2021-01-12 Green Acton meeting
Participants: Sue Jick (facilitator), Debra Simes (timekeeping), Kim Kastens (note taking), Danny Factor, Karen Watkins, Matt Liebman, Carolyn Platt, Jim Snyder-Grant, Debby Andell, Norm Strahle, Karen Herther, Terra Friedrichs, Nyanna Tobin
AGENDA
• Housekeeping (welcome + tasks + new meeting format)
New format has more meaty topics early in the meeting and leaves admin stuff to the end. Intent is to make it easier for newcomers to find a place to engage.
• Check-in
Committee reports with highlighted topics
Committee reports: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V_RJb7wL0eKxhWN4NArUC9dAbE5k5CVkG9rHQKnMkKc/edit
- Plastics/materials: Panel on Plastic: Recycle, Reuse, Refuse, coming up on Feb 25th, cosponsored with LWV. Also March 18, Talking Trash & Recycling with the Town of Acton. Remember the reason we are doing this work.
- Energy: Energy Committee and Acton Climate Coalition combined meeting coming on Jan 14.
- Landuse: long list of issues, need more people to work on land-use! Housing principles have more focus on sustainable housing and housing for people with needs. Working on land-clearing by-law. Hearings coming up: 19 Jan Planning Board 22 Elm St development, see web site for GA’s statement of opposition.
- WC Grace has six people; creating a page on Green Acton for Feb. 3rd EPA meeting about reuse of the WC Grace site. Best accomplishment so far is the map which clearly shows conservation land and the solar arrays. A lot of other acreage!!!
- Water Committee – See recommendation at end of report. In Fall 2019 GA asked EPA headquarters to reopen the Record of Decision (ROD) for the WR Grace Superfund site, and to remediate for 1,4-dioxane. Kim Kastens & Matt Mostoller of AWD then met with EPA Region 1 who agreed to compile existing data and then to test additional sites–and to consider remediation if new data showed a threat to public water supply. Got new data in December, 2020. New data show 1,4-dioxane in same range as older data. Water committee recommends watchful waiting and not continue to push for reopening ROD; reconsider if change in regulatory regime. Can discuss further at next meeting.
- Acton Climate Coalition: Passed the climate emergency declaration, which was led by the ACC. Efforts for 2021, see below.
Questions + responses / open mic / comments & queries
- Matt for Water Committee: so the new 1,4-dioxane data is actually good news, no threat to water supply. Ans: yes. No threat to water supply that would rise to the level that EPA would consider remedial action. Highest 1,4-dioxane values are actually on the Concord side of the town line; GA Water shared the data with our counterparts in Concord.
- Carolyn P for Energy: what will be in the slide deck? Ans: 13-15 slides, 10-12 min. Carolyn: West Acton Baptist church might be willing to show.
- Nyanna for Water: “we all live downstream” How well is it known how the contaminants are moving.
- Nyanna for Land-use: she wants to work on the tree-clearing process
- Kim for Land-use: another advantage of better tree-cutting public record-keeping would be that disease (such as ash blight)
- Karen W urges a separate meeting on trees. In chat: Many arborists say they are spending more time taking down dead or unhealthy trees than ever before. Ref: NY Times Article Oct 7, 2020 by Marguerite Holloway. title: New England’s Forests Are Sick. They Need More Tree Doctors. Climate change is taking a toll on woodlands in the Northeast.
- Jim re solar array for WRG site. This plan involves cutting a lot of trees (25-30 acres), and there is trade-off between environmental benefits of carbon capture by trees versus solar panels. Possible topic for next meeting or side meeting. Solar arrays in Acton require a variance from zoning board to clear more than one acre.
• Acton Climate Coalition group seeks feedback on its planned initiatives:
1. Legislation at the June 2021 Town Meeting to move Acton toward a ban on fossil fuel systems in new construction and major rehab
- Governor will or will not sign the major climate bill in the next 48 hours, which will influence what can be done on this front. Pathway could be a Home Rule petition, or a net-zero stretch code.
- Danny Question: what is the goal; is it a total ban? Brookline tried such a ban, and it was ruled illegal. Jim Ans: two purposes: educate within the town. Home rule petition is part of a legislative strategy, building consortium of towns pushing in this direction. Karen W wants to work on this.
2. Use of MassEnergize.org platform to launch website (with the Town) to help Acton residents find, choose, and complete actions to reduce their carbon footprints
- Green Advisory Board is enthusiastic. Town Manager is willing to pay the $1500 startup fee and $1000 per year ongoing–but only if there is an enthusiastic group to keep up the action advocacy.
- Any concerns with GA supporting? Consult with the new Sustainabilty Director.
- People willing to help: Nyanna, Karen W. Matt L is already working on the residency and houses of worships sections.
- Cooler Concord has started a site, but haven’t gotten the advocacy groups going.
- Nyanna about gardening… there are existing groups who could be brought in.
- Is there a place in this for high school volunteers? Not in the design phase, but yes in the advocacy stage.
There is a new Town Sustainability Director, Andrea Becerra, who will start 25 January.
• Brief event/action announcements
- Matt L re planning for Bioblitz. They have a small organizing group for Acton & Boxborough, in collaboration with City Nature Challenge Apr 30-May3 (field work) followed by May4-9 (indentifying). They have set up a site on iNaturalist. They are working on outreach. Matt encourages us to go onto iNaturalist and search for Acton-Boxborough BioBlitz 2021. Karen H offers to connect BioBlitz to Acton PIP STEM.
- Debra: by consensus of directors, GA became a signatory to the Environmental League letter to Gov Baker on the Climate Roadmap bill; he has until Th night to sign.
- Jim re the new Sustainability Director. Returning from Chile where she has been working National Resource Council project on water. She has worked on climate. Partner works in Cambridge. She seems to have a good rapport with John M. Very broad mandate (not just energy). She reports to John M. Terra: will she be working on land-use?
• Checkout for anyone leaving meeting before ADMIN section
ADMIN
• Treasurers’ report; Fundraising announcement
- Lots of end of year activity
- Debra & Norm re fund-raising. Dec 6 second annual fund-raising appeal. Gentle reminder on Dec 28. Goal was $1,750. Money raised was $2606. Yeah, Norm and Carolyn Tripp. One donation came in honor of Charlotte Sagoff. And another in honor of Norm Strahle.
• Checkout
- Danny: new format was a success. New people seemed engaged, and they volunteered to join specific efforts.
- Debra: thank you to the pollyannas.
- Sue thanks Debby for going to the post office so much.
Minutes: 2021 January 12