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16 Great Neck Road North <br />Nashpee, Massachusetts 02649 <br />assessment, which has not been done according to the knowledge of the DPW Director. There was a <br />goal of estimating the potential economic impact of conserving energy in Mashpee, there is internal <br />reporting of the cost benefits of transitioning our fleets to electric as a requirement of the program that <br />got us our four electric cars. We are only a few years into that program so we could calculate and <br />quantify the cost savings and how much saved in gasoline. That data would need to be analyzed <br />further to understand the benefits. That program does have case studies available from other <br />municipalities showing their cost benefit by transitioning to sustainable fuels. The grant application <br />process and the green community reporting estimates potential cost savings to the town that is tracked <br />by the DPW Director. The town does not catalogue the number of homes with solar domestic hot water <br />systems, sun spaces, or passive solar houses. We have adopted the stretch building code, so anything <br />in Mashpee is energy efficient and above and beyond the standard of state building code. There was a <br />goal in educating the DPW and other large fleets in the town about the benefits of converting their fleets <br />to compressed natural gas or other alternative fuels. He personally has never heard of compressed <br />natural gas and he is unsure if that ever became a commercially viable fuel source. We are continuing <br />to assess and understand the economic benefits of transitioning our current fleet to electric. There was <br />a goal of cataloging potential wind farm sites in Mashpee. Our zoning bylaw does have a Windfarm <br />Overlay District and standards and construction of such facilities are designed in the zoning bylaw. <br />They are allowed in all zoning districts with a unique ratio for a fall zone requirement to lot lines. It is his <br />understanding no wind farms exist in Mashpee. <br />Ms. Faulkner inquired about the ratio fall zone requirement to lot lines, meaning if it should fall it <br />wouldn't hit someone. <br />Mr. Lehrer commented the ratio is dependent on the total height of the tower, and requires for a certain <br />tower to be 120% of the total height of the tower, is the height it has to be set back from lot line. <br />Ms. Faulkner asked if he could identify any place in Mashpee where a wind farm would be allowed. <br />Mr. Balzarini noted they did a study and the only place was by South Cape Beach as the minimum wind <br />has to be 14 mph. <br />Mr. Lehrer will have to look into that but we have seen Falmouth's efforts with the energy. The wind <br />towers are more complicated in zoning than cell towers. <br />Mr. Lehrer continued another goal and action defined was to work and provide state and local <br />incentives for financially feasible renewable energy devices but eliminate loopholes that existed in past <br />federal and state legislation. He is unaware with what the town did to eliminate loopholes, whether they <br />lobbied the federal or state government for changes. The Commonwealth has taken a pretty significant <br />initiative in establishing the Mass Save program in making energy efficient devices available for <br />residents. He always refers people to that program but there is no such local program. Another goal <br />was to develop methods to maximize solar gain. The Massachusetts Zoning Act contemplates solar <br />gain and solar access, he may need to take a further dive into the bylaw and how we manage solar <br />