HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 02/09/2022South Burlington Energy Committee
Meeting Minutes
February 9,2022
Committee members present:Andrew Chalnick,Ethan Goldman,Kate Bailey,Keith Epstein,MJ Reale (Vice
Chair),Marcy Murray,Sam Swanson,Steve Crowley,Ken Pulido,
Committee members absent:Linda McGinnis,Tim Perrin (Chair)
City staff present:Lou Bresee,Ilona Blanchard
City Council’s charge:The charge of the South Burlington Energy Committee is to promote energy
conservation,energy efficiency,and the use of renewable energy resources among the city's residents,
businesses,and in municipal affairs.The committee assists the city in addressing the goals to promote
energy efficiency,affordable energy,and lessen reliance (per capita)on non-renewable energy
resources.
MJ,the Committee Vice Chair,called the meeting to order via GoToMeeting at 6:35.Sam agreed to scribe.
Minutes.Steve moved and Ethan seconded a motion to approve the revised draft minutes from January
12,2022.The motion was approved with eight voting in favor and one abstaining.
FY2023 Work Plan.Finalize list and determine action plan.Keith presented the work plan in a new
format,distributed before the meeting.Sam and Ken added their names to people offering to work on
specific initiatives.Ilona explained that the format that Keith used in the latest version of the plan is a
framework developed to enable the City Council to understand how the activities of individual committees
relate to important goals identified by the City’s Comprehensive Plan.Although this work plan addresses
the next fiscal year,which begins July 1,Ilona reported that the Council will begin to consider this plan in
March.Sam moved and Marcy seconded a motion to adopt the plan Keith presented at the meeting.The
Committee voted unanimously to approve the motion.A copy of the plan adopted by the Committee is
appended to these meeting minutes.
ACTION REQUEST:Using the approved plan as a reference,Committee members should connect with
colleagues who have volunteered to work together on the seven Committee initiatives identified in the
plan.Each initiative work group should report the results of their initial discussion at the March
Committee meeting.
Website /Facebook update.Keith reported that he is actively updating the Facebook page.He noted
that we have received comments on our Facebook page posts from City Council members.Keith also
reported he is continuing to work on transferring the Committee website to the City site.
SB High School Bike shelter proposal.Andrew reported that he has been touch with the high school and
has reached out to All Earth Renewables seeking their assistance.Keith reported that he explored whether
there may be grant funding available from a SmartGrowth grant but learned that SmartGrowth does not
fund infrastructure projects.
Intern search.Ethan summarized his efforts to recruit interns to work with us on the data collection
update.The Committee discussed opportunities to recruit interns at UVM and Middlebury College.
Climate Action Plan Task Force (CAPTF)update.Ethan summarized the approach the Task Force is taking
to screen measures that SB may want to include in the CAP.The Task Force is just getting started with this
process.Andrew outlined the general approach the CAPTF is taking and invited comments from the
Committee.Andrew and Ethan responded to questions from the Committee on how the resulting CAP will
be designed to provide a foundation for City Council action.Features that were highlighted were the
importance of identifying priorities for action and using a good explanation of challenges each candidate
initiative faces.The Committee explored how the CAP community engagement may take shape and
produce useful results.Keith offered the idea of immediately developing a community coalition involving
diverse community groups to play a leadership role in mobilizing the SB community to carry out the CAP.
State-level update.
Steve pointed out that Clean Heat Standard legislation is taking shape and may have a large impact on local
energy use.This bill is moving forward and encountering significant controversy.
Carbon tracking proposal from POWER-D.city /Dude Solutions software.Ethan reported he is working
with the City on developing a memorandum of understanding to provide access to SB information that will
be needed for the Power-D.city program.Ethan reported that Dude Solutions is already providing some
software to track energy use by City facilities.Lou pointed out that the City has committed to using
Portfolio Manager.Ethan and Lou will consult to see if additional Dude Solutions software may provide
value not provided by Portfolio Manager.
Bartlett Bay WWTF design objectives.Lou provided an update on how this is taking shape.The
Committee thanked Lou for his effort to encourage the design team to address energy efficiency
innovations.
CVOEO weatherization presentation –feedback &next steps.There was limited participation in the
January event,but the quality of the presentation was high.The CVOEO presenter,Dwight DeCoster,said
this limited participation compared well with participation in other events.The Committee discussed
ways to publicize additional CVOEO weatherization presentations.
Announcements and Upcoming Events/Activities
∙Lou reported that it now appears that Energy Projects Revolving Fund will return to having a
positive fund balance very soon,perhaps by March,even sooner than reported earlier.∙Kate
reported she is an unopposed candidate for a position on the South Burlington School Board.She
anticipates she will not volunteer for another term on our Energy Committee term when her current
term expires in June.The Committee expressed gratitude for her commitment to serving on the
School Board and for her work on this Committee.
∙Wednesday,March 9,6:30 p.m.to 8:30:SBEC monthly meeting.
Adjournment:8:30 p.m.
ATTACHMENT –Committee approved FY23 Energy Committee Work Plan
Approved by Energy Committee on March 9,2022
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