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Minutes
Thursday, December 5, 2013
7:00 pm
120 Washington Street, 3rd Floor
- Attendees: Jeff Elie, Cindy Keegan, John Hayes, Rick Nye, Jeff Cohen, Rishi Nandi
- Guests: Paul Savasta and Dan Oulette (Viridian Energy)
Presentation
Paul Savasta and Dan Oulette – Veridian Energy
Gave presentation about Viridian Energy and their model to get customers to choose where their electricity to be supplied from. While the presentation was noble enough, the RETF members were concerned about where the renewable energy actually came from and whether they City was in any position to advocate for Salem residents and businesses to use Viridian, especially because they are a for-profit company looking to expand their portfolio. The RETF basically made the decision that they did not want to advocate and promote any one business and let Salem residents choose for themselves about where they got their electricity from.
Updates
Tree Master Plan
Because Salem is designated a Tree City USA back in 2002, the concern from an environmental perspective is how trees are planted, replaced, and removed in the City, especially since there is no official Tree Warden. The City lawn trees are what is being referred to and the RETF had concerns because trees provide shading and micro-climate advantages, especially during the Summer. The RETF suggested that John Hayes write an op-ed article for the Salem News about the tree situation in order to raise public awareness and get feedback via the online community.
Solarize Mass Discussion
The City of Salem was officially designated a Green Community on December 1, 2013. In a joint partnership between MassCEC and the Department of Energy Resources the City will select a single installer that will provide commercial prices for residents and businesses to install small-scale solar arrays. Using some funding from the MassCEC for outreach and marketing materials, Salem and Swampscott will partner to educate the public through Solar 101 and 201 events that will draw people together to learn about the potential for Solar on their homes and businesses.
Cindy Keegan wanted to make sure that the Baker’s Island Association knows about this opportunity because the homes on the island are off the grid and could significantly benefit from the lower prices of panels.
John Hayes is to speak with undergraduate students at Salem State in his environmental classes to help the RETF and Solarize Salem endeavor with outreach efforts, possibly working this into a project for a group of students. These students could help with education efforts, passing out fliers, going door to door, and answering emails or phone calls that the public may have about the Solarize program.
Streetlight Purchase/LED conversion update –
The City has officially requested to purchase all 3500 (approximately) streetlights from National Grid is awaiting their official response for the purchase price of these lights. The City still has not received the official price and purchase agreement paperwork to complete the process. National Grid has indicated that the price would be $1 because the lighting system has depreciated since getting the original estimated price of $45,000 back in 2010.
The town of Shirley was facing a dilemma in the fusing of lights receiving a $200/light fusing cost, which would have significantly increased the total cost of owning the lights. Salem would have also complied with this requirement, significantly increasing the cost of maintaining the City’s lighting system. After protests from MAPC and many NGrid communities, National Grid has dropped requirements for fusing making the price around $15-25 per light, the original estimated price the City understood when considering this project.
Discussion of Green Communities Grant Program Projects
LED Shoebox retrofit project has been completed with 70 lights replaced from 175watt metal halides to 50 watt LED lights. DPW outdoor lighting retrofit, DPW energy management system, DPW building envelope improvements, and DPW infrared heater installation is in the planning stages. Guardian Energy has been selected as the expedited contractor and is developing proposals and National Grid incentive paperwork to comply with Green Communities regulations.
Green Communities Competitive Grant award – Retrocommissioning project, DPW building upgrades, outdoor LED lighting
The City has been awarded about $245,000 to support energy conservation initiatives including an outdoor LED light retrofit, a retrocommissioning project in the High School, Bentley School, Police HQ, Fire HQ, DPW, and Public Library, and a DPW energy efficiency project including lighting upgrades, air sealing, weatherization measures, and an energy management system. The first project is a shoebox LED retrofit lighting project. Jeff Elie will be working with the City Electrician, John Giardi, to finish the project in the next few months. The project will be funded through Green Communities funding and National Grid incentives.
Subcommittees Update
- Executive Committee: None.
- Policy Committee: None.
- Outreach/Events Committee: None.
- Projects Committee: None.
Administrative:
- Future Meetings: Next Meeting to be held on January 16, 2014
- Agenda items not discussed: None.
- Additional items discussed: None
- Votes Taken: One: Voted to move meetings to third Thursday of the Month – unanimous approval
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