AVON CLEAN ENERGY COMMISSION
AVON ROOM BLDG. #1 TOWN HALL
MINUTES
JUNE 5, 2013
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:04 PM by Chairman Bernard Zahren in the Avon Room, Building 1 Town Hall. Members present: Chairman Bernard Zahren, Mitch Kennedy, Robert Bullis, Brian Glenn, and Lisa Levin. Members absent: Martin Kaplan and Richard Kretz. Advisory member absent: Jonathan Craig. Also in attendance was Assistant Town Manager Steve Bartha.
II. APPROVAL OF THE PRECEDING MEETING MINUTES – April 3rd
Mr. Zahren asked if there were any corrections or comments regarding the minutes. Ms. Levin requested that part 3 of the last paragraph of section IV Old Business should be revised to state “examine public and private sector financing alternatives.” She added that she did not recall the town’s summary just referring to grants. Mr. Zahren requested that the sentence “Mr. Zahren indicated that it is” be changed to “Mr. Zahren indicated that these topics were worthy of consideration to amend the charge” adding that the Commission was not very acceptable of the proposed draft at the last meeting thus proposing that it be amended.
VOTE: Dr. Kennedy motioned, Mr. Bullis seconded and all agreed to accept the April 3rd minutes with the changes. None opposed.
III. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE
Mr. Marc Reich introduced himself. He said he is a resident of Avon, runs a private equity firm and sits on the Democratic Town Committee. He added that he would comment later in the meeting as he didn’t have any to share at the time.
IV. OLD BUSINESS: None
None.
V. NEW BUSINESS: a. Discussion on new ACEC charge
Mr. Zahren referred to the draft of the new charge that will be presented at the Town Council for approval the following night. Mr. Bartha clarified that the energy plan had been written and the draft charge would apply to the Commission moving forward. Mr. Bullis asked who drafted the charge. Mr. Bartha responded that it came out of the Town Manager’s office to be submitted to the Town Council. Mr. Bullis asked what obligation the Town had to have an energy commission. Mr. Bartha answered that one of the conditions of participating in the State’s program 20% by 2010 was that the Town had to have an energy task force. The Town Council elected to participate in the program and thus the creation of the Commission. The State revised the program in 2010 to obtain 30% clean energy by 2015. Mr. Bartha added that the
energy plan was desired by the ACEC from the start, but not a condition of joining the State campaign. Mr. Bullis restated his question of does the Town have the obligation to have an energy commission. Mr. Bullis continued that if they do then it becomes incumbent upon them to really prescribe a program that is not “toothless” in order to succeed. He further added that here is a task that creates no obligations, no objectives and asks where we are next year. Mr. Bullis continued that he didn’t believe that the Town can continue on that path especially when he sees the news where other towns are buying natural gas run vehicles for example. Mr. Bartha responded that the charge was intentionally broad and would not contain a bullet list of specific projects to explore. Mr. Bullis asked Mr. Bartha if he could point to where he felt there’s a charge that says it is incumbent upon the Commission to bring forward to the Town’s attention clean energy projects
that would have a cost trade off that would benefit the town. Mr. Bartha replied that the charge, as drafted, focused on community education and that more specificity might be a good topic for discussion with the Town Council. He continued that the second part of the draft charge focuses on monitoring the implementation of the plan similarly to the Administrative Services Study. Mr. Bartha said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss desired changes to the charge for discussion at the Town Council meeting.
Mr. Bullis described the efforts thus far as frustrating because of the lack of funding for tasks with a tolerable risk level or education to achieve that. Mr. Bartha noted that the lack of an ACEC budget had been discussed at various times in the past and would need to be addressed as part of a broader conversation with the Town Council. Mr. Bullis suggested the Commission needed some seed money or some sort of resource from the town. Mr. Zahren concurred that lack of money has always been an issue and added that we could find money for many of these things outside of the town. He added that the members should seek the Town Council’s support for a town wide charrette on energy savings and a commitment of some kind for town staff. Mr. Bullis said the time has come to ask for what will put the Commission in a
positive direction – maybe not money. Compared to towns around us he said we are going nowhere. Mr. Bullis is sympathetic to the Town’s budget balancing but feels there are things that are going to be put upon us in the future. Mr. Bartha took a moment to acknowledge the Town’s efforts made thus far as commendable – increasing energy efficiency by 10% over four years. Mr. Bullis suggested that perhaps 10% of the $350,000 saved by the BOE could be put to an administrative function to make this Commission more effective. Mr. Zahren agreed that this had been a hard thing to do.
Mr. Bullis continued that energy conservation should have a priority with the Town Council on par with the school system, police and fire protection. Mr. Zahren reflected upon the amount of money that was lost in the town due to the devastating storms that have occurred over the last several years. Mr. Bullis summed that the Commission needs to identify projects that make sense financially to bring before the Council. Mr. Bartha noted that the Town doesn’t have designated energy personnel to dig into the details and must therefore rely on the Commission to convince the Council that projects have merit.
Ms. Levin reminded of her previous recommendation that you need to set up some governance process by which you can vet these ideas so then you can agree whether or not you want to pursue the money as it’s agreed that there is money out there. She added that she wouldn’t make the recommendation to revise the budget because that’s what the Commission has been doing and getting nowhere without a mechanism in place. Ms. Levin mentioned the micro grid and solar panels as examples. Mr. Bullis agreed and said that this should be in the draft. He continued that he was seeing news where the towns were beginning to be obligated to do things towards energy conservation. Mr. Zahren corrected that for example, signing up for the Bright Ideas campaign, would obligate the town to do X, Y and Z. Mr. Bartha briefly
described the feasibility of the program and steps involved to participate. Mr. Zahren responded that the Town Council had already passed reducing the carbon footprint 20% by 2020 and was now putting it on a shelf. He clarified that the Commission’s energy plan to reduce 15% by 2015 was not for overall use but a metric to reduce use per square foot and the 20% by 2020 carbon reduction was a goal which he feels will not be reached at the rate this is going. He said the approach to be made to the Town Council should not focus on giving us money but that they were given a plan and be serious about meeting the goal. Ms. Levin asked how this would look and how would it translate to a charge and ask the Council how commitment would look like. She added that it was obvious that they wanted the Commission to focus on community education – residential energy use and not as an advisory Commission to oversee energy use on the municipal level. Mr. Bullis added that we were asking
the Town Council to manage a process that they aren’t capable of and they’d want to hear that we have a proposal to handle the energy system that works. He continued that it was up to the Commission to say here is what needs to be done.
Dr. Kennedy concurred with Mr. Bullis and Ms. Levin that we need a direction, a commitment from the Council that this Commission is important. He added that these ideas were irrelevant unless we could get action at the top end. Dr. Kennedy would like to see that if a good proposal was presented to the Council that it would be seriously entertained and blessed that this is a priority that is worth pursuing. Mr. Glenn agreed that it has been a problem since he’s been coming that we have these ideas but who is there to look at them and could there be money for a part time person to do so. Mr. Bullis summed that we must have someone in the town management who is cognizant of what the opportunities are. Ms. Levin added that she thought the Commission served as an advisory to the Council but feels it’s been
stonewalled, questioning whether legally there was a need anymore for the Commission. Mr. Bullis referred to the draft and said that it should not be going to the Council in its present form but should be revised. He suggested the town in its planning process would establish an individual in their management structure that would be responsible for the development of energy projects. It would be the role of the Council in the intervening 12 months to bring forward a structural plan that would make some sense so this individual could get on board and be functional from the get go.
Ms. Levin referred to a conversation she had with Mr. Zahren about revising the draft to include language that would reinforce reaching the 20% goal with renewables through the use of actual renewable energy as opposed to relying on RECs. Mr. Zahren noted that the goal is reduction of carbon footprint that can be achieved by adopting renewable energy, savings and not just solar panels. Mr. Zahren relayed that Mr. Robertson was now willing to go forward with an RFP for solar panels for the Middle School as an item on the agenda.
Mr. Zahren proposed to re-draft the charge to say what the Commission would like it to say. Mr. Bullis made some suggestions for the re-write: 1) whereas it has been demonstrated through the development of our clean energy plan that there are opportunities that exist that benefit the town for cost savings as well as achieving energy targets, 2) whereas the town has an energy target of such and such, 3) then therefore, it is proposed that the Town give serious consideration to the establishment of a management organization within the town to address energy opportunities, 4) and the Commission is tasked to assist this new structure in town where and when it becomes established, 5) and then until such time it will be the responsibility of the Commission to develop a coherent focus on potential targets of opportunity which we
could react to within a reasonable period of time.
Ms. Levin questioned if the Town Council would be voting on the draft at the meeting. Mr. Bartha said probably not in light of the revisions. Mr. Bullis suggested offering a proposal saying we’d submit this for their consideration. Mr. Glenn offered that the Commission was recomposing it tonight and would re-present it. Mr. Bullis felt that the Town Council doesn’t know what direction to take and that’s the problem with all of this and that they don’t understand. He continued that the aim is to create an energy awareness that the town is committed to and it’s the responsibility of the town management as the Commission can only advise.
Ms. Levin, Dr. Kennedy and Mr. Bullis remained to create a new draft charge.
VI. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION
VII. DO ANY BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THIS MEETING
VIII. ADJOURN
VOTE: Dr. Kennedy motioned, Mr. Glenn seconded and all agreed to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 PM. None opposed.
Respectfully submitted:
Chairman Bernard Zahren
Attest: Susan Gatcomb, Clerk
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