Renewable Energy Working Group Meeting Minutes 12/14/21

Meeting date: 
Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Minutes

Monterey Renewable Energy Working GroupThe Monterey Renewable Energy Working Group held its initial meeting on December 14, 2021, at the town offices, 435 Main Road starting at 6:30 pm, as scheduled.

Attending in person were:

Kenn Basler

Susan Bronson

Chris Erickson

Peter Grealish

Rob Hoogs

Dennis Lynch

Peter Murkett

John Przinsky

John Sellew

Shawn Tryon

Matt Vella

Cliff Weiss

 

Attending remotely:

 

Chris Aidun

Raya Ariella

 

Absent (persons who wrote letters of interest but were unable to attend):

 

Paul DePreter

Mark Little

Peter Murkett outlined the origin of the new working group and spoke of the group’s general purpose, which is to reduce consumption of fossil fuels; research and build renewable municipal energy sources; promote and implement energy conservation. He spoke of inspiring, innovative  concepts, such as vertical solar arrays with lifted-weight energy storage.

He noted that the Renewal Energy Working Group is a public body subject to the state’s Open Meeting Law. The Select Board (SB) solicited letters of interest from town residents. Voting members are appointed by the SB from among those who submitted letters. Currently Peter Murkett is the sole appointed member.

The SB’s mandate is broadly worded to allow for wide-ranging research and public-private partnership projects in addition to projects involving town-owned facilities on town land. Installing solar panels on the town offices, the firehouse, pavilion and the town shed is a priority that could be presented to voters as early as the 2022 Annual Town Meeting.

Murkett thanked everyone for their commitment to the cause, noting the robust response at a time of stubborn vacancies on many town boards.

Everyone then introduced themselves, each briefly outlining their interest, experience and any expertise. The group has three former town office holders; two persons with experience writing grant proposals; a retired civil engineer; a software engineer; a former National Grid employee; a former employee of the Center for Ecological Technology in Pittsfield; a founding partner in a firm developing solar electric businesses in Africa; some second-home Monterey folks, many full-time residents, and a number who have their own residential solar panels. Many expressed their commitment to addressing climate change head-on, as well as a desire to do something “for the town.”

We discussed how to organize our group, including the appropriate number of duly appointed, voting members. Discussion focused on 7 as the optimal size, but no consensus was reached.  Murkett said that all participants can contribute to realizing the Group’s objectives, whether or not they are voting members.  The “working” aspect was emphasized. We reached consensus that the present group of interested persons should meet several times, continuing its discussion of goals and getting to know members’ strengths and interests more fully before deciding on organizational details such as formal makeup of the Group.

We also reached consensus that a mission statement and list of projects would be helpful in guiding our conversation at a follow-up meeting scheduled for Monday, December 20, 2021, at 6:30, location to be decided. Peter Murkett agreed to draft the statement and list, and distribute it prior to the meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 8 pm.