HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-26-SLC-min RECEIVED
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Sustainable Lexington Committee "roWN CLERK
Minutes of Meeting of October 26, 2021 L E I N G"r"O M
A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC)was held by Zoom conference. A
quorum of six was present throughout.
Members Present: Cindy Arens, Paul Chernick, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-
chair), Dan Voss (Chair), Charlie Wyman
Members Absent: Celis Brisbin, Archana Dayalu
Staff Present: Stella Carr
Other Attendees: Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Ram Reddy (Bicycle Advisory
Committee), Shawn Newell (DPF), Peggy Enders (formerly Bicycle
Advisory Committee), Martha Duffield (Chief Equity Officer), Mary
Hutton (Mothers Out Front), Ricki Pappo (LexCAN), Jeanne Krieger,
Tanay Dalmia, Michelle Wu
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm. Todd referenced the opening statement requested by
the Town Clerk, and all members present responded that they could hear.
Approval of minutes: The draft minutes of September 28, 2021, were approved as written.
Comments from residents, New business: Ricki noted that at the two street fairs she attended
recently in Lexington, HomeWorks staff were incorrectly telling people that heat pumps are
insufficient alone in our climate and can't keep a house warm when the temperature outside
drops below 20 deg F. Stella is meeting with them tomorrow, and Dan will join her, and they
will talk to them about this inaccurate information.
Todd, on behalf of the committee, thanked Stella for her service as Lexington's first
Sustainability Director and told her we will all miss her. There was a round of applause.
Discussion of Bicycle Advisory Committee request for a study of protected bikeways in town.
Peggy Enders explained that the Bicycle Advisory Committee, in concert with the Greenways
Corridor Committee and Transportation Advisory Committee, have renewed their request to the
Select Board for a bicycle and pedestrian master plan for the town to make those modes of
transportation safer. Members of the committee agreed we are in support of this request, and
Todd will send an email to that effect.
Fire Station Solar Project—Update and discussion.
Shawn Newell of the Department of Public Facilities joined us for this discussion. He first
explained that Eversource is making it difficult for Ameresco to add batteries to the solar
Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of October 26, 2021
projects at every site but Hastings, already denying several and threatening to put others into
"study" mode which will entail a long delay. Their concern seems to be that the battery may
discharge at the same time that the solar panels are at their generating peak, which simply won't
happen. We may need a bigger conversation to make progress; Shawn recommended that we
finish these projects and then look for help. Mark noted that in 2016 we hired Eversource's own
consultant on interconnections to deal with another problem, and that worked well in changing
Eversource's position. Shawn will organize a meeting with Ameresco as a next step.
As for the main fire station solar array: the Town has issued a Request for Qualifications
and received three responses for systems much larger than anticipated; a new invitation for bid
will go out Thursday, with additional details. Westview and the new Police Station are next.
Sustainability Director's Report and transition discussion. Stella explained that Martha Duffield
will be attending committee meetings as the staff liaison and main staff contact on the climate
action plan. Martha introduced herself and described her engineering background. Cindy asked
about CAP; Stella replied that the first phase is fully funded from last fiscal year's budget, and
the next phase will need either a grant or Town Meeting appropriation. Todd asked about the job
description, which Martha has provided feedback on and should be posted soon. Dan will reach
out to Jim Malloy to express the committee's interest in having a role in the hiring process.
Stella expressed her hope that SustainabLY won't drop to the bottom of the priority list
and atrophy; it was agreed their involvement in CAP would be very useful.
Stella has applied for a Green Communities grant to fund work with Abode on outreach
about heat pumps.
Stella will touch base with Paul Gromer regarding outreach on community choice. We
are still waiting for the new EV chargers to be installed. Cindy asked about the reception of the
EV and procurement policies. Rick asked about the status of any ongoing toxic use reduction
efforts. Stella replied that it is still on DPW's radar. Todd asked whether the EV policy got to the
School Committee. There is apparently some confusion about whether it applies to the cars the
School Department typically leases; Todd will follow up.
Stella thanked us for the opportunity and enjoyed the experience, and wished us success.
Procurement policy— discussion of any needed updates prior to sending it to the Select Board.
Todd walked us through the Sustainable Procurement Policy. Some tinkering was requested
before, and he wanted to revisit it before moving it forward. The committee voted unanimously
to endorse/recommend it to the SB and to offer our assistance in implementation. Todd will run
it by Liz again, then to Kelly to get it on the SB agenda as soon as practical.
Update on Building_ Energy nergy Use Disclosure (BEU-D) Spring Town Meeting Article. The
proposal was presented to EDAC last week, but they did not have a quorum and so did not take a
position. At the meeting some support was expressed, but also the need to show how this will be
managed administratively. Stella suggested looking into outsourcing like Cambridge does. Some
discussion followed regarding whether energy use information could be obtained directly from
the utilities.
It was noted with appreciation that the BEU-D acronym was suggested by Rick.
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of October 26, 2021
Update on EV School Bus Feasibility project. The bid document for school bus services just
went out October 25; Todd has not yet seen the language, but it supposedly includes the
language the EV bus working group prepared, asking bidders to communicate how much they
would bid if the town provided electric buses and all the maintenance and charging. The second
part of the RFP is for electric school buses themselves. The contract would begin in the summer
of 2022, and EV buses would start to be incorporated into the fleet in 2023.
Update on the Police Station. Dan reported that the next PBC meeting will be critical to keep the
project moving forward for spring town meeting. We are hoping for an opportunity to
incorporate the solar into construction, rather than as an add-on afterwards.
Update on zoning articles and Hartwell/Bedford development. Discussions and positions on
expected Special Town Meeting warrant articles.
• Ricki suggested that Sustainable Lexington should present a report in favor of each
article it supports, so as to get TM used to hearing from us. Mary suggested we check
with Joe about the opportunity to put a report before TM.
• Todd is available to comment to the Planning Board at their hearing on Nov, 3 regarding
our support of Article 17. Will EDAC take a position before TM? Cindy thinks yes.
Please ask TM members to support the article.
• Regarding Article 10 (leaf blowers), Todd will ask Joe about our ability to report our
endorsement of that as well.
• Ricki noted that in combining the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and permitting articles,
it appears that the sustainability intent was watered down, with language regarding the
impact on ecosystems removed; she has suggested to the Planning Board that they divide
the article in two.
• Jeanne noted that regarding the open space residential design article, Mark and Joe
announced they will vote against it. They believe too much is being given away in
creating a significant as-of-right benefit without getting much in the way of sustainability
in return.
Re-Discovery Day Debrief. Todd reported that he thought the flyers from Peregrine he handed
out,promoting aggregation, were poorly designed with too much detailed text; we need to work
with them on better communications.
Next Meeting: The next regularly scheduled meeting of Sustainable Lexington is at 6 pm on
November 23, 2021.
The committee voted to adjourn at 8:57.
Respectfully submitted,
Charlie Wyman
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