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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-23-SLC-min Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of February 23, 2016 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held on February 23, 2016 at the Hadley Building. A quorum of five was present. Members Present: Mark Sandeen, Chair Marcia Gens, Dan Voss, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes Members Absent: None Other Attendees: Chris Spriano, Anthony Clough The meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm. Meeting Minutes were approved for 2016-01-26, 2015-12-21, 2015-10-29, and 2015-09- 22. Solar Task Force Update (D. Voss) • D. Voss provided an update on the Hartwell Solar Project. Site meeting schedule for March 2, 2016 to begin process for scheduling construction at the site. Vendors for the canopy are being selected. • The application for the site was submitted to the State on the last day that SRECs could be awarded—it was later discovered that not all elements of the application were submitted at the time. Solar City has confirmed that all required documents have been submitted. The team should receive confirmation tomorrow that the application has been accepted. Massachusetts Solar Energy Letter (M. Sandeen) • M. Sandeen presented a revised version of the letter from the Massachusetts Climate Action Network(MOAN) to be sent to the State Legislature to request that the State lift the net metering caps. • The committee provided additional input and requested that M. Sandeen provide the updated version of the letter to the Selectmen to request that they approve the letter and send it to the State Legislature. Natural Gas Letter (M. Sandeen) • M. Sandeen presented a draft letter for the Board of Selectmen to send to the State Legislature to request that the State increase efforts to monitor and control Natural Gas leaks. • The committee agreed to send the letter to the Selectmen. • A forum is being held on May 17Th at Depot Center to promote the effort. Getting to Net Zero (M. Sandeen) • M. Sandeen and L. Fitzgibbons have met with 4 of 5 Selectman to discuss the Getting to Net Zero warrant article and have received positive feedback. Page 1 of 2 • Carl Valenti has recommended that Lexington reach out to Concord to consider sharing resources (Concord is also planning to pursue the Getting to Net Zero initiative). Planning Board Warrant Articles (M. Sandeen) • The committee agreed that it will not provide an endorsement of the warrant articles at this time. Better Buildings Task Force (M. Sandeen) • T. Rhodes and M. Gens provided an update on activities with Next Step Living, including outreach to Town churches and the Lexington High School GWAC club. Chemical Resiliency Grant Proposals (R. Reibstein) • R. Reibstein described his discussions with the Assistant Fire Chief to pursue efforts to request a grant to conduct Preventive Hazard Analyses at sites in town that have hazardous chemicals. The committee agreed to support the initiative. • R. Reibstein has spoken with Pat Goddard about toxics materials purchases at schools (e.g., use of the State's list of approved cleaners). P. Goddard has spoken with the school Superintendent about reviewing purchasing practices. R. Reibstein will request funding for a consultant to review current practices. Community Choice Aggregation (M. Sandeen) • The Task Force is deciding whether to contract with the vendor selected by MAPC (Good Energy) or the Peregrine Group, which is also pre-screened. This approach will speed the process for initiating the program (i.e., no need for a separate RFP). Climate Action Plan • T. Rhodes will update the plan and send to the committee to be reviewed at the next committee meeting. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm Respectfully Submitted, Todd Rhodes, Scribe Page 2 of 2