2009-06-24 Cities for Climate Protection Minutes

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June 24, 2009 Reading Advisory Committee on Cities for Climate Protection Program Committee Notes for June 24, 2009. 7PM (Next Meeting - July 8 at Town Hall) Present were Michele Benson, Gina Snyder, Tracy Sopchak, Ron D'Addario, Dave Williams, Bing Xia, Ray Porter, Dee Clark, Joan Boegel and Stephanie Anderberg. Meeting opening -Chair Michele Benson opened the meeting. Minutes - The minutes of the June 10 meeting were approved. HEET - Joan mentioned that the Cambridge group has agreed to help us get started even if they do not get a grant to train teams in other towns. Joan and Gina made a draft potential HEET model for Reading, to send to Lynne at the housing authority. Gina left a message at the voke, but hasn't gotten a return call yet, regarding how to incorporate energy and water efficiency into the Mattera project. Habitat for Humanity has built a high efficiency house in Westford - the January heating bill was $170. Habitat would like to engage students in towns like Reading for tasks such as painting. Possibly, this could be a follow-up to a HEET project. For example, after the HEET team replaces windows, the teen team could paint the frames, especially if there is a low-income tie-in for Habitat for Humanity. Some of our town-owned housing units might qualify. There was a discussion on how to reach contractors without having to call all 2000 numbers on the town list. We'd like to invite them to a HEET seminar on incorporating efficiency measures. Also, they may help with a HEET project. The seminar could be part of a "green builder" certification. Twelve states, not including Massachusetts, have adopted federal energy efficiency building codes. Can a town adopt these, independent of the state? Probably not, but we could include their slideshow in our seminar. Combined efforts with Wakefield/Melrose - Sherry Carlson, of Wakefield, contacted Tracy to ask if we would be interested in working together on events such as Earth Day, low carbon diet contests, a movie showing, regional recycling location or 350.org. Other ideas that the committee added were an expanded discussion, contractor seminar, rail corridor advocacy, or occasional group meetings (inviting other towns as well). The committee talked about holding a group meeting to update everyone on issues and ideas for solutions, and then blend and break into groups of like interests. On a related note, Michele reported that we got about 75 pledges at Friends and Family Day, but the crowd seemed smaller than usual. The handouts on farmer's markets and fish selections went over well, and Ray's kid-friendly activity was a good hook, as were the seeds. RCAP Updates - serve.gov is a new website for volunteer activities. We might look into this. Dave went to a recycling council with speakers on e-waste and the expanded bottle bill (the 3515 House bill). For Coke bottles, a study showed that 60%. were returned for deposit, 20% recycled, and the rest into trash/litter. For water bottles, 20% are recycled and the rest go into trash and littering. The proposed bill would cover water or juice bottles under 2'/2 liters. The e-waste discussion also touched on a bill to have more companies take back their e-waste, which companies might accomplish by including that cost in the up-front pricing. Nominate and vote in Chairperson - Tracy Sopchak was nominated to be the chairperson beginning July 1, 2009. This was seconded and unanimously approved. Other Business - The summer cookout at Ron's house was changed to be on July 1, at 6pm.