Observation reports are submitted by Marblehead League of Women Voters members who have attended meetings of various town boards and commissions. Observers are solely responsible for accuracy of the information. Complete reports can be found on the LWV of Marblehead website www.lwvmarblehead.org.
Marblehead Municipal Light Board
Sept. 5 — hybrid meeting
Recorded by video, available on the MMLD website.
LWVM Observer: Steven Levy
Public comments: Jim Zisson made comments about solar panels on schools.
Outstanding items (old business):
A motion was passed to review and approve a residential battery interconnection agreement, subject to UL certification, and pass other required Marblehead Building Department building and electrical approvals. MMLD rebates will become available on specific brands on residential battery units.
EV (electric vehicle) charging: There are two EV charger programs offered to Marblehead residents. The Scheduled Charging Program offers a free ChargePoint charger to residents who agree to having their charging level lowered from Level 2 to Level 1 from 5-9 p.m., on non-holiday weekdays. Some customers in 2021-22 received a JuiceBox charger that reduces Level 2 charging to no charging from 5-9 p.m., non-holiday weekdays. The Next Zero program offers a monthly rebate for participation in a peak reduction program. Details are on the MMLD website. There will be more discussion at the next meeting. Only ChargePoint units will be used in the future.
NEPPA (Northeast Public Power Association) annual conference overview by Jean Jacques.
General manager (GM) contract: The Marblehead Municipal Light Department fiscal year ends on Dec. 31. The current GM contract runs from April to April. The GM contract provisions for annual goal setting was changed to match the Marblehead fiscal year/calendar year.
MMLD Board and GM sent a letter to Mass DOER (Department of Environmental Resources) regarding their request for bids on testing new long-term battery storage solutions. There were two public meetings. Munis can test new deployments.
General manager (GM) items:
Solar PV on schools: The Brown School was identified as the first potential school for rooftop solar because it has the newest roof. A proposal will be created to explain the costs and benefits. Levelized cost of energy is not the total benefit. Capacity and transmission costs are avoided, which also add economic value to the installation. Next month we will look at a detailed analysis on a spreadsheet. Rooftop installation can be done while the school is running.
A utility battery electric storage system (BESS) will lower transmission and capacity payments to ISO NE for the next 20 years. This larger battery would save almost $10 million over 20 years. We need a 15,000 square-foot plot. That is 100 feet by 150 feet. To move forward we need a piece of land close to the Village 13 substation. The substation is behind the animal shelter on Village Street. Recreation and Parks has an adjacent parcel that currently appears underutilized. MMLD would need to receive care, custody, and control of the parcel from Recreation and Parks to proceed. This transfer would happen at a Town Meeting.
Premier Fence has the winning bid for the new fence and gates on 80 Commercial St.
Financial operations for July 2023 year to date: Total revenue was $12.8 million with a net income of $1.1 million.
A motion was made and passed to transfer $330,000 from the MMLD 2022 operating revenue surplus to the town of Marblehead.
New positions were proposed: a geographic information systems (GIS)/IT tech specialist, an energy services manager responsible for managing and marketing customer energy-efficiency programs and writing applications for federal and state grants, and a capital projects manager to define the scope and costs of needed distribution system projects, and prioritize and schedule projects to improve the town electric distribution-system capacity and reliability.
MMLD does not have a need to widen the two bridges at Lead Mills. We want to keep these bridges for pedestrian, bike, and carriage traffic only. We agree with the need to make repairs to the decks and rails.
Go Green Now Program has a new logo. The average residential customer participating in the program to receive 100% carbon-free electricity pays under $160/year to participate.
Recreation and Parks Commission
Sept. 19
LWVM Observer — Kay Rieper
Appearances:
Rick Smyers re-presented the plans for Phase II of the bike park. He has plans for two wooden bridges to be built by the Recreation and Parks Department after approval by the Conservation Commission. Abutting neighbors had been invited, but no one came.
Ken Klaiman presented his personal pickle ball survey. He would like to have more open play time. Lisa Spinale presented her concerns for the Marblehead pickle ball group which included more weekend hours at Vets, lights on more at Seaside, repairs to the courts, permanent lines on Court 5, Porta-Potties, a storage shed, and an AED. Karin, Shelly, Jaime, and Peter have formed a committee to discuss all the issues surrounding pickle ball, hopefully to satisfy players and neighbors.
The dog park was locked by an unknown source and is being looked into.
Rossanna met with Becky Cutting about the plans for Fountain Park including the new steps and shoe factory. After the cost for the architect plans is established and approved, donations for memorial steps will be solicited.
Recreation:
Jaime reported that fall programs are more subscribed than last year with especially high demand for ages 2.5 to 3.5. She is successfully working with the schools for cooperative programming. She plans for an additional tee ball league on Sunday nights.
Oct. 14 will be the Scarecrow Stroll. Commission members are encouraged to make scarecrows for the event. Kits are available at the office if anyone is interested. There will be trick or treating at the stroll, and a $5 fee. Other upcoming events include pumpkin decorating, gingerbread houses, and elves-in-training.
She questioned Hobbs House reserving six parking spaces just for the house, excluding those going to the playground.