August Minutes of the Swarthmore Environmental Advisory Council
The Swarthmore EAC convened on Tues 25 Aug 2009 at 7:45p in Borough Hall.
Members attending: Susan Kelly, Gina Eberly, Sheila McGee, Denise Disney, Julie Hagelin, Melissa
Lewicki, and Phil Coleman.
Old Buisness:
July Meeting: We reviewed the July minutes of a joint meeting held in Rose Valley with members of the
Nether Providence, Rose Valley, Rutledge and Swarthmore EACʼs. These minutes were kindly written by
Bonnie Smith. Members planned to send Bonnie a list of any corrections.
The goal of the joint July meeting was to identify items of common interest to EACs in our region, based
on a general framework proposed in a multi-municipal plan written by the state several years ago. By
getting to know EAC members in other communities, perhaps we can more easily work together to make
our projects have a greater impact.
Several items of mutual interest have been identified between the different EACʼs, such as connecting
communities via bicycle paths. Jane Billings has indicated that it is relatively straightforward to
accomplish this goal, because it primarily requires paint and signs. Other goals, such as acquiring land,
require more funding for purchase and for land maintenance. Bike paths might be a nice way to connect
the middle school and high school to our Borough. Denise noted there are multiple aspects to consider
with bike trails: business access for bike commuters, safety for kids, pleasure usage and connectivity
between communities. Colin Purrington may be interested in organizing a better network of paths.
LCC Park: Susan reported that we have 20 trees that have been donated to LCC Park. Jeff Jabco will
take care of ordering. Andrew Bunting will take care of the planting. Some time in October planting will
occur. The $500 donation from the Centennial Foundation will be extremely useful to purchase shrubs to
maintain the stream bank.
September 26th is the National Public Lands Day, a day designated to cleaning up and taking care of
public lands in the USA. If we apply soon, we could get a 26th Sept. work day at LCC park posted on a
national website, and we would also be provided with free fliers advertizing the event. Both are good
ways of recruiting interested helpers. The website directs people to the nearest location where they can
become involved. Susan volunteered to be the contact person for the national website. Jobs to get done
at LCC park included getting rid of the sapling silver maples, a native nuisance plant. Susan suggested
these could be cut and painted on or before the September work day. Phil is interested in following up
with Jim Taylor and Art McGarrity about the overflow pipe in the park and whether removing it might add
more water to the wetland. Denise offered that CADES staff and students might be interested in taking
stewardship over the property near them.
Borough solar array: The solar array has been repaired, and the monitoring system is connected. Carr
Everbach is hoping that the monitor can be running by the end of the week. The community will be able
to watch the amount of power that the panels generate, and perhaps we can provide a link that people
could see online. The prominent display of panels on the roof and the monitor inside Borough Hall is a
nice way for people to educate themselves about how a homeowner can reduce their carbon footprint
using solar panels. We discussed an official “unveiling” of the panels to occur on 19 September during
the Farmerʼs Market.
New Buisness:
Smart Car has apparently taken their one vehicle from Swarthmore. Our community would still like to
have the car in town. It was situated at a very convenient and central location that was near the train.
Several of us knew people who had used the car. It also seems like it would be a good resource for the
college. Phil will look into why Smart Car is no longer in our community. He would like to promote its use
August 09, 2009 EAC Meeting Minutes
more, perhaps through college student groups such as EarthLust. If the student groups obtained a
membership, perhaps student members could use the car.
Renewable Energy Credits (RECʼs): Swarthmore is committed to purchase 20% of its municipal power
usage with RECʼs from PECO (a state generated source of energy). Money from RECʼs is invested in
green power. Currently the price we pay per REC is relatively high. A different REC broker approached
Phil to give our community a better deal. For the same money we are spending now, we could purchase
the equivalent of 100% of our power usage with RECʼs , rather than only 20%. This would allow us to
say that the equivalent of 100% of our energy usage is being generated by clean power sources. Instead
of in-state sources (e.g. through PECO), the REC sources would most likely be out of state. Purchasing
REC's reduces our carbon footprint, but some of the clean air benefits would not be felt locally, if we
purchase REC's that support out-of-state green energy. Even so, this new deal still seems like a good
one; it would also raise our townʼs standing with EPA. The new offer of REC purchase would be a 3yr
contract. Phil needs to determine from Jane whether we have signed a REC purchase contract with
PECO. If not, we agreed that the Borough should consider signing up for this new offer.
WREN Grant Application: Denise is interested in getting some money to raise public awareness about
the benefits of rainwater barrels. A special WREN application is due Sept 1, and is worth $300. The
money would need to be spent by the end of Sept. Denise mentioned a location at Borough Hall that
might be a good place for a barrel. The water could be used for watering plants out front. Alternatively
putting a barrel with signage at LCC park might also be helpful, or perhaps even a barrel could be placed
near the rainwater garden that is going in at the Tot Lot.
August 09, 2009 EAC Meeting Minutes