HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-06-22-SLC-minSustainable Lexington Committee
Minutes of Meeting of June 22, 2023
A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A
quorum of at least five was present throughout.
Members Present: Cindy Arens (chair), Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Lin Jensen, Andy
Joynt, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair)
Members Absent: Dan Voss, Charlie Wyman
Staff Present: Maggie Peard
Other Attendees: Atreyi Basu (SustainabLY), Dora Liao (SustainabLY), , Charles
Hornig (Planning), Marcia Gens, Ricki Pappo, Mark Sandeen (Select
Board)
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm. Cindy 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 May 23, 2023, were approved as written.
Comments from residents; emails to committee mailbox; new business.
•Cindy will respond to an emailed question about the new waste hauling contract.
•Rick described discussions by residents related to enforcement of the gas powered leaf
blower noise bylaw. Todd added that Mark Sandeen and Doug Lucente are evaluating options
for improved enforcement.
SustainabLY update: Atreyi said that this will be the last update for the year. Maggie added that
they received 31 applications for the open eight positions for next year. Dora said that they plan
to meet again in August to get ready for the new year.
Andy and Ricki discussed getting SustainabLY involved in the October/November Energy Fair.
Sustainability & Resilience Officer presentation and updates.
•High Performance Building Policy
o Maggie reported that she and Mike Cronin met with Jim Malloy to review the current
draft and to identify what groups would make up the stakeholder group (e.g.,
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Appropriations and Capital Expenditures). They plan to present the policy to the Select
Board and School Committee in the fall.
•BEU-D:
o Maggie reported that there are 117 buildings on the BEU-D list. Of these, 86 have
provided full reports, six have provided partial reports, and 25 have not provided reports
yet but half of those are working on it. She expects to have around 85% compliance in
this first year.
o Collecting water data was the most challenging part of the process because it was not
available for all building owners. Also, collecting data for condos and multi-tenant
buildings was challenging, but Eversource and National Grid were able to provide the
aggregated data for these buildings as anticipated.
o Maggie is spending about 40% of time on the effort right now during this data collection
time period, but reported that it has been a manageable amount of work.
o Some owners have asked about how the data will be used, but most were just focused on
providing the required information and completing the task.
•HeatSmart
o The program received a grant from the Community Endowment for Lexington (CEL) to
add more coaches and Maggie is actively recruiting for those positions now.
o Cindy asked whether data is being collected to track the performance of the program.
Maggie is sending a feedback form out to residents who participated in the program to
get feedback on contractors, whether residents moved forward with the
recommendations, etc. She reported that about 50% of the participating residents have
homes fueled with oil, and 30% use gas.
•Fossil-fuel Free Pilot:
o Maggie and Cindy are holding meetings with Town Counsel and representatives from
other priority towns to update the Town’s application and to share information with others
to have a consistent approach to the application process. Applications are due in
September.
•Launch of compost pilot:
o Maggie reported the good news that about 1,900 signups have been received for the 2,000
spots. The program starts on July 1. She also reported that the Town did not win the $1
million EPA grant intended to help to grow the program to cover the full town over 3
years. Ricki asked about the availability of other grants.
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o Todd raised a point (for future project consideration) that we would have learned more
about the challenges of town-wide implementation if the pilot involved 2,000 homes in
contiguous neighborhoods rather than 2,000 homes that already want to participate.
o Lin asked what happens if we don’t hit 2,000 by the deadline and Maggie commented
that more can be added later. Lin said that hopefully peer pressure will encourage more to
join and that other individuals will adopt the program once it is required town-wide.
o Cindy commented that the new waste hauler contract with Capital Waste starts on July 1.
!Maggie added that they will be using a manual truck (i.e., staffed with a driver and a
loader), but they have the ability to automate the trucks. Lin commented that the
state’s target for container size is 35 gallons. Todd added that the new contract
identifies at least 65 gallon containers are planned if they move to automated pickup.
!Celis asked about how charges from the hauler work for materials sorted for recycling
that end up being burned as trash. He added that it would be great to have an annual
report describing how the waste was processed in the past year. Cindy described how
the process worked under the old contract including the challenge of full traceability
when material is sold to third-parties.
!Rick commented that the program should include an education effort to move
residents toward source reduction.
•Climate Action Plan:
o Maggie reported that the third and final working group effort is in process and she
expects it to be done by the end of July or early August. The draft plan should be
completed by July 10 and feedback sent to KLA in mid-July. She is planning to arrange a
public forum in August and a final plan by end of August.
!Ricki commented that August is a slow time in Lexington and a tough time to get
feedback from residents and that September may be better. Maggie responded that
there are constraints due to the contractor, but that she could run an additional
feedback session in the fall.
o Ricki asked if there are data about the transition to heat pumps and Maggie replied that
there are estimates in the report.
o Todd asked whether updates to the emissions model have been made following Mark
Sandeen’s feedback. Maggie and Cindy confirmed that that had been done.
o Cindy added that the CAP is a living document and can change. She also recommended
that the CAP should be shared broadly with Town staff.
o Ricki asked who (beyond Maggie) is responsible for following the CAP and keeping us
on track – saying that it has to have buy-in from the Town. Maggie commented that it
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will be formally adopted by Select Board. Cindy added that there are “champions”
identified in the plan blueprints.
o Rick commented that the CAP should marketed to Town staff so that it is something that
staff want to be part of.
•Home Performance Contractor:
o Maggie reported that Arlington put out a formal RFP for home energy performance
support and, through that formal process, picked HomeWorks over Revise. She also has
received positive feedback on HomeWorks from the Sustainability Director in Melrose.
o Maggie will be looking into ways to improve the program with HomeWorks e.g., share
some information from Abode with HomeWorks to educate their energy specialists.
o The committee discussed working with HomeWorks. Celis recommended working on a
script for HomeWorks to use with Lexington residents to also promote CCA, HeatSmart,
composting, and other issues important to Lexington.
•Community Choice:
o Cindy commented that the New England Green rate is currently lower than Eversource
basic service and it might be a good time to encourage residents to transition to New
England Green and getting Economic Development involved in about reaching out to
local businesses to join the CCA program.
o Maggie added that another route to contact businesses is through the BEU-D list of
companies.
o Ricki commented that some other towns (Newton) have yard signs to “Up into New
England Green”.
Other Updates:
•Police Station Solar and Storage:
o Cindy provided the background on the project and reported that the Select Board
approved the original design with the Mass Ave Leg. The Historic Districts Commission
has not yet approved a Certificate of Appropriateness, but approved the basic design (i.e.,
Original Design with the Mass Ave Leg). While they will continue to consider aspects of
the design; the location, square footage, and basic structure are set. Mike Cronin has the
approvals that he needs to design and install footings this year.
•Integrated Building Design and Construction Policy.
o The policy was approved by the Select Board at last night’s meeting.
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o Cindy and Lin commented that in the future the policy should consider requiring net-
positive developments. Celis added that the policy says “maximize onsite solar” but there
are site-specific issues to consider. At Permanent Building Committee (PBC) meetings,
he emphasizes getting the most that we can out of each site and that solar provides a
financial benefit.
o The was a general discussion about the policy and Net Zero and how things like the red
list that had been a big challenge previously are now a best practice.
•EV school buses.
o Todd commented that Maggie’s and his current understanding is that the $350,000 for an
EV school bus is still available, but that he has not received confirmation from LPS.
•Brainstorming about solar
o Cindy introduced the discussion by asking: What do we think we could do to encourage
solar in new developments in town and adding solar to existing developments?
o Rick commented that Melrose is a great example. At earlier SLC meetings, his students
had presented the Melrose example of outreach to small businesses. Melrose helped the
small- and medium-sized businesses acquire solar for their properties. Also, the students
talked about partnering with large businesses to set up partnerships where the Town
would support the funding for the solar project and use the Town’s portion to create
community solar that is available to residents.
o Andy asked whether we have relationships with the building owners, particularly those
with a lot of property. Maggie said yes. There are a few larger companies like Boston
Properties.
o Rick added that in addition to the owners, it is good to get the tenants involved early in
the process: “solar for all”.
o Lin suggested that Town staff (Mike Cronin) could be a resource to smaller property
owners interested in installing solar, adding that the process can be confusing to people.
o Celis commented that installing solar is a risky decision for building owners because it’s
a 25 year commitment. If the town could build it and just lease the site from the private
company it might be a more favorable opportunity for the business. Sort of like the PACE
program.
o Mark added that PACE is set up to support solar. The value stays with the property, not
on the building owner’s balance sheet. The downside for solar is that we’re encouraging
heat pumps, so there’s not a lot of space for solar on the roofs for new developments.
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!Marcia asked whether canopies be put on roofs over heat pumps. Mark said yes, but
there are height restrictions. Cindy and Lin suggested that maybe that could be an
allowable use and not impact height.
o Rick suggested that the town could apply to put solar on the sound walls on Rt 128 since
that project has been slow. The highway department created the application process to
support those types of efforts. He does not know why people are not taking advantage of
it.
o Lin suggested that the Town engage a consultant to help move solar installations forward
and actively reach out to building owners and invest in solar. She thought that maybe
Mass CEC would support it.
o Lin suggested that there should be a zoning bylaw to require solar for new developments.
o Celis reminded the committee of the opportunity be an offtaker for the solar array
developed in Sandwich, MA and suggested that the town should consider future
opportunities. The town would lease the solar.
o Rick said it would be good if Lexington was an offtaker of solar on a brownfield site.
•Hanscom Airfield:
o Mark Sandeen provided the committee with background on the proposal to add hanger
space for private jets at Hanscom. The discussion included the following information:
!Currently, there are 125,000 flights per year. Hanscom is one of the largest airports of
its type in the country. The average jet flight into Hanscom is a 2.5 hour flight.
!Hanscom has released an RFP to build hangers over a ¾ mile stretch of the property
that would add 2.3x the current private jet hanger space. This would logically mean
an increase of 2.3x the number of current private jet flights.
•Andy asked whether the increase in hanger space necessarily meant that there
would be more flights. Mark replied that there is some argument that the hangers
will decrease “ferry” flights, but he expects that increased jets mean increased
flights.
o Mark walked through a presentation describing his estimates for emissions from Hansom
and the proposed increase in flights.
!Rick commented that in addition to CO2, the emissions are similar to diesel and
include toxics.
!Mark commented that Massport is working to get rid of piston aircraft, and move to
jets. Also, Cape Air is looking at buying Eviation Alice electric planes – limited to a
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250 range, which is effectively 150 miles. But this use represents a small portion of
the flights/emissions.
!Mark said that the surrounding towns are limited in what they can control at the air
field. The ability to limit hanger development is one of those things.
o Cindy proposed writing a letter to the Select Board with the committee’s recommendation
that the Board object to the installation of the new hangers.
!Rick suggested that the letter should include the impact on public health – disease and
asthma.
!Celis suggest that letter include concerns related to increased traffic and noise.
!Lin recommended that the letter speak up for the young residents who can’t vote and
would be affected by planned development.
!Rick suggested that the letter should emphasize the fact that these are private jets are
used by the super-rich economy and do not benefit average citizens.
!The key points of the letter reviewed during the meeting were:
•Massport and the developers of the North Airfield Development at Hanscom Field
are proposing 27 new hangars for private jets, expecting a near triple capacity
increase at Hanscom for these aircraft.
•Travel by private jet is by far the most polluting form of transport. Users of private
jets, known as super emitters, generate up to 7,500 tons of CO2e per person per
year. This is 426 times more than the emissions generated per year by the average
American.
•A single jet flight out of Hanscom generates more than four times more CO2e
emissions than the average Massachusetts home in an entire year.
•These amounts of emissions easily wipe out progress that has been made in
reducing greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention increasing dangerous air
pollution. Along with obvious traffic and emissions increases, this expansion will
have significant negative public health impacts, including toxic air contaminants
and noise.
•This expansion of private jet access is not compatible with the stated climate
priorities of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, of Massport, or of Lexington
and our neighbors.
•We must also consider the impact on the youngest and most vulnerable residents
of the area and their limited ability to have their voices heard. These negative
impacts would be caused by a privileged few, but would impact us all, including
our youngest and most vulnerable.
o Cindy made a motion that the committee should oppose expansion of hangers at the
Hanscom Air Field per points discussed and that she would send a letter based on these
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points to the Select Board. The motion was seconded and voted unanimously by the
committee.
The meeting concluded at 9:00pm following a discussion about the next meeting date. The idea
of having a single meeting in July/August (potentially in early August) was discussed. No date
was set, but Cindy said that she would reach out to the committee to set a date.
Respectfully submitted,
Todd Rhodes
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