Wellfleet Energy Committee
Minutes of the Meeting of March 25, 2019 Council on Aging 6:00 p.m.
Present: Richard Elkin, Charles Cole, Lilli-Ann Green Robert Shapiro, and David Mead-Fox. Chair Elkin called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.
A request to tape record the meeting by Lilli-Ann Green was made and the request was granted by the Wellfleet Energy Committee (WEC) Chair, Elkin.
BUSINESS
Minutes of the February 25, 2019 meeting[1]:
Motion: Cole moved to accept minutes as emailed with agenda of meeting. Seconded by Mead-Fox The motion carried 5-0.
Committee Membership, New Alternate and Expanded Positions: John Cumbler was approved by the Selectboard as an Alternate to the committee. Elkin introduced the topic of qualifications desired for additional committee members due to the proposed additional and specific workload for the committee. It was determined following a discussion the qualifications that would be helpful are: a background in IT, grant writing expertise and knowledge of Beacon Hill politics.
Mass Energy Insight Program: Shapiro gave update. He showed slides of the program he is working on and the data they are collecting. They are using CIRIS, free software developed by
40Cities and accepted by CDP and the Global Covenant as a way of preparing a
GreenhouseGas inventory for the Global GHG database. There was a discussion involving all members regarding what the data includes, how it can be most useful, what additional information is needed and how best to obtain the data. The team is working on a survey and Elkin revamped the committee website so it will be able to host the survey.
Committee Charge, Future Plans: Approval of the expanded role of the committee will be on the Selectboard meeting agenda of April 9.
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA):
Mead-Fox serves on the Planning Board. He reported that the Planning Board has a meeting scheduled for the first week in April. It is his understanding the consultant report will be ready for review prior to the meeting. He has requested the report be distributed to the members prior to the meeting so the members can review for the meeting. He also hopes the Planning Board will choose a date for the hearing to be two weeks following the meeting the first week in April. It was discussed when Ameresco should be present at a Planning Board meeting. Mead-Fox will ask the question prior to the meeting and if it will be helpful for Ameresco to attend the meeting, he will contact Elkin so Ameresco will be notified. The Nauset school district has agreed to purchase the additional solar energy produced by the solar panels.
Outer Cape Energize Update: Mead-Fox provided an update. The non-profit organizations to receive the free solar systems have been chosen and will meet with the Outer Cape Solarize team next week to learn about the details. The next step would be for their boards to accept the gift of solar panels and for the non-profit organizations to sign a contract with ACE. There will be a public announcement in the near future. A future program targeting commercial solar is being explored and an advisory panel is being formed to guide the process.
Old Business: Elkin showed the committee website which he has been working on. He asked for feedback and information he can add as well as helpful links. He will add reports from the Cape Cod Commission and the Covenant of Mayors. Shapiro will write a summary of the Covenant of Mayors for the website. Elkin reported on successful Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP)
Program Workshop on March 12. A report will be issued at which time it will be included as a link for the committee website. The next meeting will be held on April 29 at 6 pm.\
New Business: None
Motion: Green moved to adjourn the meeting. Elkin seconded. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Lilli-Ann Green, Committee Secretary, 2019