HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 05/29/2024PAGE 1
South Burlington Energy Committee Meeting
May 29, 2024
The South Burlington Energy Committee held a regular meeting on Wednesday, 29 May 2024, at
6:30 p.m., in the Library Board Room, 180 Market Street, and by Zoom remote participation.
Members present: S. Lipschutz; F. Kosnitsky; S. Crowley; C. McLaughlin; B. Brown; M. Hauser;
E. Goldman; T. Perrin; Chair; R. Meader.
Also present: N. Atherton, City Planner; L Bresee, Energy Systems Manager.
1. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency and review of technology
option:
Meeting called to order at 6:30. Mr. Perrin provided instructions on emergency exit from
the building and reviewed technology options.
2.Additions, deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items:
Mr. Atherton requested that winter holiday meeting scheduling and updates regarding
summer events be added to the last order of business.
3. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda:
No members of the public present.
4. Motion to approve minutes from 5/1/2024 meeting:
Steve, Sam seconded – motion carries unanimously.
5. Reviewing the work plan for July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025:
•City currently has a CAP work plan for transportation and government operations,
applied to get support for building and thermal plan from the CCRPC.
•Suggestion: meet with members of the Council to educate them on the CAP.
•The committee reviewed the work plan and made a number of other
recommendations. Tim made edits with input from the committee.
•Sam moved that we accept the edited work plan, Rob seconded. Approved
unanimously.
ENERGY COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 29, 2024 | PAGE 2
6. EV charging standards update
Rob reported that the proposal was approved. The Fire Dept raised some concerns about
fire suppression issues with the new technology. The new standards will be drafted and
adopted soon.
7. Window Dressers
MJ has been talking with Councilor Laurie Smith to discuss this opportunity and the
challenge of getting it off the ground.
8. Champlain Valley Fair
Natalee Braun and another volunteer from the Essex Energy Committee called in to
discuss how the energy committee could help them to do some outreach at the Fair. It’s a
five+ day commitment and they are looking for more people to help. Looking for help
staffing, but also ideas about how to plan and promote the booth, how do you make the
pitch (for EVs, weatherization, etc.) to the public? Efficiency VT also offered to staff a few
shifts and provide some information materials; hasn’t been involved in planning. Ethan
suggested having a laptop with the rebate finder from EVT. Lou suggested we have
instructions for guiding someone to the next step for starting a project. Lou asked if
volunteering gets you a free pass to the fair. Yes: you get free parking and a pass if you
volunteer. Steve: will they be recruiting at the VCAN event? Yes. Also noted: volunteers
don’t have to be on the energy committee, just willing to speak to the public on this
topic. Email him or Will Dodge if you’re interested. Fair is Aug 23 – Sept 1. Lou
suggested that we could offer to cover part of the booth registration fee (~$1k) Maybe we
could get high school students to volunteer?
9. SB Nite Out
Nick got an email from Adam (director) who offered a July volunteer opportunity and an
August opportunity for SBEC presence:
•July 11: SB Nite Out bike night; Parks & Rec requesting volunteers. Looking for
leaders of four bike trains, bike valet, bike raffle, helmet decorating/craft.
•Aug 15: SBEC tabling/activity opportunity: STEAM education night for back-to-
school, we are invited to make up an activity to run at their booth… giveaway or
something else. We can discuss at a future meeting.
•Maybe we can do some guerrilla marketing when we volunteer?
10.Ongoing events
Marley is getting limited responses from the library when trying to schedule more events.
Nick will talk to Mira to see how we can get things started again. Mira thought that the
summer was a hard time to host films. Babysitting might bring in more parents.
School partnerships: Brittany asked for more guidance and structure around what sorts of
school partnerships she should be looking for. Could we partner with VEEP?
ENERGY COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 29, 2024 | PAGE 3
11.Other business
Schedule notes: Nov and Dec are immediately preceding the holidays, so Nick suggests
scheduling on the third Wed instead for those months. Nick will look for a room where
we can meet.
12.Meeting adjourned