Minutes
Energy Committee Organizational Meeting
May 14, 2009, 7:00 pm
Council Chambers
Roll Call
Present: John Rudolph, George Muller, Roberta Beavers, Molly Colman, Anne Stephenson
Public in Attendance: Paul Schumacher, Mike Lassel, John Branagan
Approval of Minutes
1. May 14, 2009 - Unanimously accepted
Reports & Correspondence-
George Muller attended the York Energy Conference. He met someone from Efficiency Maine, who indicated that Efficiency Maine would be happy to send someone to an SBEEAC meeting to talk about what resources Efficiency Maine may be able to offer the committee. George will invite Rich Fortier and ask him to bring information on stimulus money, new programs, and information for towns.
Bobbi Beavers attended an Eliot Energy Committee meeting. They are using the Efficiency Maine booklet for businesses as a guide for their efforts to increase efficiency within the municipality. They are currently working on a centralized plan for weatherization, installing solar water heating at the Police Department, members are writing articles to inform the public about issues, and they are asking the Board of Selectmen to sign on to the Mayor's Agreement on Climate Change.
Several upcoming events were discussed:
Green Expo in Kittery June 13
Sustainability Fair in Portsmouth, May 17
Green Rehab Conference
The group discussed the need for having a calendar on our website to keep track of events and to let the public know about them as well.
Public Comment
Unfinished Business
1. Discuss and approve bylaws-The by-law sub committee (Bobbi Beavers and John Rudolf) had sent a first draft to the committee and Mr. Schempf. Molly Colman asked for clarification about the job of the Secretary and questioned why writing the agenda was listed under the Secretary. This will be changed in the next version. The Committee agreed that approval of the By-laws would be tabled and considered at the next meeting. They will be revised and the sub-committee will make any changes suggested by Mr. Schempf to make sure they conform to the Town's administrative rules.
2. Website subcommittee report-The URL sbeeac.org has been secured for the website. Molly Colman has set up the content management system for the site on server space she is donating. The web sub-committee (Colman, Muller) will begin putting in content so it can go live soon. All the members of the committee will be trained to put content on the site to help keep it updated.
3. Stimulus funding subcommittee report and discussion with Paul Schumacher, SMRPC and Mike Lassel, South Berwick Economic Development Committee.-Paul Schumacher distributed handout that outlines preliminary information about how stimulus money (ARRA) will be distributed in Maine. Much of the money will be distributed to PUC/Efficiency Maine and Department of Labor for programs they will administer but some funds will be available through competitive grants. The details and requirements for these have yet to be worked out. The purpose of the stimulus funds are energy efficiency and job creation. A brainstorming discussion of potential projects for South Berwick followed, with input from Paul Schumacher, Mike Lassel and John Branagan.
New Business
1. Discuss working with other town energy committees-Bobbi is going to continue attending other energy committees to get a sense of what they are doing and will provide written memos about what she learns.
2. Discuss longer term planning and goals-After the brainstorming session the committee agreed that it would be good practice to pursue promising ideas by assigning a sub-committee or committee member to develop a concept paper with a general outline of what the project might entail (goals, activities, costs, expected outcomes) as a way to help us assess potential projects and to jumpstart committee discussion.
There was consensus that one of our tracks for work is public information and education. The web site sub-committee will expand its scope to encompass public education. John Branagan volunteered to become a member of that sub-committee, along with Molly and George. They will write up a concept paper for how to proceed to bring to the next meeting.
Anne Stephenson will write up a concept paper outlining how we might proceed on looking at streetlighting as an example of how we might begin to look at more technical projects.
3. Other
If you have something to be put on the agenda, write it up and send it to John Rudolph by the Monday before the next meeting.
Adjourn
Attested:
Molly Colman, Recording Secretary, South Berwick Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee
| 
