Meeting Minutes 20140709
Town of Underhill
Energy Committee
09 July 2014
DRAFT MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
Jerry Adams, Peter Duval, Pete Bennett, Chuck Weger and Chris Miller in
attendance, the regular meeting was called to order at 6:45pm in the
Town Hall Kitchen, with Chris in the chair and Peter D. recording
minutes as secretary.
Agenda
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With Bob Murphy absent, some items on which he would report were deleted
from the agenda: VHEC grant proposal, Vermont Energy Challenge, Heat
Pump Vendor Presentation. Open Meeting Law Changes was also deferred to
a later time.
Town Plan
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Jerry, Pete B., Peter D. and Chris attended the 16 June Planning
Commission meeting.
Chris said that the Planning Commission accepted the changes of the June
will forward the Energy Chapter to the Regional Planning Commission for
comments.
Pete B. felt that the Planning Commission was not ready to accept the
Energy Committee's view that the Regional Planning Commission
suggestions did not make a lot of sense, and that there is more
negotiation ahead.
Chris agreed that the process is not finished, and that his
understanding is that the RPC comments will come back to the Energy
Committee. So for now, "the ball is in their court."
Peter D. noted that we had approved two drafts. The first draft, which
included the high performance energy code, was approved by 6 members,
and the second, which did not include the energy code, was approved by 4
members. He felt that it did not appear that the Planning Commission had
read the first draft.
He expressed concern that this was the result of informal communication
between the boards. He mentioned Jerry Adams, Trevor Squirrel and Cliff
Peterson as having multiple positions in town. It is a powerful
position, being a gate keeper of communication between the boards.
Peter D. said that we should bring forward the idea of a high
performance energy again because in the current plan the Energy
Committee is directed to provide regulation and fee recommendations to
the Planning Commission. This is reflected in regulation at other levels
of government and cited California's 2020 net-zero code. He said that he
preferred the Passive House standard because it is a performance
standard, cost-effective, necessary for meeting other energy standards
(net-zero, energy plus) has an international industry behind it, and is
automatically enforced.
MOTION
Jerry moved, and Pete B. seconded, to discontinue talking about the town
plan.
Pete B. said that we should have a little more discussion. He felt that
it would be a "legal rat's nest" to have a stronger energy code than the
state, and that we had instead decided to ask the town to enforce the
state code and promote better practice.
Chris said that the state code is a substantial change from the status
quo, and he feels that construction in Underhill is cost-sensitive and
contrasted it with high-cost LEED-certified construction.
Pete B. read aloud the strategy from the June draft of the Energy
Chapter, and said that because of legal issues that Planning Commission
is unwilling to go beyond the state energy code.
Peter D. asked what the legal issues are.
Pete B. said that that it was the view of the Planning Commission that
an energy code could not be put in the regulations.
Chuck asked, "why not?"
Pete B. said that it had to do with going beyond the state code.
Chuck asked if that wasn't the point of having local control and local
government.
Pete B. said that people would sue.
Jerry said that houses are built with a first-cost concern. If the code
prevented "double-wides" from being installed, for example, then it
would be exclusionary and elitist.
Pete B. said there might be legal issues, and that is the Planning
Commission's view. The Energy Committee's job is give ways to promote
higher building practices.
Chuck said that enforcement is impractical.
Peter D. said that is why the Passive House standard is a good choice,
because there is an infrastructure of consultants and the only way to
get a certification is to have an independent commissioning of a
building by a passive house consultant. The process is well-established,
which is superior to the one that Efficiency Vermont is trying to create
with its own standard.
Pete B. called the question, which passed 3-2 to end discussion. The
motion to discontinue talking about the town plan passed 3-2. Discussion
continued.
Pete B. said that the Energy Committee can still come up with ways to
promote better building practices and even go to Planning Commission at
some point.
Chuck encouraged education
Chris agreed with the notion of education and also suggested exploring
incentives. He felt it was hard to explain going beyond the state standard.
Chuck said it is immaterial whether the local standard is higher or
lower than the state's, and that showing the lifetime economic good
sense of better building practices is effective.
Peter D. said that it argues against the idea that Passive House is
expensive. A sloppy building commits and condemns future people to great
expense.
Jerry said that most people are not thinking about the long-term costs.
Chris agreed. He said that the state standard is a big deal because it
makes it easy to put a statement about enforcement into the town plan.
Pete B. said that our role is to convince people to go beyond the
standard and use carrots.
Jerry said that he installed a solar system that has a long payback and
is deteriorating. He is disappointed.
Chuck quipped about our having already ended the discussion and then
said that part of the problem is that the economics are wrong because
all costs are not included.
Minutes
*******
Discussion turned to the minutes, with a compliment from Chris.
MOTION
Pete B. moved, and Chuck seconded, to accept the minutes of 14 May 2014
as presented. Passed unanimously.
Member Items
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Chuck asked how to submit a resignation. Discussion about whether email
or paper notice is needed. Chuck will email Brian.
Chris distributed frequently asked questions about the Open Meeting Law.
Some discussion ensued. Peter D. suggested using the correspondence log
blog to make all electronic communication public automatically. Pete B.
pointed out the number of public notice places called for in the FAQ.
Peter D. expressed concern that minutes might not be preserved in the
town vault.
Jerry brought up the failed bid process for the town garage repair. He
expects that no work will be done this year. Discussion ensued. Jerry
thinks that installing the garage heat recovery system is the next step.
Discussion about alternate uses of the grant funding.
Chuck was presented with an imaginary gold watch and thanked for his
unique contributions to the work of the Energy Committee.
Adjournment
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On a MOTION from Pete B. and second by Chuck, the meeting was
unanimously adjourned at 7:35.
Respectfully Submitted,
Peter Duval, Secretary
