Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-28-SLC-minSustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of February 28, 2023 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of at least eight was present throughout. Members Present: Cindy Arens (chair), Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Lin Jensen, Andy Joynt, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss, Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Staff Present: Maggie Peard Other Attendees: Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Joe Pato (Select Board), Wendy Manz (SPRD Committee), Betsey Weiss (SPRD Committee), Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Ricki Pappo (LexCAN), Atreyi Basu (SustainabLY), Melissa Battite (Recreation staff), Rick DeAngelis (Recreation Committee), Michael Boudett, Sallye Bleiberg, Tom Shiple, Barbara Katzenberg, Jeanne Krieger, Tina McBride, Nancy Sofen, Ingrid Klimoff, Gerry Paul, Christian Boutwell The meeting was called to order at 6:03 pm. Cindy referenced the opening statement requested by the Town Clerk and all members present responded that they could hear. Approval of past meeting minutes. The draft minutes of January 24 and February 10, 2023, were approved as written. Comments from residents; emails to committee mailbox; new business. •Charlie mentioned the public workshop being run by the group sponsoring the Statement of Concern for Lexington’s Trees on Thursday, March 2 at 7 pm. •Paul brought up the need for a new Community Aggregation contract later this year. Joe explained that the Select Board took it up and signed a new contract today, with rates of $13.081/kwh for basic service and $13.998 for New England Green, with no change in the percentage of Class I RECs. Paul expressed disappointment with the lack of consultation with SLC. The committee briefly discussed that the role of the SLC in reviewing these types of contracts is in the SLC’s charter and the topic should be added to a future meeting to discuss how best to ensure that the SLC is in the loop in the future. .1 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of February 28, 2023 SustainabLY update. Atreyi explained that they have been drafting material about SustainabLY and the Sustainable Lexington Committee for their Cary Library display. Maggie mentioned that she will be holding a focus group with SustainabLY for the climate action plan. ATM 2023 - Special Permit Residential Development zoning proposal. Charles used a PowerPoint presentation to walk the committee through some of the history and substance of the proposal before Town Meeting to rewrite the Special Permit Residential Development (SPRD) portion of the Zoning Bylaw. A lengthy discussion followed, with questions focusing on: •the inclusionary percentage, with a concern that 15% is too low; •the 15% market rate GFA bonus and the potential to create even larger dwelling units in Site Sensitive Developments; •the nature of site plan review and the Planning Board’s latitude or lack thereof in conditioning and denying a project, particularly with the change from special permit to as-of-right; •the concern about creating pockets of density far from transit routes, major roads, and walking access to retail; •the lack of tree protection in the proposal and whether there will be additional tools to prevent the kind of wholesale loss of trees as at 69 Pleasant; •whether particular projects and developers are teed up and to what extent they were consulted to assess viability; and •the relationship of these options to Open Space Residential Development (OSRD), and whether there should be common open space requirements as there are with OSRD. Wendy explained that the intention was never to undercut OSRD, just to provide a series of additional models for a developer to consider rather than defaulting to a conventional subdivision. She thanked the committee for its input. Charles explained that the SPRD committee is meeting the next morning and will be considering changes to the proposed language being presented to Town Meeting. Sustainability & Resilience Officer updates: •Waste Reduction Task Force. Maggie reported that the Zero Waste Plan was presented to the Select Board. They provided feedback and an updated plan will be presented in a couple of months. The new waste-hauling contract has not yet been signed; town counsel is reviewing it and the waste reduction task force is considering some provisions to allow flexibility as the town explores options for reducing waste in the next few years. The Select Board designated enough ARPA funding to underwrite curbside compost pick-up for 2,000 homes, including any currently using Black Earth who decide to enroll in the fee-free pilot. Lin recommended that once it’s fully subscribed, the town keep a wait list to gauge the level of demand for an .2 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of February 28, 2023 expanded program. Maggie also mentioned that the grant application to EPA for $1 million would allow a significant expansion of the program. There is also a fee under discussion for EL Harvey’s curbside removal of bulky items; the Select Board will vote on it on March 27. •BEU-D. Maggie has communicated with all affected property owners about the process; some have already connected through the portfolio manager. She will be presenting an update to the Select Board in late March. •Heat pump promotion program with Abode. Maggie reported no major updates; about 45 residents have signed up and advisors are reporting positive feedback. •Climate and Resilience Plan. Maggie reported that 35 stakeholders met at the first meeting of the combined task force and the team is revising the goals based on feedback. They are planning focus groups. The suggestion was made to have one session open to the public at large; one suggestion was to do it under the auspices of LexCAN. •ATM 2023 - Article to adopt municipal opt-in specialized building code. Maggie explained that there might be a slight change in the motion in order to properly reference the 10- community pilot program. •10 Communities FFF demonstration project. We are waiting for regulations to be issued by the state, and hoping they arrive in the next few weeks in time for this Town Meeting. Maggie is working with the Building Department to be ready for both the specialized code and the ten communities pilot program. ATM 2023 - Artificial Turf - working group with Recreation and Health, review/ discuss statement. Cindy reported that the Recreation Committee is holding an information session tomorrow evening and the working group will meet Friday. Rick DeAngelis said that the Recreation Committee appreciated the opportunity to learn of our concerns. Tracer Lane Private Solar Farm Development proposal - review/discuss statement to Planning Board. The committee reviewed and unanimously approved the letter to the Planning Board that Charlie prepared with help from Todd, Rick, and Dan. It was agreed to cc the Select Board. ATM 2023 - Police Station Solar. Todd, Dan, and Mark reported. The HDC voted in support of the back canopy but wants to see the finish details. They voted against the canopy along the entrance drive from Mass. Ave, but it is unclear whether that is a final vote. Mark walked the committee through an analysis of cash flow for the solar and solar plus batteries. Cash flow is positive just for the solar component (about $20K/year), but much more so with batteries added (around $100K/year) because of reductions in peak demand charges and other incentives, at all scenario levels (low, medium, and high) for various assumptions. Beyond the economics, batteries make the police station more resilient in the case of outages. .3 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of February 28, 2023 Considerable discussion followed, including questions about the operational cost (low) and life expectancy (est. 42 years) of the batteries; the impact of utility usage with demand management (utility allowed only 60 cycles/year, which the Town can refuse); and ability to recharge from the grid (yes).; Additional comment included: it’s important to design above net zero whenever we can because of limitations at some sites; Select Board hearing opposition from some neighbors, particularly those on Sherman St. who are concerned about the rear canopy; we should send this to the PBC and high school building committee as the points apply to future building projects as well. It was agreed that a strong statement of support to the Select Board would be helpful; the task of drafting the statement was assigned to Dan, and he can request help from two other members of the committee without running afoul of the open meeting law (Dan and Mark will assist). It was then unanimously voted to authorize such a statement of support, making the following points: SLC strongly endorses both the rear and side canopies for their emissions-reduction and financial benefits; because solar opportunities at some sites will be limited, the town should seek above net zero whenever possible; the project should include batteries both for their substantial financial benefit and for resilience; and solar and batteries should be designed into a project from the start to achieve maximum benefit. MassSave audits, weatherization, heat pump upgrades for multi-family condos, including LMI residents. Cindy reported on the work with LexHAB on weatherization and installation of heat pumps at no cost because of Mass Save. She explained that some of those units are at Emerson Gardens, an older complex with a mix of owner-occupied and rental units, some low income, which are still on oil heat. This will be a good test case for how to do complicated retrofits. Integrated Building Construction and Design Policy update progress. Todd and Celis reported that our comments were sent on to the PBC, and at some point SLC and PBC will need to finalize the draft for forwarding to the Select Board and School Committee. The urgency may be less since the bid package for contractors for high school design may not be going out soon. The draft was sent to the high school building committee. Solar gap analysis. Dan, Paul, and Todd are working on a spreadsheet providing a top-down look at electricity demand as of today, and if all buildings and transportation were electrified. They hope to have something ready to share at the committee’s next meeting. Statements for Town Meeting. Cindy noted some work might be needed to prepare possible position statements on the turf and zoning articles for SLC to consider at our next meeting. We agreed to meet on the 21st. .4 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of February 28, 2023 Next Meeting: The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee will be held at 6 pm on March 21, 2023. The committee voted to adjourn at 9:40 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman .5