By Neil P. Allen
On Monday, June 14, Brandon Select Board member Tim Guiles presented a document with the mission statement and set of goals for the Brandon energy committee following a request from commission members to be allowed to continue their work at the Select Board meeting on May 24.
“I had a meeting with Matt [Orchard] and Jack [Schneider] to talk about the energy committee,” said Guiles. “I drafted this document and shared this with the four members. They have all endorsed this.”
The mission statement, as presented, said, “The Brandon Energy Committee’s mission is to help the town of Brandon to do its part to achieve these Vermont energy goals.”
The three ongoing tasks for the committee are to gather accurate data to track thermal, transportation and electric energy use; organize community outreach activities to inform the community about opportunities to save energy; and analyze and make suggestions to the Select Board about strategic choices to help reduce the town’s carbon footprint.
The document also defines the committee as having five members and continues to have it be a sub-committee of the Planning Commission. The current members are Orchard, Schneider, Lowell Rasmussen and Edna Sutton.
There was an official request from the Select Board to find a fifth member for the committee. Those who are interested should contact Town Manager David J. Atherton.
Finally, the document states that the committee may not incur expenses on behalf of the town but could request funds for projects.
“If you could highlight for the committee that money requests be made during the budgeting process in the fall and not to wait until the budget is already set,” said Seth Hopkins, Select Board chair.
The motion to accept the document as presented was passed unanimously.
