AVON CLEAN ENERGY COMMISSION
AVON ROOM BLDG. #1 TOWN HALL
MINUTES
JANUARY 4, 2012
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by Acting Chairman Bernard Zahren in the Avon Room, Building 1 Town Hall. Members present: Acting Chairman Bernard Zahren, Martin Kaplan, Brian Glenn and Lisa Levin. Member absent: Jeffrey Bernetich. Advisory members present: Giorgina Paiella, Diane Zhao and Jonathan Craig. Advisory member absent: none. Also in attendance was staff member Steve Bartha, Assistant Town Manager.
II. APPROVAL OF THE PRECEDING MEETING MINUTES – December 7, 2011
VOTE: Mr. Kaplan motioned, Mr. Glenn seconded and all agreed to accept the December 7, 2011 minutes as presented. None opposed or abstained.
Mr. Zahren requested to keep the minutes handy to reference statements previously made by Mr. Weisman, such as presenting a document that provided facts but not heart, and to keep these in mind in this evening’s discussions in completing the energy plan.
III. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
None.
IV. COMMUNICATIONS FROM STUDENT ADVISORS
Mr. Zahren asked the students for an update. Ms. Paiella relayed that the high school group met before break to discuss goals going forward and will check with other energy teams for ideas to implement into plans her team would like to do with the school. Mr. Zahren asked if they’d been getting good support from the faculty for their initiatives. She said yes and an energy “guy” puts post-it notes to remind people to turn off their computers to save energy. Ms. Zhao agreed but did not know if this was related to the energy conservation steps taken by the school superintendent. Mr. Zahren has not gotten the details of these efforts but recalls discussions from last summer with Mr. Mala about a program. Ms. Paiella said there are flyers in the classrooms, bearing the town seal that tell people to shut off
things. Mr. Zahren reminded too that he’d like the students to take back to their groups what the commission is proposing.
Mr. Zahren reminded that Mr. Craig would be attending a regional presentation tomorrow and that there would be another block grant going out. Mr. Bartha said the grant was from the unspent dollars from the formula grants from a few years ago. Mr. Kaplan noted that there was one coming up called the New Renewables Grant. Mr. Craig said it deals with new technologies and alternative ideas. Mr. Craig questioned whether the 6 million metric tons of waste from the recent storm has been considered by anyone to be used as a renewable fuel.
V. OLD BUSINESS: a. Final discussion of the draft energy plan
Mr. Zahren referred to an email he sent the members earlier in the day regarding topics he’d like to expand upon or amend in the draft. The first topic asks if the plan should address the issue of energy reliability backup systems for emergency needs, through the use of generators for example. Mr. Glenn noted that it was a statewide preparation problem and there was only so much a municipality could do. Mr. Bartha said that the town does have generators at all of the critical needs locations and proposed that this would be handled by the Emergency Management Director. He added that there had been discussions around the State requiring new gas stations to have back up generators. Ms. Levin questioned the role of renewables. Mr. Zahren said the type he and Mr. Craig has (wired to the grid) are designed to shut off
when the power goes off to prevent back feeding the electric lines and would not help in this instance. He said the type that runs autonomously is more expensive. Hearing this, Ms. Levin suggested the plan not address the installation of these systems as solutions for extended power outages.
Mr. Zahren feels the plan still needs a lot of work. He also feels we’ve gotten our monies worth so far and that a big piece of the plan has already been done whereby it contains an inventory of the buildings and their history and usage. Mr. Zahren thinks we need more “big picture” things in the plan. Mr. Bartha said Mr. Weisman wants more hands on input from the commission and is waiting on the sidelines for direction.
Mr. Kaplan would like to see a dashboard system, a real time system. He questions if the plan can tell how much savings have been made from 2008 – 2011. Mr. Bartha said Mr. Weisman needed assumptions to plug into the figures to get that answer. Mr. Kaplan recommends that we get a system that can get those figures on a monthly, weekly, daily basis. Mr. Bartha said we’d still need someone to monitor the information and pay for the software and that we did not have a staff member to do this. Mr. Kaplan suggested asking West Hartford’s energy manager for information. Mr. Zahren recapped that we still need to find the money and then we can do it.
Mr. Bartha said the plan should give guidance to the commission to move forward and one of the action points could be to bring in someone from Wethersfield or West Hartford or Mr. Haaheim to show us what they’re doing to get an idea of feasibility and the best way to do it. He continued that the plan shouldn’t tell what particular software to buy as a RFP would be needed for purchase. Mr. Bartha noted too that once the plan was accepted and a software program chosen then the commission could go to the Town Council and propose it. Ms. Levin suggested including the software request under Energy Goals and Initiatives under Goals for Town and School Operations as a bullet point saying to implement a monitoring system to figure if we are meeting these goals. Mr. Kaplan feared Mr. Weisman would leave before he told
us which software could best meet our needs. Mr. Zahren suggested we concentrate on getting a plan first. Mr. Zahren suggested we include the need for a monitoring system in two places: Goals for Town and School Operations and Measure Progress under Suggested Guiding Principles for Energy Management.
Mr. Glenn questioned if there was anyone who was going after grants. Mr. Bartha said the town did not have a grant management system in place. Ms. Levin and Mr. Kaplan suggested Mr. Haaheim as one who could do this.
Mr. Zahren referred to item 2 of his email regarding carbon footprint. He cautioned that this too would require man hours. Mr. Zahren defined it as the amount of carbon atoms that each one is responsible for producing every year. He said Ms. Paiella was correct that the more we produced, the more would trap heat on the earth which in turn creates more climate change. Mr. Zahren added that he wanted everyone to think that the recent storm is not an anomaly but a sign of things to come if the next generation doesn’t do more to reduce the burning of fossil fuel. Ms. Paiella relayed that she discussed this with Mr. Marella at the high school to try to find ways to incorporate this into the energy club and Commission. Mr. Glenn suggested whatever one could do personally to reduce the carbon footprint would help. Mr.
Craig gave the example of the single termite not producing much, but worldwide termites are one of the largest methane producers.
Mr. Craig noted the need to include education in the plan. Ms. Levin and Mr. Kaplan concurred. Mr. Bartha cautioned that the plan should not be an encyclopedia of information for the public. Mr. Craig said the plan should provide recommendations for education in it. Mr. Bartha reminded that there was a question at the last meeting regarding creating a sub committee of one, two or three to craft language. He did not want Mr. Weisman to be asked to do this but could be asked to oversee submissions made by the commission. Ms. Levin volunteered to work on the education section and asked for help from any new members when they are appointed. Mr. Craig also volunteered to help her. Mr. Bartha offered to facilitate.
Mr. Zahren discussed adding carbon footprint to the plan. Mr. Craig said it would basically be adding software. Mr. Zahren said it was more philosophical. Mr. Kaplan suggested it should be a part of the education section. Mr. Zahren asked how we’d state who’d be active and responsible for gathering with towns that meet on a periodic basis to exchange and bring back ideas to the BOE, Town and the Commission. Mr. Bartha interjected that these kinds of exchanges are already going on between towns and town personnel. Mr. Kaplan will write the bullet point.
Mr. Zahren continued the discussion with talking about money. Mr. Bartha agreed to mention money sources because who knew who’d be reading the plan years from now. Mr. Bartha asked Mr. Kaplan to provide the information so that he could incorporate it.
Mr. Zahren asked Mr. Glenn about finding funds for the solar panels for the school. He said there were three ways: 1) there’s no money so don’t get them, 2) struggle with energy sign-ups or donations, or 3) private enterprise installing the panels. Mr. Glenn liked the second choice but would be comfortable with the third choice. Mr. Zahren asked how we could incorporate the third choice: we’d be green but wouldn’t save as much money. Mr. Bartha suggested that Mr. Weisman add some definitions of the various renewable energies and where they are used and then work Mr. Zahren’s thoughts about funding possibilities.
Mr. Kaplan discussed the fleet issue. Mr. Bartha suggested inviting Mr. Trujillo to a meeting to discuss it as he’s been monitoring fleet use already. Mr. Kaplan reminded that there needed to be a goal.
Mr. Bartha summarized the discussed changes to the plan:
Adding a bullet in the goals section for a system for measuring
Funding – Mr. Kaplan will get information
Education bullets – Ms. Levin and Mr. Craig
Fleet – needs more information
Renewable section – types of renewable energy sources the town should be considering – use of the private sector
Regional activities – Mr. Kaplan will work on
Mr. Zahren will write an intro paragraph and make recommendations to the BOE and Town Council on how aggressive to be
VI. NEW BUSINESS None
Mr. Zahren would like Mr. Glenn to find out what the school district is doing on energy and cite it in the plan. Mr. Bartha suggested adding a few sentences regarding this to the BOE section in the plan and inviting Mr. Gaski to discuss the BOE’s efforts as well.
VII. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION
VIII. DO ANY BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THIS MEETING
IX. ADJOURN
VOTE: Ms. Levin motioned, Mr. Glenn seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 8:35PM. None opposed.
Respectfully submitted:
Acting Chairman Bernard Zahren
Attest: Susan Gatcomb, Clerk
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