The Corte Madera Climate Action Committee reviewed a Dec. 4 workshop on heat pump water heaters and agreed to post the recording, develop a clearer Frequently Asked Questions document and circulate a draft to committee members for technical refinement.

Committee member Phoebe, a town staff presenter, said the event “was held on December 4th. We had 10 in person attendees and about 20 on Zoom. And the recording has since been posted to YouTube and has had about 40 views.” She told the committee a five-question survey returned uniformly positive responses but noted the small sample size.

Committee members discussed whether staff should refine and publish an FAQ based on attendees’ questions. Several members asked that the FAQ avoid overreaching beyond staff expertise on technical installation details such as closet placement, venting and circulation. Scottie from the building department was noted as an on-site expert whose answers could be reused; committee members said they would prefer to extract experts’ answers from the workshop transcript rather than create new, speculative guidance.

Phoebe said staff could circulate her draft FAQ and bring it back to a future meeting for review. A committee member recommended posting the transcript to make it easier for residents to jump to particular questions and for staff to copy expert answers directly.

The group also discussed outreach lessons: microphone problems during Q&A, topics attendees wanted next (ranked highest: heat pump space heating and cooling; also EVs and induction cooking), and which outreach channels drove attendance (postcards, town newsletter, reader board, and word-of-mouth). Several members said the event produced useful engagement and recommended repeating or building on the workshop format for future events.

Members asked staff to be mindful of workload and to circulate materials so that contractors or other technically qualified reviewers can help finalize answers before materials are posted.