On Feb. 20, the Chelsea Downtown Development Authority elected officers for the year.
Tim Merkle was re-elected as the chairman, Jennifer Fairfield as the vice chairman, Kathy Finger as treasurer and Bill O’Reilly as secretary.
In addition, the board voted to purchase two umbrellas to provide more shade at Palmer Commons.
Tom Girard from the city’s sustainability committee gave the board an overview presentation focusing on what ideas/steps the DDA could think about taking in the downtown.
Among the suggestions were holding a green fair to help educate folks about sustainability ideas and practices, add three-compartment waste-recycling-compost bins in conjunction with a program to educate folks about the effort. Community solar, additional tree canopies and combining resources with community organizations such as the Zero Waste Coalition, Transition Town Chelsea, Chelsea Festivals and Events, the farmers market and others were suggested.
Girard also talked about green building strategies, pervious pavement in the parking areas, storm management and water storage such as rain gardens and rain barrels, bike racks, and electric vehicle charging stations as well as wind and solar energy ideas.
He suggested adaptive reuse of buildings and HVAC transitions from fossil fuels to cleaner energy, transportation options, and the elimination of plastic bags.
At the end of the meeting, Monica Monsma, departing executive director of the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce, introduced Terris Ahrens as the new director.
First thing, we need to get rid of the orange trash bags!!