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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-22-SLC-min 1. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of March 22, 2022 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of nine was present throughout. Members Present: Cindy Arens, Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Archana Dayalu, Lin Jensen, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss (Chair), Charlie Wyman Members Absent: None Staff Present: None Other Attendees: Joe Pato (Select Board), Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Tanay Dalmia, Robert Peters (Planning Board), Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Mary Hutton (Mothers Out Front), Ricki Pappo (LexCAN), Jeanne Krieger, Marcia Gens, Mike Boudett (Capital Expenditures), Eloise Laurence, Sophie Culpepper, Hien Nguyen, Janet Kern The meeting was called to order at 6:02 pm. Todd referenced the opening statement requested by the Town Clerk, and all members present responded that they could hear. Approval of minutes. The minutes of February 22 were approved as written. (Lin abstaining) Comments from residents; New business. • Cindy congratulated the folks who worked on the successful Question 1 campaign. • Todd noted that email messages are occasionally sent to the committee, and he will make a practice of checking regularly and distributing them as appropriate for response. Jeri Foutter invited a member to be liaison to the Housing Partnership Board and Cindy expressed a willingness to serve. Staff updates: Eloise Laurence, our Sustainability Intern from Antony, our sister city in France, introduced herself. She has been here since January, has a degree in political science, and is working on sustainability projects (finding new electric equipment and vehicles; new IPM plan; green business certification) with DPW until Maggie is on board full-time. Articles for ATM to consider for a committee position: Article 7: Climate Action Plan (CAP) funding: Cindy brought the committee up to speed on planning for the Climate Action Plan. Hien asked if the zero waste plan can become part of CAP. Todd explained that Maggie’s focus is to use the process to get more interaction with and support Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of March 22, 2022 2. from town staff for these initiatives; it is more about building consensus than creating new content. Rick noted that there was a CAP that preceded the Sustainable Action Plan [Note: that CAP was never approved for use]. That CAP and was narrower in scope than the SAP and really just a subset of it. After further discussion, it was unanimously voted the committee supports the article providing funding for the CAP, but with the understanding that the CAP will act as a subset and in support of the Sustainable Action Plan. Article 35: Open Space Residential Developments. Robert Peters explained that that the article narrowly lost at November town meeting, and the Planning Board is bring it back to keep up the momentum on housing. The article’s purpose is to encourage a greater diversity of housing types, to increase the supply of housing including affordable housing, and to encourage preservation of open land and historic structures. There have been a few changes since November, including the requirements that the tract must be at least 70,000 square feet in area, the number of units cannot exceed five times the number of lots shown on the proof plan, and the open land requirements shall be reduced by two times the site coverage of any historic structures (to encourage the latter’s preservation). There followed a lengthy discussion, including questions about: whether it will create pockets of density far from transit routes and retail districts; enacting this before Lexington Next is complete; concern that the bylaw is being presented for passage before the regulations are drafted, which would ideally be offered at the same time - leaving a great deal of discretion to the Planning Board; why more sustainability language wasn’t incorporated, particularly regarding fossil fuel combustion; concern that the affordable units will be concentrated in the historic structures, which may be less healthy than new construction; and that there is insufficient impact on sustainability issues for the committee to take a position. In the end, the consensus of the committee was that it will not take a position on the article. (Joe noted that his takeaway from the committee’s decision is that in the committee’s opinion there is not a substantial impact, plus or minus, on sustainability.) Concept plan for solar canopies at the Police Station and the Hosmer House. Mark Connor, an architect and associate member of the Historic Districts Commission, explained that he was asked to look at the potential for keeping the Hosmer House on the site and incorporating it into an overall, integrated design that offers multiple benefits. He has been reaching out to other public entities for their feedback and support. After his presentation several committee members expressed their support for the concept and gratitude to Mark and his team. There was a discussion about how to express our support in a way that doesn’t undercut either the committee’s desire to see additional solar canopies behind the new police station so that the building and site will be net zero, or our desire to see the canopies constructed as part of the police station construction and not as an add-on afterwards. After further discussion, it was voted unanimously that Todd Rhodes be authorized to write a letter to the HDC and the Select Board expressing the committee’s appreciation for the hard work and creativity of this team, our belief that this is a viable and productive direction to Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of March 22, 2022 3. explore; and endorsing the Select Board’s process of working through design options for solar with the ultimate goal of bringing a proposal for a net-zero project to Town Meeting in the fall. SustainabLY update: Tanay explained that they have not had a chance to talk to library staff yet about their proposal for a display, and that there is nothing else new to report at this time. Updates on ATM Articles Previously Considered: BEU-D: Todd explained that the request for funding is being removed as it is running into difficulty for a number of reasons and isn’t essential to the proposal, and that the imposition of fines will be delayed for two years. The committee unanimously adopted a motion expressing support for moving forward with the revised BEU-D proposal as developed by the BEU-D working group and explained to the committee this evening. Zero Waste Resolution: Hien explained that they are considering striking the deadline for development of the plan, which is causing concern. It was noted that the town’s contract for waste hauling expires in June 2023 and the town needs to issue an RFP by late October. Any plan clearly won’t be finished by then, but that doesn’t preclude some of these concepts (particularly town-wide organics pick-up) being incorporated into the RFP. Cindy offered to write a statement for Town Meeting expressing our support for the resolution, as voted at our last meeting. Police Station Funding: We took a position at the previous SLC joint meeting with the Permanent Building Committee that the town move into construction documents with the understanding that the design phase will include solar. Bike/Pedestrian Plan: Archana explained that she has been meeting with the Bicycle Advisory Committee about what should be in the plan, and is developing a letter that the SLC may be asked to sign. Celis returned to the police station discussion, expressing his desire that net zero be defined in relation to plug load and that the committee and town be explicit in terms of what is expected for the solar component, with reference to the Integrated Building Design and Construction Policy. A discussion with Dan ensued that will continue offline. High School. Cindy raised the question of whether we need to be involved in early planning for the high school. There was widespread agreement that we should, and that we should be participating in the small planning team that the Town Manager is assembling. After further discussion, the committee adopted unanimously a motion that, with respect to a new or renovated high school, steps be taken to implement the goals of the Integrated Building Design and Construction policy, and more specifically, that a representative of this committee be on the planning committee now being assembled. Upcoming Events: Ricki reported that there are several events in the near future relevant to the work of this committee that we should know about: the Carbon Countdown this Saturday being Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of March 22, 2022 4. organized by Sustainable Middlesex; the April 13 program “The Forests and the Trees: The Climate Solutions in Your Own Backyard”; and the May 14 Earth Day All Over Town event being organized by LexCAN. At Ricki’s request the committee voted unanimously to co-sponsor the Carbon Countdown and All Over Town events. Next Meeting: The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee will be held at 6 pm on April 26, 2022. The committee voted to adjourn at 9:26 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman