Washington Township Green Team 
Ad Hoc Committee Meeting
Monday January 7th, 2018 6:30pm Minutes
Washington Township Municipal Building

Members Present: Chairman Dan Ross, Interim Treasurer Paula Ross, Valerie Walsh, Patty Homer, Liaison Gregg Forsbrey Market Liaison Kelsey Saccente, David Belsky, and Denise Belsky 
Members of the public: none
Others Present: none 
Called to Order at: 6:37 pm      
Guest speaker Kelsey Saccente- Dan introduced Kelsey to the group and asked that she share a bit about herself. She informed everyone that she owns Black Butterfly Painting Studio right in town and was also a member of the Market last season. 
She said that with her brick and mortar store closing, and her plans to transition to a web-based business, she will have more time on her hands now, and is very much looking forward to taking on running the Market. She mentioned that she plans on focusing on attracting more farms this year, and locking vendors in for full season commitments rather than continuing the non-committal week to week approach that was employed in the inaugural season. 
Other ideas that Kelsey suggested included;  advertising  the market for free by creating t-shirts which featured our market sponsors, creating a free webpage for the market, and increasing our communications through an online mailer. Dan told the group that one of the vendors he had reach out to last season Flipside Farms had contacted him with interest in potentially signing up this season and joining the Market. 
Kelsey also told the group about a plan she had to run a tricky tray drawing for the Market’s grand opening where attendees could purchase tickets to win a gift basket containing items donated from all of the participating vendors. Patty mentioned that she liked the tricky tray idea for market, and that she also thought it might be a good idea for the green festival as well. 
Gregg voiced concerns about holding the Tricky Tray during the first week of the Market as the grand opening likely would not be very “grand” if it’s the first week. After some discussion the idea to hold a soft open and build up to the Grand Opening week once word of mouth had spread the news of the Market opening and greater awareness was generated. As an additional incentive, any patron that came to the soft open would be able to purchase their tickets first and increase odds of winning the prize. 
Kelsey also mentioned that she thinks music would be another great idea for drawing people in this year. Dan mentioned several musicians he knows that might be willing to come and play, though it might be difficult to get them to play for free. Gregg suggested that it is a good way for up and coming artists to get their name and music out there at least. Other ideas to promote the Market were also discussed including advertising on the police sign, adding a “Coming Soon” sign on the big corner along Schooley’s Mountain Rd, and changing the positioning of the existing banners at the field. 
Old Business: 
Mission Statement/ position nominations/ meeting minutes: 
Administrative Treasurer’s Report/ Voting on October’s Minutes : 

Administrative  November and December minutes were both unanimously approved. Dan was approved for a second term as Chairman, and Paula was confirmed for Treasurer, and Kelsey was approved for the position of Market Liaison. Dan asked if there were any nominations for Vice Chair, or Secretary, but there were none, so the group will continue to proceed without those positions being filled. 

Next the proposed changes to the Mission Statement were approved, following the suggestion from Liaison Forsbrey that we change the wording regarding the Green Festival to reflect the fact that the green team partners with Long Valley Fire No. 1 rather than the previous Washington Township’s Fire Department.  The proposed change was accepted and the new mission statement was approved. 

Wrapping up the administrative reports Paula read the latest expense report to the group. She informed the group that we had received some money back from the township due to a purchase order that had been voided from the green map software. She also said that we received the Clean Communities money as well. 
Harrington Fields Pollinator Meadow:  
Dan told everyone that the DPW has mowed the fields, and that the pending grant was approved for the trails work as well. He said that he was unsure when it work will begin but the group will not be tasked with doing the physical trail work, as the company that won the bid will be handling that aspect. Paula mentioned that she had dispersed more seeds at the meadow recently, following a particularly rainy fall/winter. 

Dan explained that the trail will likely be a combination of mowed grass and wood chips due to the fact that it runs in close proximity to wetlands and some spots would likely be wetter than others. Trail signs were once again discussed and there was a question of whether they should be simplistic or more detailed and professionally constructed if the money was available?  

Dan said the TREX benches would go in after the trails are completed, and that Paula had already spoke with the DPW about securing them to the ground. Dan once again brought up the idea of possibly hosting a butterfly release for the opening ceremony. Paula told the group about the potential for an “origami release,” like she had been part of elsewhere. 

Maintenance and upkeep was discussed briefly and Denise recommended increasing the mowing schedule to twice a year rather than once. The group also mulled over the idea of doing another spring workday at the park in order to tackle the remaining autumn olive shrubs.     
New Business:

Regarding outreach and communications Gregg informed the group that approximately 7 or 8 years ago he created the group’s Facebook page and that it is attached to his name personally. Seeking to have ownership of the page transferred over to the township Gregg offered to work on making that happen and will be speaking with the township administrator about it. After some brief discussion it was decided that Dan and Patty would retain rights to post on the page as administrators but that someone from the township would be the new account Moderator. 

Kelsey inquired if she would be able to create a Market Instagram page and whether or not she will gain access to the Market’s Facebook page. Dan informed her that she would have authority to promote the Market through any form of social media she deemed necessary. It was also agreed that Administrators for both pages will have limited budgets to promote and boost the two pages when necessary. Patty offered to research boosting rates and look into the process further on behalf of the group. 

Additional Market Updates: Dan once again thanked Kelsey for all of her new ideas for improving the Market and for accepting the nomination to be our Market Liaison. He also mentioned wanting to involve the Long Valley First Aid Squad more this year with the market, which Gregg offered to approach them about. Dan suggested that the group should work on increasing sponsorships, improving signage, and overall improving on promoting the Market. 

Sustainable Jersey:  Dan informed the group that he looked into the rigid plastics recycling action and a few other items that the group might be eligible for points. Dan asked Gregg about any progress regarding adopting the solar ordinance, he said it was currently stalled. Valerie informed the group that has continued to look into the no-idling on township properties action as well. Gregg agreed to assist the group with bringing the ordinance to the township committee’s attention, but did not anticipate it being an easy sell. Dan questioned whether we had an ordinance for no smoking in the parks? Gregg said that we do in certain parks, and we should look into whether or not we can get points for it as well.  	 

Miscellaneous: 
 Dan brought up his idea of possibly doing both the Clean Communities in the fall and participating in the Raritan River clean-up in the spring rather than doing clean communities twice a year. Dan also informed the group about the two pending dam removals in town, which might present the opportunity to plant trees in the newly established floodplains. 

Working with schools more in 2019 was also discussed including the potential rain garden installation. Gregg offered to bring it up in the school board meeting that he was heading off to next. Dan also mentioned that we might want to apply for the ANJEC, Open Space grant once again if the Environmental Commission is not interested in applying for it. Denise also suggested the idea of possibly doing an invasive removal along the Columbia Trail. 

 Call to adjourn: 8:20pm