Sustainable Hanover Committee Minutes for

sustainablehanovernh.org

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Next Meeting: October 20, 8:30-9:30

Town Hall, Selectmen’s Room

 

Attending: Lyn Miller (chairing), Larry Litten, Brian Walsh, Mary Ann Cadwallader (secretary), Emily Neuman, Peter Kulbacki (Public Works), and Chris Kennedy, Joanne Whitcomb.

Regrets:  Marjorie Rogalski, Chris Soderquist

Dates to Remember:

·      10/10/10:  Events in White River and at Cedar Circle Farm

·      Initiative meetings: Called by Larry (Policy/philosophy section) and Lyn (practice and education section) before October 20.

·      November 13 – 14, 2010: Naked Table Project

·      February 2011: Community Workshop Reprise

·      May 2011: Pre-Town Meeting Sustainability Celebration & Call to Action

 

Action Items:

Larry-

·      Call meeting of policy and philosophy section

·      Gather input from Emily Neuman

Lyn-

·      Send off grant application to NEGEF

·      Call meeting of practice and education section

·      Will find out what an across-the-street banner costs and talk to the Selectmen about the status of the Town Yard Sale event.

·      Will talk with Chris S. about a one page graphic that connects action and impact and the timeline for the Vision Statement. 

• Will look at the NE Energy Challenge to research targets and percentages to find out what’s necessary and how painful.  She may bring this to her group or to Chris S. to graph a couple of scenarios.

·      Pursue sometime a conversation with Kevin Peterson of the NH Charitable Foundation about funding of our work by the Wellborn Foundation,which funds environmental education.

Joanne-will get Dartmouth’s targets for sustainability to us.

Meeting Notes:

Minutes Approved:  June 16, July 21, August 18, September 1 minutes approved.  Lyn added the Naked Table as a Sustainable Hanover activity with the same status as the Yard Sale in the August 18 minutes.

Review Yard Sale:  The Yard Sale was a great success.  Thank you, Brian and Susan Edwards for a job well-done. It’s our hope that some enthusiastic vendors will be on the planning committee next year. Lyn reported lots of positive comments and people who wanted to be vendors next year.  About half of the vendors were Hanover residents, the rest were from other towns. We may want to figure out a way to give Hanover residents preference. Students were enjoying themselves, but international students didn’t get there until 2:00 and may have missed some opportunities. Advertising for students was done electronically. 

Fifty-six vendors paid a $15 table fee which raised $840. Emily reported that they spent $100 for insurance, another $40 on publicity and supplies; leaving $700.  While the event was not meant as a fund-raiser, rather as a way to practice our reuse/recycling mission, Sustainable Hanover will ask the recycling group to let us use some of the proceeds.  Lyn has asked for $150 from the Yard Sale proceeds to include in way of matching funds for the grant she’s writing to get funds for kiosks that advertise the work of Sustainable Hanover.

 

Emily felt that next year we could do a better job of connecting the event to Sustainable Hanover.  She suggested keeping it simple with a big sign or banner with our name, logo, and next event.

 

Lyn will find out what an across-the-street banner costs, but must approach the Selectmen about the status of the event before any money is spent.  Street banners can’t be used for commercial events, although Street Fest is advertised by one.  The Committee felt the event, even though it makes some money that can be used to encourage Sustainability, should qualify as a community event as it teaches reuse and recycling through action.

NEGEF Application Review: 

Lyn recorded our input.  We recommended that if she had only 4 blanks to fill in for partners that SERG be one of them and that she put Local First Alliance and the Land Trust in parentheses if the program allowed it. She will send the grant in PDF form to avoid the strange errors that appeared in Larry’s copy.

She will pursue a conversation with Kevin Peterson of the NH Charitable Foundation about funding of our work by the Wellborn Foundation.  (See September 1 Minutes for more about this grant.)

 

Sustainable Hanover’s Organization:  Separate meetings for the practice/education and policy/philosophy sections of Sustainable Hanover will be called before the Committee’s October meeting.  Larry chairs the policy/philosophy group. Chris K. and Marjorie are its members.  Lyn chairs the practice/education group. Chris S. and Mary Ann are its members.  Emily will come quarterly but Larry’s group will be in close touch as her work for the Coop and knowledge encourages her to act in a research and pilot capacity.  Further, Emily plans to meet with the business community (Hypertherm), Dartmouth and DHMC so they all can share what they’re all doing in the area of sustainability.

 

Vision Statement Review:

These suggestions were made for the organizational map-- 

·      It needs to show our unique relationship with the Town Select Board and Town Staff. E.g. Peter K. is the town staff managing us and a Select Board member sits with the Committee. 

·      It needs a separate Energy Group despite the fact that the CPC has been dismantled.

·      Add specific goals and indicators of success into the document as well as a timeline.

·      Arrows need to go both ways. 

·      Keep the Town box in there so don’t have to list its departments and which heads meet with which groups.

·      List the 3 schools.

·      Put the municipality and town groups closer together.

·      The map should make it clear that we work with residents and with the municipality so that residents can see where to jump in. 

·      Appendix could explain the map. 

 

These suggestions were made for the timeline--

·      Need to put forth the big things that need action early on. 

·      Graphic connecting Action and Impact needed. If you were to do X, you could get Y.

·      Include the indicators, like 0 waste=__tons to landfill. 

·      Choose 2030 as target date unless it doesn’t work with idea below, then 2040. 

 

We discussed target dates and the percentages that should be used.  Reaching 50% of our 0 waste goal by 2025 was first suggested.  Then, 30% reduction each decade was discussed.  Because we’re talking about volunteer steps that we’re asking citizens to do, 50% may be too discouraging.  It also doesn’t take into account the help from business and government mandate that has to kick in.  It may become a 30-50% reduction depending upon business and government response.

Lyn will talk with Chris about a one page graphic that connects action and impact and the timeline.  And then a way to show a target of 30-50%.

 

Speaking of business and government, Dartmouth’s benchmark goal would be helpful to know.  Joanne will get this to us.  It seems that Dartmouth’s goals are lower than some similar institutions.  It could do a couple of big things and meet its goal. Personal goals are harder because of lack of knowledge of the facts and how to proceed (This would seem to be where SH’s mandate begins.) 

 

Sharing the Vision:

After realizing that there wouldn’t be time this year to unveil the Vision, it was decided to have a celebration and discussion of the Vision Statement at the Black Center in February, close to the anniversary of the Natural Step gathering that first brought the community together to discuss sustainability.  The policy and education groups need to do some planning and be sure all materials like the kiosk, reports from the groups, the To Done List, and photographs documenting our activities are ready by that date.

 

If we have a discussion and input in February we could play some part at Town Meeting.  This, however, needs further discussion as the Selectmen could adopt the Vision Statement and Sustainable Hanover initiatives can become budget items. The Town Meeting involves a 100 people and therefore is an important place to get out the word. 

 

It was decided that we would offer dessert before Town Meeting and use the opportunity to have conversations with anyone interested in sustainability while highlighting our initiatives and successes.

 

FYI:

 

From 9/1/10 Minutes--Julia Griffin said that, ultimately, we need to put out a resource guide for our citizens.  The state appears to be getting the grants to do this and it would be our job to publicize our work and other resources.

 

--Sustainable Hanover could provide a forum for the working groups quarterly to create the Done list and then publish it.

 

From 9/1/10 Minutes--Grant Proposal for Displays:  We will apply for a grant from the New England Grass Roots Fund for the funds (up to $2,500) to create two movable, triangular, free-standing kiosks that SHC can use in public places like the Town Hall, the Howe, the Black Center and the schools to inform and engage others in our work.  It’s hoped that the grant will cover supplies and the work of a professional graphics designer to help us with the design and graphics for the posters advertising our work and the 6 frames that will surround the cork boards on which posters are displayed. Some of the graphics developed might be used on our website and on a bulletin board in the vestibule of the Town Hall. The possibility of the designer’s help with a new logo was not resolved as some on the committee felt we’ve already become identified with our current logo.  Lyn thought that a new logo could be developed by a high school student as well. 

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Cadwallader, Secretary