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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-04-24-SLC-minTown of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of April 24, 2012 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held on April 24, 2012 at Town Hall. A quorum of four was present. Members Present: Mark Sandeen, Chair Rick Abrams, Ken Moraff, Todd Rhodes Members Absent: None Other Attendees: George Burnell Rick Reibstein Dan Voss The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm. • Meeting minutes from March 27, 2012 were approved. • Mr. Sandeen presented several slides illustrating the increase in the level of extreme weather in our region. • Mr. Moraff provided an overview of the meeting that he and Mr. Rhodes held with John Livsey, Karen Mullins, and Maryann McCall - Taylor to discuss opportunities to employ "Green Infrastructure" projects to mitigate flooding risks associated with extreme storm events. o The Charles River Watershed study identified several Green Infrastructure opportunities and several others are expected to be identified in the Shawsheen Watershed study when it is published in about a month (the Mystic River Watershed study has not yet been initiated). o The DPW has a separate budget established for "hard" infrastructure (e.g., culverts, etc.) and has about $65,000 for projects that could include Green Infrastructure. o In addition to the projects identified in the watershed studies, the Town staff identified that other Green Infrastructure opportunities may include: ■ Center Streetscape: The Center Committee is developing plans for the Center. There may be Green Infrastructure opportunities in the parking lot by the depot, to the intersection at Massachusetts Avenue and Woburn Street (if changes are made to that area), and in the Center itself. ■ Bike Path: There are several areas along the bike path that are prone to flooding. Rain gardens may be an effective solution. Page 1 of 2 o Mr. Burnell is the Selectmen's liaison to the Center Committee. He recommended that the SLC meet with him and also with Pam Shadley, of the Center Committee (she is also a Landscape Architect). It would be important to coordinate with the Sidewalk Committee and the Historic District Committee. o Mr. Moraff will also contact Peggy Anders on the Bicycle Committee to discuss the idea of rain gardens along the bike path. • Better Buildings Program • Mr. Sandeen identified that Lee Cook at Capco has agreed to work with us to create a series of videos related to furnace and boiler upgrades. LexMedia will support the production of the videos. Filming is planned to begin on May 2. • A review of the aggregate data analysis identified that the commercial sector is larger than our original estimates. Mr. Rhodes offered to get back in touch with our contact at National Grid to discuss opportunities to reduce commercial/industrial energy efficiency programs. • Due in part to transitions to personnel at Next Step Living (NSL), our efforts to promote MassSave home energy assessments (HEAs) have slowed. We also have not received regular updates on the status of HEAs in Lexington. • NSL is planning to establish a program to provide ESCO -type services to homeowners that have the potential to save 30 -40% (or more) on their energy costs. NSL would install needed equipment (along with a power monitoring/ management system) and the homeowner would pay NSL a percentage of the savings. The Committee voted unanimously to support NSL in the conduct of a pilot program in Lexington to assess the feasibility of this service offering. The Committee voted unanimously to support the 300 Committee in its efforts to encourage residents to reduce the number of miles driven by Lexington residents by 3 million miles per year. The 300 Committee will ask residents to keep track of the number of miles they save by walking or bicycle riding instead of driving. The Committee voted unanimously to request support from Mass CEC (Clean Energy Center) to identify opportunities to increase the use of solar energy in town. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm Respectfully Submitted, Todd Rhodes, Scribe Page 2 of 2