HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 05/12/2021
South Burlington Energy Committee
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 846-4106
www.SouthBurlingtonVT.gov
facebook.com/SouthBurlington
Approved Meeting Minutes
May 12, 2021
Committee members present: Andrew Chalnick, Keith Epstein, Ethan Goldman, Marcy Murray, Tim Perrin, MJ Reale, Richard Shrake, Sam Swanson Committee members absent: Linda McGinnis Community members present: Tina Cai, Bryn Oakleaf, Penny Saltzman City staff present: Lou Bresee Meeting conducted online via GoToMeeting.
Ethan called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. Rich agreed to scribe. Bryn Oakleaf introduced herself as a Winooski city councilor and employee of Efficiency VT. Minutes Approval
Sam moved and Keith seconded approving the 4/14 minutes. Approved unanimously. Committee Chair Election After some discussion, the committee decided to table the election. Ethan will continue to serve as chair for another month.
City Council resolution on climate change Andrew provided an overview of the development of the resolution. There was some discussion
concerning whether the resolution has “teeth.” Tim suggested that the proposed task force serves as teeth. Andrew moved and MJ seconded endorsing the resolution. Motion passed unanimously. Andrew will ask Meaghan if she would welcome support from Energy Committee members via Front
Porch Forum. Envision I-89 Ethan summarized the current status of the I-89 project selection process. There was general consensus that there are currently no actions for the Energy Committee to take, but individuals having conversations with city councilors would be worthwhile. Facebook Keith described the difference in authorship between groups and pages. To accommodate this difference we changed the name of the South Burlington Energy Prize page to South Burlington Energy Committee, and at the appropriate time in the future we will create a South Burlington Climate Action Facebook
group. Keith will follow up with Ilona about establishing an SBEC email address as a primary contact.
South Burlington Energy Committee
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 846-4106
www.SouthBurlingtonVT.gov
facebook.com/SouthBurlington
Tina Cai Internship The committee brainstormed on potential projects to match Tina’s interest in data analysis, but was unable to define a specific project. Ethan requested that anyone who has an idea for a project contact him directly. Penny Saltzman Internship Final Report Penny presented her report on establishing a Business Coalition in support of a Climate Action Plan. While she made many valuable contacts and found most of the business representatives to be affable, she
encountered a fair amount of reluctance to join such a coalition. EV Chargers
MJ consulted with VEIC to get a count of EVs and chargers in South Burlington. While currently slightly under the recommended ratio of chargers to vehicles, the city will have more chargers available when the new city hall opens in July.
Budget Marcy reported that there is $10,710 left in the budget for the current fiscal year and requested that committee members consider uses for this money. School Solar Fund Keith suggested recommending the school district purchase a new electric lawnmower to replace a gas or diesel one. Andrew recommended a solar bike rack/e-bike charging station. Marcy noted that she has not been able to contact Gary Mackres.
Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 8:40 Next Meeting
June 9, 2021