Arlington Energy Committee
Regular Meeting
Public Meeting, Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Arlington Town Hall, 3828 VT Route 7A, Arlington, Vermont
Meeting called to order: 6:01 PM
Present: Stephanie Moffett-Hynds, chair; Mary Anne Holmes, secretary; Grace Katrick; Mardi Crane
Not present: Alexandra Ernst, Bill Laberge, Joan Nash, and alternates
AGENDA
- Additions or Deletions from the agenda: Update on the Carbon-Tracking Tool
- Approval of Minutes from previous meeting of August 5, 2026
Motion to approve: Grace; Mardi seconded; Motion passes unanimously.
- Old Business
- Farmers Market final report: enjoyable evenings; great to distribute sprouts; we received ~$40 in contributions for the sprouts, which covers the cost. Great to meet other energy committee members from neighboring towns. What else can we do, next year, to engage folks next summer? Have fresh sprouts on hand next year to illustrate results. Steph suggests looking into pairing up with The Gardens at Yellow Barn Farm to showcase the benefits of gardening. This might be more impactful.
The committee would like to see the market go into September longer when the harvest is really underway.
- Select Board meeting attendance schedule + update
Aug 17: Grace attended; heard of timeline on Water/Sewage project. Attic insulation: attic has been cleared out; Town has a contract with Vermont Comfort, LLC for insulation. There was mention of a site visit at the Town Hall on August 25, at 10:30 AM. The committee wishes they had been invited to attend by the town administrator, as this has been a project of great interest to the committee since its inception.
Aug 31: Steph attended. There was a discussion on the Taconic Gateway Property acquisition (by the Green Mtn. National Forest) regarding access & parking on Benedict Hollow and Murray Hollow. It appears that all parties have come together to find an acceptable plan.
There was also a thorough presentation by Robert Clark regarding water and sewage system prospects. There have been many studies in the past. Mr. Clark said the sites under consideration (on Smith property for East Arlington, and on Yellow Barn property for Arlington) look very promising. He also spoke of the importance of upgrading the system in the AMHS parking lot, which would be a part of the overall plan. They will be putting in test wells so that they can do daily analysis for three months in the spring; the SB suggested they put those in now so that they are ready to go when the ground begins to thaw. Homeowner septic systems in Arlington are nearing the end of their capacities and are beginning to fail. Replacing them costs homeowners a lot of money. Moving to a town wastewater management system is therefore a smart move. Continuing to wait to pull the trigger on this, however, only makes the project more expensive down the line. Putting it in place also means the ability to add more housing and businesses within the town which could really help alleviate the housing crisis and could bolster the economy. Without it, there is simply not enough room in most backyards to add a second septic system in order to create infill housing, which has the added benefit of protecting against urban sprawl and allows for more walking within the town to businesses. So this looks like a win-win, all around, according to the discussion by the SB. Timeline: it looks like it will be another 3-5 years to break ground. There is also grant money to apply for that would cover the next phase of planning, according to Mr. Clark.
Steph will review the GNAT recording of previous SB meetings and send a letter to Dan for guidance on how to improve working relationship between AEC and SB.
Attendance for upcoming SB Meetings:
Sept 14 – Steph will try
Oct 5 – Grace?
Oct 19 – Mardi
Nov 9 –
Nov 23 –
Dec 7 –
Dec 21 –
- Update on WindowDressers: We are in final stretch before Build: Oct 23 -28 at First Congregational Church in Manchester. The load-in is on the afternoon of October 22. Goal was to build 250 inserts, but now up to 266. Some question regarding whether 23 of them will be built for a specific customer, so orders are still being taken online. If the new orders cannot be accommodated this year, they will go on a wait list for next year. Bryan Dalton & Steph are meeting every week as the volunteer coordinators for the build. Still need a lot of people to sign up: https://signup.com/go/mXGPVai
- Town Plan energy chapter update
The Planning Commission and BCRC already have a survey online and will have a booth at Norman’s Attic to encourage people to take the survey. This is critical for gathering public input on what they would like to see happen for Arlington over the next 8 years. AEC members are asked to help distribute survey far and wide.
The AEC will be able to read/comment on the draft, only after it is written.
Grace read through all energy chapters from neighboring town plans and shared a list of features she likes and hopes Arlington’s Town Plan will include. She will type up her take-aways, but here is a brief overview: Liked look of Bennington’s Town Plan which contains pictures, feedback from kids; pictures of accomplishments/charging stations;
Graphics for Sunderland, Bennington; overlays showing where solar panels should go, etc; less vague, more specific (Sunderland)
Where energy development areas
Transportation, addresses our biggest C-emitter; includes stronger language on public transit
Bike lanes, connectivity walking
Shows positive changes through data
Solar farms/aesthetic issues: example from Stowe – sheep-grazing areas, e.g.;
All AEC members (and the public) are encouraged to do the same and to attend public meetings regarding the updated town plans as available.
- New Business
- September 15, BCRC convenes energy committees, Sunderland Town Hall at 5:30PM.
VECAN will be guest presenters. This will be an excellent time to learn about the work of other energy committees in our county and state, to gather ideas and inspiration for the service of the AEC to Arlington, and to share progress here. All AEC members who can are encouraged to attend, as well as anyone interested in energy efficiency.
b. TEN: disappointing news regarding the project Marcus was looking into with a large local business. Despite the enormous amount of heat they generate which would be ideal to capture in a TEN, they will not be moving forward with planning for a TEN at this time. Marcus also talked to head of water department for Arlington, Josh Brace, who said that a TENS won’t align with proposed upgrades to the town water and waste system.
- Other
a. Communication and Outreach:
Resources: make a regular newsletter with new information; include on AEC page when website gets updated.
b. Tracking Tool: what’s the status; is there some place where a person can go and find it, find out about it? Reminder that the town did approve form (that protects the town) to AEC to have each user sign that is interested in using the tool. Steph will reach out to Joni; Mardi would like to draft a summary with her for those interested in using it, which would be housed on the website, which would include a sample of how our town is using it. It would also contain instructions on whom to contact to request and return the liability form, after which they would receive the template. Mardi has offered to help with bringing all this to the finish line.
Next meeting: October 7, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Motion to adjourn: Mardi; MAH seconded. Meeting adjourned at 7:27pm
Minutes prepared by MAH and SMH.