2021-04-27-SLC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of April 27, 2021 Committee members were supportive, suggesting that it be a stretch goal that creates momentum for our work while being realistic about the additional work and cost it will require. ICLEI may provide technical help on whatever project we choose. Stella is also using the ICLEI emissions inventory tool to assess the Town's emissions (this is an agenda item later in the meeting). As part of this effort, Stella is planning to develop an update to the Town's Sustainable Action Plan. Her plan is to involve a broad range of stakeholders in the development of the plan including representatives from the Sustainable Lexington Committee. This plan will include elements from the Sustainable Action Plan, the Getting to Net Zero Plan, input from additional stakeholders, etc. The need for community involvement was stressed. • Stella mentioned that it may be appropriate to review the Sustainable Lexington Committee charter to better align the charter with the responsibilities of the Sustainability Director. There was a brief discussion regarding the charter. In response to a comment about the past focus of the committee, Todd commented that sustainability (as defined in the Sustainable Action Plan) covers a range of topic and when determining where to focus, the committee has prioritized those areas that are not already being covered by other Town departments or committees. For example, there are existing committees focused solely on transportation but none on building energy—so the Sustainability Committee has prioritized working on building energy. • Sustainable Action Plan priorities. Stella would like to fine tune the draft list of priorities she assembled from her meetings with the sector teams. Todd reminded us of the criteria for setting priorities we used in a previous round: impact, how much control Town government has, and ease of implementation. It was also suggested that we focus on areas that other Town committees are not, while supporting their efforts where they are active. Stella asked that committee members provide her with suggested edits to the memo before the next meeting, when the committee will be asked to vote its approval. • DPU allows an "operational adder" of up to $0.001 cent/kWh in Community Aggregation plans, which can be used to fund energy-related positions and programming. This requires an amendment to our aggregation plan and DPU approval. Some interest was expressed but also hesitancy; it was suggested that there should be a correlation between money taken in and savings those projects generate back to the community. Stella will talk further with Paul Gromer and report back about options we might consider. • Stella has received a number of inquiries about summer internships/volunteers; if anyone has an opportunity and need for one, please let her know. Rick mentioned that he also sometimes has students looking for summer internships. 4. Update on Sunwealth's Residential (low-income) Community Solar Opportunity. Stella reported that there was a meeting with the Town's legal team. Their conclusions were that they are comfortable with us updating the Town website to explain what community solar is, along with a list of the opportunities, but not with us recommending a particular vendor. The Town can send a mailer to educate the public and can share a list of income-eligible residents with Sunwealth, but they cannot use our logo or describe the Town as a partner. There was encouragement for involving LexHAB and/or the Housing Authority in educating income- eligible residents about this program. 2.