New advisory committee created
It seemed fitting that on Earth Day 2019 — Monday, April 22 — the Town Board created its first ever Environmental Advisory Committee — a group of local residents who will “provide guidance and recommendations” to the Town Board pertaining to issues regarding to the environment.
Those issues will vary, Supervisor Bob Livsey said in reading the resolution creating the committee. The group won’t have the ability to take any action on behalf of the town, but will help do research on topics — such as solar power — or suggest changes in the community that are environmentally friendly. They could also seek out grants which would help the town put good environmental stewardship opportunities in place, and work on projects pertaining to natural resources.
The board, which passed the resolution unanimously, also appointed the first members of the committee — Olga Anderson, Lynn Edsall, Cindy Modlin, Ed Nugent, Rich Sullivan and Chevy Wanamaker. The Town Board has the appointment and removal power of those who sit on the committee.
“I think it’s wonderfully appropriate we are doing this on Earth Day,” Anderson, who has lobbied the board to create such a committee, said at the meeting. “It’s almost cosmic!”
Now that the committee has been created, the members should meet and select a chairperson, create a broad policy statement, and set a meeting schedule, the supervisor said. The members receive no compensation from the town.