January 21, 2026 – Energy and Climate Committee – Video & Transcript

January 21, 2026 - Energy and Climate Committee

Autoscroll:

So we have a quorum. All right. So I am calling the meeting to order. This is Ellen Tohn, Chair of the Energy and Climate Committee.
Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, this meeting will be conducted in person and will actually be conducted via remote access in accordance with applicable law. No in-person attendance by member of the public is permitted because we're doing it via remote access.
As per our protocol, we invite everyone who joins the meeting to be admitted as a panelist. Who is our Zoom manager today? Me, Robbie. Hey, Robbie. You know the way we do things, so I want to thank you again for helping us with that.
And I note, so first question is, who is taking notes tonight?
I did the last meeting. I know. John, could I prevail upon you? Ooh. Okay. Let me get set up for that. Okay. We're not going to do anything too exciting. I note... Hold on one second. I think, Julie, we can't hear you, but Julie was going to take notes. Your audio is not working, but she's going to do notes tonight. Julie, you're going to do notes. Give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Okay, John, you're off the hook. Julie's going to do... Thank you, Julie. Not notes. You're going to do minutes. And Julie, we tend to do minutes that are, you know, we record votes. We record, like, major discussion points. They're not super detailed because it's too hard. So... Is your audio not working, Julie? Do you want to... Can you hear me now? Yeah, we're good. There we go. Okay. All right. Yeah, it was a setting the way these computers are. It had a... It was looking for my headset at my computer desk at the office. No worries. Okay. Yeah, there's a new minutes format that we just got, Ellen. So I'm going to work off that format. And yeah, I'll record major... major agenda items, not too much detail. And if there's anything specific that you want to make sure that I include, just call it out and I'll put it in. Okay. And I'm unfamiliar with the new format, so also feel free to say... So we usually note who's in attendance in the minutes. So that would be Neil Gordon, Tom Siaka, Ellen Tohn as committee members, associate member, John Harper, and Kavya Suar. I always mispronounce your last name and I used to do it with your sister. Help me again.
It's pronounced Saruker. Saruker. Is our student rep, so also an associate non-voting member. Welcome. And also in attendance, Julie Gagin and Olivia Lizardo, sustainability. You guys know your titles, Julie, so I don't have to say those. Coordinator, facilities managers, and then let me open it to public comment. Chris Scranton, I see that you're here. So did you have public comment, Chris, or just listening in?
Chris emailed me and he is driving. So Chris, if you want to chime in, feel free, but if not, we understand you're driving. He said he was just going to listen in. Okay, great. All right. So we'll just go through the agenda. So coming up, we have you on the agenda for an update. I don't know what that means. So are you working on, speak to us.
Right now, we're mainly working on the slow fashion show because that's coming up next week during winter week.
Do you guys know what that is or should I explain it? I know what it is, but I'm guessing Julie may not know what that is. And I don't either. Okay. Basically. And let me also say before I forget, I would love you guys to take pictures at the slow fashion show. So in the next Energize Whelan newsletter, I can show some of that. So take some pictures, email them to me. You have my email in a million different ways and write like three sentences about what happened and then I'll put it in the Energize Whelan newsletter. We're going to do one at the beginning of February. Okay. I'll make sure to do that. Great. All right. Go for it. Explain it. Okay. The slow fashion show is basically Green Team always runs it and Sewing Club usually helps. Basically, a bunch, we ask a bunch of students to model and wear thrifted, upcycled, the cami-downs, like sustainable clothing. And then we have them model it during winter week. So they'd miss class. Some classes would show up and then... Can everybody hear? Javia? She's a little... Sorry, I'm in the library. So I'm trying to be quiet. Okay. Everyone can hear? Okay. Just making sure. Good. Just to interrupt for the second, I just got an email from Bill Huss who says he's logged on to Zoom, but I don't know, Robbie, whether he's in the waiting room or out there as a... I don't see him in the waiting room yet at all. Yeah. I'll send him the correct Zoom link. There's been a couple. Feel free to continue, Kavia. Thanks, Olivia.
Yeah. And it's just to show the students and I guess faculty who shows up how slow fashion can also be stylish and we have a big slideshow that talks about how harmful fast fashion is. And you guys won an award for this. You got an award last year from the state as a green team and this was part of the reason you got the award. So... Yeah. It's great. You know, Kavia, also, the Wayland Post is our local newspaper and they include stories and they like to only write stories about what's happening in Wayland. So I think this is a great opportunity for you to write an article for the Wayland Post. I can send you the link to the editor, but it's only 300 words. It's like actually pretty easy and if you had a bunch of pictures, it'd be great, but it'd be a good chance for you to say this is what we're doing and then just give the pitch on slow, you know, avoiding basically disposable clothing, which is what people do by a bunch. So you could just, and I'm happy to help you work on that and Bill Huss is a terrific, he's our guy who helps write a lot of articles. He advises the Babson student paper and has done other stuff, so I'll volunteer Bill in advance because he's happy, but do you think you would be open to that? because I can connect you with June who's the editor at the Wayland Post.
That's it. Just go like this. Great. Okay, so I think you could do that for an article for them in February and I think that would be a great chance to educate people about this and show what our high school folks are doing. Good? All right. One more thing just for the newsletter, just for the minutes, Kavya, when is the Slow Fashion Show?
The Slow Fashion Show is Tuesday the 27th. I think it's at 1210. I know what block it is for the school day, but I don't know the exact time. And it's at the high school? Yeah.
Great. Thanks. Bill is texting me also that he's having trouble, but Olivia hopefully sent him stuff. Great. So that is terrific, Kavya. Let's always be thinking about the Wayland Post and Andriza Wayland about getting word out. Olivia also can get stuff in the newsletter for the town, but it tends to be town stuff. So I think if just be, you know, Olivia would be thinking about whether whatever she writes for the Energized Wayland would be sort of the right bite size for the town newsletter. So you guys can decide in your sustainability update. That is great. And Kavya, let's really be thinking about throughout tonight how you plug, I really want this to be a good experience for you and be beneficial to us. And I think we've struggled sometimes in the past about, you know, the student roles. So let's all be thinking as we're doing these updates if there's a good, you should first chime in and say, hey, I'm interested in that. And the rest of us could also identify, hey, maybe this is a place where we can get Kavya to help us connect us with other students or maybe this is a good project for her to weigh in on. Does that sound good to everybody? Okay. All right. So if there's anything, sorry, if there's anything particular that you guys want me want me to look at, could you guys bring it up from the beginning of the meeting? Because I want to leave early for midterms. Okay. So let's think about that. Well, we can do the, there's one other thing that we've been talking about, Kavya. And I know that you've been on that, I think you've been on that email about the composting. There are a couple of, just to close out, like the loop with the schools. There's some now former Wayland High School students that are, that were the ones that got the grant to fund composting in the high school. And that grant has reached its, you know, like they've used all the funds. And so they're looking to go to the Wayland School Committee to ask for that, the composting for the high school to be included in the school budget and to expand the compost program. So Olivia and I are working with those students and including Kavya in that to figure out how that's going to work. We're looking at pricing. We still haven't heard back from Black Earth, but we're trying to figure out who the current contract is with because it's not with DPW or with the facilities department. So we're doing a little bit of digging to figure out who has the contract, how much we're currently paying, and then, then we'll be able to bring that to the schools. We're also going to look at how much the schools are currently paying for waste removal overall, and then we'll be able to use those numbers to be able to give to the students so that they can bring it to the school committee. And I'm sure, Kavya, that will take some time, but I think that's a good role for students to be engaged with anyway because when it comes to asking school committee for things, they're a lot more receptive to hearing from students than they are to hearing from staff. And like, you know, even residents within the town, you know, it's more powerful when you're asking. So we'll continue to work on that. I have two questions and I'm sure we'll have updates in the chat. Julie, the composting at the transfer station was started by Sherry Greenbaum. No, this pre, Tom, this predicts that by years. So Sarah Snow, you've talked to Sarah, I assume, Julie? Yeah, she's part of the email chain. She hasn't said anything about how much it costs or anything like that. So, but I assume she would know. I think she would know the contractor would be my guess. Yeah. And we know who the contractor is. We just don't have the contract. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. That, that's, I thought it was a different question. So my other question is about the budget. So Bill, this is a question for you. You know, I guess my first question, I was supposed to take minutes tonight. No, no, Julie's got it. You're off the hook. Okay. I've got it. So if you're trying to get it in this year's budget bill, wearing your finance committee hat, I thought the budgets were already kind of done by now. Yeah, they're pretty much done. I mean, they haven't been approved, you know, but we're expecting, I think next week to get the, you know, recommended budget. And then we'll have meetings over the next couple of weeks with Michael and with Brian, the finance manager. And so we'll go through February to actually finalize, you know, but I wouldn't expect a lot of changes. So, so they're, they're in draft form. They're not final. So I think Julie, I'd be inclined to go sooner, even if you don't have all your ducks in the row, because it's not, it's not that big a number. So don't, don't wait for perfection or they'll just say you missed the boat. Yeah, no, we have a zero idea of how much it costs, but I can't, I can't go with a wish. I thought it was 4,000. I need an actual, I have no idea. Maybe reach out to Abby. And that's, that's that question I've been asking for the last 10 days. So as soon as someone can give me an answer, maybe, and they can move forward. Maybe reach out to Abby. Abby actually knew this because she worked a lot with Sarah on this. Maybe she knows where she left that information. Great. The number 4,000. Yeah, I mean, Black Earth hasn't been able to answer the question. So I don't, I would feel like they would know, but who am I to guess like that? Yeah, no, you're right. The budgets are close if they're in final stages. I mean, again, it's a small number. I feel like we'll be able to figure it out, but yeah. Maybe just, I don't know. Yeah, there's always some free cash or some, you know, other, you know, line item it could be put under. So I would imagine if, if what you're talking about is, you know, three, $4,000, there must be a way to, I mean, if it were $100,000, then that would be a whole different story. I remember, I remember four and I have no idea why I remember that, Julie, but that's what I remember. Okay. Because Abby was, I mean, that sounds about right. Abby was applying for grant funds to cover it, so I know she knew the number. Okay. All right, good. That's a good, that's a lead at least. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. That sounds great. And Kavya, we've done other presentations, school committees, so I, this is a great chance for other high school students to practice their skills presenting to anybody. So, you know, developing your key talking points, recruit some other people. I think, is Kaylee still around?
Yeah, Kaylee's still there. Kaylee did it last time when we were on another thing, so Kaylee was great. Maybe if you could just line up three or four people saying, I don't know when the date's going to be, but we're going to want people to do this because once Julie's got her numbers, you know, you're going to need to go and get on that agenda. So, I don't know, Julie, Tom knows more about getting on the agenda for the school committee because Tom's a school committee savant. And, but maybe let them know that you're, you're just getting a few more things, but you're going to, it's sometimes hard to get on their agenda is what I'm going to say. Oh, yeah, no, the students have already reached out to try to get on the agenda and they haven't heard back yet. I don't imagine that they will unless there's pressure to do so. So, that's why I'm probably just going to work behind the scenes and see if we can avoid, avoid that if possible and just try to get it as part of the budget conversation. Yeah. So, we'll see. But, but I mean, we're in the same building. The schools are just upstairs from us. So, if we have information, then we can start to have conversations. Yeah. Susan's been always an ally, you know, the business manager. She's been great. Yeah, yeah. So, okay. All right. Sure. Bill, I volunteered you for something, which is handy because you weren't on the call. So, I knew you would do it. But the high school students, it's right up your alley. High school students, Kavya, they're doing their slow fashion show that they do during winter week. And I said, oh, take pictures and we'll put it in the Energize Whalen newsletter. But then I thought, oh, they should write an article for the Whalen Post because they only want to talk about Whalen stuff. And I said, if she has a draft that you'd be willing to read a draft of an article. Sure. Yeah, I can do that. February, I mean, I can certainly read a draft. February is the month where the finance committee meets twice a week and then we have major homework assignments in between. So, not a good month for that. But certainly reading and editing is easy. It's 300 words. This is right up your alley. You'll do it in eight minutes. Right. As long as I don't have to do the legwork and do the interviews and all that. No, no, no. She's going to write it. I'll help her. But you always do such a great job making the articles punchy and appropriate. So. Sure, I'll take a look. Great. Thank you. Kavya, I will connect you and Bill and I and I'm putting that on my to-do list now. I'm just, I have to put this on my to-do list. Okay. Kavya has to leave early. Is there anything else that we want to do? I think I was going to do updates on Energize Wayland and plug in, which may be a little bit more. Is there anything, Julie and Olivia, from your end that you think are super important that Kavya have here? No, I think you're good to go, Kavya. Kavya and I have emailed privately about like a couple different outreach things, but I think we're good as a group. She definitely can go and study. Well, I was going to do two quick updates. Okay. Yeah, go for it. How? So, Kavya, you're still listening?
She's muted, but she is still here. Yep, I can see that. I don't want to be talking. All right, I'll do these and, sorry, I'm doing too many things. June article. Kavya. Sorry, otherwise I won't do it if I don't put it on this.
Energize Wayland, you guys all get the newsletter, right? Everybody on this call gets the newsletter, and Olivia, I'll make sure you get on that list.
Last night, there was a webinar that we co-sponsored on why is your energy bill so high and what can you do about it? There's 79 people registered, 33 attended. That's pretty typical. This is a multi-town effort. Tom, I want to thank Tom. Tom and I both did testimonials, so that was great. The next plug-in webinar is about rooftop solar, sort of saying, okay, the federal incentives are gone. Does this still make good economic sense? Someone from Boston Solar is going to present, and that will be in February, and we will be promoting it in the way we always do through Energize Wayland newsletter, and Olivia, want your help to get that in the all-schools newsletter and the COA newsletter. So I will, hopefully, Olivia, you will, and or Julie will join the plug-in meeting tomorrow. Fabiani does a really good job of giving us the stuff, so it's very easy to just send it by email to somebody, but I'd like to do, you know, we have an outreach planner on how we do outreach, and Olivia, counting on you and Julie, I was counting on you to do some of these. So, Kavya, if there's any thoughts about how to get that information out to high school students who might be interested, our parents, we tend to use the all-schools newsletter, but I don't know if you have any other thoughts about that. I'm sorry, I lost connection. Can you say what you were talking about? Yeah, there's a webinar in mid-February 18th about rooftop solar, and there used to be federal tax incentives, so I think a lot of people think, oh, it doesn't make economic sense, we're doing a webinar about rooftop solar and the economics of it, we're going to promote it as we always do through a variety of channels, and I was just wondering, I'll work with Olivia to try to get in the all-schools newsletter, which goes to tons of people in town and the Council on Aging. Do you think there are any other avenues for getting the word out? Maybe some high school students would be interested or bugging their parents to attend? Any other thoughts about ways to get information out? for high school students, I could probably send out an email, though I know a lot of students don't want to read their email. Yeah. I also put up flyers if you think it's something important. I don't know if it's that much of a direct hit for high school students. I certainly would like to announce it, have you announced it at the green team? Those kids are most interested, so is it handed to you and then you can circulate it amongst the green team? Okay.
Julie, one thing I have always thought about, the all schools newsletter goes to lots of people in town. And I've really wanted to have that newsletter, and it's kind of gotten broader, it's not just school news, like it actually has news of about a bunch of other stuff going into town because there have been lack of other ways to get things out once the e-news went out of business. And I've always wanted to think about them having something called the green corner, right? Where, if we say, oh, we always have the green corner, then you and Olivia could put stuff in, we could put stuff in, you know, from Energize Wayland about things people might want to do, and I feel like that's a conversation to have with the editors of the all schools newsletter, so that we're not just emailing them, hey, could you promote this event or this webinar? What are your, what are, and I don't know if it'd be to have students like weigh in and say, yes, we would like that, you know, that would be, but I don't know, Olivia, if you've made a good connection there in the editor for the all schools newsletter.
I have, I haven't, but it's definitely something we can look into. This might be an offline conversation between you and Julie. Julie, I don't know what your thoughts are. Yeah, I'm, I mean, we have, I'm thinking of like my kids and the school newsletters that we get. I could definitely see if it, as long as it was like short and sweet, it could make sense to have one in and I don't know how often it goes out. Is it like every, I think like almost every two weeks. Covey, you get it, right? The all schools newsletter, do you get it? No? Okay. All the parents. It is not just schools. It's definitely. So Chris might want to weigh in here. So anyway, I think it's something I'd really like to explore, Julie, because it's I know. I just said that. I said, I got him, Chris. I got you. I just want to finish this sentence. Julie, I just want to think about communication has always been a big challenge for us, right? And this is probably the one that goes to the most households in town. So we should just explore. Chris? I just want to say hi, folks. I'm not driving anymore, so I can actually be with you sort of in person. You're talking about something that's dear to my heart, which is effective communication with different audiences of different persuasions and interests. I just checked the Energize Wayland website, and I noticed that there's a Facebook link and a Twitter link to an account. Full disclosure, I'm 47, and I'm not a big social media person, so I would defer to anybody else who's younger than me on the call. Nod. But I would say, if the organization hasn't yet considered or isn't on its way towards thinking about having an Instagram and or TikTok account, there could be an opportunity for working with high school students to take very short posts from this organization and allow them to translate it into what would be an appropriate TikTok or Instagram post, I would never volunteer to do it because I am already too old to do it well and not have it be cringeworthy. But I think it's a wonderful opportunity to involve young people at their skill set, but to translate what we're trying to get out the word on in what admittedly are probably more dynamic communication networks. I take your point, Ellen, that we're talking about residents and homeowners, and so it's important to get those folks where they are and a lot of them probably still check email, but if we're thinking about how kids can maybe carry the message to their parents, I think we're talking about Instagram and TikTok, and I will defer to other folks who know more. thoughts about that?
It's a good thing to talk work. I think you just need to have, would this be affiliated with the school at all, or would it just be? I think there are no boundaries on this right now. We're just saying how would we make sure messages around climate and sustainability are getting to youth in town. You know, we could be, you could do something about the slow fashion, like you could do a post about the slow fashion and your views about clothing, but there's a whole bunch of stuff that also is happening. So I think the goal would be high school and middle school kids digest it, right? Chris, like they, whatever the verb is, right? They view it. That's the verb I'm looking at. Um, they engage. So I, I think, well, here's what I'm going to say. Let's not put you on the spot. We have a meeting in a month. Why don't you think about this caveat? Why don't you think about, and the green team, you know, do you guys, are you guys, do you think it's a good channel? Do you think kids are looking at it? What are the kinds of things you think would resonate? If people haven't seen it, there's a great video that, um, Tara did with Kaylee and others when we, around the climate emergency, I can send around the link and it's just snappy and great. It's like four second clips of different kids talking and it's the whole thing's not that long. It's like why I'm worried about climate and why we have to do something. It's really good. We, we used it when we were trying to get people to vote for the climate emergency at town meeting, you know, Chris, which you remember passed, you know, pretty swimmingly. Um, but it's a great example of something that was really good, I thought. All right, Kavi, why don't you think about it? I know you got a study for midterms and Chris, great suggestion. Um, and Julie, let's see if we can figure out this all schools newsletter thing. And Chris, do you get it? The all schools newsletter? I don't believe I do. I don't know how I would sign up for it. Okay. Yeah. I, okay. All right. You have to be a parent of a school. We should, we should just get the most recent copy. I am a parent. I do have a five year old son, but he's not in kindergarten yet. That's why you don't get it. I'm probably, I'm probably on my way to getting it. Yeah, exactly. And Chris, we started, so Kavya, you can go study for midterms. Go, go ace them.
Thanks, Kavya. Good luck. Good luck, Kavya. And Chris, we started with public comment. So did you want to just listen or is there something you wanted to make sure the committee heard before we move back on to our agenda? Oh, I only had one thought, which is that as a resident of Wayland and somebody who's already a participant in the Heat Smart Alliance group that folks may be familiar with, one of the things that I'm, in my past, I worked for the Commonwealth as the state's manager for the Big Data Initiative, and I'm always thinking to myself about the numbers and the, you know, how can we tell the story of sustainability and Wayland through numbers? And if you folks remember the old sort of like fundraising thermometer, right? Like, here's how much we've done and here's how much we're hoping to get. And I find those kinds of things very powerful and very useful communication tools. And I was looking around in the various spaces with Wayland solar and sustainability and energize Wayland and Heat Smart Alliance. And I don't see as much of that as I would like to, but I did join the previous meeting of this group when the folks from, I think it was Eversource came to share their data. And that data and that presentation was just tremendous. I mean, it was just amazing. And on the conversation back and forth around, well, how many households do we have who are doing this and how many this and how many that? I always like to, in my previous work, try to leverage peer understandings. And if there are people in this town who think, well, I might do this, but I'm not really sure who does it or how many people are doing it, having those numbers to say, you know, 400 of the residents of Wayland. Chris, offline, I'm happy. There is a terrific data tool called the Climate Tracker that shows by town how many installations of heatpubs, solar, and EVs. That'd be great. We're always, and I'll send you a link to a really great presentation by Greg Sparkman and his postdoc at Boston College about how to communicate being part of a growing wave and love your thinking and help on how we can do that more effectively. I do think the town website does not do it. I think Energize Wayland tries to do a pretty good job on the impact section and we can be better because the websites are transitioning, Mass Energize is transitioning, the software we're using for our website, it's going to a WordPress version and a link to the Climate Tracker will be on there so you can click and just see how Wayland's doing and then it shows you, Chris, if we want to hit our 2030 goals, what does Wayland need to do next year and the year after? So it's, so I'm happy to connect. Somebody has your email, Olivia can send it to me and happy to connect and show you those tools and get your thoughts on how we can do a better job on communicating. That sounds great. Thanks. Are you a, are you like Tom's a heat pump coach, a bunch of people? Are you a heat pump coach too? I haven't yet been a heat pump coach. I'm actually a board member with the Urban League in Boston and I've been running a partnership between HeatSpot Alliance and the Urban League to try and do a heat pump outreach in Roxbury, Dorchester, Madigan. Great, great, great. Let's connect offline because love to, love to figure out how we can plug you into a bunch of the things here. So, um, that sounds great. Um, I can, we can go back to the regular order and then I can, uh, finish any other, uh, my updates on Energize Wayland and plug in when we get back. So back to you, Olivia.
Oh, sorry. I was on, I was muted. Um, I made a really quick slideshow just cause like I had a couple like bullet point thoughts to share. So I just thought it would be easier to click through so everyone can just see like what I'm talking about. Can you see my screen? Okay. Yep. Okay. Um, so just like my updates. Um, also my new last name is Lizardo, but my email is still Oblany at Wayland.ma.us just so everyone is aware. Um, so homeworks is that mass approved, mass save approved vendor that I had been mentioning the past couple of meetings. Um, the ball is took a while, but it's slowly starting to roll now. Um, so I started, um, meeting with them like a month and a half ago now and we meet bi-weekly. Um, so we worked on a flyer to send out. So Ellen is adding the flyer to her distribution list, which I appreciate. It's going to go in the town newsletter. Um, and then Kavya also is going to be printing out some flyers. Um, hopefully kids can take them home to their parents. Um, there is now a landing page for the town of Wayland. Um, so it's a live page where people can set up home energy assessments. Um, I, I did include it, it went out in the Energize Wayland newsletter. You got a copy that went to 800 people. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. No worries. Um, and then the next thing that's kind of coming up on my radar, um, the t-shirt to totes, um, collaboration with the rec department, um, that's going to be on the 26th at the COA. It's for ages 8 to 13 and, um, we're encouraging kids to bring a used t-shirt and it's going to be upcycled into a tote bag and decorated, um, kind of similar to how Kavya was talking about the slow fashion show. Just a good way to talk about reusing, keeping it light, and then just making connections with the community too. Yep. And just, can you go back to the other slide? Just, does anybody have questions on this? This is, you know, we've done this twice before, but, uh, we had an earlier partnership with Nico. Does anybody have any questions about the homeworks collaboration on energy assessments?
Okay. Do we have a goal? Olivia, like how many are we hoping to get done? What's the goal? Um, we do have a goal for heat pumps, leatherization, and insulation. I don't know those numbers off the, like, top of my head, but I believe it's about 100, um, insulation installs, 200 assessments, and I think, like, 20 to 30 heat pump installs, but I can, um, forward you all that information if you want. They, they did set some numerical goals with me at the beginning. That's great. I think it'd be useful to think about how, when we're talking to people and they're thinking about a heat pump, we do have really great heat pump coaches here in Wayland through Energize Wayland and our collaboration with HeatSmart Alliance. So if people are interested and they want to be, everyone who's getting an assessment, it'd be great if they were made aware of Energize Wayland and where they could sign up for a heat pump coach. Um, so it would be great to talk to HomeWorks about how that could happen. Definitely. I think that's a really good idea. I'll, I'll make sure to mention that to them. Yeah. Olivia, sorry, what, just one quick thing, Olivia and I, getting our heat pump coach. Certification through, through, um, the Heat Smart Alliance. Um, so we're directly connected to that. Um, and we'll be able to do that. So that's a great idea, Ellen. Right. But the, the way people sign up in Wayland is not through the Heat Smart Alliance. It's through the Energize Wayland on the homepage. It says, click here to sign up for a heat pump coach.
So if, if I could add, um, I just happened to run into someone yesterday, I think, who was in the process of, uh, renovating their house and they want to put in heat pumps and they got three quotes already. And I said, well, have you got a heat pump coach? And I said, what's that? And I said, well, you know, I'm a member of the Smart Alliance. We have heat pump. There's Energize Wayland. We have folks who could help you sort through your quotes. So I never heard of that. And he says, um, how would I know about that? So, yeah, well, that's our job, right? That's the challenge. So I think Homeworks is doing, so Olivia and Julie, let's think about, they're going to touch a lot of people, making sure they're aware that we have heat pump coaches. We actually have solar coaches crew. We have EV coaches. So we have that whole, and they could sign up for the Energize Wayland newsletter, which would make them aware of all, you know, lots of webinars and other things going on around this. But maybe in the way you promoted in the town newsletter, also could emphasize the coaching piece. Yeah, no, that's a good angle. I hadn't thought of that. So I'll definitely, definitely incorporate that with, with them too. Thank you. Um, so the, um, are we good to move forward or? Sure. Okay. Um, so the t-shirt to totes, like I said, it's just, um, like a small craft for ages eight to 13, that's going to be on the 26th. So hopefully that goes well. I think it'll be fun. Um, and then the let's talk about climate change group. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Tony and Margie Lee. Um, they're a couple that lives in Wayland and climate activists. Um, so they have a group that meets at the council on aging once a month and every week or every month they'll assign a theme to
and it was kind of just like a book club. Like we reflected on the book and just talked about what people learned and then Tom was there. So it kind of conversation segues from that, but it's a really nice group. Um, their next meeting is February 12th at 11 a.m. Um, it's in the library room with the COA. So if people want to join, um, the doors open and it's just a nice place to chat about sustainability and climate change. Tom, did you want to jump in? Yeah, I wanted to, uh, add actually it's also follow on to the earlier discussion here. Um, I've been meaning to drop in on that, uh, forever finally managed it. Um, couple of things that I noticed immediately that Olivia wouldn't, um, there were a dozen, 15 people there, maybe Olivia, you think? And I only knew one of them, um, which is, um, interesting because I've, you know, lived in town for over 50 years. I know a lot of people. Um, I, I, I knew exactly what one of the people who were attending this, but you know, the people that I know are people who have been involved in town government, people who have been involved in environmental things, uh, you know, energy nerds, of course. And these people just weren't, uh, part of any of those crowds. Um, so, um, I would, uh, suggest we, um, invite, um, Marge and Tony here to a meeting and ask them, you know, how they're finding these, these people. Um, uh, the other, the thing I, I noticed is that they were, uh, in general, incredibly uninformed, uh, to, to, to use a polite word. And they were even uninformed about, um, like us, uh, none of them seem to be aware of us or of what we've been doing. Um, one of them said, well, you should write things regularly, like in the town newsletter, which, uh, you know, Olivia was sitting right there. Well, I do, you know, and, um, uh, well, you should write things in the newspaper, the, the Wayland pub. Well, of course we do. So, um, I was, um, discouraged that, um, somehow or other, all the communication we try to do doesn't seem to be getting to a lot of people. I don't know what to do about it. Anyway, I, I would like to invite, um, Marge and Tony and see if they have any ideas about this. This is, uh, another crowd than the school crowd that you're talking about, Ellen. Um, I wouldn't be discouraged, Tom. I would, you know, I think it's a great thing that the, that people are, are brand new and learning, you know, it'd be, I'd be worse if you went into that room and it was the same old crowd. Well, they were interested. So that part of it was encouraging. And that sounds like a good action item. Um, Olivia, if you want to invite, uh, Tony and Margie, just, uh, come to the next meeting and see if they can share kind of their observations about the group and suggestions we might have for further engagement with, uh, folks through the Council on Aging, that'd be great. Sounds good. Yeah. And I think it's like Neil said, Tom, I think not everyone's an expert in the fact that they're showing up every month and they're trying to learn. That's what we're, that's what we're after. You know, it's, it's a good, I think it's a really good thing.
But why aren't they seeing what we're already writing in the newsletters and and the paper, right? I mean, it's an older crowd. They're not, maybe not online. They're not getting emails regularly. They're not checking websites. You know, it could be something like that. Actually, it's the older crowd, which uses email. Olivia.
Okay. Anyway. They also, they did, Tom, they did comment on, um, to the select board about approving our climate leaders application and all the documents for that. So they're, they're engaged, um, you know, reach out to them and, and ask them to be a part of stuff. Um, Olivia, I, I've presented to them in the past, um, Olivia meets with them every month. So they, they're definitely like a great group to be connected with. And I'm sure that there's ways that we can cross pollinate, um, and maybe have you guys go to them too, to discuss more. So, okay, great. Um, and then very last thing, um, this is kind of further out in April. I'm hosting, um, a community event for the South Asian community in Wayland. We're doing compost bin building, but that's very much in beginning stages. So I will keep everyone updated on that. I'm using, um, the community education grant funding that I got from, um, mass save. So half of the funding is from Eversource and half is from national grid, um, and they're funding this event. Um, so we're going to build compost bins, have light refreshments and potentially do like a guided meditation type of thing. But I'm using, um, you many from women of Wayland's podcast, um, I actually got her contact from you, Ellen, um, and she's been a really great resource, um, communicating with the South Asian community. So I will keep you guys updated on that. Great. All right. And that's it.
Okay. So on to you, Julie, I think.
Sure. Um, I don't have much to share other than, um, the last time we spoke, Ellen, you would have brought up the, uh, green school works grant. And, um, also we know that we have, as long as we get approved, which we should for climate leaders, we'll have climate leaders funding to apply for this year. Um, we, Mike and I, Mike, the, um, facilities director and I met with our engineering team at Amoresco, who we have a, uh, energy performance contract with and discussed our priorities for the all town facilities for the year, um, what opportunities are available and, and, uh, can best leverage funding sources through the green school works, through climate leaders, through a utility incentive, uh, to move forward with priorities. Um, we're going to start with, we also separately met with rise engineering, um, on a couple of projects that we're, um, prioritizing for this year right now, uh, lighting incentives are expiring this year through mass save. So this is the time to get every single light can that we possibly can replace, um, before those incentives expire. So actually just heard back from rise, um, literally within the last hour. Um, and they said that they're going to walk through, we're going to set up a time to walk through all of our schools, um, and all of our buildings that have older light fixtures, um, and they're, they'll work on developing a quote, um, and we'll maximize the amount of, uh, funding and savings we can get for that. So that's sort of priority number one, because we have to get our application for incentives in by April, um, in order to be able to get that money. Um, simultaneously, Amoresco is working on putting together a proposal that will give us all the, and all the documents we would need to apply for the green school works grant for a couple of, um, equipment replacement items in some of our older schools. Um, Julie, remind me of the green school works. I think I emailed you about that. Where's that money from? Whose money is that? It is through mass CEC and others. Okay. And it is really focused. It has previously been focused on disadvantaged disadvantaged communities and, um, you know, really accessing, um, giving additional dollars to communities that have a strong demonstrated need. However, for this particular grant round, they're looking for, to expand that. Um, so we are not like a primary candidate. We do have the potential to get funding through there. And what's great about that grant is that it's due, the application is due in February. So we will know whether we got it or not well in advance of our climate leaders application, which would be in August. Um, and we'll already have all the drawings and stuff ready to go for our climate leaders grant. Um, if we don't get anything through there. That sounds great. Do you, I'm just trying to understand for climate leaders, you know, just to remind everybody, we can apply for up for, uh, 1.1, roughly million, 5 million. Yeah. 1.15. Do you have a project in mind or you and Mike are, are with them? Everyone's kind of sharpened in their pencils to try and figure out what the project is. Is that's kind of where you are on that? We have many projects in mind. Um, if we can get the screen, the green school works grant funding, um, then we would focus the green school works grant funding on, um, replacing the middle school water heating with a heat pump, um, rather than a gas water heater. Um, and we've already replaced all of the boilers there recently. They did that in the last year. It was like an emergency scenario. So we have really high efficiency gas boilers there, um, but we're not going to electrify that building anytime soon. Um, but we can do the water heating and we have a cost already for that in mind. And we already have, you know, initial designs for that and that is about $300,000, um, which falls well in line with green school works grant. Um, we can put some other stuff in there as well. We can, I mean, heck if we can, if we can, I will throw in any additional lighting and costs that we could possibly throw into the green school works grant. Um, and we have some other equipment on rooftops in our two, in two of our three elementary schools that is, um, well past lifetime. Um, so we, we have a lot of stuff that is like urgently needing to get done. So we have plenty to do this year. So we're kind of going to put all of that together, throw it into our green school works grant and continue to steadily march forward towards replacing that equipment, regardless of whether or not we get the grant funding, because we do have some budget available. If we can get the budget to electrify that equipment, great. Then that gives us more money to be able to do other things. Um, and if not, you know, we'll be able to fund most of what we're looking at anyway, like the middle school water heating, I think we can do no matter what. Um, but again, having a grant for that would be great. Um, and unfortunately that's sort of the way these grants grow, go, right? Like you have to have a product in mind, you have to have design, you have to get to like, you know, getting ready to, to pull the trigger on it before you can even apply for the grant. And so we're heading in that direction, no matter what, um, we'll be able to fund a lot of the stuff, no matter what, um, town building has a lot of needs. Yep. A lot of needs. So, um, you know, whatever we can do, it would make more sense for us with the climate leaders grant to focus on, um, town buildings that are not schools. If we get the green school works grant funding, you get what I'm saying? So we're sort of doing a little bit of checks right now. I know, I know we've been talking about insulating the attics, just don't have enough. Uh, there's a lot of insulation needs at town buildings. That was excluded from the ESCO for reasons we all remember and are not worth repeating. Um, so, yeah, well, we also have some major structural issues with our roofs as well, and the roofs just need to be replaced so we can put all that together. Um, Mike really wants to put solar on the roof of town building. If you're replacing the roof, let's not make the mistake we made at Loker and let's look at structure. I mean, let's look at the solar potential and if we need to structurally make that roof viable, John, so we don't end up in that unfortunate situation we ended up in Loker. Yeah, that's, that's kind of where we're headed. Um, and then at the same time, you know, select board is like asking us for a whole house, um, full renovation and update of town building, like what that number would be, which is a completely separate, um, endeavor, which we'll have to do no matter what, but the roof is leaking really bad and definitely needs to be replaced as soon as possible. So, you know, we can't, regardless of future wishes, we have like urgent concerns. Um, so we're trying to wrap all that stuff into, you know, how can, how much can we get in grant funding? How much can we leverage in incentives and how quickly can we get all that work done? Because it all needs to happen like right now. So I think a question, it's going to be a busy summer for me. I'll tell you. Yeah. Um, I think a question for you, Julie, is how you want to use the committee in this process, not to be answered right now, but I'd love you to think about that, um, how the committee can be helpful on solar. John's our guy. He's shepherded all the projects. And so John's the solar guy, particularly on the money side. Um, so John, as you think about solar, you absolutely need to work with John. Um, but, um, just think about it. You know, your guys are going to be into way more details than most of us are familiar with on the buildings. Um, you know, if there's approval needed by select board or somebody before you apply, that's how we can be helpful in that. So I'd like you to just think about that because just updating out, I mean, that's great. And we'll be cheerleaders, but think about, is there a way you want to use the committee? Absolutely. I will continue to think about it. I think with the green school works grant, it's going to be a, we're going to scooch right in, um, just before the deadline, but for the, once we get that and we can, um, really, we're going to be focusing on all the work that we're going to do this summer, which is going to include, um, some asbestos abatement in the ceilings in the middle school in order to do lighting replacements. So we have a lot of that sort of, um, stuff all coming at the same time. And I think we're going to be doing a lot of work in the schools during that summer period. So I've got like February to May to like really get all of our pieces figured out for, for the climate leaders, um, grant application. So yes, a hundred percent. Let's, we'll talk about solar. Um, as soon as we get a sense of like what our costing is for roof replacement and structural needs and a hundred percent, we should be putting, um, insulation in the roof and, you know, all that. Yeah. Okay. And the only other question I would just lob out there is, um, is it time for another ESCO? So not to be discussed now, but just, it's something to think about. Um, you know, we did 39 capital projects with that $2.4 million ESCO. So just something to think about. Yeah. I should throw in here. Yeah. Um, how much do you know? Just one thing, Tom, how much do you know about that, Ellen? Cause I don't have a lot of knowledge about ESCO. I have, I have, I have all the binders and, and I have all the information. Okay. The original audit. So, um, and we worked with Beth Greenblatt. We hired an owner's rep and she really helped us and navigate. So I'm happy to talk offline about what, if there's something. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. It might be good to talk about that. Okay. Let's say spring. Okay. It's just another tool that we have in our arsenal. Yeah. And we should think about how to deploy all of these things, Julie. Right. I mean, we're using the ESCO now, but that's how we're working with America. Yeah. So, okay. Okay. There's been a lot of change. We're change order after change order. Um, and at some point, yeah, we should probably hit a reset button. Yeah. Julie, just thinking about timing. Yeah. All previous solar projects, um, haven't required us to go to the town meeting to get approval to enter into the PPA just because it's a 20 year agreement. I don't expect that anything we put on the town building would be any different. So I guess the question is roughly speaking, do you see a decision being made by the select board this calendar year on what to do with the building? No, I think, I think we've got a timeline. Okay. I think it's a ways out. I also was reading our charter, separate conversation. Um, but anything we bring to town meeting, we would have need to already bring. Like we're already out of. Yeah, you missed it. Like we can't bring anything to town meeting. Yeah. I mean, it's a long runway for bringing something, an article to town meeting. We've done, I think, eight articles, this committee, so we're very familiar with the process, but really by December, you gotta, you gotta know what you want to do. Yeah. No, I'm thinking more about the 2027 annual town meeting, which is an insanity. But the, one of the takeaways that, that this committee learned is particularly for, um, solar projects that are high profile, which probably the town building would be certainly certainly the landfill was that, um, people wanted to have our ducks in order. So some of the earlier resolutions had gone through earlier in the development of the project prospectively, but here more work for these, for high profile projects. We are asked to do a lot more work to get, um, the definition of what the project consists of costs, who would do it, all that sort of stuff, which means all that stuff has to happen before the December warrant article opens or warrant period opens. So it's kind of like, um, if we want to do a solar project next year, we have to do the legwork in the next three quarters and to be ready to put it in a solar article for next January, a year from now. So happy to work. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'll, I'll reach out to you separately. Um, and we can talk more about like, it would be helpful for me to know timeline of, of decision-making so that I have a sense of how long it's going to take to go, take this from concept. Yeah. I'm not sure I want to tell you, cause you might run screaming into the night, but you know, we'll, we'll, we'll sneak up on it. I mean, I've got time, John, I'm a municipal employee. I'm here for the long term. I'm not vested yet. I've done nothing but time. John, I think also when you talk to Julie, let's think about how we would, um, select a solar vendor, given some recent experience. So I mean, I think you could bring Julie up to speed on the history of that and how we've done it in the past, taking advantage of other vehicles. Yeah. Um, yeah, that's a, that's a great topic. That was going to be my same question, but we can certainly take it offline. So let's find a time to get together here in coming weeks. It'll probably be a Zoom call or something. So I should hear, uh, I was listening to the board of public works last night and, uh, uh, heard a, um, uh, report of where the, the, uh, South landfill visioning committee is right now. And they have a list of preliminary uses that they want to put into that piece of land. Don, can I, can I pause for a second for folks who don't recall the nuance? The South landfill is the old landfill on the South side of route 20, not the current one that we all think of as the only landfill. So it's the, it's that hill basically, as you're driving to Sudbury, it's the hill on the left. On the left. Yes. So one, one of the uses that they are, uh, have on their priority list right at the moment is solar. Um, another one is school bus parking with EV charging capability, uh, which I've been lobbying them for, for, for years. So, um, and, and a number of other environmental uses as well. So, um, there, uh, I, they're still at a preliminary level right now. I mean, they've narrowed the, the list of uses down to, I don't know, a dozen or so, I think maybe, but, uh, that's from, you know, 83 that they started out with. So, um, they, they are making progress and it's all in pretty much in a direction that I, I like one exception, which is a dog park. And I worry about pollution to the river, but, um, um, other than that, it, it all sounded pretty good. Great. Okay. That's awesome, Tom. I had no idea that that was happening and I'm really appreciate you going to town meeting more, more meetings. Um, in your evening and Julie, when we talk, I'm happy to give you the history. I was just actually cleaning up old emails. There's there was a lot of attempt, very serious run at putting solar, um, on that landfill as well as the current landfill. Um, you know, since obviously, um, Sudbury's got one on their flat landfill, but ours is pointy and that was always the issue. But there's a lot of sort of nested issues, concerns and desires. They're all very legitimate, but it, uh, it is not an easy task, but something we should be aware of. So happy to brief you on that stuff. Great. Awesome. Thank you, John. Okay. Other things from usually. I think that was enough. Um, small thing. I'm trying to add composting to town building. Great. We'll see. It's a whole thing. I have to send a survey out to staff and get approval and win over hearts and minds. But, you know, possibly we'll have a compost bin in town hall. I think, you know, get a couple of champions. That's always been my approach to advocacy. So I think you got, I think you got, I mean, it's so easy and I'm right next to the kitchen. Like it's, it's a simple thing to do and it's next to nothing in terms of cost. So hopefully. Good. By the way, regarding, uh, EVs, Julie, a joint interest we have, uh, I'm now, now reading about a half a dozen new, new models this year, uh, under $35,000 being available. So, um, you know, when the town looks at buying vehicles, there's a bunch of new options that will be. I'm so glad that you said that because I completely forgot to mention. I met with, um, McGovern auto group yesterday, two days ago, um, because the police are looking at what electric versus hybrid versus plugin versus standard engine vehicles. Um, they can potentially purchase in the future. And, um, I got to go as well and, uh, invited myself to that meeting. So that's why I got to go. Um, and then also, um, we're working on purchasing a new work van for one of our custodial staff. Um, and it will be an electric model. So, um, they're actually going to bring one by in the next few days and we'll get to test it out and we'll get to pick our storage kits and stuff like that. So that's pretty exciting. Very cool. You know, I had a, um, I had a fairly lengthy conversation not too long ago with Mark Hebert, who's now the acting police chief. And, uh, he sounded to me like he had his head screwed on very straight with regard to this. Okay. He was the one that initiated the meeting. Um, it was not prompted by anything else, which is such a great sign. Um, and they're, they're pestering me about getting a police only like staff only, um, plug or nation at the police department. Um, so that's really exciting. So we're working on that. Okay. I want to say one thing and then I'm going to go to John and Chris because I can't remember shit. Excuse my language. So Julie, once we buy the next EV car, this is yet another good article for the Wayland Post. It will have good pictures. So I want you to just always be thinking like, what can I, like, June has said, we can have an article once a month. So we're always looking for content. Um, and one article should be you introducing yourself to the community. That's the article on that. You're supposed to that. You're also supposed to just always, it's on my list. I know. Just always be thinking they're short, the 300 words and EVs would have good pictures. John, then Chris. Um, just a question. I didn't know that, you know, off hand, um, back in October, October, uh, Olivia and and perhaps you were looking at the model bylaws that the state was promulgating. I have no idea what the current status is. Do you have to know off hand? You skipped out. Uh, you paused on some of that. Say that again. I guess the question is, there's been conversations over the years about doing a solar by right bylaw in the town. And the state was updating its model version recently last fall. Um, and I just don't know what the current status is. But if we are going to take another run at having a solar bylaw in the town, it makes sense for us to check in and find out what the state promulgated as a, uh, a guideline or, or model version. So I just, it's a great question. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll put it on my list. Okay. Chris and then Bill, whose name is Olivia on my screen, but I know it's Bill. Um, I just wanted to mention, uh, and folks I'm sure who are around for longer than I have, um, maybe already on this, but I was wondering if there's any kind of demand aggregation between towns for purchasing of police vehicles or electric vehicles. Um, I know that there are lots of towns right now trying to figure this out. And I can certainly imagine that the economics could change if you get even one or two more towns to come in with you, um, as you're figuring this out. And particularly if one police department or one town is taking the lead and actually doing a lot of the research, um, you know, other towns could see a cooperation as saving them, you know, efficiency on the whole process. So that that's a, you know, Julie can respond. We do buy up the state buying list. That's typically how we buy vehicles, Chris. We don't just go buy them. Right. Julie. Yeah. There's a, there's a process to it, Chris. Great suggestion. It is, um, we, I work with a lot of other communities that, um, have sustainability managers that are sort of like the contact person for, especially when it comes to EVs, um, and adding to their list, the city of Cambridge is my favorite contact. So they're going to help us with the EV charging at the police station. Um, yeah, I mean, we have, we have rules for procurement. The only time it really makes sense to aggregate multiple towns is when you're doing major purchases, like, um, if we were to buy six electric school buses, then it would make sense for us to, to work with other communities. But in the small scale where, you know, we have a very small budget, $60,000 to purchase a vehicle. And, um, you know, we meet the criteria within purchasing for, for that. Um, but we are sharing information. Um, MAPC has a working group on electric vehicles that is focused on municipal municipalities and educating municipal staff. Um, so that we know what's the latest with on street charging, you know, all the, the bells and whistles and different ways in which we can do stuff. They love talking about electric bikes. So if you ever want to know more about that, I have way too much contact information on that. That's great to hear. Thank you. Yep. I just wanted to mention with respect to Whalen post articles, it's important to write them right away. Uh, I learned with the heat pump article that June has a very strict definition of news. And when we tried to do a heat pump article on the Eversource rate that started in November, it says November, that's not news. So things like Julie joining us is not news. So we have to think of something you've done like in the last two weeks. Uh, I think we could talk about getting designated. Uh, yeah, but she still hasn't introduced her. Uh, we'll think about it. Well, you can roll it into an article. Julie just did this and this last week. And by the way, Julie joined us, you know, you know, it can be an update for our sustainability. But you can't sort of start with that. Cause if you start with, Hey, we hired June, you know, three months ago, we'll get the feedback that, well, why is that news? So anyway, just a tidbit of information. I wasn't expecting her to be that rigid. If she hadn't been in the past and Bill, I thought your response to her was very lovely and restrained. That's awesome. Hey, this is the Whalen post bill. It's bigger than you think. Yeah. I know. Okay. Um, I know we're getting tied. I, Julie, we're generally in Olivia. We generally go an hour and a half. There's zero chance our meetings last an hour. So when we build the agenda, let's just give it sufficient time. Um, um, I just wanted to, Julie, are you done with your updates? Great. I'm just on my updates. I gave you updates on, um, Energize Whalen. So the website for Energize Whalen is going to change a little because the back end is changing, but it's kind of going to look the same. And Chris will have this link where you can see data. And I'm hoping we could do some data visualizations that will show growth over time. But the historic data is sort of not very good. There are data issues, not just the visualizations, but happy to have your help on that and have you help us on the Energize Whalen side of things. Um, I noticed on, I think the town sustainability page could use some work. Um, and that might be a good place, Olivia and Julie, to get some feedback from the committee on what that looks like. Um, there was a link on what you can do. And it sort of went to just a few documents, few, uh, some words and a version of like a word document. I know other communities have in that case then linked to their like community-based, you know, um, Green Newton or to, um, Energize Acton, which is actually a town sponsored site. So that's, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. The Energize Whalen site has a lot of things that you can do and how you get a coach. So let's think about whether we want to have a link to that for some of these things. Ellen, I'm just going to give you a quick thing on the website. They're in the middle of updating the entire town website. So we can't make any changes until they're done with it. My item list, as soon as they give me the, okay, then we can start to make some page updates. Um, so yeah, we could just like what we want to have up there. And then you guys have to figure out with the tools that the, the tools that you'll be frustrated by. I'm sure Julie, the tools they give you how to do it, but we could just talk about what, what we think residents would want to see. And that could be more at a conceptual level. I think maybe Julie, and maybe you guys could come forth saying, here's kind of big ideas, what we're thinking and putting on there. Any reaction to that? Like at the 5,000 foot level, maybe. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. They're making structural changes to the website. So I just don't want to say any, I don't want to move forward with it until I know what it's going to, what it looks like. And then a hundred percent. Yeah. It definitely needs to be updated. That's not a question. Yeah. It's the use of the committee, get reaction to a draft idea. So the other thing I want to give an update on is the plugin effort. You guys remember, this is six town effort. We're part of and mass energizes supporting it with an MAPC grant. MAPC said, we want you to do more outreach to multifamily property owners. So Julie and Olivia, the, it looks like Olivia's left, but Julie, the meeting tomorrow is going to lay that out. And I I've talked to Todd at rise about what they do. One of the things in Wayland that we talked about doing in the last plugin thing. And I just want to get the committee's reactions. We don't have that much, much multifamily housing, right? We have the housing authority. We got the new thing and a bunch of little cats and dogs. But what we have is a lot of condos. And so what's going to be proposed tomorrow to the best of my understanding. And I've seen some of the emails on this is instructions for a town on how to do outreach to owners. And in our case would be condo owners. And what rise tells us is, you know, you can send a, like I was thinking, Oh, maybe it's not that many letters, Julie. Like when I'm that many owners, like maybe we could just do a letter to people saying, you know, you're paying for this on your bill. You support mass save. You're entitled to get this energy assessment. And if you're a property like this, you know, here's an example of property. They got $20,000 worth of insulation. Um, just to motivate people. But what rise tells me is the most effective thing is not letters. It's literally calling owners, literally calling them. And so I think energized Wayland volunteers would, would make calls truly like you and Olivia have scarce resources. We'd make calls and then we would refer them all to rise. And with condos, you know, there's a bunch they can do. The individual owners might call and get shunted to the single family program, depending on how it's done, but there's definitely, um, some opportunity for condos and we've anything built. And he gave me the year and I've forgotten it, but it wasn't that long ago. Anything built before like 2015 or 2012 should end up getting, um, resources. Um, so I think, you know, we've been, we've never done anything like this in Wayland. We've never done since I've been here 2010 doing this. We've never done outreach to multifamily owners. So I thought it was kind of like, we should try it. Right. And Julie, I think we, to do this, we would need you and Olivia's help on running the assessor database on like who the owners are and contact information. Cause I could spin up enough volunteers with the script. And Todd has told me it rise. Like, this is what you say. Um, and then we'd have a pathway to send them right there. And then we could actually count like how many, you know, like, and with condo owners, as you know, you'd need the condo board to approve it. It's not just one person. There's a little bit of a process, but I think it's worth trying. We got a lot of condos that are a little bit older. Uh, Bill, you have your hand up. Yeah. I was just going to say what you, pretty much what you just said was I would go to the condo association because they contact everybody. And they even have meetings where you could get only. Right. The question is how we, we have to look at the assessor data. Cause I don't know how to like, there are a couple of condo associations that reached out to John. Me, we know a couple of them and we know somebody at Turkey Hill, but, and then they're all different Julie, but we know their heating source. So like the electric resistance ones, man, you're a prime target. Like we, we could really move you to heat pumps, but if you, um, it's so anyway, um, I, I think this will be, I know this will be proposed tomorrow. I think it's a good idea. We've never done it. And I think we can get the combination, Julie, hopefully of you and Olivia to help. And it's a good task for volunteers. So I just curious if other people have any reactions to this. Well, I, I have tried to, um, work with someone I know who has a condo and, you know, I've got her sold on, on a heat pump and, and she would probably buy an EV if she could, but she goes to her condo association and basically runs into a huge level of skepticism. And, and conservatism, um, you know, this stuff is going to cost us more. And, uh, you want to put EVs near the buildings. They catch fire. You hear that a lot. Uh, so. But I think Tom, what we'd be selling here is get an energy assessment at no cost to you. And you're eligible to up to dollars of grant funded insulation that that's like, why not learn that now? Look, the, and the rise audits are not fantastic. I'm not saying rise is bad, but the utilities, as we all know, are not as aggressive, but it's something we can offer that won't cost them anything. And they can decide if they would want to do something. Well, if it wouldn't cost us and anything and somebody else is going to try it. And I'd love to see if somebody can make it work. Cause then I'd use it as a, as a model elsewhere. Um, okay. Any other thoughts on, but Julie, we would need you and Olivia's help on the assessor side, but I think that's like a good collaboration and a good way to use volunteers. Yeah. Uh, the assessor data is very, this particular way, but I know that Olivia has asked in the past and it's pretty scant, um, what we're able to get. So yeah, we can help, but I don't, I'm not going to promise that we'll be able to get enough that it won't require more digging. You know what I mean? Like we can probably get pieces, but I don't think we'll have the whole picture. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's probably accurate and discouraging, but let's figure it out because amongst this group and the 20 volunteers with Energize Whalen, likely somebody knows somebody living in that condo association. And that may be our, our way in, but I think we're going to, let's try it. We've never done anything like this. And I think we got to try new things guys. So that is the end of my updates, I think. So we need to approve the minutes, which Neil, did you write those last time? You did. I'm going to say thank you to Neil. So, um, I'll take a motion to approve the minutes. I was not at that meeting. So I can't vote. Tom moves to, uh, makes the motion. Anybody second? Sure. I'll second. Thank you, Bill. Any discussion on the minutes? Yeah. You can actually vote. You don't have to be, have been there. Oh really? Okay. Um, thank you, Bill. Um, any discussion on the minutes? Okay. All those in favor, Bill, how do you vote? Aye. Ellen, aye. Tom? Aye. And, uh, Neil? Aye. Okay. There you go. Um, next meeting. This was such a pain in the neck. Uh, the logistics for changing meeting. I can't stand it. I really would like us to find a monthly tie and if people miss it, they miss it because make Olivia and Julie's job easier and the rest of us. So first bill, you have conflicts with finance committee. So can you give us the evenings that could work for you? Well, depends what month, but you know, normally the finance committee is the first Monday in the month. As I said, in February, it's every Monday and every Wednesday. So for the entire month and for the probably the first half of March. I had our Tuesday nights for people. Okay. Bye. Very good. Well, it depends on the, uh, let's see, I have a regular one at the end of the month. Okay. So if we went, um, I don't know where we are. Um, so let's think about calendaring. So Tuesday nights. And I would like to propose we do it on the same, like the, whatever the second Tuesday of the month or something like that. Um, I know we're hitting a, so we're right now in the third week of the month. That's where we are right now in January. So if we went to the third week of February, that would be the president's day week, which usually you're probably on vacation. And I am out of country that day on the Tuesday. Um, what if we went to the 20, what if we went to the, we generally did it the third Tuesday of the month, but we, we start for February to avoid president's day week. We did it on the 24th. And seven 30 again. What do people think about that? Works for me. Yeah, I think, uh, so we wouldn't do it the fourth Tuesday every month, just in February. Yes. Then February to, I think we should avoid the school holiday week. Julie's got kids. Yeah. I think I have a, I, I have a regular meeting on the last Tuesday of the month. So I think I probably can't do that. Okay. We may just have trouble getting everybody's attendance. Um, I mean, the other choices do every, but maybe we just do that. We do the 24th. And then for March, the third one would be the 17th St. Patrick's day. Yeah. How does that sound to people? So Julian. I'm not Irish. That's okay with me. Julie, can you, you're doing the meeting calendar invites. I'm, I'm off that now that you can take that over. Fantastic. Um, so why don't we do that? And why don't we, if you can send those out, so get some people's calendars. Um, and if you could work with the town to make the, they know it's, and then we'll get it if there's like a third Tuesday where it's a big holiday or something, we can make an adjustment, but then people can plan and we may just not all be there on a given time. Um, and I also would like to ask some of our regular, uh, I think it'd be good to have a vice chair on this committee. Um, so if I'm not there, then there's someone to run the meeting. So, um, I think that probably needs to be not an associate member, but a member member. So that's Bill, Neil and Tom. I think. I think Neil would be great. I think. I agree. I figured I'd say that first. Good job, Bill. Bill's on another committee. He gets a pass. But so Neil, I, I'm hoping you might consider it. It mostly means that if I'm not there, you would run the meeting. Yeah. If that's, if that's all there is, I'm, I can do that. Okay. Let's go with that. And then I'll slowly pass more things on to you without you noticing. By the way, I know AI is really good, but the third Tuesday is already on my calendar for all the foreseeable ones. So somebody had that. Wow. I didn't do it. All right. Um, so the only hold up would be, um, we'll email you guys. The reason that we had to reschedule this time is because the town zoom accounts were all booked. Um, so adding to the layer of like in another, another member. Um, so we'll, I'll email you guys. Um, Olivia and I'll work to get it on the calendar. We'll book it now, both February and March, and then we'll email everybody to confirm. So just keep an eye out to make sure that we've confirmed it across the board and that it's like everything's available and we can move forward with there. Um, that's great. Yeah. And I don't know how far you can book in advance, but if it's something regular, maybe you can book out, you know, six months, Julie. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. That'd be great. Okay. Um, any other items not anticipated by the chair, which is usually on the agenda, but uh, I'm saying it now. Great. This, this is about right. Julie, an hour and a half is about, I find about right. Yeah. That's what we have on the agenda. Isn't it? No adjourned at 830. So you didn't, you do not, but, um, at least the agenda I'm looking at from the website, but it doesn't matter. Um, the only other thing I'd like us to consider doing, and now I'm going to channel Bill. Um, we need to find a way, Julie, we were giving you enough time to get your feet wet and get the climate leader thing done. I think it would be good strategic thing for us to look at the climate action mobilization plan, benchmark how we're doing, and then ask ourselves if there are things where we've made no progress, you know, is it realistic to keep it on the plan or do we need to adjust and if there are things that are done, that would also be a great way to communicate and people to town. This is what we had planned. These things are done. These things are kind of like in progress. They'll never be done. You know, as part of renovations, we're going to decarbonize, but like we are on track. So Julie, I'm happy to, to work with you on that, like how that would look visually I want. But I think if we could come to something, I would like to do that in the next two or three months with the committee with an idea that by the end of the spring, we would have, you know, a good update and kind of like any tweaks and adjustments we want to make to it. It's sort of like Chris's thermometer idea in terms of how far along we are on each task, but it could be color coded rather than a thermometer, but same concept. Yeah. I've often used like, you know, green, yellow, red, but we could do something so that we could see it. And, and you know, Julie, I know you've read it, but it would kind of force you to really think about, oof, is that really something I think we can do, or is it still make sense? And, and then, you know, Chris, you know, it's always good to have other people's thinking about how to communicate that to people. So I think that'd be a good activity for the committee. And I would then like to, it'll be after town meeting. If we're kind of in the later spring, it'd be great to then do an update to the select board with that. Here's how we've done. Here's what we're proposing to do an adjustment on and get them to vote on any like update to the climate plan. That all sounds awesome, Ellen. I think it's a great idea. Okay, good. I will take a motion to adjourn. So moved. So moved. All right. Without objections. Okay. Nine o'clock on the dock. All right. Great. See you guys next time.