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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 04/05/2018 South Burlington Energy Commiee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Draft Meeting Minutes April 5, 2018 Committee members present: Don Cummings, Karen Mckenny, Keith Epstein, Linda McGinnis, Marcy Murray, Patty Tashiro, Sam Swanson (Chair) Committee members absent: Drew Gelfenbein, Fred Kosnitsky, James Moore, Jeremy King Community members present: Carrie Fenn (Suncommon), Jason Chin City staff present: None Initial business Members confirmed agenda items and creatively addressed the meeting room’s air-conditioning-caused “freezing” temperature. Karen moved and Keith seconded a motion to approve the February 2018 meeting minutes—approved unanimously. Sam asked that any input on the March meeting notes be forwarded to him. Marcy volunteered to write the meeting minutes. Public input Suncommon’s Carrie Fenn shared information regarding the “SB Saves with Solar” campaign. Sam suggested adding the following as a future agenda item: commercial solar opportunities on Shelburne Road. FY 2019 Energy Committee Plan report and spreadsheet Sam welcomed input as he walked members through the report and spreadsheet he had drafted in response to staff’s request for work plans from all committee leaders. Support for South Burlington’s commitment to achieving Climate Resolution goals In addition to members continuing to pursue energy-related projects of personal interest, Sam shared four additional transportation-related areas for immediate member focus that he and Don had selected from the potential project list Don had distributed in January: · Actively work with Green Mountain Transit (GMT), city representatives, and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) to significantly increase usage of public transportation · Aggressively pursue Volkswagen Mitigation Fund selection of South Burlington for electric vehicle(s) and related infrastructure · Drive regional collaboration to build a plan to maximize the region’s low- and no-emission transportation usage · Strengthen and leverage our relationship with the city’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee to accomplish mutually agreed-upon goals Keith proposed starting the VW application now, and Linda emphasized the importance of demonstrating that the city has the institutional capacity to create and implement an acceptable proposal. VEIC and the Burlington Electric Department’s Darren Springer and Neale Lunderville could be helpful resources. Linda is willing to work on this and will draft a to-do list. Marcy is willing to help. The need for a stronger energy-efficient regional transportation effort was supported by Keith’s discovery that the CCRPC’s ECOS (Environment, Community, Opportunity, and Sustainability) Plan gives significantly more emphasis to vehicular transportation than to public and other energy-efficient means of travel. It was agreed that having an Energy Committee member gather ideas and coordinate with Tom Chittenden, Chris Shaw and Justin Rabidoux could be effective. Sam created a to-do list with member input for the four focus areas. He and Don will brainstorm strategy, connect with CCRPC’s Melanie Needle, and create more detailed to-do lists for the GMT and regional transportation collaboration focus areas. Project updates Members shared project and activity updates. Karen and Keith will meet with the Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee to support its summer outreach program. Don will contact Fred about writing an in-depth article on renewable energy projects in the city for the SB Life magazine. Sam encouraged participation in the April 26th Lobby Day at the State House. At Keith’s request, Jason shared and welcomed feedback on drafts of two one-page leave-behinds for develoeprs regarding benefits of net-zero construction. Regarding the Airport Sound Mitigation Program, Keith encouraged everyone to submit comments at http://www.btvsound.com/ encouraging energy-efficient solutions, the installation of cold-climate heat pumps instead of air-conditioning units, and the leveraging of Efficiency Vermont and Vermont Gas funds to exceed what the Federal Aviation Administration requires. Sam and Keith shared the status and plans related to tracking and presenting electric and gas data to decision-makers. Election of Chair & Vice Chair Keith moved and Marcy seconded a motion to elect Don to a four-month Chair term ending at the conclusion of our August meeting. Approved unanimously. Marcy moved and Karen seconded a motion to elect Linda to a four-month Vice Chair term ending at the conclusion of our August meeting. Approved unanimously. Adjournment & next meeting The meeting adjourned at around 8:30 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 3, at 6:30 p.m. in the upstairs meeting room at the South Burlington Police Station (19 Gregory Drive • middle entrance).