Palmer Township EAC - Minutes

Environmental Steering Committee                                                                            September 24, 2008            

Attendees: Rob Reese, Tom Ganssle, Denise Veres, Cindy Oatis, Bob Lammi, Terry Cooper, Chris Baglia, Tom Dittmar, John Olock   

 

Meeting opened at:  7:03 PM

 

Guests: 

Rob Natkie from Mascaro Hauling.

 

Approval of Minutes:  July minutes approved with corrections on motion by Tom G., seconded by Tom D.  The ESC did not meet in August.

 

Hauler Report:

Enforcement Run: Rob R. (Palmer ESC) and Rob Natkie (Mascaro) took an enforcement run on Thursday, August 7, 2008.  Photos were taken of recycling non-compliance.  Bob L. would like to put photos on the Palmer website to give examples to residents of non-compliance.

 

White Goods:  Mr. Natkie reported that there were not a lot of white goods.  Several members reported seeing a few pick-up trucks taking the white goods the evening before the Mascaro pick-up.  ESC is concerned that lower recycling numbers will impact Palmer grants.  Most often, when Mascaro gets to a reported white goods location, the item is already taken.

 

Mr. Natkie distributed July/August tonnage reports and phone logs.

 

Recycling Coordinator Report:

Recycling Guide for the Newsletter:  12,500 guides will be printed at between $4-5,000.00.  Cindy O. has it in the budget.  A two- color process will lower the price.  The DEP requires recycling education for businesses and residents twice a year.  This recycling guide will qualify as one of those.

 

2009 Budget:  Cindy O. reported that the budget is very tight. The  ESC budget came in very well for 2008 and she was able to bump some of the budget to next year, mostly for schools programs.  The Clearstream recycling containers were a success at Palmer Community, so Cindy will order more for all Palmer events.  Because of the tight budget, the ESC may need to start charging a user fee for things like Composting Seminar, etc.

 

School Program – Cindy O. is going to ask Tracy Elementary if they are interested in holding an assembly for the Mascaro Respect Program.  Rob Natkie noted that the program is better for a classroom than large assembly format.  EAHS S.A.V.E. students are going to the 12th St. building to meet with children.   This may be a better venue for the Respect program.

 

Old Business:

Compost Seminar:  This year’s event on September 13th exceeded the 1,000 mark of residents attending composting seminars.  Tom D. wants to get into elementary schools to talk about recycling/composting during week of Earth Day. 

 

Recycling Center – steps & signs – Improving signage at Hartley was taken care of in the past month. 

 

Other – The shredder and compactor offered by Bethlehem are no longer available.

 

High School Recycling:  Tom G. reviewed a handout of EASD recycling progress.  They have progressed from mixed paper, to adding cardboard and then bottles/cans.  There has been a lot of success with this program in a short amount of time.  Tom G. thought it would be a 3-year program, but looks like he can get all schools in compliance within the year.  So far, there has been between 5-10 tons (conservative estimate) out of the waste stream without a charge to the district.  Tom D. mentioned “Greensylvania” program where schools measure recycled content and the school with the most recycling wins something. 

 

Community Weekend:  The winners for the four flashlights were chosen by  Bob L.  Tom G. felt participation was up and everything worked out well.  The winners will be notified by Tom G.  

 

New Business:

County E-cycling Event   This event will take place on October 4th  at Nazareth Middle School from 10 AM to 2 PM.  Press releases have been sent.  Sam’s Club will help out.  Anyone who wants to help, please let Tom D. know.  The next one is planned in Spring at EAHS.  Bob L shared an article about unsafe practices that some e-cycling companies use to dispose of e-cycling.  AERC is reliable and reputable and the ESC feels good using them. 

 

County HHW:  This event will be held on October 11th at NACC from 10AM to 2PM.  Tom D. said that they have sponsorships, Chrin will supply a dumpster, and it has been posted on Palmer and other local websites.  They expect between 1,000 – 1,500 cars over the 4 hours.  They are using MXI as the collector/disposer.  Anyone who wants to help, let Tom D. know.

 

Palmer Website:  Bob L. didn’t get any feedback about the website, so will go ahead and revise. 

 

“Cash For Trash”:  Bob L spoke about an article that he distributed called “Cash for Trash”.  This article gave statistics on recycling and saved energy costs for recycled vs. virgin production of various products.  Bob will use some of this information in the Palmer website.

 

 Next Meeting:

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 22, 7:00 PM, at Palmer Municipal Building  

 

Adjournment:  Rob R. motioned to adjourn, seconded by Tom D.  8:28PM

 

Minutes submitted by D. Veres