Energy and Sustainability Advisory Committee

Rockland Energy and Sustainability Advisory Committee (RESAC) AGENDA Date/time: February 7, 2023/5:00-6:30 pm Committee Members: Mary Ellen Eagan, Connie Evans, Todd Schwendeman, George Terrien, John Sommo Guests invited: Julie Hashem, Jenny Carter Zoom Link (Zoom Only): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5040315241?pwd=eFhHaWJ4ZmhNakRmQ0VIQko4VmlKUT09 1. Welcome. 2. Minutes today: 3. Review and vote to approve / See copy of minutes below amend minutes from 01/03/23 4. Public Comment: 5 minutes 5. Updates: • Mayor agreed to ask for CC member to be liaison to our committee • Fire Chief, follow up on Idle Reducing Technology • Rockland DVM is researching number of EV registered to date Contacted Patricia Chacon-Roche, she is awaiting return of the director to access info. • One applicant for HS student member on committee. Stuart Sylvester confirmed that there is no age limit on membership • Committee position posted at Mid-Coast Climate happy hour gathering • UM Partnership Project, Projects not chosen. 6. Updates, Discussion, Bike to Work week Jenny Carter 45 min Development of CO2 emissions baseline/GHG inventory Use of ICLEI tool Consideration of MCOG work in this area (See MCOG info. below) Community outreach to increase awareness of and access to sustainability related incentive programs. 7. Member to attend/monitor CC Request for fulltime SC to be stable mtg, monitor agenda line item in budget at salary and with benefits commensurate with other City staff. Budget is being considered now. 8. Consideration of 2023 goals See below and previous email 9. Consideration of Draft Phase 1, Rockland CAP 10. Adjourn: 6:30 11. Notes/ideas Leasing options Sundog/Revision Get email address for RESAC Preparation for quarterly report  Rockland Energy and Sustainability Advisory Committee (RESAC) Minutes Date/time: January 3, 2023/5:00-6:30 pm Committee Members attending: Mary Ellen Eagan, Connie Evans, Todd Schwendeman, George Terrien, Dave Senzig Committee Members not attending: Sally Levi Guests: Julie Hashem, Jenny Carter, John Sommo Zoom Link (Zoom Only): https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5040315241?pwd=eFhHaWJ4ZmhNakRmQ0VIQko4VmlKUT09 1) Welcome – Start 5pm 2) Review and vote on minutes from Dec. 06-2022 – George not at the meeting 12/06/22, approved with that modification. 3) Jan. 3 2023 minutes by Dave Senzig 4) Public Comments a. Julie – Introduction of Jenny Carter, new part time Sustainability Coordinator, who will be joining us most months. Her background is in community/public outreach, and food security issues. She is a Rockland native. b. Introductions from committee members to Jenny c. Julie: Working on priorities for Jenny for the first six months. 5) Discussion w/ Julie Hashem re: Focus of SC and Economic Development a. Julie: Jenny will intentionally start with City operations. then community outreach. b. Julie: CC approved two goals for city (2025 municipal renewable electricity; already met; 2045 community carbon neutrality). How do we get there? What is the low hanging fruit for the community? Start planning the outreach strategy – both incentives and knowledge of operations. c. Julie: Jenny isn’t going to be doing everything – many City departments are involved with sustainability. Various efforts are already underway. We are also thinking about regional resources, and opportunities to leverage them. d. RESAC: Should the position be full time, and if so, do we need to raise funds? Julie: Because we only just filled the position, and Council only just decided it should be half time, it is too soon for staff to ask for a full-time position. As a matter of principle though, if we offer a position, it should be in the budget –not fair to fund the position with ‘soft’ money. e. Discussion re: acquisition of grant money: Julie: Downtown Waterfront project is first priority; multi-year project (clearly linked with sustainability due to known issues with storm surges/sea level rise). Also looking at the possibility of grants to fund EVs in the City vehicles (could be high visibility). f. RESAC: Midcoast Regional meeting are just beginning; can we join? Julie: The City is a member of MCOG (Julie is a board member), and they are developing a focus area in sustainability. Will look for opportunities to involve the Committee in regional planning/events. g. RESAC: Question re: Skowhegan REC sales: Julie: The City has contracted to sell 5 years of its (higher-value) RECs and buy enough that 100% of (estimated) municipal electricity usage is covered (schools are not included because they are not under the City budget). We expect to use profits from the REC sale to help fund the Downtown Waterfront project. h. RESAC: Could we divert renewable electricity to other local users? Julie: Our net energy billing credits can only be used for City accounts. State policy captures any expired credits to help low-income households. Local users can participate in community solar projects. i. RESAC: Are other groups moving CAP forward? Julie – staff and the Committee should try to align with mutual goals – such as the Council-approved carbon neutrality goal – and work together on related Action Plans. j. RESAC: What about possibility of setting up a municipal fund for incenting community sustainability projects? Julie: It is difficult to provide grants and loans through the City to fund private projects – not set up for doing this. Particularly when other sources of funding are available. 6) City Counsel update by Sally Levy (not present) Action item: Mary Ellen to check with Sally on CC meeting and CC liaison question  7) Other action items a. Student involvement RSU 13; still looking for feedback. b. Action item: Connie to follow-up c. Mentor Proposals – Sharon Klein i. Still waiting for feedback from students on the proposals. ii. Action items: Connie and Mary Ellen to send out proposals to committee 8) In the news a. Mid coast climate happy hour Jan 18, Steel House 639 Main St. Rockland 9) Contact with John Sommo, interested in joining committee. He was on-line with us until 6:00p. Action item: Todd to send John membership info. His membership would fill all the regular membership slots but we have option for one alternate. 10) Work and updates to 2023 Committee goals a. Sustainability Coordinator – achieved with hiring of Jenny Carter b. Increase presence in CC meetings c. Develop CAP – Mary Ellen and Connie worked on this. Might change focus to carbon neutrality to align with City goals. Action item: Mary Ellen and Connie to get work out to the committee to review. d. Reduce Reliance on FF e. Mobility & Transportation Action item: sub-committee to meet and establish goals f. Action item: George to look into logistics of “shifting” surplus electricity from city or other sources to low-income energy needs 11) Regional sustainability projects – not covered 12) Adjourn: 6:30p MCOG website https://www.midcoastcog.com/_files/ugd/f6d627_9feca02968be4bcebdcb9dc51b103674.pdf Midcoast Council of Governments Strategic Plan Introduction. The purpose of the Midcoast Council of Governments (MCOG) is to provide a blueprint for Staff and Board of Directors work over the next five years. It is meant to guide planning decisions, budgetary commitments, funding searches, and staff alignment as MCOG works to coordinate the regional activities of its member communities. The plan will provide sound data support, provide ongoing technical assistance to communities in need and further regional collaboration wherever possible. focus on the priorities they deemed most important: Housing, Infrastructure funding, and the Hub of Excellence (regional economic development). The Board of Directors are responsible for the fourth step in the strategic planning process: review and approval of this Final Strategic Plan. The Plan synthesizes information collected from all stakeholders, consolidating input into Seven Goals: ➢ Midcoast Sense of Place ➢ Hub of Excellence ➢ Bring more Federal and State $ to the Midcoast Region ➢ Housing ➢ Sustainability and Resiliency ➢ Communication ➢ Diversity, Equity, and Integration 5. Sustainability and Resiliency. Establish an effective sustainability and resiliency program that helps member communities address issues of climate change, reduce its’ root cause - carbon emissions, while embracing the green economy. a. Develop a regional Sustainability and Resilience Plan that: i. Collects and analyzes data to establish a baseline of climate related challenges on a local and regional. Examples include: 1. Sea level rise 2. Storm event changes 3. Wildlife impact zones  4. Emissions 5. Energy consumption 6. Vulnerable populations ii. Develop local and regional plans, with our partners, to mitigate or reduce the impacts of climate change while embracing the green economy(3) as an implementation tool. iii. Identify financial resources to support the plan. iv. Implement the Sustainability and Resiliency Plan iv. Implement the Sustainability and Resiliency Plan b. Ensure that commercial, industrial, institutional, and housing developments consider green economy implications and address issues of sustainability and net-zero impact. c. Establish a baseline and measure the demographic impacts of climate migration into the region. (3) Green economy: UNEP (2011a): [A] green economy [is] one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Further defined, green economy can be “economic activity related to reducing the use of fossil fuels, decreasing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the efficiency of energy usage, recycling materials, and developing and adopting renewable sources of energy” (Maine’s Green Economy: An Overview of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Sectors, Maine Department of Labor, February 2010) RESAC ANNUAL GOALS 2023 – Working Doc 1. Work to secure the position of Sustainability Coordinator as a stable budget item as a Full Time position with salary and benefits commensurate with other City Employees. 2. Contribute to the collaborative effort to develop a Climate Action Plan for Rockland with the Sustainability portion included or in development. 3. Increase engagement of this committee with CC by requesting CC liaison and monitoring/attendance of CC meetings by a member each month. 4. Support efforts of City Council to use a “Sustainability Lens” on purchases and other decisions. 5. Work to clarify and modify if necessary, CMP or PUC regulations that would allow flexible distribution of locally generated power, both residential and larger sources. Once secured, plan for utilization of these new options with publicity to community and consideration of municipal solar project. 6. Work with SC, CC and local businesses to develop a plan to reduce and plan for elimination of non- biodegradable take out and packaging containers. 7. Work with SC and Window Dressers Organization to plan and advertise a Window Dressers build in Rockland. 8. Provide input and support to Sustainability Coordinator to identify and achieve City Fleet and associated infrastructure transition to EV’ 9. To elevate the importance and associated visibility of “Active Transportation”, RESAC will provide support to host a Bike-to-Work Day by engaging City, Rockland Rolls, Main Street Rockland, sponsors and others. 10. Actively petition City to repaint “bike safety sharows” city-wide and expand “bike safety street striping”. 11. Actively support East Coast Greenway route planning through Mid-Coast to achieve dedicated bike lane.