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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 12/02/2013 South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington Monday, December 2, 2013 7:00 pm South Burlington Municipal Offices, 575 Dorset Street MINUTES Present: Karen McKenny, Laura Waters, Brendan Taylor, Marcy Murray (Chair), Don Cummings, Keith Epstein, Fred Kosnitsky, Sam Swanson, Staff Present: Ilona Blanchard Public Present: Patrick Perry Absent: Marc Companion, Peter Tousley 7:00 PM Convene Meeting • Recruit scribe, timekeeper • Brendan scribe, Don timekeeper • Review and approve meeting agenda & confirm plans for December meeting • Approve previous meeting minutes (including Ilona’s changes) Action: • Keith moved, Don seconded, approved unanimously. • Moving meeting to Thursdays? • Discussion noted Thursdays we lose Marc, Mondays we sometimes lose Ilona, and there are other conflicts with other city meetings. Fred is teaching Monday nights, then Thursdays in summer. • The group decided on first Thursday of every month, Jan – May, then we will revisit. 7:15 PM Invite Public to Speak • Pat Perry: Air-to-air heat pump reduced his fuel oil consumption from 550 gal/yr to 170 gal/yr. $3,000 investment provides $1200/yr savings, including the additional cost of additional electricity. Relatively new in VT. New refrigerants allow them to work down to -5F or -15F, depending on refrigerant type. Works like an air conditioner that runs in both directions. 2 – 4 BTU of heat for every BTU you put in. Fujitsu and Mitsubishi are the two big vendors. 7:25 PM: City Staff Updates • Ilona shared prior to meeting by email. • Don to draft letter to engineer to prompt response on strength of Cairns roof for additional weight of PV panels. 7:28 PM: Project Updates • Sam to investigate potential increase in 500kW cap on group net metering. Action: South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington • Don moves that we ask the City Council to ask the State legislature to increase the net metering cap to 1MW. Discussion: Don is willing to attend City Council meeting to justify the request. Keith seconds. Unanimous approval. • Raising the cap might help make the landfill PV project more feasible. • All members to send Laura updates on previous fiscal year’s activities. • Georgetown energy prize. • City Council approved. • We will be assigned a consultant from Deloitte and should get help from Georgetown students. • Meeting with faculty from SBHS to help involve students. • Keith created an idea submission web site (see email sent in November). Keith requests that all committee members try it out and provide feedback. Intent is to open it to the public. • Working on a planning document that should lead to action list. • Meeting with VEIC on Friday, Dec 13 to get their ideas. • Weatherizing municipal buildings. • Peter met with Justin and will use DOE portfolio manager to create the energy baseline data necessary to identify which projects will yield the greatest results. He and Justin will then work to identify which projects to implement. Weatherization start date will depend on how fast they can get the baseline data. • District heating • City currently has no plans for pursuing. • Area lacks a 24/7 sink for electricity/heat, so it may not be justified as a public sector investment. • Presentation given by FBC consultant. • Lower priority for SBEC currently but we should keep the idea alive, revisit in ~6 months, and educate ourselves in the meantime. • PACE • Laura has offered to investigate the possibility of pursuing it again in light of other cities’ success with the program. She’ll bring the facts back to the SBEC for further discussion. • Way to Go • Karen submitted report to VTRANS and is expecting $500 grant money any day. • Button Up Day • Scheduled for Dec 5, 6:30pm in Medium Conference Room (where we regularly meet). 8:15 PM: Consideration of SBEC Position or Other Actions The committee discussed the working draft of the Form Based Code and developed the following comments: • The FBC draft is incomplete. It should include the previously agreed-upon typology for Market Street. • Any references to transportation modes should include cycling in the language (not just the icons). • Some typology descriptions are unclear about permitted bicycle use. In general, SBEC wants to see bicycle traffic allowed on ALL street typologies and made safe. South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.sburl.com facebook.com/SouthBurlington • For example, under street typology called Path: why are bicycle facilities not permitted? Perhaps it should say N/A to be consistent. • Another example, destination Street/Type 2, and /Type 3. Get rid of disembark and park at edge. • Solar-ready language for structures needs to be strengthened and better defined. • Tree species should be selected so that mature heights do not interfere with current or future roof top solar on neighboring buildings. • Street typologies and parking facilities standards should include EV charging stations. Action: • Motion made by Don to submit the above comments to the Chair of the Planning Commission, seconded by Keith and approved by all present. • The Chair (Marcy) will submit a letter to the chair of the planning commission to reflect above discussion. Action: • Sam made the motion to formally approve the draft preface submitted by him in his capacity as Chair of the Energy Committee to the FBC following the Oct 10 meeting. Don seconded it. There was discussion. Motion carried by 6 for (Karen, Laura, Brendan, Marcy, Don, and Sam), Keith abstained. Usefulness, Maintenance & Future of SBEC Wiki • Deferred to next meeting due to schedule over-run. 9:30 PM: Adjourn Meeting