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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-28-SLC-minSustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of November 28, 2023 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of at least seven was present throughout. Members Present: Cindy Arens (chair), Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Lin Jensen, Andy Joynt, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss, Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Staff Present: Maggie Peard Other Attendees: Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Mike Boudett, Ricki Pappo, Atreyi Basu, Dora Liao, Tina McBride, William Woo, Marcia Gens The meeting was called to order at 6:03 pm. Cindy referenced the opening statement requested by the Town Clerk and all members present responded that they could hear. Minutes: The draft minutes of October 24 were unanimously approved as written. Comments from residents; emails to committee inbox; new business: •Todd reported that we received an email from someone in Chelmsford who was curious about PACE and he forwarded the inquiry to Maggie. •Ricki followed up on a note she had sent earlier to the committee about Nexamp, a company that is piloting a program in Newburyport to provide home batteries for a monthly fee. The batteries provide home back-up while the company also uses them to shave the peak, drawing them down at peak times and recharging off-peak. Rick noted that Nexamp has a good reputation. Ricki will put a small group together to meet with the company. SustainabLY update: Dora and Atreyi reported that they have started several new initiatives: reaching out to restaurants in town to implement composting; writing to influence the school building committee and provide support for electrification and solar panels; investigating the Power Down program; and spreading information about SustainabLY at the high school. Considerable discussion followed, particularly regarding restaurant food surplus/waste. Tina described the work of the Lexington Zero Waste Collaborative with restaurants on reusable take- out containers. .1 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of November 28, 2023 Hanscom Expansion: Cindy provided background on the proposed Hanscom expansion and explained that the Select Board supported ARPA funding for a contribution to a Hanscom area air pollution study. Rick explained the context of a scoping document, pointing out that the Hanscom document is deficient in focusing on aircraft ferrying but not the overall increase in traffic, and failing to assess the expansion’s impact on the state’s climate goals, air pollution, etc. This is our chance to argue for a delay until the impacts are thoroughly understood, calling attention to what will be a deficient EIR. Todd asked who will be writing the town’s response to the eventual DEIR, and Cindy and Rick volunteered. It was moved, seconded, and voted unanimously (with one abstention) to send the attached memo to the Select Board with an added note offering our assistance in evaluating the DEIR and preparing a response. Sustainability and Resilience Officer Discussion and Updates: •BEU-D: Maggie presented the BEU-D data from the website, both the summary and the interactive map. She noted that compliance this first year was 84% and that fees for noncompliance begin in 2024. Maggie was thanked and congratulated for all her hard work. Cindy pointed out that Lexington is the first town (not city) in the state to do this. •Resilient Lexington and Resolution Framework: These have been approved by the Select Board and we now move into implementation. Maggie is exploring methods for tracking progress and how to make data more publicly accessible and tied to the Resilient Lexington plan; she is hoping for a UNH fellow (a graduate student) to help with this next summer. The Select Board has said that one of their top five priorities will be the transition to 100% renewable energy and the electrification of all energy usage throughout town, and has proposed a number of high priority actions by the Board. •High Performance Building Policy: Maggie reported that she is presenting the policy to the Select Board for initial discussion on December 4 and will return on the 18th to ask for their formal approval. •Fossil-Fuel-Free Program: Maggie reported that DOER wants more information on the process load part of our application. •New Building Codes: Maggie noted that the new specialized code goes into effect on January 1. A training for the residential portion of the new stretch code, in two three-hour sessions, is being offered in the next two weeks in collaboration with Acton and Concord. Other Brief Updates: Police Station Solar and Storage: Dan reported on a meeting with Mike Cronin and his team on design of the solar and storage that identified some issues to be worked on. We are looking at storage coupled with the solar and two Level 3 chargers behind the meter (those used to charge police vehicles), with the other chargers – available to the public – in front of the meter. We’re .2 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of November 28, 2023 waiting on information from the architect’s team to size the battery appropriately. The town hopes to do procurement through PowerOptions without going through the full procurement process. High School: The school district is putting together an education plan, including needs of the buildings (which will include a sustainability section) that the high school building committee will be reviewing and commenting on. Dan explained that after the last Permanent Building Committee meeting, a group of PBC and SLC members met and discussed the need for a clear understanding of when decisions will be made and when feedback is needed. Rick asked if it’s feasible to hire an independent ecologist and a solar expert to provide their input; Dan replied that there are vehicles for doing that and that will be discussed at an upcoming PBC meeting. Lin asked about the feasibility of a net positive project, and Dan explained that the first step is determining what we think the load for the building will be, and then we can ask the solar design team to look at where we can leverage space on the site to be net zero or even net positive, and explore the tradeoffs. Celis suggested we take a look at SMMA’s portfolio of schools, noting that ours will probably look somewhat like them. While there is a general trend towards sustainability, advocacy is needed to follow through. Further discussion followed about making sure SMMA understands and follows through on the Integrated Building Design and Construction Policy, about parking, charging, and school buses, and about the desire for the campus to reflect values of sustainability and health, recognizing that we are training citizens for the future. EV buses: Todd noted that a key question remains where the buses will be charged, and the conversation continues. Grants: Cindy noted that there are big EPA grants available – climate action planning grants, pollution reduction grants – and the state is applying, as is MAPC. They are recommending that individual municipalities not apply, but work through regional or statewide collaborations. We’re still evaluating what they might mean for Lexington. Next Meeting: The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee is scheduled for 6 pm on January 9, 2024, with the understanding that if committee action is needed before then, a special meeting will be called. The committee voted to adjourn at 8:24 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman .3 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of November 28, 2023 Attachment: Proposed Letter to Select Board on Scoping Guidance for DEIR on Hanscom Expansion (adopted with modifications) Re: Inadequate requirements for Hanscom Draft Expansion Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) To Members of the Select Board: The Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) wishes to raise the following issue to your attention and to ask you to once again voice your serious concerns about the proposed expansion at Hanscom, as you did in your joint letter to the Governor on October 20. A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) of the Hanscom Expansion from proponents Runway Realty Ventures, LLC and North Airfield Ventures, LLC - Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Number 16654 will soon be published. The DEIR was given scoping guidance in a Certificate on the Environmental Notification Form (ENF) in February this year from EEA Secretary Tepper. However, the scoping guidance from the Certificate is focused on only impacts at the site and not on the global, regional and local impacts from a project that will enhance, encourage, and foster more use of private jet aircraft, a highly carbon-intensive means of transportation. Doubling the private jet hangar space at Hanscom will have significant local health impacts on residents including increased air pollution and noise, not to mention will seriously frustrate, and perhaps even defeat, the climate action and environmental justice goals of the town of Lexington and the Commonwealth, because private jet travel is proportionally so damaging. Under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) statute, all relevant state agencies must !review, evaluate, and determine the impact on the natural environment of all works, projects or activities conducted by them and shall use all practicable means and measures to minimize damage to the environment”. The MEPA statue specifically includes the impacts of increased air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the Certificate scope is surprisingly limited. The scoping guidance directs proponents to “provide a detailed project description and data and analyses that support the Proponent’s assertion that the project will reduce the number of flights at Hanscom.” It does not direct them to consider the potential for increased private jet flights or to provide an assessment of the impacts and risks that will result from increases in jet traffic. In fact, the climate risks to be evaluated are those “affecting the project site.” The document states: .4 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of November 28, 2023 “According to the ENF, the project will reduce the overall number of aircraft flights and result in an environmental benefit associated with reduced air emissions; as detailed below, the DEIR should provide documentation in support of this benefit.” This perspective is only possible by limiting the context of the DEIR and ignoring the local, regional and global impacts. The scoping document mistakenly accepts the premise that there will not be an increase in the number of private jet flights and directs proponents to only evaluate the local impacts of building the hangars, but not the impact of the aircraft operating out of those hangars. It focuses on reductions that will result from reductions in “ferrying”, which are very short flights, so even if reduced they cannot compare to the increased number of longer flights that will result from the proposed expansion. Recent Hanscom aircraft flight data shows that ferry flights are only responsible for about 0.6% of the private jet flight hours at the field. Also negatively impacted by the increase in private jet travel, that logically follows from an increase in hangar space, are goals for: •improving public health; •addressing environmental justice (EJ), the document identifies thirty-five EJ areas within a five-mile radius and the site is itself so designated; •wildlife preservation; •contaminated site cleanup, due to the increased emissions of a range of air toxics from jet fuel combustion and their deposition on the land and people below; and •mitigating noise impacts, which is shown by recent science to be far more damaging than we had previously thought. All of these impacts are significant and require extensive evaluation, as do the alternative methods of expanding aviation, such as the recent advent of electronic aircraft which could serve the region and help us meet all the goals and laws mentioned above. When the DEIR is published, there are only 30 days to provide public comment. If the MEPA process does not produce an adequate evaluation Lexington must make its concerns known to any and all authorities that could help prevent the eventuality of private jet use expansion without true and adequate evaluation of its real impact. The state cannot meet the goals of the 2021 Climate Act, our pollution and health standards, or our environmental justice, wildlife protection and water protection aspirations, if we do not ensure an adequate evaluation the impacts of this proposal. The SLC recommends that the Select Board make its concerns about the health impacts of the proposed expansion at Hanscom to Lexington’s residents once again known by submitting comments on the DEIR during the upcoming public comment period. Respectfully, Cindy Arens .5 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of November 28, 2023 Chair, Sustainable Lexington Committee Copied: Hanscom Field Advisory Committee Hanscom Area Towns Committee Jim Malloy, Lexington Town Manager Maggie Peard, Lexington Sustainability and Resilience Officer Lexington Board of Health .6