8/25/22 Energy Committee Meeting Minutes
Meeting was called to order by Carl at 7:02 pm
In attendance: Carl Bucholt, Carol Berry, Steven Henry, Jen Lalor, Tim Lalor, Joanne O’Connor
Absent: Jim Hand
Motion to approve minutes from 8/4/22 by Tim Lalor. Approved by all.
H518:
Carl had no updates on H518 but did reiterate that $2.5 million will be available for regional planning committees (e.g., BCRC) to help towns apply for funds; that rules are still still being written by BGS, and VECAN will notify energy committees when the program is ready to go and applications for grant funds can commence.
Window Dressers:
Still looking for more customers in the Northshire (Manchester, Sunderland, Dorset, Arlington). Carol Berry will be a customer. She has shared the WD flyer with Rupert church congregation. Jen shared it with all BBA faculty with one expressing interest. Carl shared it with United Counseling Services and will ask Kath James if she would be interested (she has an older house).
Housing Development Project:
The town has been looking into repurposing its town-owned buildings and adjacent land on Depot Street. This is an interesting project for our committee to follow. If housing for 40 units is built, it would be a great location for an EV charging station and other energy projects. An ad hoc committee has been formed to research and recommend options--Kath James is a member. Carl will contact Kath for a status and will also ask her if she is interested in Window Dressers for her older home.
Website Update:
The basic framework is there; waiting for the domain name to be released in a month. We need a mission statement and ideas for news stories and links (VECAN is one of the links). Members will each write a draft of a mission statement and share it with each other for comment within 2 weeks, before our next meeting on Sept 8th.
“Electric Drive-In”:
This event will be held at the Rec Center on Sept 24th, 10am-12:30pm. Carl sent us an updated flyer to distribute. Looking for people with electric cars, bikes, lawn equipment and other electric power tools. Tim will contact r k Miles about showing their tools. The Bike Shop declined to join us because of the added cost to send an employee. Nor would they let us borrow bikes so we could do the demos. Carl will ask VECAN to get the word out to other town energy committees.
EV Chargers:
Walgreens parking lot is dirt, not asphalt, which is a problem. Still need to determine the owner of the property.
GMP Meeting:
Carl and Jim met with Dan Mackey from GMP who encouraged that an audit of town buildings be done as the first step. Jim has someone in mind willing to do an audit for free, but it would need to occur on a Saturday. Dan suggested that we work with both GMP and Efficiency VT as they both offer incentives/rebates for a variety of electric products. Interesting comment from Dan-- General Motors is coming out with electric police vehicles soon. And, there are electric school buses on the market able to power town buildings in an emergency.
Select Board:
Carl would like input from members for a presentation before the select board. The first step/project being the need for an energy audit that will open doors to incentive programs for the town. From last meeting these were some ideas to include and prioritize in the presentation:
Town buildings energy audit
Electric vehicles
Solar panels/ heat pumps
EV charging stations
Weatherization
Standing Trees:
Carl mentioned this nonprofit that is working to ensure our old growth forests and thus biodiversity are protected. Old trees store much more carbon than new trees. Northeast forests have the potential to increase carbon storage 2.3 to 4.2--fold if we simply allow them to grow older.
Protect Public Forests | Standing Trees
Next meeting will be on Sept 8th at 7pm via Zoom (same link)
Motion to adjourn by Carol, seconded by Joanne. All agreed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm