HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSC CEC Minutes for March 1 2022Climate Smart/Clean Energy Community Task Force
Minutes for the Meeting at 4:15 pm Tuesday March 1, 2022
Via Zoom
Call to Order/ Introductions (Welcome Dryden High School students!)
Present: Members: Alice Green, Coordinator; Chuck Geisler, Joe Wilson, Marie McRae, John Keifer, Loren Sparling; Support: Shelley Knickerbocker, Ella Bormet, Clean Energy Planning Intern,Rachel
Zevin, Gina Cassidy, CCE Energy Coordinators, KateLee & McKenna Crocker, Dryden High School representatives.
Approval ofFebruaryMinutes: There were two corrections to the February Minutes: (1) Constellation replied to John that, because the Town would require so few RECs, it was not worth
it to Constellation to supply them to the Town. (2) The February Minutes were mislabeled as the “Agenda”. With those corrections, approval was moved by Joe and seconded by Marie. Approval
was unanimous.
Additions to the Agenda: None
Review of Clean Energy Community Actions
Congratulations to all on Town Board approval of100% Renewable Electricity for Municipal facilities!-Alice & John
John was specially thanked for helping the Task Force and Town Board to understand the details of this complex initiative. As resultsof this conversion, Town Hall will become a Net
Zero building. Completing the conversion puts on the threshold to qualify the Town for another $ 10,000 NYSERDA grant.
Clean Energy Internship Candidate Selection: Ella Bormet was introduced as the Town’s new Clean Energy Intern. Ella was chosen by Alice, Shelly, and Ray from a strong group of candidates.
Review of Dryden’s actions towards Clean Energy Community (CEC)grants–Alice, Gina: Using Screen Share, Alice provided a summary of the Town’s progress toward CEC grants. A copy is attached
to these Minutes. The All-Renewable Energy initiative above will give us more than 3000 points and qualify for a $10,000 grant. Based on activities underway, there are pathways to earn
4000 and 5000 points. 4000 points will make us eligible for a $20,000 grant. 5000 points will qualify us for a $70,000 grant
DHS Student involvement in the Task Force: Alice introduced Dryden High School sophomores Kate Lee and McKenna Crocker. They are members of Sustainability Club. They are considering
joining our Task Force and will act as liaisons between the Task Force, the Sustainability Club, and the school’s Climate Change class.
Assisting with community education about the Climate Action Plan: We discussed ways that the students could help inform the school community and public about the Dryden 2045 Comprehensive
Plan Update.
EV infrastructure project:
Kate and McKenna have helped the school to agree to install an EV charger on school grounds.
Next Steps in the Community Choice Aggregation process:
CCA Webinar
Joe reminded the group about a March 8 webinar on Community Choice Aggregation organized by Gina, at the request of Dryden and other municipalities. The focus will be getting communities
on board with CCA.
Report on City and Town CCA Progress
Loren reported that Ithaca City and Town will give an update atan inter-municipal meeting in March. It is scheduled during his worktime,but Alice will attend as his proxy. Gina will
attend as the Cornell Cooperative Extension liaison and Rachel is her alternate. They will also report their take-aways at our April meeting.
Meeting on the County Electric Grid
A second March meeting, initiated by the Tompkins County Organization of Governments (TCOG), will focus on county electricity infrastructure. John volunteered to attend as proxy for
Loren.
Promotion of the Climate Action Plan included in the Comprehensive Plan Update:Alice noted that the Town’s investigation of a CCA involving Town residents is a recommendation in the
Comp Plan Update. There will be a public hearing on the plan at the March 24 Planning Board meeting. Earlier that day, Alice will speak at the Rotary Club about the work of the Climate
Smart/Clean Energy Task Force and the Climate Action Plan.
Town Energy Efficiency Improvements in progress - AliceTown Hall interior lightsLED upgrade: OngoingTown Hall HVAC upgrade: Balancing is not complete, yet. LED Streetlight Installation:
Waiting for suitable weatherAdvanced Benchmarking – documenting Solar panel production: Posting information about Town energy use will not be possible until the benchmarking includes
production data from the Town’s two solar installations. After three months of monitoring the energy production of the arrays serving Town Hall and the Public Works building, John has
concluded that they are not meeting expectations. It’s time to contact Liberty Solar and have them investigate. He volunteered to contact Ray, who has been in contact with the provider.
NYSERDA Call for proposals for the Stretch to Zero Pilot Program–Joe/Alice/Gina:
NYSERDA is seeking proposals from municipalities to pilot implementation of building/energy codes resulting in buildings performing at net zero. Complete applications are due in April.
Because of competing staff and member priorities and the short time line, we conclude we will not recommend that the Town apply.
Review of Climate Smart Community Actions – Rachel/ Alice
Orphan Gas Wells–These wells contribute a significant amount of GHG emissions to climate change worldwide. Chuck learned that there is new technology, developed in Binghamton that enables
identification of these wells. He wondered if there might be funding through the Climate Smart Community program to use this technology to start the process of identifying and cleaning
up these wells. Rachel indicated last month that there are Climate Smart Communities points available under CSC Action PE8 (Brownfield Cleanup and Redevelopment). Discussion is moved
to our April meeting.
Adoption of Comprehensive Plan Update: There are a largenumber of CSC points for adopting a Comp Plan that includes a Climate Action Plan As chair of the Update Steering Committee, John
estimates that the Update could be adopted by the Town as early as this July. Alice indicated that this action, along with documenting other actions underway, could lead Dryden to designation
as a Silver Certified Climate Smart Community. If the Town approves the Comp Plan update in time, it may be possible to submit the certification materials by the July 8 deadline. The
next deadline for submissions is in January 2023.
Adjourn: 6:10pm