Greener days in the forecast for Montclair: Lautenberg vows to fight for ‘sustainable’ funding by Jeff Harrell                Wednesday, April 30, 2003  -- The Montclair Times A slip of the tongue was nearly Freudian for Montclair Mayor Robert Russo before U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg helped the township kick off its “Sustainable Montclair” environmental initiative during a ceremony Monday in Council Chambers. “It means doing less with more…” Russo said as he checked himself over sporadic giggles. “It means doing more with less,” the mayor continued. “Less consumption is better. Small is beautiful. And we’re doing things to move in that direction.” The “more,” as Russo put it, is outlined in a comprehensive package of studies, policies and programs aimed toward the township’s municipal level that took two years for the Montclair Environmental Commission to compile. Titled “Sustainable Montclair Planning Guide,” the commission’s goal is for Montclair to be a better, more cost-effective place to live. First on the list of sustainability objectives outlined in the Planning Guide is an energy audit. Commission members estimate that the township currently spends $1.3 million annually to operate its energy systems. With the help of an energy audit, the commission’s goal is to reduce the township’s energy costs by 20 percent. The Planning Guide also recommends that the township switch from gas-costly sports utilities vehicles to electric/hybrid vehicles or vehicles that run on alternative fuels. Residents will be urged to purchase recycled products. Pesticides management could be integrated into the schools and on playing fields. A bicycle lane is planned through the township, as is the installation of covered bicycle storage sheds at train stations. A township inventory of brownfields — contaminated sites earmarked for cleanup and redevelopment to make the site usable and possibly tax-ratable — is also on the Planning Guide’s list of recommendations. As well, a “Play as you Throw (PAYT)” municipal solid waste billing system is suggested. Under a PAYT system, collection and disposal of solid waste could either be part of a bundle of municipal services or municipal solid waste costs could be separately billed, similar to gas, water and electric billing. Residents, households and businesses under PAYT would also be sent notices recommending ways to reduce unnecessary consumption. “We expect there will be more quality-of-life benefits here in town,” said James Sherman, chairman of the Environmental Commission. “That’s really the bottom, bottom line.” But it was former Montclair resident Lautenberg, the featured speaker during Monday’s ceremony, who laid out the bottom line of what “less” means during times of steep budget deficits on the local, state and national levels. “There are setbacks to expanding [environmental] programs just to have them funded properly,” said Lautenberg, who has authored state brownfields legislation. “The [federal] Superfund is about to run out of money. “What we can do on the national level is we can fight to make sure funds are available for programs to ensure sustainability,” Lautenberg said. “We’ve proved that these programs can work.” The entire Montclair Township Council attended the ceremony Monday, as did state Sen. Nia Gill, members of the Environmental Commission including Co-Chairmen Sam Pinkard and Merwin Kinkade, Montclair Environmental Outreach Coordinator Gray Russell, and longtime Montclair resident and environmental activist Jean Clark. Recalling a bumper sticker “I used to have that said: ‘Live simply so others can simply live,’” Gill acknowledged, “We’ve kind of gotten away from that.” The state senator also noted that while the state has supported such environmental causes as “The Clean Car Initiative” and restored the “Clean and Green Money” program to fund recycling, other environmental programs have suffered or been cut altogether as a result of the state’s $5 billion deficit. “Everything’s tough,” Gill said. “We have to prioritize better.” To Clark, a lifelong Montclair resident who had an activist’s hand in the township’s first recycling efforts in 1971, the “Sustainable Montclair” program is a welcome addition to the local environment. “When we first started to do recycling in 1971, it was after Earth Day, we saw pictures from space of the Earth, and [recycling] was one of the things that everybody could do from our own homes,” Clark said. “We didn’t have to wait for the government to push things through. We just did it.” Lautenberg paid tribute to local environmental activists such as Clark and Pinkard, Montclair’s link to the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s cleanup of a radon-contaminated area on Montclair’s South End. It was Pinkard who, during the 1980s, enlisted the senator’s help in securing federal money to help pay for the EPA cleanup. “Montclair is a great, great community… because of people who get involved,” Lautenberg said. The senator also acknowledged Montclair as the first township in the state and the country to pass a resolution making environmental sustainability township policy. “It’s about life,” Lautenberg said of the Sustainable Montclair program. “It’s about the future. It’s about setting an example for the state and the rest of the nation. “This effort will continue to make it a wonderful community.” article: Copyright © 2003 Montclair Times