HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-09-26-SLC-minSustainable Lexington Committee
Minutes of Meeting of September 26, 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 (beginning of meeting), Lin Jensen,
Andy Joynt, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair)
Members Absent: Paul Chernick, Dan Voss, Charlie Wyman
Staff Present: Maggie Peard (Sustainability & Resilience Officer)
Other Attendees: Marcia Gens, Susan Barrett (Transportation Director), Sheila Page
(Planning Department), Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Ricki Pappo
(LexCAN), Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Kalea Foo, Tina
McBride, Lisa Foo, Sally Castleman (Ad Hoc Transportation
Committee), Michael Boudett (Capital Expenditures Committee),
Deepika Sawhney (Ad Hoc Transportation Committee), Atreyi Basu
(SustainabLY)
The meeting was called to order at 6:06 pm. Cindy referenced the opening statement requested
by the Town Clerk and all members present responded that they could hear.
Comments from residents; emails to committee mailbox; new business. No new business was
reported. Todd checked the SLC mailbox – no new email messages have been received.
SustainabLY:
Kalea Foo made a statement asking the committee and audience to support efforts to prevent the
expansion of private jets at Hanscom and to sign the petition opposing the expansion.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan – Town of Lexington
Sheila Page presented information about the plan that was funded by the last Town Meeting. The
group tasked with developing the plan has held two public meetings and is planning another
before presenting the plan to the Select Board. Activities completed include:
•Survey of residents to identify locations in town that are safety concerns.
•Survey to collect residents’ needs (e.g., better connected sidewalk network, more public
transit, etc.)
o Top priorities: Bike lanes, new sidewalks, intersection safety, improved paths.
o Least important: Impacts to on-street parking
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
•Most important: User safety, connectivity
•Created a draft Bicycle and Trail Network, and Pedestrian and Trail Network
•The group assessed trade-off (e.g., parking, trees)
o Participants were willing to give up some parking, but less willing to lose trees.
o Seniors were less willing to give up parking and trees.
•Outcomes:
o Prioritized list of bicycle facilities, sidewalks, trails, crosswalks, intersection
improvements
o Program and Policy Recommendations to
!Create safe biking and walking opportunities.
!Encourage a culture of using alternative modes of transportation.
•E-powered Mobility:
o Shelia reviewed the rules for Class 1 (20 mph, pedal-assist) and Class 2 (20 mph,
pedal-assist and throttle) – both are considered non-motorized by the state. Class
3 (28 mph and throttle) are considered motorized.
o They are looking at approaches to change behaviors so that these types of vehicles
can coexist with pedestrians and standard bicycles.
•Committee members commented on tradeoffs, asked whether there is a map of the overall
plan (yes there is), the importance of improving connections to the bike path and adding
bike parking and protected bike lanes, and whether there is a way to quantify the
improvement once the plan is implemented (no, but agreed that metrics would be helpful
if there was a good way to collect them). Shiela was also asked if there could be a
campaign or provide tips to reduce driving (e.g., if you have to drive go closer, or
package up your trips). Susan Barrett mentioned Mode Shift May and international car
free week (which is intended to help people experience what is it like to operate without a
car for a week).
Lexpress Options
Todd provided a quick introduction explaining that Ad Hoc Transportation Committee (AHTC)
will be presenting the Select Board on 10/2 and the Resilient Lexington Plan (RLP) will be
presented to the Board on 10/16. This agenda item is intended to provide the Board with a
statement about public transportation (relative to the RLP) before the 10/2 Board meeting.
Deepika Swahney provided background on the committee and described the four options being
considered for Lexpress. Last week, the AHTC voted to support Option 1, improvement of
Lexpress (aka “Lexpress 2.0”). She said that a key element of Option 1 is to raise awareness of
Lexpress and improve service.
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
Final recommendations from the AHTC are in process, but will likely be higher level (e.g., do
more marketing, consider hiring consultants to consider new/different routes).
Susan Barrett provided a history of routes and more information about the current situation.
Michael Boudett asked whether any new buses will be electric (EVs). Deepika commented that
that level detail would be worked out in the future. Susan commented that municipalities that are
using EVs are working to garage the vehicles to facilitate charging and improve battery
performance, and commented that Lexington would need a place to charge the vehicles.
Separate from the AHTC recommendations, Susan summarized the 2018 consultant
recommendations that looked at holistic transportation options that included school
transportation when thinking about overall town transportation.
The committee voted unanimously (5 members) to send the following statement to the Select
Board, which will be considering the AHTC’s recommendations on October 2:
When the Select Board considers options for the future of the Lexpress bus service, the
Sustainable Lexington Committee encourages the Board to consider the Mobility &
Transportation Goal in the proposed Resilient Lexington Climate Action and Resilience
Plan that states: "Lexington residents take fewer car trips because there are sustainable
and accessible mobility options for all ages and abilities". To meet the town's emissions
targets and reduce congestion on our roads, it will be necessary to reduce vehicle miles
traveled, increase public transit ridership, and prioritize high-capacity vehicles on
roadways. Decisions made today will set the foundation for public transportation in
Lexington in the future and should consider approaches that integrate available services
in town like MBTA, Lexpress, School Buses, and private shuttle services to meet the
community's growing needs for reliable, consistent service to help drive increased
ridership.
Sustainability & Resilience Officer Report
Maggie provided the following updates:
•Resilient Lexington Plan
o Maggie commented that it will take a lot of work to implement the plan. She is
considering offering a fellowship for a student to help identify the best approaches for
tracking and reporting data.
o The committee voted unanimously (5 members) to support the plan and send the
following statement to the Select Board, which will be considering the plan on
October 16:
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
The Sustainable Lexington Committee strongly supports the adoption of the Resilient
Lexington Climate Action and Resilience Plan. The plan will serve as a critical guide for
decision making and actions needed to make Lexington a more sustainable and healthy
community and provides a valuable replacement of both the Sustainable Action Plan
(2018) and Getting to Net Zero Plan (2018).
As the Lead Departments and Implementation Collaborators explore the identified goals
and targets, we expect that they will be updated and refined regularly - especially in the
early years of the plan. Our committee looks forward to working with these groups to
move forward on the goals and targets established in the plan and to make meaningful
updates to the plan as we learn more about what will be required to meet these goals.
•Fossil Fuel Free Program
o Maggie identified that the Attorney General approved Lexington’s application to be
part of the program. We are still waiting for approval from DOER. Town staff are
working now on approaches to integrate required approaches into Town processes
(e.g., educating builders, etc.)
•Integrated Building Design and Construction Policy (IBDCP)
o The updated policy was approved by both the Select Board and School Committee
and is now effective. It has already been used in discussions with the High School
Building project to establish expectations for that building.
•Zero Waste Plan
o The Waste Reduction Task Force (WRTF) is moving forward with the Zero Waste
Plan, which will be presented to the Select Board on October 2.
o Options for continuing to fund composting include.
1.Fund the addition of another 2,000 households
2.Fund the addition of another 1,000 households
3.Maintaining the current level of funding
4.Provide subsidies to residents to participate (the WRTF’s least preferred option)
o Lin asked about the status of discussions about food composting at Hartwell. Cindy
and Maggie identified those discussions are on pause.
o Ricki asked about what metrics we are using to assess whether the composting
program is a success. Maggie said a key metric is tonnage of waste collected.
o Cindy identified that some households with free subscribers have not been putting
compost out for pickup. The Town/Black Earth are looking into the cause.
•Networked Geothermal
o The group is working on identifying appropriate sites for a project.
o A pre-review of the application will be held on November 1.
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
•High Performance Building (HPB) Policy
o Maggie is working with the Department of Public Facilities (DPF) and is close to
finalizing the policy. She will be presenting to relevant committees in October before
bringing it to the Select Board.
•BEU-D Report
o Maggie is working with GIS staff to create an interactive map with information about
the affected buildings. She is summarizing the collected data to include in the first
annual report, which is due in October.
Lex Electrify
•Andy gave an update on the Energy Fair, which will be held on 10/28 at the High School.
•They are looking for organizations to table at the fair – the focus is on electrification.
Andy asked for recommendations of organizations that are not already participating and
requested the SLC also set up a table.
•There will also be an EV event at the fair. Residents will bring their EV cars and electric
bikes so that participants can talk to owners and get their questions answered.
Police Station
•Todd identified that the Historic District Commission had the solar canopy on their
agenda last month, but did not discuss the solar canopy. It should be on the agenda again
in October. The discussion should be focused on the details of the design. The footings
are fixed, so DPF has what it needs to complete construction this fall.
High School
•Cindy provided an update on discussion of the IBDCP with the Owner’s Project Manager
(OPM) to resolve some questions regarding how the line items are interpreted.
•Maggie added that there are incentives from MSBA (Massachusetts School Building
Authority) associated with sustainable building elements – i.e., MSBA will add funding if
the town chooses to add solar, batteries, etc.
Solar Gap
•Todd presented an updated version of the Solar Gap assessment. This ~10 page version
was prepared to be presented to the Select Board. The Resilient Lexington Plan is
scheduled to be presented to the Board on October 16 and the request from the group
preparing the assessment was that this presentation be approved to be presented on the
same night.
•The presentation generated a lot of discussion. The feedback included:
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
o The presentation comes across as being prescriptive. The scenarios should be
presented only as ideas, part of a puzzle to consider.
o The size of the challenge should be presented very early in the presentation. At the
start of the presentation, add the needed rate of change numbers (e.g., GW/yr, acres/
yr) to communicate the challenge in a way that people will understand.
o The recommendations should also come at the start of the presentation, not the end.
o Scenarios should have higher levels of solar on impervious surfaces and less on
landscaped/undeveloped land.
o The term "Fair Share" should be replaced with "Lexington's Share".
o Lexington should also consider purchasing or joint projects of solar energy from
nearby towns (i.e. canopies at Burlington Mall parking lot).
o Data sources should be more clearly identified.
•Mark Sandeen provided some context for why solar will need to be local because of
limitations of existing transmission to bring additional electricity into town. He also
described the benefits of local solar including reduced need for transmission lines,
substations, etc., which would lower overall system costs.
•The committee agreed to hold a special meeting before October 16 to review an update to
the presentation that takes this feedback into account.
SustainabLY
•Atreyi reported that SustainabLY just had their first meeting of the year and that they will
be participating in the energy fair.
•Building off an idea from Kalea Foo, they are also thinking about creating a webpage
about sustainability designed for kids.
Noise
•The committee discussed the proposed changes to the town’s Noise Bylaw, which were
presented at the September 20 Select Board meeting and is planned to be considered at
this fall’s Special Town Meeting.
•The committee voted unanimously (5 members) to send the following statement to the
Select Board, recommending that the Board not go forward with the current edits to the
bylaw and to take affirmative steps to reconstitute the Noise Advisory Committee to work
on future updates to the bylaw:
Noise pollution is a topic of great concern for the Sustainable Lexington Committee
(SLC) as it substantially impacts the health of people and the surrounding environment.
The SLC supports the Select Board's plan (expressed at their 9/20 meeting) to make
limited changes to the Town"s noise bylaw to resolve gaps in the bylaw that have led to
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
unacceptable levels of noise at construction sites in town. If these limited revisions to the
current bylaw (i.e., the ledge work definition and holiday schedule) cannot be completed
in time for Special Town Meeting, SLC agrees the article should be indefinitely
postponed/removed from the warrant. SLC believes that other proposed changes to the
bylaw create new and serious problems. By defining "Excessive or Unwarranted Noise"
as "Any noise that results in noise pollution or noise injury", the proposed bylaw sets a
standard of 80 dBA for residential and 85 dBA for other zones, ignoring the fact that
these are badly outdated standards. Using these standards will cause harm to public
health. They need to be lower. These standards are drawn from occupational health but
we need environmental noise standards. In 1974, when EPA had an Office of Noise
Abatement and Control, (ONAC), ONAC found that 70 decibels was the exposure below
which it assumed measurable hearing loss would not occur, and levels of 55 and lower
were necessary to prevent #activity interference and annoyance”. Sleep, work, education,
concentration, health in general, and property values are all impacted - and sometimes
severely - by a lack of clarity concerning harmful levels. The proposed definition would
not prevent excessively high levels. Other neighboring towns have limits that are
significantly lower.
We also strongly encourage the Select Board to take affirmative steps to reconstitute the
Noise Advisory Committee. Outreach and solicitation of citizen engagement is necessary.
The Noise Advisory Committee plays an important role in the development and
evaluation of these types of rules because, as residents, they have a vested interest in the
results. The committee should be composed of individuals with technical experience and
individuals with a strong desire to establish a noise bylaw for Lexington that addresses
our particular needs. With support from expert consultants, as needed, the Noise
Advisory Committee should provide the Select Board with recommended updates to the
noise bylaw in 2024. Excessive or unwarranted noise can have a serious impact on
individuals' mental and physical health. Improving the noise bylaw will help to resolve
the problems that have affected residents over the past few years, make the rules clear for
all parties, and support Lexington's ongoing efforts to improve the town's environment.
Approval of minutes. The draft minutes of August 22 were approved unanimously as written.
Next Meeting: A special meeting is planned to review an update of Solar Gap presentation
before October 16, 2023. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Sustainable Lexington
Committee will be held at 6 pm on October 24, 2023.
The committee voted to adjourn at approximately 9:30 pm.
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of September 26, 2023
Respectfully submitted,
Todd Rhodes
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