Tree Adopters Wanted for Climate Smart Port Jervis
A Climate Smart Community Task Force resolution was approved by Port Jervis Common Council on Monday. Its actual creation will take time, according to Valerie Maginsky, Port Jervis Community Development Agency executive director.
“Outlines are in process,” she said. “Volunteers will be needed. I don’t have a specific timeframe, but typically, the task force is developed over a few months.”
However, the foundation is already being laid by people who have been working in that direction for a while. In the audience at the council meeting was one of those people, Jeremy Shannon, of Deerpark, who recently initiated the Carbon Positive Port Jervis 2026 project. If successful, Port Jervis will produce more energy than it takes from the grid by 2026.
The task force, he expects, will do “longterm planning and short term strategizing for our Carbon Positive Future.”
Meanwhile, Shannon is collaborating with and amplifying the Adopt-a-Tree project begun by Jim Blanton, whose goal was to plant 100 trees, which was accomplished in 2014. Their goal is now 1000 trees, and they seek tree adopters, Shannon said. Having enough people signed up to have a tree planted in their yard would help with applying for grant funding.
“We need people who have a tree bed with the right soil,” Shannon said. “It’s amazing what planting trees does to property values and people’s feelings about their yards. People can let us know on the Carbon Positive Facebook page that they are interested.”
Those interested can also fund the planting of a tree somewhere other than their yard. Jim Blanton chimed in later.
“Until there is a website of some sort, anyone interested in the Tree Commission or in citywide composting should contact me at 845-662-1453,” he said.
A sign-up sheet will also be available at a booth at the Port Jervis Fall Festival.
Meanwhile, Shannon has convinced a biofuel company to do free biofuel conversions of 10 city diesel-fueled garbage trucks and plows as a model city program.
“Conversion is a half-day job. By the end of the year, 10 trucks will be converted,” said Shannon. “We can use that accomplishment to apply for a federal grant to convert the other seven city vehicles and 90 school buses.”
To sign up to adopt a tree, call Jim Blanton at 845-662-1453.