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Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 17th, 2011
6:30 pm
120 Washington St.
Salem, MA
In Attendance: Cindy Keegan (Chair), Jenna Ide, Adam Segal, Jeff Brandt
Members not in attendance: Rob DeRosier (Vice Chair), Rick Nye, Nick Lewis, John Hayes, Jeff Barz-Snell
City Staff: Paul Marquis (Salem Energy Manager & RETF/ City Liaison)
Public: Larry Dennison
Administrative
- Meeting called to order at 6:50 PM
- February 2011 meeting minutes approved w/ minor changes
General business
- Winter Island wind/ Wind Education
- Paul Marquis informed the Task Force members that the meteorological testing tower at Winter Island was expected to be decommissioned and disassembled by Meridian Associates the week of March 21st.
- A few Task Force members asked Paul Marquis to ask Meridian Associates for an estimate of when they would be able to provide revisions to the feasibility study that had been requested earlier by the City/ Task Force.
- The members informally agreed that if necessary, a special session would be convened to consider the question of study acceptance, in order to expedite delivery to the MA Clean Energy Center (CEC), who would need to accept the report before the City could seek reimbursement for the $65,000 study cost. Acceptance of the study by CEC would also allow the City to apply for a design & construction grant from CEC.
- Jenna Ide suggested getting at least tentative support for the project and CEC grant application from City leaders.
- Paul Marquis was charged by the Task Force with getting some kind of written affirmation from the City Solicitor regarding legal ownership of Winter Island, to put to rest once and for all the rumor that it is not owned solely by the City.
- In a discussion of potential funding sources, Jenna Ide suggested that Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds may be available at a lower rate than general revenue bonds.
- Jenna offered to provide a general checklist of project development tasks that she uses in her own renewable energy development activities where she works.
- Climate & Sustainability Plan
- Paul Marquis briefed members on a climate adaptation meeting he’d had with Professor Elisabeth Hamin from the UMass Amherst Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning program. While climate plans typically focus on mitigation efforts, Professor Hamin related the idea that many of them address the issue of adaptation in appendices to those plans. The Task Force members generally agreed that this would be a reasonable approach with respect to the plan they were developing on behalf of the City of Salem.
- Paul Marquis informed the members that he had approached Julie Rose, Salem’s Business Manager, regarding the idea of incorporating the City’s recycling plan into the Climate & Sustainability Plan. No one protested this idea. Mr. Marquis had offered a deadline to Ms. Rose of late summer/ early fall 2011 for providing the plan.
- Cindy Keegan asked if there had been any progress on developing the Table of Contents/ Outline for the plan. P. Marquis said that he was not aware of any progress on this front.
- May 21 Living Green Fair with Salem Chamber of Commerce
- Paul Marquis asked if any members had ideas about a possible film to air at the Living Green Fair. Adam Segal suggested that there was a documentary film clearinghouse that he was aware of and that he would forward info to Paul Marquis some time after the meeting. There was a discussion of possible venues for the film, including Rockefeller Restaurant’s new function room on the second floor of the Daniel Lowe Building and the large meeting room in City Hall Annex. It was agreed that the Roosevelt’s space would be unsuitable due to limited access, and that the Annex might be too far removed from the Fair’s location at Old Town Hall.
- There was a brief discussion of potential workshop topics, and Paul Marquis suggested that a talk by member Jeff Barz-Snell on the future of wind energy in Salem might generate sufficient interest.
- Additional attractions for the Fair were discussed including chicken husbandry and beekeeping workshops, soliciting participation from local schools; a pedal-powered smoothie-making fundraiser; a Salem High School Unity Public Service project pavilion; a green treasure hunt (organized by Salem Patch; similar to one they had done for another event); and engaging local businesses by enlisting them to provide some kind of “green” offering in observance of the Fair.
- P. Marquis noted that The Task Force and Salem Chamber of Commerce should keep an eye on the 4/30/11 Peabody fair, to make sure that their efforts were not duplicated.
- Cindy Keegan suggested reserving publicly-available refillable drinking water canteens.
Agenda items not discussed
- Update on power plant re-use study
- Wind ordinance revisions
Votes taken
Documents discussed or offered as exhibits
Action items completed or closed since last meeting
- P. Marquis related ideas for Living Green Fair to Ben Bouchard from Salem Chamber of Commerce
Action items arising from discussion on 3-17-11
- P. Marquis get estimate from Meridian Associates regarding expected revised study draft delivery date
- P. Marquis establish legal ownership of Winter Island with City Solicitor
Meeting Minutes recorded by Paul Marquis
Meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm
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