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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-01-20-SLC-min.pdf Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of January 20, 2026 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held on Zoom. A quorum was present throughout. Members Present: Cindy Arens (chair), Todd Rhodes (vice chair), Andy Joynt, Lin Jensen, Kavitha Ravi, Kavitha Venkatesan, Dan Voss, Rick Reibstein Members Absent: Celis Brisbin Staff Present: Maggie Peard, Mike Cronin Other Attendees: Rachel Summers, Laura Swain, Alan Levine, Elnaz Khosraviani (SustainbLY), Rahini Konakanchi (SustainbLY), Ricki Pappo, Alex Tsouvalas, Mark Sandeen ————————————— SUMMARY OF VOTES: 1. IN FAVOR: The committee voted to send a public comment letter regarding plans to continue CSOs to the Select Board, which will subsequently be sent to the MWRA. 2. IN FAVOR: The committee voted to support the “Skip the Stuff” plastic reduction Article at the 2026 Annual Town Meeting ————————————— The meeting was called to order at 6:06 pm. Approval of past meeting minutes. We did not approve the prior meeting minutes. We will approve them at the subsequent meeting. Comments from residents; emails to committee mailbox; new business. LHS students reached out to ask for an interview or information regarding stormwater management. Andy and Cindy (and Rachel Summers) will follow up with information on the MVP process, Lexington Living Landscapes’s upcoming event on this topic, rainwater management options, and Elizabeth Saunders at Clean Water Action/Fund. SustainabLY Elnaz and Rahini updated us with their recent activities. This includes scheduled meetings with Clark and Diamond middle schoolers on the issues with fast fashion. They are making a push to create info posts on social media on the environment in a larger capacity and specific activities related to Lexington. Some SustainabLY members are participating in the MassEnergize Youth Climate Challenge with a focus on Transportation. They’ve met with Susan Barrett and are in the research stage toward a goal of project completion in April/May. January 20, 2026 MWRA proposal to permanently plan on continuing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) The watershed associations, public, and other municipalities have been providing feedback and comments urging the MWRA not to lift certain restrictions of CSOs. Mark Sandeen attended a CSO tour over the summer of the locations at the Charles River during which a number of different scenarios were discussed. The current proposal is to choose a less costly option. We are concerned that downgrading the river ’s water quality classification to Class B (CSO) could institutionalize a level of sewage discharge that is inconsistent with long-term restoration goals and with public expectations for safe and healthy waterways. We discussed potential additional content, such as alternative stormwater treatment ideas and a stronger economic argument for maintaining high standards for CSO levels. The committee voted to send a draft of our public comment letter to the Select Board, which we will subsequently send to the MWRA. “Skip the Stuff” ATM 2026 Article review Alex Tsouvalas and Laura Swain presented an upcoming article to be introduced at Town Meeting this spring. The premise is that the by-law will require the restaurants to ask customers if they would like to “skip” plasticware and condiment packages with a goal of reducing waste. State-level legislation is currently stalled and there is a belief that a local municipal movement will build momentum toward a state-level solution. Alex and Laura explained the response from restaurants, some of which support and are already engaged in this practice and others who are resistant to a change in their practices because it adds friction to their business flow and introduces the risk of bad reviews. The Health Department is on board with enforcement. We discussed the difficulty in enforcement and compliance. Alex and Laura emphasized that the goal is a slow change to culture rather than immediate 100% compliance. The committee voted to support this article before TM. Sustainability and Resilience Officer Updates Harrington Fields and Hartwell Shooting Range capital solar review: Maggie discussed the first two candidates for the Capital Projects & Solar Canopy Integration Policy (CSIP). The Hartwell range offers over 17,000 SF of area in part of the facility that would need an elevated structure to give coverage over the range. There may be some more difficult terrain or ground conditions for the footings but it is a site worth financial analysis. We will pursue the potential (400kW) for this site. The Harrington Fields site is the current location of the Central Office, which is to be demolished. There are existing solar systems at the adjacent Harrington school, suggesting that additional solar on these adjacent sites could trigger a higher level review/approval by the utility, which may add significant cost and time. However the committee agreed there is some potential for narrow, long span solar over sidelines that should be explored. Further, the committee urged town officials to consider the potential for EV charging at the site. Maggie Peard and Mike January 20, 2026 Cronin encouraged committee members to attend and comment at the next Maple Street Athletic Complex Community Meeting on February 4 at 6:30pm. Waste Reduction Task Force (WRTF): More public forums have been hosted in the lead up to Town Meeting for the appropriation of funds for new bins for automated collection and changes to the bylaw to allow for charging for excess trash. Over 80 people attended one of the Zooms. There is some reluctance among seniors and folks with other mobility issues about the size of bins and the ability to move them to the street. BEUD vs state Large Building Energy Reporting (LBER) policy: Maggie explained her endeavor to connect BEUD collection vs. LBER data. There are numerous examples of where LBER covers buildings that BEUD does not and several examples of buildings that BEUD captures that LBER does not. Even in cases where identical buildings are captured in the data sets, the figures are significantly different. The significant disparity between the data sets raises questions around the quality of data. LBER pulls utility data vs. BEUD’s self-reporting process. The committee suggested that Maggie approach some engaged building owners who may be curious to investigate the cause behind these differences so we can improve the quality of the data as we ultimately pursue utilizing the data for the purposes of setting policy. We can also approach Boston or Cambridge to see if they have investigated these discrepancies with their building energy reporting programs. MVP/HMP update - review first meeting: The first meeting was an introduction to the various hazards that Lexington is facing. Consultants are in the process of reviewing and updating to our current status before shifting to the phase of making recommendations. The committee requested a draft of the consultant update when it becomes available. The town’s community liaisons will also be working on the impact of climate hazards on Lexingtonians. Neighborhood Electrification (aka alternative to GSEP): Maggie was able to meet with utilities to discuss non-pipeline alternatives in different neighborhoods in Lexington. The goal of the meeting was for Lexington to express its interest in the process. The utilities are engaging in four pilot projects and will take the knowledge gained from those experiences to possibly pursue a larger rollout, however they are not planning to at this time. The utilities agreed to provide more information to Lexington about street segments that could be considered for gas line retirement. January 20, 2026 State Legislative Review H.4744: We need to continue to push public comment to prevent negative outcomes from this bill which include: Weaken the state's climate targets Cutting Mass Save funding, reinstate rebates for gas equipment and penalize fossil fuel free communities by not allowing projects in those communities to participate, among other things. Upcoming meetings: Jan 29 (Th) - Joint meeting with PBC. Mark will be presenting on solar+storage. The design team will be presenting on Value Engineering (and Target Value Design, TVD). It would be great for us to have a good quorum there to offer our opinions. Feb 12 (Th) - Joint meeting with PBC. The design team will be presenting on Value Engineering (and Target Value Design, TVD). Should expect for us to give our opinions on the plan for solar and storage. Cindy will not attend this meeting. Feb 24 (Tue) - Regularly scheduled SLC meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:40pm. 4.