Oyster Harbor Citizens Association ~~~ Annapolis, Maryland ~~~ Committee Report: Green Oyster Harbor/Environment

Our Association

Committee Report: Green Oyster Harbor ~~ Our Environment

Oyster Harbor Green Committee Minutes
October 19, 2010, 7 p.m.

Members present: Norm, Laura, Jo, John, Becky, David, Kim

Two bat houses (Fishing Creek Park and Harbor lot) and one purple martin house (beach) will be purchased. David will take care of buying the houses. Laura suggested having educational signs to inform residents of the benefits of these critters. Once installed, we’ll order signs.

Twelve evergreen trees were successfully planted at Harbor lot and are doing well. Thank you to Becky, Bob, JrHwa, and Sean for planting.

Kim is looking into appropriate plants for planting in the new beach retention wall (going in on the right side) as well as enhancing the plantings in the existing planter wall. We’ll be inquiring about using Atlantic white cedars, which are native to Maryland. The inside of the fence will have more plantings along the fence to help retain some sand and a reflection bench placed on the right side with landscaping around it. Laura is checking on the reflection bench.

The “green” cleaning recipes are posted on the website under the “our environment” tab. Thank you, Elvia for getting this done.

We are planning to do some landscaping around the play area and picnic tables with grasses and shrubs. Kim is checking into this.

The play area celebration will be Saturday, October 23rd, 11-1.

We will be replacing two dead trees at Harbor lot with crepe myrtles. Becky is checking on prices and availability.

An estimate for tree trimming and vine cutting is being done for trees and vines growing into the power lines in several locations on community/county rights of way. Property owners will be contacted as a courtesy when we have the information about dates. David is getting an estimate from D&D Tree Service.

We will inquire about cutting and spraying the phragmites at Washington boat ramp.

An email blast will go out to residents about how to winterize their rain barrels.

We discussed future projects in general so that a budget estimate can be sent for the upcoming fiscal year.

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Oyster Harbor Green Committee Notes
June 9, 2010

Members present: John, David, Becky, Kim

We discussed putting up two bat houses to help minimize the mosquito population. We do have small brown bats in the area. The locations would be the community lot at Harbor Road and at Fishing Creek Park. They need to be in an open space raised 12-15 feet. Prices vary depending on the size of the house. John will contact DNR to try to find out where other bats are roosting in the area.

Becky will be getting some cleaning recipes together for the website. They will have 5 or less common household ingredients. This will be helpful in reducing chemicals in the home because the ingredients will be natural.

Laura will be working on the community “environmental needs” survey. This will be an on-line survey that residents can access. They will be able to give their input as to what they feel they need from our community to help with becoming more environmentally friendly.

Three out of the five trees that were planted on the community lot are growing. We will wait until next spring to decide the fate of the other two trees. They may have suffered some shock but are still green inside. This means they are still alive. If they don’t show signs of life next spring, they can be replaced.

Worth looking into: We thought we would look into getting a purple martin house for the beach area. Charlotte will be looking into this.
We talked about adding some information about recycling to the community welcome packet on the website. This would include the address and phone number of the recycling office and a link to what can be recycled. I will contact Elvia.

Next meeting: Tuesday, July 6 at 7 pm.

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June 2010 — The Oyster Harbor rain barrel campaign was a success! Thank you to all who purchased one (or two)! This will help to lessen some of the roof run-off and catch some sediment and chemicals that pollute our waterways. Many thanks to Norm MacLeod for coordinating this effort! If you need any assistance with connecting them or have any questions about your rain barrel, feel free to contact Norm MacLeod or Kim Boris. We would be glad to help! We will coordinate another opportunity to order rain barrels in the future.

Thank you for being more vigilant about recycling and brave about composting! Recycling and compost bins were ordered have been picked up by residents who ordered them. If you missed this round but still need one, please contact Kim Boris. Thank you to Robb Fish for picking them up from the county for us!

If you have tried your new composting bin, let us know how you’re doing. If you have a tip that you think would be useful for others, please send that along too. You can send your comments to be posted on the website to Kim Boris.

Five trees were acquired from the Department of Natural Resources for the community lot on Harbor Road. Thank you to Jo Burkholder for assisting us with planting them.

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Oyster Harbor Green Committee
Exciting New Initiatives Happening
Committee Chairperson: Kim Boris

Welcome to the new chairperson Kim Boris!

March 2010 - Mission Statement: To create a more environmentally friendly community by providing education and local resources to Oyster Harbor residents. This will include working with residents to enhance community and personal property by using the best practices available for but not restricted to:

recycling
composting
conserving energ
mitigating storm water run-off

Our committee is looking for motivated residents who are willing to devote some time to help enhance our community environment! If you are interested in participating in any aspect of this committee (helping to plan, public relations, helping to implement activities, etc.), please contact me via e-mail or phone. (410-280-0434 or boris.boris@verizon.net) Also coming soon…an opportunity for all residents to share what’s important to you about the environment, what’s working for you, and suggestions for a greener community. There will be a link for this survey soon.

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December 2009 – Kim Boris is the new Environmental Committee Chair. She is currently heading up the bioswale program that will help filter stormwater runoff into Fishing Creek. Read more about the project.

December 2008 – Not enough can be said to thank Dave LaChapelle, IanMacKinnon, Dr. Norm MacLeod and a few other volunteers who worked in some awful weather to make sure that the 100 bags of 300,000 oyster spat have cages.

See the Environement section of the website for a description of the oyster project and more about our hope that they will grow up and help filter the water and enhance the water quality of Oyster Creek.

You will see many of the cages hanging under the Washington Drive marina pier and the boat ramp pier.