Radnor Township Environmental Advisory Council Meeting Summary - December 17, 2025
Radnor Township Environmental Advisory Council Meeting Summary - December 17, 2025
The Radnor Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) met on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Radnorshire Room. The meeting covered a range of environmental topics including road salt contamination, gas leaf blower bans, community education, and native plant initiatives. Members approved the previous meeting's minutes, welcomed new members, and discussed ongoing projects and upcoming events.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the November 19, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Diana Pope (Windomir Avenue): Reported on an EPA grant awarded to Delaware County ($4,998,070) for a transfer station reimagined, composting, and expanded recycling services project. She suggested the EAC follow up with the Delaware County Office of Sustainability to understand specifics and potential partnership opportunities.
- Diana Pope (continued): Shared a New York Times article about solar panels in Jamaica providing critical power after a hurricane. She advocated for engineering residential solar systems to allow homeowners to access their own power during grid outages, rather than feeding solely into the utility grid.
Discussion Items
- Road Salt Contamination: Dan reported on conversations with Ricky (Public Works) about salt application practices. The department applies salt 5–25 times per winter based on safety needs, without precise per-mile measurements. EAC members discussed alternatives such as brine, citing successful use by Haverford and Marple Townships for two decades. Melissa contacted neighboring EACs: Lower Merion had considered brine but found it not feasible; Marple and Haverford partnered and recommend brine. The EAC plans to follow up with Marple Township Manager Larry Gentile to gather cost and infrastructure details. Stroud Water Research Center will be invited for a February lecture on salt contamination.
- Gas Leaf Blower Ban: The EAC discussed advancing a gas leaf blower ban in Radnor. Lower Merion recently passed a ban (summer ban initially, full ban in 2–3 years). The Radnor Board of Health expressed 100% support for health reasons. Sven will draft a community survey on gas leaf blowers, building on a previous questionnaire. A slide deck will be prepared for presentation to the Board of Commissioners. The EAC also plans to collaborate with Lower Merion for a January 2026 Zoom case study.
- Public Education & Lecture Series:
- January 21, 2026 (7:00 PM): Steve Shreiner (Shreiner Tree Care) will speak on beech leaf disease. The EAC decided to hold the meeting at Radnor Memorial Library (Windsor Room) as a hybrid event, pending confirmation of venue availability for the EAC meeting itself.
- April 28, 2026 (6:00 PM): Mike Weilbacher will present “The Buzz About Bees – Pollinators in Peril.”
- New Speaker Proposals: Bess is working with Eva Monheim (horticulturist) and Sarah Wiener Cooper/Larry Wiener (from New Directions in the American Landscape) for additional spring talks on native plants and lawn-to-meadow transitions. The EAC will seek co-sponsorship from Radnor Conservancy and Garden Club of Wayne.
- Community Survey: The EAC discussed a survey to gauge resident interest in topics like EV charging, tree management, and gas leaf blowers. The survey will be refined and issued in spring 2026.
- Seed Library and Garden Clubs: The EAC provided a second grant to Radnor Memorial Library’s seed library. Plans to support garden clubs at elementary schools (e.g., Radnor Elementary sensory garden) will continue in 2026, pending budget.
- Budget Status: The EAC’s 2025 budget is nearly spent: total expenses of $6,617.65 against an allocation of $7,246.50, leaving a balance of $628.85. The proposed 2026 budget is $15,000, pending Board of Commissioner approval.
- State and Regional Updates: State Representative Lisa Borowski reported no new funding for SEPTA and the removal of RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) from the 2026 state budget. The EAC will help advocate for public transit and clean air.
Key Outcomes
- New Members: Welcomed new members Bill Gelles and Anjana Vidyadhara, effective January 2026.
- Road Salt Mitigation: Dan will contact Larry Gentile (Marple Township) to learn about brine implementation. The EAC will seek a meeting with Radnor Public Works to discuss alternatives.
- Gas Leaf Blower Ban: Sven will draft a survey; Dan will prepare a slide deck for the Board of Commissioners, incorporating input from the Board of Health.
- Lecture Series: Confirmed January 21 and April 28 dates. Bess will coordinate with proposers for additional monthly talks. Carol will confirm Windsor Room availability for the January meeting.
- Budget: The EAC will monitor the 2026 budget approval. Unspent 2025 funds ($628.85) may be used for an end-of-year honorarium if possible.
- Community Survey: Sven will circulate a draft survey on gas leaf blowers for EAC review.
- Stream Sampling: The EAC will participate in the Stroud January 2026 salt snapshot, sampling the same locations as October 2025. Dan will coordinate with Lauren McGrath and schedule John Jackson from Stroud for a February lecture.
Meeting Transcript
18th Radner Township Environmental Advisory Council. And we first of order business is for the members attending to approve or comment on the minutes from November 19th. No comments. All those in favor raise their hands. Okay. Good. And I had an okay. And public comment now, Diana, you just sat down. I know you can get up again. I I'd like you to speak to this, please. Okay. You're the most familiar with it because I'm not Diana Pope and Windomir Avenue. So we got a notice, I think, through the League of Women Voters. Is your mic on? EPA. I wouldn't know how to turn it. Okay. Okay. That's all right. Go ahead. And it it just relates to some grants that came from the EPA, so they are funding quite a few states with very specific projects. But the reason I'm talking about is because Delaware County is one of the places that received funding. So the County of Delaware PA was selected to receive $4,998,000 and $70 for their transfer stations reimagined, composting and expanded recycling services project, which aims to build accessible recycling capacity, reduce pollution, increasing diversion, and improve localized air quality throughout the county's communities. So beyond that, I don't have any details, but it's something we can be following for sure. And whether we have any input, I don't know. The way grants usually work is you've already determined what it is you plan to do, but perhaps we can be partners in one way or another as a township in uh supporting the county and its efforts. Yes, uh I think we we need to understand what the recycling process is down at that transfer station in terms of uh segregation of different types of recyclables and what is disposed of and uh then as best they can tell us where do each of these recyclables go and what is their fate and how this can be improved using the grant. I think so. Because someone wrote the grant, it's probably the Office of Sustainability or whether it's an office or not, I'm not sure, and we could just ask them because I'm sure there's specifics in that related to the grant. I'll I'll contact uh Delco Office of Sustainability. Thank you. So there's one other thing while I'm up here. It's something I've raised in the past, and you did follow up with the township uh who felt that we did things just fine in preparation for disaster. There was an interesting piece in the New York Times in November after they suffered a devastating uh hurricane. And it it says after Jamaica's disastrous storm, solar power is a bright spot. So it turns out those people that had solar panels on their houses, some people actually even removed them during the storm and replaced them. They became wonderful immediate sources of power for all the people around them. That was vital. So um these were private homes. Private homes. And in what town again? This is in Jamaica. Jamaica. The country. And and so I'm just saying it again to reiterate the point that the way things stand in our community and most of the country. If you have solar panels, you feed your power directly into your local power company. You don't necessarily have access to that power yourself. And that if it were engineered in a way that you could, even though we don't imagine disasters. In fact, it's a great way to provide more security in neighborhoods. How many people can get to the municipal center if there really is dramatic flooding or who knows what?
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