Charlestown Township Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) Meeting Minutes Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, the meeting was held remotely via Zoom.

Pete Goodman (chair) opened the meeting at 6:30 pm.

Maany and Walker accepted another 3-year term. Richardson was approved as an EAC member which will end December 31, 2021.

Goodman announced he will be retiring as Chair at the end of 2021.

Minutes were approved unanimously on a motion by Richardson, seconded by Armstrong.

Goodman announced another Penn State webinar series “Streams in Your Backyard” - 5 webinars starting in February into March. Inexpensive and simple

Action: ask Linda to advertise on weekly township announcements.

Nature News will be going out this week.

Green Business Award:

Maany has potential local business willing to interview. Subcommittee will try to identify others to interview.

Deerfield riparian buffer proposal:

Goodman is having difficulty meeting with HOA. Also, the private resident off Yellow Springs did not express an interest at this time.

Action: Goodman will continue to reach out to Deerfield.

Brightside riparian buffer project:

The mowing was done in December as scheduled. We should do a survey of the tubes and see how plants are doing. Ailanthus tree removal won’t happen until the trees have leaves for the slash and treat to work. This may happen in May.

Action: survey the tree and shrub status before next meeting.

Community education series:

Solomon offers to do a webinar presentation to air Monday April 19^th at 7:00 p.m. tentatively. “Everything about recycling and composting” or “Recycling and composting made easy”.

In the future, perhaps in the fall, Goodman agreed to do something on the streams of Charlestown -

Armstrong knows someone who can do a talk about invasive plants to cook and eat

Audubon preserve has excellent speakers. Some EAC members had attended a talk on MOTUS wildlife tracking system which we could consider hosting as well.

Action: Solomon will start preparing for our next presentation tentatively for April.

Charlestown riparian buffers and survey:

Goodman suggests identifying areas in the township that may need riparian buffer restoration. If anyone comes across such an area in the township, we could send pictures to Goodman. We could consider approaching properties on easement first to address riparian concerns. Armstrong has some pictures of Charlestown Park that may need some work.

Action: Identify areas in township for future riparian work.

Nature News

going out this week. We have approval from the BoS. The list of recipients are folks who had opted into receiving notices from us.

Next Nature News could be a summary of what we learned from the Penn State Extension webinars.

Township newsletter article –

Maany and Goodman have submitted articles for upcoming issue. Next deadline is April 15^th. Linda likes to know ahead of time if you are submitting something. Ponder some topics.

Wildflower planting at Brightside Park:

Armstrong made a list of what she planted. Maany will attempt to do some milkweed planting in the next few weekends coming up.

Armstrong reports the Watershed-Friendly Property Certification program is finishing up publications and brochures. Once they’re done, Armstrong will be notified and she/we can present it to residents to encourage them to have their properties certified. The goal is to help residents develop better watershed protection stewardship and knowledge. Goodman is currently certified.

There are also pollinator certification programs – Master Gardeners has a certification program. There are many programs that have similar certifications. We could educate residents about why one should pursue to have their properties certified but not promote a specific organization. Richardson will share what organizations have such programs. She emphasizes that you don’t have to be a Master Gardener to do this. Armstrong suggests making this a newsletter article. We could discuss common misconceptions about common pollinator plants and their ecological contributions.

ACTION: investigate and promote programs to residents.

DCNR wingspan project Armstrong reports we were on their shortlist of public lands that could qualify for plugs and seed. Still waiting to hear.

Earth Day:

start contemplating what that may look like.

EAC bylaws:

seek out what other EACs are doing at the upcoming Northern Chester County EAC meeting that should be taking place in the next few months. Some may require ordinance changes so we should pick and choose what we think is appropriate. A lot of what is in EAC handbook is already in our ordinance.

Charlestown Playschool stormwater project:

There was a meeting with members from Delaware Estuary, Aqua, and Conservation District to discuss the project. They are planning on installing three tiered raingardens, one long raingarden, and there will also be French drain going into another raingarden. Stone mulch will be placed on top of the raingardens. They will not be using sand in their amended soil garden mix.

Meeting adjourned at 8:05.