Sustainability, Energy, & Resiliency Committee

Meeting Minutes - Final May 22, 2019 – 6:30PM City Hall – 98 Washington Street In Attendance: John Hayes, Jeff Cohen, Jenna Ide (staff), Brittany Dolan (staff), Lisa Peterson (councilor), Phil Koch, Chris Cantone, Rick Nye Not in Attendance: Gail Kubik Public: Stan Franzeen & Carolyn Ziering 1. Introductions 2. Public Comment  Stan Franzeen – He visited Arlington for Gas Leaks Allies Meeting. About 50-60 people were there from about 20 communities. Introduced a bill called “FUTURE Act” which lays the groundwork for utility companies to be able to remove leaking gas pipes and replace them with thermal water pipes. The idea is to try to stop building more infrastructure that would rely on fossil fuels. The utility companies will hopefully embrace this.  Jenna Ide – Lisa Rosenthal has resigned and we are looking for another member. We have had one application so far but it might be good to have more people apply.  Jeff Cohen – The person who is applying should submit a Letter of Intent to the Mayor and then they can submit their resume. 3. Review & Approve Meeting Minutes  Jeff Cohen motioned to accept the minutes with the revisions. Phil Koch seconded.  Vote passes unanimously. 4. Geothermal Energy  Phil Koch – I’ve put together some information on geothermal energy. There are different categories that I’ve organized and we can decide which topics we want to put on the section of the website for renewable energy.  Jenna Ide – We should try to edit it down for the website and then supplement with links to websites.  Rick Nye – Put what geothermal energy is and then the benefits first. That way it can grab the attention of people.  John Hayes – We should make sure that the Berry Library at SSU is an example on the website.  Phil Koch – Geothermal works very well for large buildings. It is more difficult in the residential sector.  Jenna Ide – We should add some graphics as well to the website.   John Hayes – We will transform it into an FAQ and bring it back to the meeting in June.  Chris Cantone – We could add links and then add a link at the bottom that people could direct questions to. 5. Project Updates  Jenna Ide – o We submitted an MVP grant for Bertram Field and Gallows Hill. o Bertram Field got recommended for CPA funding so that will go to City Council. o We are going to go for LEED SITES for Bertram. It would be one of the first in Massachusetts. o We are also finalizing the Salerno Project at the auto-tech center. o Forest River is still moving forward in design. o We are looking at the schools to do general maintenance and studies on equipment in schools. We have a real opportunity for the schools to become more energy efficient. o We are also looking to do projects at the fire stations, Old Town Hall, and the parking garages. o We have a proposal from PowerOptions to do Solar PPA on some of the school buildings.  Jenna - I will send out more information on this. We would like your feedback on this proposal. 6. Solarize Plus Update  Brittany Dolan – We haven’t officially been selected but we have been given the go- ahead from MassCEC to proceed as if we have been selected. We will have volunteer training on June 5th. 7. Finalize Resiliency FAQ  John Hayes – We will put this on the agenda for June. 8. Finalize Updates to SERC website  Jenna Ide – The edits were published yesterday so please look at them when you get a chance and send your edits back to Jenna and Brittany. 9. New Business/Upcoming Events  SERC Pot Luck Event  Jeff Cohen – Motioned to have Pot Luck on July 24th at 6pm at the Willows. Chris Cantone seconded.  Vote passes unanimously. 10. Next Meeting – Wednesday June 26, 2019 at 6:30pm 11. Adjournment  Chris Cantone motioned to adjourn. Rick Nye seconded the motion.  Vote passes unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 8:13pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Brittany Dolan.