AVON CLEAN ENERGY COMMISSION
AVON ROOM - BUILDING #1 TOWN HALL
MINUTES
MAY 5, 2010
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Chairman Olivier Gressier in the Avon Room, Building 1 Town Hall. Members present: Chairman Olivier Gressier, Robert Martin, Bernard Zahren, Brett Eisenlohr and Martin Kaplan. Members absent: Linda Meyers and Jamie DiPace. Advisory members present: Giorgina Paiella and John Craig. Advisory member absent: Diane Zhao. Also in attendance were staff member and Town Clerk Ann Dearstyne and Town Council member David Pena.
II. APPROVAL OF THE PRECEDING MEETING MINUTES – April 7th
Mr. Kaplan motioned, Mr. Martin seconded and all agreed to accept the April 7th meeting minutes as presented. None opposed. Mr. Eisenlohr abstained as he was absent from the meeting.
III. COMMUNICATION FROM THE AUDIENCE
Town Council member David Pena discussed some ideas he’d received from the residents concerning making the Town more user friendly to bikers and walkers by adding bike lanes and sidewalks. He told of information he’d gathered while attending this past January’s Hartford Bicycle Symposium. Connecticut ranks 42 out of the 50 states in providing an environment friendly to bicyclists and also did not have a single bike friendly town. He spoke of the monies available ($500,000,000.00) from the Federal Department of Transportation that are put aside every year just for this endeavor. Mr. Pena felt this to be a worthy goal to pursue and hopes to incorporate a regional approach to making the area more bike friendly. Chairman Gressier added that the Commission was about to start their energy plan and could
certainly incorporate this into it. Mr. Eisenlohr suggested also contacting local businesses for support.
IV. OLD BUSINESS: a. School Energy Competition, b. Garage Door Bids, c. Status on Idling
Chairman Gressier and Ms. Dearstyne relayed that they had not received any data from any of the schools regarding the competition. Mr. Gressier asked that one of the members take responsibility to contact each school for their data or Mr. David Paul to look at the CL & P invoices. Mr. Zahren suggested the competition also shed light on opportunities to look at the buildings to see areas that could be improved. Mr. Craig added there were buildings that were designed with energy efficiencies, such as skylights, that actually used lighting in the sky lit areas. Mr. Martin volunteered to contact Mr. Paul for the information. Mr. Martin added that the energy plan will take a look at the existing buildings to create a baseline and highlight areas for improvement. He added that this information will also help us for the next
contest.
Public Works Director Bruce Williams and Mr. Martin reviewed the garage door bids April 28th. They allocated $50,939.00 to the garage doors and the lowest bid came in at $51,300.00. The firm selected had previously provided doors for the Highway Garage building so they were familiar with the quality as well. Mr. Williams is working internally to get the project on track to begin work this fiscal year.
Mr. Kaplan has been in discussion with Alex Trujillo of Public Works about anti-idling sign placement in municipal locations – Town Hall, the Landfill, Library, the Senior Center and bigger parks. He added that Mr. Trujillo has been very active to monitor the town’s fleet and hoped to have more influence with the police department vehicles. Mr. Kaplan suggested a meeting be set between the various departments to increase the police department’s cooperation. He emphasized that this was a law in Connecticut. He also hoped to see more cooperation at the schools where they could obtain the anti-idling signs for no charge. Ms. Dearstyne had sent the letter last summer to the school board showing the guidelines but had not heard back. Mr. Gressier asked Mr. Kaplan to follow up with the Board of Education.
Mr. Eisenlohr said he spoke with Ms. Vocelli of the Library to post more information on the website by providing a separate link on the home page for clean energy sign up information. The link will simplify the process for residents to sign up for the 20% by 2010 campaign. It should be up and ready by next week. He’s also modified the form so that it is sent directly to Ms. Dearstyne for forwarding which will help to track the number of sign ups to qualify for the array of solar panels. Mr. Gressier hopes to hold community meetings with Ms. Rebecca Myers of CL & P to instruct the residents of all the programs that are available to homeowners. Mr. Zahren feels that approaching residents through the schools and PTO are the best ways to educate them to the value of the 20% by 2010 program. Ms. Paiella reminded the
members of the upcoming Eco-Night to be held this Friday, May 7th, at the High School, featuring fifteen local vendors, and also asked for help distributing flyers around town. Mr. Martin added that the town newsletter is always looking for articles and would be a good vehicle to reach the residents about the Commission’s activities. Mr. Gressier concluded that the members need to be willing to commit to attend events, talk to the residents to get the word out.
V. NEW BUSINESS: a. Review vendor proposals for Energy Plan
Ms. Dearstyne had hoped to schedule the vendor interviews for one day but ended up with two days, May 14th from 9:00 AM through 1:00 PM, and May 20th at 1:00 PM. She will notify the selected interviewees via e-mail with their scheduled spot and the required information and format. At least four members of the Commission need to attend in order to have a quorum.
Mr. Kaplan cautioned the members to choose project managers over marketers to interview. Ms. Dearstyne agreed that the persons directly involved with the project were to be invited to be interviewed. She also added that the price proposals would not be opened until after the finalists were chosen.
The members discussed possible questions to ask each vendor. Mr. Gressier would like to divide each interview into 3 parts: 15 minutes for their presentation, 20 minutes to ask the same questions of each (5 – 6 questions) and 10 minutes follow-up time for each member to ask one question. Mr. Gressier thought that first you had to be comfortable with the firm and then get specific about the project. Mr. Martin brought a sample template of questions, with weight given to each, typically used by the Town and State. He also said that Ms. Xenia Manson, in the Town Manager’s office, would be available to offer help providing forms for each member to use to grade the interviewees and decipher the weights given to each answer to determine the best score. Mr. Kaplan suggested that experience with charrettes was
important. Mr. Eisenlohr suggested asking vendors for short and long term sustainability of their energy plan. Mr. Martin wants the plan to be a lasting one. Mr. Craig suggested asking how the firm could customize a plan that would fit the uniqueness of our Town, where are the opportunities and obstacles in our community. Several members also suggested asking how the vendor is able to quantify the savings they’ve been able to achieve through an energy plan they’ve developed. Mr. Zahren is interested in finding how successful a firm is in securing funding for a plan. Ms. Dearstyne will finalize the questions with Chairman Gressier and e-mail them to the other members.
The interviews will be scheduled as follows:
Friday, May 14, 2010
9:00 AM – SourceOne, Inc.
10:00AM – Fuss & O’Neill, Inc.
11:00AM – University of Hartford
12:00 PM – Steven Winter Associates
Thursday, May 20, 2010
1:00 PM – Birdsall Services Group
VI. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION
None.
VII. DO ANY BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THIS MEETING
VIII. ADJOURN
Mr. Zahren motioned, Mr. Eisenlohr seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 PM. None opposed.
Respectfully submitted:
Chairman Olivier Gressier
Attest: Susan Gatcomb, Clerk
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