Palmer Township

July 28, 2010

Environmental Steering Committee Meeting Minutes

Held at Chrin Community Center

Attendees: John Balas, Terry Cooper, Tom Ganssle, Nancy Nicholas, Cindy Oatis, Rob Reese, Dave Sciascia, Denise Veres

Guests: Robert C. Natkie – General Manager J. P. Mascaro & Sons

Meeting opened at: 7:00 PM

1. Minutes Approval: June approved, no revisions – T. Ganssle; J. Balas

- J.P. Mascaro Hauler Report

R. Natkie- provided reports: Tonnage results for June, customer complaint log for June

- As requested by ESC, Rob provided preliminary report on Whitehall/Palmer recycling comparison. Whitehall services 7900 units, Palmer, 7000. Rob needs more time to get yard waste percents to give a full report for the September meeting.

Recycling curbside #s: 900 tons in Whitehall for 6 months, Palmer 800 tons

- R. Reese- commented that cleaned-out paint cans put out curbside at his residence were not picked up by Mascaro drivers after several weeks– R. Natkie will speak with driver

2. Recycling Coordinator's Report – C. Oatis

- Corporate Sustainability Alliance– After attending several meetings with township officials, Cindy informed ESC of plans to meet with township business leaders to establish this alliance

- Area large businesses need to develop sustainability plans and reports but are unfamiliar with procedure. Cindy plans to organize the committee with business/university leaders and ESC members and invite guest speakers to share their expertise on items such as recycling non-traditional like Styrofoam, LEED construction, carbon/footprint calculation, paper shredding, etc.

- Volunteers from ESC: D. Veres, T. Cooper, D. Sciascia., B. Lammi,

- Tentative meeting dates: August- brainstorming meeting; Oct/Nov.- first meeting

- D. Sciascia- added information on the 3 levels of opportunities for small businesses in the Green Plus Institute For Sustainable Development

- C. Oatis- shared news of township receiving $166,000 on (2008) recycling 904 Performance Grant

3. Old Business

1. The item of free use of Berks Street Recycling Center for ESC members has been approved by township officials

- Township officials need list of ESC members who will use site– Cindy will provide names

- Palmer Days update provided by C. Oatis and T. Ganssle

4. New Business

1. Back Yard Compost Seminar – to be held in Sept.

- T. Dittmar is working on sponsorship to get something similar to Earth Machines

5. Next Meeting: September 22, 2010 @ 7:00pm - Palmer Township Municipal Building

6. Adjournment: 8:15 PM