Charlestown Township
Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC)
Meeting Minutes
Monday, November 13, 2023

Meeting was held at Carol Armstrong’s house because the township office was locked. Armstrong opened the meeting at 7:23.

Attendees:
Carol Armstrong (Chair), Dan Walker (Vice Chair), Meg Solomon (Secretary), Pete Goodman

October minutes approved.

Place Holders

(Reminder of EAC-initiated projects for next 6+ months):

New Business

  1. Request by community member to review “Parks for a Sustainable Future” -

    Questions - what chemicals are used in all public Charlestown lands, including overseeding and fertilizing of playing fields? Can the township convert to all alternative/organic pesticides and herbicides? The EAC will approach Parks and Rec to see if they are interested in partnering with the EAC on proposing a policy for restriction of toxic chemicals on public land in the township. Walker made a motion to further pursue investigating a proposal to use organic/non-hazardous chemicals on our public lands. Armstrong to raise with Parks and Rec at their next meeting.

  2. Solicitation of resident’s interest in planting and maintenance of riparian buffers along the streams on their properties via submission to the Stroud Water Research Center grant program - Goodman contacted Ed Theurkauf for recommendations. He recommended that it not include HOAs but did recommend the Charlestown Mill site. Walker suggested also looking at Wersler Run.

Ongoing Business

  1. 2024 Budget-Csete wanted by Oct.1st. It was provided to Csete (albeit late).
  2. EAC Table on Election Day - The EAC surveyed people who stopped by the table with the goal of assessing their support of the proposed ordinance to eliminate single use plastics in the township. The vast majority of those surveyed were positive about the idea, several were against, and a few didn’t know. Everyone needs to review the ordinance within a week. It is on the EAC Google drive.
  3. EAC Membership - Goodman will contact 2 individuals who had expressed an interest from Charlestown Day. Armstrong got 3 new possible candidates from Election Day to whom she will send information.
  4. Composting - Solomon provided a summary of composting projects/trials in other townships within Chester County. She will call Charles Buck about Brightside plans for having a compost from the community garden.
  5. Stream Naming of headwater tributary of French Creek at Charlestown Park - USGS is working on reviewing application that Armstrong provided.
  6. Single Use Plastic bags/items ban-ordinance review.
  7. Nature News topic for January - sustainability within the medical and hazardous waste industries, food and farming sustainability, construction sustainability, and energy sustainability were all discussed.
  8. Invasives Replacement Project- should we provide this program every year for Charlestown Day? Revisit in spring to see if we have more EAC members so that the project work undertaken for 2024 is reasonable for the number of active EAC members on the committee.
  9. Township Newsletters - (due dates are 1/15,4/15,7/15, 10/15.)
  10. Community Education - Ideas include:
    1. Bird Town programs
    2. Tour of invasive species in township
    3. Watershed friendly property certification - have meet-up in a restaurant or pub
  11. Riparian buffer maintenance - Walker, Goodman, and Armstrong have done a lot of work at Brightside to protect the existing buffers, specifically the trees and shrubs that are susceptible to deer. Caging is being used to protect them (5 ft height x 2 ft diameter).). Armstrong is buying caging materials at Home Depot and the 3 of them are building the cages, replacing dead plants with existing stock, and adding or improving our stakes and tubes.
  12. EAC Logo - Goodman presented candidate ideas for the logo.
  13. Battery Collection - no boxes left for rest of the year. The EAC submitted a bigger budget request for 2024.

Meeting adjourned at 9:08.