Minutes from October 6, 2010

ATTENDING: Jim Savicki, Janis Owens, Mike Gillis, Judi Vose, Anne Baird, George Baird, Dick Rothschild, Carol Langford, Makae McClintock, Mike Wilson, and Susan Fontaine.

Topics Discussed:

1. 10/10/10 Event at Tarkiln Community Center — Janis Owens:

Friday 10/8/10 at 8 AM Sustainable Duxbury will present 4 trees (2 Maples and 2 Lindens for $1,200) to the town as one of the over 600 Green Work Parties sponsored by 350.org in over 180 countries. The trees are to be planted at the Tarkiln Community Center. Members of Sustainable Duxbury are invited to attend the presentation and following photo-op. Janis O. and Jim S. will bring Sustainable Duxbury and 350.org information pamphlets and banners.

Janis Owens is researching a plaque to commemorate our gift. We discussed type of plaque and what it should say. The possibilities are bronze/brass or stone. Please send suggestions about material and wording to Jim S. and Janis O.

2. Annual MCAN Conference, Worcester, Sunday 10/24 – Jim S.

We agreed to pay for four members to attend MCAN. Jim S., Janis O., and Susan F. plan to attend. Anyone else interested please contact Jim S. or Janis O.

3. Bottled Water in Schools, progress report – Jim S

Jim S. met with the new Superintendent of Schools to give him a “Dux Water” water bottle and to discuss our proposal to replace bottled water from a vending machine at the High School with a device (paid for by us) that would enable students to fill their own water bottles. If our proposal is implemented, then we would ensure metal water bottles are available for students to purchase from either us or a school group (e.g. sports team). The money from the vending machine does not fund any school group as far as we know.

Jim S. passed out information on a possible device, the Hydration Station. It is expensive ($2,000), and uses a silver filter that costs $42 and must be replaced every 6-9 months. For information see http://www.hawsco.com/hydration-station. We believe that a filter is necessary to meet flavor and health needs of the students and their parents.

4. Sustainable Duxbury blog, Janis Owens

Janis gave a demo of how to use our new blog. The easiest way to read the blog is to go to our home web page (search for “sustainable duxbury” in your browser or use the name http://sustainableduxbury.org) and click on the link to the blog which is near the top. The next easiest way is to type the name of the blog (www.sustainableduxbury.blogspot.com) into the url text area near the top of your browser window. Anyone who has a google account can post comments about blog entries. To open a google account, go to www.google.com, click on register for new account, and follow the instructions. (Google does not send unrequested email so don’t worry about extra email.)

Jim S. and Janis O. are using the blog to post meeting minutes, articles written by members, information about events, and other environmental news.

5. 501C3 – George Baird

We agree that is a good idea for us to file for 501C3 status so that donations will be tax deductible and purchases will be tax free, and that it is better for us to file independently of Sustainable South Shore. George got a quote from a lawyer for ~$2,000 to file the paperwork for us. Jim S., Dick R., and George B. will see if we can file the paperwork ourselves or get a lawyer to file for us pro bono. Once we are a 501C3 we will need to file an annual report.

6. Quarterly meeting of SSSh, 10/26, 7 PM, First Parish Church, Norwell – Jim S.

Jim S. is the new Vice President of SSSh (congratulations Jim) and will be attending the meeting.