Red Bank Environmental Commission Chairman Andres Simonson has suggested the creation of a Team Green Bank to lead initiatives aimed at attaining Sustainable Jersey certification for the borough.
In a presentation at the May 26 Borough Council meeting, Simonson explained that the Team Green Bank branding would be a play on the borough’s name aimed at moving the borough forward toward the goal of becoming more environmentally friendly.
According to the website www.sustainablejersey. com, certification “indicates that the municipality has taken the first significant step on the long journey toward sustainability.”
The Sustainable Jersey certification “is a rigorous and meaningful designation,” the website states. “All actions taken by municipalities to score points toward certification must be accompanied by documentary evidence and will be reviewed by the project partners.”
The borough recently passed a resolution to announce its intention to seek the Sustainable Jersey certification; a second resolution, according to Simonson, would be to get the ball rolling by establishing a Green Team.
Task force topics included: greenhouse gas emissions and energy; green buildings and facilities; master planning, zoning, transportation and land use; engaging the community; greening municipal operations; natural resources; healthy environment, and wellness.
“There are three pillars of a sustainable society,” Simonson said. “It’s not just environmentally, but it’s also economic development and social equity. When you have a point where all three of those line up, then you have a sustainable society.”
Local municipalities that are currently seeking certification include Middletown, Ocean Township and Atlantic Highlands.
“All of the municipalities who are signed up want to stay green, save money and improve their way of life,” Simonson said.
Sustainable Jersey, funded through donations and contributions from foundations, corporations and state government, provides guidance and the tools to make goals a reality as well as access to grants, and identifies new and existing incentives.
“It’s a point-driven system where if you get 100 points, you’re certified. It’s pretty much that simple,” Simonson told the council meeting. “There’s a laundry list of items that you can do, and we get a certain amount of points for each of them.”
Municipalities can earn points in various categories including community partnership and outreach, diversity and equity, energy efficiency, land use and transportation, and waste reduction and recycling.
Simonson said the borough already has 60 to 70 points that it would qualify for, including a natural resource inventory and tree management.
He explained that the borough already has an environmental commission, an existing partnership with Red Bank River- Center, a business alliance, and a Human Relations Commission that promotes diversity and equity, but he said that little communication goes on between the groups and that the Green Team would bring them together.
He said that one of the main functions of the Green Team would be to secure resources from the state, including grants and funding for projects.
“Recently Wal-Mart gave out some grants for $10,000 and $25,000 to municipalities involved in this,” he said.
He said that this would go along with the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement signed last year with the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
“They are token things from a ‘green’ standpoint, but if we go with this program, we can get possible assistance to fund some of these programs,” Simonson said.
The goal for Sustainable Jersey is for towns to amass the points to be certified. According to Simonson, in the future, the program may rank towns’ effectiveness in the program with gold, silver and bronze ratings and may base grants and funding on the ranking.
“There are seminars to get things done, free trainings to do something like solar panels, where we could send someone from the [recreation] center or the borough,” Simonson said. “It’s not only going to be about getting money, but improving the town.”
To obtain the grants, the township will have to do things above and beyond what is currently being done.
The main partners in Sustainable Jersey are: the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy; the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey; the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Planning and Sustainable Communities; the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Office of Clean Energy; and the Rutgers Center for Green Building.
T
he partners formed a Sustainable
Communities Working Group that is made up of more than 150 state leaders, experts and organizations, including state agencies, universities, nonprofits and business leaders. The group initially divided into task forces to develop the first round of Sustainable Jersey actions, tools and incentives.
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna said the borough would consider a resolution to create a Green Team at the next meeting on June 8.
The county is supporting the municipal Green Team initiative, and in March members from more than 20 municipalities gathered at the Monmouth County Agriculture Building in Freehold Township to listen to speakers discuss ways to reduce energy costs, decrease greenhouse emissions, and create a climate plan for their towns. The approximately 60 members of the team included elected officials, town supervisors, business owners, civic organization representatives and concerned citizens. The Board of Freeholders, the Urban Coast Institute (UCI), an environmental coastal community organization based at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, and the Monmouth County Cool Cities Partnership sponsored the training program, titled “Creating a Climate Action Plan for Your Town.” For more information about the Green Team, visit www.coolcities.us.
Contact Jamie Romm at jromm@gmnews.
com.