2023-11-28-SLC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of November 28, 2023 Hanscom Expansion: Cindy provided background on the proposed Hanscom expansion and explained that the Select Board supported ARPA funding for a contribution to a Hanscom area air pollution study. Rick explained the context of a scoping document, pointing out that the Hanscom document is deficient in focusing on aircraft ferrying but not the overall increase in traffic, and failing to assess the expansion’s impact on the state’s climate goals, air pollution, etc. This is our chance to argue for a delay until the impacts are thoroughly understood, calling attention to what will be a deficient EIR. Todd asked who will be writing the town’s response to the eventual DEIR, and Cindy and Rick volunteered. It was moved, seconded, and voted unanimously (with one abstention) to send the attached memo to the Select Board with an added note offering our assistance in evaluating the DEIR and preparing a response. Sustainability and Resilience Officer Discussion and Updates: •BEU-D: Maggie presented the BEU-D data from the website, both the summary and the interactive map. She noted that compliance this first year was 84% and that fees for noncompliance begin in 2024. Maggie was thanked and congratulated for all her hard work. Cindy pointed out that Lexington is the first town (not city) in the state to do this. •Resilient Lexington and Resolution Framework: These have been approved by the Select Board and we now move into implementation. Maggie is exploring methods for tracking progress and how to make data more publicly accessible and tied to the Resilient Lexington plan; she is hoping for a UNH fellow (a graduate student) to help with this next summer. The Select Board has said that one of their top five priorities will be the transition to 100% renewable energy and the electrification of all energy usage throughout town, and has proposed a number of high priority actions by the Board. •High Performance Building Policy: Maggie reported that she is presenting the policy to the Select Board for initial discussion on December 4 and will return on the 18th to ask for their formal approval. •Fossil-Fuel-Free Program: Maggie reported that DOER wants more information on the process load part of our application. •New Building Codes: Maggie noted that the new specialized code goes into effect on January 1. A training for the residential portion of the new stretch code, in two three-hour sessions, is being offered in the next two weeks in collaboration with Acton and Concord. Other Brief Updates: Police Station Solar and Storage: Dan reported on a meeting with Mike Cronin and his team on design of the solar and storage that identified some issues to be worked on. We are looking at storage coupled with the solar and two Level 3 chargers behind the meter (those used to charge police vehicles), with the other chargers – available to the public – in front of the meter. We’re .2