Black Rock Park needs help, and Croton's Conservation Advisory Council spent its June 16 meeting working out who could give it — mostly volunteers, with the village's blessing still to be obtained. Resident Judy Rayer, the evening's guest, reported on the condition of the park after finding dead and dying trees, poison ivy, overgrown bushes and abandoned, disintegrated flower beds. The council's responses were immediate, according to the minutes. Rayer was advised to contact the village's Department of Public Works directly to report the locations of the dead and unhealthy trees she saw. And on Trustee Nora Nicholson's advice, Rayer was told she may weed the areas she sees fit and collect fallen and dead plant life as maintenance, without specific village permission. The larger effort will run through the Garden Club: the council, Rayer, Clarke and the Garden Club's chair are to contact the village manager for permission for Rayer, Clarke and any other volunteers to do maintenance at the park under the auspices of the Garden Club. Members also discussed a periodic invasive plant management event to be organized by the council or a subcommittee — on a less frequent schedule than the council's Trails and CLEAN outings, because telling invasive species from native ones, and teaching the public the difference, carries a heavier information burden. The meeting drew the council's full set of liaisons: Mayor Brian Pugh, Trustee Nicholson and Planning Board member Steve Krisky.

Lighting code letter nears the trustees

The council's longest simmering file moved closer to a formal recommendation. Jason Mencher brought a draft letter to be submitted to the Board of Trustees recommending that the village pursue creation of a light pollution code; after discussion, the council determined the letter should carry a more specific set of recommendations, stated with more certainty. Trustee Nicholson advised that the Board of Trustees does have an interest in a lighting code, and that the council would be within its rights to make specific recommendations and code requirements — though they may not be taken wholesale. Mencher asked members to email him suggested edits, including specific policies around a lighting code, such as light overflow, what kind of shading lights should have, and when they should go off at night, at least a day before the next council meeting.

Leaf blowers: a summer of stakeholder outreach

The council's biggest new assignment comes from the trustees themselves: gather more information on gas leaf blower impact and on public opinion about their use. The Board of Trustees will shortly send a memo with further details. Mayor Pugh and Trustee Maria Slippen noted the board would likely ask the council to hold one or more events to engage stakeholders. Among the ideas floated: invite trade association representatives, landscape business owners, and politicians from nearby towns — drawn both from towns with gas leaf blower bans and from towns that considered but ultimately rejected them. A subcommittee of three or so members could meet over the summer to organize it. Members weighed two gatherings, one for the general public and one for more involved stakeholders, or a single meeting where stakeholders speak and the public listens. A previous town hall style event on Zoom had gauged perspectives. The charge follows a spring of public pressure on the board. In March, Farrington Road resident David Lowell asked trustees why the village's ban is not year round, saying he and his family had become targets when they reported infractions, and that gas leaf blowers are dirty, pose a health risk, and should not be allowed especially on school properties and playgrounds.

A record haul at Silver Lake

The council's CLEAN crew collected its largest haul of trash yet at Silver Lake: 1,500 pounds, including car batteries, toilets, mechanical parts and construction equipment. The Garden Club, meanwhile, cleared out a small garden area in front of the Croton Library, and at the village manager's request improved the area around the flag pole at Dobbs Park ahead of a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 17 — work the club completed. Members also discussed a strip of land past Benedict Boulevard near Cleveland Drive that goes unmaintained, noting the village ought to ask its contractors to care for that strip as they do the nearby areas. For the council's Monarch Pledge effort, members scouted spots just outside the Municipal Building for leftover milkweed stock. The library may have openings despite earlier concern that upcoming renovations would interfere — Shiloh Shea will ask the library's manager what can and ought to be done — and the bed at Dobbs Park might absorb any surplus.

Tree code, idling and a vice chair opening

Halle Clarke volunteered to explain the village tree code in simple language for the Conservation Corner of the village manager's letter, and was advised to contact the village engineer, who enforces the code, for more information. A committee member reported finding many cars idling by the Blue Pig in violation of village law. Having parking enforcement step in when officers see idling was discussed, though the trustees' and mayoral liaisons thought that might not be practical or popular in the community. Members may instead politely remind people sitting in idling cars that there is a law against it and that they could be ticketed — an approach Sherry Horowitz reported has yielded good results — and Horowitz may write another Conservation Corner letter covering idling's effects on the environment, people's health and car maintenance. On the Trails side, crews reported that deer had been eating bushes recently installed by the Boy Scouts; the committee suggested David Daly of Trails ask that group's chair for money or resources, such as chicken wire, to raise protective barriers around the plantings. Chair Eva Thaddeus asked members interested in the vice chair position to email her; the chair recommends a candidate and the mayor ultimately approves the appointment. The council returns to its usual 7:30 p.m. start next month, with the trustees' leaf blower memo and a finalized lighting letter on deck.