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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-27-SLC-min Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of April 27, 2021 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of between five and seven was present throughout. Members Present: Cindy Arens, Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss (chair), Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Archana Dayalu Other Attendees: Stella Carr (Sustainability Director), Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Ricki Pappo (GWAC), Brennan Luscombe (AMP Energy), Nicholas Topping (AMP Energy), Lin Jensen (resident); Vicki Blier (Noise Advisory Committee), Tina McBride (resident), Mary Hutton (Mothers Out Front), Marcia Gens (resident), Jeff Rhodin (resident), Ricki Pappo (LexGWAC), Byron Woodman (Solect Energy) The meeting was called to order at 6:08 pm. Todd referenced the opening statement requested by the Town Clerk, and all members and staff present responded that they could hear. 1. Minutes. The minutes of April 8 were approved as written. 2. Comments from residents; new business. Vicki Blier of the Noise Advisory Committee informed the committee of the growing trend to restrict or ban gas-powered leaf blowers around the country based on environmental concerns (not just noise) and expressed her hope that Sustainable Lexington will join the Noise Advisory Committee in their efforts educate the community about the issues and to support the proposed bylaw. Todd mentioned that the Sustainable Lexington Committee did support the proposed bylaw and during the discussion of the bylaw emphasized the environmental risks including: air emissions, generating particulate from blowing dirt, and operator exposure to emissions, vibrations, and noise. He recommended that the Noise Advisory Committee get on the committee's agenda at a future meeting to discus the issue further. 3. Sustainability Director's Report. Stella reviewed some of the highlights from her report; see her written report for additional details. • She has received 27 applications from high school students for the two youth positions on SustainabLY. Very encouraging. • Stella described the Cities Race to Zero program, led by CDP (a non-profit promoting the Carbon Disclosure Project) and ICLEI(International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives), that is recruiting cities to make commitments to reduce emissions in advance of COP26 this fall. Participation involves making a pledge to reach net zero in the 2040s or sooner, and to choose a specific project on which to begin implementation in the next year. 1. 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. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of April 27, 2021 5. Update on AMP's Solar Alternative On-Bill Credit(AOBQ Opportunity. • Brennan Luscombe walked the committee through their analysis of remaining solar capacity on public buildings and property in town. Their figures suggest that even if this solar capacity were fully developed, the energy being provided by the AMP project would only consume half of the remaining, available capacity. Potential savings were described, and some details of the analysis were discussed. • Marcia and Charlie expressed concern that the Sandwich project is a greenfield development, with almost I I acres to be clearcut for the solar array and argued that we should not be subsidizing greenfield developments while there remain many impervious surfaces and degraded sites that could be developed. Others on the committee expressed sympathy but also an openness to consider tree loss. • The project will be revisited at the May meeting. Prior to that meeting, AMP will provide data that they used to complete their analysis of the remaining, available capacity and Stella will work with Town staff to review that analysis and add other potential projects (e.g., full, efficient use of the compost facility) in order to develop the Town's view of the remaining capacity. 6. Update on Fire Station Solar Project. Byron Woodman of Solect Energy walked the committee through two options for a solar array on the fire station (with and without front-facing panels visible from Bedford St.), and various options for how we might partner with Solect, including Solect's construction, financing, and operation of the array for its life, and Town options to purchase the array after a period of years. The next steps would be to enter into contract negotiations with Anderson & Kreiger and the signing of a Letter of Intent. Discussion followed about the merits of the financing and option-to-purchase options. The committee voted in favor of including the front-facing panels in the project(5 in favor, none opposed, with one abstention), while recognizing that some negotiation with the Historic Districts Commission may be necessary. 7. Review draft of proposed Sustainable Landscaping Standards. Charlie explained that an independent group with members from Sustainable Lexington, the Conservation Commission, and the Tree Committee has been working since the fall on site development and landscaping standards for the Hartwell Innovation Park. Despite Article 45's postponement, Planning staff would like to move ahead with regulations that incorporate new landscaping standards at least for Hartwell and possibly other major commercial zones in town (Hayden Ave., Cranberry Hill). The draft standards require certifiability at the Gold level under the SITES rating system, as well as compliance with some Lexington-specific standards. Next steps are incorporation of the standards into draft Planning Board regulations and then further reality-testing with some developers and landscape design firms. 8. Plan for update of the Town's emissions report based on recent data from Peregrine Energy. Stella reported that she is reformatting the town's emissions model into the ICLEI format and seeking updated data from utilities, transportation vendors, and others, with the goal of using the ICLEI format going forward. Cindy expressed interest in working on this with Stella and noted the importance of making sure that results are comparable from year to year. Todd also 3. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of April 27, 2021 expressed interest in contributing. He reviewed recent trends, noting that while Community Choice has made a significant difference in town-wide emissions, most other steps have had a very modest impact. Ricki and Cindy noted that if we are not making sufficient progress towards our goals, this will help make the case that we need to do more. Stella will inquire as to whether she can provide Cindy with access to the Town's ICLEI account. Next Meeting: The next regularly scheduled meeting of Sustainable Lexington is at 6 pm on May 25, 2021. The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman 4.