November Minutes of the Swarthmore Environmental Advisory Council
The Swarthmore EAC convened on 24 November 2009 at 7:40p
Members attending: Denise Disney, Don Kennedy, Gina Eberly, Sheila McGee, Susan Kelly, Phil Coleman and Julie Hagelin
Visitor: David Smuts was in attendance on behalf of his wife Jennifer.

Old Business:
September Meeting Minutes approved as submitted.
LCC park update:
Susan Kelly reported that 9 trees have been purchased and planted as part of the LCC Park tree donation program. In total 20 trees can be purchased from the donated funds. One tree was planted as a memorial donation and one was planted because the residents did not want a replacement tree on their property. All represent a mix of species. Additional trees will be purchased with the donated money and planted in the spring. Jeff suggested that the LCC Park sign be moved toward wetland so that more trees can be planted. If we find that we have too many trees, we may want to consider giving some to Moja Park.

Energy Update:
Phil spoke with Jane about the opportunity for the Borough’s to purchase 100% of its electricity use in renewable energy credits (REC)’s. He is coordinating with Smart Power to make sure this is an OK way to go.
Phil and Jane went to a PECO manager’s meeting and learned about many new incentive programs. PECO will be giving away 350 million dollars to stimulate energy conservation; it is called “Act 129.” The plans will all be available starting March 21st, and all rate classes will pay a surcharge/kWH that will pay for these programs. A dedicated portion of the plan is that 10% of the savings achieved is to come from governments, so that funding could be a good target for EAC!
Streetlights might be one item that we could replace with new LED technology. The products are improving and we may want to do this in the future. The EAC network doesn’t have any way to compare the different varieties of products out there. Denise suggested that perhaps we could have some samples installed here in town, so people could see what the lights are like, learn about them, and have the lights act as a model for EAC’s to learn about them, too.

Borough’s PECO grant:
The PECO grant that the Borough received will be used to improve water runoff and drainage at Thatcher Park and to install a rain garden display there. Some of the money is also earmarked for a rainwater workshop. EAC members will be involved in planning this, and it would be helpful to know the amount of funds available.

New Business:
Create a non-profit (501c3) group for LCCP?
Susan suggested that it would be helpful to create a non-profit group called something like “Friends of LCCP”. Her reasoning:
1. Such a group would be eligible for funding as a 501c(3) (not for profit). It would then be possible to apply for grants, such as the $1,000 in federal funding available through the group that supported National Public Lands Day. Perhaps such funding could help keep LCCP maintained. This year the National Public Lands grant is due 1 Dec, but it will likely be available next year.
2. The EAC has been “carrying” the park for years and creating more and more work for itself with the projects we have done. Perhaps it would be fruitful to organize a separate group that is passionate about keeping the park in shape, keep a list of people who would like to work, etc. Right now it is difficult to advertize with ads that are put in the Swarthmorean a day or so before the event.
3. The group could be comprised of people in our area, and not just Swarthmore or EAC. The goal would be to get a good base of people to work on/for the park instead of just EAC members.
4. Roger Latham might be a good person to ask about coordinating a 501c(3). Lora Lavin might also be a good contact person, since she organized Swarthmore Friends of the Arts. We would need to iron out the details, but this group would be collaborative with EAC and work together on projects that are part of the LCCP master plan.
Members recognized that it would take a lot of outreach to create a “Friends of LCCP” group, which might be a problem because right now we struggle to get enough of a turnout for clean up days. Don suggested we do one really big advertizing push to launch the group at one of the clean up days. If we could obtain permission, perhaps we could collect names on April 1 at Swarthmore Fun Fair day at a table. If a list-serve network of interested people could be created. Then we could communicate more easily with people about work days (include scouting groups, parent groups, etc.). EAC could also seek connections with other organizations, such as the Swarthmore Garden Club.
One possible idea for a “kick-off” event would be to combine something educational and practical simultaneously. For example, perhaps someone like Roger Latham could first lead the group on an educational walk through the park to help us ID invasive plants. Then participants could help to weed out the appropriate plants in the park.
Update on the Bike task force:
David Smuts attended our meeting to share with us a Facebook page that Jennifer has put together to facilitate a bicycle task force. Hopefully the Facebook page will raise awareness and other groups across the nation will tap into this page and offer suggestions. Jennifer is also coordinating a walk to school day for SRS through Home and School.

Dates to remember:
May 1 first CRC cleanup
April EAC conference—no date has been set, will probably coordinate with the Go Green conference.

Respectfully submitted,
Julie Hagelin