UUFBR Green Sanctuary Program | Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Boca Raton

Green Sanctuary Committee Minutes March 13, 2018

Tue, 13 Mar 2018 23:57:23 +0000

The meeting began at 7pm. Present were Robert Duchemin and Jan Booher.

Jan reported on her conversation with Ari Siegel regarding the post-Irma playground restoration project. The priorities of the project were: a cleaner look, low maintenance, and less dirt for the kids, because it was a sandy surface. Mulch was inexpensive, but high maintenance. Gravel was expensive, but difficult to maintain, and not soft for the kids. They were exploring rubber mulch, when artificial turf was donated at a discount. Although it is not made from recycled materials, portions of it are recyclable. Possible additional improvements moving forward are: replacement of the shade tarp with a new structure, because the frame was repaired and not replaced after the hurricane; and general low maintenance landscaping around the turf area where it’s weedy, sandy and dirty. The project cost approximately $4,000, and involved 15 volunteers in about 3 hours of clean-up, in addition to the researching, planning and procurement of materials.

There was a brief discussion of the merits of supporting the Board’s efforts on air quality by asking how the GSC can support their efforts that was tabled until we have a meeting that more can attend.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

Green Sanctuary Minutes February 13, 2018

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 01:17:38 +0000

Present at the Meeting: Jan Booher, Robert Duchemin, Linda Harmon, and Seyril Siegel

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm. Initial conversation was about indoor air quality. Debra Weiss-Randall had contacted CIH Environmental Solutions, an indoor air quality assessment company recommended by Dr. Consuela Beck-Sague. The company told Debra that in order to determine the cost of air quality testing, they needed the square footage of the buildings.

The original building is approximately 9,000 sq ft
Rockberger is approximately 3,000 sq ft

Linda Harmon, who is currently serving on the Board, said that the Board is engaged on the air quality issue due to the number of complaints it has received.

Linda will put Debra Weiss-Randall and Donna Musial, who is working with the Board on this issue, in contact with each other. The Board has placed dehumidifiers in places that are routinely damp.
Jan Booher will contact Charlie Cormier for copies of past minutes dealing with the air quality issue, and will write draft language for a proposed Green Sanctuary air quality project to substitute for the carpet project that was originally submitted in our Green Sanctuary application.

Ari Siegel spearheaded a resilience project in the playground area after Hurricane Irma. The damage from the hurricane made the playground unsafe. There is new astroturf and there are new awnings among other improvements.

Jan will follow up with Ari to document his work, and the resilience concerns he addressed.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:05pm. The next meeting will be at 7:00pm Tuesday, March 13, 2018.

Green Sanctuary Minutes January 10, 2018

Thu, 11 Jan 2018 01:27:28 +0000

Present at the Meeting: Robert Duchemin, Debra Weiss-Randall, Jan Booher

The meeting was called to order at 7pm. The following was discussed:

1. Regarding the air quality assessment:

Debra Weiss-Randall is involved with a Miami initiative called,”The Great Indoors.” Through this association, she has identified CIH Environmental Solutions as a company that provides careful and thorough air quality assessments as well as proper remediation for mold and mildew. Armondo Chumoro, the principal with the company is currently traveling, but when he returns Debra will speak with him regarding our needs. In addition, Debra has contacts through the steering committee of the Florida Asthma Coalition with whom she can consult regarding an appropriate company in the event that the CIH Environmental Solutions Company does not include Boca Raton in its service geography.
Guidance on the thermostat setting(s) appropriate for UUFBR to avoid further mold and mildew once mitigation is done would be helpful.

2. We discussed the age of the HVAC units. Robert Duchemin indicated that the unit serving the Sanctuary was just replaced. The unit serving the offices was replaced 2 or 3 years ago when it broke down.

3. We do not have information yet regarding the cleaning supplies used by the cleaning company.

4. The tinting of the carpet in Osias to a dark green/gray was done by Board action led by Co-President Johnnie Rogers. No one on the Green Sanctuary Committee is aware of what may have been done to mitigate impact on indoor air quality during that process.

Green Sanctuary Committee Minutes Nov 9, 2016

Amy Glenn Wright — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 00:42:01 +0000

Green Sanctuary Committee Minutes October 4, 2016

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 04:32:55 +0000

The meeting was called to order at 7:20pm. Robert Duchemin, Jan Booher, Seyril Siegel and Linda Harmon were present.

Coffee and Chocolate Sales

We have raised $500 from sales of coffee and chocolate. These funds will be used to help replace the carpet in Osias Hall. Unsold inventory of coffee will be donated to UUFBR’s coffee hour. Sales have been on hiatus during the summer and will resume in November for the holiday season.

EPA Environmental Justice Project

The field work on this project is over, and the www.ReACTToolkit.net website is active, although more content will be added. The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact’s Climate Leadership Summit accepted a poster about our Rising Together project based on the abstract submitted. Although the conference was cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew, a PDF of the Rising Together Poster was created. The community meetings in both pilot projects went well, and Marjorie O’Sullivan (liaison from community partner DISC) spoke to the Boca Raton City Commission about the project, followed by Project Director Dr. Debra Weiss-Randall. They speak at 9:45min into the video available at this link. Reporting is being prepared now to finish the project.

Osias Carpet & Green Flooring Awareness Project

The Endowment Committee will not be providing matching funds for this project. Linda Harmon will create a schedule for purchasing carpet tiles. The pricing will cover materials, installation, recycling of the existing carpet, 3 years of warranty compliant maintenance, and the plaque acknowledging donors.

Robert Duchemin and Seyril Siegel will ask Donna Musial if she can help create a rendering of Osias with various of the carpet tile samples, and possibly a rendering that allows for squares on the rendering to have donors names entered in them.

Jan Booher ordered carpet tile samples to be sent to UUFBR.

The meeting was adjourned.