The officials on the field have asked for a measurement, and the Town of Marion isn’t looking just for a first down, it’s looking for a touchdown.
After chasing down records of deliveries of gas, propane, and oil to the town so he could manually enter that information into the MassEnergyInsight program’s online databank, Bill Saltonstall had some inspiring news for his fellow members at Monday’s Marion Energy Management Committee meeting.
“Surprisingly, Table 2 (which tallies energy savings) totals approximately 20 percent. We made some savings in areas I hadn’t expected,” said Saltonstall on the August 23 Zoom meeting. “Apparently, we will be able to make it all the way to 20 percent [energy reduction] this year.”
Marion is in Year Four of its pledge to the Green Communities program to reduce the town’s carbon footprint by 20 percent in energy reductions over the prescribed five-year period.
Up to recent months, Saltonstall, the EMC’s lead hound sniffing out every energy sucker that Marion could potentially upgrade, had relied on the advice and computer expertise of Town Planner Gil Hilario, who is no longer working for Marion after taking a new job in the same role in North Attleboro.
Figuring that Eversource has apparently made changes to some streetlights, Saltonstall told EMC members that he plans to contact Lisa Sullivan, the regional supervisor of Green Communities, to make sure he is handling the clerical end of the mission thoroughly.
Marion’s final project report is due to Green Communities by September 3. All outstanding questions must be solved no later than 5:00 pm October 1; if the application is not closed out, Marion may not put in another grant application. The deadline to submit new grant applications is October 8.
EMC Chairman Christian Ingerslev told Saltonstall that Town Administrator Jay McGrail will lend assistance in completing the MassEnergyInsight annual report by the November 19 deadline.
The EMC remains intent on pushing for electrically-powered town vehicles and is looking to learn if the town can purchase vehicles presently being leased. A prompt resolution, suggested Ingerslev, would enable a decision on whether to put the question onto the article warrant for Town Meeting, “Because that’s where the money will come from.”
EMC member Alanna Nelson said that the mileage on the Mitsubishi Outlanders being leased are low, “So, it makes all the sense in the world [to purchase them if possible.]”
Along with electric cars, the EMC is hoping to influence the renovation of the Cushing Community Center to build any extension of the building with a roof strong enough to support solar panels.
Citing advice from Town Counsel to stick with the wind farm, Ingerslev said he is not sure that new construction would be bound by that advice.
“I don’t think it’s really a major installation, and it might fit within the net-metering [program],” said Saltonstall of the south-facing roof.
Nelson suggested that, if possible, solar arrays should put their generated energy back into the municipal buildings rather than send it back to the grid.
In committee business, EMC member Tom Friedman, informed that he was voted as the new clerk for the committee during a prior meeting he could not attend, cheerfully accepted the role.
Once again, the EMC batted around strategic wording for an updated name for the committee.
“I think ‘resiliency’ breaks down climate change into locally manageable tasks,” said EMC member Eileen Marum, explaining her suggestion of “Energy and Climate Resilience Committee.”
Marion’s Hazard Mitigation Plan will be submitted to the state by September 30, then the state sends it onto FEMA for its approval. “Until this Hazard Mitigation Plan is finalized, they don’t want us to be doing any practical work,” said Ingerslev.
Marum explained that the Hazard Mitigation Plan has seven foundational goals, and everything else is built around those goals.
After discussion, the EMC decided to push the matter of its identity down the road until the Hazard Mitigation Plan is in place. “Everyone has to be on board,” said Marum. “Greenhouse gases is driving this.”
The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for Monday, September 27, at 5:00 pm.
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo