Clean Energy Task Force Regular Meeting March 2, 2015
CLEAN ENERGY TASK FORCE MINUTES
SUBJECT TO APPROVAL
March 2, 2015
REGULAR MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Commissioner Beinstein in the Room 103 of Simsbury Town Hall, with the following members present: Bob Beinstein, Jim Ray and Susan Van Kleef.
1. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MEETING ON JANUARY 5th, 2015:
The minutes from the January meeting were reviewed by all. Commissioner Van Kleef made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Commissioner Ray seconded the motion. All voted in favor and the motion passed.
• Amendment to page 1, line 51-52. Change sentence to: Commissioner Van Kleef will further refine the layout for a follow up discussion with Mr. Bazzano.
2. PUBLIC AUDIENCE:
Commissioner Beinstein opened the floor for public audience. Mr. David Levien indicated that the session with the Simsbury Chamber of Commerce to explain the Green Business Challenge program had not generated much interest. Information has been sent out to those who signed up at the session. It will take further contacts and follow ups to get this program going. With no further discussions brought forward, Commissioner Beinstein closed the public audience.
3. BRIGHT IDEA PROPOSAL DISCUSSION:
Further discussion was held in regard to ideas that had been discussed in the January meeting for a plan to submit to for the Bright Ideas grant. Simsbury CETF has earned a $10,000 Bright Ideas grant from the State, but their criteria now requires an overall plan for expenditures for the amount before it will be provided. The following updates the discussion from the prior meeting.
a. Encouragement of home energy audits with approximately $2,000 used to offset 50% of the State subsided audit ($50 versus current $99). Details as to how to apply for this and the actual plan details to be defined. – No further discussion was held as this can be implemented fairly readily.
b. Cell phone solar charging station for the town with possible location at Simsbury Meadows near the playground. Research into available systems and costs will be done by Commissioner Beinstein with the allocation expected to be on the order of $4,000. – Commissioner Beinstein has been in contact with individuals associated with the company that did the installations in New York City. It was clear in those discussions that an overall element of this plan will need to cover maintenance as failures/damage was part of their overall experience. The supplier they used for the actual charging stations, Goal Zero, made these up specifically for their use so they were not production units. Further on-line research has shown other such installations/products since the New York City introduction that may offer further improvements and cost breaks. It was recommended that CETF also seek sponsor(s) as a means to keep the cost within the grant amount plus the expected on-going maintenance. Commissioner Beinstein is seeking additional information for discussion at the next meeting.
c. Mr. Tom Roy, Simsbury Director of Public Works has several energy related projects for the Town already identified. Commissioner Ray will coordinate with him to get a list of smaller projects that could amount to about $3,000. – Mr. Roy had planned to come to the February meeting to discuss his proposed projects but that meeting was subsequently cancelled due to the weather. Commissioner Ray has not been able to coordinate yet with Mr. Roy to get his recommendations. Mr. Roy will be invited to the next meeting and if unable to attend, requested to provide his recommended projects.
d. CETF has previously used give-aways at Town events as part of promotion for clean energy/alternative energy. Last year, $500 was used to buy LED bulbs to give away as a couple of events. About $1,000 will be used for a similar purpose with events and items to be finalized. The Simsbury innovation fair will be considered for one of the events that CETF supports. – No further discussion was held as this can be implemented fairly readily.
Further discussion and finalization of the plan to submit to the State will be included in the next meeting's agenda.
4. GREEN BUSINESS CHALLENGE PROGRAM PLANS DISCUSSION:
With the resignation of Commissioner Szerakowski to go back to college full time for her Masters, Mr. Levien has continued to work this effort. His status was presented during the public audience.
5. CETF WEBSITE PLAN DISCUSSION:
Commissioner Van Kleef indicated that she had not yet had further discussion with Mr. Rick Bazzano who handles the Town’s website. She will update the prior rough draft of the layout for the organization of the website for review at the next meeting.
6. OPEN FORUM:
No additional items were brought up for open discussion.
7. NEXT MEETING
The next regularly scheduled meeting is April 6th.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Ray motioned to adjourn the meeting at approximately 7:30 p.m. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Van Kleef and unanimously approved.