 We're good. We're running ready. Okay. Sorry about that So I forgot already how to do this part of the meeting since last time So you just want everyone give everybody a few minutes to read through and they have any changes people can make suggested edits and then someone should Move make a move motion to Accept the minutes as amended So will you be? Writing the changes into the minutes. Yes, so I'll take notes on the changes and number three point two just wanted to Make sure that the Municipal Buildings is is added in there Just always need to remind people that the zero energy by a lot only refers to Municipal buildings having New town buildings doesn't remind them enough so The goal is maybe the line the goal is to build the most efficient municipal buildings Got it. Yeah, I think on page That run where it says we haven't built any yet under Laura Laura. We haven't built it yet. So I think that was in reference to Schools, but I don't see where we talk about it in the meetings Beyond that. So but maybe we can just say we haven't built any new schools yet, I guess actually that was all buildings With reference to the Fort River building Any new buildings new municipal building any new me. Yeah, maybe that's best. Thank you Stephanie sure since the by-law has been Past Any other comments? I have no comments and move that we approve the minutes Second Move to approve the men the minutes as amended second second and Then we vote and then you vote all in favor Is that find or do we need to do a roll call? No, you can just all in favor Okay, okay. I got y'all unanimous. That's easy. Yeah, and thank you Darcy for taking the notes the minutes Yes, very good job. Um So I also want to see if there's somebody who wants to take minutes for this meeting Can I get a volunteer? Take minutes today. Okay. Perfect. Thank you So then I think we can move on to item two which is public comment Would you like to say anything? Fred press press the mic Okay, my name is Donny Bjork, and I'm here as a member of the public shade tree committee And we feel that we ought to be very much involved with what you're doing For myself, I want to say that Taking down trees to put up solar panels is a really bad idea and Trees, I'm sure I don't have to tell any of you are critical to the health of the world I'm I'm going to paraphrase this very badly, but I read a short review of a book by Margaret Robinson. Does anybody know? She was the prime minister as just something else Until she heard held first-born grandchild in her arms, and now she heads a commission a European climate Concern Commission, and I think that that for me really says it all Putting up solar panels on your house is sort of self-serving Especially if you take down trees for it should be a cooperative thing and heaven knows that there are Millions of miles of treeless paved Parking lots and shopping malls, and that's where the effort for solar installation could be and We I said we would lay a little bit really like to be involved, and I think we'd like to be kept up To know what your agenda is and we're always ready to jump in Noni Can you spell your last name? B. You are a CK Does anyone here have a hard copy of an agenda that we could give Noni? I'm sorry. I didn't print them out, but I can get one to her Noni I can either email it to you or I can email it to you or I can print it and mail it Okay, so I can mail it to you. I'll mail you Sure, I'll if you could leave me your address on your way out That would be great. It only goes on when there's people in the room and it takes a while for it to cool off You're welcome, and I'll I'll mail them to you Maybe we can make a point of having a few hard copies just in case we get members of the public Yeah, I always do I just yeah didn't I was so worried about this technology tonight that I totally forgot about having printed copies So sorry, I'll think they will be in the future Thank you for your comment Okay, so I think now we can move on to item three which is reviewing the options for The 90-day submission to the council Um, we've allocated quite a bit of time to this So I think we can have An opportunity for everyone that submitted to maybe talk through quickly their Proposal and then we can have some discussion. Does that sound okay give Stephanie a second Do you all you all need it larger Do you want to time people? Um, yeah, I've got my thing going right here. So I'm good Yeah, I think we can give everybody maybe five minutes does that sound okay, we might not need that long Use use your mic Do we want to discuss each one after that? Because we might have questions Wait to the end Maybe I should suggest that we could suggest that we do Clarifying questions after each one and then do a group discussion at the end. That sounds great. I'm sure not Okay, great. So it looks like this is an alphabet of order, which means that I am going first. I believe Um, so I will start my my lap here So my notes here are kind of a Bit of a ramble, so I apologize for that But I included a little bit of background to set the stage for why I feel like we could be bold and And think a little bit bigger mainly because so much has happened just in the past six months in terms of Reports about the impacts of climate change in terms of Public outcry about climate change and most recently the Green New Deal That was that resolution that was put out and I've highlighted here that I just took directly from The Green New Deal right up these five goals that the Green New Deal Ames to Accomplish And I'll read these quickly achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions through a fair and just transition for all communities and workers Create millions of good highway jobs and ensure prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States Invest in the infrastructure and industry of the United States to sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st century Secure clean air and water climate and community resiliency Health healthy food access to nature in a sustainable environment for all and promote justice inequality by stopping current preventable future Preventing future and repairing the historic oppression of frontline and vulnerable committees communities. Excuse me So this has really Gotten me thinking bigger and bolder myself about climate change and climate action As I mentioned in our last meeting we saw Ithaca And thank you Darcy for sending that around Propose a Green New Deal path pathway for their town on the UK just last week declared a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and many of our US Democratic candidates for president are taking versions of the Green New Deal and setting goals anywhere between 2030 and 2050 So I sort of feel like the Particularly the backstop goal is as out there, which is net zero or carbon neutrality by 2050 depending on how we define that So I But I think there's many interim goals and needs that need to be addressed And I really think we could do better better than that I think the other language in the Green New Deal is that 40 to 60 percent reduction by 2030 and then net zero by 2050 But I don't think that we can do this on our own. I think there is a really important role for collective action And this is going to be a major change in our in the way we operate both as a town but also in our state in our society So I think in terms of getting back to the council I guess my initial thought and it's changed a little bit honestly since reading other people's things So I'd like I'm excited to discuss it But I do think that We can go back to the council now or within the 90 days with the initial recommended target of being Green New Deal ready by 2030 with a backstop goal of net zero by 2050 and then give us some time I said a year may not need to be that long to do significant worth work both within our committee with other town experts and with Our community members to develop a roadmap of specific actions Many of which I think others have already put out there I Don't think we need to ask for an extension honestly because I think this approach exceeds the order and the charge of the committee I think we will meet the goals of the resolution in support of a hundred percent renewable energy and very likely a more Specific goal and timeline will come out of the process Why do I say not just set a carbon neutrality goal? I think that's because the system changes go way beyond our control and We want to also recognize that there may be policy shifts and other things that we need to be Advocating for helping to push that go beyond just setting a target around For example a hundred percent renewable I listed here some of the things we need to think about obviously transportation thermal energy power And I think there's so much amazing things happening in our community We need to understand what factors support our community and meeting goals for it be a thriving net zero community And what would hinder them and how do we build solutions? So that's my Five minutes. I do have a clarifying question and Just about what what how will you were envisioning the concept of Green New Deal ready? I didn't totally get that Yeah, so I think that that would be So I think there's several and we can look back to our Both to our own admissions report as well as You know Jesse included some some information from drawdown Those sort of highlight all of the ways that we would all of the sectors that we can influence in our town But then also all of the ways that we can address climate change and so I think What I say by saying Green New Deal ready is identifying what are the sectors we need to focus on and then what? Reductions can we make versus? What can we do to have those sectors be ready to be net zero or 40 to 60 percent net zero by 2030? Why why I'm saying green don't do ready New deal ready is Green New Deal is just a resolution so It's also in flux so I don't I Didn't feel like we could be more specific right now And I also feel like there may be limitations for us as a town on our own to achieve some of these goals But that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile to strive for but I wanted to keep that collective Avenue, which is why I said Green New Deal ready Okay, Darcy. Do you know so mine is the next plan on the list here? And I have a couple things I just wanted to make sure people got before I started one is That I actually made an amendment to my first page, which I'm going to hand out The So I so there's that and I also wanted to I attempted to send to the Amherst bulletin article where the the high schoolers Who were endorsed by the environmental action club and the and the Amherst sunrise movement? Suggested a you know a Green New Deal ish a goal for the town of Amherst of Becoming carbon neutral by 2030 That was I I don't think a surprise to anyone that they would be putting forward a bold goal like that And I also want to point out a link that I sent this committee just Before this meeting that I just got this afternoon News that there's going to be a resolution before the Northampton City Council coming up Very soon where they're going to be proposing that Northampton be a Supporting the national Green New Deal and and they're considering how they might Resolve that the the town itself have its own Green New Deal, but that's in flux right now So I think it would be make sense for us to stay in communication with them About what they're thinking and they've been looking at the Boston resolution and So just so that we Are up to date with what all the other communities are doing so anyway, I In my plan that I put forward Basically put forward some overall greenhouse gas reduction goals and I amended it a little bit again like Laura did after look other people's plans and Also, I thought a lot about the concept of What the town has control over Because there's certain things that we would really like to have happen, but we're totally dependent on It seems that we're dependent on whether or not we get state and federal help to do those things like Retrofitting the residential and commercial sectors of existing housing or existing buildings That's you know the trickiest part of all of this So I tried to focus on the first two the first two points on Actions that we I think we have under our own control as a town and one of which is electricity, I think that is Not only feasible, but Very probable that we could get close to a hundred percent locally sourced owned and controlled or purchased renewable electricity by 2030 Through community choice aggregation that wouldn't cover everything because People have the opportunity to opt out if we if we did adopt a program You know, there would be a certain segment of the population who would opt out and there'd be certain Entities Who might not be a part of it because they are commercial and they already have their own providers Hopefully by 2030 we'd be able to convince them to come with the CCA if we end up adopting that But that's something that we could conceivably have control over that would be very bold And that would be very positive in that it would Actually be revenue generating So that's one thing other another thing that we have control over is Municipal operations So we could conceivably say something about when we want to have our municipal operations carbon neutral And so on my list I am hoping that it could be carbon neutral by 2030 Then I have a blank on number three for carbon neutrality in the residential and commercial sectors for the reason that I just said Because unless we pass a bylaw requiring everyone to retrofit their houses and businesses We do have to depend on Whether or not incentives come online. I Would like to have language like that in number four to Ensure that the benefits to the transition to carbon neutrality be shared equitably among residents regardless of race income or status as renters and That the costs of the transition do not disproportionately affect low-income residents I think that's really important to get in there because of the fact that 40% of our population are renters At least someone gave me that figure today, and I think I believe that Is it 51? Okay, I Think that we could put in our goals a date for completing our plan or Roadmap to carbon neutrality Which is In our charge it's not in our order, but we could that in so that We could be more specific about all the different things that we Would like to do with you know medium-term target dates for the transportation sector the building sector the electricity sector, etc and Lastly I would really like to have a goal of An education campaign and this it doesn't isn't the outreach campaign that we'll need to do While we're doing the plan, but an education plan During the decade to come where we are on an ongoing basis Getting town residents and businesses not just on board, but being our cheerleaders So that they are really You know the whole town is together in this effort I Was very impressed what Newton is doing with community choice energy They they have lawn signs that if people get community they Darcy you're you're a little over time. Yeah Details of what I would like to have done in the sectors in the other and the second page So please take a look at that, but they would not probably be in the main goals Okay, thanks. Any questions for Darcy just clarifying is this is Maybe I missed it. This is assuming we do deliver the 90-day Yes, I yeah, I would I am not I'm assuming that we're not going to ask for an extension longer than September so that we can talk to students when they come back and Darcy, can you explain what you mean by the difference between outreach versus educational campaign? I I know that we are Required to do outreach During the process of goal setting and So that's one thing is outreach to try to get buy-in from the community around Our goals and our plan, but once we have a plan in a year or so I don't think that's the end of our of our outreach and education. I think that we need to to have a Pretty large Education campaign in the schools and generally kind of a PR ish type campaign where We are you know having contests between neighborhoods who can do more There are all sorts of possibilities For education great, thanks Andra, I think you're up when you're when you're ready so I Treated the exercise of Developing guidelines for our 90-day goals as Examples of how could actually Write what we are going to write to the Council so But it in doing so I implied my Suggestions that we have a one month extension of the 90-day So that we could have at least one Public forum Where we could present our plan for the rest of the time to come to Community-based Plan for how we will get to the goals and The and I wanted to make sure that you know we gave students an opportunity Can't do that in in August So does involve asking for a short Extension of the deadline I wouldn't want to go any farther than a month and Then I Would want to have some specific Goals That are just easily spelled out And perhaps we could define Green New Deal ready in terms of these you know specific goals And just as a way of communicating it if we find that is a good way to communicate Or just you know a simple carbon-neutral by 2030 in and I divided it rather than by Sectors like transportation electricity Suggested that we could also think in terms of segments of the Community like starting with municipal because that is where we have some control Of course, we could break it down So that it's both sectors within the segments as well And I think that Would make sense and make it seem more feasible as well So I just gave an example and made off out of whole cloth just to get Thinking in a concrete way of how we might Require you know municipal buildings to Be retrofitted we already have new buildings covered. So the next step would be retrofitting municipal buildings and You don't start with 100% you go with you know gradually working your way up. So 20% by 2020 sounded good 70% by 2025 Municipal buildings being retrofitted and we'd have to develop a standard of Energy efficiency and I would leave that up to Jesse and then the Residential and commercial segments would be you know like some years behind in Reaching various goals So that's just an example of one sector and how we could think about it and then We would want not just to put out the target but also the The How we're gonna plan the plan and That you know would involve mentioning how many forums and The segments of the population that will be sure to reach But but I also see a really important Combination of our goals with what's already being planned You know and and we would need to really kind of lay side-by-side the Calendar for you know where the community choice aggregation planning is at and where the Municipal vulnerability planning is at and when green communities Dates for submitting applications are and you know To kind of that be a part of our planning roadmap just to plan our roadmap Did you want to Sorry, you know, I'm just Apologizing that the screen is having some technical issues and I don't know why it's not anything. I'm doing it It's just that screen that monitor. So and I don't know how to Specifically turn that one off and not the whole system. So I apologize Okay, well that's what I'm saying is I well noni doesn't yeah, but she can't yeah If you could I mean, I don't know that it helps you if I mean if you wanted to turn around and look at that screen I The problem is I can't I'd have to shut down the whole system. You want me to shut down the whole system You mean the recording? No, I don't want to mess with yeah, just turn off the projector That's what I'm saying is I don't know that. I think the most important thing is that we've continued the recording. I don't I'm not using The projection. I don't want to mess with that. Is that really so annoying that you can't deal with it Stephanie can if I press image mute here would that do it? Doesn't have anything Okay, and can you verify we're still recording You're still recording. I don't know if it's getting any the cameras on but It just won't be getting anything that I'm we're looking at This is in the packet Okay, so Subtract a minute and then I will want to think about criteria that I think would guide the Community stakeholder conversations in terms of How we want to reach the goals And and get feedback on those criteria, but but put them out I think and we could include things like significant and swift reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors and and leading with municipal decisions and buildings fleets Following with the residential commercial Helping embers to achieve our economic goals while reaching climate goals and having that be a theme and Achieving our environmental and social justice goals while reaching our climate goals just just so that you know We're putting right out there that this is not in conflict with any of our other community goals and Combining efforts with neighboring communities could be one of our criteria for actions and then addressing mitigation in our adaptation initiatives, especially in the initial ones so that we're getting kind of a jump start on The mitigation as we're doing adaptation great any clarifying questions Okay, turn over to Evan So I've been thinking quite a bit about this for the past seven months and so a Little bit of history just so people understand where my Perspective is coming from so a very very early draft of the order That was never public. I don't think actually included goals in it right actually had target dates in it that were agreed upon between Darcy and myself and there was a feeling that These were community goals These were town-wide goals and perhaps it wasn't appropriate for two counselors on their own sitting in a room To determine what the goals are for the community and so we that's where this order came from There's this idea that no the goal shouldn't come from the counselors who create the committee. They should come from the committee itself Now as I sit here as a member of the committee my thought is as Town-wide community goals. They shouldn't come from nine people on the committee. They should come from the community Because one of the things I want to think about is whatever goals we come up with whatever target dates they need to be Embraced by Both the community and the council right and so questions we can expect immediately from the council because we do have to get This through the council, right? Hopefully I think our hope would be without amendment Would be counselors are gonna ask are these goals reasonable? Are they achievable and and would people support these and the public has to also feel like they're reasonable They're achievable and Amherst is not just setting some you know We want to be bold, but we also don't want people to discredit the goals And so the more I've thought about this the more I thought that These goals and targets should not just reflect conversations that occur in town hall But should reflect conversations that are occurring in our community and the more I've thought about what that looks like The more I've come around to the idea of asking for an extension And I'll be the minority voice here saying when I say an extension. I'm not talking about a one month extension I'm talking about maybe a six month extension and my thought process is this We have about five meetings in the summer and we could use those five meetings to come up with a really robust process to come up with these goals that engages as much of the public and as much of the stakeholders as possible and I think that public forums are great, but the people who show up to public forums don't tend to be representative of the community I mean you can see that in data. You can also just see that in the public forums that the town council has held I mean we held one on a budget with five people there, right? It's hard to get people to show up and the people who show up are the ones who are like Gangbusters about this and we want those people there, but we also want other people there too And that's why I was really impressed with the meeting that Stephanie organized as part of the MVP because I I'm so used to walking into Meetings as a counselor and being able to tell you before I walk in the door Who's going to be there and that was one of the first meetings I went to where I walked in the room and I went I don't know anyone except for Andra who was there and I said this is great, right? These are these are new voices, but that takes time to organize I think that we need a series of meetings not just one public forum I think we need to go to people. I was really impressed with Darcy and Chalendee holding one of their district meetings at Butternut farm, right? I've been really impressed with a lot of the outreach the council has been doing and that's what I'm envisioning is actually going into the community Meeting community where they are and having this conversation I think also we need to think about who are the stakeholders in this and having meetings with them One is certainly the town on all of these municipal goals cost money Darcy And I just went through the budget process the town doesn't flush flush with cash We're talking about energy efficiency retrofits I'm looking at the 20-year capital the 10-year capital plan and what's already sort of budgeted for that And some of these goals would would involve dramatic increases So we can't set these without having real conversations with the town so that we're not so that when we come to the council They say can we afford this? We don't want them to turn their town manager and the town manager says no, right? I'm thinking of the business community I sat down when we were coming up at the charge for this committee With the executive director of the business improvement district who had a lot of concerns How might this affect local businesses because we're talking about the business community. We're not talking about big Why we're talking about a lot of these small businesses For whom an increase in energy costs could could be problematic. I'm thinking of young people Both at the colleges, but also at our schools I mean, I think that it's really impressive what some of the high school students have been doing I'd love to have a public forum that was just in the high school or just in the elementary schools and say What do you think about this? But just planning all of those takes time Implementing them takes a lot longer And so my preference would actually be to ask for a much longer timeline to use the 90 days We had originally allocated to set goals to coming up with a process of Engaging as many people as possible and then utilizing the fall to sort of run that process and see What does the community want and also what's feasible, right? I mean, I don't want to throw goals out and then have Local businesses say that will that that's unacceptable. I want to go and talk to them first, right? I put in here that I like the idea and to some extent I like a lot of what Laura said about this green new deal readiness rethinking what we mean by both I like the idea sort of having visions to having visions. That sounds weird starting with with a vision right so coming to people and saying so What do you want transportation and Amherst to look like in a low or no carbon future? What does that look like to you and some people might say everyone's driving electric cars And some people might say very few people are driving cars and we have really robust public transit And other people might say we want bike lanes, right and other people might say, I don't know no one leaves their house So there's no emissions right right but getting getting the idea of what this looks like and then working backwards from that and saying Okay, if the if the community really thinks the future is in electric cars How do we get that infrastructure out or if they think it's in public transit? What do we need to set as goals to get there and and sort of starting with that vision and working backwards? I guess is a really interesting approach to me which represents a big change from where I was maybe seven months ago Great. Thanks Evan any clarifying questions Okay, Jesse So I think I'm going to start with a couple quick non sequiturs one is just a report from my Demographic of architects the AI is just declared a climate emergency I think and that ties into I think a level of excitement about tackling this head-on. I I spent The end of last week at a carbon and climate summit with a hundred architects trying to figure out what to do about this and I think similar to this group and to this town and to the rest of the world right now. There is a lot of boldness and creativity and a profound Not knowing exactly what to do and and this Realization that we don't actually know what to do and And and what we're what we've put on the table is A profound cultural shift More so than a technological problem, and I just want to put that out there As such I I really appreciate the The considerations of the timeline of how we do our work I also want to note. I have a concern That the result of our work will be More plans more bold statements A better versions of the charge better, you know, and I have deeply respect and and Appreciate the thoughtful behavior that we're laying out for ourselves, but I wonder if We can continue to try to put some action on the table and If that includes failure That's okay. We get feedback from that failure, but I think to show the world that we're doing something Something real and it doesn't have to be the biggest or the best thing, but I think some direct action That has measurable results has to be part of our short-term goals I want to So balancing. I think that is the real tension of balancing the sense of urgency and the value of planning And I wonder if that is a parallel process where we For example, we start to Take take small action Experimental action trend setting action bold action action that will inspire others at the same time that we're getting community input I wonder if that's possible. I'd like to think it is Um so that we don't create just a recurring pattern of planning not the plan again, it's important and then the only other point I want to make is To propose it and this wasn't on what I wrote Uh to potentially propose a revision to the net zero energy law or by law And revise some of the language to Include Uh the true effect To the atmosphere as far as carbon emissions and and not just net zero energy It is possible to make a net zero energy building that has an initial impact that is Takes 50 or 100 years to recoup to the embodied carbon of that project Um, I think there's other aspects of this. You saw the carbon drawdown Reference, I think we just have to make sure we're being honest and truth-telling about the effect of our actions. And so net zero energy specifically I'm concerned it doesn't capture It can be the right thing to do, but it's can also be a A disaster as far as what happens in the next five years So I believe that is something I want to get in front of the town council as soon as possible before building start getting built to make sure we're looking at the true Global warming potential and a time-weighted impact of our choices as a town and that we can then Transmit that to the rest of the world and say what we did That's okay. You were the only one that went out in five minutes um Okay, this has been can I ask you to clarify? Oh, yeah, sorry. Sorry Um, so just say I want to understand what you mean by um the True global warming um effects of the new buildings in Do you you're you're talking about Um materials looking at the sources of of The actual building process um and calculating that into the greenhouse gas Reduction goals Yes, in particular the use of very carbon intensive and high global warming potential materials such as two-part spray foams that make it very easy to reduce your operational energy but are in the near term putting Very potent global warming molecules into the atmosphere far more potent than co2 I think buildings have the opportunity to sequester carbon Or and also I think it's important to note there is Very measurable and hard to come back from impacts of the the way built the actual construction process For example, if municipal buildings were only built in the summer, they would use far less energy as far as temporary heat Um and things like that. It's measurable. It's it's important other Uh Truthfulness, I would propose is being fully aware of Site-to-source energy factors when we talk about natural gas. We realize that it's not It's not the emissions. It's the leaked gas. It's two or three times worse than what we think I think this is an education piece. Um, we can put this In front of the council and make guidelines pretty quickly and easily they're already out there um Yeah, and I think particularly the time-weighted impact of these projects. Is it is it a project that Will take my lifetime to In in its energy savings to recoup its impact or can it be net positive? from from from the gecko Or close to it provide us with some materials about what you're talking about I can although I will say this This is This is a little new I mean, it's not new Scientifically speaking but as far as our industry is We're we are scrambling right now to get this data To understand what are the best practices and it's not always intuitive I mean one simple way just it'd be a simple Linguist semantic change in the bylaw to move from energy to Carbon equivalent emissions so I Have jotted that down As probably Another agenda item at at some point it sounds like Table it yeah, okay um Great. Thank you so I um Wanted to To make a comment, but I wanted to open up the floor first for others um I just wanted to clarify what I meant by green you deal ready because I think I Didn't answer that completely well um but in my experience with Target setting and get bringing stakeholders together and and trying to agree to targets really the most important thing is building ownership and excitement and the desire to want to meet the goals my my concern with going out With just some targets Is that Even ones that we spend the next 90 days developing will be met with skepticism by someone or lots of people um So I think what I was thinking about when I talk about green you deal ready is that We do some very sector specific forums and I and Um And these are I think they're they're going to be a cross section of sectors They're going to be a cross section of communities is going to be out in the community. It's not going to be um You know in in town hall, but I think um An example could be we have a meeting and this is actually something we could potentially do this summer as a test run Because the local businesses are here and they're less busy when students aren't here Um, so could we have a sector specific forum with them as a test run and say what does carbon neutral mean in the commercial building sector What does that future look like? What can we do as a town versus what do we need the utilities other policies states nations to do What goal can we feel good about that's bold and actionable but also achievable and how do we move forward with that goal And so the idea being is that in that forum? We sort of vision this green you deal future and then we back Go back from that to set some some goals and then when we present that to the committee, um At some point maybe six six months later as Evan suggested We know that we have the backing of that of that group Um, and we could do this with the whole host of of different sectors as well as different community groups and affinity groups um So that's my What I guess a better What I think is probably a better explanation of what I mean when I say green you deal ready My other question that is I'm really confused about the charge versus the order And can someone explain to me what we actually have been charged with doing because I don't see anything in the order about having Meetings with the town obviously I'm Very supportive of that based on my last statement, but I just wanted to understand what we're really Being held to here. Oh, yeah, I Wrote the entire that entire piece of the order on my page here So it is limited to Our climate Um mitigation goals The 90-day order as opposed to adaptation Um, but where does it say that it says climate action goals? I'm trying to under I I'm trying to understand. Is there something that we are held to versus is there something that is Are we held to both the charge and the order? Okay Yes, uh the the the order is um, you know Each committee has a charge and it tells us what the committee is supposed to do but this order uh created the committee and um because it was a time limited order that Uh what didn't make sense really to put in the charge because it would expire after 90 days It was dealt with separately in an order Because it's temporary. It's I mean it's going to Not be relevant in a year as far as the charge is concerned. So it does pertain to The requirement in article 16, which is simply to Urge the town to be 100 renewable Um, and it also can include other emissions reductions goals recommended by us So it is specifically limited to Emissions reductions related goals So, uh, and it does not require us to Do outreach in that order Uh But the charge does refer to goal setting So, uh, I and I know that I would actually really recommend that everybody on the committee Watch the um town council meetings video the january um the january Seventh meeting the january 28th meeting And I forget the date when we came back with the charge But those two meetings in particular You can get a really good sense of where the council is and what they expect To get from us when we come back So I just think it would be really helpful if everybody watched those Um, I watched it this morning And um, and it reminded me that we really need to watch it, uh, so that we can get an idea About this council Could you send the link could you send the link to those? Yeah, I can try to do that for you. That'd be fantastic. Thank you Can you give me the meeting dates again January 7th was when we first discussed it and january 28th is when we Passed this order and we started a discussion of the charge and then appointed an ad hoc committee to You know finish up with recommendations of the charge then we came back and do you remember the date of the other meeting? February 11th So those three meetings we spent a lot of time on this and You know there was there was disagreement So it's it would be good for people to hear what the members of the council said Got it. Yeah, so first just to I think make clear the answer to your to your question. So The charge that we have right That defines the scope of this committee, right? And so everything we do in this committee We should be able to justify in some aspect of this Charge and if we do something that's outside the scope of our charge someone might challenge that The order was literally that the council ordered us to do something Technically, I guess it's a request. I don't think the council has the authority to order us to do anything Since we're not a committee of the council And so the charge in six c is where We're required to engage the public so it's engagement of the public and relevant stakeholders in education planning goal setting and development of climate actions with attention to inclusion of underrepresented groups and environmental justice communities Including but not limited to holding an annual public forum focused on climate action and the work of the ecac So The order is what told us we have to come back with goals But we have to do that within the context of the charge which requires that any goal sitting Any goal setting engage public and stakeholders with special attention to underrepresented groups um Something that was helpful for me, which I'd be happy to share was I took the charge and I Put it into a matrix so that any idea I come up with or any idea that I hear I kind of put it in a box and it just it's I organize it. It's slightly differently. I think there's a limit to the narrative form um So I'd be happy to this is to share This with everyone it may be a helpful way to organize our thinking Because the reality that this is an incredible amount of great work that goes into that charge. It's really impressive But I get Confused reading it. I think like the rest of us so this may be a helpful thing Which I'll send out to the group or to the whole world. I guess and I I want to just push back on that is that true That the order necessitates public engagement does is it true that every action we take has to fulfill all six Charges simultaneously My I would disagree. That's not my reading of it. And I think of If we're gonna set goals, I think one of our primary goals It would reflect everything you just said before with regards to public engagement I was terribly inspired by what you said. I deeply agree. I think that visioning process is so important but I think we can also Put that as one of our 90 day goals to really do it and to really do it well So, I mean the charge says the ecac shall right And then promote a plastic intersectional approach to climate action through engagement of public and relevant stakeholders and education planning goal setting so my read of that would be that To set goals you have to engage the public Because that shall is So if you look at say five right it says shall propose as necessary. And so there's sort of a There's some wiggle room in five, but but six is not seen to be as Uh flexible But in your um write up evan you pointed out that we did have an option to Assume a minimal amount Um before having you know, I do agree that we have to have some um public Outreach and I love the idea of using the summer to reach a segment of the population that is here And not as busy as during the year And practice that And also it's a key Stakeholder as well. So, um, I would Like to go ahead and assume that we're going to be recommending Goals and that we think very carefully about how we communicate and I think that we've all talked about that aspect Um, and no matter what our communication is going to be key Yeah, so I think where I'm still Unclear is what we mean by recommending recommending goals um And I guess I would say that I I would prefer us To ask for a six month extension or some type of extension as opposed to trying to scram in A meeting in the first two weeks of September Um Because I don't think we're gonna get student engagement in the first two weeks of September I mean they could technically come but I don't think that they I don't think it would be meaningful and I um, and so I would I would say That doesn't mean we're gonna slow down our work, but I would I guess I would just Um Not want us to take that direction I think that um that it's You know, there would be no problem with having doing outreach within before the end of september having two or three types of outreach And that it is completely clear that there was the intent to come back Within 90 days or within a very short period of time because of the urgency of this that You know that There's no doubt that we are supposed to be coming back rapidly with these first set of goals and that it's that it's within you know that it's supposed to recommend target dates benchmarks and blah blah blah targets to achieve the climate action goals adapted in article 16 So um I I regret Really ever mentioning the word extension I was the one who brought it up because I didn't think it made sense to bring it back in the middle of august Um, and that I definitely wanted to get students involved so I Feel strongly that we need to get started by having a couple of forums And getting coming back to the council at the end of september or sometime around there um Forums aren't the only way that we can get input as well. Um, we can You know ask for input by going places to churches and Uh lunches in the senior center and you know really have um Person to person, you know, you know small groups And we all have our circles as well So and and I feel like we have resources in the community now for meaningful Input and it would still only be a beginning And we could come out with uh You know clear statement of you know Here is what we want to know how the community um It could envision us getting to What the green new deal calls for which is carbon neutral bite You know, whatever it is, right um and Just put it out there that that's How we're going to proceed we're proceeding with this is the goal and Our job now is to have as much input. I I really think it's just a communication problem And we could set those goals I would I really like the questions that laura suggested for a forum And you know, we could also do something like Send out a survey monkey form to Different groups with those questions and gather the responses So that we don't necessarily have to organize multiple forums if we get you know responses from different people and organizations in the community And if we frame the questions in a way that you know expresses that We plan to take action on this and we would like people's input What how do they think that we can accomplish this? You know, how can we contribute to solving this problem? Yes, I think these are all uh great ideas. I also Do think that they take everything we're talking about takes time, right? So, um You know if we're thinking about the 90 day deadline. So we have Four meetings between now and then to me it's unreasonable to think that we could accomplish this in four meetings Beyond that There's time that's taken in Planning all of this how you know, what do we mean by? Engagement, how are we going to do it setting that up? You know, if we I liked laura's idea of a forum with Uh sort of the local business community as a as a test run At the same time, I know that the chamber just organized their economic development panel And it it took them Five months to get Their six business members together in a room to be able to talk So you're not just talking about that our time but also other people's time and so These things take time We also then need to be able to have time for us as a group to process all of that information Make sense of it and come up with goals and then we need to make sure that we feel like those goals Will pass, you know, one of the things I've been trying to think about is what the role of Darcy and me is on this committee I mean, this is a strange committee in that it has counselors And so why are we here? And I think one of the purposes that we serve is Helping this committee Be able to navigate things through the council, right? Because most of the things this committee will have to do will have to be passed by the council And so I think that Darcy and I benefit Already from having gotten this committee charge to the council and that's going to inform a lot of the way We're going to look at the goals. And so when I'm thinking about Even getting the committee charge even getting this through the council What was the obstacles we faced and I think that I mean as much as I don't want to subject you to watching the council meetings Um, some of that might be useful. Um, because what we did here is, you know, our goals absolute or aspirational Right. Are we saying we're going to do this? Or is it just sort of like a goal? We know we'll never achieve Um, there were a lot of questions about how this might affect the town Economically and we need to be able to be prepared for that because the council The order is for the council to adopt whatever we put forth with or without amendment And what we don't want to happen is to put forth through something to the council And then have the council just dramatically amend it, right? I mean that they have the option to do that And so we want to make sure that we can demonstrate feasibility And support and buy in from multiple parts of the community so that the council Doesn't doesn't reject that. Um, in my mind that takes time and I honestly I don't think it's feasible to do In the next four meetings and I really don't think it's feasible to do With just a month extension. I think I think we need I think we would benefit from A longer extension and being able to come up with a really good process That involves a lot of people so that when we come forward with goals We can say look at everything we did because if we just come to the council and we say Well, you know, this was summerville's goal. They're going to go cool. We're not summerville, right? But if you can show them look, here's the process. Here's all of the people we engage Here's who we talk to here the concerns we heard and if we can show that to the council Then I think we're more likely being successful of moving these ideas through the council and then having a really good start Can I ask uh What are other counselors as you know, representing the Council's perspective being likely I was going to try to um, summarize what we were just saying, but if Darcy gave anything to add to what I mentioned I already suggested that we all watch the the video. I think that that um Uh It doesn't matter I think the council is expecting us to come back. They have it on their their agenda that we're going to be coming back in 90 days um They're expecting that they're going to be setting goals Based on our coming back in 90 days. So that's the expectation and I think that it's You know, we're probably going to end up just choosing um Ithaca's goals or You know, we're going to be making our decision based on um Not a lot of data about Amherst itself. Um, and I think that we can we can just go ahead and do that and that's what the council is expecting So I think Where I'm hearing some consensus is around an idea of trying to organize At least some type of forum this summer if we can I completely hear Evan that I think it's going to be a challenge timing wise But I think we could also potentially to Andra's point Take it to a church take it to an existing group Potentially even we could get the high school students that are part of the environmental club Together over the summer like I think there's some options some low stakes options that we could do To test our to test Um, and I think I'm hearing somewhat of a consensus around the idea of doing a bit of visioning in this work um You know the questions I raised earlier was For the specific sector or for a specific group of people what does carbon neutral mean? In into them, what can we do versus what do we need help with doing? Um, what goals can we feel good about that are bold and achievable? And I think ideally these forums would end with us kind of having Some ideas of these of these goals where I think we don't have consensus yet But where I also think we don't need to have consensus yet is whether or not we're going to ask for an extension in for how long So I guess my proposal would be that we maybe focus on trying to organize some of these meetings And see how it goes and when we get a little bit closer to the september deadline We evaluate whether we want to ask for an extension. I would push back Darcy I think we would just do ourselves such a disservice to just pick a number based not on our community input or our data I don't think I think we I feel strongly I was at that meeting of the council I feel strongly that if we we can tell that if we can show them the process We're going to take and the goals that we hope to hope to achieve if they give us a few more months to to really Bring the whole community along I I would struggle to see that they would not accept that obviously you guys are the experts, but So I think we need to meet every week And I think we need to have a work group to come up with a planning for outreach For the next for this 90 day period This is not what we're talking about right now, but we were we were probably going to talk about it later, but I'm available during this 4 30 to 6 30 time period every Wednesday FYI I could also do that Okay, so I think we discussed this last time and that wasn't Possible for everybody. It doesn't need to be possible for everybody though. Well, I think we need to We need if we're going to get our community come together. We have to get our committee to come together too, so So so there's a Two thing whether I was going to say and then another that I'll say based on what was just said so I'm always sort of thinking timelines and logistics If I know that this is still a question if we want to Ask the council for an extension right that would have to happen during a council meeting Or you have to be voted on a council meeting. So again 90 our 90 day timeline ends August 20th So august 20th We as a committee meet again on august 3rd The next town council meeting after august 3rd is I mean, I'm sorry july 3rd july 3rd the next council meeting is july 22nd And then the one after that the next one after that is august 19th So we obviously wouldn't want then we probably don't want it would look bad to vote for an extension the day before our goals were due Right And so I I would say, you know, you said we don't have to decide right now and you're right We don't have to decide right now But I would say if we if we are going to ask for an extension we would want to do it by the july 22nd meeting As far as meeting every week, I I said this last week I think that it is an unreasonable expectation for a committee of the town There's only one committee of the council that meets what every week and that's going to be going down to every other week It is also Unreasonable burden on staff who has to post meetings and process minutes on top of their normal job and so I like the idea of work groups down the road I think we're a committee in its infancy and it's very important that we Coalesce as a committee and that we get to figure out how each other works and come together and that takes a few months And I think immediately trying to splinter off Is a mistake, but I think that it is an unreasonable expectation of the members and it is unreasonable burden on staff to meet every week But they have work groups And so we could either have a work group that meets at that time Or we could have we could have do what we suggested the last time which is you know post a meeting of the Whole committee and then as long as a quorum comes Um, we could meet even if a quorum didn't come we could meet as a work group Um, so We have all this work to do. How are we going to do it if we don't meet? That I don't understand So let's so we've merged into the next agenda item. So let's finish up the conversation about The 90 day goals Is anybody have else anything else they want to add to that discussion before we close that I think I just might ask the question again I think I asked at the last meeting is Is there a version of that that gets us everyone what they want and outlines A long and robust community engagement process I I don't even think six months is long enough to do it From what you said and so I think if if to do this, right, we're talking about years of work I think we cannot Not put the immediate Goals on the table And if so if there's a way for us to Try to articulate That which is time sensitive that which we think the town council needs to hear In august we figure out what that is and we make it as short and efficient as possible And we tell them that we're gonna do the rest of it, right? I don't know if I'm Imagine something that's impossible, but I think it holds Both ideas. Yeah, I mean I think then we look back to what the sign says So the IPCC report laid out very clearly and this is what's in the green new deal 40 to 60 reduction by 2030 net zero by 2050 I mean if that's where we want to go, I think it's difficult for anybody to argue that we could should do less than that I think what we could potentially do is say we want to We want to do See what we can do better than this and that's why we're going to set these initial targets and do a robust community engagement to Figure out how we can even do do better Initial targets. It's the perfect phrase. They're initial targets The whole world is going to be refining and reviewing these targets over and over again as we try to hit them and revise and learn more so, um So I think we need to digest this a little bit. Um But it sounds like there's Um Yeah, the idea of doing additional Initial targets and working to make them stronger and more sector specific and more robust over time um, yeah just I also want to second what Evan said about Doing the work as a group to understand each other learn how we communicate learn our styles. I am certainly figuring it out myself. I think I want to Very formally address the importance of us understanding each other our world views and how we Deeply feel about this this issue and the way we want to get it done. I think that's That's to be respected So that makes me think about the need for a retreat Which we've um considered and put off Well, we didn't put it off. It's on this agenda. So are we ready to move on to the next agenda item? Okay, I had a couple other Thoughts. Oh, sure. Go ahead. Yeah, so I just pulled out some, you know, based on what people wrote um our points of agreement and I think that Laura has already summarized Those um And uh I I'm just Clear if we have come to some common understanding about um How much of the community engagement Would be needed Before setting goals, you know initial let's let's say we're talking about initial goals Who's comfortable, you know, can we get kind of a straw poll of that? Who's comfortable with Some initial outreach like we're talking about and and bringing that to Business community small groups in the community. They're already meeting where we go to them and such I guess I would say I'm comfortable with with visioning with them and working towards goals with them I'm comfortable with the science-based targets as a backstop, but I'm not comfortable with throwing out sort of Unresearched goals to see if they stick because I think that could backfire I'm not sure what your question is. Andra Uh We had a lot of disagreement about The amount of public input kind of a public input that's needed before setting the goals and making any recommendations I'm wondering if after we've you know discussed it If people have moved Especially if we're talking about initial goals And no extension or a minimal extension the minimal Yeah, so, uh, I I feel like we could do some Reasonable amount of outreach within that period of time to be able to to show the tech council that we had We have done some and that we're we have every plan to do much deeper Outreach as we're developing a plan Okay, I want to make sure we have time to talk about the retreat So I think I'm gonna cut off this conversation. We can sort of bring it back When we talk about agenda items for next time. Is that okay? okay So Andra or I think Andra you're officially the person on the agenda Okay, I don't have that document So but I think what's relevant is this idea of um planning how we plan and um I think that We already are missing members um And that's one of the things that I'd like to know more about it's like, you know Is there a way for people to Be you know participating remotely or are they like off the grid? um and and perhaps set an expectation That as much as possible, you know, we're really going to make that effort to actually Participate in some meetings even went away um I think Ashwin Did do that and then he's Must be in the field or something. He can't actually you know has no internet. So So that's an example of the kind of structure communication timeline issues that I think we should be discussing or you know have some small group make some proposals for our rules of However, we want to conduct ourselves so that larger group can then discuss it And I don't I'd have to dig around to get the actual document up. Does someone have that? In front of them Yeah so, um, you know At some point there's just decisions We need to make about how We want to progress Okay, great. Um how Why Why wouldn't it work for people to bring a concrete proposal for everyone to discuss Not everyone needs to develop that concrete proposal. No, that would be a way to have More work happening Rather than us having to create everything in the Regular meetings we have something to bounce off of you know, and I think having our let's each Write our ideas that was really great for our first conversation about this because we could really see where everybody's coming from Um, and that concreteness really helps me um So I like working from the springboard Concrete document when making decisions, so I would like to have small groups Figuring out, you know the business outreach We don't need to all do that. That sounds like a work group to me And to kind of think about the different segments of the community that we might be able to reach Um, when do they meet? You know kind Hold that together so Those are some proposals for Discussion No, it could be right now. I don't think I don't think we have Time to get into all of those things before 6 30 And I think they're all really important and that we should set aside time to Talk about them more deeply Unless there's I mean there We also need to talk today about whether we want to form a work group or Have, uh, you know whether there are people available to meet weekly So that we can get going on maybe planning outreach and so on So I would be supportive of us trying to schedule a retreat I'm not don't think that with I think we've heard from members that we're not quite ready to form work groups and That we're not gonna we're not ready to meet every week And I think with three of our four of our members missing. I don't think we can make that decision But I would be open to scheduling a retreat. Um What are other thoughts? I think we'd benefit hugely from a retreat I think would be great. I think it in It could feel like a setback to this idea of planning about planning about planning. It feels like a setback and but the reality is To do important work. You have to I I think it's I think it would be a very meaningful And I think it would be a great investment in this group So I would I agree wholeheartedly So just along the lines jesse that you were saying that we might want to bring Some very timely issues to the council And then other things we could put off That might be You know, that's how I feel right now that we may not be able to schedule a retreat for a month But we could be making progress on certain things That we could decide right now like I'd like to have Um a couple of us working with Stephanie on the Um MVP action plan so that we are you know formulating some ideas that are going to be very important to Have the money for In that stew in a month, right? Well, they haven't announced it yet. It's something you expected in july Wow, we're anticipating end of july august that the application is actually do So it's a it's a whole thought process that I think needs to start Now and then us be able to talk about in meetings Before a pretty early deadline So I don't think there's any issue with us assigning individuals to come to the next meeting with materials, I mean, I think your point of Learning when other groups we want to meet with meet is a great individual project that someone could bring to the next agenda um And maybe there's others like that we that we could we could do for our next Our next meeting Yeah, so one thing I want to make sure we're always keeping in mind is that Um any work group anytime that we say, okay, you know Jessie and Darcy you're going to work with Stephanie on the mvp stuff Um You are a subcommittee subject to open meeting law, right? And so that creates a lot of logistical Uh that triggers a lot of logistical concerns, right? And this is where also my concern for our staff support comes in Because if we decide all right, we're going to have our standing meetings that already have to be posted Agenda is prepped a minute's done Packets put together, but then also we're going to have a work group working on the mvp stuff And we're also going to have another work group that's putting together a business form Those two work groups are now subcommittees subject to open meeting law that has to post meetings in public places Have have minutes, right? And our staff support is the one who's in charge of doing all that And so every time you create another staff Another subcommittee you put more of a burden On staff and that's where a lot of my concern with meeting weekly comes from as well is is Meeting weekly while complying with open meeting law is Challenging and puts a burden on whoever's charged with doing all of those things and in this case It's staff who has another job. And so that's what I think in the beginning I'm really cautious about splintering off in part because I think we need to call us as a group back going what Jesse said and in part because um We have to make sure that we're always keeping in mind What that actually means when we start saying okay, you two work on the mvp stuff Well, you can't just meet Stephanie in her office casually and chat about it right now You have to be posted public meeting in a public place public comment All of that has to happen as well. And so it's it's not as simple as just you two go off and work on this I'd like to say that um, I've studied this now And that's absolutely not The actual law I understand that it is the guidance that we were given by the town manager But that guidance has not been given to the council that guidance has not been given to any other committee And I object to us being held to a standard that is Perhaps considered best practices, but as the lawyer who gave the talk that we all um Looked at uh on open meeting law said of course, you know, that's best practices We understand that's not what we're going to always do and Obviously there's conversations happening um all the time with counselors That aren't announced and we can do that So if you and Laura decide on your own accord that you're going to independently get together and you're going to work on something You are not subject to open meeting law. That's correct If we as a committee say you and Laura are going to go do this You are now a subcommittee and subject to open meeting law and that's where the distinction comes in But the other thing I would say is um, I I am of the belief that we should be doing best practices Right, if we're going to do something we should be doing it at the gold star standards So that we get challenged down the line Well, then that would go for all committees and and the council as well and I don't um, Think that a brand new committee Needs to be showing modeling the best practices in open meeting law since We Have a lot of work to do in a short time. So this would be a way to do it Yes, we I mean, that's the whole Point of this committee is that we have to work with some urgency That's why we need to have some work groups or meet every week or whatever And you know other committees Like the fort river building committee they assigned work groups of three or four people who would go off and do an assignment And they were not posted meetings, but they they came back with valuable information for the committee to use To make their to actually have their deliberations and figure out what they were doing So we can do that And it seems like we need a work group for to figure out our outreach and also to to um meet with Stephanie so Maybe it won't be official So I think um I think we need to to prioritize setting a date for a retreat. Um, so I think that there I do agree that it would be helpful to have a work group work with Stephanie on the mvp Um, but it's not announced yet. So I think that's something that's on hold until that's announced I Work groups on outreach or or goals. I just we're just not ready for yet. I don't think We could vote on it if we wanted to but I would almost say I don't even want to do that I don't know what other folks think I mean if we voted on it now, it would be it would I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say I'm not gonna say I think that we should focus on a retreat um first I I would like to volunteer my individual singular personal time to Make a list of what potential Near-term goals would be immediate sort of immediate needs things that that are Moving fast that we need to be concentrating on um in the event That this the 90 day gets postponed. What have you we I would put forth to back to the group sort of a working list of What has a sense of urgency? Is that would that be useful? I'm not sure what you mean What types of things are you talking about? I'm guessing it would be useful But I'm not sure what you're talking about I guess I'm I'm curious if you're envisioning something that looks different from what Andra and Darcy brought today because they brought a couple short term Right. I mean you had goals that were 2020 Mine were just examples One of the things that I had suggested was that we come up with a suite of Immediate projects that we need to do in town So Were you thinking of that type of thing like infrastructure? I mean for example, just understanding What's happening in the town? I I think you understanding The action that the town's going to be taking that if if we're out going to potentially outline a year-long process to figure out Our recommendations What are we going to be missing? What opportunities are we going to be missing? I actually think that years matter In this in the context of what we're talking about And the the amount that you know, what's on what I believe is on the agenda for the town to be doing I I think years matter. I think months matter. I think we've got to do it right and I really want to do it, right? It's worth the exploration Okay, so if I think I understand it You correctly Yeah, there's certainly There's certainly things we should be doing now some of which we may already be doing in other groups Some of which we we may not be so I think that's a help would be a helpful Framework I don't think it means necessarily that we Um I would I would probably argue that there's no like Numeric goal that we need to meet in the next one year But there's probably actions we should be taking now to meet a 40 to 60 reduction by 2030 So If you want to propose what that agenda item would be Um Yeah, how about if we put on the agenda for our next meeting a discussion of a list that jesse will make Yes, I think I'm missing the next week. I but I think I also took you were you had brought up the retreat So I will push it back to that and why don't I formulate a document I can send to you and step having giving it further thought okay so that's A future agenda item. Let me just look at the the Agenda again quickly here. Okay um So we're on to the agenda setting Um for the next next meeting. So I I guess I would suggest That I I'll work with with Stephanie to to put out a doodle poll or something for Based on everyone's vacation schedules for a retreat as soon as we potentially could do it um and I think The next meeting our goal would be to hopefully we would finalize that date over email prior, but we can officially finalize it at the next meeting Um the retreat could just be a four-hour meeting too. It doesn't have to be something, you know, like, you know You know esoteric It's either six six flags or I'm not going. Yeah Yeah, yeah, so I I guess I was envisioning a four-hour meeting I think that we would have to Discuss whether it has to be a weekend because some of us may not be able to be out of work um So that's something to consider So Can I just jump in for a second looking at vacation schedules too? Um So ashwin is Pretty much out of contact. I think until the 28th. He's working in the field So he might not even have wi-fi access my last request to him Whether he could remotely participate in this meeting. He didn't even respond to it all And a response to any email to him says he's in the field Um, so it might be hard to reach him. I know that steve I think said that he's going to sporadically not have any wi-fi access as well So this is part of the problem that we're having with it's not just being A way it's Really being able to have any access even to a doodle pole. So just I just want to put that out there Okay, thanks So let's see what we can do with what we've we've been given. Um And I think we have the vacation schedules at least for steve, right? So we can at least use that as a Yes as a basis. Okay, great um I guess I What else do we want to do for our next meeting? Can I request that um an ongoing Agenda item be a five-minute update from staff specifically me so that I can keep you all informed of Opportunities that come up because I will be I'm I do ongoing work and it's going to keep happening and I One thing I would like to add to some of your conversations Is that there are going to be opportunities and grants and funding opportunities that come up that We can't just always sit and wait on that there's going to be action That's going to be happening even while there are discussions going on about planning There are going to be opportunities some of which I Would say something like a heat smart program that the state currently has where people can Um install heat pumps in their homes at a discounted rate and a bulk rate It's similar to the solarized program That's something we're probably going to want to do and we can't just sort of sit around and wait till You know, it's like the ideal time. There are things we're going to want to just do So I would be coming to you with those Efforts and those opportunities that are available when they come up Okay, great. Um, yeah, there's he and stephanie That it seems like it doesn't make sense for us to hold off discussing the mvp Plan until after it's announced, right? Aren't we having input into the actual Application all it is is the next step and it's just it doesn't hold us to anything We can say whatever we want in the next steps But it doesn't mean we actually absolutely have to do them. We just have to make sure that um that the action Item is sort of referenced in the summary of findings I'll be sending you the most updated version of the summary of findings and if you read it There's a lot that's listed. There's a lot of information in there and that's all based on community input I found that and probably for me personally one of the most um Valuable exercises in gathering people together to really talk about some of the things that you all are going to be working on And I think this report can be helpful in identifying where we have some needs um mitigation the mitigation to reduce Co2 is a given like we know that that has to happen And we sort of know some of the ways in which we need to sort of go about that happening I think the things that we're looking at in terms of the vulnerabilities is where our um Community is needing support In terms of climate change and how it's impacting them. So for instance, you know things like communications and that kind of thing We need to make sure that those We can put all of the energy um co2 reducing Efforts that we want out there, but we really also need to think about the community members and how they are directly being impacted By climate change. So I think there's a lot of valuable information in that report um It was pretty I felt pretty thorough and pretty it felt like it had a lot of community input. So I would just say Don't worry too much about what's in the in the next steps It's it's what we really apply for for the action grant that matters And there's so much in the summary of findings that I think we could make reference to just about anything I mean energy energy cca effort is referenced Um as well as heating and cooling centers as well as communication systems as well as Infrastructure, I mean everything's in there. So I think you've got a really nice framework. I think the mvp report will be really helpful So I think we've got the finalized retreat date. Hopefully five minute update from staff The two other items that were discussed um Under learning when other groups meet what other groups we will want to meet with I think um That could be helpful Do do you want to Do a first step of making that list? um, I I think that's Something it would be good to kind of collect. Maybe we could send to Stephanie groups that we know of and and ideas for that okay, um Yeah, I think that's a good idea. So each of us could send similar to what we did this week um, I think that should include committees that I think We anticipate will have interest or maybe concerns with some of the work we're doing. Um, so we can try to anticipate that um Is there anything from the stuck structural? I'm looking at our running list of items And recognizing we have two minutes left, but um Is there anything specific from the structural discursions about the committee? um That we want to add to the agenda for next time The other things on this list are joining NIMS Officially and what the process is to do that. Can I clarify that we're already a part of NIMS through Stephanie's Covenant of mayors that we'd be oh global covenant of mayors. Okay That would be a good thing to discuss as a framework Okay I also think we need a continuation of this conversation of Our 90 day goals Okay, um, how do we propose doing that? So one thing that's tough for me is we're a nine person committee and Five people submitted their ideas and they're the same five people who are here talking about those ideas um Steve and ashrin Are both not going to be at the next meeting and we're not sure whether or not we will be able to have contact with them between now and then um So there's two of the four absent who we might not be able to engage in this at all Before the next meeting or at the next meeting um Nikki and dwayne I assume will be at the next meeting because they're not on vacation. Um My hope would be We have spent a lot of time among the five of us talking about this. I've watched andra take incredibly good notes Not that i'm looking at your computer, but i've been seeing you type this entire time So I assume there's very thorough minutes. So my hope is that they will feel And I guess there's also a video recording Assuming they have access to that But it would be great if if the next conversation we have about the 90 day Can start with nicky and dwayne Since they have not been able to have a voice in this conversation yet Maybe we could make An invitation to them to submit Something in writing before Did we hear anything from them? Stephanie? No Nikki is away. Um Until the 25th or something I think Um, so I think that's a great idea. Um, we can I can ping them Stephanie and I can ping them directly and ask them to do that I think as Darcy did if any of us want to reframe our language to be a little bit more concise and clear both Whether what we what we want in terms of an extension or no extension and then what we would present to the the committee at that time Um either what we would present to the committee asking for an extension or just in general We can sort of refine that on paper and then add that to that discussion because that's not like a good plan I'm seeing some nods. Yeah. Okay, perfect. Um Okay, so I think we have a good start to the agenda Um So I'll send that around as as as a start Um And anything else urgent It just seems like we need to be not only sending Uh ideas to Stephanie about outreach We we need to be specifically You know setting up outreach dates with different You know if we're going to have a forum or if we're going to meet with bid or whatever we're doing It seems like we need to start Setting that up if we're doing it during July august september Um, and I don't know how many of those engagements there would be but it seems like it requires Someone working I I'd actually be glad to work on that with andra andra want to be doing that Um, although She may not want to be doing that I think that I would not be comfortable with us reaching out to them with any Specific agenda because I don't think we've agreed to what that would would be No, I'm just talking about just meeting to bring something back to this group at the next meeting of Possibilities of what we could do what the dates might be or groups that we could meet with Nothing direct No, no, well, that's what we're all doing. So we're all going to send that To Stephanie And I'm going to compile a list of all of it. She's just compiling a list. I'm saying that we could we could Try to target figure out. What are the groups that would be the you know Groups that are the most valuable to meet with within this 90 day period and You know, what are the if we were going to have a forum? Where might it be? when etc So I would say that we should each Include that In our Comments and then we can compile them and hopefully there's consensus some consensus to to build there So you get to do all of that Stephanie Um Okay, any public comments No, okay Well, then I think we can close the meeting one more staff comment. Sorry. Oh, sorry. It's really kind of a request My concern as we move forward is that you all are going to have more documents and things that you want to share I would request that you all funnel them to me So that I can also keep track of them and keep them organized for you But I think if they start flying around it's going to be hard for me to keep track So if you send them to me, I can sort of organize them that way that I can include them in a packet and things also are more Together and again These items will be listed on your ecac website page. They're going to be It's not put together yet, but I've already talked to it today and we're going to have A place for packets. So right now it lists agendas and minutes It will also list packet information. So your packet materials will be there So if you send me something I'm going to just assume that it's going to be a public document and it will be listed in there as well Great, okay Everybody good? All right. Thank you