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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-06-25-SLC-min Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of June 25, 2019 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held in in the Hudson Room of Cary Hall. A quorum of five was present. Members Present: Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes, Dan Voss, Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Celis Brisbin Other Attendees: Paul Chernick The meeting was called to order at 7:15 pm. 1. Review of Action Item list Todd reviewed the Action Item list and updated the committee on progress on various fronts:  Paul and Todd met with Sean Dugan (Public Information Officer) to discuss how better to communicate the advantages of Community Choice; Sean explained that he has launched two email communication subscriptions that may be helpful; Todd and Paul will get back to him with a roughed out communications plan.  Todd explained that Charles Hornig of the Planning Board is waiting patiently for comments on possible zoning changes to remove impediments to solar installations; Dan and Paul will put their heads together and return to our next meeting with their recommendations.  The Integrated Building Policy is almost complete; one more meeting is needed to finalize the language. Once in place, the next task is a Building Operations Policy.  Paul’s appointment to SLC is expected on July 8. Revision of the charter will be taken up by the Select Board at a later meeting; they requested that our draft be revised to incorporate the contract approval language from the Energy Conservation Committee charter since ECC responsibilities are essentially being folded into SLC.  A special meeting is needed the week of July 8 to discuss the Waterstone and Bridges development with their staff (as required by Town Meeting). Todd will confirm they’re available July 8. Dan will invite Charles Hornig to attend and will consult with the Planning Board on the status of the project before the meeting.  Dan reported that the Town Manager reviewed our comments on the draft job description for Sustainability Director and adopted many of them. Dan proposed one additional comment: that the Sustainability Director serve as liaison on the SLC and participate in setting goals and actions under the Sustainable Action Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of June 25, 2019 Plan. Mark Sandeen forwarded to the committee the comments of Kate Hanley (Concord Sustainability Director) on the job description; the committee reviewed them briefly and was in general agreement. Todd or Dan will coordinate with Mark and Ricki Pappo before getting back to the town manager.  Hanscom Air Force Base is seeking to install a gas meter on the line into the base so that it can better identify losses through reconciliation with end-point meters. The town apparently has just a handful (three?) feeder lines into town, and a similar exercise would be possible if those lines were metered. Dan or Todd will follow up with John Livsey and will try to identify the party at Hanscom responsible for their metering effort in order to compare notes.  Todd reported that efforts are underway to authorize Peregrine to update their baseline for the Getting to Net Zero report. Funds are available, and a letter is needed as to why Peregrine should be the sole source. 2. Review and approve minutes of previous meeting  The minutes of the meetings of May 28, May 31, and June 13, 2019, were all approved as written. 3. New Business  Marcia explained that the Farmer’s Market on July 9 will have a focus on sustainability, with the opportunity to have a Sustainable Lexington table. Paul and Charlie may be able to assist.  Marcia and Todd met with Mina at Cary Library, whose beat includes outreach; she is the contact if you want to do outreach through the library  A9 Green in East Lexington does home energy assessments; they’d like to work th with us somehow, and will be meeting with Todd and Celis on the 9. 4. Sector Updates  Four sectors were discussed in varying levels of detail: waste, land use and natural environment, food, and transportation. The value of establishing good baselines for each was stressed. Particular notes: o Waste: the value of graphics and compelling statistics (we throw away enough each week to cover the Green to a depth of …) in communicating the magnitude of the problem to the public o Land Use and Natural Environment: need for a land base to satisfy various town needs (conservation, schools, etc.) and ways to manage the trade-offs between them o Food: how much comes from town, local, regional sources? The potential of soil for carbon sequestration o Transportation: components of a baseline and how to track them; methodology used in Compact of Mayors for tracking carbon from transportation sources 2. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of June 25, 2019 Dan mentioned that we should reserve time at our July 8 meeting to talk about committee goals to be presented on July 11 at the facilitated meeting of committee chairs. th Next Meeting: Meetings will be held in July the week of the 8 (primarily to meet with the proponents of the Waterstone and Bridges project; date not yet finalized) and on July 30 (regular monthly meeting). The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman 3.