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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - Climate Action Plan Task Force - 05/25/2022SOUTH BURLINGTON CLIMATE ACTION TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES 25 May 2022 1 The South Burlington Climate Action Plan Task Force held a meeting on Wednesday, 25 May 2022, at 7:00 p.m., in person at 180 Market Street and online via Zoom remote technology. MEMBERS PRESENT: Andrew Chalnick, Darrylin Peters, Ethan Goldman, Michael Mittag, Bill Wargo, Sriram Srinivasan, Donna Leban, Dalila Hall (Ex-Officio Staff member), Helen Riehle (Ex-Officio City Council member) ALSO PRESENT: Melanie Needle (CCRPC project consultant), Ann Janda (CCPRC project consultant), Roseann Greco, Sarah Dopp 1. Instructions on existing building in case of emergency and review of technology options Mr. Goldman provided instructions for those attending in person; the majority attended remotely 2. Agenda: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items - There was general discussion among group members before the meeting was called to order by Mr. Goldman at 7:11pm. - Mr. Chalnick asked about follow-up regarding where the group ended up during the 5/12/22 meeting about Small Engines (Pathway SE:1). Mr. Chalnick had provided several additions to this section. Ms. Janda replied that Paul Conner will have a response to Mr. Chalnick’s questions at the next meeting. - Mr. Srinivasan asked about a timeline on greenhouse emissions reductions. Ms. Needle replied by explaining about the 2019 baseline inventory and that there will be a new iteration available at the next meeting, - Ms. Riehle shared that she had followed up with the School’s Superintendent regarding the Climate Plan and had instructed them to reach out to Mr. Conner and Mr. Goldman to schedule a time to report to this group where the school district is at on this subject. o Mr. Goldman mentioned that a memo from the school district would also be helpful as the committee moves through the workplan. o Mr. Srinivasan thought more input from the school would be helpful. Mr. Chalnick also supported this position. Ms. Leban stated that it would be helpful to have this input sooner rather than later. 3. Open to the public for items not related to the agenda No comments unrelated to the agenda were provided R. Greco shared that Underhill, VT has a Climate Action Task Force and she suggested that there should be coordination among these groups. Ms. Janda added that she is also working with the Underhill Task Force but that she is not aware of any other similar groups in Chittenden County. Ms. Needle mentioned that other towns are working on Energy Plans which are similar in scope. 4. Conclude review of pathways and actions by sector a. Renewable Energy Sector i. There was general discussion about percentage increase in megawatt hours, Ms. Needle gave an overview of how CCRPC would approach analyzing this. 2 b. Natural Areas Sector i. There was general discussion about Mr. Chalnick’s additions to the natural areas target box description. Mr. Srinivasan added some clarifying language about sequestration. Mr. Goldman added a suggestion about order of working and what to do with original text shown in black text – everyone was okay with replacing. There was discussion that the term “Priority Habitat Blocks” is too vague and that it may already have a defined meaning that is different than how it may generally be construed. c. Government Operations Sector i. Mr. Chalnick suggested a change to Pathway wording for GO.2. ii. Ms. Leban mentioned that in regards to GO1.2 that there needs to be consideration for the City to include green policies into its bid contracts. She used example of current City contract landscaper using gas leaf blowers. d. Adaptation & Resilience Sector i. The group discussed Mr. Mittag’s comment about AR.1, Mr. Chalnick suggested refining it for better precision, for instance including river corridor buffers. Ms. Riehle commented that this degree of precision was added to the recently adopted Land Development Regulations. ii. General wordsmithing was made for items AR1.3, AR1.2, AR1.1 and AR1.8. Ms. Needle added the changes into the document. iii. With regards to item AR1.5 it was noted that Paul Conner and Dept. of Public Works needed to provide input. e. Agriculture & Food Systems Sector i. Mr. Chalnick asked if there was any language in the document about asking supermarkets to adopt refrigerators to better manage refrigerants. It was suggested that there be a word search for this. ii. Someone suggested including climate change education in schools. Ms. Needle suggested that this would be better placed in the Government Operations Sector and could be worded by adding language like “collaborate with schools as needed.” iii. A long discussion about how to engage the school district ensued (collaborate & coordinate) and about what falls into the Government Operations Sector. f. Mr. Goldman asked for a vote on the sections that were adjusted during the meeting. Ms. Peters moved to vote in support of the changes that were made, Mr. Mittag seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. 5. Next Steps: public outreach per 5/12 memo. equity evaluation, & prioritization a. There was general discussion about what is most impactful and most doable with regards to “evaluation & prioritization” and being able to reach schools, architects and the developer community. b. A. Janda mentioned that this section was put in as a placehold to allow members to begin thinking about the topic and that it should be raised for more substantive discussion at the next meeting. c. Ms. Peters suggested following the process recently used by the Planning Commission for seeking public input on the 2024 Comprehensive Plan and ARPA funding. Mr. Chalnick 3 shared a link to the 05/24/2022 Planning Commission packet which included the Planning Commission’s Outreach Plan framework with the members over the Zoom chat function. d. R. Greco offered public comment regarding the language “if law permits” which was mentioned as clarifying wording earlier during the meeting. She reminded all that even if something isn’t legal it should still be challenged and/or changed because some of the laws governing climate are over twenty years old. e. There was general discussion that collaborating with Schools should include their transportation footprint. f. Mr. Mittag suggested that the City should looking into parking pricing and road pricing. g. Ms. Leban mentioned that the group may want to consider adopting similar language to Burlington’s with regard to an Energy Code and working with Residential Building Energy Standards (RBES) to adopt similar language. It was discussed that the City should require Certificates of Occupancy for all new construction. Mr. Goldman asked that this position be more fleshed out. 6. Other Business - None The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.