Arlington Energy Committee
Regular Meeting
MINUTES
Wednesday, October 1, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Committee members in attendance: Alex Ernst, Mardi Crane, Mary Anne Holmes, Stephanie Moffett-Hynds, Joan Nash
Also present: Alternate Garret Siegel
Meeting began at 6: 45PM.
- Additions or Deletions from the agenda: none
- Minutes from previous meeting of August 27: Garret moved to accept; Mary Anne seconded. All approved.
- Old Business
- Window Dressers Community Build, Oct. 2-8, at the American Legion in Arlington
- Steph gave an update on preparation and volunteer sign-ups. While our overall numbers look good, we could use more volunteers for Sunday morning, Monday, and Tuesday.
- AEC service terms and appointments update: Steph sent Cynthia the list of our terms and when they expired. Cynthia sent the following proposal to the Select Board, recommending that they confirm these appointments:
For the three two-year terms:
Stephanie Moffett Hynds
Mary Anne Holmes
Bill LaBerge (would be new to the Board)
For the four one year terms:
Joan Nash
Alex Ernst
Mardi Crane
Jenny Murtaugh
Garret Siegel pointed out that both he and Mary Ann Carlson need to be reappointed as alternates. Steph will send that additional note to Cynthia. Steph will also reach out to Jenny to make sure she would like to do this. Everyone else listed above has confirmed their desire to serve.
c. Electric Buses Debut at AMHS: Bill Laberge will report on this at next meeting
- Great article by Andrew McKeever in The Bennington Banner was noted.
d. Recap of Table at Farmer’s Market: Friday, August 29 Kudos to Peggy Hanson for overseeing the market this year. Next year, we need to have something to draw people to our booth.
e. Red Mountain Parcel
- Recap on Meeting with Select Board – We offered our strong support for the town’s acquiring the property from the standpoint of its ability to offset our carbon footprint. We used the data in the AEC carbon tracking tool. The Red Mtn. Initiative group was not present, unfortunately, due to family commitments. The Select Board said they need to have the group present a new proposal in order for them to evaluate it. Time is of the essence: they must get on the SB agenda right away in order for this to have the possibility of being warned for a public meeting and voted on before the beginning of the year. The Select Board already has a lot on their agenda, so the Initiative is encouraged to request a discussion as soon as possible.
Discussion ensued. Joan asked if the town should just forge ahead with whatever access plan Mary Ann Carlson and Hooper Pickering had in mind — the idea being “a bird in the hand” approach — but feedback from other members noted this may not work due to the need for parking and turnaround area. Joan said that we should stay in touch on this approach as the parties may be able to work something out, both having substantial property abutting the Red Mountain parcel. Everyone present agreed that it would be a shame to miss out on acquiring this property for the town, noting that these kinds of opportunities don’t come around very often.
- Update on hike and status – Mary Anne Holmes joined a hike with the group to see the parcel and said the current trail (actually a washed-out old farm road) is steep and tough, but the views at the top are spectacular and the forest along the way is beautiful. When the prospect of acquiring the Red Mtn. parcel came up in the past, some residents noted how difficult and potentially treacherous this trail is. It is important to note, however, that this would not be the trail that everyone would ultimately enjoy. The Appalachian and Long Trail Groups and the Green Mountain Club and other volunteers would build a wholly new trail that will have proper switchbacks, and it will not cost the town anything. The remaining issue that the Initiative is working on is access points and parking. They have indicated great progress in this regard.
f. Update on water gauges for town rivers – Mary Anne said Trout Unlimited put in a gauge at the Rec. Park which records both river depth and temperature every 15 minutes and can be accessed at: https://monitormywatershed.org/sites/Battenkill_Arlington/. They also have one in Manchester (https://monitormywatershed.org/sites/Battenkill%20River_Maple%20St/). If we had a heavy rainstorm, say at Stratton, and heavy water flow came down the Kelly Stand, it would be too late for us to do anything. But the gauge in Manchester would help. The US Geological Survey gauge at River Road will probably never be replaced because there is another one in Battenville (Route 21 and 61; about 26 miles from Arlington) that is connected to NOAA and they can use that to predict whether or not Arlington is going to flood. The gauge in Arlington would register water change in a big weather event.
g. Update on carbon tracking tool, info sent to Cynthia: Joan reported that auditing for the 2024 input is just about done. She asked Cynthia what to do about the second solar panel that Arlington has now. It is attached to a caution light that uses no electricity. Joan thinks that it should be counted. Arlington doesn’t use it to power anything, but it does provide electricity to the grid and the town gets credits which it exchanges from time to time for cash. Joan would like to find a way to account for this in the tracking tool. Cynthia said she didn’t think Joan should add it in, but those present agreed that it does add to our reducing our carbon footprint.
- New Business
a. MERP Funds report from Cynthia: “We do have grant funding for the actual work — about $120,000. We do have an architect preparing a report for us that will provide a practical guide as to how to implement the planned tasks in the context of our buildings. The plan continues to be to work on the Highway Garage first.” The AEC would like to see a copy of the architect’s report. Steph will ask Cynthia to share that with us, which she has offered to do.
- Mapping out AEC future projects
- Steph reported on the September meeting of the Arlington Area Alliance which is planning a Spring Volunteer Fair. The Arlington Common will send a link to a form we can fill out that tells about the AEC and in what ways we are looking for volunteers. They shared a mock-up of what this would look like and everyone at the meeting was very enthusiastic. Steph thinks this is going to be great for the community and possibly for us. We need to come up with specific projects that would interest folks so that the thought of helping out is not amorphous, but instead has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and they can get a sense of how they can truly be useful and productive. Steph asked the committee to be thinking about the specific projects and roles that we would like to pursue and create.
- Also, Mary Anne Holmes is working on the orientation packet for the AEC. She can share the draft through Dropbox.
- AEC display in the Town Hall. Steph thinks we should have a small subcommittee to figure out what to display and how to do it so that it doesn’t take up too much space, but is eye-catching. That same committee would check in from time to time to make sure it is stocked. Karen’s trifold on efficiency steps and resources is a good example of something that should be included.
- Upcoming Events
- VECAN conference day at Lake Morey Resort for energy committees: November 1, 2025. All are strongly encouraged to attend. This is for energy committee members (as well as anyone interested in efficiency issues) and will provide lots of ideas for us to consider for our town. To register and attend, see: https://vecan.net/conferences/vecan2025/.
Next meeting: November 5, 2025
Meeting adjourned, motion by Mardi; seconded by Alex at 8:05 PM