Dear Neighbors,

Below please find a summary report of activities from the Chair of the JSTG's WCU Sustainability Coordinator, Tim Lutz.  The JSTG is off to a great start and in six short months has taken some signif icantsteps in identifying and taking action that will enhance the sustainability of our entire community.

Many thanks to the members of this important Town/Gown group for their commitment and valuable contributions. 

Best,
Carolyn

Carolyn T. Comitta, Mayor
Borough of West Chester

Membership: Dr. Denise Polk, Peter Galloway, and myself for the University; Dianne Herrin, Courtney Finneran, and Susan Frens for the Borough.
Student members: Katie Kresge, Jenn Unangst

The guiding principle of this group is that we should research and engage in actions that will enhance the sustainability of the entire community consisting of those who live and work at West Chester University and in West Chester Borough.

Our membership has substantial overlap with Borough Council’s ad hoc committee, Borough Leaders United for Emissions Reduction (BLUER), and this provided some initial opportunities.  In our first months we helped guide and support a BLUER project called Total Energy Efficiency Makeover (TEEM), which is oriented toward achieving energy efficiency in off-campus student apartments via cooperation of  landlords, students, and BLUER.  A letter to landlords over the signatures of Mayor Comitta and President Weisenstein was used to attract landlord support.  Our efforts began too late to work with student tenants in fall but Zukin Realty has recently agreed to cooperate with us on several apartment buildings within the Borough.  In addition, we provided feedback for the County’s Director of Transportation Services on a proposal for a PennDOT grant to develop a bicycle and pedestrian plan for central Chester County.

With the help of Senator Dinniman’s staff, JSTG researched the feasibility of reviving the former R3 rail line from West Chester to Philadelphia.  We’ve also talked with the County to develop priorities for enhanced bus transportation to link West Chester to rail either at Exton or at Wawa (after extension of the R3 from Elwyn).

Currently, JSTG is planning how to perform integrated community sustainability planning (ICSP).  We began by inviting a planner from the Brandywine Conservancy to tell us about their sustainability assessment methods.  We are now investigating ICSP based on the large literature from Canadian provinces, where ICSP is mandated.  We are seeking to interconnect an ICSP approach with AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) that WCU is engaged in.

Please let me know if you need more or different information about the Group.

Tim Lutz
Professor of Geology &
WCU Sustainability Coordinator