Documents › Conservation Advisory Council, 2026-03-17

minutes 3 pages

Croton Conservation Advisory Council Meeting Minutes February 17, 2026 Meeting called to order at 7:45pm Present: Eva Thaddeus (Chair), Rachel Bernstein, Madalyn Bozinski, Halle Clarke (delayed), Sherry Horowitz (delayed), Jason Mencher, Shiloh Shea (new member), Mayor Brian Pugh (Liaison), Trustee Nora Moriarty Nicholson (Liaison), Planning Board Member Steve Krisky (Liaison) 1. Shiloh Shea welcomed as a new CAC member. 2. January minutes approved unanimously as corrected 3. Earth Day - Eva, John, Rachel and Halle to draft a guide for Rec Department, circulate to the committee for comment (via email), submit to Rec before the end of February. It will include: - Overview - Paragraph on vision/goals - encouraging engagement in environmental activities for all ages - leave event with a commitment to do something, focus on local activities. Saturday May 2, rain date May 9, Vasallo Park. Time ? ( Food Pantry at Holy Name 9- 11am). - Vendors/participating groups - list desired participants, with contact information. Smaller number than last year, focus on environmental engagement. Rec Department coordinate bike ride with bike shop. - Publicity - Village update lawn signs and update and print flyers. CAC place lawn signs and distribute some flyers. List online and press outreach for Village to use. - Waste - The village can bulk buy compostable utensils, plates, etc for vendors to use. Recruit volunteers to monitor cans to be sure waste gets sorted into recycle, compost, landfill. Be sure registration forms explain zero waste guidelines and goals. CAC Tables - tree give away, CLEAN (John?), kid activities, dark skies, leave the leaves/leaf blower law, native gardens, pollinator pathways? Monarch pledge? Other? - Run-of-show - draft timetable for events 4. Trails (David) - The trail map update is done. We are working on getting it published to the website. One complication is that the map is generally part of a larger guide. We should review and update the text as appropriate. Eg, the existing text does not include Gouveia park. CAC members - please take a look for other needed updates. We are also reaching out to the rec department to coordinate on any updates to the park descriptions. https://www.crotononhudson- ny.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif441/f/uploads/crotontrailsguide2013web2.pdf - Schedule in the works for spring trails cleanup and work. - Starting in March David expects to be missing CAC meetings for hiking season. He will make sure to provide an update before each meeting. 5. Dark Skies (Jason) Discussion of lighting codes for Cortlandt and Yorktown. Ideas for Croton include: - Yorktown model may be a better match for Croton, simpler, fewer detailed regs - Persuasive introductory paragraph about the reasons for the new code, what the village has been doing. This should be fulsome. DarkSky.org has model language - For existing residential and commercial - start with guidelines, not detailed requirements. Education should accompany code adoption. Regulations for new construction more tenable. - Possibly include a limit on “light trespass” - all existing lighting is exempt except for something that is extremely visible in neighboring properties. - New construction - require a lighting plan and provide detailed standards - time of day restrictions might be helpful, possibly 60 day limit on holiday lights? - Planning Board perspective – helpful to have some code language on lighting (not much exists now) Jason will investigate, summarize, and circulate something for more discussion next meeting. The goal is to send a letter to the trustees with our general recommendations. 6. NRI updates (Jason/Madalyn) - received draft gis files, giving feedback, next meeting in March. 7. Garden Club (Eva) - possibility of organizing Green Living programs for winter activities. First event could be showing of movie Extraordinary Caterpillar - doc on role they play in biodiversity, part of Homegrown National Park movement Mayor’s Monarch Pledge re-signed for this year - related activities? 8. Repair Café (Sherry / Halle) 2/28 11am - 3pm at the Croton Free Library. CAC volunteers please show up 15 minutes early for shifts. Great response from coaches, 39 people have registered ahead of time for repairs. We have several volunteer repair coaches in these categories - mechanical, electrical, tech, jewelry and watch battery replacement, clothing, textiles, soft toys, upholstery, bikes, kitchen knives sharpening, window screens, wood items, things that need gluing. There will be tea, coffee and cookies for guests; lunch for the coaches The library is printing fliers and doing a lot of promotion. 9. Recording Secretary - Eva encourages everyone to consider volunteering to take this on so we can avoid the constant challenge of arranging to rotate the job and of making sure it gets done. 10. NEXT MEETING Tuesday march 17 @7:45pm Meeting adjourned 9:10pm