University Environment Committee
Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Administration Building - VP Conference Room 2nd Floor
1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Attending: Chair; John Murray Vice-Chair; Paul Siegel, Recording Secretary; Nick Koridis: John Robinson, Paula Di Pasquale-Alverez, Gary Mar, Teri Tiso, Regina Lento and Alexandra Santiago

Excused: Darren Chase, and, Eric Lamberg, John Shandra, and Dimitri Tsybychev

Staff: John Sparano and James O’Connor

Guests: Gary Kaczmarczyk; Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety and Barbara Chernow; Senior Vice President of Administration

Meeting called to order: 1:35

Introductions – Agenda and sign-in sheet passed around.

Review of the Minutes – Motion to approve the minutes, Paul Siegel and 2nd by John Robinson

Traffic Issues for Large Campus Events:

1. Discussion on traffic control at large events.
2. Traffic backed up at exits at i.e. Football games that create excessive traffic jams
3. Traffic studies have been done in the past
4. SCPW installed fiber optic cabling on Nichols Road in 2011 to control signals remotely

Policies for Animals On Campus

Draft Policy for Animals on Campus
Gary Kaczmarczyk, Executive Director of Environmental Health & Safety provided a PowerPoint presentation highlighting reasons for a campus policy.

1. NYS has regulations that prohibit animals in State Facilities: NYCRR, Title 9, Section 300-3.1 - Prohibited activities. (k) Animals. No person shall introduce or possess any animals within a State facility except for service animals and police and fire dogs under the control of their handler, without authorization from the commissioner. No person shall abandon an animal on State property.
2. SBU does not have a policy to restrict animals on campus, except for in Campus Residences. Therefore, faculty & staff bring their pets to work and at times there are animal exhibits held on campus without approvals. This has the potential to cause:
   1. Risk of attack, allergies, fears
   2. Maintenance and liability concerns
   3. Possible conflict with research
   4. Public attention
3. There are a number of other SUNY schools that have adopted campus policies to prohibit animals in campus buildings.
4. The proposed policy prohibits animals/pets inside campus buildings, except for service animals and those used by law enforcement, and establishes the following:
   1. Review and approval process for campus exhibits, fairs, etc.
   2. Requirements for bringing pets onto campus (e.g. leashing, tags, vaccinations and clean-up).
   3. Restrictions and guidelines for the SBU Student Cat Network.
5. Committee members brought up the following:
   1. Animals have been seen at the R&D Park roaming the fields without a leash.
   2. A question of how the policy will be enforced was raised. (note: the policy states that violations of the policy should be brought to the attention of a department head who should contact Labor Relations.

North Entrance Landscaping Update:

1. Jim O’Connor spoke about the north entrance landscaping and that it requires very limited maintenance and irrigation.
2. Two photos were passed around to show the committee the new signage and plantings.
3. An inquiry was made of the type of seed mix that was used.
4. Suggestions were welcomed for other options for new locations possibly at the R&D Park.
5. A point made about the summer heat that the timing is important to prep the native species to grow without invasive wild flowers taking over.
6. This is a Segway to search other locations on Campus to show the successes accomplished with the Administration.

Recording Secretary – Minutes ended 2:20pm

The next meeting is scheduled in the VP Administration Conference Room on the second floor, date TBD