Swarthmore Borough Environmental Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes 4/28/09 Attending: Susan Kelly, Sheila Magee, Phil Coleman, Gina Eberly, Melissa Lewicki, Geoff Semenuk, Denise Disney, Rich Shimko, Nancy Crickman The March meeting minutes were approved. Updates: Lower Crum Creek Park
• A tree fell down on the Becks property and hit the fence along LCCP - it will need to be removed • The May 2nd CRC stream clean-up will include pulling garlic mustard and other weeds/invasives and spreading mulch -Susan Kelly is organizing the LCCP site and Sheila, Phil, Denise and Nancy are planning to help out • Sue reported that the tree donation for the project along Yale avenue are coming in nicely – we have 11 trees so far and want to get up to 15 – Sue will put another article in the Swarthmorean in about a month • Melissa will follow up with Jane about removing the old trees so that the area is ready for planting in the fall
Open Sky and the solar project Joe Coyle and Michael Matotek from Open Sky Energy Systems provided an update on the installation of the solar panels. They will be putting 6 panels on the roof (180kw each) and will using a new technology called microinverters – so each panel has its own inverter and it will be much easier to expand the system if we get additional funding in the future. There is a 25 year warranty of the panels and a 15 year warranty on the inverters. As soon as Open Sky received the grant money, they will order the materials and install the system – hopefully within a month. They are looking in what permits may be required – electrical, building, etc. One additional item that we need to find funds for – the energy management unit (EMU) monitoring system that will track the amount of energy the system is capturing and display it in easy to understand terms. Michael and Joe estimate the system, which is made by enphase. The initial cost is $700-$750 not including a $7 a year service fee seven years for the website. Carr Everbach has offered to provide the router and display for this educational component. We will also need to find a secure location for the monitoring system – perhaps in the library or in the lobby on a cart with wheels. An additional opportunity is to have an icon in Swarthmore Borough’s website that will be a link to the real time monitoring system for additional educational value. Denise will check with Jane about the availability of funds for the EMU. If funds are not available, we will consider doing some fundraising. Energy Purchasing Phil Coleman will talk with Jane about purchasing renewable energy credits from Renewable Choice. They are offering a good deal on these RECs compared with what we currently pay. Instead of buying PA wind RECs, we would be buying wind RECs from a national pool. The purchase of 100% renewable would put Swarthmore in EPA’s Leadership Club. Upcoming Meetings:
• 5/6 – Crum Woods Stewardship Committee meeting on the deer culling in Crum woods • 5/5 – Swarthmore College senior design presentations • 5/13 – Sustainable Building 101 • 4/30 – LCC Action Plan at Ridley Park library • 5/20 – West Grove panel discussion at Dansko
Respectfully Submitted, Nancy Crickman