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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-06-12 Cities for Climate Protection Minutesv ~ C June 12, 2007 Reading Advisory Committee on Cities for Climate Protection Program Committee Notes for June 12, 2007 (Next Meeting - June 26th at Town Hall) Committee Meeting 7:00 PM, present were Ray Porter, Michele Benson, Gina Snyder, Ron D'Addario, Joan Boegel, and Stephanie Anderberg. No guests were in attendance. Welcome - Chair Gina Snyder opened the meeting, welcoming all present. Minutes -.A motion" was made and seconded to approve the meeting minutes from the May 23rd meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Meeting with Peter, Review - Tracy, Michele and Gina met with Peter to go over five action plan items to get feedback on format, see if he thinks we're on the right track, etc. Carol Kowalski, the new director of communication services and town planner was also at this meeting. Peter updated them that he did order bike racks for town hall, all schools, and police department, but not the library. There was to have been a $3000 shipping charge, but a town resident who works for a shipping company had arranged shipping for $1400. The town will have to install the bike racks and then get the reimbursement from the grant funds. Also, we learned that trees are now in the annual budget. Re: idling, Peter will have a staff mtg on June 14 to introduce the concept to all department heads, to get buy in. The procurement policy can have green purchasing elements folded into it. Hybrids will also be added to the budget. Reading already has an energy director, Dom (DJ) Cacciapouti Jr. This had been an item of interest that we'd found in other municipal CCP plans, but we are ahead of the game by having this position already. It's also possible that some new diesel vehicles to be purchased would have automatic shutoff after 10 mins of idling. The Police Chief will work on developing suggested routes to schools. The superintendent also seems to be on board with this plan. The police on bikes program has been well liked, but the department is understaffed and so it is unlikely that any increase of police on bikes will occur. There is concern because Peter hears from the Lexington manager that their suburban mobility grant service costs the town money to maintain. MBTA meeting at Wakefield - Stephanie gave a quick overview of the T's "PMT" process, and how suggested capital projects are ranked. Higher ranking projects progress into the Capital Investment Plan to be funded. Other projects that don't rank highly do not progress in this round. Ranking criteria include cost per additional passenger, and whether the project benefits "environmental justice" communities - those communities with large minority and/or low income populations. The committee discussed some ideas which might be proposed, particularly in light of upcoming housing developments in North Reading, which would not be well served by transit. One idea was to add a park and ride commuter rail stop on the Haverhill line, at 129 and 93. Four to five committee members plan to attend the meeting and the committee may also send a follow-up letter, copying the MBTA Advisory Board. Family Day - We can bring a laptop to Family Day and make a slideshow. Send Joan any photos of good/bad climate items in Reading. She and her sons will compile them into a looping PowerPoint show. Michele has signage. She will send another revision of the new 1-2-3 pledge we plan to use at the event. Everyone should reply with either edits, or to tell her you don't see any needed changes, so she knows she's heard from everyone. Transit surveys Gina will forward copies of the team's other surveys. Stephanie will edit them for family day and will also work on data anaylsis. MPO Follow-up - this agenda item was skipped as it was covered in the discussion of "meeting with Peter". Action Plans - Ron and Joan will send their sections soon. Where possible, the plan should acknowledge any good efforts already underway, and the responsible parties. Next Steps - MBTA meeting tomorrow. Gina has taken a list of action items from recent ICLEI communications. She will send a list, and everyone should look it over to see if there are items we missed, that we should consider.