Commission discusses rain-garden plan and student education at Thornton's Ferry School

The commission reviewed emailed notes from absent member Caris reporting on a meeting with Thornton's Ferry School staff about using one courtyard for a native rain garden and adding rain barrels to reduce courtyard muddiness.

Caris (via Ellen) said she toured two school courtyards with the principal and school nurse (the nurse manages the school's gardening efforts). She wrote that roof runoff leads to muddy courtyards and the school would like to explore installing rain barrels and directing overflow to one of several proposed rain gardens to improve percolation and make courtyard space more usable for classroom activities.

Caris’s notes listed follow-up questions for viability and implementation: measures of roof runoff, potential grant funding sources, student participation and lesson plans, and whether any installation or maintenance costs could be covered by grants. Caris offered to work with the school to develop educational materials that could be retained by the commission for reuse at other schools or events. The commission recorded the school project as an item for future education and grant-exploration work; no funding commitments were made at the meeting.

Tom accepted a piece of paper with contact details to follow up and commissioners asked that Caris bring any further details or cost estimates to a future meeting.