Environment Minutes June 6

							  Minutes of June 6 Meeting of Community Development Board, Environment Subcommittee



Attendees: Georgia Jones, Larry Master, Bob Hanna, Connie Cross, Mark Wilson, John Hopkinson

To Larry’s question “Is lighting, salt and excess chlorine within the purview of the subcommittee?” the
answer is “Yes, yes and yes.” The former includes electricity consumption generally.

Land/Ground Topics.
Discussion about the idea of recycling used construction debris. Might be able to locate this operation
at the landfill. It could be a money maker, and it makes sense ecologically. We should propose further
exploration of the concept in the Comp Plan, and use case examples as proof statements.

Air/Sky Topics.
Concerning electricity consumption, we should propose to have NYSERDA do an audit of the community.
We should advocate that not just new, but also existing establishments reduce power usage, especially
heavy consumers. Bob to contact Pete Crowda and Jammie Rogers to determine if a well -designed
differential rate structure might be able to reduce overall demand. Larry to review the current Land Use
Code to determine how robust the lighting specs are and where improvements could be made.

Water Topics.
Do we need to put as much chlorine in our tap water as we do, which amount seems excessive? Larry to
discuss with Brad Hathaway at the filtration plant, and possibly with local expert Paul Gutman as well.

Concerning invasive plants and animals in our surface waters, there is money in the general fund to pay
for a steward at the Paradox Bay boat launch on peak summer season weekends. SOA pays for a
steward from Paul Smiths to monitor the situation at the State launch site during the high summer
season. Asian clams are becoming problematic in Lake George, but the contamination seems to be
controllable. Zebra muscles, a big issue in the Great Lakes, are very difficult to control.

State law bans (???) the use of phosphates in lawn fertilizers, but not in flower beds or crop land. The
public needs to be educated as to the issues and answers since legislative action is unlikely to happen
due to heavy lobbying.

We need to have stronger regs on the widespread use of petrochemical based surfacing materials,
which can leach or run off and contaminate nearby ground waters. A better solution is permeable
pavers.

Ross Whaley “Water is our most critical resource.”