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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-01-28-SLC-min (2) Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of January 28, 2020 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held in the Hudson Room of Cary Hall. A quorum of seven was present. Members Present: Cindy Arens, Paul Chernick, Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss (chair), Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Celis Brisbin Other Attendees: Ricki Pappo (Lexington GWAC), Archana Dayalu, Mary Hutton (Mothers Out Front), Jeffrey Rhodin, Mark Sandeen (Select Board) The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm. 1. Public Comments. • Archana Dayalu introduced herself(PhD in atmospheric chemistry, earlier focused on GHG, now including air quality and co-benefits of GHG reductions) and expressed interest in the work of the committee. • Ricki Pappo asked if the SLC was recommending that the zoning article that the Planning Board is considering (which would relax zoning restrictions on solar installations) be focused only on commercial districts this year, not residential. Dan replied that we had not made that recommendation (Note: the SLC voted to support the proposed changes to the bylaws as drafted at our meeting on July 8, 2019); one or more committee members will be attending the hearing, and the committee will see what emerges from the hearing process and further recommendations, as appropriate. • Jeffrey Rhodin (32 Lincoln Street) introduced himself, and explained that he had a business focused on energy-conscious construction that he has sold, and he is attending this evening to learn more about the SLC and to express his interest in getting involved in some way. 2. Other Announcements. • Regarding Fermata's offer from the last meeting, the consensus is that it's not at all obvious that it's an opportunity that makes sense, and we agreed not to promote it to the Select Board. Todd will write a note to Fermata declining the offer. • Todd mentioned that at the previous night's Select Board meeting, the Town Manager mentioned that he had placed an unspecified amount of money in the budget for the Sustainability Director to work with. 1. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of January 28, 2020 • Todd mentioned that Joelle Gunther had expressed interest in promoting composting and had planned to come, but is ill. Marcia has reached out to her. • Rick announced that he is working with other towns to encourage MAPC to issue a contract that towns can use to purchase electric landscaping equipment; the current state contract can't be reopened for two years and with the field rapidly evolving, there are now more and better options available than what can be purchased through the state contract. 3. Sustainable Lexington 2020 Priorities. Todd and Dan provided background for the discussion about the priorities to be presented to the Select Board this spring. • Discussion focused first on whether to restructure any of the sectors. There is considerable overlap between sectors, which is unavoidable. It was decided to move toxics to the Public Health sector, out of Waste. • The committee then proceeded to hear reports and to discuss, sector by sector, priorities for 2020. Some sectors suggested revising the wording of the sector's goal. • Following the review, there was considerable discussion about what to present to the Select Board. What do we want to communicate to them? What format would be most productive? These summaries will be timely in informing the new Sustainability Director, likely to start sometime in February, with a plan or roadmap for the committee's focus in 2020. • It was agreed that the priorities presented to the Select Board will fall into three categories: 1. the 4-6 ideas or projects with the highest impact and probability of success where their help will be needed to achieve the goal (approval, funds, active engagement); 2. other priorities that they should be aware of and where their engagement might at some point be helpful; and 3. other activities the committee plans for the year, so that they're aware of our plans. • The committee tentatively identified several projects as falling into the first category. • Dan suggested that an extended meeting is needed to really dig into the sectors, explore the ideas fully, make sure the plans are as strong as possible, internally consistent, realistic and achievable. • It was agreed that the committee will meet again on February 4, and that by Monday, each sector will prepare a spreadsheet identifying long-term goals, strategies, 2020 priorities, etc., along the lines of what was prepared for the Land Use and Natural Environment sector. At the next meeting, we will dig into one of the sectors in detail and model the discussion we hope to have for all the sectors at a special meeting, to be held soon on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon. 2. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of January 28, 2020 Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee will be on Tuesday, February 4 at 7 pm. The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman 3.