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Home My WebLink About2025-08-26-SLC-min.pdfSustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of August 26, 2025 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of seven was present throughout. Members Present: Cindy Arens (chair), Celis Brisbin, Lin Jensen, Andy Joynt, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Kavitha Venkatesan Members Absent: Rick Reibstein, Dan Voss Staff Present: Maggie Peard Other Attendees: Mark Sandeen, Joe Pato, Marcia Gens, Judith Glixon, Charles Hornig, Paul Chernick, Bob Creech, Rachel Summers Cindy called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm. Approval of past meeting minutes. The draft minutes of February 17, March 13, May 29, and June 24 were unanimously approved as written. •Cindy identified that efforts were made to use the Zoom AI tool to take minutes at the last meeting but it was not effective. In this meeting, Kavitha is running “Fathom Notetaker” to see how it works. Comments from residents; emails to committee mailbox; new business •Cindy identified that there is an opening in the committee follow Paul Chernick’s departure from the committee. •Cindy let the committee know that the Select Board is running a “bootcamp” for new and current committee members to attend to learn about the operations of Town committees. •Rachel Summers gave a presentation on a “Pocket Forest” project at Lincoln Park. There will be a presentation on September 20 and it will be planted in November. •Judith Glixon commented on the issue of idling of cars in Lexington. Cindy can provide Judith with information and contacts with Town and schools. Annual Report - Sustainable Lexington Committee •Cindy presented the draft annual report. The committee voted unanimously to approve the annual report with suggested edits and thanked Cindy for her work to prepare it. Cindy recommended that the committee take a group photo the next time we meet as a group. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 •Kavitha raised the need for the committee to develop proactive strategic priorities (e.g., selecting one or two major initiatives to lead rather than only supporting external efforts). Effects of New Federal and State Action •Cindy reviewed several sustainability-related actions that are in progress at the federal and state level. •Cindy noted that the while Inflation Reduction Act, ended direct pay tax credits for solar, the tax credits for municipal/commercial ground source heat pumps have remained. This is significant for the high school project. •Mark Sandeen added comments about the changes to the SMART program to improve consumer protections that will increase the cost of solar ownership. •Mark Sandeen presented information about R1HP Heat Pump Rates (i.e., the Residential Heat Pump rate). o The argument is that the fixed infrastructure for electricity generation and distribution is designed to meet summer demand. Customers that use heat pumps to heat their homes in the winter are being overcharged for delivery because their extra use of electricity in the winter does not impact existing fixed costs (i.e., power plants and lines). o The DPU is proposing reducing delivery charges for winter heat pump users by about $0.075/kWh. This importantly includes customers on the assistance rate (42% discount). o The DOER is recommending additional discounts for heat pump users. The committee should consider conducting advocacy work on behalf of the DOER proposal. o Multiple questions were raised by the committee members regarding how customers will be enrolled and the charts included in the presentation. o Cindy and Maggie agreed that public communication will be important as we learn more about enrollment. Sustainability & Resilience Officer discussion and updates. Maggie reported on the following: •Solar Capital Integration Policy o The policy was approved by the Select Board and will be used as this year’s capital planning process begins. •Waste Reduction Task Force – Proposed Regulations o The Select Board approved the bulky items fees to begin in July 2026. The WRTF will begin work on a rollout plan. .2 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 o The Select Board did not approve the reduction of allowed bins from six to two. They requested more planning for how residents who need more than two bins will be addressed. o Lexington will be applying for a grant to get support from Mass DEP for transitioning to a Hybrid PAYT program. o The committee asked several questions about moving toward PAYT. •Low Income Shared Community Solar within town CCA program o The Select Board authorized the Town Manager to move forward with the contract. o Now waiting to hear back from the DOER and DPU. •Planning Board Regulations for Major Site Plan Review o Maggie worked with Cindy and Lin to prepare a list of questions for Planning staff to ask developers to address sustainability issues. The goal is to simplify the current process based on LEED and make the process more effective. o A similar process was used to address issues related to the SITES (natural landscape) criteria. o The Planning Board accepted all proposed changes into the updated regulations. •Bloom Fuel Cell at Verizon Building o The process to permit the use of the fuel cell technology at the Verizon building is ongoing. A current issue is the noise generated by the system. o The committee discussed that the CO2 emissions from this type of fuel cell is similar to a generator that combusts natural gas. •MVP 2.0 o The Town is working on an update to the Municipal Vulnerability Plan. Town staff are recruiting residents to participate in the process. Building Projects •Police Station Solar Canopy o Mark Sandeen commented the he heard from the Town Manager and Mike Cronin that the system would be installed by the end of the year, but he doesn’t have a timeline. •Lexington High School .3 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 o Cindy commented that removing some of the solar agreed upon is on the Value Engineering list. o Mark Sandeen presented his analysis showing that the currently planned system will generate $12 to $13m larger net present value and 3.6 times lower emissions compared to a system designed to only achieve production equivalent to annual energy use of the building (building net-zero). He also argued that the larger system will allow the system to achieve building net-zero over the life of the system (given the expected decline in performance over the life of the system and the potential for higher than modeled energy use). o There was discussion about the importance of SLC remaining active in the LHS discussions as the project moves toward Detailed Design, especially with regard to any decisions about solar system size/location and Red List product selection. Decisions: o The committee voted to approve meeting minutes for February 17, March 13, May 29, and June 24; and the Annual Report presented by Cindy. Planned Actions: •Minutes: Continue taking manual meeting minutes as Zoom’s AI output is not yet adequate for this purpose and test Fathom as a potential meeting recording/ transcription too. •Maggie: Include information about the pocket forest initiative in the sustainability newsletter. •Committee members: Consider implementing a separate "Decisions" section in future meeting minutes. •Newer committee members: Consider attending the Committee Boot Camp training. •Maggie: Contact Mike Cronin for timeline on police station solar installation. Request detailed schedule incl. contract execution, installation start/end dates. •Cindy: Schedule joint meetings w/ PBC for Sep 25, Oct 9, Nov 13, Dec 11. Advertise as joint meetings. Coordinate w/ committee members for quorum. •Cindy: Coordinate w/ Maggie re next mtg schedule. Consider earlier start time before PBC mtg on 9/25. Ensure no conflict w/ Rosh Hashanah (9/23). Confirm DPW training room availability + Zoom Next Meeting: The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee is scheduled for 6 pm on September 25, 2025. The committee voted to adjourn at 8:45 pm. .4 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 Respectfully submitted, Todd Rhodes .5 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 Fathom Minutes: Impromptu Zoom Mee,ng August 26, 2025 • 159 mins • View Mee6ng or Ask Fathom .6 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 Ac,on Items Contact Mike Cronin for ,meline on police sta,on solar installa,on. Request detailed schedule incl. contract execu,on, installa,on start/end dates. Maggie Peard Schedule joint mee,ngs w/ PBC for Sep 25, Oct 9, Nov 13, Dec 11. Adver,se as joint mee,ngs. Coordinate w/ commiNee members for quorum. Cindy Arens Coordinate w/ Maggie re next mtg schedule. Consider earlier start ,me before PBC mtg on 9/25. Ensure no conflict w/ Rosh Hashanah (9/23). Confirm DPW training room availability + Zoom setup. Cindy Arens Mee,ng Summary General Template Customize • Change Template Mee,ng Purpose Impromptu Zoom mee6ng of the Sustainable Lexington CommiMee to discuss various sustainability ini6a6ves and projects, including updates on waste reduc6on, solar projects, and the new high school design. Key Takeaways •CommiMee approved mee6ng minutes from previous mee6ngs and annual report for FY2025 •Updates provided on waste reduc6on ini6a6ves, community solar project, and high school design/construc6on •Concerns raised about poten6al reduc6on of solar capacity in high school project from 4.8 MW to 3.5 MW •CommiMee plans to con6nue advoca6ng for maximizing solar and sustainable design elements in high school project Topics Approval of Mee,ng Minutes •CommiMee approved minutes from February 27th, March 13th, May 29th, and June 24th, 2025 mee6ngs Pocket Forest Ini,a,ve •Rachel Summers presented on plan to create a "pocket forest" of 325 trees in Lincoln Park •Plan6ng event scheduled for November 1st, with site prep on September 20th •CommiMee expressed support and interest in promo6ng volunteer opportuni6es Idling Reduc,on Campaign •Judith Glixon proposed campaign to reduce vehicle idling in town •Suggested ideas like signage, educa6on efforts, and enforcement of exis6ng laws .7 Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 26, 2025 .8