Sustainability, Energy, & Resiliency Committee

Meeting Minutes - Final January 23, 2019 – 6:30PM City Hall – 98 Washington Street Attendance: Lisa Rosenthal, John Hayes, Jeff Cohen, Rick Nye, Jenna Ide (Staff Contact), Lisa Peterson (City Council Liaison), Brittany Dolan (Staff) Not in Attendance: Gail Kubik, Chris Cantone, Phil Koch, Public: Stan Franzeen (SAFE, CCL), Susan Goniprow 1. Energy Resources Commission Law: o SERC can have a budget, enter into contracts, etc. o Put an ordinance together to assert some of the things mentioned in the law that could then be put in front of City Council.  SERC could be part of conversations around new developments. o Continue discussing the development of this ordinance at the next meeting and then meet with the mayor to discuss this further. o Lisa P.- Is there a reason why we are a committee instead of a commission? o SERC was originally the Renewable Energy Task Force. The members wanted to broaden the scope of the committee so the name was changed to Sustainability, Energy, & Resiliency Committee. 2. Green New Deal (GND)-Jeff o Cambridge put in a resolution to their City Council that supports the GND. o Has not been voted on yet in Cambridge. o Not just about environment but also about social justice issues. o Could Salem do something similar? o Jeff will work on drafting up the resolution and then maybe Lisa P. could bring it to City Council. o Email Jeff if there is something you would like included on Salem’s GND. o One month until Council meeting to get our draft resolution together to bring before them. o Jenna- GND has the potential to create jobs and improve the lives of people that live in the community by helping people save money and improve their homes. Could help sustainable practices become more affordable and accessible to lower income homes. o Environmental Justice, Social Justice, Economic Justice. o Stan – public opinion has shifted dramatically, 72% of Americans now believe that global warming is happening. o Lisa P.- PR campaign with the city to get it out to the public to let them know that SERC is trying to pass a GND resolution.  o Growing support for GND in Salem. o Storms from last year have impacted Salem residents and this could be why there is growing support for GND and other actions that are similar to this. o John- number the “whereas” 1-7 and “resolved” 1-3 in order to make changes easier. o Send out to other committee members in order to get their comments and or changes. 3. Regular Updates to City Council o Semi-annual updates. o If there was something important that came up then there could be another meeting. o Lisa P. - Most projects that come before this city have the potential to have SERC involved. o This is where the ordinance discussed earlier can come into effect. o Are there current projects in Salem that SERC could be involved in which they are not currently? o The committee noted that we are building and planning for today’s climate but not thinking about the climate of the future and the projected changes. o Salem is meeting the minimum state guidelines but this may not be enough. o Jenna- resilient design is often the same cost as traditional design. o SERC could provide expertise in these situations where traditional designs are chosen because of fear of high prices. 4. New Business o Lisa P. – constituent is interested in pursuing “Green Mondays” similar to a “Meatless Monday”.  Other communities have done similar initiatives.  Ex. Individuals can reduce meat consumption.  Andy Varela from Maitland Mountain Farming could be a part of this.  Sustainable food practices.  Restaurants could feature vegetarian dishes.  Could also do it in the schools. o Jeff- Green Fair  Potential to bring this fair back involving more outreach and not as many vendors.  “Green Mondays” could be part of the green fair.  Marblehead had a similar fair with a broad scope of topics.  Food, makeup, crafts, electric vehicles, vendors, etc.  They also had guest speakers do seminars. o Jenna- SERC outreach in Salem  How can we broaden it and reach more people in the community.  Develop materials on different topics that are included under sustainability.  We need to really increase the education and outreach especially in lower income areas. o Brittany- SERC Brochure  Rough outline for a SERC brochure.  This brochure could be passed out at Farmer’s Market, Neighborhood meetings, etc.   What projects could be included on the brochure?  LED lights, municipal aggregation, etc.  Add pictures.  She will continue to work on this brochure and will send it out so that others can give their feedback. 5. Solarize Plus o Swampscott and Nahant are considering applying and they want to know if Salem would be interested in partnering. o More than just solar PV, air source heat pumps, solar hot water, etc. o Need a certain amount of solar ready homes in order to be accepted. o Swampscott and Nahant may not be able to get accepted by themselves. o It would benefit the community and the people of Salem o “Solar coach” would work with city employee to promote the use of these technologies. o Application is due April 17, 2019. o Jeff motioned to vote on applying for the program, Rick seconded. o Motion passed unanimously to apply to the Solarize Plus program with Swampscott and Nahant. 6. Project Updates o Forest River Pool and Bathhouse  Got META grant from DOER for zero-net energy study.  Moving into next phase with the designer now.  Eligible for CPA funding. o Salem Willows  Had a public meeting in December.  Now focusing in on “the hill” restoration and making it more resilient.  Also looking at the whole park for future updates. o Bertram Field-Phase 2  Working on design/development phase.  Also targeting zero-net energy for this project.  Want to include solar in the project.  Also want to improve the drainage there.  Eligible for CPA funding. o Solar project is done at Witchcraft Heights and Bentley Elementary Schools. Only final payments are needed. o ESCO style project  Hope to go out for an RFQ later in the spring.  Good opportunity to do more projects in schools instead of just lighting.  Will help with energy efficiency. o Salerno Auto-tech  Kick-off meeting is Friday, will have more information next meeting. 7. Meeting minutes. Jeff Cohen motioned to accept the minutes with any revisions submitted by Friday morning. Lisa Rosenthal seconded. o Motion passed unanimously. o Brittany will edit and then send them out before posting the final minutes on the website. Meeting adjourned at 8:28pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Brittany Dolan.