Enviro-talk at Tusten town meeting

ELIZABETH LEPRO
Posted 11/20/18

NARROWSBURG, NY — If you’ve been to the Tusten Community Hall recently—for voting, perhaps—you’ve likely seen the box of reusable bags set up on the table by the door, …

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Enviro-talk at Tusten town meeting

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NARROWSBURG, NY — If you’ve been to the Tusten Community Hall recently—for voting, perhaps—you’ve likely seen the box of reusable bags set up on the table by the door, with a sign, “One per household.”

This initiative is one of many the Town of Tusten Council, spearheaded by the Tusten Energy Committee, is boosting lately to aid the environment. The committee has been meeting frequently, according to councilmember Brandi Merolla, discussing initiatives that include LED light bulbs, a town compost, recycling and social media awareness.

The Town of Tusten is a New York Climate Smart Community, part of a state initiative to encourage towns and cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and “improve climate resilience,” according to its website. Certain actions—such as creating a Tusten Energy Committee Facebook page—earn the town points, which can move it from a bronze Climate Smart Community into the silver category and garner more state or federal funding.

The community hall was recently fitted with all-new LED light bulbs, and the committee is working on replacing street lights as well. “It’s a great way to save energy and have uniform lighting, healthy lighting, and you won’t have these horrible lights that keep going out and people can’t get them replaced,” she added.

Street lights throughout Narrowsburg have been going out in problematic numbers, council members have said, as winter brings earlier darkness. On Friday, Merolla attended a Design Symposium Day at the Cornelius Duggan School to meet with a design team that will focus on the town’s LED streetlight needs.

The committee is also considering a town anaerobic compost system and creating a bike and walking path.

In another sustainable initiative that will also count toward the Climate Smart Communities challenge, councilmember Jill Padua has overseen the Town of Tusten’s involvement in the Repair Cafe program, a nonprofit organization started in the Netherlands with branches throughout the world. Repair Cafe encourages people to fix, rather than throw away, broken items including furniture, electronics, appliances and bicycles.

At Repair Cafe meetings, attendees will find tools, materials and expert volunteers—such as woodworkers, electricians and general repair people—to fix damaged goods. The meetings are independent, but backed by the town board, the Chamber of Commerce and the Tusten Energy Committee. The Repair Cafe will meet four times a year, with the first meeting scheduled for January 26 at the community hall.

“It’s a really community-oriented project,” Padua said. “If you have something that needs to be fixed, you can bring it here.”

In other news from the meeting, councilmember Tony Ritter announced his formal withdrawal from any affiliation with the Republican party, citing a discrepancy with the party’s current ideology. “The question that has arisen is whether I am now a Democrat,” Ritter said, “and the answer is no.”

tusten, environment, green energy

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