CLEAN ENERGY TASK FORCE MINUTES
MARCH 30, 2009
REGULAR MEETING
The meeting was requested to be called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Chairman in Room 103 of Simsbury Town Hall. Commissioner Van Kleef moved to open the meeting which was seconded by Commissioner Weisbrich. The meeting was thus agreed to start with the following members present: Al Weisbrich, Patrick Boeshans, Lori Fernand, Susan Van Kleef and Jim Ray. Also present were Selectman John Hampton; Director of Public Works, Tom Roy; and Town Engineer, Richard Sawitzke.
1. APPROVE THE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 16, 2009
The minutes from the last meeting were reviewed by all and Chairman Boeshans requested a motion to approve the regular meeting minutes of March 16, 2009. Commissioner Van Kleef made the motion to approve the minutes. Commissioner Ray seconded the motion. The minutes were agreed by all to be approved as written.
2. PUBLIC AUDIENCE
Chairman Boeshans opened up the floor for public audience. Tom Roy and Richard Sawitzke provided the task force an update on activities being done by the town as related to energy conservation and clean energy. Highlight topics from their information and the ensuing discussion are reiterated below.
Tom indicated that the city had just purchased two surplus dual fuel vehicles from the State of Connecticut. These used cars had on the order of 30,000 to 40,000 miles and were obtained at the bargain price of $1,000 each. They ultimately will be replacing a couple of the older Ford Crown Victoria’s with V8 engines so just from standard miles per gallon, there will be significant savings. The sale of these cars will probably result in about $750 income to further offset the costs of the new vehicles. The dual fuel capability uses natural gas as the primary with regular gasoline as the back-up. With the natural gas, these also will operate cleaner than standard vehicles. These will be used by the Parks & Recreation and Conservation departments with in town usage which will take advantage of the
economy and cleaner burning of these cars.
Another step being done related to the fleet of cars and trucks is adding a fuel management system at the town refueling sites. Each fill-up, the vehicle’s ID #, mileage and gas received will be entered which will be tracked in a central computer to determine the fuel usage details for each vehicle. As such, those inefficient vehicles within their class can be analyzed along with their maintenance costs to provide information as to which ones would be the best candidates for replacement the next time.
Overall goal will continue to move toward a more efficient and green fleet for the town. Plan will include consideration of a gas/electric vehicle and even a demonstration with using left over grease. The conversion to run grease will require a separate heated grease tank where the vehicle would start with gas and then move to the grease as it is liquefied. Source of the grease would use the school cafeterias to start and based on the success, could move to other restaurant’s waste grease in the future. Thought is to use one of the snow plows as a start as it runs for long periods which will allow the most optimum usage of the grease due to the long operation after the grease is heated.
Simsbury did participate in Earth Hour on March 28th where all lights in the town buildings were turned off for one hour in support of the World Wildlife Foundation initiative to show support for global sustainability. Although this was a just a show of support activity, the building energy usage of the key three town buildings is one that is being taken seriously. As a first step, the Library, Eno Hall and Town Hall buildings were reviewed to determine their energy costs per square foot per annum. Initial results were as follows:
Town Hall - $1.07 per sqft electrical/$.81 sqft heating
Eno Hall - $.45 per sqft electrical/$.83 sqft heating
Library - $1.58 per sqft electrical/$.66 sqft heating
With the electrical costs higher than heating for the most used buildings, these will be targeted next. Steps will be to monitor specific end point usages using KWHR meters that will record individual usage over a time period. Lighting is being reviewed to change out the older style fluorescent lights with the newer low energy ones. It is expected that one target item will be the computers related to the old style CRT monitors versus flat screen panel displays to determine the economical payback period for replacement along with automatic sleep mode actions to reduce the usage when not in use. With the upgrade done at the Library, a lot of their systems are the newer lower energy usage systems such that it will be reviewed to determine its ability to achieve an Energy Star rating as part of the EPA challenge under
the Clean Energy Fund criteria. In Town Hall and Eno Hall, better coordination of meetings/activities are being reviewed so as to schedule more for the same day instead of just a small number requiring the lighting for the entire building along with the heating/cooling versus multiple meetings during the same general time period.
Simsbury has already taken several steps in energy conservation and clean energy to include interruptible power (and subsequent rate reductions) where possible, variable frequency drive motors, programmable thermostats and lighting controls, and use of clean energy sources. Simsbury uses large hydro power from a Canadian source that does not use fossil fuels, but unfortunately the fact it is large hydro does not get credit under the Clean Energy Fund criteria where only small hydro sources are allowed.
Richard Sawitzke brought the Task Force up to date on the Town’s purchase of renewable energy credits (REC’s) as required as part of 20% Clean Energy by 2010 program. The Town solicited proposals for the REC’s and only received one response (Sterling Planet) but it has multiple options. So an analysis of the options along with some direct discussions will be necessary before a decision can be made. A copy of the request and response was provided to the CETF members.
A general discussion related to ideas that could be done in cooperation with Simsbury to help promote clean energy and energy conservation within the businesses and citizens. One idea was for Simsbury to provide decals/certificates for businesses that either signed up for the Clean Energy usage and/or achieved certain energy saving features, e.g. transitioned to all energy saving fluorescent bulbs. Another discussion related to low income families where the Energy Assistance program has been used to help them with their heating bills. Possibility of seeking grant funds or coordination with other aid groups to also do some weatherization of the residences to help reduce their overall heating bills.
3. REVIEW OF ACTIONABLE ITEMS
Commissioner Ray updated the task force on the actionable items spreadsheet, which he compiled from previous meeting minutes. The spreadsheet was used as the basis to review each open action with information to update the status, add a follow-on activity or agree that the action was now completed. The spreadsheet will be updated and sent out prior to the next meeting with these agreed updates. As the total list had grown, the spreadsheet had been changed to number each action and then separate tabs set up for those open and those had been closed. As such, only those from the open tab were now reviewed. For the purposes of the minutes, the more significant agreements are identified herein.
4. IDENTIFICATION OF NEW ACTIONABLE ITEMS
During the discussion with Tom Roy and Richard Sawitzke, the idea of a town recognition program was discussed. Chairman Boeshans indicated his company had some criteria that could be used for ideas and we could discuss it at the next meeting. As such, a new action item was identified in order to track this idea. Commissioner Fernand indicated that she had provided our presentation to the high school Eco Club and they had asked if we could come up with one more tailored for their age group. Commissioner Fernand will send the Town of Madison’s presentation as it has some other ideas in regard to the effects on the climate to see if they like any of those ideas as well as solicit specific ideas from them in regards to what they would like covered. A new action item will track the development of this new
presentation. Further discussion also centered on a program that could be presented at the library for the children. Available material from the internet will be reviewed for the younger age groups and Jill Paterson of Greenbean magazine will be contacted for ideas. Another new action item will be used to track the development of this level of program presentation.
Commissioner Fernand volunteered to do the short article that could be used for various groups newsletters. She also will try to get it out to the local papers to promote sign up for clean energy tied to Earth Day on April 22nd. Commission Van Kleef will finalize a draft of the updated sign-up form using the information she previously developed for the front of the form to make it a Simsbury one along with the information on the back that will provide specific examples for the costs. Chairman Boeshans has completed the update to the ‘talking paper’ and only needs some green friendly paper stock to print up the copies. As Commissioner Ray has a presentation set up for the Simsbury Rotary Club on April 23rd, the goal will be to have updated forms and talking papers in time for that event.
Chairman Boeshans indicated that he had now been contacted by the Clean Energy Fund in regard to a press release and would work with them for that action. Commissioner Van Kleef advised that the clean energy web page had now been completed for the Town Web Site and it should be up with a link to the front page possibly within the next week.
Chairman Boeshans indicated that he would get the general information for the proclamations for the LEED certified buildings at Westminster and Ethel Walker to the Town in time to be acted upon at the next Board of Selectman Meeting.
Selectman Hampton verified that the Volunteer Expo is now set for April 28th, 6 – 9 p.m. and CETF will have a table. Chairman Boeshans will look into getting a banner made.
5. OPEN FORUM
No additional topics for discussion were identified.
6. NEXT MEETING/FUTURE MEETINGS CALENDER
The following future meeting dates were confirmed: April 13, 2009; May 13, 2009; May 27, 2009; and June 10, 2009. It was noted that all of these meetings will be held in Room 103 on the first floor of Town Hall (at the end of the hall) except for the May 27th meeting which is scheduled to be in the Board of Education Conference Room on the second floor of Town Hall. In addition, plans for future dates were agreed as follows: June 24, 2009; July 8, 2009; July 22, 2009 and September 2, 2009.
7. ADJOURNMENT
Commissioner Weisbrich motioned to adjourn the meeting at approximately 8:25 p.m. The motion was seconded by Chairman Boeshans and unanimously approved.
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