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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-26-SLC-min RECEIVED 2022 22 i Mamy &24 aiiiiii 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. 2. 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 3.