2009-07-08 Cities for Climate Protection Minutes

Home Browse Search

July 8, 2009 Reading Advisory Committee on Cities for Climate Protection Program Committee Notes for July 8, 2009. 7PM (Next Meeting - July 22 at Town Hall) Present were Michele Benson, Gina Snyder, Tracy Sopchak, Ray Porter, Dave Williams, Bing Xia, Joan Boegel and Stephanie Anderberg. Meeting opening -Chair Tracy Sopchak opened the meeting. Minutes - The minutes of the June 24 meeting were approved, with the correction that Bing Xia be added to the list of those in attendance. Committee Picnic - Thank you to Ron and Maureen! One on One Meetings - The meetings were very helpful to Tracy to get oriented as chair and she presented her thoughts on what she learned. Committee members should re-read our mission statement, goals and methods to see if we need any tweaks, and if it's still fairly up-to-date. Sustainability Symposium - following up on last meeting's discussion, there is some interest in a regional symposium with interested local groups from other towns. The agenda would include each group giving a small summary of who they are, then each group talks about what they are working on. After that, tow groups can split up to meet with people from other towns, with similar areas of interest. We could get a head start now with feelers on whether there is enough interest. Also an idea for the roundtables would be to let the table topics come out of the discussion, rather than pre-setting them. This was suggested by Dee at the previous meeting and discussed in more detail tonight. At the end of the roundtable discussions, we'd have a reporting back period, and then there is the possibility to set up a follow up meeting or annual survey about whether any of the new ideas were implemented ad whether any modifications were made. Next steps for the committee will be to identify a workable fall date and to start talking with our contacts in other towns. Other Business - Joan talked to Lyn Whyte at the Housing department, and there are no good candidates for a HEET project among the town's properties. She suggested outreach through the senior center. If we offered home energy audits, we could have water audits at the same time. Gina will forward information on the Leading by Example award program so we can look to see if Reading wants to apply. There were some questions about what might qualify as measurable goals and whether future measurements would also work. Comments on the 40R plans are due on July 13, so Gina will send a link to the committee.