yeah yeah that's fine yeah okay okay all right it yeah I don't either okay it shows us good on my end well it's recording the audio oh oh I see it yeah I see it live on my own end
now we're good right once again the environmental commission for February 13 2025 7 o' sorry the live stream was not working we having trouble so uh Jenna black is
starting her presentation all right okay so I didn't get very far in so I'm not going to go all the way back basically my name is Jenna I am an americor New Jersey Watershed Ambassador um and I'm kind of going over what that
is so um basically so americore we are an americore program we are a federally funded grant-based program that um is based in service and serves in um different under served um areas so that could be Health that could be veteran services um that could be Disability
Services um and also the sector that I am under which is environmental um stewardship so there so the slide says that there are 20 ambassadors that is kind of true there are 20 Watershed ambassadors but there are also three Source water protection ambassadors on
top of that so there are 23 of us the 20 of us serve the 20 different water sheds within um New Jersey and then the three Source water protection ambassadors focus on our source water so our drinking water and they are actually doing a huge project based in our lead
service lines with reders they're identifying different um homes that still do have lead service lines um feeding their drinking water so basically oh no
maybe try again there we go okay um so basically um my role is to promote Watershed stewardship and we do that through um a couple of different ways mainly through education and direct involvement so education being kind of what I'm doing right now um talking to
anyone who will listen to me about Watershed stewardship environmental stewardship um water quality pollution um I go into schools I talk at libraries so anyone who will listen um I will talk to them about Watershed stewardship and
then the direct Community involvement is projects that are done in our communities um mainly over the spring so we uh set up cleanups tree plantings rain Garden plantings anything to kind of help keep our environment M cleaner
um and get as many community members as involved as possible um so we also do um fieldwork where we do stream assessments to assess the health of the streams in our area as well so what is a watershed um I've said
it a lot in this presentation so far um not a lot of people are actually aware that you are basically always in a watershed no matter where you are um a watershed there are 20 within New Jersey Jersey we look at it at a state level but it can be looked at at basically any
scale it can be from a global scale to a national scale to a Statewide scale to it could go down to the puddle in your backyard if you really wanted to look at it that way because what a watershed is is it is an area around a body of water
that is delineated by elevation so all of the rain precipitation snow will eventually drain down into that one body of water so for this area here in Sparta it
is the walkill river so you can't really see it that well but if you look in the middle of that outlined area the walkill river kind of sets right in there so it starts down here in Sparta in Lake Mohawk that is the headwaters and it
goes all the way up to the New York New Jersey line up in the Vernon Wat area and that elevation that delineates it is way wayanda high point um the spa mountains all that fun
stuff so let's talk about lead so I did want to kind of start with this slide because we're going to talk a lot about kind of some very scary stuff it's going to get like it's going to get very much like L is everywhere and it does get a
little like what am I I going to do so I do like to start with there are things that you can do we're going to see that lead is kind of everywhere but there are things that we can do to kind of minimize our exposure to it even though it does feel like it's kind of all over
the place all right so what is lead lead is a blue gray metal found in small amounts in the earth in the earth's Crest so it is a natural um element that is found
every where we have we do and have in the past mined it to manufacture Goods um and different things um so it is kind of it does not degrade so because it was used so much in the past and still in the current that's how it's become so
ubiquitous within our environment um it's impossible to identify with the naked eye once you kind of mold it into something you can't really identify it from other metals that easily um and like I said that it does not biodegrade or disappear so it will always be in our
environment which is why we're kind of about to see that it's everywhere where do you think lead can be found I know personally when I think of lead um I don't know if this still Rings true I think of lead pencils which is funny because there's no lead in
pencils really not since I've used them it's always been graphite but I do think of lead pencils um another one that a lot of people think think of is uh lead based paint uh paint chips that's a big one and that's still Rings true today
because that is our main source of exposure even today even though we no longer use lead based paint so that's kind of why that's the first thing that comes into your mind so where can lead be found uh it can be found in all parts of
our environment it is in the air in the soil in the water and in our homes so like I said gets a little scary we see lead everywhere we're constantly exposed to it so it's going
to get scary and then it's going to get better I promise uh lead based paint uh it's found in older homes basically pre 1978 in 1978 that is when Congress did passed the law stating that we can no longer use lead based paint in our homes um so
but it was not taken out of those homes that were um pre 1978 so it is still found in a lot of those homes today um and the major source of exposure is if that starts to
peel chip a lot of that can become dust um which gets into the air and into our homes um and that is kind of our basic exposure to it um and then especially when you renovate those older homes uh if you're not using a lead certified
individual um that is making sure that that exposure is contained um that can be a huge source as well other potential sources of exposure um a lot of uh potteries candles uh toys
uh older ceramic wear um a lot of that paint was used in older Ceramics um batteries solder uh and then a lot in ammunition and fishing tackle so that is a huge Source we'll talk about hobbies
and jobs um that's a huge source as well and then another one that we think of is kind of our lead in our water so that comes from those lead service lines um because lead doesn't degrade it was
used as a what was thought as a good source for those lead service lines to carry our water um because it doesn't degrade very easily U that was before we knew the health risks that went along with it um but it it isn't
just the pipe itself it can be the solder that's in your pipe your pipe could be copper but maybe the solder has let in it or a gasket or a washer anything in that system can um can be led and cause
that exposure Ure also your faucet itself if it's old enough could have lead parts in it as well so making sure that you know you replace your faucets your shower heads if they are very very old um and when you're purchasing them just
knowing that they are not lead based as well uh and then soil uh we don't really think about lead being in our soil a whole lot um so it can and settle on our in our soil and then end up being absorbed by plants so it is recommended
to use raised garden beds if you do plant mostly like leafy greens that you're planning on eating um because if you're if you're planting tomatoes that tomato won't absorb that lead and then kind of pass it along to you but a leafy
green like a kale or a spinach could so those raised garden beds kind of act a barrier between that soil that's maybe more natural than the top soil that you are trying to plant in and then also another source is uh
spices Pottery um and then like I stated before ammunition and fish tackle um I think most ammunition is very lead based so trying to find a non- Le based ammunition if you're a hunter or um a Fisher
so some vulnerable populations um the first one I think everyone thinks of are children under the age of six they are growing their body absorbs a lot more um than adults do um so they can absorb that lead a lot more their body doesn't
flush out as much as much as our ours body would um pregnant and nursing people so kind of the same thing um if a pregnant individual is exposed to the lead they can actually pass that exposure on to
the fetus as well and then adults with um jobs or hobbies that do kind of create that exposure more so um so if you are a miner or if you're in construction and
um doing repairs on pre-1978 homes or if you're a hunter or fisherman so the health effects that we see in children um are behavior and learning problems lower IQ hyperactivity slowed growth hearing problems and
anemia like I said as they're as these children are growing they're taking in as many nutrients as they can so their body is absorbing as much as it can and if lead does get into their system the body will absorb it a lot more than an
adult would um for pregnant people they can pass the lead exposure onto the fetus they're also more prone to miscarriages um they can uh create um it can actually create reproductive
problems as well um and then it could pass along to the baby um in their brain their kidney or their nervous system and then health effects in adults it can cause increased blood pressure uh
hypertension decrease kidney function and again reproductive problems in both men and women doesn't just affect humans it can affect animals uh not only Wildlife but our pets as well um so another thing to
think about um Wildlife it does mainly affect birds mammals and amphibians um and it can be from maybe the soil that they're hanging out in or even um from uh that lead based paint that maybe
they're kind of getting exposed to in your backyard um also if um another example would be um if a hunter were to get a deer leave the deer out into in the wild and then a
bear were to come and eat that deer that lead that is in that deer would actually transfer onto that bear as well so it's kind of like it affects the whole food web if one aspect of it is exposed to lead but don't worry we can do something
we can um lower our exposure risk um to lead it does feel like it's everywhere uh you can track it in on your shoes if you're just walking around outside um it can be in the air in your home if it's dusty um but there is some small easy
things that we can do to kind of make it a little better so basic first one is to keep your home uh clean and dust free uh very much so if you're in a pre-1978 home but
that's not the only case you are tracking in dust and dirt all the time when you're walking in and out um and that is tracking in that lead that could be from the soil or from different buildings that you have been in previously so just making sure that
you're kind of wiping everything down keeping it dust free and making sure that you're doing that with a wet cloth um if it's done with a dry cloth it kind of just as we know like dust kind of just goes into the air um so making sure
that it's a wet cloth to make sure that you're actually kind of getting it out of the area rather than just kind of up in the air and then it settles back down um eating a diet high in iron calcium and vitamin C so things like
salmon avocado broccoli potatoes nuts um like I said our body is trying especially in children trying to absorb nutrients and these ones are great ones to kind of combat our body from
absorbing that lead so if we're eating a lot of calcium our bones aren't absorbing as much as our body is intaking so that lead is kind of being flushed through rather than being absorbed by our bones
washing your hands a big one that we all kind of know and love for any reason whatsoever always wash your hands um not only bacteria but lead we're constantly touching things we're constantly touching dirt touching uh spaces that
have dust um and if we're touching those spaces and then touching our face eating we can actually ingest that lead a lot easier lead isn't absorbed through the skin so if it's on you that's not an issue it's if you actually end up ingesting
it plain grass um rather than in bare dirt spots um and make sure that you're removing your shoes before entering the house uh if you have a welcome mat making sure that all that dust is kind of getting off of you um and then wiping
off your pets Paws if you take them on a walk just make sure you kind of wipe them off get all that dirt off so they're not tracking it into your house hire a certified lead professional especially if you are renovating a
pre-1978 home they will know how to contain um anything that may cause exposure to you so even if um if you're taking down a wall all of that dust from taking down that wall from that lead
paint that could possibly be there is a huge risk of exposure if you're not only in the area of when it's happening but that dust kind of settling into your home as well so making sure that you're working with um professionals that are
certified in helping uh get rid of that lead uh shower and change um another kind of basic one uh especially if you work outside uh making sure that as you enter your home you are changing and maybe showering off kind of the outside
world before bringing it into your home um to limit the exposure kind of that consistent exposure to yourself but also your family as well uh and then washing your toys pacifiers bottles uh we know that babies
will put anything that they can in their mouth and that is the huge that is the biggest risk that babies have is they will grab anything put it in their mouth uh and then lead is also very sweet so they love to suck on things that actually have lead in them because it is
a sweet taste um so making sure that just all of the toys and everything that they do put in their mouth is clean also it's not on the slide but making sure you the EPA has a website that has all
of the recalls that have um been publ ized because of lead contamination so a lot of toys actually uh that you can find at your local stores will actually could have a recall on them because of a
lead contamination so if you do have children just getting those notifications of when that happens and just being aware of it run your water uh this one's kind of I don't want to say controversial um because when we think of running our
water I think the the recommendation is to do it for like 30 seconds to 5 minutes which is a crazy amount of time um and when we think about it we're in a drought right now so we really don't want to be doing that so this doesn't just have to be
turning on your faucet and just letting it run it can be actually doing things with that water it can be washing your dishes it can be running your dishwasher it can be running your laundry taking a shower that is clearing out your pipes
um while also being useful um and actually having the water be used rather than just going right down your drain it is also not recommended to boil your water boiling your water will not boil out the lead it will just actually make your
water more concentrated because the lead will stay while water is being evaporated out um so it is recommended to also kind of get a filter for your drinking water that is certified to take out the lead uh and then you can also contact
your uh utility water utility service or your plumber to test your water for lead um and make sure that you're not having high levels of lead in your drinking water uh another big one is get your
child tested it is recommended to get them tested at uh 12 months and 24 months it is a blood test there is no other way to test for lead except for with a blood test um and then because
sympt symptoms of lead exposure aren't very easy to kind of catch there's no major symptoms until it becomes so bad that you're at a point of coma or seizures um it's recommended to have
your children tested at that one age that oneyear age and that 2year age um especially because if you see that they are having high levels of exposure the faster that you cut off that exposure the better um and then this is just um kind
of a PSA if you are buying a pre 1978 home or even renting uh you are supposed to get a pamphlet that does say protect your family and it does give you all the information on um LED within that house
so it is whether you are a home buyer or renter um you should be receiving this pamphlet and then if you haven't you can submit a complaint to the EPA and they will do their thing um and then if you have
any concerns questions this is the EPA um hotline uh they are open Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. um so yeah does anyone have any questions about wed
yeah so it's a lot of um more so imported spices so a lot of spices that you'll get at Shop Right usually won't but they are because they are grown in soil that can be contaminated with lead they are actually recalled quite a bit
because of lead contamination so um having that notification of those recalls usually grocery stores are you really good about like texting you if you there's a recall on a product like I know I had like broccoli once and it was
like oh recalled for eoli and they literally texted me because my credit card is linked to my phone I don't know how they knew but they were like we know that you bought this so usually stores are very good at telling you if there's recalls on items but yeah
it's mainly because the soil could have had blood in it um and then that went into whatever was being used to make that spice yeah no um uh I I I I can't you know promote any I have a LIF straw um so I
know LIF straw certain ones if you just Google it usually it'll tell you exactly what it filters out um yeah oh yeah so we have three Source water protection um ambassadors and they are working with rers I believe in the
New Brunswick area so a lot of the houses the off-campus housing there um they don't know if the lead lines if their pipes basically are lead or not so they're starting a big project in that area to basically knock on doors and say
like hey can we look at your pipes and uh identify if they are lead pipes galvanized pipes or if they're good so yeah yeah yeah so uh New Jersey is trying very hard to identify it um and
then make sure that we get it replaced so yeah anything else great thank you tattoos pain tattoos they do
not prison thank you Jenna I was a child I always us I know every topic I think I learned I knew a lot already and then I learned some
something new yeah okay yeah absolutely okay um thank you so much Jenna black from americor water water ambassadors thank you um
okay um moving on to correspondence we don't have any correspondents to look at so the next item is we have one application that we had previously looked at um and so we had already
written one memo that is in here um so that's in here for your reference I don't know that we have any new things to add so that's really the question at this point I think um the new information is they did an environmental
assessment yeah so they provided environmental assessment to us um and so the question is do we want to say anything more in our memo that we've already The Memo from um that we sent already in uh
November um so right now in the memo we're capturing the storm water capture Basin um the rain Basin that they had originally proposed or is proposed has a sand or Rock Bottom um and so we're
recommending that some native plants be added to provide filtration and wildlife habitat um also we mentioned light pollution so suggesting that lighting be
directed downwards on a timer or turned off after business hours um and finally they had their landscape plan had a couple non-natives and so we made some recommendations regarding some native plants did anybody want to add anything else or
see anything in this application at this time there's nothing new there's no new construction or any any kind of no they are isn't this the one they're building a new warehouse It's but it's over on it's in the warehouse
area right is this a new warehouse this was just or is this the one that's changing tenant change yeah it's a tenant change it's just a tenant change yeah any additional comments answer questions or things you want to add no
okay all right moving on to public comment we have no one else from the public here um so we will move on to reports um we don't [Music] have uh margerie here tonight so do you
want to do Trails committee first Landon sure I don't have much to report because we we did not meet on the 10th um but our main priority was getting that transfer done on the for the 14th so we have all the information ready to go we're just going to confirm all of
that it was honestly worked out perfect that the 13th is the meeting it's due the 14th at 11:59 so um Town Council passed the resolution on Tuesday or adopted it and hopefully we'll hear a response back soon and then get that all
moving forward so glad that that's done and then we'll see the process then and how that works for getting the next phase for the next cycle in 2025 and so on great when's the next meeting oh sorry go ahead uh what's up what did you say now
um what was due the 14th so the 14th is when the grand transfer is due at 11:59 when you say due what is that like the the deadline for a transfer oh okay um and you have that
all spent is that all all that $2,000 accounted for so right now that that that's the point of discussion that I wanted to bring up where we have a quote for $1600 and3
$131.77 um and that's for Pure signage there's a 10% which is $200 maximum for promotional stuff and then um we are
going to be doing it inhouse through our parks department so there's no extra costs inquire there m and we have the map scann and everything by a PDF so there's no inquired extra cost there as well so if does anyone have any
particular ideas of how we can propose them to use that extra $200 then in a promotional fashion we can traditionally do you know a press to you know our our local area and such and they talk about potentially doing a ribbon ceremony but
yeah what is um anyone else's ribbon ceremony would work um and also you could do a press release uh tap into we already have a contract with so that wouldn't be an additional expense but if you did the
Herold Andor what's uh Sparta independent that would be an additional charge great and that's about it and there's like two other documents additional with the budget template and the uh the action plan which involves those
type of activities so I'm glad that that's all done I appreciate you bringing that up Neil so that the township is still eligible for everything I to do it um I think that the deadline for the 2025 grants is the 21st of February
right I believe so I'll confirm that so doesn't give us much time to come up with another another Grant uh request were you trying to do another Grant request for the trails or anything for anything and I
know the trails could could use it if you have yeah you know if you're at that stage with anything um it's a onee one year submission cycle with three rounds Monday February 23rd 2025 at 11:59 right but do do you have would you
have another use for a small or we we definitely can inquire but we're still so early on the type of things yeah um Let me let me look more into that and see if we can we have some ideas but
it's based off of where we're at with the committee and the projects that we're planning it's still early in organizing the logistics before bringing the grant money in which is the difficult part where there is one
particular project that could inquire and has moved quite along so um I I'll reach out to to the people involved in that and see if it's it's reasonable right and if that if that sum of money could be useful and if that that deadline turnaround date seems
reasonable that we can get some solid proposal and for maybe the larger pots that are available right like like gravel or or something absolutely that's that's what I was exactly something that's you
know lwh hanging fruit but is not a uh you know a cheap thing to do right so something that the town can definitely benefit from so I like those ideas and I'll reach out to the main Committee Member who's been kind of leading on the
Trail research and see what he thinks we can use with that money right I the gravel idea probably is the most logistical sense does it have to be tied to a specific action of sustainable Jersey like would gravel fit within any
of the guidelines I don't think so but there this is there is an action for um you know B biking bicycling Greenways uh okay pedestrian and do they allow like would they allow a Township to have two
active grants at the same time well this grant that we were transferring was from 2023 no I understand that but right we're going to use the money now so would they let both things happen at the same time or we have to use the money before we can apply for another Grant
okay that's why it's it's it's pretty tight I don't know how yeah so it might not work for this first timeline unfortunately okay unless we we have another idea for for a grant proposal or something
else yeah again I know we've talked about this before but we should like keep a running list of our our ideas so that when these things come up we can go oh yeah we had that in our back pocket to P forward to to do but we haven't really done that
yet but at least ensuring a grant transfer that can keep us in good standing for future Cycles yeah and future years exactly yep okay uh Neil do you want to talk about master subcommittee master plan sub
committee I'd love to but I have nothing to say because we haven't we haven't met yet and uh um I I know uh the planning chair I think she mentioned uh getting another meeting
together uh but no with no date yet okay the last planning board meeting so I got nothing there all right and then Rob uh planning board any updates um I mean we
reviewed the pced ordinances that were brought forward by Town Council just for consistency um if you guys took a look at them they kind of narrow the uses in certain areas of
pced um and then one of the the hearings carried uh we heard uh a couple applications um one of them is the Upper Lake Plaza was
just um need yeah so there was no issue with that and the other one was pops Bagels which you know I think we're all happy that something's moving in there and uh they've they're able to reduce
the impervious it's I think it's like 97 now so I want to say it's like 92 93 is what they're shooting for so it's not a big reduction but it is a reduction
they're going to uh they're limited with what plantings they could do because it's all paved over but they're perfectly willing to add some plantings and they're perfectly willing to make those plantings be native plantings
um so I think they're pretty flexible on the stuff the environmental could expect them to to reasonably do on that site um and if anyone watched it it was it was more focused on the traffic ins and outs
of that tricky area so definitely a tricky Corner yep but I wish them well and that's that's kind of I think it for planning right okay thank you yep all right we had a couple quite a bit of
Unfinished Business the first item is the Sustainable New Jersey certification um one of the items that we had to do there's a little bit of confusion I thought we could go ahead and submit um for this first round to get the feedback without the Green Team
resolution and so um I thought we had a little bit more time to get that done turns out we did not and so so um Michelle and Emily very quickly got it on the agenda for this past Tuesday and the Green Team resolution did get passed
so anything that you do want to have ready for this first round to start getting feedback um definitely include this and then we can go ahead and submit um the next one though is still the land use Pledge um which does still need to move
forward so I think that is still under review with the l lawyer okay and then it should also be presented to the planning board too I would think um Rob once the the town lawyer has a chance to look at
it what's the actual process for the upload because it's on a Sunday so who's actually clicking the button do it have to come from the town or can one of us do it clicking the button for what for uh review of sustainable jurors well
everything that you complete is is ready for review right everything that's marked completed so there's no extra step once it's in there then we're good I don't think so okay I don't know about that though because Michelle kept saying when we hit the button yeah I'm I'll
double check just to make sure because we're working towards this deadline so I want to make sure we hit it yeah exactly okay three years ago when we did it I was not on that committee I was and I wasn't that involved at the time so I don't Michelle really was again even at that time instrumental she was doing all
the work doing the B I know though right now I could just say for that that we are I talked to Christine Dunbar today and we were uploading going back and forth on the road salt um action so now we're at 85 points in the system
completed so we're getting there but um I'm going to be able to update the action for Jenna's lead presentation now now that um she did her session today so we're slowly clawing our way to the 150 so I think we should be good and be able
to make the deadline awesome okay that's so that'll be good for three years yeah it's three years okay um and we still do have just I'll mention this so anybody who's listening um we do still have two other
deadlines if round one we don't manage to get the whole 150 in we do have the second round but the good thing about um getting the first round in then people can they can review it make comments you have chance to update things so that's the advantage but we don't have to wait
until the next round to to submit more actions right exactly as we know that yep okay um Earth Day celebration okay so at the last meeting if you remember I was talking about the
Board of Ed approval so then then um next day I followed up with carara and I said are we good did we get the approval and she said no because the Board of Ed didn't approve it because they didn't have the insurance paperwork on file ahead of time so I um worked with
Michelle to get all of that information to them so all the insurance paperwork was submitted um I talked to carara today actually and said what is the latest status for our meeting so she said it was
approved um that we are good to move forward the only thing she still needs to get is the final cost so she's going to get that on Tuesday for me um because they're out of school but apparently we have some preliminary approval um with
the date being May 3rd from 10: to 2 which is the Saturday but obviously nothing is confirmed we're not going to publicize it until we get the price and make sure that we can so um so the use of it is approved
but what's not approved is like how much they're going to charge the township or not charge the township or what so I don't know if that is approved like they have a number and she just isn't aware of it but she's going to confirm on Tuesday when they get back to school all right and then did we ever find out what
our budg buget is or we still don't know what our budget is um yeah I still okay I'm not sure can you check with Michelle on that one yeah I know we have some budget and they were talking about it should be
increased but I don't know whatever happened with that and then so um the cost would be then for a janitor and a security guard and then Cara also wanted to find out if we can and potentially have a
budget category for some prizes for the kids corner so once we know the final class we can determine that yeah and I'm pretty sure last time we did Cover there was like yeah it was nothing cloth and garbage bags and there was some incremental things we
did okay um next thing speaker presentation schedule so we had Jenna black do we have anyone scheduled uh yes so um um next month on March 13th we're going to
have Lisa Chell come and she's going to be presenting about native plants and do a presentation that's plant This Not That so hopefully we get some good attendance with that yeah and
so that needs to get in a press released also do we have a flyer for that one yet yes that was Emily that was sent to you in January yeah I don't think we had this tonight's presentation on the uh Township website
was it I'm pretty sure it was on the website and it got into tap into but not until this week yeah okay I didn't see it on the website but maybe I just missed it but was the lead on the website do you
know Le's everywhere huh sorry I don't know if it's on the website yet but I'll I'll double check yeah so just can make sure that we get get the next one up awesome that's amazing forr seee all
these speakers I'm learning something new every time yeah good it's nice variety yeah all right Christine Dunbar is not here on the New Jersey salt watch do you want to give an update or you want me to say what I know what's happening yeah you could say what you
know okay so um interesting to note that I was putting my results into the wrong salt watch website so last year she kept saying she didn't see my results and this year she kept saying she couldn't see them
because I was using the wrong website but now I've put them in both places so we're good um and then I don't know how many were able to participate on the January 31st that was that Friday that we're all supposed to get samples I didn't do all seven of my sites I did
five of the seven I think on that Friday um so was anybody else able to participate in that I did uh yes I think I did two sites two sites on that Friday awesome are you doing the the uh by the
the walk hill by the Mohawk Avenue School no okay so that one that one all right I I'll I'll take that one over there okay great the uh Biser Pond stream is still Frozen so I haven't been able yeah I had a great time trying to
get some of the Lakes like I had to go out on the lakes and like poke a hole Yeah so that was a good time um well then you picking it from the surface or are you going down that's the other thing too yeah where you
getting it from yeah I mean as close to the beach as I could yeah okay is where I was getting it from I don't know what the right thing is to do um and then one of the streams that is extremely high is the one that flows uh you know where the Chinese
restaurant is in that strip mole yeah asking and hookers across the street then then behind there is the stream that is very salty and the um salt content has actually gone up again so high it wasn't even registering it was
like above s oh really 60 yeah so anyway I think this is a great um um great thing to be doing to keep watching this um and I think we have until March 1st keep doing that all right
um oh and the other thing was during salt week they did have all the um educational sessions that were recorded you can still get them on the New Jersey saltat web page if you want to go back and watch them all right um Rob is this you dark
sky lightning ordinance Emily thanks uh I didn't expect this to be printed out cuz I kind of put this together and S it pretty late today um so I mean we talked about different
things buffer zone native plants tree ordinance artificial turf dark skies and green infrastructure and I think native plants and tree ordinance are in process right y so uh buffer zones we have a template that is is from uh Lake Mohawk that we
can look at artificial turf I'm still digging into that green infrastructure there's many facets to that so uh I had kind of been looking at dark sky because they have some handy templates so you'll see like an uh
outdoor lighting ordinance which um has kind of notes to the reader in blue and then uh to swap in uh in red and it doesn't have to be this this is pretty robust and detailed
um I kind of I don't know it's it's probably more than it needs to be but then again everything if you start to look at is pretty good so the overarching things are that this ordinance uh looks at five principles uh
it doesn't have to but I think it's worth worthwhile so the first one is is light useful so the suggestion use light only if it's needed I so this is great I yeah right so I mean we kind of like already my thing is we're looking at
applications we're making advice on a case-by casee basis and I am seeing this now with like planning and minor site plan stuff where everything seems to be like on a caseby casee basis and kind of if it warrants it and so I would be a
fan of kind of working on creating the structure and the process that we can fall back on because I think that gives us more credibility and it protects the township if we say like but these are our guidelines according to
the best practices the best information of today they can always be modified they can be relaxed they can be made more stringent but until we have that then we're kind of ring on you know opinion and facts but if we put
this together put these things together and they're thoughtful and we can defend them then we can hold an application against them and feel pretty confident that you know we're not arbitrary and capricious right and then if someone
else takes a position they have this to fall back on so it's consistent through the years and Decades of review so you know as as much as this is detailed I don't think it's a bad thing so if you guys want to take a look at it again I
know it just I finally got some time to just put it together today and it was putting it together it was pulling together some some templates but um it's pretty good and again so so number one
is use light only if it's needed to direct the light um so that it's where it needs to be Target it um be kind of conservative with your light energy is relatively cheap with LEDs light is even
cheaper nowadays so it light should be no brighter than necessary it's very easy to overdo it um and kind of in the same vein it should be controlled um so you can use timers and motion detectors to ensure that it's AA ailable when it's
needed and then always you know lean towards warm colored if you guys have seen on your devices you know it's like nighttime mode it'll switch and get rid of those blue cooler um wavelengths that interrupt our circadian rhythm and like
that right there that's kind of the argument for that's one of the arguments for controlling this excess light is if we're staring at our devices and we're looking at this cool blue and it's keeping up us up at hours at all hours
then in the same way if we have this commercial lighting that we're seeing and we're being exposed to it's going to do the same thing uh it's going to do the same thing and more to um the environment around us and the creatures that inhabit that so um and then just I
I think like again this is so detailed um it could help us with some of the other ordinances because it's pretty well structured it's pretty well vetted um and I
would yeah I I welcome I guess you guys taking a look at seeing what you think and then I would kind of like to move this forward I included a a section on signage because signage has been something that I never really noticed
before uh cuz I didn't need to but now I need to look at some sign and facades and stuff like that and uh there's a lot of good suggestions in here so um even though it's not necess like I I
would see this committee kind of just looking at Commercial Lighting when we're reviewing uh applications but I think the signage is equally important and there's obvious crossover so there's a lot of you know good tables
and Y units and and measurements that it's hard to refute so okay all right so next step is between now and the next meeting review this should we send you comments yeah and I mean do that you'll see you'll see where I I mean you if you
go to Dark Skies if you go to those links you can see where I Cobble This Together from but uh I included some options so that you guys have opportunities to way in without me kind
of pre-selecting okay um so like under illuminated signage it's it kind of directs you please choose one of the following paths for municipal requirements so uh but we already have some stuff on the book so okay I kind of
want to see what this committee thinks and I want to see what planning thinks I want to see what minor site committee um thinks uh and then what lawyers think and you know and I highlight the electronic signage because while it
shouldn't apply uh some of the verbiage might be able to be repurposed in other areas okay okay all right thank you so much for pulling this together this handy little graph is amazing too yeah that so that's like that right there I
think is I don't know an easy one to adopt all right thank you so much yep um buffer zones you said you have potentially a draft yeah I think I emailed
that um oh shoot okay well it's not a big deal it's fine I mean nothing's nothing's really growing or buffering right now yeah but I I'll uh I'll email it again okay thank you so much as a separate
email with that as the subject line um just what already exists for around the lake okay um and then same thing if people want to weigh in on that um I don't know I yeah I think
artificial turf in green infrastructure I mean unless someone feels strongly like I'd rather see where this goes first and then kind of copy the template okay okay sounds good all right so we'll focus on the
Dark Skies next um new business business I think was it you Christine who wanted to talk about the diesel modern modernization yeah okay um so the other day I saw a press release from the D um come out
that the Murphy Administration was announcing $ 35 million in new funding for local government um vehicle electrification projects so this is a rolling application um that would help local
local governments um Electrify some of the vehicles that they're using and this could be anything from school buses to um shuttles transit buses garbage trucks dump trucks but it's a lot of
money available yeah um it says like so it's different categories whether you're an overburdened Community or small government or small business um but there are it said that the incentive range just for the base level was 15,000
to $270,000 depending on what kind of truck you're talking about upgrading so it's definitely worth taking a look at and seeing if there's any vehicles that we're going to be up updating in the next um year or so
because there's there's money available and it's a rolling application so I think it behooves us if anyone if there are any purchases that are going to be made do it sooner rather than later and apply for the the money it didn't sound like a too complicated of an application
either so okay um I could send the information do I just send it to you Emily and and Michelle and and then share it with Jim and who's our D person now yeah or DPW DPW I mean I um either
Christine Smith or um Joseph I forget just sendio no something with that the fire inspector no should I just so should I send it to you and to Michelle and then you can pass it to pass it on to who it
needs to go to to yeah okay awesome thank you Christine this isn't this isn't the same as the direct pay program is it uh I don't think so this is this is new I think in addition to funding that's already come out but we can clarify what what and I'm not actually
familiar with what the that is the direct pay was was uh I think it's a federal program um for uh some some kind of tax uh rebates no I
don't think that's what this is this is this is grant funding yeah oh okay good so um and it says that it's from leveraging proceeds from the New Jersey from New Jersey's participation in the regional greenhouse gas initiative
nice good okay all right um next new business item was a new bill that's been introduced here in New Jersey um which will require packaging of different all kinds of
packaging actually uh to be cut by 50% over the next 10 years um primarily it is to try to address the both plastic pollution that you know you see um but also the microplastics that are showing up the
pest and the microplastics that are found in all parts of the human body so obviously plastic is getting everywhere in our environment similar to the lead presentation we just saw um and so there's definitely um a an opinion that
we cannot recycle our way out of the plastic crisis and so we have to address it by all Al reducing the amount of plastic that is getting into the environment um so Jim Zep asks us to take a look at
this and just see if we had any if we supported if we were opposed or if we had any other feedback or additional comments on it um I know many food lobbyists are saying that the bill is actually unworkable and not
realistic um I don't know I've bought things recently and they' come with an enormous amount of plastic still even though we're recycling the uh what do you call it the plastic bags now and stuff yeah
it's still um seems to be a lot at the very least I think we need to come up with another material to be packaging things in so um I don't know if I don't know if folks had that I think this did go out so I don't know if you had a chance to read it or had any thoughts or
concerns um I have to look into it a little more okay no I I saw a a video of Senator Smith talking about this yesterday or today seems like a good thing to me yeah
I I I'm kind of I definitely support it um okay take a look at it and if we have any comments um that we want to share with uh Jim let me know and we'll go from there is there any additional new
business that didn't make it on the agenda that we want to address all right do I have a motion to adjourn make a motion to adj thank you rob do I have a second I'll second
thanks Landon all in favor hi