DEERFIELD — The Finance Committee has voted to recommend one of three Special Town Meeting articles designed to make the town a Climate Leader Community.
The Climate Leader Community designation builds on the Green Communities program, which encourages communities to reduce municipal energy usage while helping the state meet its clean energy goals, including a commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
In May, Ashfield was named among the state’s first group of Climate Leader Communities, making it the first Franklin County municipality to earn the designation. Warwick is also pursuing the Climate Leader title following Annual Town Meeting votes in May, and Montague is considering pursuing the same distinction.
According to Mass.gov, towns with the Climate Leader designation are eligible for $150,000 of technical assistance through the Decarbonization Technical Support Grant and up to $1 million in state funding for climate resiliency projects through the Decarbonization Accelerator Grants. Planning Board member Emily Gaylord and Energy Conservation Committee Chair David Gilbert Keith identified converting the wastewater treatment plant and library to rely on renewable energy as two potential projects for these grants.
With $60 million in funds for Climate Leader Communities set aside, “The state has its own legally obligated goals, and so the state knows that they’re not going to reach those goals unless communities like ours take action, and so they’re heavily incentivizing,” Gaylord told the Finance Committee on Wednesday night. “This is a real opportunity for Deerfield to get access to state funding.”
Gaylord, members of the community group Deerfield for Responsible Development, residents who hold positions on the Planning Board and Energy Conservation Committee and other citizens committed to climate action collected around 250 signatures supporting the three articles, securing them on the warrant for the Oct. 29 Special Town Meeting.
The first of the three articles proposes replacing the town’s Stretch Energy Code with the Specialized Energy Code, “for the purpose of regulating the design and construction of new buildings for the effective use of energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions,” the Special Town Meeting warrant reads.
According to Gaylord, the Specialized Energy Code encourages new construction to install all-electric energy systems when practical and does not lead to significant cost increases. With the state incentivizing all-electric energy, Gaylord said the Specialized Energy Code would “help [Deerfield] control costs in an extremely volatile market” and build long-term energy independence.
Finance Committee Chair Julie Chalfant and members Margaret Nartowicz, Mark Brennan, Jim Cambias and John Paresky voted against this article, with Beth Brown abstaining.
Despite the online bylaw specifying that the code only applies to new construction, Chalfant noted an inconsistency in the printed bylaw, which states that the code applies to “both new and existing construction.” M.A. Swedlund, who led the effort to gather petition signatures, will work with Town Administrator Christopher Dunne to correct the issue ahead of Special Town Meeting.
“We’re mandating something that’s going to increase the cost of homes,” Paresky said.
“We are not talking about someone coming in and buying a starter home in Deerfield, we are talking about someone who is buying land and then building a home in Deerfield, and that is a very different person,” Gaylord said in response.
Brennan cited a study from the Massachusetts School Building Authority analyzing the costs of installing electric heat pumps in elementary schools, adding that one project cost $5 to $8 million.
“If we do one project, this won’t be free money, we will lose between $4 and $7 million dollars,” Brennan said. “I really question the financial motive for this.”
In response, Gaylord stressed that the code only encourages all-electric energy when practical, adding that the high cost Brennan mentioned would deem electric energy an impractical option.
“I don’t believe all electric is the way to go,” Chalfant said, claiming that mini-splits struggle in freezing temperatures. “If it were a perfect idea, [the state] wouldn’t be bribing us to take it.”
The Finance Committee unanimously voted to recommend the second article, which calls for the adoption of the Zero-Emission First Vehicle Policy. This requires the town to purchase only vehicles with zero emissions when “commercially available and practicable,” according to Mass.gov.
After its initial concern with the restrictive wording of the article, the committee confirmed that the policy has exemptions, including police cruisers.
“I feel like there’s a lot more wiggle room with this one,” Brown said.
The final article includes a commitment to municipal decarbonization, or “the elimination of all on-site burning of fossil fuels in municipal buildings and vehicles” as a community pledge of support for the state’s climate goals.
“I continue to support this because I think this is just setting goals; this is not binding,” Nartowicz said. “This is good to have in the forefront so that the town continues to pay attention to the needs of reducing its footprint.”
“I totally support reducing the footprint, I am not convinced that zero is the place to be,” Chalfant said.
“I don’t like that it sounds non-committal,” Brown said. “It feels weird to vote on an aspiration.”
“Would you prefer a mandate?” Gaylord said with a laugh.
Brown, Nartowicz and Parresky voted in favor of recommending the article and Brennan, Cambias and Chalfant voted against. As a tie, the recommendation did not pass.
The town will vote on the three articles, Article 14, 15 and 16 at the Oct. 29 Special Town Meeting, along with 13 others.
After the meeting, Gaylord said she does not view the committee’s decision as a roadblock for Deerfield becoming a Climate Leader Community. Instead, she said, “We don’t have that wind at our backs.”
An information session on the articles led by Gaylord will be held Oct. 26, at Deerfield Elementary School from noon to 1:30 p.m.