HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-COWB-2026-01-21YouTube Link:https://tinyurl.com/y5p7mxmy
Date:
Location:
Wednesday January 21, 2026
108 E. Green Street Ithaca NY 14850
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING B Voting
Record
1.Call To Order
1.1 Emergency Evacuation Notice
1.2 Agenda Review
2.Public Works & Operations
2.1 Sustainability- Distributed Energy Resources Plan
Attendance Record of Voting Members
Name Present Absent/Excused
Mayor - Robert Cantelmo X
1st Ward - Kayla Matos X
1st Ward - Jorge DeFendini X
2nd Ward - Ducson Nguyen X
2nd Ward - Joe Kirby X
3rd Ward - David Shapiro X
3rd Ward - Pat Sewell X
4th Ward - Patrick Kuehl X
4th Ward - Robin Trumble X
5th Ward - Margaret Fabrizio X
5th Ward - Hannah Shvets X
Discussion Summary: The January 21st 2026 Committee Of The Whole Meeting B is called
to order at 6pm. The Emergency evacuation notice was read to the public, there were no
changes to the agenda. Timestamp 0:32-1:20
Discussion Summary: Director of Sustainability Rebecca Evans presented before
council for questions and discussion. Council moved DER Plan item to the
February 4th 2026 Common Council regular voting meeting as a Consent Agenda
item. Timestamp 1:22-13:29
Moved By: Jorge DeFendini
Seconded By: Patrick Kuehl
Motion Summary: Motion to move the DER Plan to the February 4th 2026 Common
Council Consent Agenda. Moved by Alderperson DeFendini, Seconded by
Alderperson Kuehl. All in Favor. Motion carries unanimously 11-0
3.Public Safety
3.1 Community Responder Unit- ROOTS
4.Finance & Administration
4.1 Financial Reporting, Audit Readiness
Vote Passed 11-0 Carried Unanimously
Member Approve Oppose Recuse
Robert Cantelmo X
Kayla Matos X
Jorge DeFendini X
Ducson Nguyen X
Joe Kirby X
David Shapiro X
Pat Sewell X
Patrick Kuehl X
Robin Trumble X
Margaret Fabrizio X
Hannah Shvets X
Discussion Summary: Alderperson Nguyen moved and summarized item to open
for discussion. Timestamp 13:30-22:19
Moved By: Ducson Nguyen
Seconded By: Joe Kirby
Motion Summary: Motion to move Community Responder Unit- ROOTS to March
4th Common Council voting meeting. Moved by Alderperson Nguyen, Seconded
by Alderperson Kirby. Item is moved to the regular agenda. All In Favor of moving
to regular agenda. Motion carried unanimously 11-0
Vote Passed 11-0 Carried Unanimously
Member Approve Oppose Recuse
Robert Cantelmo X
Kayla Matos X
Jorge DeFendini X
Ducson Nguyen X
Joe Kirby X
David Shapiro X
Pat Sewell X
Patrick Kuehl X
Robin Trumble X
Margaret Fabrizio X
Hannah Shvets X
5.Intergovernmantal Relations
6.City Staff Reports- Council Review & Discussion
7.Council Liaison & Working Groups- Reports & Updates
8.Meeting Wrap-Up
Discussion Summary: Acting City Manager Dominick Recckio and Deputy
Controller Wendy Cole, presented council with the financial report updates and the
update on the city's audits. There is no voting item associated with this update.
Alderperson Shapiro noted that the first Finance and Administration Advisory
Committee meeting will be held this Friday (January 23rd) Timestamp 22:24-
30:01
Discussion Summary: Mayor Cantelmo named the Legislative Priority Working Groups and
members assigned. Timestamp 30:15-33:45
The Housing Advisory Working Group consists of Alderpersons Defendini, Nguyen,
Kirby, and Trumble, with Alderperson Nguyen serving as Secretary.
The Economic and Community Development Working Group consists of Alderpersons
Matos, Kirby, Kuehl, and Fabrizio, with Alderperson Kuehl serving as Secretary.
The Public Works and Operations Working Group consists of Alderpersons Defendini,
Nguyen, Sewell, and Fabrizio, with Alderperson Fabrizio serving as Secretary.
The Finance and Administration Working Group consists of Alderpersons Shapiro,
Defendini, Sewell, and Shvets, with Alderperson Shapiro serving as Secretary.
The Public Safety Working Group consists of Alderpersons Matos, Nguyen, Shapiro, and
Sewell, with Alderperson Matos serving as Secretary.
The Sustainability, Adaptability and Resilience Working Group consists of
Alderpersons Shapiro, Trumble, and Shvets, with Alderperson Trumble serving as
Secretary.
The Human Services and Quality of Life Working Group consists of
Alderpersons Matos, Trumble, Kuehl, and Shvets, with Alderperson Matos
serving as Secretary.
The Intergovernmental Relations Working Group consists of Alderpersons
Kirby, Kuehl, and Fabrizio, with Alderperson Kirby serving as Secretary.
Discussion Summary: No reports from City Staff. Timestamp 33:48
Discussion Summary: Council gave an update on their assigned working groups.
Timestamp 43:02-42:13
Discussion Summary: The City Attorney provided an overview of the City Attorney’s Office,
which is established in the City Charter, and explained that the office serves as legal
counsel for the City, Common Council, the City Manager, the Mayor, City departments,
and City boards and commissions, including quasi-judicial boards. Timestamp 42:15-
50:20
8.1 Meeting Adjourn
Discussion Summary: At the conclusion of all public business, Mayor Cantelmo
asked the public to clear Chambers. The meeting concluded with Council entering
into Executive Session, with no voting items to consider. Timestamp 50:21-50:54
Moved By: Patrick Kuehl
Seconded By: Jorge DeFendini
Motion Summary: Motion to Enter Into Executive Session with no voting items.
Moved by Alderperson Kuehl, Seconded by Alderperson DeFendini. All In Favor.
Motion Carried Unanimously 11-0
Vote Passed 11-0 Carried Unanimously
Member Approve Oppose Recuse
Robert Cantelmo X
Kayla Matos X
Jorge DeFendini X
Ducson Nguyen X
Joe Kirby X
David Shapiro X
Pat Sewell X
Patrick Kuehl X
Robin Trumble X
Margaret Fabrizio X
Hannah Shvets X
No Public Comment
About This Meeting
Date:
Time:
Location:
Watch Online:
Wednesday January 21, 2026
6:00 PM
108 E. Green Street Ithaca NY 14850
https://www.youtube.com/@CityofIthacaPublicMeetings
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING B COW
SESSION B AGENDA
1.Call To Order
1.1.
1.2.
2.Public Works & Operations
2.1.
3.Public Safety
3.1.
4.Finance & Administration
4.1.
5.Intergovernmantal Relations
6.City Staff Reports- Council Review & Discussion
7.Council Liaison & Working Groups- Reports & Updates
8.Meeting Wrap-Up
8.1.
Emergency Evacuation Notice
Agenda Review
Sustainability- Distributed Energy Resources Plan
Community Responder Unit- ROOTS
Financial Reporting, Audit Readiness
Meeting Adjourn
No Public Comment
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To Submit Written Comments please use the link below. Written comments submitted will be
compiled and entered into the record.
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About This Meeting
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understand the focus of each meeting. While each meeting has a primary theme, items may be scheduled on
either agenda as needed to balance workloads, meet timing requirements, or accommodate scheduling needs.
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CITY OF ITHACA
108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850-6590
Sustainability
Shaniqua Lewis, Deputy City Clerk
TO:COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING B
FROM:Director of Sustainability
DATE:January 21, 2026
RE:Sustainability- Distributed Energy Resources Plan
ITEM #:2.1
MEMORANDUM
Amendments to the Distributed Energy Resources Plan
ATTACHMENTS:
DER Plan -Reso 01.26.pdf
DER Plan Amended 01.26 (1).pdf
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CITY OF ITHACA
RESOLUTION TO ADOPT REVISED LOCAL DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES PLAN
Whereas, the City of Ithaca has demonstrated its desire and commitment to be a leader in
sustainability and social equity, as exemplified by the adoption and reaffirmation of the
Ithaca Green New Deal; and
Whereas, the Ithaca Green New Deal, adopted in 2019 and reaffirmed unanimously in May
2025, included a goal of community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030; and
Whereas, a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will require a combination of
both a reduction of energy use and of carbon content in energy consumed; and
Whereas, to achieve these two goals, the Green New Deal will need to rapidly deploy
renewable energy products, or DERs, through a multitude of diverse and affordable
pathways; and
Whereas, the City of Ithaca Common Council initially adopted the DER Plan and its sister
program, CCA, as Chapter 20 of the City Code on January 7th, 2023; and
Whereas, on June 18th, 2025 Common Council amended Chapter 20 in its entirety for the
purposes of more clearly separating the DER and CCA Plans, per Public Service
Commission guidance; and
Whereas, Chapter 20 of the City Code is now Local Law 04-2025, which consists solely of
the CCA program guidelines, and this proposed, revised DER Plan is a standalone
document that reflects the amendments made to Chapter 20; and
RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca adopts the Revised Local Distributed Energy Resources
(DER) Plan in complement to Community Choice Aggregation.
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CITY OF ITHACA
LOCAL DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCE PLAN
REVISED VERSION
Introduction
The City of Ithaca approved a Local Law in 2022 establishing a Community Choice
Aggregation (CCA) program, which allowed for collective purchasing of electricity and
natural gas supplies and sought to achieve city-wide decarbonization through Distributed
Energy Resources (DERs)), which are locally sited renewable energy and energy
efficiency measures. The law also provided for the participation of other Tompkins
County municipalities in these programs through an intermunicipal agreement known as
Tompkins Green Energy Network ("T-GEN") The local law was codified as Chapter 20 in
the City of Ithaca Code. In ____, 2023, the City of Ithaca Common Council approved its
“Local Distributed Energy Resource Plan for Community Choice Aggregation” (the
“2023 Plan”).
In June of 2025, the City deleted and replaced City Code Chapter 20 to comply with New York
State Public Service Commission rules. The new Chapter 20 is titled “A Local Law
Amending Chapter 20, Community Choice Aggregation (Energy) Program, of
the Ithaca City Code.”
Because the 2023 Plan tracked the 2022 law that is no longer in effect, the Common
Council will rescind the 2023 Plan and adopt this Local Distributed Energy Resource Plan
(“Local DER Plan”) as the next “step” in the process for the formation of the City's CCA
and DER Programs,. This document refers to sections of the new 2025 Local Law ("A Local
Law Adding A Distributed Energy Resources Article To City of Ithaca Code Chapter 20,
Community Choice Aggregation (Energy) Program and Distributed Energy Resources Program"),
italicized and with the “§” symbol for citation. Definitions of terms appear at the bottom
of this document.
The Local DER Plan reflects recognition of the limitations of city-wide decarbonization
through Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that are referred to as “green” or
“renewable” centralized grid power and “net metering.” Instead, the Plan follows a
localization and self-consumption strategy for DER design that seeks to provide (1)
savings to DER users and (2) a return on investment to DER owners, resulting from the
avoided cost of natural gas, electric grid power and vehicle fuel purchasing relative to the
cost of DER installation, operation, and administration.
The Local DER Plan recognizes that the goals of the City’s Green New Deal program
depend upon the effective engagement of energy consumers that live and work here. The
Plan recognizes obstacles to engagement and seeks collaboration between the City and
Town of Ithaca to simplify and standardize participation to maximize the number of
residents and businesses that are eligible and have the opportunity to participate. To be
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inclusive, the Plan employs both individual investment and cooperative investment. The
Plan’s references to “Cooperatives,” “Shares” and “investments” are descriptive; details
about the precise legal forms are being explored.
The Local DER Plan will be augmented by Article 1 (Community Choice Aggregation) of
City Code Chapter 20. Article 1 organizes a form of cooperation through aggregation of
energy demand, and the collective purchasing of electricity and gas Supply through the
passive mechanism of opt-out enrollment. The Local DER Plan will result in a program
that offers any Eligible Investor in the City of Ithaca an entirely voluntary option to
become Site Owners and/or Users of DERs. This is a deliberate facilitation to reduce the
amount of grid power and natural gas supplied to CCA customers or others who become
DER Investors. Use of DER-connected electric vehicles (EVs) will also physically reduce
DER Investors' gasoline and diesel use.
By uniting these services under the Local DER Plan, the City enables an organized and
deliberate transition from conventional supplies to DERs for all "addressable" sources of
carbon in the City of Ithaca: power, heat, transportation, and waste (Addressable Carbon).
The City’s next steps following the adoption of a new City Local Law Chapter 20 will be
(1) adoption of this Local DER Plan, (2) selection of a CCA Administrator and DER
Administrator, (3) participation in communication and outreach for CCA and DER
programs(4) selection of electricity and gas Supply following Request(s) for Proposals
submitted by the CCA Administrator, and (5) oversight of ongoing DER program
activities. This Local DER Plan focuses on the DER program.
Distributed Energy Resources (DER) as Authorized by the Local Law
In 2025, the City of Ithaca and Town of Ithaca also adopted similar Local Laws to create a
CCA and DER program, define their purposes, articulate their structures, and authorize
activities of the City, Town, and a CCA Administrator and DER Administrator to
implement the program. Article 2 of the City Local Law Chapter 20 (DER Local Law) is
as follows.
§20-12. Legislative Findings; Intent and Purpose; Authority.
A. The City of Ithaca has long demonstrated its commitment to sustainability and
community-wide greenhouse gas reduction from energy use, transportation, land use
and waste management.
B. On May 5, 2021, the City adopted a new Energy Code Supplement.
C. On November 3, 2021, the City established a goal to increase energy efficiency and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy use in existing buildings by promoting
city-wide Energy Efficiency Retrofitting and Thermal Load Electrification.
D. Following electrification of thermal loads, electricity use will become one of the most
significant contributors to local greenhouse gas emissions in new and existing
buildings.
E. The DER Administrator will administer energy services in a manner that expands
access to solar and other Distributed Energy Resources by administering optional
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enrollment of Eligible Investors in voluntary investments in DER, and administer a
bookkeeping, financing and customer engagement umbrella for such Eligible
Investors.
F. To create the necessary capacity to run the program, this Chapter establishes a third
party- based process, using a DER Administrator to manage a community-wide
energy transition, administer multiple suppliers and community-owned DERs on a
citywide, building-by-building and block-by-block level in the City of Ithaca, and
offer support to other subsequent municipalities that join the City through an
intermunicipal agreement, to facilitate enrollment, reporting and bill processing for
voluntary investment by residents and businesses within their jurisdictional
boundaries.
G. Furthermore, the DER Administrator may provide direct technical support to other
member municipalities who need assistance analyzing data, identifying DER sites,
engaging customers in voluntary investment, prequalifying contractors to bid on
projects, and prequalifying lenders to finance projects.
This Local DER Plan is a voluntary act of the City of Ithaca to further define, support, and
promote the DER program and to encourage and facilitate DER ownership opportunities
within the City. This Local DER Plan specifies how the City will provide support and
oversight for the DER program to launch, and how continuing DER development will be
maintained for the duration of the DER program.
To accomplish these goals, the Local DER Plan provides for the use of a DER
Administrator to manage the DER activities on behalf of the City. The Local DER Plan
creates a process for municipal support and oversight of DER activities by the DER
Administrator. This Plan also defines the method of compensation for a DER Administrator
for DER implementation, the specific figures for which will be determined by negotiation
with the DER Administrator that is selected to run the program.
The Local DER Plan specifies how it will be implemented by the DER Administrator.
Among other things, the DER Administrator will implement a town-wide DER voluntary
investment program.
As the Local Law specifies, this program is authorized by the City of Ithaca, under Local
Law according to any applicable New York State PSC DER rules and procedures.
§20-13A. The City of Ithaca hereby establishes a DER program that is governed by
the City’s Local Distributed Energy Resource Plan, which Plan the Common Council
may adopt and amend from time to time by resolution.
The Local DER Plan reflects the Local Law in using a DER Administrator to manage the
DER activities on behalf of the City.
§20-13B. The City of Ithaca may select a third party as DER Administrator.
This program will employ standard agreement templates that the DER Administrator will
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draft for co-investment by different kinds of customers for different kinds of DERs. The
DER Administrator will submit proposed templates to a designated City representative for
a sign-off before they are made executable by Eligible Investors. Proposed templates will
be adapted to customer and DER types to provide a voluntary investment opportunity for
all Eligible Investors.
The core decarbonization mission as stated in Chapter 20, and implementable through the
Local DER Plan, is to decarbonize buildings through the development of onsite and
nearby DERs designed primarily for Self-Consumption through Interoperability of onsite
and nearby power, heat, transportation and waste systems, including appliance
automation, demand dispatch, nanogrids, microgrids, thermal loops, micro-districts and
mini-districts, on and where desired and feasible within properties, and between adjoining
properties throughout the City. It is the purpose of this program to design and install
DERs in a manner that significantly reduces DER Users’ demand of greenhouse gas-
producing heating and transportation fuels, by providing all or part of Users’ energy needs
with onsite DERs. It is also the intention of this Plan, where desired and feasible, to install
EV chargers at or near DER sites on sidewalks, public properties and municipal rights of
way, as well as on municipal properties and meters. This program establishes a planning
process between the DER Administrator and City of Ithaca to accomplish this mission.
This program is city-wide, extending eligibility for DER share ownership to all Eligible
Investors, and encompassing power, heat, transportation and waste. A robust and
cooperative relationship between the DER Administrator and the City is a critical
component to provide residents and businesses with adequate support to participate in a
successful community wide energy transition. Engagement must be actively supported
and coordinated in a sustained manner to provide public awareness of and trust in the
DER program and effectively engage residents and businesses over time.
The DER Administrator will provide similar work for other municipalities that join the
City and Town of Ithaca, or with a group formed by Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) if
one is created. Details on a potential IMA follow in subsequent sections.
§20-13 D. The City of Ithaca's intermunicipal agreement with the Town of Ithaca
and other municipalities in Tompkins County, and potentially municipalities in
adjoining counties, may also support Eligible Investors' access to DERs, including
potentially the City's Energy Efficiency Retrofitting and Thermal Load
Electrification Program resources, and shall include a process for other
municipalities in Tompkins County to offer their Eligible Investors such resources
to join the DER program.
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Description of City of Ithaca Local DER Plan for CCA
I. Approach
The Local DER Plan will offer Eligible Investors the ability to share Distributed Energy
Resources (DERs), in order to localize investment and economic benefits for DER
Investors in their neighborhood and City. In coordination with the City's CCA electricity
and gas Supply program under PSC oversight, the DER Administrator will administer a
local DER program under municipal oversight.
The program offers a broad range of technologies configured for maximum physical
decarbonization across all four sectors of “Addressable Carbon,” including electricity,
heating/cooling/hot water, transportation, and waste. This will provide City residents and
businesses with more choices and more flexible ways to participate, in order to achieve
the high levels of participation required to reach community wide climate goals.
The program is focused on community and online engagement and robust use of
municipal communication platforms to provide ongoing education and outreach, in order
to both inform and simplify participation for all community members.
The DER program is focused on facilitating physical sharing by neighbors and collocation
of DERs, where desired and feasible, and co-investment, in order to achieve economies of
scale that may increase the affordability of DER technologies for more people, which can
also increase participation levels in the community.
The program is focused on DER systems design for onsite Self-Consumption in order to
make a community-wide DER build out possible 1) avoiding the imposition of costs on
distribution utility customers, and 2) minimizing grid upgrade delays by the utility to
achieve the City's more accelerated climate goal timeline. The avoidance of unnecessary
costs and delays facilitates the accelerated installation of DERs by a greater number of
customers than would otherwise be feasible under conventional net metering programs
and is more appropriate for city-wide approaches to decarbonization.
Finally, the program’s inclusiveness and flexibility will enable a multi-site acquisition
approach to DER development in order to achieve a desired scale of climate impact in a
timely way.
II. Decarbonize All Addressable Carbon Through DER
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Paths to decarbonizing electricity are blocked by the legacy energy system. The grid has
reached its limits as a business model and is itself a cause of carbon emissions as a result
of losses during energy transmission and the need for Spinning Reserves, not to mention
the direct carbon emissions associated with building high voltage transmission lines and
clearcutting transmission corridors. Much of a building’s energy requirements can be
generated on-block, making strictly centralized business models of renewables, like net
metering, increasingly economically obsolete. Renewable Energy Certificate trading
regimes dilute carbon benefits, cause new environmental justice issues, confuse
consumers and undermine public trust in renewables as a climate pathway. Energy from
renewable technologies is already competitive with market power, and much more stable
in price. Sharing technologies like electric vehicle sharing and renewable nanogrids,
microgrids, thermal loops, micro-districts and mini-districts are widely demonstrated
niche markets. An effective program for engaging and aggregating DER Investors to help
them design and solicit proposals from DER Vendors can reduce engineering costs to
make energy from DERs more competitive in price and potentially increase community
participation levels. The DER Administrator is charged with facilitating this physical
transition of building decarbonization as defined in chapter 20.
§20-13. DER Program Established.
E. The DER Administrator may evaluate local DER opportunities, facilitate DER
procurement, and advise Eligible Investors regarding bids for DER projects.
F. The DER Administrator may directly enroll Eligible Investors through an opt-in
procedure into the following DER investment options:
1) To purchase an individually-owned DER project
2) To Opt-Up to purchase Shares in a neighborhood DER project; and
3) To Opt-With neighbors in a Cooperative to own and operate on-site DERs.
The DER Administrator will engage DER Lenders and other prequalified financial
partners designated by the City to provide loans or other financing for DER and track
ongoing performance of each DER Investor's investment including a list and analysis of
DER costs, avoided energy costs, and net savings.
A. DER Program Eligibility
Any resident, business, institution, or government agency in the City that is an Eligible
Investor and is using services for electricity, heating, transportation or waste, is eligible to
participate in the DER program, provided that such participation shall depend upon the
availability of DER projects, and the availability of Shares that some DER projects may
employ to facilitate co-investment .
§20-13K. All Eligible Investors shall be eligible to participate in DER Shares and
Cooperatives, provided that their ability to participate shall depend upon the
availability of DER projects and financing.
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B. Aggregating Local DER Demand
Third party DER Vendors are typically siloed by technology, dependent on utility tariffs,
and are often either not advanced enough in their technology applications (e.g., stand-
alone solar PV), or are prohibitively expensive for many consumers (e.g., solar PV plus a
wall battery). Disorganized customers generally lack information to choose or evaluate
advanced local renewable energy systems. Disintegrated energy choices in current
markets separate decision-making about electricity, heat, transportation, and waste into
isolated acts. Disaggregated customers lack market power to achieve project economies of
scale, and often cannot afford additional engineering costs associated with more
advanced, Interoperable DERs.
The DER program approach to these decarbonization challenges is to engage the
community as Eligible Investors and DER Users in replacing multiple fossil fuel uses with
DERs onsite or in the neighborhood. Renewable electricity sharing systems require
cooperation in a building. Power and heat sharing systems require aggregation and
facilitation. Sharing in a neighborhood requires an agreement between DER Users and
interested neighbors. Changes in waste management practices and public sector energy
projects require ongoing coordination between a municipality, local and regional agencies
and service providers. The DER Administrator will prioritize the support of local agencies
and services, in order to facilitate coordination of DER investment.
C. Serving “All Energy”
The CCA DER program will decarbonize city-wide through diversified local DER
investment to decarbonize power, heating and vehicles through electrification bundled
with onsite renewables and efficiency measures. On a parallel track, the program will seek
to help local waste managers decarbonize waste management through waste separation
and conversion practices. DER measures by carbon source include:
● Onsite renewable plug loads
○ Onsite renewable microgrid
○ Onsite renewable nanogrid
○ Energy efficiency measures
○ Appliance integration
○ EV integration
● Onsite solar electric powered, geothermal, and solar heat
○ Thermal loops, micro-districts, and mini-districts
○ Heat pumps
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● Switch to onsite EVs
○ Onsite RE chargers for self-consumption (V2B)
○ EV sharing
○ Sharer EV rental
○ Neighborhood renewable EV renting
● Engagement of T-GEN member municipalities to reduce solid waste and
sewer waste dumping and incineration
○ Separation
○ Re-use (e.g., composting)
○ Conversion to hydrogen for DER
○ Detoxification and/or sequestration of toxic residues
D. DER Design
DERs will be designed to avoid distribution system obstacles to city-wide decarbonization
(e.g., upgrade costs). Self-consumption, rather than net metering and export of electricity,
will incorporate electrification to onsite renewable heat, and use of DER-connected
electric vehicles. A DER will significantly reduce, but is unlikely to eliminate grid use,
and may entirely eliminate a User’s natural gas consumption. The program will facilitate
both individual DER investment and sharing by neighbors, as well as collocation of
shared heat, power, and EV facilities, by designing DER technology to fit Users’ onsite
and nearby energy needs. Facilitating neighbor sharing and the interoperability of DER
components will facilitate self-consumption. DER systems will be designed primarily
under a non-exporting specification, and where feasible, will incorporate an “islanding”
capability for onsite resilience and/or grid autonomy.
DER sharing platforms will consist of singular and combined stakeholder nanogrids,
microgrids and/or thermal loops using multi-stakeholder cooperative ownership
agreements to enable joint co-investment, ownership and use of DERs. Sharing will
employ a multi-benefit microgrid ledger in which ownership is split between Cooperative
Members, with energy savings and dividends resulting from DER use divided between
them. Owners, partners, and stakeholders may include citizens, small businesses,
technology services providers, institutions and government entities. DER systems,
whether shared or individual, will range from installations in single family homes or small
to medium sized businesses, to larger DERs on multi-residential buildings, mixed use
buildings, large commercial and institutional buildings, and/or government facilities.
III. Individual Voluntary Investment
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Individual consumers may also voluntarily invest singularly in DER products that provide
onsite renewable packaged with interoperable electrified heating and/or transportation.
Renewable energy technologies adapted to DER site conditions and User group energy
needs will be combined with electrification and efficiency measures to maximize savings
from demand reduction and onsite DER Self- Consumption.
All DERs, including DER designed for individual voluntary investment participants, will
be primarily designed for Self-Consumption.
The use of an electric vehicle and a switch in heating systems, as well as implementation of
energy efficiency measures, will be bundled together in packages to deliver self-
consumption to the DER user.
Depending on an individual investor type and size, a DER package may include a
nanogrid, microgrid, thermal loop, micro-district, or mini-district.
For purposes of this document individual DER investment will also be facilitated for
Eligible Investors wishing to finance and own a DER project meaning they are the solar
DER User and 100% Share owner, exercising site control at a location where DERs are
installed.
IV. DER Cooperation and Sharing: Users, Sharers, Site Owners
DER Cooperatives will facilitate universal access to DERs by enabling greater
stakeholder diversity, and enhancing community education, inclusion and sharing for the
program. Cooperative Agreements will be entered into through mutual negotiation
between Members, in compliance with the relative legal instruments, and will be signed
by authorized representatives of the parties. There are three different types of Members in
a Cooperative, defined by using the DER, owning Shares in the DER, and owning the host
location where DERs are installed:
● Share Owners who are Users of the DERs ("Users")
● Share Owners who are not Users of the DERs ("Sharers")
● Site Owner(s) who may be sharers or users of the DERs ("Site Owners")
The approach will be flexible and sensitive to site control options. Site Owners may own,
use, and share DER at their discretion. A Share owner may or may not be a DER User,
but only Share owners may be DER Users. Sharers who, for example, do not own or hold
a long-term lease for their dwelling/enterprise, or own or lease a building ill-suited to
DERs, may purchase Shares without being Users, may be partial Users (such as sharing
an electric vehicle or thermal loop) or may in the future become Users if conditions
permit. The DER Administrator will work with Sharer/User(s) and Site Owner(s) to
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determine how many Share/Non-User applicants are allowable for individual DER
projects. Sharers/Users and Site Owners may also self-organize their own Sharer group
and work with the DER Administrator as such.
Sharer/Users will be off-takers of energy from a DER system and will enter mutually into
an agreement to determine compensation terms between Sharers, User/Sharers and Site
Owners.
EVs included as components of DERs may be used by DER Investors whether or not such
DER Investors inhabit a building hosting the DERs.
Thermal loops and mini-districts included in components of DERs may be used by DER
Investors whether or not such Investors inhabit a building hosting electricity-generating
DERs
Every share, whether owned by a User, Sharer, or Site Owner, will have equal value and
receive equal treatment. Apart from DER loan repayment, savings from avoided electricity
consumption, natural gas consumption and vehicle fuel consumption will be divided
between the Shares. The DER Administrator will prepare and submit standard
Cooperative Agreement template(s) for review and sign-off by designated City staff, for
use by DER Cooperative groups to define the terms between Users, Sharers, and Site
Owners of a DER project.
The process of creating Cooperative Agreements will be as follows:
● Cooperative Agreement standard template sign-off by a representative of the
municipality
● Cooperative Agreement signed by Sharer/Users and Site Owners
● Sharers who are not Users then enrolled
● DER Loan or other financing application to a prequalified lender or City finance
partner is processed
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Under the Shares approach, prospective Sharer/Users will form a Cooperative, with
agreement of the Site Owner(s), which will mutually establish the terms of DERs usage.
Sharers must agree to the terms of the Cooperative Agreement, join as Members of the
Co-op as Sharers, and purchase Shares that are defined within the terms and limitations of
the Co-op’s adopted Cooperative Agreement. Loans or financing will be executed either
individually or as a group, as desired and feasible.
The DER Administrator manages procurement on behalf of residents or businesses who
sign up to voluntarily invest in local and onsite DERs.
A Cooperative group will contract with prequalified DER Vendor(s) and DER Lender(s)
solicited by the DER Administrator, who will employ an RFI/RFP or RFQ and “Job
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Order” procurement approach.
V. Roles of the DER Administrator
The DER Administrator will manage DER supplier procurement, as described in Article 2
of City of Ithaca Code Chapter 20, and will prioritize inclusivity in the energy transition.
The DER Administrator will be responsible for regulatory compliance with state agencies
for DER activities, DER procurement, solicitations, management, analysis, and DER
Vendor and Lender prequalification, Cooperative Agreements, contracts, and DER
Investor support.
The DER Administrator will be responsible for managing DER site acquisition and will
provide a supporting role in DER site planning and permitting activities for multi-site
acquisition of Site Owners and building occupants (DER off-takers).
The DER Administrator will be responsible for representing the program to the City’s
staff and Common Council, managing communication processes and participating in any
public hearings, and providing support to City staff for coordinating municipal agency
cooperation and partnership activities, including state agency and university cooperation
and partnerships, and applications for state, federal and nonprofit funding.
The DER Administrator will manage data, data collection, analysis and reporting with the
City, Eligible Investors, DER Investors, Suppliers, DER Vendors, DER Lenders and City-
designated finance partners, including the following:
● Data analysis including GIS, Profits and Losses Modeling, customer-specific
confidential data collection, management, and use for DER facility siting, design,
tracking and reporting to customers
● Data sharing with DER Vendors, Lenders, and finance partners for billing,
updating DER Investor web portals and reporting purposes
○ DER program performance reporting to the DER Investor
○ Summary of DER project performance reporting to DER Investor
○ Summary of DER projects and program performance to the municipality,
analyzing performance and recommending program improvements, needed
changes and new procedures to improve program performance for
municipal sign-off or Common Council action
○ Contractor performance evaluation, database of warranties and agreements
● Direct communication to diverse Eligible Investor and DER Investor groups
The DER Administrator will utilize, among others and as needed, the following steps for
DER development:
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● Data, survey, site analysis
● User enrollment
● Site acquisition
● Planning
● Cooperative Agreement or individual customer commitment to consider DER
Vendor proposal(s)
● RFP/solicitation bid acceptance
● Permits
● Shares enrollment by neighbors
● Finance/loan
● Finalize contract with DER Vendor(s)
● Track DER installation
● DER data tracking/reporting
A. DER Administrator Enrollment of Participants in DER Voluntary
Investment
The DER Administrator will manage enrollment of Eligible Investors as DER Investors
and administer dedicated billing and reporting for Sharers and Users and Site Owners of a
DER.
All Consumers of electricity and/or natural gas within the geographic boundaries of the
City of Ithaca will become eligible for DER Voluntary Investment as described in Chapter
20:
§20-2 Definitions. ELIGIBLE INVESTOR(s) or INVESTOR(s) shall mean
consumer(s) of electricity and/or natural gas who receive Default Service from the
Distribution Utility, at one or more locations within the geographic boundaries of
the City of Ithaca.
§20-13 DER Program Established.
C. The DER Administrator may establish a system of Energy Loan Accounts to
engage Eligible Investors, prequalify lenders, and track the performance of DER
investments by Eligible Investors who elect to voluntarily invest in DERs.
E. The DER Administrator may evaluate local DER opportunities, facilitate DER
procurement, and advise Eligible Investors regarding bids for DER projects.
J. All Eligible Investors electing to participate in a DER Investment shall be
enrolled on an affirmative voluntary, opt-in basis, whether individually, or through
a decision to Opt-Up to own shares in DERs, or to Opt-With to own DERs through
membership in a Cooperative.
The DER Administrator may provide a DER Sharer and User ledger for the Members of
each Cooperative, and collect and report pertinent data to such Members for use with the
ledger according to the terms of its Cooperative Agreement. The provision of energy usage
data, and lender data to Users, Sharers and Site Owners may be administered by the DER
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Administrator.
§20-13 G. The DER Administrator may create a system of Cooperative ownership
to facilitate transactions and settlements by Share owners of a DER project to
compensate each other for ownership and use of such DER Equity, and may
facilitate funding, including through the City of Ithaca's Energy Efficiency
Retrofitting and Thermal Load Electrification Program or other sources.
The DER Administrator will separately prequalify and engage DER Lenders to provide
loans to Voluntary Investors. The DER Administrator will also prequalify City-designated
partners or other low-cost financing options to offer building decarbonization financing
products to Eligible Investors or Cooperatives, such as the City's Energy Efficiency
Retrofitting and Thermal Load Electrification Program or other approved sources, such as
Climate Bonds.
The DER Administrator may choose to engage with one or more Program Organizers to
educate and engage both Customers in the City of Ithaca and the municipal governments
in and around Tompkins County to join or participate in the DER program.
§20-13I. The DER Administrator may designate one or more Program Organizers
to assist in the education and engagement of Eligible Consumers, Eligible Investors
and municipalities in Tompkins County to participate in the DER program.
The DER Administrator will provide a dedicated bookkeeping platform for DER
Investors.
The DER Administrator will organize DER Investor Cooperatives through “Opt-With”
enrollment. Opt-With customers will voluntarily invest in a local DER project through a
Cooperative. For Customers unable to be Users but wishing to invest in Shares, the DER
Administrator will enroll Sharers as an “Opt-Up” enrollment, based on the availability of
Shares in local DER projects. Opt-Up and Opt-With customers will enter into a
Cooperative agreement to allocate payments and/or dividends amongst members, and to
secure and Energy Loan or other financing, as desired and feasible, in order to voluntarily
invest in a local DER project.
§ 20-14 Voluntary Investment Enrollment Process.
A. An Eligible Investor's decision to invest in DERs may involve financing, including
loans by prequalified lenders, DER Loan Accounts, and cooperative agreements with
co-investors, as appropriate.
B. A choice to purchase DERs individually will place a consumer on a list to
participate in a DER investment on their property.
C. A choice to “Opt-Up” for Shares will place a consumer on a list to participate
financially in a nearby DER project once it is available.
D. A choice to “Opt-With” neighbors and building owners by becoming members of a
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Cooperative will place a consumer on a list to participate physically in an onsite DER
project, pending site availability and completion of an agreement to share savings, by
the members of a Cooperative facilitated by the CCA Administrator.
The DER Administrator will assist participants relative to Cooperative, Vendor and
Lender engagement processes.
B. DER Data Management
The DER Administrator will coordinate data collection with Suppliers, and make all
collected data available to the City at its request.
§20-16 DER Data Protection Requirements.
A. City of Ithaca departments and other CCA program member municipalities
involved in supporting the CCA program and DER Shares service and DER
Cooperative service will share energy data and other data with their respective
CCA and DER Administrators to tailor DER products to Eligible Consumers and
Eligible Investors, and to facilitate Investor engagement, program administration,
operations, billing and collection, provided that any use of an Eligible Consumer's
Customer-Specific Data for DER-related purposes will be conditioned upon receipt
of affirmative permission from each customer who elects to receive DER investment
offers and/or become a DER Investor.
B. Customer-Specific Data shall be protected in a manner compliant with,
collectively:
1. All national, state and local laws, regulations or other government standards
relating to the protection of information that identifies or can be used to identify an
individual with respect to the CCA Administrator's, DER Administrator’s and City
of Ithaca’s processing of confidential utility information;
2. The Distribution Utility's internal requirements and procedures relating to the
protection of information that identifies or can be used to identify an individual with
respect to the City of Ithaca or its representative's processing of confidential utility
information; and
3. The PSC CCA Orders and PSC rules, regulations and guidelines relating to
confidential data.
C. DER Administrator Customer Service
The DER Administrator will establish and manage a customer call center and a customer-
specific online account system. Customer service will include direct mail and be
referenced in City of Ithaca CCA and DER Outreach and Education activities.
§ 20-15. DER Investors shall be provided Investor account support by the DER
Administrator, including a toll-free telephone number available during normal
business hours (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday) to
resolve concerns, answer questions, and transact business with respect to the
service received from the DER provider, as well as a secure Investor-specific online
account, scheduled direct mail, and messages inserted into City of Ithaca scheduled
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direct mail and public notices.
The DER Administrator’s DER Outreach and Education activities – via municipal
communications, web communications, and direct mail - will include the following:
● Prospective Cooperatives engaged by group based on building occupancy and Site
Owner authorization
● Shares participants engaged individually based on sign-up and enrollment
authorization
● Cooperative group facilitation and data sharing between participants
● Monthly educational messages about program using municipal channels
● Performing requested data analysis for any customer
● Enterprise web site management with customer specific accounts
● Free media, direct mail, monthly live public webinars
● Recorded webinar series
D. DER Administrator Engagement Activities
The DER Administrator’s Voluntary Investor engagement activities will include the
following:
● Assist in public community meetings
● Create and manage DER RFPs/solicitations with DER Vendors
● Engage Common Council/Town Board/ Intermunicipal Agreement and an advisory
group in developing Community DERs on municipal properties, equipment, and
fleets
● Solicit Site Owners
● Solicit DER Users
● Solicit DER Sharers
● Engage social service agencies and community organizations, as appropriate, to
solicit Assistance Program Participants (APP) and Low to Moderate Income
(LMI) shares investors
● Engage neighbors to sign Cooperative Agreements including occupants and
owners, residential, commercial and institutions
● Engage individuals to participate in local DER voluntary investment
● Engage (non-APP) Low- to Moderate Income residents
● Engage large commercial customers in DER voluntary investment
● Provide the municipality, on a monthly basis, all materials and messaging for its
municipal public distribution, web site, notices, and communications platforms
The DER Administrator’s primary customer engagement method will be as follows:
● DER Investors who are both Sharers and Users - web, mail
● DER Investors who are Sharers - web, phone
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● DER Site Owners - phone, mail
The DER Administrator will maintain a website and online customer relationship
management and/or customer engagement system to augment customer service.
The DER Administrator’s Eligible Investor and DER Investor engagement, including
Outreach and Education, Site Owner consent and contracts, will be as follows:
● Site acquisition, lease writing, support for planning, permitting
● Co-op education, outreach, engagement, and implementation
● Cooperative Agreement writing including Shares, Users and Site Owners
● Shares customer education, outreach, engagement, and enrollment
● Shares term sheet based on Cooperative Agreement
The DER Administrator’s Sharer engagement, including waitlisting, enrollment, and
Sharer Agreement, will be as follows:
● CCA-related Opt-out notification information and links to DER web page and
Customer Service number
● Customer-specific web account
● Explanation of Cooperative, Sharing and individual investment terms
● Web and phone support for contract signing
The DER Administrator’s Individual DER Voluntary Investment engagement will provide
DER procurement for Eligible Investors who wish to own and use DERs individually.
The DER Administrator will facilitate communication in collaboration with the City to
engage with Eligible Investors. Approved communications will reflect recognition of the
program as community-driven and as facilitating communitywide decarbonization, in
which all residents and businesses are eligible to own and/or use neighborhood-sited
DERs. A municipally designated representative of the City may review and sign off on
these messages ahead of release.
E. DER Administrator Engagement of DER Vendors and Lenders
The DER Administrator’s engagement of DER Vendors, Lenders, and Site Owners may
include the following activities:
● Define Vendor program
● Prequalify DER Vendors
● Issue RFPs
● Negotiate contracts
● Confirm Data Sharing Agreement
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● Define Lender program
● Solicit bank participation
● Prequalify DER Lenders
● Secure DER leases
● Solicit owner participation in DER voluntary investment
● Negotiate building owner provisions in Cooperative Agreement
F. DER Administrator DER Reporting
The DER Administrator will separately provide annual Local DER reports to an individual
customer and the City.
§20-18. An annual report shall be prepared by the DER Administrator, which
report shall be filed with the Common Council of the City of Ithaca by March 31 of
each year and cover the previous calendar year. DER annual reports shall include,
at a minimum, number of Eligible Investors served, number of complaints received,
carbon reductions resulting, and administrative costs collected. Information shall
be broken down by municipality, where applicable.
G. DER Administrator Compensation
The funding source of the DER Administrator’s compensation for work performed on
behalf of the DER Voluntary Investment program, is described in the Local Law as
follows:
§20-17. The DER Administrator may collect, or cause to be collected, funds from
DER Investor payments, DER developers or DER lenders, to pay for administrative
costs associated with running the DER program.
The contract with a DER Administrator will involve a five-year term with an option to
renew. The DER Administrator will charge a DER procurement fee that is a fixed
percentage of project value, to be negotiated between the City and DER Administrator in
a DER Administrator Agreement, which will be paid to the DER Administrator
irrespective of which DER Vendor, DER Lender or City-designated finance partner is
selected. Compensation shall be paid either upon commissioning of DER as an upfront
payment by the DER Vendor, Lender or other City-designated financial partner, or
otherwise on an ongoing basis as percentage of monthly loan repayment for the full
maturity, as is required by the City and accepted by the DER Administrator. Customers
who self-finance DERs and do not require an energy loan will pay the DER procurement
fee as part of the installed system cost up-front or in installments.
VI. Roles of the Municipality
A. Engagement with DER Administrator and T-GEN Member
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Municipalities
The DER Administrator will report to an advisory group designated by the City, as well as
individually to a designated City representative. The DER Administrator will continue to
have regularly scheduled Zoom meetings every two weeks with the Advisory Group and
once a week with the designated City representative. A CCA Advisory Group was
established by the City of Ithaca’s Local CCA Law to develop and review CCA related
proposals, to act as the City of Ithaca’s agent in approving proposals, and where
appropriate to forward information regarding such approvals to the Common Council for
ratification. The City may expand the scope of topics covered by the CCA Advisory Group
to also cover DER programs. Membership in the advisory group will include City Staff and
City of Ithaca Common Council members. The advisory group will host the meetings on
the City and/or Town’s Zoom account or in person as its members deem appropriate.
§10. “CCA Advisory Group.
A. A CCA Advisory Group is hereby established to develop and review CCA related
proposals, act as the City of Ithaca’s agent in awarding said proposals, and forward
information regarding such awards to the Common Council for ratification.
B. Membership to the CCA Advisory Group shall include City Staff and City of
Ithaca Common Council.”
An Intermunicipal Agreement for the City and Town of Ithaca may be signed to coordinate
and cooperate around their CCA and DER programs. The Intermunicipal Agreement will
be developed following the approval of this Local DER Implementation Plan and selection
of a DER Administrator.
The CCA Administrator will engage interested municipalities within or near Tompkins
County to join the City and Town of Ithaca by seeking to join T-GEN.
B. Governance, Outreach, Education
1. Two-Year Governance Schedule
A Two-Year Governance Schedule includes continuing biweekly meetings of the CCA and
DER Advisory Group, Common Council Meetings by request of the Advisory Group, and
if created, monthly meetings of an intermunicipal group.
2. Public Outreach and Education Schedule
The Public Meetings and Tabling Schedule from _____, 2025 to _____, 2025, is as
follows:
MTG O&E DETAILED TIMELINE
# O&E ITEM
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PHASE I O&E (INITIAL - MIN. 60 DAYS, up to 90) Months One and Two
*All Meetings & Sessions live broadcasted & recorded by municipality &
posted on LP & Municipal Websites
*All 10 Day Notices on LP website, Municipal CCA web pages, Municipal
printed/posted notices, ROBOCALL
1: 10 Day Notice of In-Person Hybrid Public Meeting 1
Physical Supplemental - Municipal tax or water bill insert
Electronic Supplemental - TV or radio interviews (suggestions?)
Physical Supplemental - Poster/Municipal Flyer
Physical Supplemental - Newspaper print ad
Public Meeting 1 City (in person)
Public Meeting 1 Town (in person)
DER City
DER Town
2: 10 Day Notice Zoom Information Session 1
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal email
Physical Supplemental - Newspaper print ad
Information Session 1 City (Zoom)
Information Session 1 Town (Zoom)
DER City
DER Town
3: 10 Day Notice Zoom Information Session 2
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal social media
Physical Supplemental - Poster/Municipal flyers
Information Session 2 City (Zoom)
Information Session 2 Town (Zoom)
DER City
DER Town
4: 10 Day Notice in-Person Hybrid Public Meeting 2
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal digital newsletter
Physical Supplemental - Municipal postcards?
Public Meeting 2 City (in person)
Public Meeting 2 Town (in person)
DER City
DER Town
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Month Three
PHASE II O&E (POST AWARD - MIN. 30 DAYS) Month Four
5: 10 Day Notice of In-Person Hybrid Public Meeting 3
Physical Supplemental - Municipal tax or water bill insert
Electronic Supplemental - TV or radio interviews (suggestions?)
Physical Supplemental - Poster/Municipal flyers
Physical Supplemental - Newspaper print advertisement
Public Meeting 3 City (in person)
Public Meeting 3 Town (in person)
DER City
DER Town
6: 10 Day Notice Zoom Information Session 3
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal email
Physical Supplemental - Posters/Municipal Flyers
Information Session 3 City (Zoom)
Information Session 3 Town (Zoom)
DER City
DER Town
7: 10 Day Notice Zoom Information Session 4
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal social media
Physical Supplemental - Newspaper print advertisement
Information Session 4 City (Zoom)
Information Session 4 Town (Zoom)
DER City
DER Town
8: 10 Day Notice in-Person Hybrid Public Meeting 4
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal digital newsletter
Physical Supplemental - Municipal postcards?
Public Meeting 4 City (in person)
Public Meeting 4 Town (in person)
DER City
DER Town
Month Five
PHASE III O&E (OPT-OUT - MIN. 30 DAYS) Month Six
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9:
10 Day Notice Public Meeting 5 (add notice in Opt-Out Notification
Letter)
Physical Supplemental - Municipal tax or water bill insert
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal digital newsletter
Physical Supplemental - Newspaper print advertisement
Electronic Supplemental - TV or radio interviews (suggestions?)
Physical Supplemental - Municipal postcards
Public Meeting 5 City (in person)
Public Meeting 5 Town (in person)
DER City
DER Town
10: 10 Day Notice Information Session 5 (Zoom)
Physical Supplemental - Tabling with flyers
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal social media
Electronic Supplemental - Municipal email
Information Session 5 City (Zoom)
Information Session 5 Town (Zoom)
DER City
DER Town
City representatives will participate in DER Outreach and Education meetings as follows:
● City and Town meetings on the same day at different times and locations
● Some are physical meetings with webinars, some just webinars.
● All meetings open to the public, with focus on different kinds of local
energy users and local market participants
● A City or Town representative will sit on a panel at each meeting in its
jurisdiction.
● The DER Administrator will facilitate the meetings, in person at most but
not all
● After launch a shift to web-, direct mail- and phone-based engagement
3. Why Municipal Governance of Local DER Plan is important
While the City is not required to submit a DER implementation plan to the PSC,
successful implementation will require municipal involvement, particularly the use of
municipal communications channels to conduct outreach, education and marketing of the
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DER Administrator’s DER program to local residents and businesses. The DER
Administrator will engage the City, Cooperatives and individuals in an ongoing energy
transition planning process to navigate the several elements of a city-wide energy
transition, year to year, until the City’s Green New Deal climate goals are met.
A successful energy transition will involve many ongoing activities and be iterative in
nature, with evolution and learning based on experience to be more climate impactful and
increase participation levels. DERs use public space, like EV charging sites. City
departments may choose to own and share DERs based on ongoing collaboration with the
DER Administrator. Coordination of these activities will involve important local
procurement, permitting, planning coordination and cooperation.
4. Municipal Roles in Local DER Program
Roles by the municipality in the Local DER program include the following.
● Common Council/Town Board: ongoing oversight, staff reports, agendized
items, action items
● Advisory Group: focused on City development of DERs across T-GEN member
jurisdictions and will approve DER Cooperative and Shares agreement templates
● Scheduled meeting management
● Sign-off on DER Administrator’s proposed DER Voluntary Investor
agreement templates
○ DER Cooperative Agreement
○ Shares agreement
○ Other agreements with Users, Sharers and Building Site Owners
that are requested by the DER Administrator on an ongoing as-
needed basis, as different kinds of customers and projects present
new approaches that require the signature of a designated City
representative
● Process for DER Administrator to share data and explore development of
DER proposals to municipality on Municipal Buildings and Fleets
● Reports to Common Council/Town Board
● Intermunicipal Agreement (if formed) will add a layer of meetings
5. The DER Governance Process
The DER voluntary investment process will be solely focused on DER development as
defined, across “addressable carbon” sectors: power, heat, vehicles, waste. Periodic public
hearings will be held. The DER Administrator will attend meetings, in person or by
internet, of the Advisory Board / Intermunicipal Agreement group created by the DER
Local Law to focus on increasing DER adoption, cooperation and oversight. Ongoing web
public meetings with evolving educational content will be provided by the DER
Administrator based on local experiences and project development, to maintain current
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and engagement-oriented content. The DER Administrator will be provided with a City
representative to request sign-offs as required by this Local Plan. The Advisory Board
may vote to recommend actions to member municipalities.
Municipally initiated changes or DER Administrator-requested changes by a
representative of the municipality will be overseen by the Advisory Group, Intermunicipal
Agreement (if and when created), or where deemed appropriate, Common Council.
C. Municipal Staff Roles
The Director of Sustainability (or successor position) will facilitate communication and
coordination processes for internal communications and decision making. When questions
or potential changes arise within municipal departments, the DER Administrator and lead
staff will communicate to resolve questions in a timely manner.
D. Municipal Properties
The City may designate all City-owned properties and rights-of-way available, where
allowed by law, for accommodation and connection of DERs, including microgrids, electric
vehicle chargers, and geothermal microdistricts, and if appropriate will develop protocols
for DER access.
E. Municipal Communication Roles
The City of Ithaca will provide communications support to the DER Administrator for
DER program outreach, education, and promotion to the public.
● Municipal Insert Process
○ DER Administrator will provide a municipal representative with
updated short announcements to distribute interdepartmentally for
distribution and/or verbal announcements at public meetings
○ Municipality will place announcements, where appropriate and as
space allows, in its public meeting agendas on a continuing basis
for the duration of the DER program, to announce DER program
updates and explain people’s eligibility to participate in a local
DER project, announce upcoming meetings, and provide program
contacts
○ Municipality will insert a DER Administrator message on the front
page of its web site for the duration of the program, linked to a
dedicated municipality web page that features links to designated
DER and associated CCA outreach and education web page(s).
● Scheduled Municipal Mail Inserts
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○ Where feasible, the municipality will insert announcements into any
regularly scheduled mail to local residents and businesses.
○ Announcements will include information about the DER
Administrator's name and location, the CCA and DER roles
designated by the municipality, and where technically feasible, a
QR code linking to the DER Administrator Outreach and Education
web page for their municipality.
○ May also include opportunities, news, announcements, information,
events, contacts, regarding DERs Shares, Cooperatives and
individual investment.
Designated City staff will work with appropriate City Departments, Committees
and Boards to share information through approved DER Administrator outreach
and education insertions in their materials.
● City Forms to be Considered for DER Administrator Insertions
○ Residential water bills
○ Parking permits
○ Parking tickets
○ General bills
○ Commercial water bill
○ Tax bill
○ Occupancy Tax
○ Building permits
○ Electrical permits
● City Departments Materials / Postings
○ City Attorney/City Prosecutor
○ City Clerk/Public Information & Technology
○ Finance Department/Chamberlain's Office
○ Greater Ithaca Activities Center
○ Human Resources
○ Ithaca Fire Department
○ Ithaca Police Department
○ Ithaca Urban Renewal Agency
○ Ithaca Youth Bureau
○ Mayor's Office
○ Public Works
○ Planning, Building, Zoning & Econ. Development
● City Boards and Committees, Agendas, Meeting Announcements
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○ City Administration Committee
○ Planning & Economic Development Committee
○ Board of Public Works
○ Board of Zoning Appeals
○ Cable Access Oversight Committee
○ Civil Service Commission
Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission
○ Sustainability and Climate Justice Commission
VII DER Consulting Schedule of City of Ithaca with Town and City of Ithaca
A. September-November 2025
Sessions: One with City (Mayor, City Attorney, Planning, DPW, Sustainability) and one with
Town (Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor, Planning, Public Works, Sustainability
Subjects: DER program planning - data sharing, research needs, designation of staff liaisons,
communications support, initial discussion of municipal DER projects, buildings, properties, fleets,
procurement activities, existing projects.
B. December 2025-March 2026
Sessions: One with City (Mayor, City Attorney, Planning, DPW, Sustainability Sta) and one with
Town (Supervisor, Deputy Supervisor, Planning, Public Works, Sustainability)
Subjects: DER program structure, role of City and Town, specific departments, Municipal DER
projects, and ownership sharing, as well as additional options like Green Bonds and franchise
opportunities.
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VIII. Definitions
ADDRESSABLE CARBON shall mean greenhouse gas emissions from electricity,
heating, cooling, hot water, transportation vehicles, sewer waste and solid waste.
ADVISORY GROUP — Group established by the City of Ithaca’s CCA Local Law to
support the Common Council and Town Board, as well as other municipalities that may join
T-GEN in the future, with CCA governance.
AGGREGATED DATA shall mean aggregated and anonymized information including
the number of Eligible Consumers by service class, the aggregated peak demand (kW)
(for electricity) by month for the past twelve (12) months, by service class, and the
aggregated energy (kWh) for electricity or volumetric consumption for gas by month for
the past twelve (12) months by service class.
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS or APPs shall mean Low-to-Moderate-
Income residents designated by the Tompkins County Department of Social Services.
CARBON FREE ELECTRICITY or CFE shall mean electricity generated without
combustion of fossil fuels, including solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, organic waste,
hydrogen and geothermal energy.
COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION PROGRAM (CCA) shall mean the program
authorized by Article 1 of City Code Chapter 20, and which will implement the Master
Implementation Plan of the City’s chosen CCA Administrator provided that Plan has been
approved by the PSC.
CCA ADMINISTRATOR shall mean a party designated by the City which shall be duly
authorized to put out for bid the total amount of electricity and natural gas being
purchased by participating consumers and larger local DERs that may be incorporated
into the CCA supply. The CCA Administrator shall be responsible for CCA program
organization, public outreach, data, administration, procurement, and communications.
CLIMATE BOND shall mean a fixed-income financial instrument used to fund projects
that have positive climate impacts.
COOPERATIVE shall mean a group formed by building owners and Eligible Investors to
invest mutually in onsite DERs.
COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT shall mean agreements between DER Users, DER
Sharers and Site Owners
CUSTOMER shall mean an Eligible Consumer who has elected to receive Basic Service
from the CCA program.
CUSTOMER SPECIFIC DATA shall mean energy account-specific information, personal
data and utility data for all Eligible Consumers in the municipality eligible for opt-out
enrollment based on the terms of PSC CCA Order, and the CCA program design,
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including the customer of record’s name, mailing address, telephone number, account
number, and primary language, if available, and any customer-specific alternate billing
name, address, and phone number.
DEFAULT SERVICE — See definition in City Code § 20-2.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE or DPS shall mean the New York State
Department of Public Service which has a broad mandate to ensure access to safe, reliable
utility service at just reasonable rates. The Department is the staff arm of the Public
Service Commission (PSC).
DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES or DERs shall mean local renewable energy
projects and energy efficiency measures, shared renewables like community solar and
shares and cooperatives, renewable heat and hot water systems, energy management,
energy storage, microgrid projects, geothermal heat loop projects, electric vehicles and
charging systems, local renewable hydrogen fuel cells, and other innovative Reforming
the Energy Vision (REV) initiatives that optimize system benefits, target and address load
pockets/profile within the City of Ithaca, and reduce cost of energy for DER Users.
DER ADMINISTRATOR shall mean a third party designated by the City of Ithaca to
administer, under municipal oversight, DER activities within City boundaries, including
DERs implemented in coordination with the City’s CCA program.
DER LENDER shall mean a local lending institution that is prequalified by the DER
Administrator to provide loans to Voluntary Investors
DER LOCAL LAW shall mean Article II of Chapter, Distributed Energy Resources
Program, of the City of Ithaca Code is amended by adding Article 2 (Distributed Energy
Resources), adopted in 2025.
DER INVESTOR shall mean an Eligible Investor who invests in a DER project under
this program.
DER VENDOR shall mean A DER provider, developer, integrator, consortium or
component seller.
DISTRIBUTION UTILITY shall mean New York State Electric and Gas Corporation
(NYSEG), or any successor thereto.
ELIGIBLE CONSUMERS shall mean consumers of electricity and/or natural gas.
ELIGIBLE INVESTORS shall mean Consumers of electricity and/or natural gas who
receive Default Service from the Distribution Utility, at one or more locations within the
geographic boundaries of the City of Ithaca
ENERGY EFFICIENCY RETROFITTING AND THERMAL LOAD
ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAM shall mean the City of Ithaca’s program with financial 30
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partners to determine potential energy efficiency improvements on residential and
commercial buildings, and provide financing for voluntary loans and leasing programs
that building owners may use to pay for efficiency and electrification projects, with
emphasis on serving disadvantaged communities.
ENERGY LOAN ACCOUNT shall mean an individual Customer's DER investment
repayment, Shares loan repayment or Cooperative loan repayment account voluntarily
subscribed by an Eligible Investor to finance their DER investment.
EQUITY shall mean ownership benefits, financial and/or physical, from participating in
voluntary investments in local DER.
INTERMUNICIPAL AGREEMENT or IMA shall mean an agreement between the City
of Ithaca and one or more other New York municipalities.
INTEROPERABILITY or Interoperable shall mean a characteristic of an energy product
or system, such as a photovoltaic array, to work with other energy products or systems,
such as appliances or an electric vehicle.
MASTER IMPLEMENTATION PLAN shall mean a document submitted to the New
York Public Service Commission as part of the approval of a CCA Administrator.
MEMBER or COOPERATIVE MEMBER shall mean a member of a DER Cooperative
who owns Share(s), is a User of DERs, or both, and may include a Site Owner.
MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTS shall mean the electricity and gas accounts that serve
municipal government-related operations.
OPT-UP shall mean an affirmative decision of an Eligible Investor to voluntarily invest
in a local DER project in the form of Shares.
OPT-WITH shall mean an affirmative decision of an Eligible Investor to voluntarily
invest in a local DER project in the form of Cooperative membership.
PROGRAM ORGANIZER shall mean a designated local nonprofit organization
responsible for educating energy users about participation in the DER program's
voluntary investment opportunities, as well as supporting the organization of
Cooperatives by neighbors. This group will typically secure participation from local
governments and engage in preliminary outreach and education around DERs.
PSC CCA ORDERS shall mean the several Orders concerning Community Choice
Aggregation by the New York State Public Service Commission’s (Case 14-M- 0224)
including the “Order Authorizing Framework for Community Choice Aggregation Opt-
Out Program,” issued on April 21, 2016; the “Order Approving Community Choice
Aggregation Programs with Modifications” issued on January 18, 2018; the “Order
Modifying Community Choice Aggregation Programs and Establishing Further Process”
issued on January 19, 2023; and the “Order Modifying Outreach and Education
Requirements and Directing Program Evaluation” issued on November 19, 2024.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION or PSC shall mean New York State Public Service
Commission.
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SELF-CONSUMPTION — Producing and consuming electricity and/or heat onsite, as
opposed to exporting power onto the grid for sale to a third-party off-taker, such as
through net metering.
SHARES — Units of ownership by an Eligible Investor in local DERs, whether through
investment in a designated DER project that is located in a nearby building, or through
membership enrollment in a designated on-site DER Cooperative.
SHARER shall mean an owner of DER Share(s).
SITE OWNER shall mean the owner of a building or property who consents to participate
in a DER project either alone or by joining a DER Cooperative.
SPINNING RESERVES shall mean the extra generating capacity that is available by
increasing the power output of generators that are connected to the power system, for a
variety of purposes including the provision of balancing capacity for intermittent
renewable generators such as a solar farm or wind farm.
SUPPLIERS/SUPPLY shall mean ESCOs that procure electric power and natural gas for
Eligible Consumers in connection with City Code Chapter 20.
T-GEN shall mean Tompkins Green Energy Network.
USER shall mean A DER or DER Share owner who is also an off-taker of energy from a DER.
VOLUNTARY INVESTOR shall mean an Eligible Investor who invests in a DER.
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CITY OF ITHACA
108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850-6590
City Manager's Office
Shaniqua Lewis, Deputy City Clerk
TO:COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING B
FROM:Acting City Manager
DATE:January 21, 2026
RE:Community Responder Unit- ROOTS
ITEM #:3.1
MEMORANDUM
A new community responder program, tentatively named the ROOTS Team (Responders
Offering Outreach, Trust, and Support), was proposed to the Ithaca Common Council in
September 2025 (Reimagining Public Safety-Ithaca NY Official Website). The proposal was
not funded in the 2026 City of Ithaca Budget, though there was interest expressed by Council
members to have the conversation continue and a new proposal be brought forward in 2026.
To develop the proposal in 2025, staff benchmarked existing programs in the U.S., interviewed
the Ithaca Police Department and other government and community agencies, and reviewed
of previous policy directives from the Common Council made to date. The updated resolution
brought forth today for Council’s consideration scales back the scope of the program to start
small and use existing available funding for three years as the program is piloted.
ATTACHMENTS:
REVISED 1.21.2026 Memo Re ROOTS (1).pdf
Resolution- Early 2026 ROOTS Resolution.pdf
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.
M E M O R A N D U M
Date: January 16, 2026
To: Common Council
From: Acting City Manager Dominick Recckio, Community Justice Center Project Director
Monalita Smiley
RE: Updated Resolution and Planning for Community Responder Unit
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A new community responder program, tentatively named the ROOTS Team (Responders Offering
Outreach, Trust, and Support), was proposed to the Ithaca Common Council in September 2025
(Reimagining Public Safety | Ithaca, NY - Official Website). The proposal did not receive additional
funding in the 2026 City of Ithaca Budget, though there was interest expressed by Council
members to have the conversation continue and a new proposal be brought forward in 2026.
To develop the proposal in 2025, staff benchmarked existing programs in the U.S., interviewed the
Ithaca Police Department and other government and community agencies, and reviewed of
previous policy directives from the Common Council made to date.
The updated resolution brought forth today for Council’s consideration leverages existing available
funding for three years as the program is phased in to meet the long-range policy goal of
reimagining process.
Changes to the scope include:
• Phasing in the establishment of a community responder program to start with no more
than three (3) City of Ithaca community responder personnel, as well as associated
equipment, programming, and training
• Consider an initial focus on a defined geographic area of the City of Ithaca where there are
elevated calls for law enforcement service and/or need for additional outreach and
community response services as determined by City staff
• Utilizing previously budgeted and encumbered funds annually for three years, with any
new general fund budget requests beginning for year three (2028)
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• Further clarification that the Community Justice Center, Homeless Encampment
Response, and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs under the City
Manager’s Office shall operate in support of and coordination with the community
responder program and in partnership with the Ithaca Police Department
PROJECT HISTORY, BACKGROUND, & ANALYSIS
This proposal builds on the work of community members who have contributed greatly to this effort
over many years, informing the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County on implementing Reimagining
Public Safety initiatives. Specifically, community members of color have provided invaluable
contributions of time and input to help make a program like this one a reality in Ithaca.
Interviews have been completed with 17 local public safety agencies, government divisions, and
community-based not-for-profit agencies, providing insights to develop a right-sized community
responder program for Ithaca. Interviews examined community response and service delivery work
already being conducted (formally and informally), as well as what agencies see as the role of a
new community responder program (detailed in September 2025 memo).
Coordination with existing programs and the Ithaca Police Department are essential for the
success of a pilot community responder unit. The City of Ithaca Police Department has
implemented complementary programming including community policing, a mental health co-
responder team (CARE), and a violence interrupter program as part of its Gun Involved Violence
Elimination initiative, which are well positioned to partner closely with a community responder
unit.
This updated resolution includes the directive to consider an initial focus on a defined geographic
area of the City of Ithaca where there are elevated calls for law enforcement service and/or need
for additional outreach and community response services as determined by City staff. While
further analysis will be completed to influence the final decision on a pilot geographic zone once
the program begins, the Community Justice Center Data Analyst provided this initial
recommendation for such a pilot zone selection:
Based on analysis of 2024 IPD Incident Based Report data with traffic-related incidents
removed, Beat 202 (West) emerges as the strongest candidate for a one-zone unarmed
response team pilot. The most relevant indicator is the volume and consistency of low-risk,
service-oriented calls that remain once traffic activity is excluded. Beat 202 shows the
highest concentration of appropriate calls, including assist citizens, welfare checks,
property checks, verbal disputes, and other low-risk, high-frequency incidents. These calls
are largely residential and neighborhood-based, creating conditions well suited to
engagement with residents, de-escalation, leading to opportunities for community trust and
relationship building. Beat 202 would also provide an opportunity to work on operationalizing
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the unit, collect data in a baseline year, and work with IPD to refine their coordination around
call diversion and caseload management, which can open the door to future expansion.
POLICY ALIGNMENT STATEMENT
Common Council has resolved to develop and implement such a program, most recently via its
2025 Legislative Priorities, “Expand and institutionalize unarmed and community-based crisis
response as a complement to traditional policing.”
In April 2023 Common Council adopted a Special Committee Report directing City staff to
“Develop and initiate a pilot program utilizing unarmed responders to respond to non-violent calls
for service.” That report includes additional background on the initiative.
MAYORAL RESPONSE TO POLICY ALIGNMENT STATEMENT
Pursuant to section C-11 of the Ithaca City Charter and Common Council Resolution 5.1 dated
September 17, 2025, the Mayor shall review Policy Alignment Statements for completeness and
provide commentary on alignment for Council consideration.
This proposal adheres closely to the adopted policy direction of Common Council Resolution 6.3,
dated April 5, 2023, entitled “Adopting Report of the Special Committee for Public Safety.”
Specifically, a directive to establish a team of peer support specialists who can co-respond with
law enforcement as appropriate to non-violent calls for assistance, but not be under the purview of
law enforcement with the role of:
• Providing a team of peer support specialists to co-respond with law enforcement as
appropriate, and serve as an alternative to a law enforcement-only response to address
behavioral health and other related crisis;
• Conducting assessments of the needs of the affected individuals and their families;
• Managing and overseeing immediate support plan for each impacted individual and their
family;
• Organizing and coordinating all information on applicable and available services and
partner agencies to respond to the needs for the impacted individuals and their family;
• Connecting individuals with appropriate services and follow through until a hand off to a
fixed support system can be confirmed;
• Managing the information on responses, personal information of individuals and relevant
data for reporting;
• Providing aid to reduce dependence on, and divert away from, law enforcement response
systems;
• Working with the City’s LEAD team.
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This proposal clearly satisfies Council’s adopted policy direction but does so in a risk-managed,
incremental way that prioritizes feasibility, interdepartmental buy-in, and cost.
PROPOSED SOLUTION
A thorough analysis of interview responses, example programs, and key issues led to the
identification of the following elements that will help to make a community responder program
successful. Interviews with community agencies included an open-ended question asking what
success for a community responder program would look like to them. Several of these elements
are adapted from themes shared in those responses.
• Provides a teamwork approach with police
• Builds trust with community
• Reflects community values, involves people with lived experience
• Collects data for constant improvement and iteration
• Adds capacity to community outreach efforts
• Integrates within existing emergency response system
• Collaborates with community agencies
• Preserves and enhances capacity of existing community agencies
• Offers more pathways for violence prevention
• Effectively provides wraparound health and human services
Proposing the Ithaca ROOTS Team:
Mission Statement:
Ithaca's community responder unit conducts outreach, builds trust, and offers support to
community members in need. They respond when dispatched, when requested by IPD, and
when they proactively observe a situation where they can help. A teamwork approach with
police and other community agencies enhances the capacity and effectiveness of the
existing emergency response and social services systems.
Vision Statement:
Ithaca’s community responder program reduces overreliance on policing and
disproportionate contact between minorities and the criminal justice system while
providing ample access to supportive services for community members in need.
QUESTIONS FOR COUNCIL AND NEXT STEPS
Common Council should determine whether the scaled back pilot program proposal will serve as
the initial desired model, and if so, adopt the proposed resolution.
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The proposed resolution directs staff to begin phased implementation of the program by:
• Draft job descriptions for community responders in compliance with Civil Service
• Develop community responder policies and procedures in consultation with the Tompkins
County 911 Dispatch Center and Ithaca Police Department leadership
• Outline complementary programming related to service delivery
• Annually review available grant or outside funding opportunities to cover program costs
• Hiring of future community response team members should be through an interview
committee including the Deputy City Manager, Community Justice Center, Ithaca Police
Department, and community representation
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS & FUNDING
~$750,000 has been encumbered from previous budget cycles. If a scaled back pilot program is
Council’s desired model, staff propose the following allocation of encumbered funding:
Year Encumbered Funds Drawdown Key Budget Items Notes
• 2-3 Community
Responder staff
positions
• Training
• Equipment
Partial year pilot
period
First full year of
operations
newly budgeted funds or unspent
prior encumbrances, budget
proposal will be delivered in
Necessary to budget
for full amount based
on analysis of initial
pilot years
PUBLIC FEEDBACK
This and other elements of the Reimagining Public Safety initiative have received a significant
amount of feedback over nearly a half-decade. Further detail on past feedback can be found in a
2023 Special Committee Report as well as the initial Public Safety, Reimagined report and the
subsequent implementation report.
Interviews with community agencies were completed in 2025 and are detailed in the September
2025 memo to Council. All agencies interviewed were invited to an August 2025 feedback session
where the general outline of this proposal was shared.
A feedback session was held with REACH Medical’s Peer Advisory Board which includes people
with lived experience in the criminal justice system and with addiction and/or homelessness.
Additional public feedback from key stakeholders and the public will be sought as the program is
fully developed and implemented over the next several months.
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January 16, 2026
Resolution Re: Phased Establishment of a Community Responder Model in the City of
Ithaca
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca has committed to a Reimagining Public Safety initiative
including the introduction of unarmed community responders, and
WHEREAS, Common Council has resolved on several occasions to develop and
implement such a program, most recently via its 2025 Legislative Priorities, “Expand and
institutionalize unarmed and community-based crisis response as a complement to
traditional policing,” and
WHEREAS, in April 2023 Common Council adopted a Special Committee Report directing
City staff to “Develop and initiate a pilot program utilizing unarmed responders to respond
to non-violent calls for service,” and
WHEREAS, community members have contributed greatly to this effort over many years,
informing the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County on implementing Reimagining Public
Safety initiatives. Specifically, community members of color have provided invaluable
contributions of time and input to help make a program like this one a reality in Ithaca, and
WHEREAS, Common Council received a proposal for such a community responder unit on
September 17, 2025 with a subsequent presentation on September 24, 2025, and
WHEREAS, interviews have been completed with 17 local public safety agencies,
government divisions, and community-based not-for-profit agencies, providing insights to
develop a community responder program for Ithaca. Interviews examined community
response and service delivery work already being conducted (formally and informally), as
well as what agencies see as the role of a new community responder program, and
WHEREAS, the City of Ithaca Police Department has implemented complementary
programming including community policing, a mental health co-responder team (CARE),
and a violence interrupter program as part of its Gun Involved Violence Elimination
initiative, which are well positioned to partner closely with a community responder unit,
and
WHEREAS the Council of State Governments defines Community Responder Units as:
offering an additional option for first response. Composed of multidisciplinary
professionals trained to address behavioral health and quality-of-life concerns,
community responder programs provide a person-centered response to 911 and other
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emergency calls for service. Integrating community responder programs into first response
systems ensures that all calls for service can receive the most appropriate response,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca Common Council commits to
the phased establishment of a community responder program in alignment with the
proposal delivered in a September 17, 2025, legislative memo prepared by the Deputy City
Manager and Community Justice Center, and be it further
RESOLVED, that under existing budgetary constraints the City of Ithaca Common Council
is in favor of phasing in the establishment of a community responder program to start with
no more than three (3) City of Ithaca community responder personnel, as well as
associated equipment, programming, and training, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the initial phase of implementation include the consideration of a
possible focus on a defined geographic area of the City of Ithaca where there are elevated
calls for law enforcement service and/or need for additional outreach and community
response services as determined by City staff, and be it further
RESOLVED, that a budget for the phased program be developed utilizing previously
budgeted and encumbered funds annually for three years, with any new general fund
budget requests beginning for year three (2028), and be it further
RESOLVED, that the community responder program be developed with this initial mission
and vision:
Mission Statement:
Ithaca's community responder unit conducts outreach, builds trust, and offers
support to community members in need. They respond when dispatched, when
requested by IPD, and when they proactively observe a situation where they can
help. A teamwork approach with police and other community agencies enhances
the capacity and effectiveness of the existing emergency response and social
services systems.
Vision Statement:
Ithaca’s community responder program reduces overreliance on policing and
disproportionate contact between minorities and the criminal justice system while
providing ample access to supportive services for community members in need.
And be it further,
RESOLVED, that the Community Justice Center, Homeless Encampment Response, and
Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs under the City Manager’s Office
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shall operate in support of and coordination with the community responder program and in
partnership with the Ithaca Police Department, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca Common Council directs City staff to draft job
descriptions for community responders in compliance with Civil Service and develop
community responder policies and procedures in consultation with the Tompkins County
911 Dispatch Center and Ithaca Police Department leadership, and outline
complementary programming related to service delivery, and be it further,
RESOLVED, that City staff should annually review available grant or outside funding
opportunities to cover program costs, and be it further,
RESOLVED, hiring of future community response team members should be through an
interview committee including the Deputy City Manager, Community Justice Center, Ithaca
Police Department, and community representation, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the City of Ithaca Common Council thanks community members,
community agencies, Ithaca Police Department officers and leadership, and other City
staff from the City Manager’s Office, Ithaca Fire Department, Building Division, and Parking
Enforcement for their invaluable input throughout this process in support of developing
and implementing a successful community responder program in the City of Ithaca.
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CITY OF ITHACA
108 East Green Street, Ithaca, New York 14850-6590
City Manager's Office
Shaniqua Lewis, Deputy City Clerk
TO:COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING B
FROM:Acting City Manager, Dominick Recckio
DATE:January 21, 2026
RE:Financial Reporting, Audit Readiness
ITEM #:4.1
MEMORANDUM
ATTACHMENTS:
Memo- Bonadio Financial Reporting Audit Readiness.pdf
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M E M O R A N D U M
Date: January 16, 2026
To: Common Council
From: Acting City Manager Dominick Recckio
RE: Financial Reporting, Audit Readiness
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In order to proceed with the City of Ithaca’s 2022-2025 financial audits, existing financial records and
internal financial systems must be corrected and properly maintained. The Bonadio Group, an industry-
leading accounting and consulting firm, has been contracted by the City to provide these services.
PROJECT HISTORY, BACKGROUND, & ANALYSIS
The Bonadio Group was originally contracted by the City to preform audits. Upon commencement of that
contracted work, deficiencies in the City’s severely outdated financial reporting and records systems
were identified, several of which resulted from new financial reporting standards going into effect in 2022
and subsequent years. These deficiencies prevented an accurate audit from being performed. The City
has amended its contract with Bonadio to perform a multi-phase financial consulting project that will
result in more complete, transparent and accurate financial records
Retaining expert consultants to complete this work for the City will result in the City completing past-due
audits and preparing for financial reporting requirements moving forward.
Bonadio staff are in constant contact with staff from our Controllers Office and will conduct work
remotely in the immediate term with on-site work occurring as needed in the future. The Acting City
Manager will meet with Bonadio project leadership at least monthly to receive progress reports and
provide management oversight.
Bonadio staff in conjunction with the Acting City Manager and Acting Controller will provide further
updates as the project progresses.
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Once the requisite financial cleanup and reporting work is complete, the City will proceed with
conducting audits for 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 in rapid succession as resources allow.
This project is beginning this month (January 2026). At this time staff cannot offer a timeline for
completion.
POLICY ALIGNMENT STATEMENT
This action promotes a stable, transparent, and forward-looking fiscal foundation that sustains core
services, enables strategic investment, and ensures equitable resource allocation across the
community. The City will better maintain long-term structural balance and proactively pursue financial
resilience.
BUDGET IMPLICATIONS & FUNDING
This project is being initially funded by the pre-existing budget for the completion of audit-related work.
Staff will return to council as additional financial resources are needed to complete this project and
initiate the audits.
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