
The members reviewed and discussed the request by the Town Planner, Laura Smead to review the Master Plan and in particular the Sustainability Committee (“SC”) action items. 
Members first stated that the scope and content of the Master Plan documents were impressive and that a lot of work had gone into it.
The current action item assigned to the SC is as follows, with the SC being assigned a secondary or backup role:
“Develop a program for public education to increase awareness of natural hazards and climate change impacts and measures individuals can do to prepare and prevent climate change.”
Upon discussion, all members present felt that this was beyond the scope of the SC’s ability, mission and knowledge. However, the SC felt they could possibly assist by bringing in experts
who could speak to some of these. The members decided that Christine would provide this feedback to Laura Smead, and also ask for more specific details as to how Master Plan Committee
sees the SC supporting this goal. There was a suggestion that perhaps Laura Smead could meet with the SC to further explore this item.
There were other items on the Master Plan Action Matrix where the members felt the SC could and already have contributed a supporting role. Generally, line items 1-12 pertaining to energy
conservation and generation and line items 171-188 pertaining to Environmental Stewardship would be more relevant. 
Line items 7 (public charging stations), 12 (municipal aggregation), 16 (develop incentives for residents to retrofit structures), 177 (regional initiatives on water quality), 179 (programs
to encourage efficient use of water), 187 (increase recycling rates/explore options), 188 (support residents and businesses who want to start their own projects). 
Members felt that some matters missing from the spreadsheet were curbside composting and grey water management.
Christine will report back to Laura Smead by the January 13th deadline.
Ongoing Items – Goals for 2020
Tim reached out to City Compost, who is willing to come and do a public presentation on composting. Dates suggested based on library availability were March 3 or 5. Tim will reach
out on dates and report back.
Patti reported that Trish had reached out to the housing authority regarding recycling at Hagan Court and other senior housing. Patti and Trish will continue to work on that and coordinate.
Tim will follow up with Kathy Mirza at DEP regarding Recycling IQ Grant and other potential grants and will request that she join us for the February meeting if she’s available.
Christine reached out to MCAN about doing a public Community Aggregation presentation at the library for public education and outreach for support of Community Aggregation. The members
suggested April 15th based on library availability and school vacation schedules. Christine will follow up with MCAN and report back.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:17 pm