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Town of Lexington
Sustainable Lexington Committee
Minutes of Meeting of October 29, 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: Paul Chernick, Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-
chair), Charlie Wyman
Members Absent: Celis Brisbin, Dan Voss (chair)
Other Attendees: Cindy Arens, Mary Hutton
The meeting was called to order at 7:13 pm.
1. Mass Energize. Marcia explained that Mass Energize (www.massenergize.org) is a young
nonprofit that provides a platform for communities to share information with their residents
about personal actions they can take to fight global warming, from installing solar panels to
purchasing an electric vehicle to promoting composting. They are currently piloting programs in
Wayland and Concord, and the question is whether Lexington would like to participate. We
agreed the next step is for someone from Mass Energize to come and present at a committee
meeting, and Marcia will reach out to them to arrange.
2. Minutes. The minutes of the August 27, September 24, and October 22 meetings were
approved as written.
3. Participation in Lexington’s “Earth Day Turns 50” event. Charlie explained that the
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Conservation and Recreation Departments are planning a 50 anniversary celebration of Earth
Day on April 25 or May 2, and asked if we’d like to participate with an informational table and
in the planning. Conclusions: May 2 is better than April 25 because of school vacation, and Todd
would like to be contacted when they’re planning the event. Charlie will inform Jordan
McCarron in Conservation.
4. Final planning for First Friday (Nov 1) – League of Women Voters. Todd walked the
committee through the slide presentation, and some time was spent discussing the new roadmap
slide (which everyone was enthusiastic about for how it organized our work conceptually, but
also agreed that it was too wordy and complicated for the League event). Logistical details were
discussed and sorted out. It was suggested that we publish the results on our webpage or
otherwise distribute them.
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of October 29, 2019
5. Net zero analysis update with Paul Gromer (Peregrine Energy). Todd explained that
money was committed through the Net Zero Emissions Task Force to update the energy
analysis/inventory by Peregrine; they now have more recent data (through 2017), have submitted
a proposal to prepare the update, the town has accepted their proposal, and they’re ready to start.
Dan, Paul, and Celis need to sit down with Paul Gromer to get things started – Todd will initiate.
6. Lexington GHG emissions model. Todd explained that part of the update will entail
application of an emissions model, one of which (developed just for Lexington) was used in the
last round, and we discussed its strengths and shortcomings. Rick mentioned two other models –
the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and the U.S. Protocol for
Accounting and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions developed by ICLEI – that are widely
used and suggested we consider one of them.
7. Review of proposed legislative actions. Charlie presented a proposed framework for
evaluating and making recommendations on proposed state environmental legislation that calls
for us to identify our overall priorities first and then identify legislation that addresses them,
rather than take up individual bills piecemeal. Charlie will prepare a detailed proposal, in
consultation with Rick and Marcia, for the committee to consider at its November meeting.
8. FUTURE Act. Charlie explained that the FUTURE Act (H.2849) is a large, complicated
bill that addresses both (1) gas leaks and crumbling infrastructure in the short term, and (2) a
pathway for gas companies to transition away from fossil fuels to supplying renewable energy
(mainly district heating from geothermal sources) in the long run. After further discussion and
clarifications from Mary Hutton, the committee voted to recommend a draft resolution to the
Board of Selectmen, which Todd will convey to Joe.
9. Public Lands Preservation Act (S.2181). Charlie suggested that since we didn’t know of
any urgency regarding this bill, we include it in the analysis being done during November and
report on it next month.
10. Update on the Ad Hoc Special Permit Residential Development Zoning Bylaw
Amendment Committee. Todd walked the committee through his proposed statement to the
Amendment Committee. Several points were discussed and wording was revised, after which the
committee voted to approve the statement, which Todd will forward to the Amendment
Committee.
11. Mothers Out Front. Mary Hutton explained that she attended tonight’s committee
meeting to express the interest of the Lexington chapter of Mothers Out Front in collaborating
with the committee on projects of mutual interest addressing climate change.
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Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of October 29, 2019
Next Meetings: The next meetings of the Sustainable Lexington Committee will be on Tuesday,
November 24 and Tuesday, December 17, both at 7 pm.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Charlie Wyman
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