Loading...
220106_Updated BWRC Minutes CITY OF BEVERLY WASTE REDUCTION COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Thursday, January 5, 2022 at 6:30 PM Google Meet Virtual Meeting This meeting was conducted under the `Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law G.L. c. 30A, § 20, signed on March 12, 2020. This remote meeting was held over Google Meet. Public access information for the meeting was provided on the meeting agenda. Call to order: 6:31 p.m. over Google Meet. Higgins made a statement about the meeting being recorded by the City of Beverly. She confirmed that all members present could hear and noted the remote meeting format and process due to Covid-19. Committee members present: Susan Higgins (Chair), Sandy Burgess, Nancy Dillon, Joyce Herman, Toni Musante, John Swain (joined at 6:50pm), Lisa Willwerth Committee members absent: Invited participants and guests: Amy Henderson, Erina Keefe Review minutes for December 2, 2021 meeting Willwerth moved to approve the December minutes; Dillon seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried (5-0-1); Musante abstained. Committee administrative business • Elect chair and treasurer(VOTE): Dillon moved to elect Burgess as Treasurer; Willwerth seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried (5-0-1); Burgess abstained. Willwerth nominated Higgins for chair; Dillon seconded. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried (5-0-1); Higgins abstained. • Review committee member roles: two committee members are up for renewal this year, Musante plans to step down to focus on her family and conclude over 20 years of service to the City on the committee, and Willwerth plans to renew. Henderson is interested in joining the committee, which would leave 2 openings. Higgins will be Chair, Burgess will be Treasurer and the remaining members present confirmed their preferred roles: a. Dillon will be volunteer coordinator/event facilitator b. Herman will be composting point person c. Swain will be recycling point person d. Willwerth will be data person temporarily but prefers to be a program/project coordinator. Page 1 of 4 e. Henderson is interested in watching legislative developments and helping liaison with Green Beverly, which leaves social media/marketing person, outreach/education, and a replacement data person. • Keefe advised she can include a note in a City newsletter about the Styrofoam collection event for people interested in joining the committee, and has reached out to Endicott College's Assistant Director of Sustainability for student(s)who might be interested in joining, especially with current social media/marketing knowledge. Higgins mentioned Barthelmes had previously been active and interested in joining. Keefe offered to facilitate meetings between interested community members and Mayor Cahill. Keefe also reached out to Berg of Green Beverly for any potential committee members from their volunteer pool, and is working to fill the open positions. Keefe appreciated Higgins' work creating the structure and framework with the new roles to identify areas of need for the committee. • Discuss budget plan/use of funds: Burgess confirmed the balance on the account is the same (approximately $24,000), no deposits or requests for reimbursement since last meeting. Members brainstormed potential uses for the funds: better display booth, tablecloth/covering, swag that's not waste-producing, sponsoring events, education, LobsterFest and Senior Day, helping other groups, etc.). Musante advised the funds were originally seen as seed money to fund an employee to help monitor recycling for the City, and thinks one of the key roles is an education piece - early on the committee went door- to-door to businesses on Cabot and Rantoul Streets, housing authorities and landlords. Members agreed to have this discussion at a future meeting, and Higgins requested everyone think in advance how they would split the funds into purpose-based buckets. Styrofoam collection event- review logistics (1/8/2022; 9am - 1 m) • Higgins confirmed the event is happening on Saturday in Salem, and members signed up for shifts to volunteer: a. Burgess and Henderson from 8:30-1 lam b. Herman and Swain from llam-1:30pm c. Dillon, Higgins, and Willwerth are also available to help for at least part of the time. d. Higgins will let Salem know they'll have 2-4 volunteers for each shift, and if Salem can provide 1-2 volunteers per shift that should be fine. Keefe plans to come with the DPS truck when it is available to bring the styrofoam collected at the library over to the event sometime in the morning. • Dillon updated the forms and it is a simple checklist per car: what city of residence, approximate amount of styrofoam, and other(could include origins of styrofoam, noting unacceptable food trays, etc.). Herman noted that Swampscott collects styrofoam in its drop-off yard the last Saturday of each month, and Keefe will follow-up after the event if there's great interest to find out the logistics for Swampscott's styrofoam program. Page 2 of 4 • Keefe suggested taking pictures throughout the event, and requesting information from Save that Stuff on the end product: collected XX pounds, turned into these cubes/balls, which will be used for this purpose. She understands generally the company has densifiers to compress the styrofoam into blocks/balls but is interested in how those are then used. • Higgins mentioned in the vendor search, the company had offered to host a small group for a tour to watch the operation and will try to discuss that more if Tommy is at the event. • For marketing, Burgess hung flyers at TD Bank downtown, Shaws, Stop `n Shop, Aubuchon, and another location. Keefe is trying to reach out through any Cummings Center email newsletter that may exist as well to reach their commercial tenants. A handful of people from neighboring communities have asked whether they can drop off styrofoam at the event as well, and Higgins suggested to answer that it would be okay to bring personal styrofoam (not a full truck's worth) during the second half of the event to give Beverly and Salem residents priority. • Burgess shared excerpt from November 7, 2019 meeting minutes describing styrofoam collected at the November 2, 2019 event: 82 vehicles (Beverly-67, Hamilton-9, Salem-2, Boxford-1, Peabody-1, Manchester-1, Marblehead-1), material amount varied from a few items to full cars, turned away food styrofoam, and collected 31 large appliance boxes of packed styrofoam with each holding—10lbs so approximately 310 pounds of styrofoam that Gold Circuit made into blocks. • Volunteers will have clipboards and can wear aprons over jackets as further identification. City updates and discussion items • Keefe advised the compost drop-off site at one month in has sufficient data, support, and users to expand the pilot program to include another bin at the current location and another site. Keefe shared visual maps of registered participants to show they are spread throughout the City and not in any one region, and requested members think of other potential City-owned sites (Dillon mentioned the airport as one, and Keefe mentioned the schools as another). Dillon was impressed that the outside of the bin stays clean, and asked about signage to which Keefe confirmed a plan to work with elementary school children in the spring to decorate a wooden sign. DPS added the site to its snow-clearing list, and tomorrow's storm will be the first snow since its installation. • EarthFest: Keefe is working with Green Beverly for an event around all things green to celebrate Earth Day on Sunday, April 24th with a rain date for Sunday, May 1st. Waste reduction will be part of the event, and in bringing together people for planning Keefe asked who from the committee would join the planning session(s) over the next few weeks. Willwerth confirmed she would join, and is available for day and/or evening meetings. Page 3 of 4 • Funds/budget for BWRC: Keefe suggested the Library of Things as a potential depository for committee materials that could also be available to the general public (giant bottle, clearstream, etc.), as it has storage space and high quality photographs and a streamlined way for people to borrow materials. More general update: JRM is delayed, with 45 staff members absent due to Covid, and will likely struggle for the next few weeks. • Enforcement Position: Keefe meets with Barber next week, and the job posting is still in HR/solicitor's office but should post soon. The position will be half waste reduction and half engineering compliance, with all future RDP funds going to fund the position. Higgins confirmed the engineering department agreed to fund the styrofoam event with RDP funds, and it would be great to have the new hire attend BWRC meetings. Dillon agreed, it would be great to have a working relationship with this person to see how they can assist with the role as well. • Higgins raised the JRM attendance at the City Council meeting, and a concern that the BWRC did not participate in the formal meeting or any informal introductions afterwards. Higgins asked whether Barber or someone from the engineering department would attend a BWRC meeting to help foster the relationship between the two groups. Members raised questions about the Standley Street operation as well, and Keefe said JRM has confirmed the site includes food waste as part of the compost recipe but did not disclose its source. Keefe confirmed she can facilitate a direct line of communication with the engineering department, by inviting participation in an upcoming BWRC meeting. Old business and miscellaneous items a. Establish working group to develop guidance for zero waste events: tabled for the next meeting b. Discuss electronics collection: tabled for the next meeting Upcoming events Nothing not previously discussed. Other updates and discussion items by Committee members Higgins will use the same protocols for determining whether to meet in person or virtually for the February meeting (plan to meet in person, and check in with all members about a week prior to confirm whether to meet in person or virtually based on peoples' comfort levels). Adjourn: Dillon moved to adjourn; Willwerth seconded. The motion carried (7-0) at 8:25 p.m. NEXT MEETING: February 3, 2022 at 6:30 PM Location: Beverly Public Library, Sohier Room (or Virtual) Page 4 of 4