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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - AEC - 05/11/2015 Meeting Minutes Alternative Energy Committee 1. Location May 11, Town Hall Basement Conference Room, 7:30 p.m. 2. Attendees Shaun Selha (AEC), Marie Caristi (AEC), Steve Wenner(AEC), Josiah Stevenson (AEC), Mary Jo Larson(AEC), Steve Wenner (AEC),David Eisenhaure (AEC), Chris Senior (Town Manager),Dave DeGennaro (School Dept),Jeanne Astino (School Dept), Steve Girardi (Citizen-Prospective AEC Member), Seth Pickering(DOER) 3. Meeting Minutes Meeting Minutes for November and December 2014 approved. Meeting minutes for April completed by Josiah Stevenson but will be approved at June meeting (June 15rh, @ 7.30 p.m. in Basement Room of Town Hall) 4. Green Communities Application Format (Due by October 30`h,2015) - Seth Pickering (DOER) •QC #1:Adopt"As-of-Right Siting": Need to submit a copy of the warrant article (including the zoning map)and a letter from the Town Clerk verifying it was signed-off and adopted at ATM (signature and seal). •QC #2:Adopt Expedited Application/Permitting Process (12-month):Need letter from Town Council saying we already satisfy this criteria (i.e. 365-day turnaround on project permits or less). Sample language on DOER website. • QC #3:Establish an Energy Use Baseline With a Plan to Reduce Baseline by 20% in 5 Years:Patricia (AEC)to work with Seth(DOER)to make sure oil and gas data is updated and complete. Seth recommends using FY 2014 as our baseline. He noted that any leased vehicles do not have to have their gas consumption values included in baseline. Also,he noted that the Town could include WTP and WWTP's in figures even though they are Enterprise Funds. If FY 2014 is the baseline, that would mean our energy reduction plan will cover FY 2015 to FY 2019. It should include the ECM's we are currently enacting as well as the potential Streetlight conversion project and any other projects needed to get us to the 20% reduction target. Seth noted that our first year grant will be around $150,000. Shaun (AEC) did some quick math to estimate the Streetlight LED conversion to cost approximately $175,000. Therefore, the initial grant will essentially cover the costs. Seth noted that in January 2017 we would then be eligible for another$250,000 in grants. Some of these funds could be used to pay for other ECM's with longer paybacks identified in the Energy Audits conducted by National Grid's Technical Assistant or to go after WTP and WWTP upgrades (if the plants are included in the baseline numbers). In terms of the submission,we would need official letters from the Board of Selectmen and the School Department indicating that they are adopting the Energy Reduction Plan as a Town Policy. The current ECM's are the following: • Lighting retrofits at Deer Hill, Osgood, and Middle/High School • Lighting retrofits at Police/Fire Station • Lighting retrofits at Pratt Library • Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) at Deer Hill, Osgood, and Middle/High School • De-stratification Fan Installation at Middle/High School Gymnasium • Streetlight LED conversion(potential use of money from initial Green Communities grant) • Parking Lot (Schools in Particular)Overhead Light LED conversion(potential use of money from initial Green Communities grant) • Energy Efficiency Vehicle Procurement(potential use of money from initial Green Communities grant) • Other ECM's to be determined (Control System Upgrade in Schools or Town Hall Renovation Energy Efficient Upgrades) • QC#4:Purchase only Fuel-Efficient Vehicles:We just need to submit the vehicle inventory log that Steve (AEC)has already put together. Seth noted that cargo vans are exempt, so we may be down to five (5)non-exempt vehicles. As a side note, Seth noted how the Town of Hanover has started using some Green Community Grant money to pay the incremental cost associated with buying Hybrid command vehicles for the Police and Fire Department. • QC#5:Adoption of Stretch Code:Need to submit a copy of the warrant article and a letter from the Town Clerk verifying it was signed-off and adopted at ATM (signature and seal). NOTE: We need to designate one person who will be responsible for the submission of the application. Seth will work with them to organize the package and provide them with the log-in credentials for the application submission. 5. Landfill Post-Closure Permit Meeting with DEP CDM Smith has been released to act as the Town's consultant in the future DEP meeting between the Town and the DEP as well as Palmer Capital. CDM Smith noted that Cohasset does not currently have a "Landfill Post-Closure Permit" as the application was denied many years ago (1998)for various reasons. They advised that the best course of action would be to meet with the DEP to discuss the denial conditions and negotiate what is required to correct the conditions, if they still exist. At a minimum,the Town would need to provide supplemental information to the DEP, file a Notice of Landfill Operation for the property, and request a certificate of compliance for the wetland work from the Town Conservation Commission. Eric (AEC)to work with CDM Smith to set up the DEP meeting. Brian Joyce (Town)has requested that CDM Smith submit electronic copies of all applicable "Old Landfill" documentation to him. 6. Energy Conservation Measure Implementation Schools—Lighting retrofits are complete at Deer Hill,Osgood, and the Middle/High School are complete. The VFD and premium efficiency motor installation on the pumps at the Deer Hill,Osgood, and the Middle/High School is 75% complete. Other Municipal Facilities—The materials associated with the lighting retrofits at the Police/Fire Station are on-site and ready for installation. The Main Library will probably be completed after the Policy/Fire Station. Streetlight Procurement and Conversion—The Town has hired a consultant to map all of the Streetlights in Town. The current estimate is 511. The consultant is inputting all of the streetlight data into the Town's geographic information system (GIS). This inventory will help the Town assess which lights to procure from National Grid based upon which are active and retired in place,which are overhead fed as opposed to underground, and how much repairs are needed. Once the inventory is completed a new purchase and sale agreement will be completed with National Grid (late June) and a new 3rd party maintenance proposal will be developed. Currently, the consultant is 90% complete with mapping the points (see screenshot below).Beyond the final mapping they need to assign the light type attributes and perform a nighttime survey to determine what lights are working (or not). 7. Miscellaneous New Business Committee applications and renewals must be completed by all present and future committee members. Please see attached application. Must submit application to the Board of Selectmen's Office by May 25". Steve (AEC)noted at the Town Hall Meeting a resident, Pete Brown, addressed the meeting and mentioned the services provided by SunConnect,which has a proprietary way to waterproof a commercial roof when installing PV panels. Dave DeGennaro to follow up with a call to SunConnect.