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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 03/07/2014Thursday, March 7, 2014 7:00 PM South Burlington Municipal Offices, 575 Dorset Street MINUTES Present: Karen McKenny, Peter Tousley, Brendan Taylor, Marcy Murray (Chair), Sam Swanson, Keith Epstein, Fred Kosnitsky, Laura Waters Staff Present: Ilona Blanchard Public Present: Paul Gustofson, Linda McGinnis, Tim Perrin (Efficiency Vermont), Lani Malapan (Efficiency Vermont), Tim Barritt (South Burlington Development Review Board – Chair) Absent: Marc Companion, Don Cummings 7:00 PM Convene Meeting • Recruit scribe, time keeper • Peter scribe, Sam time keeper • Review and approve meeting agenda 7:05 PM • Invite public to speak • Tim Barritt introduced himself as a member of the South Burlington Development Review Board (DRB) and spoke to his concerns regarding the need for energy efficiency standards to be adopted by South Burlington that go beyond Vermont Energy Code which he considers the minimum or least efficient building that should be constructed in the State of Vermont. Tim is seeking guidance from the SB Energy Committee to set a higher standard for the city. Tim Perrin of Efficiency Vermont talked about the State of Vermont’s Act 89 which developed a residential stretch-code and efforts to establish the same for commercial building. The stretch-code can be adopted by local authorities and enhances the energy efficiency requirements of the State Energy Code by approximately 20%. Sam indicated that further research will be required to see how the Energy Committee may be able to affect change but felt encouraged by Tim’s obvious enthusiasm and understanding of the need for more aggressive energy-efficiency-related LDR’s that the DRB can use. • Loni Malapan of Efficiency Vermont provided a presentation: PACE, Getting Your Town on Board. The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program is a financing tool available to residential owners who want to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects as well as any health and safety measures that may be required to secure the energy savings of the project. Each municipality in Vermont can participate in PACE by first, establishing a special assessment district and second, the statute permits the municipality to enter into taxable debt financing to create the upfront capital homeowners need to make the investment (initially designed as an assessment on their property tax bill—but now is billed separately and monthly—over a period of up to 20 years. Loni stated that Efficiency Vermont has been named as a contract administrator for PACE. Municipalities have the choice of using Efficiency Vermont at no charge to cover the administrative work of implementing PACE, or they can administer PACE on their own. 7:30 PM Ilona discussed the Open Meeting Law and stated that Jim Barlow has signed on as the City of South Burlington City Attorney and is willing to provide guidance as necessary. Ilona will seek his input on how we can invite committee member expertise on time-sensitive materials that must be created, finalized, and distributed to the public between meetings. It is important that all committee members be sure that when speaking with government officials and State legislators, that members make clear they are speaking as citizens. They may, in addition, identify their roles as committee members. At no time shall a committee member, as a committee member, state support for legislation ahead of the City Council. 7:45 Linda McGinnis presented an update on her work with Encore and David Young of the South Burlington School District. She also talked about a new decision by the State of Vermont to allow up to 1500 kW solar PV systems on landfill property. Two methods of solar PV installation have been discussed; first, City of South Burlington can lease the land to a third party. The city would receive lease payments and be guaranteed electricity costs at today’s prices for the next 20 years. Second, the city could finance the installation of the PV system on privately owned land and receive a guaranteed 10% cost reduction for electricity. The school system is interested in investigating a partnership with Green Mountain Power Corporation to install combination carport / solar parking lot charging stations. They are also interested in installing solar on rooftops as new roofs are installed. 8:30 Sam Swanson presented a Resolution: A Resolution Establishing That Actions to Increase Energy Efficiency and Conservation in City Owned Buildings and In Various City Activities is a Priority. Sam explained that this Resolution was developed in coordination with Kevin Dorn, City Manager of South Burlington, and that Mr. Dorn fully supports this Resolution and the efforts of the SBEC to present it to and recommend its implementation by the SB City Council. After discussion regarding language changes, the Resolution was accepted as-is except for grammatical corrections recommended by Marcy. A motion to accept the Resolution was made by Sam and seconded by Peter. The vote to accept was unanimous to accept the Resolution. 8:45 Other business • Marcy volunteered to monitor the SB Planning Commission’s agendas for energy-related topics. • Peter provided an update on SB municipal energy account entries into Portfolio Manager and a brief assessment of a report provided through Vermont Energy Investment Corporation and Process Energy Services, LLC describing energy conservation opportunities at the Bartlett Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. • Marcy nominated Peter as the next SBEC Chair, Sam seconded the nomination and the committee voted unanimously to accept the motion. • Brendan was nominated as Vice-Chair by Keith and seconded by Laura with the committee voting unanimously to accept. • Next meeting scheduled for 7:00 PM, April 3, 2014 to be held at 575 Dorset Street, South Burlington.