ECC Meeting Summary
February14, 2018
630-8 pm

Presentation on Proposal from Community Composting Company (CCC)
Chris Hewitt presented a proposal for a composting collection program at the Transfer Station. CCCleases at Arrowhead Farm (non-profit, formerly Davis Farm). Arrowhead Farms is training young farmers and offering 30-year leases on land for farmers.
Raw material would be processed into compost by CCC. CCCwould provide bins or “toters” at the transfer station to collect the raw material which hold 48 gallons each. They clean them every week.CC works with neighboring towns; the toters prevent bear problems. The Town pays for the toters and for pickup. Residents with a valid permit can drop food off at the Town Transfer Station.
An annual fee would have to be approved bythe Town Board. CCC charges $60/month fortheir use. Fourtoters would cost $240/month. Two would be$130/month or $1560/year. This cost will be offset by reduction in the cost of waste hauling for the town because it will remove heavier organic material from the waste stream.
Funds for 5-gallon buckets and/or printed information could come out of the ECC estimated budget.The ECC recommends starting with two toters instead of four.
We can advertise the program at the transfer station and highlight that composting will reduce costs for residents, since their trash bags will be lighter without the waste food component.
Questions
• Is there a contract and will CCC do a trial period before we start paying?
• Will CCC provide a list of guidelines for what is compostable?
• Will CCC offer the 5-gallon containers for residents?
• Can we advertise recycling information on the side of the 5-gallon bucket?
• Can residents get the final composting product?For how much? Can they get a discount?
• How much would it cost to get a logo or other printed material onthe buckets?

Updates
• Information on our upcoming meetings will go in the Bluestone calendar items(we will list our meeting, looking for sponsors for that page)
• Public Letter to thank Town of Ulster – Draft complete. If Judith gets final approval,she will send toTown of Ulster Residents Assoc., Town of Ulster Supervisor and the Bluestone Press.
• Judith will attend NE Recycling Council Conference if a scholarship is approved
• Several ECC members will join the upcoming CSC Webinar on Clean Energy Communities
• Solid Waste Stakeholder Committee Meeting (DEC) at the end of February. Judith will attend.
• Amphibian Migration project getting underway for this year. This could go on our Facebook page. See linkhttp://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/51925.html
ECC Website/Facebook
• Sarah volunteered to maintain the website(update members, add new photos). Madeline can also help.
• Outline of content on streams – Judith shared a draft outline, will continue to develop
• Outline of content on recycling – Will discuss at March meeting. Madeline will help draft content regardingUCRRA information, DEC website information and other sources. Chris Hewitt wants the ECC to request comparison of Town use of recycled paper vs virgin paper)
Stream programming
• Riversweep (May 4)
o Site – John Messerschmidt to ID site and communicate with Riverkeeper on logistics
o Outreach
 Draft letter to Bluestone Press, Ann Belmont may cover
 Madeline to see about free ads in the Weekly Almanac, Chronogram
o Speaker series – stream expert?
o Equipment/materials
 Chris to check on food budget for Riversweep event
 Consider handing out or selling composting buckets if we create community composting program, along with literature on the program
 Kristin/Judith to reach out to RELC, Olive CAC, TOR Youth Commission, Wawarsing ECC to partner
• Trees for Tribs
o Judith planning to have a tree planting on her property. Will apply to the DEC Trees for Tribs program and coordinate with the Rondout Valley Watershed Association for help with the planting and follow-up maintenance. Likely to be a large event with over 100 trees.