Energy Advisory Committee

Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee City Manger’s Conference Room Draft Meeting Minutes June 20th 2017 7:00- 8:30 PM Members Present: Kate Stephenson, Ken Jones, Dan Jones, Karl Johnson, Wavell Cowan, Cara Robechek, Geoff Fitzgerald, Barry McPhee, Barbara Conrey, Dan Costin, Jared Duval Attendees: Amy Gamble, Phillip Peacot, Tim Terway Introductions Agenda and Minutes • Dan Jones moves to approve agenda. Jared seconds. All in favor. • Ken moves to approve minutes, Geoff seconds. All in favor. No public comment Timeline The Committee worked together to outline MEAC’s accomplishments over the past ten years and look forward to brainstorm tangible projects they would like to see accomplished between now and 2030 by creating a MEAC timeline. Collaborations and Inspiration The committee discussed how to best learn from what other cities and towns are doing- both in Vermont and beyond- for inspiration. o Vermont community energy dashboard (resources and materials online) o VECAN – potential small group meeting of energy committee leaders o GRITS database Updates from Working Groups Planning and Policy (Barbara) • Continued working on draft energy plan with draft goals and targets which will be used municipally and for regional planning. Residential (Ken) • Working to create a residential comprehensive energy package • The Net Zero plan will provide homeowners with a suite of activities they can implement and create a member based organization to join. Transportation (Dan C.) • MTIC met with a consultant (ALTA) to overview their draft complete streets plan. The complete streets plan is moving forward to define street typologies. • Way finding plan moving forward to improve signage in the city • Bicycle events committee will be hosting a bike/walk to the mountaineer’s game. o Map with trails marked was created by Becca Municipal Building Audits • RFP for municipal building audits went out to contractors. • $20,000 dollars allocated. • Previous audits include recreation and senior center (before renovation). • Does anyone remember previous audits/did someone get a bid to do audits? Retro commissioning • Hired Cx Associates to retro commission the police station’s HVAC system • For some buildings we may be able to use efficiency Vermont retro commissioning program (incentives based on building size and occupancy). Need to be over 7,000 sf to qualify. ESG / co-gen at wastewater treatment • There is not sufficient fats oils and grease to jump into cogeneration • ESG will present the city with a scaled back proposal for saving on tipping fees, increased methane and saving on oil • During winter methane isn’t enough and the plant uses oil to heat • In summer they are flaring methane • Could produce some electricity for on-site offset Revolving loan fund  • Our first project, the capacitor at the water treatment plant, is saving approx. $130 a month. • We are actively soliciting projects. Other business • On FPF there is a discussion of heat pumps- we can help develop clarification. • Newsletter will come out soon. • Middle School students created PSAs showcasing how to save energy. • We can potentially co-opt some of the infographics produced by Middlebury for our outreach efforts. Meeting adjourned at 8:34 PM