2008-05-28 Cities for Climate Protection Minutes

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May 28, 2008 Reading Advisory Committee on Cities for Climate Protection Program Committee Notes for May 28, 2008 (Next Meeting - June 11 h at Town Hall) Committee Meeting 7:00 PM, present were Gina Snyder, Michele Benson, Ray Porter, Ron D'Addario, Joan Boegel and Stephanie Anderberg. Minutes - A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes from the previous two meetings. The motion passed unanimously.. CAB Member Opening -There is an opening for a Citizens' Advisory Board member at RMLD. It might make sense for an ACCCP member or associate to try for this position as the connection between climate and energy is strong. The tasks would include looking at the budget and power sources, as well as policies and procedures. The current opening is for someone to represent the citizens and businesses of Reading. MPO Grant - So far, we have not had any updates on the status of our shuttle bus grant application. RCAP Subcommitttes - We need to set up a meeting with MASSRides, Peter H and the relevant subcommittee(s) to see about whether we can set something up in time for the start of the 08-09 school year. It might also be good to have a second meeting, after talking with Peter, to include the school superintendent and MassRIDES. Michele will set up the first meeting. There was some discussion on whether it was better to focus on one item, such as carpooling, or to promote the complete package, to include Safe Routes to School, no idling, and GoLoco. It seems as if we really just get one shot to catch people's attention, so we decided to promote the complete package of related programs. We would also like to put up the anti-idling signs in the RMHS/Coolidge/Birch Meadow area and talk with school PTOs about the climate/transportation efforts. Friends & Family Day - Ron will attend the event planning meeting on the 1 lth. He'll alsp contact the event planners ahead of time to request that our space be 12 feet wide and be located next to RMLD's space. Michele has a draft of a simplified pledge to use this year, asking folks to reduce their energy use by 10% over the next year. She has related handouts showing the energy usage of common appliances and household items, and simple steps to take for lowering energy use. A Green Sense article could cover the story of a family who has worked together to reduce their monthly KwH usage. We could also work on some way to track results of people who take the pledge. Possibly even present awards to the households with the best reductions. After some discussion on how to prevent this from becoming a large workload on the RMLD employees and/or committee members, it was decided that households wishing to enter the contest will have to save and submit copies of their July 2008 and July 2009 RMLD statements, showing their energy use summaries for the previous years, as documentation of their reductions. Green Sense articles can include updates on the town's aggregate energy use reductions, for which Michele could get data. Folks who are not at Friends & Family Day will still be able to join in on the contest - we'll do outreach through Green Sense, webpages, etc. F