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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 03/07/2013swanson – draft 1 South Burlington Energy Committee (SBEC) draft meeting minutes Meeting Date: March 7, 2013 Members Present Absent Marc Companion X Don Cummings . X Keith Epstein X Marcy Murray X Sam Swanson (scribe) X Peter Tousley X Laura Waters X Meeting Location: S. Burlington Police Station – Community Room City Staff: Justin Rabidoux, Director of Public Works Members of the Public: Ian Donahue, Allan Bullis, Andy Johnson Start Time: Don Cummings, Vice Chair, convened the meeting at 7:10 PM. Motion: To accept the minutes for February 19, 2013 Moved by: Don Cummings Seconded by: Marcy Murray Approved: unanimously Motion: To accept the minutes for February 7, 2013 Moved by: Laura Waters Seconded by: Sam Swanson Approved: unanimously Input from members of the public: No one spoke. Traffic Light Timing Ian Donahue, a South Burlington resident, reported that he had assembled his own observations on a list of traffic intersections where the traffic control signs and signals were creating unnecessary delays, causing drivers to waste energy by stopping, waiting, and starting unnecessarily. Ian provided the committee with a list of intersections that described problems he observed and suggested solutions, a list he reported he had discussed with the City Public Works Director, Justin Rabidoux. Ian indicated that he understood that further study may be required to evaluate the problems he identified and the suggestions he was making but he hoped that steps would be taken to address the concerns he presented. swanson – draft 2 The Committee invited Justin Rabidoux to offer his comments on Ian’s proposals. Justin Rabidoux explained the administrative process that governed the design of traffic intersections and explained the professional traffic management practice for evaluating possible changes in traffic intersection signs and signals. Noting that a change must be supported by traffic studies, Justin recommended that the Committee consult with Ilona Blanchard to learn when gran opportunities may be available to fund studies of intersections the Committee decides should be investigated. Justin also indicated that the Department of Public Works would welcome support from the Energy Committee for future budget proposals to support upgrading existing incandescent traffic light to LED traffic lights, a change that would produce energy savings that recover the cost in only 2-3 years of operation. Don Cummings urged Justin Rabidoux to invite our Committee to support specific proposals when he developed his next budget. The Committee invited Ian Donahue to return to a future Committee meeting to discuss what steps may be taken to begin to address concerns he voiced. Project Updates: Home Energy Challenge: Don Cummings attended the February 11 Energy Challenge training and coordinating meeting conducted by Melanie Needle of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission. Don reports that the county-wide program did not offer any incentives for home owners and did not have plans for a County-wide media campaign. Don Cummings, Laura Waters and Keith Epstein are working on a neighborhood targeted outreach campaign that will tap neighborhood social relationships to get the word out to individual home owner-residents in each neighborhood. Don Cummings provided the Committee with a copy of a South Burlington Home Energy Challenge campaign brochure that Don, Laura and Keith had developed with valuable pro bono design assistance from Thomas SchutTomah Schmidt. Condo weatherization: Don Cummings and Laura Water reported that they had met with Marc Companion to review the status of condos that had been audited with funding from the Energy Committee’s South Burlington Project Funding. Don Cummings reports that only 24 condos had committed to weatherization action. Don expressed frustration that with the weatherization contractor, Shelter Analytics, had never taken steps to contactsuccess in communicating with condo governing boards directly. Don and Laura recommend that the Committee not spend significant additional time on this project and that the Committee focus instead on the new neighborhood focused Home Energy Challenge. South Burlington Solar Promotion: Marcy Murray suggested that we write an article to be published in The Other Paper that communicates “stories” of the successful experience of South Burlington home owners who have swanson – draft 3 installed solar systems on their homes. The Committee voiced support for doing this. Marcy said she would pursue this if our discussion of Committee priorities for the next year supported doing so. Renewable Energy Siting/Joint Planning Commission Meeting Planning The Committee reviewed plans for attending a joint meeting of our Committee with the Planning Commission on Tuesday, March 12. We observed that we did not yet know how the meeting would be conducted and what would be the objective of the meeting discussions. We welcome this first joint meeting with the Planning Commission recognizing that many Committee objectives can be helped by Planning Commission action. The Committee asked Don Cummings, in his role as Vice Chair, to consult with our Chair, Keith Epstein and Paul Connor on the agenda for this meeting. Don, Marcy, Peter, and Sam indicated they would attend. Don reported that Keith also plans to attend. Energy Committee Strategic Planning The Committee took up this agenda discussion at 9:10 PM, decided that there was inadequate time to address this at this regular meeting and decided to schedule a special Committee meeting to continue the deliberations started at the February 17 special meeting. Marcy Murray will poll the Committee to decide what Monday evening, when Marc could also attend, would work for the entire Committee. Don Cummings and Sam Swanson each volunteered to host the meeting at their homes. Meeting Adjourned at 9:12 PM Next Meetings: • The Committee plans to meet in a special joint meeting with the Planning Commission at 7 PM on March 12 at the City Offices. • The next regular meeting of the Energy Committee will convene on Thursday, April 4 at 7 p.m. at City Hall 575 Dorset Street. • A special meeting to continue Energy Committee planning will be scheduled in March or April at a specific date, time and location to be announced when known.