Charlestown Township Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) Meeting Minutes Monday, September 9, 2024

Armstrong opened the meeting at 7:05.

August Minutes approved.

Place Holders

• Brightside Farm Riparian Buffer Planting, Deerfield Riparian Buffer
• Earth Day
• Battery Collection and Recycling Program
• EAC web page where residents can get information on our resources and on disposing of household items
• Friends of Charlestown.us website
• Kendig and Jenkins conservation parks
• Synthetic turf fields in Charlestown Park
• Bird Town
• ChesCo planning natural resources maps:
  https://www.chescoplanning.org/Resources/MapGallery.cfm.
• Community Garden at Brightside (Composting)
• WeConservePA – status of EAC membership - Goodman will follow up in November.
• HOA practices regarding pesticides, trash and recycling.
• Beyond Pesticides, Parks for a Sustainable Future

New Business

1. Budget for 2025 – Armstrong provided copies of 2024 budget and a proposed budget for 2025. We discussed all line items, made some minor edits and approved the budget of $10,650.
2. Proposal to Create a schedule of EAC Events – Green presented a photo gallery chart of EAC activities in Charlestown for us to use as a marketing tool to share on Facebook or other social media platforms that the public has access to.
3. Tree Planting at Brightside Park – Discussion with Audrey Song about her club planting trees in Brightside as their annual tree planting event for the club. Armstrong suggested meeting with members of her club at another time to discuss details.

Ongoing Business

1. Kwiamwis Siputet Signage – discussed options including using an interpretive sign with a lot of detail vs a historical marker which would need to have less text. Armstrong will contact the Chester County Historical Society for their suggestion.
2. Beech Leaf Disease – Armstrong is writing an article - needs to go out over the winter or early spring when residents are able to examine their trees.
3. Single Use Plastics Ban Ordinance – Armstrong and Soundararjan will ask Heleniak if lawyers and township have reviewed ordinance yet. Anu reached out to Heleniak to get an update on where the ordinance stands but she hasn’t heard back. Anu will follow up with Heleniak again.
4. EAC Membership Recruitment – Jeff Hawley is interested in being involved with the EAC but he cannot commit to applying for a board member position.
5. EAC Logo – Green to mockup an idea she has. We created a subcommittee to research how to get a professional logo made - Goodman, Green and Solomon. Topic still open for discussion.
6. Charlestown Township Composting – Solomon is talking to Rachel Griffith about the possibility of having a compost site within Charlestown.
7. Adoption of Charlestown Road, cleanup for PennDOT – road adoption sign - Walker reached out about the sign and it is in the queue for processing (PennDot). Confirmed next cleanup for October 19, 7-11. Walker found a cheaper company for traffic control. Walker will start to create marketing materials.
8. Nature News topic for October – sustainable packaging. Suggestion from Armstrong to find reputable data on what is considered sustainable packaging. Look at the PA DEP for data on waste. Put a note in NN about Beech Tree disease.
9. Community Presentation – “There’s Plastic in Our BloodWhat” by Armstrong - October 23, 2024, 7PM at Shift, 252 Haverford Ave. Narberth, 19085, no update.
10. Bird Town programs – no update.
11. Township Newsletters – (due dates are 1/15, 4/15, 7/15, 10/15.) Armstrong to write an article about Beech Leaf Disease. Anu will contact Csete about the possibility of writing an article about the single use plastic ordinance.
12. Riparian buffer maintenance – Armstrong will send out some potential dates.
13. Battery Collection -Goodman will take the batteries we do not recycle (unacceptable batteries like lithium batteries) to Narvon’s Waste Disposal site. Armstrong will collect them.
14. Stream Warming – temperature of our streams is increasing. Armstrong is working on an extract of the data from the Stroud Water Research Center to present to the planning commission as education about the scientific issues resulting from stream warming. Update - Progressing.
15. Charlestown Day – September 28^th, 11-3 in Charlestown Park. Green will be there for setup. Green will come to township building to pick up materials on Friday. Work schedule: Green 10-12 (or earlier), Anu 11-1, Armstrong 1-3.

Meeting Adjourned at 9:10.