Before the issue took a timeout of sorts, the Marion Energy Management Committee had extensively debated over the course of several public meetings the merits of including the word “climate” in its proposed new moniker.
No doubt, climate issues have been at the forefront of the EMC’s mission the past couple of years, and Marion’s major municipal building projects have been targeted as potential opportunities to influence a shift away from the burning of fossil fuels in favor of electric power.
Well beyond the scope of those projects, EMC members have been feverishly investigating laws, loopholes and all manner of informational tidbits in hopes of providing the town’s decision makers with opportunities to minimize energy consumption and, at the same time, take advantage of any and all region, state and federal incentive plans to access grant funding for energy-related projects.
They include but are not limited to heating conversions and other assorted upgrades in municipal buildings, electric vehicles, charging stations and the committee’s attention to Marion’s Hazard Mitigation Plan and related infrastructural projects.
A subplot to this ongoing mission has been the same conversation on several occasions about the committee’s identity and what would be an appropriate name change to more accurately reflect its activities.
From a tactical standpoint, member Jennifer Francis had in past meetings suggested that the word climate might be too politicized in the current social environment to be a productive choice for the EMC, but when the matter was revived on Monday afternoon during the committee’s scheduled public meeting, Francis added her yes vote to the other members’ present.
The vote authorizes Chairman Christian Ingerslev to write a letter to the Select Board requesting its approval for a change in name to the Energy and Climate Resilience Committee.
The rest of Monday’s EMC meeting constituted a perfect example of why the EMC seeks the identity change from “management” to “climate” and “resilience.”
Having repeatedly come up in the course of scheduled reports, the Maritime Center that has seen significant grant-procurement progress with the state Seaport Economic Council has, along with the proposed Department of Public Works headquarters at Benson Brook, been of great interest to an EMC membership hoping its efforts to equip town officials with information will ultimately put the Harbormaster and DPW staffs in new net-zero buildings.
EMC member Bill Saltonstall reported that he and fellow member Tom Friedman were in communication with Town Administrator Jay McGrail regarding the Massachusetts Energy Insight program as it applies to the Maritime Center. McGrail was to meet with the building’s architects and, according to Saltonstall, indicated some measure of progress.
Ingerslev said designers were going to give an estimate on costs to get to net-zero but no information was forthcoming as of yet.
Saltonstall compared the plan to a Plymouth building heated by mini-split units mounted on walls but behind decorative panels to obscure piping. “It was a pretty good system as far as the heating was concerned or the cooling, but they had no solar panels,” said Saltonstall. “I just don’t know how far they’re going to go with the Marion harbormaster building on solar.”
An effective solar program depends on southern exposure.
Saltonstall speculated that the town may be looking to generate the power off site and get it to the Maritime Center, as the present layout at Island Wharf does not provide for strong southern exposure due to the gabled ends intersecting the southern-facing roof.
“It didn’t look (adequate) … I think they’re working on it,” said Saltonstall, who hopes to add net-metered power. “We’ve cut down our electrical use via Mass Energy Insight. If we can do those things behind the metered systems, that would be the easiest way … a little at a time so as not to break the agreement we have with Future Generation Wind.”
Francis discussed the proposed DPW operations center and the prospects of requesting a comparison of costs of powering the facility with fossil fuels versus a net-zero building. “I don’t think we have the wherewithal to make that comparison,” she said. “If you show people a big number over 10 years, that’s more convincing.”
The matter of photovoltaics (solar arrays) on town property remains complex, given the limitations posed by the town’s contract with Future Generation Wind.
In an update on Green Communities grants where it applies to heating upgrades at the Music Hall and Taber Library, Saltonstall said the Music Hall did not qualify for grant funding, but a plan to install heat pumps at the library led to an award between $105,000 and $110,000.
“We hope it can all be done, totally complete and paid for by the fall, and then we can apply for new grants. The important thing now is to get that project done,” said Saltonstall, who said he is pushing with Facilities Manager Shaun Cormier to move the project ahead.
The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for Monday, March 28, at 5:00 pm.’
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo