Seth Pickering, the Southeast Region Green Communities Coordinator of Massachusetts, gave a presentation at the Rochester Planning Board meeting on July 10 to inform Chairman Arnold Johnson and the rest of the board on the criteria and benefits of becoming a Green Community.
In his presentation, Pickering highlighted five specifications to which Rochester would have to abide by in order to apply to become a Green Community: a zoning bylaw that would allow by-right siting of solar array fields in zoning-designated areas, and another “Stretch Building Code” bylaw with stricter energy efficiency requirements for new residential and commercial structures; performing an energy audit and establishing an energy baseline for Rochester that the town would have to reduce by 20 percent in five years; putting into place a fuel-efficient vehicle purchase policy; and the adoption of a stretch energy code that would have to be voted in as a bylaw at a town meeting.
Pickering went on to explain that it really is the Town’s choice to implement the Green Communities program.
“It’s your mandate,” Pickering said. “There’s no arm twisting from us.”
Pickering also highlighted the key points of the Green Communities program, explaining that there are 210 existing Green Communities, including Middleboro, Duxbury, Lakeville, and Acushnet, and that towns submit an application by October and hear back by December of the applying year to see if their application was successful. Marion is currently undergoing the process towards Green Community status, and Rochester would first be eligible to apply in October of 2019.
Once a town is designated as a Green Community, that town will receive a grant determined by its size and population. Pickering estimated Rochester’s initial grant as around $145,000, which would pay for lighting, installation, ventilation, air conditioning, and more.
Pickering explained the downside, which is that every new house construction cost would, on average, increase $1,500 to $3,500, but on the flip side, the Green Community plan would reduce future energy usage from 11 percent to 25 percent, a cost-savings in the end.
Pickering also went on to explain the details of the criteria Rochester would have to abide by. The biggest criteria point, the one having to do with the energy baseline, looks at all of the Town-owned buildings and facilities in Rochester, including the schools, traffic lights, and more. If Rochester didn’t hit the 20 percent mark in the allotted five years, there would be no cost penalty or anything of the sort, as the Green Communities Program would continue to help Rochester become more energy efficient, regardless.
In other matters, the Planning Board discussed the paving of Flag Swamp Road from High Street to the end of the road where seven housing lots have already been sectioned off. They estimated that it would be a year or two more before the binding is ready on the road and that the paving would also depend on the housing market and how fast the housing lots are sold. The decision on the paving is still pending.
The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for July 24 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
Rochester Planning Board
By Caleb Jagoda