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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-27-SLC-min Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of August 27, 2019 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held in in the Hudson Room of Cary Hall. A quorum of six was present. Members Present: Celis Brisbin, Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes, Dan Voss, Charlie Wyman Members Absent: Paul Chernick Other Attendees: Joe Pato and Mark Sandeen (Selectmen); Ingrid Klimoff, Diane Biglow, Charles Hornig, Melinda Walker, Holly Sweet The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm. 1. The minutes of the July 30 meeting were approved as corrected. 2. Ingrid Klimoff asked the committee to support denser housing development in Lexington, and more specifically to support mixed-use development along transit corridors, 2- and 3-family units throughout town, and two accessory apartments/lot as of right to reduce our carbon footprint and lower housing costs. A lengthy discussion followed.  There is a Special Permit Residential Development Committee working on some of these issues.  The committee is generally supportive of higher density along transit corridors.  Concerns were expressed about how to ensure affordability of any provisions that increase density, so as not to just increase the supply of high-priced housing.  Joe put the question to the committee as: Does a sustainable future call for a change in how we develop housing, and are there particular objectives reflecting our goals that we’d like to see incorporated into any proposal?  It was proposed that as a committee we develop a statement of support for smart housing development, which is consistent with the Sustainable Action Plan (SAP) and look at how we can support this initiative. Seconded and approved. Todd will do first cut of statement. 3. Mark explained that Bill McKibben spoke at the high school and challenged the students to hold a climate strike on Sept. 20, a day of worldwide action. The strike will be held on the football field at 10 a.m. 1. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 27, 2019 After some discussion, Rick drafted a statement of support that was seconded, discussed and approved by the committee: The Sustainable Lexington Committee supports the plan by Lexington students to gather th on September 20 in recognition of the danger of climate disruption to the environment and the shared fate of the Commonwealth. We ask that the town provide all necessary support for this action, including cost-free police protection, and excuse of absence from classes. We commend the students for their initiative and understanding of the need to take responsibility and encourage adults’ support and participation so that their message of hope and constructive action can be heard even more broadly, as it must be if prospects for a healthy future are to be preserved. 4. Dan provided an update on the Integrated Building Policy. A near-final draft was sent to the Board of Selectmen last Monday. A meeting is planned to review the policy document, which requires two small edits and review of a couple of new paragraphs proposed by the Permanent Building Committee. 5. Dan provided an update on the Sustainability Director position. There was some discussion of whether the job title should be Director or Manager, with the Town Manager concluding that “Director” will be needed to attract suitable candidates. Next step: Warrant Article for funding the position at fall Town Meeting. 6. Dan reported on the Solar Energy Task Force. The Task Force has not been directly involved in the work of the consultants. The arrays need to be sorted out. Energy storage for the site planned. The good news is that we are in Block 2 (of 8), which has higher compensation levels. Eversource has agreed to let us put 1MW of solar on Hastings, and we only need 700kW to be net zero. Construction at the LCP facility is complete, so the design and implementation of solar arrays can now take place. 7. Holly Sweet reported on the work of the Noise Advisory Committee in drafting a proposal to limit noise generation by lawn care activities.  Considerable discussion focused on the details: times of year, hours, and different restrictions on residents and contractors.  Celis expressed concern about whether pushing contractors to go electric would result in idling diesel trucks while battery packs are being recharged, and asked whether other stakeholders, especially landscapers and the enforcing agency (Lexington Board of Health), have been consulted.  Melinda expressed concern about restrictions on contractors serving limited mobility residents.  Todd attempted to summarize the discussion: the committee in general very much supports the basic thrust of the proposed restrictions, but the devil is in the details and how to craft it, and requested that members communicate questions to Holly that she can 2. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of August 27, 2019 take back to the advisory committee; these include hours; months; diesel issue; strategy of starting with a more limited set of restrictions, health and safety issues; value of meeting with the Board of Health and commercial lawn care companies. Advice was offered to start first with lawn care companies that can work and are working with similar restrictions.  Holly shared her email address: hbsweet@comcast.net. 8. Todd described the need to bring SLC priorities to the Selectmen this fall and reviewed the process he proposed in his August 20 email. Each sector team during September should develop a list of ideas and evaluate them on SAP criteria for impact of the idea (environment, resilience, health and wellness, economics) and probability of success (town control, implementation, effectiveness). Be ready to discuss progress at our September meeting, with an early October meeting planned for the sector teams to put their ideas on the table and begin the process of identifying overall priorities. Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee will be Tuesday, September 24 at 7 pm. The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman 3.