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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 26 Environmental Initiatives Committee Special Meeting Minutes DATE: Thursday, March 26, 2015 TIME: 7:00 PM LOCATION: Parks & Recreation Building, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hill 1. Roll Call. The meeting was called to order at 7 P.M. In attendance: Aileen Lee, Peter Evans (vice chair), Raj Reddy, Sheela Veerina, Serena Giori (chair). Members of the Public in attendance: Don Bray, Kjell Karlsson, Steve Schmidt, Jay Shindler. 2. Approval of Minutes of the February 12, 2015 regular meeting. Motion by Peter Evans seconded by Sheela Veerina passed unanimously. 3. CCA Update. Don Bray, member of the Los Altos Environmental Committee, was our guest. He presented and discussed the CCA options under consideration by Los Altos. Don indicated that Los Altos is actively considering these options. The EIC will devote the April regular meeting to further analysis of how the CCA options may advance LAH environmental goals. Peter Evans will lead this initiative. 4. Review of General Reporting Feedback for non-finalist cities for Earth Hour City Challenge 2014-15. Discussion on next step. Reference: Steve Schmidt email of 1/23/15 to EIC members. Sheela Veerina will lead this initiative. We look forward to LAH achieving finalist status. 5. Sustainability Initiatives. The Town Hall Audit of 2014. Results: the March 2006 contract for the use of the Cell Tower needs amendment since it compensates the Town for less than 40% of the actual cost. The Town is negotiating to amend the contract and to recuperate the lost income. The party responsible for the new contract should consider also the solution to move the users of the Cell Tower to their own utility meter. If the electric use of the Cell Tower were to be removed from the electric use of Town Hall, Town Hall would likely be “net zero” user of energy for most of the year, the goal of the Town since 2006. We need to receive from the Town’s administration an answer to the EIC recommendations on improvements of the FastTrack process/guidelines by the next meeting. We look forward to receiving from the Town updates on the GreenPoint implementation for remodels by next meeting. We reiterated the need to revise the Conservation Element to retain a healthy environment in LAH for the long term. The Town needs to set a process, timetable, and budget for this revision and advise us if EIC participation would be helpful. The current Conservation Element is dated 2007. 6. Review of results of the Water Conservation seminar of March 12, 2015. The seminar was well attended with high participation from the audience. Kit Gordon will have a booth at the Earth Day Events and represent EIC. 7. Report on School Outreach initiatives. None. 8. Public Comments. Steve Schmidt reported the final recommendations: The Town has been reimbursed $250 per month for the Cell Tower electric use, but the actual cost has been about $650/month, for a shortfall of $400/month or $4800 per year. Based on an analysis of historic Town Hall energy use, this discrepancy has existed since at least 2011, and possibly since 2006. The shortfall represents over $19,000 since 2011, possibly up to $43000 from 2006. The installation of a separate electric meter for the Cell Tower, billed to the appropriate parties, would remove this liability from the Town. The remaining electric use at Town Hall is primarily due to computers running continuously (accounting for over 45% of the remaining electric use). Town staff should investigate methods to reduce computer electric use. 9. Adjournment at 9 P.M. NOTICE TO PUBLIC Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Environmental Initiatives Committee regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection in the City Clerk’s office located at Town Hall, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California during normal business hours.