LENOX – The Lenox Environmental Committee will have an agenda ranging from recycling bins for downtown streets to diesel fuel made from oil used in cooking French-fried potatoes when it meets on Jan. 31.
The committee was formed by a handful of dedicated environmentalists two years ago to analyze the energy consumption of town facilities. Since then, its concerns have led to leadership in efforts to install a wind turbine on Yokun Mountain and to encourage energy conservation with a an “idle-free†campaign to persuade motorists to turn off their engines during extended stops.
With Town Manager Gregory Federspiel as its mentor, the committee’s mission is to raise public awareness of ways not only to conserve energy but also to find replacements for fossil fuels that contaminate the atmosphere.
Federspiel, who has taken an active role in exploring the possibility of wind power for Lenox, said on Jan. 7 that he expecting the results of an engineering feasibility study within the next few weeks on whether the three 1-ton paddles for the projected turbine can be transported up a steep slope to the mountain’s crest.
Meanwhile, the committee, chaired by Jamie Cullihane, is encouraging Lenox homeowners to invest in a renewable Clean Energy Choice program offered by Massachusetts Electric Co. The utility’s customers are being given an option of signing up for clean energy created with biomass, solar, wind or hydroelectric power. Those who enroll pay a premium on each month's Mass. Electric bill, with the proceeds used to purchase green energy that is fed into the electric system. The premium ranges from 2.2 to 1.3 cents per kilowatt hour. The Lenox Selectmen have endorsed this program, also known as Green-Up, as well as the Cape Wind Project proposal for 130 wind turbines in the ocean off Cape Cod.
Rick Gregg, who initiated the idle-free campaign in Lenox, has been spreading word of the program throughout the state and hopes eventually it may spread across the nation. Idle-Free signs have been posted at schools, the Nature Preserve and other key points in town.
With these projects in progress, Cullihane said the Environmental Committee is now going to look at recycling and biodiesel as important “fronts†in the war against waste and pollution.
“We are going to look at the possibility of having recycling bins in town, along with trash bins,†he said last week. “There also should be extra bins in place for town-wide events such as the Apple Squeeze to receive used glass, cans and plastics.â€
He added, “We are also going to look at alternative automobiles’ fuel — biodiesel — made from vegetable oil, which can be used in any diesel vehicle.â€
In Holyoke, he said, the Energy Alliance is making biodiesel oil from plants that can be used in any diesel engine. Some people, he said, are processing used vegetable oil obtained from restaurant friers. He has also learned that a “veggie oil†refinery is being planned in the town of Greenfield.
Biodiesel is processed from animal fats as well as vegetable oils, a concept introduced by Rudolf Diesel, the German scientist who developed the first diesel engine to run on vegetable oil, which was demonstrated at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
According to a biodiesel fact sheet prepared by the Clean Cities Technical Assistance that is available on the Internet, biodiesel is ideal fuel for use on boats and on vehicles in national parks and forests, as well as in heavily polluted cities. It can be produced from any renewable oilseed crops, such as soybeans, corn, canola and cotton and mustard seeds.
And, Clean Cities adds, it replaces the exhaust odor of petroleum diesel with the pleasant aroma of popcorn or French fries.
“I would like to see the Department of Public Works in Lenox use veggie diesel oil in its trucks, “ Cullihane said, “but right now it is too expensive. I would also like to see it used in school buses, where fossil fuel diesel oil is a children’s health issue. I’d like to see the school bus contract include biodiesel.â€
He added, “When Gustave Diesel invented the diesel engine, he did it for vegetable oil for use in farm tractors. He never thought of using fossil-fuel oil. Now, 100 years later, people are realizing that veggie oil is cleaner, and it’s growing as a renewable resource.â€
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North Adams Officials to Revote School Committee Members
Staff reports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — City and school officials will meet a second time to vote in two new members of the School Committee.
The joint convention of the City Council and School Committee will be held on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the City Hall conference room and via Zoom.
Damon Grimes and Paul Moriarty were jointly elected on Monday to fill two seats vacated by resignation. They were two of four candidates standing for election.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey, chair of the School Committee, said she had received in inquiry about the votes, which were done by secret ballot.
"I have been advised that voting by ballot was not permissible in this circumstance," she said, after consulting the School Committee's attorney Adam Dupere and city solicitor KP Law.
To ensure the validity of the votes and conduct of the election, the joint convention will reconvene and formally confirm the selection of Grimes and Moriarty.
"I apologize for the inconvenience of having to reconvene," the mayor said in a statement. "My intention in using a ballot was to address concerns raised following our previous convention, when some members expressed discomfort with publicly voting for or against individual candidates.
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