Clean Energy Task Force Regular Meeting March 3, 2014-Approved
CLEAN ENERGY TASK FORCE MINUTES
March 3, 2014
REGULAR MEETING
The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Commissioner Szerakowski in Room 103 of Simsbury Town Hall, with the following members present: Jim Ray, Melissa Valentin, Claudia Szerakowski and Susan Van Kleef.
1. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MEETING ON FEBRUARY 3rd, 2014:
The draft minutes from the February 3rd meeting were reviewed by all. Commissioner Van Kleef made a motion to approve the minutes with noted changes. Commissioner Valentin seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
2. PUBLIC AUDIENCE:
Commissioner Szerakowski opened the floor for public audience.
Mr. Mark Scully is the lead community representative and Solar Ambassador for Simsbury’s Solarize CT effort. Mr. Scully brought CETF members up to date as to the activities that been on-going and the next steps. Efforts have included training sessions with the State which have been attended by Mr. Scully, Mr. Tom Roy, Simsbury Public Works Director and Mr. Jeff Shea, Simsbury Town Engineer; efforts on-going in reviewing solar installer proposals with Simsbury’s recommendations to be provided to the State and initial steps in working with the State’s designated Marketing firm. Efforts to start identifying potential Solar Ambassadors will be taking place shortly with the State to provide a listing of those known solar installations in Simsbury as well as any other direct contacts determined from CETF and others. A session for the Solar Ambassadors will be planned for the end of March with an official announcement and town open meeting around mid-April. Mr. Scully will keep the CETF members informed as the process continues.
Mr. Scully also provided an update on the proposed legislation in the State to allow shared solar installations. This would allow a municipality to set up a solar site and those homeowners whose property would not be suitable for an individual solar installation could purchase a share in the municipal site and have the solar credited to their electrical bill. Mr. Roy has put in a request in the Simsbury budget to support initial site planning/investigation for a suitable location if the bill is passed. Currently, this has not been approved in the budget process. Mr. Scully indicated that it would be good for CETF to send in a letter of support to the Board of Selectman for this budget item.
Mr. Scully asked about the process to become a member of CETF. It was noted that there is still some question on the number of members as the current six just match what the Board of Selectman had originally done when setting up CETF. As Mr. Scully is registered as a Democrat, any nomination would need to come from the Democratic Party. Commissioner Szerakowski will contact Mr. Al Needham in that regard.
No additional topics were discussed and Commissioner Szerakowski closed the Public Audience.
3. BOB BEINSTEIN – UPDATE of MEETING with SIMSBURY BOE:
The planned date to meet with Mr. Burke LaClair, Simsbury Board of Education Business Manager, in February did not work out. Commissioner Beinstein has not been able to coordinate a mutually accepted date due to his work schedule. Commissioner Van Kleef indicated that she would now take the action to coordinate this with Mr. LaClair and Mr. Tom Roy, Simsbury Public Works Director and let other members of the CETF know if they will be able to also attend.
4. SOLARIZE CONNECTICUT DISCUSSION:
This topic was discussed during the Public Audience. Commissioner Van Kleef made a motion that the CETF send a letter of support to the BOS in favor of the budget item for the shared solar site investigation. Commissioner Szerakowski seconded it. All voted in approval. Commissioner Van Kleef will coordinate the letter with the CETF members by e-mail and then send on to the BOS.
5. 2014 PLANS DISCUSSION:
- Green Business Challenge – The Green Business Challenge has been delayed due to lack of individuals within CETF to implement it and also the need to revise the criteria to take into account the new criteria being used by the State to add in energy conservation to the clean energy options program. It had been previously discussed that summer interns could be used for the actual effort, but further planning would be needed for implementation. Commissioners Valentin and Szerakowski reviewed the effort to come up with a written process to implement as a result of the discussion from the last meeting. Their conclusion is that it still would be a fairly large effort for an intern to accomplish within a summer time period unless the business categories were limited. As such, they felt that just doing restaurant related businesses would be a good first step. Commissioner Valentin is also reviewing the best way to come up for recognition of a qualifying business as it was determined that decals would have to be ordered in a large quantity and were fairly expensive. The previously agreed to design will still be used, but whether on a plaque, certificate or other recognition is still to be determined. Further discussion will be held at the next meeting as well as suggestions for potential summer interns based on input from CETF members.
- Support of School Initiatives – Commissioner Valentin has sent information to the Simsbury High School Environmental Club representatives indicating that CETF would support their efforts financially for their idea of reusable lunch boxes. A proposal from them has been requested.
6. OPEN FORUM:
No further discussions were held.
7. NEXT MEETING
The next scheduled meeting is April 7th.
8. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Valentin motioned to adjourn the meeting at approximately 8:15 p.m. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Szerakowski and unanimously approved.