Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Energy Committee - 07/11/2019 South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.SouthBurlingtonVT.gov facebook.com/SouthBurlington Meeting Minutes July 11, 2019 Approved 8/8/2019 Committee members present: Don Cummings, Keith Epstein, Karen Mckenny, Patty Tashiro, Sam Swanson, Marcy Murray, Andrew Chalnick, Richard Shrake Committee members absent:, Linda McGinnis, Tim Perrin Community members were present: None Meeting was Called to Order: by Chair Keith Epstein at 6:30 pm. Meeting minutes Karen Mckenny agreed to scribe. Don Cummings moved that we accept the June meeting minutes with Andrew Chalnick seconding. Motion passed unanimously. Our new committee member was welcomed and introductions around the room were done. Orientation materials and shared drive access have been shared with Richard. Municipal Energy Manager Report: Follow this link for Lou Bresee’s presentation, there are several documents to review. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1-vRmyAwb9dtW5_Tf02wBz8nxQBf_KcYI Lou also suggested we may want to draft a letter to recommend that as city vehicles are replaced that energy efficiency and electric options as considered where appropriate. Thanks for the update Lou. Project Updates: Committee members reviewed their input to the Project Tracking Document. See Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UNhYw5BIEEnDRh_z9PltIj42PNYppIQfzpFiA_2Pj3Q/edit?usp=sharing Additional points from the meeting follow: • Residential Solar & Commercial Solar LDRs. Andrew met with Green Mountain Power to review the drafted solar LDR’s and they offered some feedback but were overall supportive. Several solar developers also reviewed and offered support. Andrew is meeting with real estate developers on 7/12 to review the drafted proposal. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1-vRmyAwb9dtW5_Tf02wBz8nxQBf_KcYI South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.SouthBurlingtonVT.gov facebook.com/SouthBurlington • Revolving Fund. Marcy Murray, Don Cummings and Keith Epstein met with Tom Hubbard regarding the draft revolving fund documents. Tom had a concern regarding the long list of items to track but felt it could be done and will let us know if it becomes too burdensome. Tom will review with City Council for feedback. • Outreach: Don is planning to run an ad featuring transportation and driving behaviors with previously approved funds. Keith spoke to the library regarding interest in offering a public presentation by the students who traveled to Denmark and their energy presentation. The library is interested, and we will help with promotion once a date has been set up. • Electric Lawn Mower demo: Keith attended a municipal electric lawn mower demo and noted the remarkable decrease in noise they generated. Of concern by Public Works was that these mowers do not mow fast enough for some of the large green spaces in South Burlington however there may be an opportunity for use in smaller spaces. Adam Cate Deputy of Public Works was supportive. • Solar Consortium Funds: The GUEP-related solar consortium donations totaling $7,570 have been received by the school district. When combined with the $8000 Altus penalty fee from the landfill solar project, the school district will have a total of $15,570 for a solar project (that will include signage recognizing donor names). Donors and amounts donated: Suncommon ($4,390), Encore Renewable Energy ($2,000), Building Energy ($800), DC Energy Innovations ($200) and Linda McGinnis’ community installation ($180). • Climate Strike: Andrew has been in discussion with VPIRG regarding the student strike this fall and will be working with them on a statewide training plan for students surrounding this effort. Climate Action Plan Strategies: Don reviewed several documents to begin to frame this discussion. (First three documents in the shared drive) https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1- vRmyAwb9dtW5_Tf02wBz8nxQBf_KcYI Discussion regarding the task to create a climate action plan for the committee to drive our efforts. Discussion regarding both the need for local efforts but also for strong advocacy with the city to move the needle on a broader level both city and statewide. Don is looking for any and all thoughts regarding ideas that can draft this plan. Using brainstorming rules (anything goes) send your thoughts to Don who will draft a document for discussion at next month’s meeting. Scope can include any and all energy-related ideas from transportation, commercial, residential, etc. Andrew is interested in making continued efforts at outreach a strong part of this plan and suggested ideas around public events including a green fair. Andrew shared initiatives taken by his former town of Milburn and sent this link to check out their green challenge http://millburngreenchallenge.org/index.htm Annual Report 2019 and Work Plan 2020: Don has drafted an annual report of our activities over the South Burlington Energy Committee 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 (802) 846-4106 www.SouthBurlingtonVT.gov facebook.com/SouthBurlington past year and drafted this report: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1- vRmyAwb9dtW5_Tf02wBz8nxQBf_KcYI Sam Swanson moved that we approve this report. Keith Epstein seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Included in the annual report are next steps for our work plan. Andrew suggests we add in language specific to outreach and advocacy. Keith to update work plan and present at the August meeting. Unanimous thanks from the group to Don for this work! Chair Nominations: Keith’s four-month term as chair is coming to an end and next chair and chair elect was discussed. Sam Swanson moved to nominate Tim Perrin as our next chair. Keith Epstein seconded. After discussion the move was tabled until next month. Next steps: Keith to reach out to Tim. Next Meeting. August 8th, 6:30 pm, South Burlington Police Station’s 2nd floor conference room at 19 Gregory Drive (middle entrance). Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:35 p.m.