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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-22-SLC-min Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of March 22, 2016 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held on March 22, 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: Kris Spriano The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Meeting Minutes were approved for February 23, 2016. Better Buildings Task Force (M. Sandeen) • Next Step Living o The company closed its doors on March 18, 2016. o The committee needs to reach out to residents that have recently signed up for Home Energy Assessments, Town Management, and the broader community. o Need to update the Sustainable Lexington website that provides a link to the NSL website. o T. Rhodes will draft the letter to Town Management and investigate other vendors. Getting to Net Zero (M. Sandeen) • M. Sandeen and Lisa Fitzgibbons (Mother Out Front) have met with the Economic Development Committee and the Appropriations Committee and both committees voted to support the warrant article. • Information has been presented to the Planning Board, but the committee did not vote. • The information needs to be presented to the School Board. Planning Board Warrant Articles (M. Sandeen) • The Planning Board has requested that the Sustainable Lexington Committee support the warrant articles that it is presenting the Town Meeting. • The committee requested that M. Sandeen ask the Planning Board to let us know which of the warrant articles they believe will have an impact on sustainability and what that impact will be. Community Choice Aggregation (M. Sandeen) • M. Sandeen led a discussion regarding the decision whether the renewable energy portfolio to be included in the aggregation scheme should be local energy (at a relatively high rate) or national(at a relatively low rate). Page 1 of 2 • M. Sandeen needs to select a broker in the next week. The options are Perrigin Energy or Good Energy. The committee recommended that he ask the brokers whether they can prepare two options: a standard offer comprised of up to 100% renewable energy from national sources, and a premium offer comprised of a smaller percentage from local sources. Food and Composting (M. Gens) • The school composting pilot program is going well. • The group is also looking into a curbside food waste program. Natural Gas Leaks (M. Sandeen) • The legislature has moved the bill related to coordinating road work with repair of natural gas pipes, but bill to force utilities to pay for gas losses is stuck in committee. • May 1: Birthday party for Lexington's oldest gas leak. • May 17: BOS is hosting a meeting on Natural Gas leaks with National Grid. Toxics Use Reduction (R. Reibstein) • Rick presented to the Board of Health and Fire Department regarding toxic use reduction. He also plans to meet with the Schools. • The Board of Health and Fire Department will be applying for a grant to promote toxic use reduction. • R. Reibstein will provide a recommendation for the committee to review regarding the use of the Pharos system to guide chemical purchases. Climate Action Plan • Evironmental impact • High: >3 million pounds CO2e over 3 years • Moderate:; 1-3 millio pounds CO2e over 3 years. • Low: <1 million pounts CO2e over 3 years • Todd to send plan out to group to finalize and approve The meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm Respectfully Submitted, Todd Rhodes, Scribe Page 2 of 2