Town of Newtown, CT 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT
THESE MINUTES ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY THE SUSTAINABLE ENERGY COMMISSION
8-16-2012
The Sustainable Energy Commission held a regular meeting Thursday, August 16, 2012 in shared meeting room 3 of the Municipal Center located at 3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT 06470.
The meeting was called to order by chairman, Kathy Quinn at 7:00 pm.
Present: Chairman, Kathy Quinn, Fred Hurley, Charlie Copp, Mark Sievel, Joseph Borst, Barbara Toomey, Desiree Galassi, Sarah Hemingway
Absent: Dan Holmes, James Gulalo
Communications:
None at this time.
Acceptance of June and July Minutes:
Mr. Borst made a motion to accept the minutes of the June 21, 2012 and July 19, 2012 meeting minutes as submitted. Mr. Copp seconded the motion which carried unanimously.
Old Business:
HES Program
Ms. Quinn asked for comments on the letter and press release that were drafted to send to town residents. The commission discussed a few items that should be clarified and explained further in the letter.
An idea was offered up to combine the lecture series about the program with a Transition Movement movie and promote the two events together.
The commission also intends to work with the high school Environmental Club to get the students involved in promoting the program which will result in the students encouraging their parents to participate in the program.
The intention is to send out the letters to the town residents at the beginning of September.
Solar Panels PPA / Town Meeting
There will be a town meeting on August 20 at 6:30 pm at the Senior Center to discuss the Solar Panels. Ms. Galassi brought some emails that were circulating around town to the attention of the commission. The emails contained misleading and untrue statements about the solar panels and how the panels will be funded. The intention of the meeting is to explain the panels are being put up through a new program established by the public utility authorities to increase the quantity of alternative energy in the state of Connecticut. This new program, only about 90 days old, is aimed at funding small, medium, and large projects.
There were some concerns brought up about snow removal on the roof after the solar panels have been installed. The company who is leasing the panels to the town is responsible for removing any snow or debris from the panels.
Water Treatment Plant
Mr. Hurley informed the commission that the Witness Test has been performed on the plant by CL&P and the utility company has accepted the system. The system is operational but is currently turned off until the builder signs off on the system.
Solarize CT
There are no updates at this time, Ms. Quinn is waiting until the new schedule is out for the second round.
Transition Movement
Ms. Toomey let the commission know she is holding a meeting on August 29 at 4:30 at Parks and Recreation to discuss upcoming programs including promoting biking and bike safety.
Go Green Website
No update at this time.
Energy Star Portfolio Manager
No update at this time.
Arts Festival
Ms. Quinn has put out feelers to the Home Energy Solutions program vendors and the clean energy fund to see if they were interested in attending and they are. The festival will take place on September 15 and 16.
New Business
Mr. Hurley had a few items to tell the commission about.
Mr. Hurley reminded the commission to start think about budgeting for the upcoming year and start creating programs they may want to roll out.
Mr. Hurley stated that the Z-REC program is in a new phase. They have established the rate for small projects, less than 100 kilowatts, for the next five and half years. There is rolling enrollment for this program and Mr. Hurley wants the commission to think about possible town buildings for these projects, a few suggestions were the animal shelter, the town garage, or maintenance building. Ms. Galassi questioned an item she heard recently about an inheritance being left to the animal shelter and Mr. Hurley confirmed it is true, that funds were left to help keep the shelter up and running. Some of these funds could be used to install solar on the animal shelter.
Mr. Hurley reminded the commission that the middle and large sized Z-REC programs are continuing until the money is gone. They are thinking the next RFP may target the Reed School.
Adjournment:
Mr. Borst made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:04 pm. The motion was seconded by Ms. Hemingway. The motion was carried unanimously.
The next regular meeting will occur on Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm at the Newtown Municipal Center in Shared Meeting Room 3.
Submitted, Jessica Smith, clerk.
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