##VIDEO ID:TtAuG3H_H7o## hello there hello there how are you I'm doing okay how are you well oh good that's a good thing speaking of which that word is relevant for the two of you so dandelion eny was at our house today started our well dandelion who's our geothermal offender who Nate used is was starting to drill our wealth today so first step is is it as loud as you thought it would be it's not as loud I was all like they were just in Hadley and had a they still had a hard time with the previous place and I was like okay I hope it goes smoothly so according to their records like our Bedrock was supposed to be 26 feet and they went down 70 feet they hadn't hit it yet and then they wow then something broke so tomorrow they either have to pull it back up and redrill like I'm just hoping it goes smoothly because my biggest concern is I love our water I don't want anything like to mess up our water and I don't think it should but you know nonetheless but it's quite the operation my God yeah it's wild yeah it's a it's a deal for sure um but yeah they they really don't know what's down there until they start poking straws until they get there yeah it's sort of crazy I mean for all the stuff that we can do technology-wise in the world the fact that you don't know what's down there it's very interesting mine went down over 270 feet your your well or the the wells for the for the geothermal yeah yeah ours ours is supposed to be 345 whatever reason and what I don't get is well what they said was you have to go through the Bedrock you know and then after the Bedrock they start you start drilling yeah so that's what the the first thing is to find the Bedrock which is it's water is just a wild the whole thing is wild so Nate why does that thing on your wall oh this uh it's just a little there yeah a little curtain um because we have sunlight that comes in um at an angle here in the morning when I'm working so just kind of placed for that that face is not happy a grumpy cat for [Laughter] sure well why don't I start us Gale thank you for taking minutes tonight yeah and uh so I'll call us order at 504 and I think we got a lot of good discussion stuff to discuss um so I am going to assume there's no public comments because there's no public unless any of you have a public comment you want to share um so given that that's the case we can jump into the climate leader program um and start talking about that um and uh my apologies for sending stuff out later than I would have liked to but I didn't get a chance of sort of reviewing all the things I wrote a month or two ago and seeing if they were still appropriate but uh did you guys get a chance to look at the different documents I sent you can go through one at a time I can share them too yeah um let me I'm just going to open them and then I can share them it would help if you pointed out what's different from what we discussed at previous meetings or what you yep give me half a second I was going to do this earlier but I was on a meeting um okay that's one got one more to open and then we can shift gears i s right that's one anyway okay so let me pull these over here and then we can share them so why don't I share the decarbonization resolution first um it'll make it bigger but you all see that okay yeah cool um so I'll say I think I probably mentioned this but so when I talked to Alex who is the chair of the energy Committee in Ashfield what she told me was she just used all the templates at the O offered because she figured they're the horses mouth they know what that they want they're telling you what they want so you might as well just give them what they want um which is you know a little different from what I usually do like I always like to give it a shb Twist but in this situation I don't want to do that um so this is pretty much what um do asked for then Ashfield used in fact it is exactly um I put in you know I just made sure that this language sort of worked since it'll be a it'll be a town meeting vote so it'll be an article but it'll just be a resolution um so there's no real teeth behind it I think the most important important part of this one besides is this bottom part um which I decided to underline I think Gail that's the only thing that I changed between this version and the previous version was y you know with appropriate support yeah so sort of taking the lessons learned from Ashfield and you know that was the thing that people zeroed in on it's like all this is well and good but if we can't afford to do it we don't have the ability to do it are we going to get stuck doing it and so the rational true responses are one it's a resolution so it's a really formal you know aspiration but we're not really on the hook for it um but I don't think people remember that part so making this really clear to say that we're committing to this based the upon the appropriate support from the feds in the state um but other than that it's it's really just lays out um and we could walk through them I mean it's you know that department of cause of climate change is fossil fuels um the fossil fuels pose a significant threat to air and water and exacerbating climate change that we're already seeing the side effects or the adverse effects of climate change um that we've been historically a leader in climate change that may or may not be true but it's nice to say um you know talking about the clean energy and climate plan for 250 um in the role of local government uh that there's the target of achieving 100% Ned Zero by 250 I think you know that's a relevant thing for educational for people to know um uh let's see what's this last one ambition of achieving emissions are balanced U by removal efforts of conservation versus shifting generation sources um the whole idea of resilience and Energy Efficiency being part of the 250 plan Net Zero that we have I think this is relevant the town of Sho has the potential to transition to 100% clean renewable energy um while simultaneously enhancing Energy Efficiency promoting conservation and electrifying Transportation heating I mean that's all sort of what we're about um and that we have the opportunity to apply for technical State assistance we have a a road map so it's pretty straightforward I mean I think if there was objection really it would be you know on the issue with this last paragraph but um do you all have any thoughts I mean I'm loathed to change things if we don't have to but you know clearly if there's improvements we should consider them this is good yeah I think it's pretty straightforward looking good too keep it that way yeah cool okay I'm going to assume well let ask a question should we vote on these as recommended I'm ready that would be good yeah and then I can include these as attachments to the minutes so that reading the minutes we can see what was actually voted on great okay someone want to make a motion about this one to accept the decarbonization Declaration resolution cool second I'll second okay any other discussion hearing none Nate how do you vote I is is it I yeah yes I and I'm an i okay terrific that's cool so let me move the next one over um okay this is this one already seen before this is the special Iz code um and the only thing I did hear that's different make this a little bigger um is I moved the background this in the Ashfield one that it was called something else but it was at the very very end and I thought that what we should do is put a put the background I took a little bit out from what they did but putting the background on the front end and then jumping into it makes sense so um call it the foreground we can call it the foreground context yeah yeah yeah I do that call context cool um so really basically you know with this opening paragraph really sets the stage I think to basically establish that um you know we are a green community and therefore we're have to adhere to the the 2023 version and what is this new thing we're voting on which is the specialized code and what's the intention um those are sort of the two points and the fact that it applies to new construction um so sort of addressed the you know again on the front end try to get ahead of um what people's concerns are and then everything else is identical it's basically what asheld yeah so this is this is the version that Ashfield got approved that do said was good I'm not 100% if this I don't I don't know I can't remember now if do actually has a a template that's I mean a lot of this is doar language but um this is what Ashfield approved and it's all like the definitions are all do applicability it's it's really very short um and this would be a bylaw so it'd be a a town bylaw the thing I emailed Becky about you'll see the Highlight there on this first thing repeal of the town so I I emailed Becky because presumably to become a green Community we needed to approve the stretch energy code originally whenever we did that 10 plus years ago um but there's a place on the town website that y all knows well which is Town policies um and I looked at those yesterday and there's no stretch code there so I assume it exists I assume we passed it I didn't go back like you know try to figure out what town meeting it got past that um I I did that um just like to confirm that we had done it and um it was it was like 10 years ago um but it's it is in the town meeting it's on the website in you know records of yeah it has it become part of the zoning bylaw no it's not a zoning bylaw it's I think it's a a general yeah and so I mean there's two parts to it I mean we it seems like we should unearth that besides just the mention that we voted it it's good to know that it actually happened um you know it's it's somewhere um and the question I guess I want to figure out is if this language is necessary like yeah you know like do we want to are we repealing the stretch code to adopt the specialized in some regards that makes sense but I just want to make sure in relation to our green communities like we don't want to you know we're eligible for green communities because we're adoped the stretch code U let me check with the town clerk to see because she would have copy of all the um AG's approval of bylaws yeah and we can go from there okay and if it's an approved bylaw it should be on the website on the page of bylaws so yes yeah it's definitely not there um and I think this language here you know this we we have a lot of time because it's really just sort of the wording for the warrant but you know the wording for the actual bylaw won't change um it's it's really just the do language so I would say question yeah um so like as the stretch code once we adopted that then we by Def facto like adopt all the new additions and iterations of this stretch energy code I would imagine that that's the same thing for the specialized energy code for any to that yeah so it's um where is it over here so it's right here the specializ any code Cod by the entirety of 225 CR CMR 22 and 23 dependencies RC and CC including future adds and amendments and modifications there too okay got it yeah so their whole strategy is if you refer to statute or or the regulations and then the the changes then we don't like last year if you remember besides the fact that we didn't have a public hearing all we were doing is agreeing to the specialized code but we weren't doing this we weren't it was a one-time fix yeah and doing it this way as a bylaw and saying that it's going to be all the iterations we don't have to revisit this ever yeah yeah and then just to clarify the specialized energy code is only for new construction so in the just like we'll get to it but the in the um ourtown fall 24 you know it's it would be good to reiterate that it's the specialized code is only it only impacts new construction and not any Renovations or previous constructions oh I should actually there is that large the it's the renovations over I forget what the it's okay so yeah that's what I thought yeah so Renovations over a,0 square feet so that's why I you know then they would be good to to put that in there too because I thought I remembered like in renovations over a certain size yeah and um yeah I'm glad you know I didn't have time to go back through all my notes it was nagging at me I was like there's it seems too clean you know but I couldn't figure out what the asterisk was but I will add that because it's I you're right if we didn't put that in ISAC we get slammed because it's it's a it's an notable point of information um and I should change that here but is that um is that a level of detail that could change in you know when the regulations for what defines um like in a subsequent version yeah because I thought that first question you know ISAC your first question about um you know is this written in a way that allows us to just you know by default um adopt you know modifications to what constitutes the the specialized stretch code moving forward um yeah I was just I was a little unsure like what the right level of detail for the bylaw is um given that maybe different technical elements change I it's a great change yeah I think I'm just can you see I'm just putting in um currently only apply to new construction um currently and and I'll change this and while you're um in the contact Section yeah um I had a question about uh the phrasing of promoting costeffective transition to all electric buildings okay um because I I think for different people that can that might um like conjure up different images of what the requirements are um and since you know when we present in the faq's information about this specialized stretch code we'll be outlining um the three different Pathways that are provided um which include you know mixed fuel but also passive house which although it does use electricity um it it's not an electrified home home in the way that um you know someone might automatically think of like an an all electric home if you will yeah um since since it's like it's heated by you know like when you open up the oven um or just like light coming in during the day um you know those sorts of uh considerations no it's a good point I I this is from Ashfield so do you have a better idea of what you would say more yeah I mean that's where I was that's where I was a little unsure because um you know you don't want to mess with success uh so um Gil Gils has has an idea well we don't want to box ourselves into that all electric thing because particularly here in the cold Northeast if we're going for the splits we're going to have to depend on fossil fuel for the backup when it gets cold enough that the splits don't aren't that effective the you know in the winter time when you know a tree goes down and the power's out for three days right I don't want to go down a rabbit hole but like yeah doesn't your doesn't your oil heater like I had oil back up and if the power went off like does it work the Pilot's electric yeah no it won't okay no that's why you have a wood snow for backup yeah right well and that's why the the definition of mixed fuel we went over like maybe one or two meetings ago where it was like basically anything that's not all electric anything that you burn for any sort of heat or cooking or anything I wonder if we could be more generic and just say um you know maybe we just take out this phrase here you know because really it's the specialized energy code Builds on the current stretch code with additional Provisions that help meet our climate goals period period leave it at that yep I like that yep okay and I'll just make sure I get this the renovation size correct but I think it's a th000 feet right if you go back like structurally and not to existing structures and so like that and so that's those two don't Jive together those two statements got it so just highlight that yeah uh they apply only rather than only apply if I if I may be picky yes that's have to find it oh there we go right about it yep cool that was a good discussion sure um Nate do you remember what the when the town meeting was where you found the I I don't it was like on the it was so sorry um yeah the way I found it is uh there's a list um on dpu uh website State website on when towns adopted the got it um the stretch code and then I used that to zero in on which town meeting um uh it it was so I might have looked at a just a couple of years um okay yeah thanks cool so we don't have to approve the context although I think we're all fine with it um and we don't have to approve the article language right now but I think if we can get a motion on appr approve you know recommending the general bylaw for this specialized energy code which is all this stuff which will stay the same that would be good for moving us ahead and then we can correct the other stuff okay I will move uh that we approve that C AC approved the substance of the bylaw as presented second that motion yeah great any other discussion who seconded I did I yeah okay Dale how do you vote hey hi yes Nate oh you hi and I okay unanimous thank you for that one and then let me find the last one okay um what is the language you use to describe that though the the bulk of the uh like what that's called yeah it's the shoot sprad General bylaw specialized energy code no no no but there's a context first and then the thing then you said the the bulk of what's left but what are you going to call the bulk of what's left oh wait the the stuff that we voted on the thing that's not well the stuff we voted on as the bylaw bylaw language yeah okay yeah and then thank you you're welcome let me do this one this is the last of the three um so this is the EV um policy first and the one thing that I added um is this part right here as appropriate and defined in the following policy um and again it sort of it shows up at the end that basically if it's not practical or affordable we don't have to do electric first because that'll be the place where people object but it seemed like people are going to read the warrant tic article question and if there's a way of sort of just getting in front of of it a little bit and they they see that appropriate isn't defined at least we can reflect back okay um so that's as warrant article number blah blah okay yeah yeah I mean wouldn't it make sense to foreground that even more clearly by actually instead of referring to as appropriate and defined in the following policy by saying like you know like you know just cut to the Chase and say when fiscally and financially Poss like when you know when when fiscally possible or something like that in in the article yeah well here I just paste in what the language is farther down so um we could word Smith it uh uh is a there probably a way of summarizing what did you say Isaac as uh I think it was just as as of as you know fiscally like fiscally possible or whatever whatever you just you said it earlier and then I was just trying to repeat what you said but feasible yeah yeah as feasible as feasible and financially or as pract financially and pract practicable or practically feasible I think that captures like you know for like fire trucks and stuff right it's the fire exception yeah yeah how's that uh prbly practi not practically as in almost how's that perfect Okay cool so again this is all do Ashfield language um with no changes except including the town of shet spury um so the definitions are just there I don't think you know people might jump into them but there's just defining the Universe I think that this is really the procurement prioritization is where the discussion would be yeah um space between hybrid and vehicle again the red underlining there's just a space missing between hybrid and vehicles oh yeah thank you yeah I think the only thing I did between this version and the Ashfield version is I put this paragraph before this list um it just seemed like that was the explanation and said you know we're going to have a prioritization and then showing what the prioritization was I thought read better um and yeah I had a I had a question question in in this section and it's related to the practicably um concept you know SE section B says if it is determined um and you know this like leaves open the question of like who does makes the determination and I think there's a degree to which um you know this is a policy that you know it it checks a box it signals an intention um and you know I mean for me if I'm writing a policy because I think something's a good idea I want it to have teeth but um you know it's also like I understand there's a trade-off there uh it's more palatable if uh if you include words like practicable and uh but I do have a real question about who makes the determination um in you know in these conversations because you could just as EAS you could write this and not not you know move any anything down the field um if you will if it's uh so I guess you're looking for if it is determined and then buy and then some sort of magical parent agency in some land well I I I think um I think it the short answer is yes I'm I I'm actually not not sure sure that that's the the case because I I do think um the value in this you know maybe it is the intention you know signaling that intention um but it's just personally it's hard for me to read and not comment on it and point it out that that's it's like it is a passive voice and you could you could drive an a you know an internal combustion engine through it that's all so I I have two respon your responses I mean I think calling it out is definitely fair I mean one of my biggest frustrations and I think this is job security for lawyers is all policies are written with like reasonable this significant that they're all vague terms you know and then you get to argue about it where if you are specific you know the the counterargument is if you get specific we can't anticipate the future you know and that's legit but saying reasonable or those kind of vague things I mean that's where we get into fights all the time on every issue about policy um I think my other comment just from a practical historical perspective is just having been in town meeting enough town meeting has these fights you know like do we need that dump truck this year do we need the second Cruiser you know like yeah and there's and whoever stands up is going to think that they have expertise but really town meeting doesn't have expertise a committee might have expertise an individual might have expertise but as a body it's it's based on the information but I think there's two levels of Def if we put in a Buy on the one hand it could be the select board because the warrant is owned by the select board um that goes to town meeting but town meeting makes the determination about if they want to support it and if they decide it's you know meets operational needs etc etc um so I don't know if we want to reflect that or not but I think if we did those that's how it would play out yeah you know that all makes sense to me I'm I'm not advocating I I just uh I just observed it yeah would would would you be more comfortable if the determined part was taken out so that it was simply if a Zev does not meet operational needs it's it's okay yeah I uh inclined to just leave it leave it as it is um yeah I think I think it makes uh was that in the I see the rationale for having it the way the way it is and and and it passed at Ashfield this with with this word yeah this is it yeah I think it creates a really great opportunity for Nate in the next five or 10 years to stand up at town meeting and said we anticipated this conversation and today has it has come just see see recorded meeting yeah see the recorded meeting 91724 exactly so that was that was good thank you Nate um so moving on and I'll say mass energy inside is not a typo like that's how they have it on their website so um it seems silly to me but it's all one word the under inventory you see it says mass energy Insight with the little red squiggle underneath it yep they their name is one word on your website yeah sort of so I double checked that um and yes and then so this inventory which is going to you know we use the database to follow things the replacement plan and then enforcement um which just a select board or its designate so really straightforward I mean I think really that conversation will be you know sort of an H point you know is it operational can we afford it is it practical we'll talk about you know Highway Department vehicles that won't be electric until next Century um you know but any other comments thoughts I mean does it does it make sense to hammer home that like financially feasible and uh practicable um practicably appropriate like multiple times in that so like all right maybe if you missed it in the summary of the article then you see it because like the question is going to come up like and not everybody is a very astute and like deep reader of these kind of documents so you know I think it wouldn't it wouldn't hurt to be hamfisted with this information throughout this warrant article what do you think of that there you go oh jeez oh boy yeah I I think in our education materials we should lead I mean I think the approach we can get to sort of the next steps but because Nate was interested in talking about educational materials but if our general approach is knowing where the points of concern will be and getting ahead of them so in writing when we do a presentation a town meeting when we do a public hearing yeah um and uh there was I think yeah I think it was last somewhere last maybe it was last time meeting but I remember Matteo was talking about I think it was non-residents Voting oh yes and and someone afterwards was like you answered all the questions that everyone wanted to ask so there wasn't anything to comment on and so that's sort of our approach of like we know what you're gonna ask so let us get ahead of it I think we'll be we'll be good um so why don't I get a motion to approve the town of shoots SP zero emission first policy otherwise AK known as financially feasible and practically appropriate motion to to uh accept the town of shury zero emission first vehicle policy thank you anyone second that okay any other discussion cool Dale how do you vote hi hey hi Isaac is that an i or okay and I'm an i cool okay so those are the three documents and then the only other thing that we need to make eligible to make ourselves eligible is the road map and I think I forwarded you Chris Mason's response to me this afternoon but um that was the most confusing part when I talked to Alex in the summer I talked to her in July you know and I because it it wasn't sure like the card coming for the horse like if you needed a road map to be eligible um so I mean based on understanding from previous like from the presentation it was you check all the boxes you have to send a letter saying that this is your intent to like be a leader and then you do the practicable steps of you know the policies and then once you get to that point they'll they'll um provide you um somebody that will help you U create that road map right that was understanding and I so I checked with Chris because I went on the website to say because Alex said that they got you know given that that reality Ashfield and presumably some other communities applied for and got money to do their road map using a do paid for a consultant so I went to their website and I was like you know is there any information about the next Grant period and there wasn't so I emailed Chris and Chris said they haven't determined a next round for grant funding I think he said it might be in the spring but he also referred to it's a it's a DIY road map is what he said okay um he said another alternative may be to create your own road map based on D's guidance document and perhaps using road maps created with this last rent of Grant assistance um as useful examples so is there such a thing um well like we know well maybe ashfield's done it I mean it sounds like there are already municipalities who have done it so I haven't had a chance this afternoon to look at what the examples are but I I think since we have a little bit of time I'm I'm happy to look at those and see if we can construct a road map um and then I mean the road map's a little bit different than these other things because those are sort of like boats my senses is you want to sort of ground TR the road map so you know we might look at road map and think it's good but then we might want to share it with say the select board or the highway department or the fincom or whatever just to get a sense so it's a little bit more interactive but if you all are okay with it I'll look at it and then I could sort of you know for next meeting put together something or we can have a conversation about because it would be cool to bring the road map to the town meeting and check up all four boxes and then be done with that would be I think the thing to also clarify is this is a road map right like this is not a legally binding document right so if we find that this is not working we need to change dates we need to change strategies like this is an amendable document this is not the end all be all yeah correct yeah yeah so in any presentation of any iteration of this document to the public to the town like it's good to foreground that yeah yeah I mean I think you know the the top line of any presentation if we were to take all four to town meeting is to start up by saying this is intent you know it's it's it's more practical than aspirational but it's not written in stone by any means um and then you know if people get that then it makes it easier because I think you're right um and I mean I just think about the you know Municipal vulnerability plan you know it was it's a good plan have we done 1% of it probably not you know um it's you know it's one of it's it's like many many plans in the universe I mean it'd be nice to have more traction on some of that stuff but I wonder also with this for like for the climate leadership program like if we do decide to amend it is that something we need to resubmit to the the governing body that is supporting us like you know it would be good to know or whether you know we just file it and then we change it at and it doesn't matter we don't have to update it with them we have for the climate leader program different from Green communities I think it's a every three years you have to sort of not you don't have to do the full reupping but I think you have to confirm and do some submission yeah yeah so which is smarter on their part so it doesn't go stale um so yeah thanks yeah um back up a minute would you please send me the copy all three of those documents as you've amended them here at their meeting so thank you yes I will do that I'll do it this even um so I think the only other thing we should talk about in terms of the climate leader pro project is next steps so we've now you know approved the three documents we work on the the road map um I would say give given our clarification this summer we don't have to bring it to the select board at all um what we need to do it would seem both politically and just good form is to have a public meeting you know scheduled when we're ready to package this stuff and just sort of say eak is recommending you know going for the climate leadership program this is what these documents are you know they'll be on the website because we'll post them but going through them having a conversation um I think that should be in proximity to knowing about one what town meeting we're doing it at you know as far as I know G you I don't know if you since you've going to select me selectboard meetings if you know differently but I don't think we have a special town meeting scheduled or a need for it so yeah so it would be you know in the spring at the earliest so we got lots of time to to plan for the public here and I wouldn't do it until you know the new year sometime um that said I think it's never too early to educate and so you know Nate had asked about education materials and then there's the town birthday party on October 6 which I'll be out of town but it's sort of we're sort of jumping a smidge in that regard but um if we could have some kind of material that we felt comfortable with and if we had a presence there it would be a good way to start getting the word out I think there's other ways we can do it um there's also the r toown which um we can talk about later too but um so I guess jumping ahead a little bit does of the three of you do any of you want to be or can you be at the birthday party and do a table I'm out of town that weekend also okay Nate as the lone standing person do you want to do it or you don't have to right um it's the six Sunday the 6 October 6 yeah I think yeah they sent an update yeah yeah I I think I'm around and I think um you know when I express interest in the event it seemed like there's a there definitely the opportunity to table right like to be there in person yeah but um also if we had like printed materials that like fact sheets that we were ready they were ready for prime time that that would just be an obvious uh place to yeah to to put some so um yeah I could I seems like I'm available um so if if we'd like to do that um you know I think I can think I can manage that yeah okay for sure that would be great that would be great so me in terms of material since it's it's a short turnaround um I mean in some regards I mean I haven't put a lot of thought into it but the electric vehicle policy and the resolution are pretty straightforward and stand by themselves like there's not a lot to ex like you don't have to create another fact sheet although one could create a lot of background about like why electric vehicles are are helpful are important right um which we could do subsequently but if we wanted to just sort of talk about what we're doing there's that um I think we could look at the materials that we had for town meeting and prepared for the specialized code um and just make sure that those are clear but that didn't change so we could revive those and then the other question I think which you are the best expert in and I think we already have is if we wanted to have CCA um materials yeah yeah yeah yeah um I think that that could work well timing wise um to get some messaging out there um I mean what one thing that the Ashfield experience um in that presentation that struck me was uh they had some fact sheets that just had some nice infog graphics on them um they had some it was pretty basic graphic design but it was like a little bit more than just like a bunch of bullets um for folks so yeah I was wondering um you know the extent to which like we might be able to just SW you know find replace yeah a little bit right I did I emailed Alex right after you sent me the email I haven't heard back um I don't think she shared them with me because I looked through my email but were they did you like were they in the webinar we actually in the webinar yeah uh so they had screen you know screen sharing of the the okay and it was send you the Powerpoint yeah yeah well we might have access to it I know I I think I registered for it so I might have gotten it and Nate you might have gotten it too the link is public to the municipal the organization um so yeah I was actually looking through the uh that presentation again um so maybe I could I'll just send that around cool that would be great folks because it was it was super cool um and encouraging great presentation okay well I think you know my general sense is if since you're willing to do it if we can provide some information knowing that will'll get more spiffy as we go along um that highly technical term yes it's a very technical term um that I think that makes sense um you know and then will'll be feeding our presentation for whatever information session we have whenever we have that um and just to to check I mean I think if there's no special to meeting we'll just wait till the spring whether that's an April or May meeting if for some reason there's a reason for a special town meeting it seems do you all think we should try to hit that if we can pull off you know the public session you know there's always this debate of special Town meetings don't get the same turnout and you want to have as much you know participation in a town meeting to get a good vote um I'm of two minds in that regard because depends on the issue if it get good turned out at a special town meeting or not um but we should we should sort of know we're if we're willing to adapt if we're not caught flat footed yeah it sounds like if there's a special town meeting you know it might you know it might be three out of four and you know not have the road map and I would be fine with going forward with that and then working on the road map and presenting that at the town meeting does that have to be um accepted by like you know at town meeting to to qualify for um or we just present that with our application um I think we would have to say the town adopted it got it so whatever that means but you're not saying present it for a vote at special town meeting correct well well no that was my question like do we want to do we want to present what the at least the three that we have now we could like if if tomorrow the select board said oh we have to have a special time meeting in December you know that feels uh vulnerable to accusations of being sneaky well that's the point it's like you know you know that you're going to get the biggest turnout at annual time meeting it you know we're just because we started late last year we're very prepared for this year so we got a long wait between September and the spring um which you know it's not going to change the universe too much we'll just be more prepared and organized to do it um so more opportunity for educ ucational you know Outreach and stuff like that present it without asking adoption yeah okay so and my bad is Nate that you'll learn from questions asked about how we might best present it you know to get those questions up front if they're already up front so when we get to town meeting they'll basic collectively like why are you asking us I thought we told you yes perfect cool great well why don't we switch to other stuff of there it's a whole bunch of updates a lot of really small stuff but the big one is CCA so Nate you've got the floor sure so you know in been in a little bit of a dialogue with uh colonial power group group and they are in dialogue with dpu so um uh you'll recall that uh there's sort of a new uh approach for communities to in um to engage um the development of a plan and getting it approved uh by dpu and that that is not 100% settled uh but it's it's the main pieces of it seem to be in place so ponal is signaling um you know Positive Vibes on how how all of that is going and you know I was able to send to you a kind of notional timeline for how things could go so um they are I'm going to touch base with them uh I've been tossing email back and forth but we're gonna have a a zoom call of either uh you know within the next couple of weeks uh to speak in a in a little bit more detail I think they are ready to uh present to the town um either to us or select board or maybe a joint um meeting um you know I think after I talk to them I'll have a better sense of uh you know if there are any you know issues with like just getting everybody together I think their intention is to um have an introductory meeting where um you know Communications and expectations are are set um which seems like a valuable thing to do at at this point given that um the de the development of the plan and the 90day uh assumed turnaround for an approval of a plan things could move a little faster than um you know surely than um you know a lot of other towns have had their ccas go so um you I was reading the plan Michael you and I both like sort of had the same question about whether the new template has any um whether it changes point in the timeline at Which towns select the um the products effectively right the specific products because it's a some of the language sort of implies that towns need to identify with the default plan or product product is in the application right in the plan um which is sort of like the town's first interaction with the state about our intentions um and what I got back from Colonial is that the town doesn't need to decide on the number of products which one is the default or what the renewable energy content is of any of the products for the plan submission um or dpu approval uh Colonial says that that decision can be made once the town has an order and order is capitalized here I can forward this to you um uh and because we're going to inform our choices based on load data from Ingrid and we're going to be able to look at um indicative pricing specific to our Town's load profile and we're going to be able to evaluate our options based on concrete information as opposed to guessing without actually having prices to look at so exciting they're they're reassuring on this point of sort of when those decisions take place because uh we as eak want to be able to make a recommendation to select board um based on you know our research and community engagement and the the work that we've done um to help us uh you know arrive at a good portfolio for the town so so is it correct I just to State what I think you said is that there's an initial so it says where it says State approval DP filing which is early December that that's more generic without the portfolio specifics being identified and then see the thing that's weird is like okay so if it goes to the dpu in December and then dpu has 120 days to approve and then there's Supply bidding like you can't go to supply bidding unless you have the packages identified right like no one's going to bid on something unless they know what they're bidding on right um so so I see so once the plan's approved then we can put together the program options that that we would like to see uh and then that's what goes out for bidding and then there's more than one supplier that can uh so it's really there's another bullet in between the dpu and the bidding which is yes it now comes up with it it's its product yeah profile y that's right and our our selection of that yeah I mean one thing I'll just say and then Gail I know you want to say something but I was listening so um Monty show 413 whatever the Fab 413 you know on NPR you guys know this no oh so Monty who used to be on RSI Monty B mon you know he was like the big DJ in RSI he moved to any PM probably a year ago and so between three and four weekdays they do a show called The Fabulous 413 and it's highlighting all the things about western Mass oh wow so it's a really fun show I mean it's you know and he's a good DJ and he's got a partner from RSI but in any case yesterday they were interviewing um oh forget your first name chiarelli chiarella who's the sustainability person for amorist and then the sustainability for Northampton about the Northampton amoris pelum aggregation thing which there's some Milestone that's happening soon um and what was my point in this oh oh yeah yeah so they asked about the packages you know they said so you know and I came in halfway but basically it's it's very vanilla you know I think there's probably like a save money option and they have a 10% greener than the state requirements greener in terms of their Rex and that's it so you know it wasn't and I'm sure it's three municipalities with different populations negotiating on something that come together on but there wasn't more choices and it wasn't highly aspirational like so my point is mostly that I can imagine Colonial you know shsb is different in many ways because we're just you know pesky so I think they might think oh we're just going to move this through because this is everyone gets not anticipating that we need Community process and we're probably going to think about it a little bit differently and so creating that intentional space in between the dpu saying yes and us going out to bid is like it's a significant thing that they might be overlooking is my short Point could be um I mean but they they also have like they've worked with dozens of towns um so and they're they're all a little different although there's there's some central tendency there but um yeah we'll see though yeah we'll see what the market looks like when you said that uh Colonials in conversation with dpu are is that a negotiation are they just talking about procedure are they trying to flesh out the policy going forward what what is the conversation about yeah you know I think it's Colonial but it's it's the other uh two players um at least if if not also like Cape you know the cape um um MLP as well but um you know I think part of what this process is trying to achieve is like a streamlining um and so there's there's been you know in as I understand it you know engagement between dpu and um these you know intermediaries who uh you know who want to be able to put together plans that check all the boxes from dpu's perspective so that it's easier for dpu to just say yes this checks all the boxes and we can approve this and and get them past this Log Jam of years yeah okay well I mean looking looking at the ourtown fall 24 update um you know for the newsletter um it's really spelled out like there's a you know it looked like there was going to be three options for residents electricity sourcing that makes electric electric prices cheaper than National Grid sourcing that is greener than the state requirement and it doesn't say how much but still that's great and then a sourcing that does not involve green energy damaging the environment such as cluttering or clear cutting forest for solar residents can pick which plan they like while this is eca's hope we need to find out what is presented to us and then proceed accordingly so I mean it's good to have those aspirational options if those aren't available ailable to us like but just for the community to know that this this is the ballpark that we're looking at these are the things that we're looking at are there other concerns that they want yeah yeah cool so Nate it sounds like once you talk to them in the next two weeks you'll get more information and then we sort of figure out next steps going forward but it's at this point aside from that conversation the only other thing we have to figure out is a meeting with us and us in the select board right yep yes okay and sounds like that would probably be October um so to clarify like I I heard you talking about sort of um level setting about expectations and Communications which if that was the case it would make sense to have the select board involved if it was more substantive getting to sort of what Isaac was talking talking about in terms of you know what are the plan options and then I'd say probably it should be us and not the select board because we want to be able to ask more detailed questions and the select board I mean one the select board doesn't have the time and two I think we don't want to have a seveners you know discussion we want to be able to have a conversation then make a recommendation and have the M questions it's more efficient yeah that sounds good y so if you find out out from them what they're anticipating then we can figure out um how to proceed um and I think I mean the other thing to ponder you know if you once you find out this is a detail but if we're inviting the select board to a joint meeting I you know I can do it or you can do it since you're officially the representative on this project so you know Ponder what makes sense efficient you know efficiency was um because I think we can we can either way but I'm happy to we can we can coordinate and figure out what makes sense but gaale uh Nate in colonial's dealings with other towns has there been a a committee parallel to ecac would would Colonial already have some sense of how to approach this kind of a maneuvering between the select board and ECA as making a recommendation they surely have that um that experience and I know that they've they've dealt directly with select boards they've dealt with committees that are hybrid of you know select board and representatives from a local energy committee and so you know they're the town because they worked with towns our size they're um they have experience working with um you these sorts of like government structures if you will might they might have some tips yes yeah cool okay so just sort of Shifting Gears Nate do you want is there anything you want to share about the Green School Works um stuff so I don't have much of an update um but and one of the reason one of the reasons for that is uh you know I think part of we had our meeting with um building committee uh last meeting and I and I think a lot hinges on their review of uh you know what's needed and how they're prioritizing um different projects for the school specifically um within the larger budget for uh Town buildings um but uh you know I did I did reach out to uh you know the principal um an McGill um and she's like she's Allin you know she she's very enthusiastic and I think could' be a great Advocate um but you know exactly like in the process of you know at what point do you bring up these issues I think it hinges on these larger building committee conversations and you know once they you they could like get up into the attic and find who knows what that just like it is an emergency that they have to have to deal with but um yeah I we have an advocate um and an ally there uh but you know we're still subject to it's true yeah it's true yeah so when you say it hinges uh in terms of what we propose as a project to the Green School of works yeah I mean um we can we can recommend things um and I but is it not ultimately up to okay the building committee um like whether whether and how aggressively to push something um you know maybe this is something that we can write into our you know climate leaders plan um but I see you know Michael's nodding right um yeah I think that Mak sense I mean there's it's like we talked about last time there there's some kind of relationship between buildings and schools and US and it hasn't matured because we haven't really done it yet so um because they haven't finished their assessment though I mean well even if we like if there was an opportunity that jumped in front of us you know and said hey you can get big money for something that you think is important yeah we you know it might not be in their plan we'd have to have a conversation you know that the you know normally the issue is that the long list of for Capital planning which is where the buildings committee goes to get funding it's all based on toown money so if you can come in with grant funding everyone might get on board but you still have to have that dialogue about who's who's vetting who's applying you know who's providing expertise all that kind of stuff which we we haven't done the dance at all and it would sound like we would have to do some selling on the Energy Efficiency business didn't seem like the buildings committee would is they're they're involved with structure yeah yeah so yeah and I think you know if we think sort of medium term like if we spend this year moving everything to climate leaders and then we actually get a road map you know I think Tate's point if if we have a road map that speaks to some of this stuff you know like focusing on buildings focusing on transportation we can figure out for what we're going to recommend the prioritization is or who takes the lead um like I mean at some point you know if we have time in our schedule it would be interesting to talk to Capital planning just like we did with buildings um because just having that engagement so that we're on their radar would be helpful um so some Ponder I'll write I'll write it down I think elen's still the chair um okay yie all good on uh on school works so there's a whole list of really short incoming items that like the last month or six weeks there was like all this emails I got so I just thought I'd go through them there's there's not a lot of discussion but since we're in open public meeting so and I think I forward all of these to you but just so we can discuss so the first one is MVP action Grant I got to say I'm so cynical and down on MVP action grants like you know it's just frustrating but all that we know now is that if you wanted to have an expression of interest you needed to get it to them by November 1st um you know and I think I can't remember like I know Becky and I worked on the first one and then the second one we were a formed committee so we recommended you know I think we've gone through three different ones and yeah I don't I don't even know if the last one which was helping pay for Sol or at the Li new library got funded I'm not even sure so I don't think there's any action right now it says that you know presumably if the expression of interest is November 1st there'll be a grant subsequent to that um you know every time we've express interest they've told us our ideas are not so great and to do something else and then we didn't get the grant anyway so you know not a great track record um but anyone have any thoughts about that it's mostly just to say there's a deadline we're not going to do anything for it I think for an expression of Interest unless anyone has an interest they want to express okay that was that Wonder um yeah so the there is I got an email out of the blue from someone I feel like I know um Bruce um but I don't I haven't researched if I really know him but apparently there is a Fort River forward group and the Connecticut River Conservancy got a grant to to support this um Fort River forward it involves beler Town pelum shutesbury Emerson Hadley and it's $8,000 to work among the five towns for the Fort River Watershed and what they said is it's it's some of the stuff we care about um it's to Foster greater collaboration improved Communications identification of action priorities um regarding the Watershed um so being that we've talked about oh here it's talked about uh Watership protection enhancement agricultural Fisheries dams Dam management climate resilience water quality and conservation so some of those are relevant to us it could also I mean I don't think the con com's get any bandwidth to do stuff I I'm happy to just respond to him and say you know happy to be the representative I'm not going to commit a lot of time but it seems like we should be at the table and I don't see I mean I'm not sure how he got me I'm guessing he looked at Jets spury and figured out that we were probably the best um committee to ask um but unless anyone wants to participate I just figured I'll raise my hand and try to have a minimal commitment yeah surprised of what's going on yeah I I don't anticipate much but we shall see uh birthday party we talked about uh the green communities um there's a green Community Summit the first one ever in Devin on November 1st um it's mostly point of information I I mean I don't think there's a huge need for us to go unless we wanted to and you know one of us could go Becky could go I have no idea about attendance and expectation but just as an FYI do anyone have any thoughts about that one what's what's the point what's the topic what's the focus I don't know yeah there wasn't any detail yeah and the next one was there's a building electrification accelerator mailing list which we got invited to by uh electrifying bus.org um it seemed like given our work with electrifying buildings it would be interesting to know the only downside is they send you a Weekly Newsletter like who needs a Weekly Newsletter but um I could forward if I did I send this to you guys I'm not sure yes I signed up okay good great yeah I got a confirmation okay I was going to say we should just whoever wants to sign up so we can get information um but I don't think there's anything more than just signing up for the mailing list so um it's mostly an FYI and then the last thing I have on my list is this East Coast Renewables Chargers so you know we had a bunch of conversations about EV Chargers and I think where we came down after talking to Eric stalker and Gail made her great comment it was that we didn't want to spend our time on EV charges because there wasn't a prioritization priority for this committee um which Eric definitely heard and it went back to Becky and the select board subsequent to act there is this East Coast Renewables organization who is offering the same thing I think you know they're a National Grid vetted vendor they're offering the town free EV Chargers and Becky and I both got CCD on the invitation congratulations email um um I'm fine to let Becky Do It um so you know because now she's got two vendors and she's got to figure it out um so it's I the only thing I thought about in terms of the EV Chargers is that as we go forward with zero emission vehicle priority purchasing that that's something we're going think about because all of a sudden we have Town vehicles that need to get charged I mean ultimately we we have to have it you know otherwise it's just uh it is not practicable right to have right to have a municipally owned EV if you don't have the infrastructure in place so it's not even a chicken or the egg thing it's just we need we need to have a charger uh at least one question probably more than one so sorry yeah yeah about software total cost of ownership absolutely all of those what ifs and consequences but the state has um put together a dump truck of money for this in addition to the federal incentives and the reason that we have these organizations knocking our door down offering us this free stuff is because there's a ton of money and if we don't take advantage of it uh then we're really going to be hosed so I I would like I I I think we should kind of Orient the committee towards thinking about uh an an you know a charging infrastructure uh positive direction uh here I'm not saying it's not like there there there are questions and there absolutely issues but I I am a little uh I am a little concerned um about advocating for EVS without you know putting as much energy into the infrastructure that will make them work for the town yeah our earlier conversations there about Chargers was aimed at the public and I think that um point was well taken that we really don't need it for that if we're talking about purchase of Municipal Vehicles then it shifts it to getting infrastructure at town hall for the police department and to the fire department for those vehicles and there are two solid structural places where we could have an array not just one I'm wondering also like you know these this dump truck of money is available we have two companies that are seeking us and could we take advantage of both and have one in two different areas like I don't think that there's a limit on the town I would imagine I don't know something to think about but they sent a couple of emails like they keep forting emails about congratulations to different towns like um you know for congratulations rentham and they've decided and they've decided to to assume all costs and you know not have the ECR um service their thing and and you know reap minimal benefits on it um so you know it might be good to find out from those towns Town renth them and looks like another I can't remember Chelmsford um you know what were the packages that they were you know what is the what was the bill of goods that they were sold like what what kind of information do they have on the um the maintenance and upkeep that they would be responsible for and what kind of infrastructure do they need do they need a technician or you know do they Outsource and they because if they're let's say like if they're Municipal charging units then for the most part it's going to be the town using them and any proceeds are not there are no proceeds because it's just the town right like we're not putting it at the library or putting it at the you know at the school where you know regular people can use it and pay whatever per kilowatt hour to charge their EV so you know what makes sense in that respect so yeah I think I think that puts it back into the ecac domain and and and save Becky from going through all the companion contrasted to Isaac ask your questions of both vendors and of the towns who've already signed up and see what their experience is yeah I can do that I will have an update for next meeting cool so ISAC you're GNA be our EV lead sure yeah cool okay you know the other thing I would say I'm thinking of maybe sending an email to the select board which includes Becky and us just sort of talking about this shift Focus what we're doing yeah and and I think I'd like to just invite Eric to you know to partner with Isaac because I think Eric personally is interested right yeah so that would be great and then we can sort of figure out how to go from there and he wanted to be the coordinator anyway from the select board so that's yeah I think that would work out well yeah it really when I as I was reviewing the the zero emissions policy I was like oh wait a second I mean was all it was exactly what we discussed it was like it it did take on a different oh yeah yeah it's like oh yeah so cool okay well I will communicate that and CC everybody and then the last thing before we get to minutes in a journ was you know Isaac referenced the the draft that I did for our toown um and I think we could discuss it briefly but if people just I mean if you want to have have General thoughts and then send me word smithing edits you know I can I can do that but um did it generally hit the mark did it make sense or there are some high level things that you would include or get rid of oh was good I gave you my suggestion okay yeah I I returned uh just tiny little tiny little things nothing substantive yeah I I um I made some notes but didn't realize that they were private so I just shared my with the with the group their they're fairly minimal attorney general will be at your door tonight yeah exactly well I will incorporate all those thank you um yeah I think it again is like this is an opportunity just to communicate out um hopefully Janice will let us have as many words as I wrote um so we'll see how it goes that's a nice long article it's it's subst yeah Mee yeah people will be talking about it over their kitchen [Laughter] tables um okay so the last thing is just um review and approval of the minutes that we got for July 30th so um I don't know if people had comments if we're ready to and I could Nate do you have them up I can I don't have them up but I could share them if that's easy y you muted sorry I don't have them at my fingertips I should have that's okay here did they change substantially from what you set out NOP yeah I didn't I didn't have any changes so um before we before we kind of like do that and do the um you know pick the date for next next month um I wanted to check in and see like all right so just in terms of action items for looking into more information on the EV charging stations through you know both companies um you know I'm happy to reach out to you know Nick Vore and James to see who are the people that I could speak with in renth them about like their experience and to like ask the questions that I have and partner with Eric and have like joint meetings with them and stuff like that but it sounds like you're going to send you know Michael you you'll send an email to Becky and the group just letting know and I I don't want to be premature and reach out before you know I don't want to you know make any kind of you know faux paw okay I I'll send it either tonight or tomorrow so should be and then you could I think you can follow up all right um yeah I it's you know just having done sort of the dance with that other company you know months ago it remains clear what like what the details on the process are you know it's the same thing as like this Vibe I mean my suggestion when you call them is to say congratulations this is Isaac Goldstein calling from Sho spray exactly right yeah but you know it's like we have to get under the covers a little bit and figure out what the details really are like that's yeah we don't even know how to proceed that's and are they negotiable is that part of the the come on yeah and well it seems like at least with this ERC it's either we assume 100% responsibility or they assume 100% responsibility and we take some of the minimal profits that you know like it it says like in a flyer up to 50% of the profits and it's like up to like how does that work structurally but again if these are if these are going to be with the designs of being Municipal yeah then profits are not a thing it's just about how do we build in the infrastructure moving forward like what are going to be budget line items year over-ear to maintain these right exactly yeah 50% of zero is still zero exactly right if anything they'll be making all money off the town of shutesbury for the fire department and the you know the police's use of the EV Chargers yeah exactly and it looks like they're not well I think they're not org so it's like even advertising doesn't give them any you know there's no PR benefit for them right so right but yeah I think really we just have to get information that you deem as helpful so we can figure out how we're proceeding but I'll send that email out probably tonight if I can get my my app together but I think I can um so so I will share the minutes that n s can you guys see that yeah yeah it's okay it's buildings plural committee all the way through yes yeah I did catch that or make that change anything else Isaac you got anything should I scroll a little bit scroll I looked at it already then I added respectfully submitted Nate herd oh you have to that was on Gail's uh Gail got me that's our our our format it's tradition no matter how biting or cynical you are you have to respectfully submit snarkily [Laughter] submitted massively begrudgingly taking minutes submitted by and this is good having this written out like the the zero and decarbonization which is a leadup to to tonight's discussion which is good yeah okay Isaac tell me when you're good yeah good okay so I will move to approve the minutes of July 30th 2024 anyone want a second I have a second okay any other discussion okay hearing done Nate how do you vote I Isaac I Gil hi I'm an I Okay cool so we are meeting yeah next meeting next meeting so let's see so today's the 17th so sort of in the middle of October would be the 15th um we could do that or could do the 22nd I'm guessing the eth might be a little soon but does anyone have any preferences or limitations I'm good either way 15th to the 22nd I would say 15th because I um you know we only meet once a month it's true Spring's gonna be here in no time sure for real so yeah we can squeeze in an extra February mhm br will be here in no time okay well let's do the 15 well I'm just looking at um so we're looking at the 15th yeah so the 14th is indigenous people's day that doesn't impact anybody in terms of going away and then coming back quickly okay let's do the 15th then okay same time same place exactly cool and uh we can build the agenda as we go but I think it's we'll probably have CC a followup we'll have some updates on what Nate heard about the birthday party yeah y yep and then I'll have information on the road map so um and the the plan for sorry but the plan for tabling materials is to draw on um like CCA stuff that we had prepared for um our you know the last town meeting yeah yeah yeah okay it's it's easy because we got it and I think you should just check with uh jaie I Gail do you know does the town hall have the copy does it do color yeah okay so we can just make I'm assuming other committees if they're showing up are going to make copies so if you show up with a thumb drive you can just do it print out as many as you want and then um you know the the article that um the Our Town article as well sort of is a nice summary a more forward looking summary yeah yeah yeah and thank you again for doing that sure okie dokie so anyone we are at 6:31 what a we're good sh yeah anyone want to move to a journ to a jour I'll second okay how do we vote Gail hi mate hi Isaac and I am an i okay good chatting with you all talk to you soon take care everybody thank you gentlemen bye thank you