Sheffield Voters: Prepare for Town Meeting with Two Webinars

As noted in a press release sent to WSBS from the Town of Sheffield, the town will be hosting two Green Communities Act webinars which will be presented by Mark Rabinsky, Regional Coordinator, DEP Green Communities:

The first one is entitled "Green Communities 101" and will be held this Wednesday, Jun. 10 at 6:30 pm.

You can connect to Wednesday's webinar by going here or you can dial in by using the following information:

Dial In Info:1(562) 247-8321
Access Code: 668-673-571
Audio PIN: #  Webinar ID: 707-327-435

The second webinar entitled "Green Communities, Stretch Code Focus" will take place on Wednesday, Jun. 23 at 6:30 pm.

You can connect to that webinar by going here or you can dial in by using the following information:

Dial In Info: 1(562) 247-8422
Access Code: 523-709-940
Audio PIN: #  Webinar ID: 935-567-579

Besides learning about the Green Communities Act, you will have an opportunity to ask all of your questions and be prepared for Town Meeting.

Background:

At The Town of Sheffield's Monday Jun. 29 Annual Town Meeting, voters will be asked to approve two warrant articles necessary for Sheffield to become a Massachusetts Green Community.

The first warrant article, an addition to the Town’s General By-Laws, adopts the State’s Stretch Energy Code, commonly known as the Stretch Code, as Sheffield’s building code. The second, an addition to our Zoning By-Laws, adds a By-Right Solar Photovoltaic Overlay District and map. The overlay district is the Sheffield Transfer Station.

The Board of Selectmen did not bring these two warrant articles forward before because the Stretch Code was significantly different than the building code. Now those differences have been eliminated except for the blower door test.

The Green Communities program was legislated in 2009; currently 271 out of 351 MA municipalities have joined the program. One benefit of becoming a Green Community is technical assistance in finding clean energy solutions to reduce energy costs, thus reducing taxpayer’s expenses for both current and future energy costs. For Sheffield, energy savings would focus primarily on electrical costs and some savings due to oil boiler tuning, determined by a recent energy audit done through a state grant. A second benefit is a state grant of $128,000 to pay for these measures. Once this $128,000 is spent, the Town may apply for additional energy reduction grants.