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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-12-22-SLC-min Town of Lexington Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of Meeting of December 22, 2020 A meeting of the Sustainable Lexington Committee (SLC) was held by Zoom conference. A quorum of nine was present. Members Present: Cindy Arens, Celis Brisbin, Paul Chernick, Archana Dayalu, Marcia Gens, Rick Reibstein, Todd Rhodes (vice-chair), Dan Voss (chair), Charlie Wyman Members Absent: None Other Attendees: Joe Pato (Select Board), Mark Sandeen (Select Board), Mary Hutton (Mothers Out Front), Ricki Pappo (Lexington GWAC), Mike Cronin (Public Facilities), Amanda Loomis (Planning Office), Sheila Page (Planning Office), Sandhya Iyer (Economic Development), Charles Hornig (Planning Board), Lin Jensen, Tina McBride, Pamela Lyons The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm. Todd referenced the opening statement requested by the Town Clerk, and all members responded that they could hear. 1. Previous minutes. The minutes of November 24 and December 2, 2020, circulated previously, were approved as written. 2. New business: Rick reported that the Board of Health has made its concerns known to the Select Board regarding the vaccine distribution plan, including distribution to the disabled, and broader structural concerns such as the office's location within a larger department with no budget of its own, and a salary for the director that is inadequate to attract the talent needed. Rick noted(and Celis seconded) that these latter issues are of concern to Sustainable Lexington as well, as so much of what they do is environmental health. Rick asked that we spread the word that this needs to be a priority and we need strong expertise in the Health office, not only because of COVID but for the long term. The question of whether we should have a formal liaison with the Board of Health, raised by Rick, was postponed until later. 3. Westview Cemetery—Final Guidance on LEED Lexington Checklist. Celis reported that he conveyed the committee's suggestions, voiced at the Nov. 24 meeting, to Mike Cronin and the Permanent Building Committee, and they were well received and a number of changes made. Mike Cronin thanked the committee for its input and commented on two particular points. It is late in the game for significant changes to be made, as they are already at the construction documents stage, but they are doing what they can. For red list items, they may have some boilerplate from the schematic work done on the police station that they can adapt for the construction documents. Rick offered to review the boilerplate. Regarding solar, the building is 1. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of December 22, 2020 not under the current Ameresco contract and they have asked both Ameresco and Cadmus for proposals for solar design. 4. Sustainability Director Report. Stella highlighted several events in the coming weeks: Hartwell rezoning public meetings on the 7h and 21s; a waste webinar with the business community on the 13''; and a Homeworks Mass Save event on the 27h. She would welcome any suggestions for improvement on communications and liaison responsibilities. Noting her 6- month anniversary with the town, she thanked the committee for its encouragement and support. 5. Hartwell Avenue Rezoning. Amanda Loomis and the rest of the project team provided some background and engaged in discussion about the Hartwell Avenue rezoning proposal. The second draft of the zoning by-law will be released on January 7. The by-law and design guidelines are intended to provide developers with a clear understanding of what the town requires and to offer the opportunity for expedited review (60 days) once all required documents are filed and complete. The town has received a draft of the design guidelines from the consultant and those are being reviewed by staff now. • In response to a question from Todd, Amanda explained that the by-law provides the minimum standards and requirements, while the guidelines are more aspirational and intended to provide a sense of what the interior of the site will look and feel like. There was further discussion about the nature of the requirements; where it says "if possible"the developer will need to demonstrate why (if it isn't) and to offer the alternative he/she proposes; where a standard is required, the Planning Board could grant a waiver where allowed. • Todd walked the committee through the draft rezoning language, and committee members shared a number of comments and questions, including: o Lin: language very long and dense; is a much shorter, more succinct formulation possible, like Lin's example from Somerville? o Celis: Are we talking about the developer's consultant doing the LEED evaluation or a third party? The answer has ramifications for both timeline and degree of confidence in LEED rating. o Ricki: Would the passive house standard be useful here? o Todd: There's a reference to the Getting to Net Zero roadmap, but the report isn't prescriptive enough to be helpful; Mark: the Integrated Building Design and Construction Policy would be more useful in this context o Celis: there are some parts of LEED that we particularly care about; how do we establish these features as a starting point? • It was agreed that the building sector team (Cells, Cindy, Dan) would have an off-line conversation looking at recommendations regarding solar generation and fuel type; Charlie will organize the same for landscaping. • Amanda had earlier asked for details on the documents that would need to be supplied by the developer, but suggested we hold off on that until we've made further progress on the standards to be met. Todd listed possibilities: building energy use/emissions estimates; toxics use reduction report; embodied carbon report. Amanda cautioned that for whatever documents are required, town staff will be needed to review them and manage the process. 2. Sustainable Lexington Committee Minutes of December 22, 2020 6. Report on the first Hartwell/Bedford Transportation advisory committee meeting. Archana reported that the committee met in November and will be seeking public input for the town's consultants to take into account. The project's scope is the Bedford/Hartwell corridor. Archana is seeking feedback on identities of stakeholders for whom the committee can develop outreach plans. 7. Overview of outreach plans for Fossil Fuel Article. Cindy reported that the team (Cindy, Archana, Lin, Ricki, Mary) has met with the building department staff, has reached out to other town staff, and their next step is to reach out to developers and others who may be most opposed. They have started a website. By February they will need precinct captains who can reach out to every town meeting member. There was further discussion about outreach details. 8. Review questions proposed for Town Wide Survey. Stella explained that a town-wide survey (a revision of the survey used in 2017) was being planned for 2022 for the 20/20 Vision project. It was agreed that the questions were outdated and needed to be brought into the current conversation about the importance of solar production, net zero emissions, etc. The need for feedback quickly when the consultant hasn't been hired yet was questioned. Stella asked for feedback by email; Todd will circulate the 2017 questions. 9. Proposed Committee Charter revision to include student member. Stella explained the reasons behind her proposal. The committee complimented Stella and agreed that youth involvement is important, and encouraged her to proceed. It was agreed that that involving youth as Stella proposed did not require a charter revision at this time, but that could be reconsidered once the program is up and running. Added comments on 47 above: Mark noted that January 25 is the date the Select Board will finalize the warrant for the annual town meeting. Ricki asked what was needed prior to January 25; is there more that needs to be done with the language, and who will/should do it? Mark replied that he thinks the language is fine. Next Meeting: The committee will meet next in early January, at a time to be determined (January 8 or the following week) to further discuss the Hartwell rezoning proposal. The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 pm. Respectfully submitted, Charlie Wyman 3.