Bolton Event – Multi Town Meeting
July 12, 2007
Minutes taken by Chinloo Lama
Agenda
• Introductions & Networking
• Presentations by:
Bolton –Joel Lindsay
Boxborough – Chris DeLise
Groton – Leo Laverdure
Harvard – Bill Blackwell
Hudson – Denise Frizzell
Marlborough – Jennifer Boudrie
Moderator – John Balco
• Cross Town Collaboration Ideas & Actions
Networking (6:30pm – 7:15pm)
Introductions (7:15pm)
Nan from Bolton Commons reporting
John Balco – Bolton Energy Committee member moderating
Laura Kischitz – Bolton Energy Committee member introducing the event
Chinloo Lama – Bolton Energy Committee member taking notes
Pam Bergman – Bolton Selectman
Don Anderson – Pembroke Selectman
Bob Johnson – Cable recording
Paula Berg – Bolton Energy Committee member
Mike Gorr – Bolton Energy Committee member
Bolton’s Presentation
Joel Lindsay of the Bolton Energy Committee presented on the development of the committee. These are some additional notes above and beyond the slides. (See the power point presentation for the whole presentation)
· Accomplishments
o Electricity and fuel usage gathered and recorded – for analysis
o Goal to get 150 families using Clean Energy Alternative. Promoting program match (GreenUp / GreenStart)
o Voice on Library committee to influence green construction. Also Public Safety. We are trying to influence green building at the start of construction.
o One of our members, Martha, has attended the MCAN Low Carbon Diet (train the trainer) event
o We are planning a Climate Action Presentation to the town and schools
· Goals for 2007 & Beyond
o After analyzing the town energy usage, we would like to perform energy audits on all town buildings and improve on energy usage efficiency
o We would like to have a booth at the Bolton fair
o We would like to set up a CFL recycling
o We want to emphasize education!
· Bolton Waste Oil Program
o Summary of article in Bolton Common (see slides for more information)
· Challenges & Successes
· Multi-Town Ideas
Boxborough’s Presentation
Chris DeLise gave a presentation without a slideshow. He gave great advice and some great stories.
· Chris suggested that Energy Bulletin is a cool group to look into.
· Chris emphasized the importance of Town collaboration – it helps to organize and raise awareness
· He warns that it will take time for the paradigm shift and mind changing of the local residents
· Boxborough is new to the game – it only started 6-8 months ago and now there are 2 groups in Boxborough
· Grassroots group concentrates on local foods, local farming, and sustainable agriculture.
· Chris shared the story of Acton’s “Pay as you go” campaign which failed immediately due to poor town reception.
· Now that the media has helped educate people and awareness is raising, this is the time to send the message
· Chris recommends joining the Nashoba Valley Energy Fair.
· He looks forward to the collective effort to raise community awareness
Groton’s Presentation
Leo Laverdure, GrotonLocal.org. Check out their slide presentation to get more details.
· Their slogan is “Sustainable community solutions to global issues”
· The Groton Local group started out as a reading group and found a common passion.
· Now there are over 200 people on their mailing list
· The group just got incorporated
· They are now applying for non-profit status
· They are focusing not only on energy use, but they want to get to a point of sustainable energy consumption
· They are looking for long term solutions
· “All sustainability is local” – Groton’s motto
· Some programs implemented in Groton:
o Energy group
o Green building group
§ Educating people on electric light
§ Got own electric light department
§ Held a Green building info night which saw 100+ attendees. There is now a planned program for fall on Green Building “how to’s” geared towards residential living
§ Building project advocacy
o Groton Local Food & Agriculture group
§ Community garden project
o Local economy effort and transportation
o Want to start a sustainability group
· Participate in the Low Carbon Diet (MCAN) and eager to launch the activities.
· They also has a Seniors Program
o Where they changed out light bulbs in senior centers
o Where they provided energy efficiency assistance
· They are starting to build a Solar hot water system for a greenhouse project
· From their experience, they have noticed that there are a lot of confusion & frustration on the public side. They often declared “tell me where to start”
· They recommended a good book: The Natural Step for Communities
· They have noticed that their influence has expanded and they are providing a “Best Practices” for their local builders.
· Schools and commercial buildings coming to get guidance from group
· They display Bio-fuel conversion demonstrations at events
· They support an Energy co-op
· They have noticed the trend of large upscale companies rent rooftops for PVs – they would like to do something similar if they can find investment interests
Harvard’s Presentation
Bill Blackwell of Harvard Local
· They have changed the way businesses practice locally
· They have started working on energy surveys and have found that ½ of the electricity in town is used by schools
· They recommend an online tool, EPA/Energy Star Profile Manager, which can calculate energy efficiency. To use it, one only has to signup online for free.
· Recently they have gotten some press: Step It Up 2007 rally at Harvard Common. There was news coverage there. The bonus was that children were brining their parents to the event.
· A suggestion of a great book: The Natural Step for Communities – good suggestions on how to re-energize community on reducing energy cost.
· Bill used a “Tree” metaphor to describe common approaches to solving energy usage issues – “…people are attacking the issues on the limb. We need to nurture the root and nurture the tree.”
· He also talked about ideas on future efforts. You can see the detailed list on his slides.
· He also went over the lessons their group learned through their growth. The detailed list is on the slide.
· Ideas for collaboration
o MCAN will help set LCD web presence
o Nashoba Valley Energy Fair participation
o Encouraging regional and local businesses to think of green building
Hudson’s Presentation (HACAN ~15 people)
Denise Frizzell (Please review their slides to get a more detailed list of the presentation topics)
· Formed in Dec. ’06
· Group of 12-15 people since formation.
· Our Purpose: To unite people who live, work, and/or worship in Hudson and surrounding towns to organize local actions to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions that are the primary cause of global warming pollution.
· They believe in action and education
· Theirs is a group consists of volunteers
· Hudson and Stow share utility provider (Hudson Lights and Power) – able to affect them to offer green power options within 2 months of group forming. Got help from Mass Energy to help provide the Green options for residents right on their bill. Similar to the GreenUp program from National grid
· CCP and ICLE – help town governments to set up green programs
· They are pushing a petition to approach town selectmen to support the green program effort. The goal is to secure 500 signatures, and they easily have 200 already.
· They have put together a strategy matrix for success. They are willing to share the document with the group tonight.
Marlborough’s Presentation
Jennifer Boudrie, M. Ed – devoted to energy education. Please see the power point presentation for more details. The items below were in addition to the slides.
· They are trying to set up a group – CFL campaign to get local residents to convert. They are also engaging local businesses as well to convert to CFLs.
· They are trying to set up a cable TV series and website - “Green Marlborough”
· Networking is a great opportunity to cross-pollinate. One can get more ideas and resources. As a group you have a louder voice.
· She advised to empower people with knowledge – use case studies to inspire action
· Be visible – local network, newspapers, news in general
· Have an eco-ally. Group together.
Shrewsbury
Diane Jones
· Diane is not part of a town committee. There is not much support in her town. She has energy but no support or venue or outlet. She has tried starting up a group but no one has shown interest.
· She would like to join a regional network to help foster the energy in her town
· Is it possible to form a regional task force?
· Is it possible to work locally but come together as a regional group?
· She has helped set up events at the Shrewsbury library talks – climate change slideshows, everything solar slide show, energy engineer presentation
· She emphasized that it’s not just energy, but you need a group to get a group going.
· Policy and legislation is the hot topic to approach. A group can help educate and spread the word about policies up to be voted.
· Perhaps we can find corporate sponsors to make a model green town.
· She had a document on Washington State’s Sustainability program for their Jails. Booklet has great resources in it. She is willing to share
Boxborough
Francine Nolde
Boxborough Eco-Path
· They help empower people to start with their own homes
· On July 30th – they will host an energy and environment debate with candidates running for vacated seat. Agenda of debate is to educate.
Closing Discussions
· Stan Smith of Bolton asked the question: How much money does it take for a program like this to start in town? If you have the funds how should it be used?
The group answered:
o No money was really needed to start Bolton’s committee. Only interest and passion.
o If there were funds available, spend it on environmental education – books & CDs
o Spend it on useful equipment like a door blower for the town residents and neighboring towns to use on testing doors for their heat retaining efficiency.
· Suggestion on working together at the Bolton Fair. There were many towns interested but we are lacking a person who will take the lead on organizing the effort.
· Diane Jones of Shrewsbury would like to see if there is any interest among the group to start a regional effort. A regional team that she can be part of since there is no interest in Shrewsbury to set up a local town group. She feels that this will help give her a legitimate voice when she, and others in similar situations, speak to officials in her town.
· A warning came from Denise Frizzell of Hudson regarding a regional group effort. She warns not to lose local focus when going into a regional effort. She feels that it is more important for us to limit our scope and focus most of our efforts on local issues rather than spreading ourselves too thin across a whole region. She and others suggested joining the Harvard local listserv and also checking out the MCAN list of towns and members.
· Matrix discussion – Bill Blackwell was interested in hearing about other tools that other towns have come across that can help analyze, calculate, or measure energy efficiency. These tools can be online, on CDs, or physical devices.
· A Case study of the church facility we were at (Davis Hall) was shared: Federated Church, with the help of a free Mass-Save audit, had helpful suggestions from them about rebates for the residential facility. They were able to update their furnace and improve its efficiency.
· A suggestion was made: Perhaps we can start a series of success stories (case studies) locally to inspire local action
· Union of concerned scientist, MCAN – was suggested as a very helpful sites for local and political action
· Political influence on an individual case can sometimes be just as powerful as a group effort. (suggested by John Balco)
Action Items
Groton: coordinate regional team for the Nashoba Valley Energy Fair
Bolton Fair Specifically (Sept 22-23) – Jen Boudrie from Marlborough is offered to help
Bolton Energy Committee: Another multi-town meeting in 3 months to catch up on updates
| 
