1/5/23 Energy Committee Meeting Minutes
Meeting was called to order by Carl at 6:07.
In attendance: Carl Bucholt, Jim Hand, Tim Lalor (via Zoom), Carol Berry, Steven Henry, Joanne O’Connor, Leslie Perra (interim town manager)
Absent: Jen Lalor
Motion to approve minutes from 12/8/22 by Carol, seconded by Jim. Approved by all.
Energy Committee Website Update:
Steven and Carol have collaborated on writing two blogs focused on energy saving tips. This is an ongoing project and more energy-related topics will be available online soon. Once the revised town’s website is created, our committee--and all other town committees will have a link from manchester-vt.gov to our page--something like this: manchester-vt.gov/ energycommittee
Town Website Redesign:
There are three quotes from web developers under consideration, experienced with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) website compliance.
EV Charging Stations (behind Walgreens):
As noted in December’s energy committee minutes, the town is still seeking approximately $136K through either new grants or from remaining ARPA money (approx $425K) to cover the town’s unfunded portion of the estimated project cost.
Energy Audit of Town Hall:
No report yet from Corey Trimmer on the energy audit done at town hall. Five years of town energy usage/cost was sent to Corey to help with his report. Energy costs have been very high this year. As an example, Applejack Stadium’s energy bill is usually $2k/year. Last year, it was $7,400.
CCRPC data onto an Excel spreadsheet:
Steven has a list of town projects which he downloaded along with the database of funding opportunities developed by the Chittenden County Regional Planning Committee. The two files can be cross-referenced, filtered and searched by keywords to find potential funding.
GNAT-TV:
Carl mentioned that Andrew McKeever of GNAT-TV is interested in having shows related to energy topics. Energy committee members could appear on one of the shows to discuss what we’ve been doing, as well as energy topics that would be of interest to viewers. Contact Carl if interested.
Energy Fair:
Ideas for an Energy Fair on April 22nd, which is Earth Day, were discussed including a silent auction with proceeds donated to local nonprofits. We agreed that planning must begin this month. Carl will contact the Northshire energy committees (Arlington, Sunderland, Dorset) for committee members who can commit to doing the work. The first sub-committee meeting will be Tuesday, January 17th at 7:00 pm on Zoom.
Act 172 money for Municipalities:
Everyone is still waiting for guidelines and applications from the House committee - BGS - and subsequent notification from BCRC that the program is ready and applications can be submitted.
Next meeting:
Our next Energy Committee meeting will be Wed, January 18th at 7pm at town hall.
A motion to adjourn was made by Carol, seconded by Joanne, all approved. Meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM.
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Approved by the Energy Committee Date