1/31/23 ECC Meeting
In attendance:
ECC Members: James Easley, Todd Anderson, Judith Karpova
Members of the Public: Larry DeWitt, Thad Allender, Abbie Allender, Ann Belmont, Diane Greenberg, Kendra Salvatore, Angela Sisson, Anna Ortega, Raphael Ortega, one other son of Anna Ortega
Angela Sisson spoke. Angela is founder of the Walkill Valley Pollinator Pathway. It is part of Pollinator Pathway (PP), the website is “Pollinator-Pathway.org.” Organization is a clearinghouse for small chapters all over the northeast – it’s now gone national. They’re a 501C3. Typically each new chapter affiliates with: a Land Trust, Watershed Alliance, the town itself, you want to be able to use the sponsoring group’s newsletter, contact list, website, etc. It’s fine to have the municipality itself as the primary affiliation. Pollinator Pathway will provide a webpage for each individual chapter.
A PP is a grassroots advocacy group – interest is generated by events such as seed swaps, native plant plantings, garden tours, etc.
Will need literature, need something to pass out at events. Mount a Facebook page for the (for instance) Town of Rochester Pollinator Pathway Chapter – Angela suggests the Municipality itself as the the primary sponsor, “you’re ‘way ahead of where most chapters start, since you already have active support from the town.”
Registration: They operate off a map, which is kind of symbolic. We should use the North East PP website, map. (Pollinators need to fuel up and forage, and need “gas stations” close enough before they run out of fuel.) The steps to participation are easy for anyone to take:
Take a pledge to:
1. Start planting natives
2. Start removing invasives
3. Don’t use herbicides or pesticides
PP will provide a registration page and link it to your chapter. None of their literature in proprietary, they have a starter kit.
Event driven:
Field trips and other: i.e., to the Catskill Native Nursery, draw in volunteers and collect contact information, go to public gardens, plant sales, seed swaps, planting events, workshops, webinars, tabling events at festivals, research different types of events.
Georgia Asher at Woodstock Pollinator Pathway: Resolution to support pollinators.
Visit people at there homes when possible! How are they landscaping?
www.healthyyards.org is the best website to go to, a clearinghouse type of organization in Westchester
What about deer: Angela uses a repellant (Diane will give me a handout) Chipmunks and rabbits don’t do near the amount of damage that deer do; environment is so imbalanced because of destruction of predators, we need foxes, coyotes et. al. to keep down rodent populations.
Site visits to homes: Angela has a background in landscape design, asked for a donation to the Walkill Valley Pollinator Pathway when doing a site visit. Person should have some training but doesn’t need to be hugely technical. (Doug Tallemy videos.) Small garden tour, there’s actually a lot of youtube videos about native gardens. She stressed that meeting people one-on-one is what gives a chapter its strength, and door-to-door is the most effective. Encourage interested people to ask for consultations on what to do with their lawns. Have literature to leave them to direct them to resources (www.healthyyards.org the best).
Start a garden forum? Organize tours. Focus on people who are interested, rather than people against it. Focus on people who want less lawn, less maintenance, less work, less expense, emphasize simplicity, small steps.
Stakeholder organizations: The local land trust, a green cemetery, churches, the town itself, native plant nurseries, garden clubs, any group that wants to be a sponsor after securing the primary sponsor.

Report from Town Board Liaison Erin Enouen:
• Revisions are being made to town code on wetlands and stream buffers, Feb. through April spent on revising, then restart public hearing. Have not received formal comments. Subdivision revisions as well, limiting some on the basis of the site itself (we are a Climate Smart Community). Erin’s goal: start a new town commission to develop what the town would actually do as a CSC, policy focused, enables us to get grants.
• If interested in becoming an ECC member: send letter of interest to town board, may or may not be asked for an interview, we have space for three people.
Report from Ulster County Environmental Management Committee (EMC) Liaison James Easeley:
Last meeting was cancelled (25th) December meeting: however, releases he has pursued previously discussed topic of releases from Ashokan Reservoir and the Rondout Reservoir. DEC sets release from the Rondout – there’s a dam, Rondout Reservoir created and feeds the downstream Rondout Creek that goes thru the Town of Rochester. Release takes place at foot of dam, daily release of 10-15 million gallons. Water is also drawn from the Rondout Reservoir at a maximum rate of 825 million gallons per day and sent to the New York City water supply system. May be adjustments of releases in the future as summers get drier – our Commission should be involved with issues around sustaining the volume of the Rondout, we may need a study done. EMC will talk about it in the next meeting. NYC has been giving grants to people to drill their own wells to get them out of the aquifer.
Report from Member of Public Ann Belmont re: Plastic Bag Recycling:
Plastic bag recycling: Town is in process of creating its 2nd bench. The Community Center no longer wants to administer taking in the bags. Where can intake happen to both recycle them and to have a benefit to the town: Discussion as to problems in bringing plastic bags to the Transfer Station. This may not be feasible. Erin Enouen pointed out that it can only be done if a volunteer is there to check each single piece of plastic: each piece has to be clean, dry, with labels removed. Any rejected plastic has to be given back to the donor, since there’s a cost to throwing it out. Cleaning the bags is a non-starter, too time-intensive. Perhaps a once-a-month intake staffed by the ECC? Each time a piece of plastic is handed back to them, it reinforces what the homeowner must do to prepare the plastic to be recycled. Erin thinks people could get used to this over time but it may take a couple of years. In the meantime, Walmart takes any and all plastic bags and monetizes them. There’s no benefit to the town but they do get recycled.
Third Thursday: Todd will contact person who publicizes TT to verify date when announcement goes out.
Judith summed up where we stand re becoming a Pollinator Pathway Chapter: The Town via Mike Baden supports this initiative and has enabled the installation of a Pollinator Garden at Town Hall, to be installed by the Catskill Native Nursery. Angela Sisson encourages us to be directly sponsored by the Town. Erin Enouen will check with the town to see whether there’s any legal ramifications (are we then constrained to only use the town website, but thinks this unlikely) and if we need a Town Board resolution that the ToR is sponsoring a PP chapter.
We then simply have to register as a new chapter with the national group, get identifying garden signs, and start implementing the activities of such a chapter. It would be a lot, but as people are brought in from the public, the work is shifted from the ECC to the participating chapter members. Once we know if the ToR will be our primary sponsor, Judith plans to start reaching out of other potential sponsors, such as the Rondout-Esopus Land Trust, etc. She also intends to start visiting other PP chapters in the region and their events. Healthy Yards has a yearly garden tour which Angela Sisson says is amazing.