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Sustainable Jersey Certification Report

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This is the Sustainable Jersey Certification Report of Hamilton Twp, a Sustainable Jersey bronze certified applicant.

Hamilton Twp was certified on October 07, 2022 with 190 points. Listed below is information regarding Hamilton Twp’s Sustainable Jersey efforts and materials associated with the applicant’s certified actions.

Contact Information

The designated Sustainable Jersey contact for Hamilton Twp is:

Name:LuAnne McCardell
Title/Position:Clean Communities Coordinator / Public Works Department
Address:6101 Thirteenth Street
Mays Landing, New Jersey 08330
Phone:6096256311

Actions Implemented

Each approved action and supporting documentation for which Hamilton Twp was approved for in 2022 appears below. Note: Standards for the actions below may have changed and the documentation listed may no longer satisfy requirements for that action.

  • Arts & Creative Culture

    Establish a Creative Team

    10 Points

    Program Summary: It was suggested in early February 2022 that a Creative Team be established. (Agenda of work meeting attached) There have been 3 meetings since the inception (minutes are attached) and subsequent meetings are scheduled (the 2nd Wednesday of the month) and the location is secured. The meetings have consisted of 2 educators, the Hamilton Township Economic Community Development Director, a business owner in the township, 2 artists, 1 journalist, and two Green Team members. Suzanne Marx, a Green Team member, is organizing the meeting dates, communicates with the members, and writes the minutes. Attendees have been excited and after recognizing many public areas throughout our large township, ideas have flowed. The geographic area encompasses the entire Township of Hamilton, the largest township in New Jersey. (111 square miles) There are 16 unique areas and all are included in our reflections. There is a push for representation from all the areas concerned. A proposal is being written to secure monies to enhance the downtown area of Mays Landing where two state roads intersect and many public events are held. This is the first of many future endeavors by the Creative Team. Creative Team Structure Township of Hamilton 1) Members a. Township Community Economic Director – Erin Crean b. Local Artists – Matt Hunsberger and Gina Furnari c. Green Team member – Suzanne Marx d. Business leader – Cheryl Caliri (owner of Earth Angels Center for Healing) e. Educational community – Vic & Helen Hudson, Educators in the Township f. Community members – Cindy Myers, Tina Fetty, Dylan Branca, Stacie Miller 2) Organizational Structure – Sub-committee of the Sustainable Township of Hamilton Green Team 3) Geographic responsibility – Township of Hamilton; comprised of 16 villages encompassing 112.94 Square miles

  • Community Partnership & Outreach

    Green Team

    10 Points
    Bronze Required Silver Required

    Program Summary: We are pleased that our Green team is still active and engaged! We have several new members and are focusing on some specific areas that our members are passionate about, including Green Infrastructure, Bicycling And Pedestrian Safety, Community Outreach, Community Cleanups, proper Recycling And Elimination Of Single-Use Plastics. We continue to table at community events and are working on increasing our outreach programs to more and more residents. We are still responsible for plastic film collection at county buildings (TREX PROGRAM) within the township and are planning a new Green Fair each year. We have also begun to implement strategies to green the green fair. We continue to partner with clean communities to collect electronic waste, rigid plastic waste, and Bulk Paper for the residents of our town to have shredded. In 2021 we completed a Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan using grant money we had received in 2020. We completed a bicycling and pedestrian audit and implemented some of the recommendations. We continue to meet monthly, we have made a significant impact on our municipality through many actions we have completed, many of which are posted on the Green team page of our municipal website. https://www.townshipofhamilton.com/boards/green-team?_se=c3VzdGFpbmFibGUuaGFtaWx0b24uZ3JlZW50ZWFtQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ%3D%3D) Our meeting schedule and updates and information for the community is here: https://www.townshipofhamilton.com/boards/green-team You can access our minutes and agendas at this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B1sLgC8MybWPN0FhVlV0eTRsUTA?resourcekey=0-eOt01IVr8kYl1fTEmY9gCQ&usp=sharing Our updated Green Team resolutions from 2021 and 2022 are attached. The last revision of our resolution is here: https://ecode360.com/documents/HA0315/public/596366123.pdf We are proud of our accomplishments!

    Community Education & Outreach

    15 Points

    Program Summary: The Green Team continues to participate in a variety of activities, which helps to raise our profile in the community. We continue to hold road clean-ups and staffed a Green Team table at several township-wide events in 2021, including Dickens of a Holiday, Art in the Park, and the Fall Festival. At these events, we offered info and educational materials on a wide variety of sustainability issues and often had giveaways including plants, reusable bags, and other items. Suzanne Marx did a talk on a Road cleanup on Harbor Avenue in October 2021 to the Atlantic County Library Foundation. The checklist is below. The Green Team has also been given a page on the Township's webpage. There is a multitude of information there regarding many of the activities that the Green Team has been involved with. We work to keep the page up to date thanks to the support of LuAnne McCardell who is the Township Employee who supports the Green Team. The website is updated as soon as the IT department is able. LuAnne McCardell, our Clean Community Coordinator and Green Team Liason asks for the info to be removed or added. We have also asked for different hyperlinked boxes to make our page more readable. Because of Township Regulations, we have to have a webpage only on the Township Page. The link for our website is here: https://www.townshipofhamilton.com/boards/green-team Links to our newsletters that are sent out via email to the community are below. Lena's newsletters from August 2021 through May 2022 are attached. https://6r067.r.ah.d.sendibm4.com/mk/mr/nR24DPbdwVUaGczbNiRgyKKzioyV4yjzJHIbPIICcHV0Bg8jy0QbAwa_zRktbOiXI9QTJ1Xg0VFBJnTSZlr4Os74H_WATPnOaryvVcOl7QkGGAEq_fhEJ1_Mw8ePB0KMhh8

    Green Challenges

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Green Team continued promoting sustainability through our pledge that we started at our 2021 Green Fair. We used this pledge at several other events in 2021 and 2022 which included tabling events such as the Hometown Celebration, Dickens of a Holiday, Art in the Park, Fall Shredding event, etc. We received pledges from 2.5% of the households in our community, and new pledges from more than 1% of the population within the past 18 months. We continue to work to educate residents on the importance of using reusable bags, and we gave reusable bags out at all of our events to families who signed our pledge. We advertised these events on our own website, on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Sustainable.Township.of.Hamilton/, in our newsletter, and in local news outlets. We are pleased that we have exceeded the new pledge 1% goal and excited about how these actions will help publicize our green team while educating our residents on how we can become more sustainable one step at a time. Pledges are on file with the Township. We also have been fortunate to have access to funding from Clean Communities to offer free reusable bags to Township Residents. In the past year and a half, we have given away approximately 400-500 bags.

    Green Fair

    10 Points

    Program Summary: Our Green team held our annual green fair, Save the Earth Expo, on April 17, 2021. We partnered with Oakcrest High School along with New Jersey Clean Communities. The outdoor, family-friendly expo’s mission was to educate and encourage others to live a more sustainable lifestyle. There were 50+ local, green vendors and exhibitors; seafood and plant-based food sales; demos on reducing your carbon footprint; recycling e-waste, rigid plastics, sneakers, and crayons; personal document shredding; live performances; and more. The local media and town hall officials offered support for the event as well. “We are thrilled to co-host these eco-friendly, community-based events. With spring arriving, it is important to get outside to participate in local events again, safely. The Save the Earth Expo and Community Clean-up not only offer educational, family fun but can instill lifelong green habits as well,” stated Mayor Charles Cain. This organization would not have been successful if we didn’t have the support of LuAnne McCardell who is our Clean Communities Coordinator. Because of them, we were able to have great give away’s and the staff support from Public Works. Our Vendor list is attached and included municipal, county, and community organizations such as the Municipal Alliance Committee and the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) We had several more organizations who had originally signed up but couldn't make it due to COVID restrictions within their organization.

  • Emergency Management

    Firewise Community

    10 Points

    Program Summary: There are two active Firewise communities in Hamilton Twp Atlantic County. Attached are their certificates, which retain their “Good Standing” in Firewise through 2022. Both communities have Resident Leaders that receive wildfire prevention and education updates from Firewise USA and the New Jersey Forest Fire Service: Paul Doran, Resident Leader, Horizons Woods Landing and Paul LaRoche, www.victoriacrossing.net Horizons at Woods Landing and Victoria Crossings are planned residential developments with their own HOA. All are either single-family homes or townhomes. These communities host events for their residents with presentations from the local representatives of our volunteer fire companies as well as representatives from the NJ Forest Fire Service. At least two communities have received grants of $5000 or more to promote Firewise activities in their community. In addition, community leaders have engaged in commentary and discussion with the NJ Pinelands Commission over regulations that might impact their efforts to maintain firebreaks in their community in accordance with their community protection plans. Participants have been invited to do tabling events with our Green Team and we have invited them to participate at our Green Fair in May 2022. Unfortunately, neither group attended that event.

  • Energy

    Energy Tracking & Management

    20 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: With much-needed assistance from Hogan Dwyer, Research and Project Specialist, Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey, and LuAnne McCardell who is our Clean Communities Coordinator with the Township, the Township of Hamilton established an energy tracking & management system in 2021. Establishing this system involved taking energy usage/billing data provided by Atlantic City Electric (ACE) & South Jersey Gas and inputting it into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM). This system will help the municipality understand energy usage better, and will create a baseline to calculate estimated savings. Understanding energy usage will guide making upgrades that will save the community energy and money. This ET&M system does not improve the performance of the building itself, but it documents the portfolio’s energy usage history and creates a rigorous foundation for all energy project planning. Being informed about our municipality’s actual energy consumption allows decision-makers to establish a baseline for identifying improvement opportunities, making investment plans, and tracking progress. We've attached the municipal building portfolio and 12 months of energy usage data. LuAnn McCardell will continue the ongoing tracking process. Finance, who receives the bills, will scan them and send them to Ms. McCardell for inputting. We have also uploaded an ESPM Statement of Energy Performance for each building in the inventory, which is a building's energy use and a comparison to the average of similar buildings using national medians. The first step to saving energy at our Municipalities’ buildings is to benchmark — that is, to measure and compare our building’s energy to similar buildings, past consumption, or a reference performance level. Benchmarking turns the information on our utility bills into knowledge we can act on. Our Township has the potential to save 100’s of Thousands of dollars in the future with upgrades and there are grants available to help. This tracking and benchmarking is a very important first step, and we’re pleased that we were able to accomplish this.

    Fleet Inventory

    10 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: We are thankful that we had the assistance of student Carly Shepherd, Sustainable Public Service Montclair State University, through a grant from PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies, to complete the Fleet Inventory spreadsheet for us. She also completed the required one-page narrative, as requested by Sustainable Jersey. In Ms. Shepherd's Montclair State poster session entitled "Sustainable Jersey Initiative - Hamilton Fleet Inventory Analysis", She stated: "In the face of global climate change, carbon emissions have become increasingly apparent in the culture of sustainability and eco-consciousness. Carbon emissions continue to be one of the leading causes of climate change, global warming, environmental destruction, and ecosystem degradation throughout the world. Vehicle emissions are the largest contributors to these levels of carbon in the atmosphere, which has prompted investment into the electric vehicle industry in recent years. Industry-leading countries throughout the world have been pioneering widespread vehicle electrification in an attempt to limit some of these carbon emissions, while some smaller societies and municipalities have fallen behind. At the municipal level, fleet inventories continue to be some of the most important tools to aid in vehicle electrification. These procedures can help municipalities recognize potential shortcomings in their vehicle fleets, emphasize the detriments of internal-combustion engines, and provide insight into the best path toward electrification into the future. Through external research, internal data collection, and extensive statistical analysis, electric vehicle recommendations were made for the municipality of Hamilton, NJ, based on emission projections and cost analyses." We are hopeful that this inventory will be a first step toward making meaningful sustainable cost-saving changes for our township's fleet. This is another example of how our Green Team is a valuable resource for the Township in terms of being able to find opportunities through Sustainable Jersey that does not cost the township money to get these important actions implemented.

  • Health & Wellness

    Smoke-Free and Tobacco-Free Public Places

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Township banned smoking at recreation areas back in 2003. Public Buildigns were subsequently added to the ordinance in 2011. The 'No Smoking' ordinance can be found here: http://www.ecode360.com/10226468 on the Township's web site. We have also attached pictures of the signs as they appear posted in our parks as well as a memo to the staff specifically about the areas around our public buildings. In addition the Township is named on the "Global Advisors Smokefree Policy" web site as well as in the Cape Atlantic Coalition for Health's Smoke-Free Toolkit. In addition, the Township was noted in a newspaper article about towns banning smoking all over Atlantic County. We feel residents have become educated through these efforts and that our recreation areas and pubic buildings have become more pleasant for ALL residents. We also feel this has promoted an awareness of health not only for the public but among the employees at our public buildings. Wellness is an important factor to consider when managing employees and banning smoking at these buildings has an impact.

  • Land Use & Transportation

    Bicycle & Pedestrian Audits

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The bike and pedestrian audit process started in July 2020 and was completed in May 2021, with assistance from Cross County Connection Transportation Management Association. We are indebted to Community members who filled out the survey or participated in the audit, as well as Municipal, county, and state representatives that attended the audit presentation meeting. This report wouldn't have been completed without the leadership of Lena Nguyen, who is an important Green Team member and a "Bachelor of Science - Civil Engineering Candidate" at the University of Virginia. There was a preliminary data review to choose the location of the in-person audit, an online survey was sent to residents to gain insight into people's perceptions and needs of walking/biking in the Township, and a walking audit was conducted in downtown Mays Landing, and results were presented to Township, County, and State transportation officials. Our amazing volunteer, Lena Nguyen, summarized these results and findings and wrote a report. Cross County Connection, (the TMA for South Jersey) Patrick Farley and his team provided excellent assistance in all steps of the process, from data collection/analysis to providing sample surveys/reports to leading the in-person audit. The results of the audit kick-started some needed ADA intersection and sidewalk improvements, as well as helped in part to start a conversation with the County to add traffic calming features to Main St. The Deputy Mayor Carl Pitale was a big supporter of this initiative; he came to the in-person audit, was at the virtual presentation of results, and spearheaded efforts to implement the aforementioned changes.

    Green Infrastructure Planning

    20 Points

    Program Summary: We were fortunate to receive a grant for $10,000 from Sustainable Jersey and ATLANTIC CITY ELECTRIC in 2019. We subcontracted with The Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Water Resources Program to do Green Infrastructure Planning. RCE matched funding with $5,000 from other grants to complete these plans. RCE prepared an impervious cover assessment (ICA) that quantified the impervious cover in the Township and the volume of stormwater runoff associated with these impervious surfaces. They also prepared a green infrastructure action plan (Action Plan) to identify sites where green stormwater infrastructure can be installed to help reduce flooding and improve the quality of the waterways in the municipality. The action plan will help our municipality set short-term goals for installing green infrastructure to manage stormwater runoff from existing impervious surfaces. The third document that was prepared for Hamilton Township is a green infrastructure strategic plan (Strategic Plan). This will help the municipality set long-term goals for managing stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces and examine local ordinances to identify opportunities to incorporate green infrastructure options to better manage stormwater runoff. Professor Obropta also made a great presentation to the public and to the Township Committee summarizing the work that he did. We are extremely grateful to have had this opportunity to have this important work completed for the Township. The information has been included in the recent updated Master Plan and it is our hope that it will be beneficial in the long term as we continue to work to mitigate climate related events - Green Infrastructure can help! Green Infrastructure Action Plan Web Map: http://water.rutgers.edu/Projects/HamiltonTwp-AtlanticCo/HamiltonTwp_AtlanticCounty/index.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN2Nr4k3sNI&t=1785s (09/20/2021 - Township of Hamilton Committee Meeting where Dr. Obropta presented his results of the work he performed for the Township.)

  • Waste Management

    Prescription Drug Safety & Disposal

    10 Points
    Bronze Priority Silver Priority

    Program Summary: A permanent drop box for disposing of unused, unwanted and expired prescription medications is now available 24/7 at Township Hall in Township of Hamilton, Atlantic County. Chief of Police Greg Ciambrone worked with a community outreach organization – Join Together Atlantic County (JTAC) - in order to provide resources that assist in reducing the misuse and toxic disposal of prescription medications. The drug drop box was available as of January 2021. It is in the lobby of town hall outside of the police station. It is secure monitored and available 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year. Since it’s inception over 100 lbs. of drugs have been collected. The drugs are then incinerated by the Police Department using property destruction procedures. The drug drop box availability is advertised on NIXLE as well as the Township of Hamilton and the Police Department websites. The link for this is at: https://www.townshipofhamilton.com/boards/green-team A file is included that has been featured on "What's Happening in Mays Landing", a Facebook link. Letters have been presented to 4 local pharmacies (Acme, Wal-Mart, Simcare and CVS) requesting that information about the drop box be available to their customers. This is part of the American Medicine Chest Program. More information can be found here. http://www.americanmedicinechest.com/

    Community Paper Shredding Day

    5 Points

    Program Summary: The Township of Hamilton holds at least one community paper-shredding event annually. It is done every year at the spring Earth Day/ Green Fair and then again in the fall. In 2021 shredding days were on April 17th and on October 9th. We advertised widely through social media using the attached flier and we sent out press releases also attached. We collected 1.92 Tons of paper and had approximately 90 participants. Tonnage shredded has been provided below. Flyers that include info on shredding are under the Green Fair Action. https://pressofatlanticcity.com/news/local/hamilton-green-team-cleans-up-preserve-collects-trash/article_7e29dac4-ad36-11ec-97fa-dbf799976270.html

    Construction & Demolition Waste Recycling

    10 Points

    Program Summary: The Township of Hamilton has had a C&D recycling ordinance since the mid-1990s. It has definitely helped builders save money and the Township to avoid illegal dumping by documenting legal disposal of construction waste. The attached O&D form is filled out for all building permit applications in the Township. The contractor does not receive a CO until they provide disposal receipts for both solid waste and recycling. Update 10/2018 This ordinance is still in effect: 258-22 Construction sites. [Amended 6-3-1991 by Ord. No. 1075-91] https://ecode360.com/10226844 Here is the link for the O&D form: https://www.ecode360.com/documents/HA0315/public/153292190.pdf we have requested examples of forms submitted by contractors....

    Non-Mandated Materials Recycling

    10 Points

    Program Summary: We are so proud to be involved with this TREX Initiative! It has allowed us to make a huge difference by recycling shrink wrap items and having them made into a usable product. We have completed another (2) 6-month programs with Trex Recycling in 2021 and have continued to collect in 2022. With Trex support we have installed collection bins and informational posters in our community at 6 locations in Mays Landing; Public Words building, Township Hall, Municipal Court Complex in the Historic County Courthouse, the Clerk's Office in the Historic County Courthouse, the Fellowship Hall at the Presbyterian Church and the Atlantic County Library-Mays Landing Branch and used them at events. In addition to the above locations, we have collected shrink wrap at most of our "tabling" events. The Trex program is vital because it includes forms of plastic films that would otherwise be landfilled as trash. Each enrollment period requires the collection of at least 500 lbs. of items such as shrink-wrap, plastic bags, bubble wrap, and more. Our members gather these and they are taken to our local Acme market which accepts these items. We kept more than 1000 lbs out of the landfill in 2021. And so far in 2022, we have collected 182 lbs. Trex rewards our efforts with benches, which we install in our township. It’s an extraordinary group effort. One of our members, Zach, created a Halloween parade float using the Trex support materials in 2021. We are proud to continue to educate the public in Reducing the Use and Recycling of all plastic materials thus ensuring a better environment for our community. https://recycle.trex.com/view/programs Audrey and Sue did a talk on Trex to the township committee which was well received. https://youtu.be/xL1DS1bBU5A Audrey recently has been working with a local landscaper and taking all of his mulch bags, cleaning them, and including them in their collections. Bless her initiative! In 2022, our most supportive Committeeman, Rodney Guishard was not reelected. Members of the Hamilton Township Green Team dedicate a bench made of recycled plastic to him. (From the TREX Program) https://pressofatlanticcity.com/community/currents_gazettes/hamilton_township/hamilton-township-committee-honors-councilman-rodney-guishard/article_ca0b7a48-6271-11ec-9cd0-63328be9556c.html

    Waste Audit of Municipal Buildings or Schools

    10 Points

    Program Summary: Ingrid Perez our Green Team Liason as well as Audrey Polumbo, green team member participated in the William Davies Middle School Waste Audit on April 5, 2019.