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Meeting Minutes
Thursday, July 16, 2009
6:30 pm
In Attendance: Cindy Keegan (Chair), John Hayes, Jeff Barz-Snell, Nick Lewis, Paul Marquis, Adam Segal
Members not in attendance: Rick Nye, Rob DeRosier
Public: Gavin McCauliffe, Jenna Ide
City Staff: Tom Watkins, Michael Adler (Intern)
Introduction
Those in attendance introduced themselves to each other. Meeting Minutes from the month of May were reviewed and approved as amended. Tom informed the group that member Betsy Horne has resigned. However, the Mayor will be appointing resident Jenna Ide in her place. Jenna is employed by the State Division of Capital Asset Management as the Manager of their Energy Efficiency & Sustainable Buildings Group.
Anemometer Tower Installation
Tom explained to the group that the installation of the met tower will need approval from the Park & Recreation Commission. The topic will be discussed at their meeting on Tuesday, August 18th. Tom will follow up with MTC and their intern Christie Howe to learn more about the reimbursement process for the cost of the met tower (estimated to be $16,000) and when the Block 2 deadline is for the reimbursement grant.
The RETF discussed different ideas and questions which may be raised at the Park & Rec. meeting as well as how to address those concerns form the public. They were as follows:
- Q. What is the difference between this project and what the state wants to do with their proposal for off shore wind turbines A. There is a direct benefit to the City and the state project is a larger scale project which could take much longer to implement.
- Q. what is the Return on Investment (ROI) A. Jeff cited a recent study done by Tufts which estimates a return on investment of around $700,000 - $750,000 per year which would have the project (est. cost of 4-5 million) paid off in 5-7 years.
- What is the exact location of the met tower at Winter Island
- It was discussed to obtain a map of Winter Island (birds eye view) and use various visuals of met towers showcasing exactly what they look like. Tom will talk to the GIS department about this.
- Jeff stated that the group really needs to be clear that should the wind data gathered from the met tower be favorable, there will be plenty of other public meetings about the installation of a wind turbine should the City decide to go forward with one
- Will need to address noise concerns – Cindy stated that we should get the existing background noise level of Winter Island and compare it to the noise of a wind turbine
- Concerns on the disruption of bird patterns
- Tom will set up a meeting with the RETF and representatives from Meridian Associates to walk Winter Island and determine the location of the Tower
- Tom will get the legal opinion on the installation of a turbine at Winter Island from the City’s Legal Department. This document should cite property and zoning restrictions
- Cindy will ask for support from groups such as SAFE, Salem Sound CoastWatch and HealthLink
- Tom will talk to James Lister of the Plummer Home for Boys to give him the heads up on what the City is planning to do.
Letter from SAFE
Cindy read a letter from SAFE – Salem Alliance for the Environment. The letter was to Cindy as Chair of the Renewable Energy Task Force and was written by Patricia Gozemba, Director of SAFE. In the letter, SAFE has asked the RETF to co-sponsor a forum on biomass in the fall with SAFE as well as use of the RETF’s logo on their outreach materials for the forum. The forum will address the use of biomass materials which may potentially be used by Dominion to operate their station. The RETF voted unanimously to co-sponsor the forum with use of the logo.
2kw Solar Panel Array at SHS
Tom stated that the re-draft of the RFP for the Solar Array Panel has been completed and will be advertised tomorrow and will be available for the public as of the following Monday – July 20th. When it becomes available on the city website, Tom will send the link to the members of the RETF.
EECBG Application
Tom stated that the application for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant has been submitted by the City’s Planning Department. However, after the City had submitted the initial application, the application deadline was extended to August 1st. Once the application has been formally accepted, the City will have 120 days to submit an Energy Strategy plan explaining how they plan on spending the $176,000 available to them. Tom explained that the City will seek input from the Renewable Energy Task Force as well as hold at least 2 public meetings.
Technical Planning Assistance from the Green Communities Division
The RETF unanimously agreed to apply for technical assistance from the Green Communities Division. This technical assistance is free and consultants will be provided to the City to provide advice on how to meet the five criteria of the Green Communities Act in one year. Tom will submit the application which is due by August 7th.
Energy Manager
Tom said he is in the process of drafting a job description for the Energy Manager position for the City. Once complete, he will give it to the Mayor for review. Tom will notify the RETF once this job description is finalized.
Intern Update
Tom informed the group that intern Sarah Williamson’s last day will be next Wednesday. She has been busy inputting the gas usage of the City’s vehicles, as well as other data, into the CACP software of ICLEI. Tom will ask her for copies of her files and will also ask her to draft a summary of the work she has done. Intern Michael Adler will continue inputting vehicle data into the system for the coming months he is here as well as input the electrical and natural gas data he has collected for the City and School buildings. Michael also shared with the RETF that the City has contracted with Easy Energy on the electric supply services for over 150 accounts – mainly traffic lights and some other smaller accounts. He worked with both Tom and John Giardi on this initiative and the
cheaper rate will result in a conservative savings estimate of $6,000/year.
Next meeting will be August 20th, 2009
Meeting Minutes recorded by Tom Watkins
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm
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