Township to Pursue Sustainable Jersey Certification

The governing body has decided to join many of its neighbors in pursuing Sustainable Jersey certification, which could lead to grant funds for environmental and cost-saving initiatives.

Pursuit of the "green" grant program, initially met with some opposition when proposed by Committeeman Brian Scanlan in the fall, has found a more receptive audience among the current committee members, who have tasked the volunteer Environmental Commission with taking the lead on the project. Commission Chairman Brian Bigler will be largely responsible for the effort, although the commission is expected to be helped by resident Harriet Shugarman, who was appointed to fill a vacancy on Tuesday night.

Scanlan said today that the voluntary Sustainable Jersey program "offers a variety of cost-effective means to save money for the township" while pursuing measures that "obviously help our environment."

The program is run by a public/private partnership of governmental and business interests who already have awarded several hundred thousand dollars to municipalities throughout the state. Those grants, funded largely by Wal-Mart and administered through the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers University, are in addition to possible grants via the Board of Public Utilities, which gives priority access to municipalities which achieve certification.

"I think it's a good policy for the community," said Committeeman Chris DePhillips, a first-year governing body member who has backed the proposal. He's spoken with officials from neighboring towns that are already pursuing Sustainable Jersey, which is barely two years old.

"I don't want us to fall behind the other towns," he said. "Most of the towns in northwest Bergen are already on board," including Oakland, Waldwick, Ridgewood, Hawthorne and others.

Certification efforts

The Sustainable Jersey program requires municipalities to amass 100 points for various actions, although municipalities have leeway in deciding which measures to pursue. Certification is good for three years, and municipalities do not face any penalties should they not pursue re-certification.

"It's really a voluntary program... with a wide range of alternatives" to accomplish certification, Scanlan said.

Once certified, the township could submit a wide variety of ecologically friendly proposals for funding. For example, grants awarded in 2009 included monies for a wind turbine in Vineland as well as funds to create a tree canopy in Morristown. Governing body members agreed that the program could be used to help fund environmental and cost-saving initiatives that have been discussed this year, such as the installation of solar panels on township buildings.

"One of the biggest benefits... is learning about new ways to save tax dollars," Scanlan said.

Wyckoff would need to assemble an ad hoc "Green Team" to help shepherd the Sustainable Jersey application.  Committeeman David Connolly, liaison to the Environmental Commission, said Bigler would lead the formation of the team, which will report to him.

"He will be fairly autonomous in putting it together," Connolly said. "He's got the right people in place to make that happen."

The Green Team is expected to be composed of volunteers, perhaps drawn from other township boards as well as the greater community.

Bigler, who could not be immediately reached for comment, and the Environmental Commission had researched the issue over the past few months and initially decided that the certification pursuit would not be worth the necessary manpower. However, Connolly said the concern was largely with saddling an already stretched Town Hall workforce with the work required to submit an application. With Bigler's commitment, the committeeman is in favor of the pursuit, which he said won't cost taxpayers any money.

"We're well-positioned for this," DePhillips said. "We have enough volunteers to put together a team."

That team will likely include Shugarman, who has a long history of work on environmental projects.

'Cream rose to the top'

Shugarman, a married mother of two children, is an economist by training who holds environmental advocacy "near and dear to my heart."

Currently working with the Climate Project, a nonprofit, educational organization, Shugarman had been a policy analyst at the International Monetary Fund, is active with Temple Beth Rishon's environmental committee and helped support efforts to establish an outdoor classroom and recycling initiatives at Sicomac Elementary School.

"I feel its kind of my mission... to make sure our kids grow up in as nice a place as we grew up in," she said.

Shugarman is well-acquainted with the Sustainable Jersey program and is anxious to help the Environmental Commission push for certification.

"It's exciting to see the township starting to move" on a program that she sees as having no downside. 

"Why would you not do it? Why shut yourself out from these (grant) programs?," she said.

Shugarman was appointed to the commission with the unanimous support of the Township Committee. DePhillips and Committeeman Kevin Rooney interviewed several applicants for the post but said Shugarman stood out from the pack.

"The cream rose to the top," said Rooney, who also endorses the Sustainable Jersey push.

DePhillips said at the Township Committee's meeting that Shugarman will bring a "breath of fresh air on that issue" while characterizing her as someone who "probably knows more about environmental issues than all of us in this room."

Shugarman is glad for the support and said its exciting to be able to pursue her passion while helping others. She hopes her background in environmental education will be an asset to the commission, where she can promote "best (environmental) practices at the municipal level" while also fostering an "economic benefit from progress."

Ultimately, the Township Committee will have to pass a resolution in support of Sustainable Jersey, which DePhillips said will be a "collaborative effort" between the commission and governing body.

"We're all in a place where we can move forward on this," he said.

Scanlan agreed: "Let's sit down and get started."