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Town of Littleton

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2010 Committees Meetings

View Committees Meeting Minutes for: | 2010 | 2009 |

Energy Conservation Committee Apr 22, 2010


LITTLETON ENERGY CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
MEETING ON 22 APRIL 2010

Attendees: Jan Edick, Ron Bolt, Joe Wiggett, Jim Sherrard, Arwen Mitton, Mary Edick, Ray Cloutier

Administrative Matters

The minutes of the 25 March 2010 meeting were approved.

Old Business

A letter was sent to the Board of Selectmen recommending they consider a commitment to energy conservation when making appointments to the Planning Board, Zoning Board, and Conservation Commission.

Members were asked to consider supporting the Safe Routes To School program by volunteering to help out during the Bike Rodeo, which is scheduled for Saturday, Mary 15th, from 2 to 4 pm, at Lakeway Elementary.

Mary said there are three bike racks available, although one is need of about $250 in repairs. Possible locations include (1) the south side of the covered pedestrian bridge, which connects to the River Walk (2) Remich Park, and (3) Apthorp Park. Parks and Recreation will have to be contacted about the latter two locations. If the bike rack in need of repair can be placed permanently (i.e., cemented into the ground) at Apthrop that might obviate the need for repairs. Also, Tony Ilacqua has indicated that he will look into signage directing potential users to the bike rack locations.

New Business

Copies of the MEAP baseline inventory report were distributed and discussed. The report, prepared by our Energy Project Assistant, Dave Peel, was presented to the Board of Selectmen on 7 April. The report identified that the Highway Department building (aka town garage) was the least efficiently run based on annual cost, total energy cost per square foot, annual emissions, and emissions per square foot. The report also indicated a higher than normal percentage of energy use in the categories of vehicles and streetlights. This is due, in part, to incomplete information on town buildings (the police station, town building, and town offices were not inventoried). Nevertheless, the amount of energy used in vehicles and street lights is high and needs further examination.

The next steps in the MEAP program itself is to identify which building will receive a Decision Grade Audit and to determine how we would like to use the 25 hours of energy advocacy designed to help us carry out efficiency improvements. Dave Peel has also indicated that he would be willing to inventory one more non-qualifying building as a bonus. The obvious choice for the audit would seem to be the highway garage. However, we already know this building is problematic and we actually already have an improvement plan in mind. An alternate suggestion was to ask Dave Peel to inventory the Parks and Recreation building at Remich Park and, depending on the results, perhaps use our one energy audit on that building. The downside of this approach is the desire by Parks and Recreation to replace this building in the near future (2-3 years). Joe will contact Dave about this course of action. Jim suggested we could use some or all of our 25 hours of advocacy to help develop the plan for the town garage, perhaps seeking grant monies, and presentation of the improvement plan to the public.

Another recommendation in the MEAP report is that the Master Plan, Zoning Ordinances, and other town policies should be reviewed for any inconsistencies with the goal of reducing energy usage. This subject will be addressed in the Energy Chapter of the Master Plan. Another recommendation was to implement a behavioral change program in municipal buildings. There is a town policy on energy efficiency but, as with so many policies, there is no enforcement in place. The other recommendation will be brought to the attention of the Town Manager, and they include:

Ø buying Energy Star equipment and products and environmentally sensitive office products, along with consumption awareness campaigns
Ø evaluating ways to reduce fuel usage with fleet vehicles, including a strict anti-idling policy
Ø investigating payback for installing alternative energy sources such as biomass heating or geothermal heat pumps

Mary pointed out that there are many lights in the Opera House performance venue that could be replaced with more efficient bulbs. We would have to first determine if the Division of Historic Resources will allow this, and then find out whether or not the fixtures will hold CFLs and if their appearance would be aesthetically acceptable.

Mary also suggested that as many people as possible attend Planning Board meetings when they are updating portions of the Master Plan that have energy implications, such as Chapter 2 (Land Use) and Chapter 3 (Natural Resources).

There is a very short fuse opportunity to apply for a Greenhouse Gas Emission Fund grant. We considered the town garage as a candidate, but no one was sure if this project would qualify.

Other Business

A one-day Local Energy Solutions conference is being held in Concord on June 19th. Three ECC members attended last year and was a tremendous experience. The ECC will pay the fees for up to six participants and would like to get representatives from the Planning Board, Zoning Board, School Board, Conservation Commission, and Littleton Water and Light to attend. Ron will draft an invitation to those groups.

The next meeting is scheduled for 22 April at 5 pm. Ron Bolt, Secretary, Pro Tem


Littleton Officials and Committees

View Elected officials term reports and committee lists below. Each report is in a pdf file format.

2010 Elected Officials Term Report

2010 Littleton Committees

Appointed Officials Term Report