HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 20
Environmental Initiatives Committee
Minutes
DATE: Monday, April 20, 2009
TIME: 7:30pm
LOCATION: Parks & Recreation Building
26379 Fremont Road
Los Altos Hills
Roll Call: The following were present: Peter, Evans, John Harpootlian, Lew Jamison,
Rich Larsen, Steve Schmidt, Jay Shideler & Walt Wilson.
Guests: Steve Schmidt and Walt Wilson
Committee acceptance of the minutes: All present accepted the March 15, 2009
Minutes as-is.
Resignations for the EIC: The following additional members either have, or are in the
process of resigning from the EIC for various reasons: Ian Earnest, Steve Schmidt, Jay
Shideler and Walt Wilson.
Energy Conservation and Management:
1. GHG reduction and Home Audit Presentation: Steve gave a “polished”
presentation to the EIC. Presentation has been given to many Bay Area
communities and has been well received. Send electronic copy to all members,
past and present. Continue to refine – (H-H) – Steve, Peter
2. Foothill College Interaction: A concern was expressed about having copious
numbers of students doing home audits because of privacy issues. Continue to
interact with Foothill College – (H-H) - Breene
3. A formal forum with a panel discussion was attended by Steve Schmidt and Jay
Shideler. Both Jay and Steve gave presentations and served on the panels. LAH
participation was well received by the College. Continue with interaction with
Judy Miner (H-H) – Breene.
4. PG&E’s Adam Byrnes: Due to a personal conflict, Adam was not present at the
meeting. Continue to monitor- (H-H) – Steve
5. Smart Meter Rollout – no new update – (H-M) – Raj.
6. Establish home audit game-plan (with milestones) for education and training –
(H-H) Lew.
7. Town Hall energy monitoring - Work with Town to evaluate bids and to consider
going out for more bids - (H-H) - Jay, Peter.
Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Environmental Initiatives Committee regarding any item of the open
session portion of this agenda will be made available for public inspection in the City Clerk’s office located at 26379 Fremont
Road, Los Altos Hills, California
during normal business hours.
8. Solar Panels in the setback – The EIC decided unanimously that solar panels
placement in the 30 foot setback fall under the current “Variance” requirements
and, otherwise, are not to be allowed in the setback. This decision is subject to
the review by the Town attorney, Steve Mattas – (H-H) - John
9. Solar Energy Generation:
• AB811 Government funding of solar systems for residential homes – Sun
Power has been told that the Town Hall will not be available for use because
of potential conflict of interest (sound familiar?). Determine if problem can
be circumvented and find a way to have SunPower use the Town Hall as a
venue. Also, contact SunPower to determine their progress in preparing the
presentation– (H-H) – Rich, Jay.
• Alex Robinson (a student of Stanford), AB811 effort: (H-H), no new updates
– Jay, Steve.
Green Construction and Demolition:
1. Build-it-Green requirement – Applicants appear to accept this requirement
without reservation. Continue to monitor – (M-M) – Raj & John.
2. Consider adapting build-it-green procedure for remodels – (H-L) - Raj
Recycling:
1. GreenWaste recycling market has collapsed. Jay Shideler expressed concern that
GreenWaste is losing money but stated that financially, GreenWaste is on sound
footing. Continue to monitor - (H-M) – Jay.
Water Consumption:
1. Pools, pool pumps, fountains, waterfall brochure – Peter has release it to be
published as a flier – now waiting for Debbie Pedro to complete it. – (H-H) –
Peter
2. Water conservation Committee – first meeting has been held - John.
Miscellaneous:
1. Status of official web-site for EIC is on hold – (H-H) – Jay, Lew.
2. The Town Hall solar website is currently being updated – the two companies
involved in updating the website are now working out the details on how the
information will be gathered and how it will displayed. Continue to monitor
progress – (M-H) - Jay.
3. G.H.G. Article has been written by Lew and submitted for publication in the
Town Newsletter – (H-H) – Lew.
4. G.H.G. forum to public – Set up and give a presentation using the Town hall as
the venue. Publish an announcement in the next edition of the Town Newsletter
and coordinate with the Town staff – (H-H) – Steve.
Next Meeting: Date, to be determined.
Meeting minutes prepared by Chair Jay Shideler.
Concept for establishing Goals and setting Priority: These minutes, henceforth, shall
follow the format of denoting priority as (Value-Time) until further notice. “Value” and
“Time” are expressed as one of three letters: “H” – high, “M”- medium or “L” – low.
JAS 4-20-2009