HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 06/26/2024PAGE 1
SOUTH BURLINGTON ENERGY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
JUNE 26, 2024
The South Burlington Energy Committee held a regular meeting on Wednesday, 26 July 2024, at
6:30 p.m., in the Library Board Room, 180 Market Street, and by Zoom remote participation.
Members present: M.J. Reale, Vice Chair; C. Mclaughlin; K. Epstein; E. Goldman; M. Hauser.
Also present: N. Atherton, City Planner; L. Bressee, Energy Systems Manager (Via Zoom).
1.Call to order:
Called to order at 6:40. No quorum available so no motions were made or votes taken.
2.General business:
Reviewed and edited minutes; did not have quorum so did not vote on minutes.
3.SBEC Outreach planning:
Discussed the possibility of tabling at Champlain Valley Expo – Marley and Carrie will
reach out to Will Dodge. Carrie will make t-shirts.
MJ talked to Adam about SB Nite Out participation on Aug 15. Outreach working group
met and discussed doing a giveaway at one of the events, and also a raffle (which we
could spend the budget on). Steve reported about a hand-crank generator that BTV
energy fair used. We need to decide what to hook up to it. Proposed way to solicit ideas
about “what should the city do to fight climate change?” and give extra raffle tickets if
you provide an answer. There’s also a Watt meter that we can borrow from the library. If
we have a mobile hot spot then we can show people the Efficiency VT incentives web
site.
There is room for a “kids table” but we need to bring another table and chairs and line up
an activity. It’s not clear if we will need to purchase the kits or if VEEP can donate some.
MJ talked to Andy about getting a template for the newsletter.
No updates on film series; waiting on updates from Mira. We don’t expect there to be any
movies in the summer because it’s summer. In Vermont. Marley will take the lead on
booking dates, taking the SB city calendar into consideration – don’t double-book with
DRB or City Council.
ENERGY COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 26, 2024 | PAGE 2
Keith talked to Rich Earth Institute about doing a workshop. He’s going to try to
schedule it in late September. There was a discussion about the best location for the
workshop: possibly it could be at Wheeler House, but it might be challenging to do a
slide show outdoors. An exuberant discussion of urine fertilizer ensued.
https://richearthinstitute.org/get-involved/fertilize-with-urine/
Nick shared the “Green Neighbor Challenge” and will bring us more info at the next
meeting so that we can explore the potential of starting one here.
Keith also suggested holding a WindowDressers workshop to solicit volunteers. We need
more information about the annual timing cycle. Ethan will make an introduction and
will try to dig up the name of the person who had previously expressed interest in
volunteering.
MJ also reviewed the rest of the list of outreach activities to make sure they are all still on
track. We won’t do another energy festival until next year.
Ethan suggested posting photos and other info about past events on the SBEC web site
and sending out a recap to our mailing list about events after they happen to remind
people that we do cool things, and they should try to make it to the next one.
Nick pointed out that there are opportunities to cross-pollinate with other committees,
potentially by volunteering at their events.
Keith asked about the electric lawnmower that the city purchased. Lou mentioned that
we were not able to qualify for a grant to support that. The city is also planning to buy
another electric striper. Also the city is planning to buy more EVs for the fleet(?)
The budget for FY’25 includes a new city climate position, but the job description hasn’t
been written yet. Nick will ask if the Energy Committee can be of assistance reviewing
the job description.
MJ reports getting more traction with Matt Dransfield (?) at the high school: two students
wanted to write an article for our “clean and green” series and get more involved with our
work.
Ideas for getting students more involved: volunteering to help us with outreach activities.
Maybe helping to run the educational activities at the SB Nite Out?
Lou is tracking down the details about the PV system revenues, but he’s pretty sure that
the revolving loan fund has over $300k available, but there are some big projects coming
that will need that funding.
Adjourned at 8:10 p.m.