HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS CEC 2024-10-151
Climate Smart/Clean Energy Community Task Force (CSTF)
Minutes for the Meeting at 5:00 pm Tuesday October 15, 2024 Via Zoom
Task Force Members Attending: Alice Green, Sawyer Dickinson, Marie McRae, Jack Wright, Hunter
Barlow, Anne Clark
Liaison to Conservation Board: Anne Clark
Planning Department: Gina Cassidy
Invited Guest: Jerry Sheng (Cornell Cooperative Extension CSC Coordinator)
5:04 Call to Order/ Introductions
Approval of September 17, 2024 Minutes/ Additions to the agenda
Members unanimously approved.
Clean Energy Community Actions Review
1) $10K NYSERDA Grant
A. Official approval received from Town Board and NYSERDA to spend $10K grant for EV
station at DPW Highway Barn.
B. Jack and Evan agreed to research the best purchase for the EV charging system.
C. Evan has a bit of experience in evaluating EV charging systems.
D. Jack will tap into a CCE colleague’s expertise in such systems.
E. Alice clarified that we will need to know cost of unit and installation charges.
Rick Young, DPW Supervisor, is an electrician, and he installed the previous
system in the Town Hall lot. He should be consulted about
choice/installation/placement.
F. Anne wanted to know about charging capacity and competition for charger
access.
G. Alice mentioned that TF had decided against a fast charger because they were
not warranted for the type of charging needed. Rick Young will have to work out
the rotation for charging when EVs become part of the fleet.
H. Evan pointed out that there should be no maintenance necessary on the
charging station, but there may be an administration or processing fee. Repair
fees are different than maintenance fees.
I. Sawyer mentioned that the fees might be networking fees.
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J. Hunter mentioned that the HS charger is listed as a publicly available station and
may be paying directory fees.
K. Jerry offered to find out if such fees are required if the station is not a public station.
L. Jack and Evan will cooperate on researching stations/contracts for purchase.
2) $175K grant availability approved by NYSERDA
A. Gina reported that she sent out the RFQ for the building condition assessment/energy
audit to about a dozen contractors who were listed on NYSERDA’s approved list and
expressed preliminary interest in the project. Four firms expressed intent to submit a
proposal (Popli, IMEG (was Pathfinder), Taitem, and Erdman Anthony). Erdman Anthony
will be taking a walk-through on Wednesday, 10/16, accompanied by Evan and Rick
Young. One firm (Daylight Savings) would only take the energy audit portion. Gina told
their representative that the committee preferred one firm for both, but we would
contact them if this changed.
B. Alice said the TF would form a subcommittee including Evan and John to evaluate
applications.
C. Gina recommended that TF members should begin thinking of an appropriate scoring
system for proposals.
3) $100K Upgrade of DPW Office Building Upgrades
Alice said that Town Building Code Enforcement Officers (CEOs) are asking for J (or
heat loss) calculations for sizing and numbering of heat pumps. The contractor,
Mitch McMillan from ACE Groton, said that those calculations were not included in
his bid. He is planning on installing 6 heat pumps. It isn’t clear how he arrived at this
number without the calculation. John had done such a calculation and sent it out
with the original RFP. Alice has already spoken extensively with Ray Burger and
Shelley Knickerbocker (Code Enforcement Officer) about this and will let Shelley
work this out with ACE Groton.
New Program on EV Chargers Along Interstate Hwys
1. Jerry said that this grant requires a municipality to host and manage a public EV charger. The
host needs to have 5 years’ experience, and the cost is prohibitive. This may be a possibility in
the future rounds of this program if requirements change.
2. CSC will have other EV infrastructure grants available in the Consolidated Funding Application
(CFA), and if the Town achieves Silver CSC status, it is likely we will be competitive for these
grants.
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Climate Smart Communities Actions Review
1. Jerry will be shifting to the CEC program because a) DEC has not renewed the CSC contract yet,
and 2) Chris Skawski has vacated the CEC coordinator position.
2. CCARP
A. Alice is concerned that the CCARP still has a long way to go, and we cannot finish it without
coordinator guidance. Will Jerry have time to help us get our Silver Certification?
B. Jerry will be continuing work on CCARP (although in a diminished capacity) and has been
discussing adopting strategies with Anne Rhodes, including outreach by newsletter.
C. Marie agreed to resume writing outreach pieces for the Town newsletter, focusing on
CCARP.
D. Alice suggested writing about the work the TF is now doing and the grants we’ve recently
received, although CSTF work is not featured prominently in the newsletter. We can put
links in the newsletter to our website page.
E. Alice mentioned that the TF had planned to send a draft of the CCARP to the different
advisory groups for their feedback/suggestions and asked Jerry when a draft might be
available.
F. Jerry needs more time and input on the ag section.
3. PE7.2 - Evaluate Policies for Climate Resilience
A. Gina has completed this spreadsheet, written a summary, and uploaded both to the CSC
portal.
4. PE6.2 – Smart Growth
A. Gina and Jerry have completed a draft of this, and Gina requests that other TF members
look it over and add to it.
B. Anne agreed to bring it to the Conservation Committee to assist in completing.
5. PE2.1 – Municipal Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
A. Gina has gone through NYSEG bills since 2018 and is uploading usage figures for municipal
buildings to Energy Star Portfolio Manager. She needs updated odometer readings and
energy usage for vehicle fleet.
6. Alice says that it looks like CEC will phase out at the end of 2025 and be folded into CSC. The
CSC program is much broader – not just interested in GHG emissions but many kinds of
adaptation and resiliency actions – and has many more actions. Alice and Gina suggest that we
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choose the actions that remain that the team seems most likely to accomplish and have TF
members each (or in groups) take one action to explain to the group. The TF is interested in
doing this.
7. Jerry is moving forward on setting up a repair café.
Updates on other Town and Inter-municipal Efforts
Dryden HS
1) Report – Sawyer
A. Jerry interviewed the sustainability club for an article for PRI.
B. Now mulching school courtyards.
C. Pollinator pathway work ongoing. Tarp was damaged, but they will repair it.
2) Report – Hunter
A. Coffee Mania fundraiser approved for EV charger charges, among other things.
B. Pollinator pathway will be ready in the spring for tilling and planting
C. Club members will be looking to find further grant programs for their work.
3) Evan reminded the students that Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund Grants are now accepting
applications, and it is likely that they could receive a grant for the pathway. If an application
is submitted by October 31, they will receive an answer within a few weeks.
4) Anne mentioned that the Plantsman might have excess plants to donate to the HS.
5) Alice said that in addition to the Plantsman and County assistance, there are a number of
gardeners on the TF who would be happy to assist the HS in sourcing plants.
6) Dryden Town Board Report – Christina not present
A. Alice said that the Resolution authorizing the Town Supervisor to sign the letter of
commitment for the Hwy Barn/Garage grant was passed.
7) Conservation Board Report – Anne
A. CB discussed revised Town Land RFP. They are wondering what the Town will do about
their commitment to putting in a road for the land donor, as this does not seem
feasible.
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B. Dan Antonioli spoke with the CB about a landowner undermining and damaging the Rail
Trail (and roadway) near his property. This landowner has not responded to stop work
orders from code officers. It’s unclear what to do about this public hazard. Letter-writing
to the Town on this issue may be useful.
8) Affordable Housing Task Force and Planning Board – Gina
A. Housing has been dropped from the Town Lands project.
B. Varna (Freese Road) project has acquired necessary approvals to go ahead with
development.
C. Caswell Road project pulled due to cost increases.
D. An informal proposal for a battery energy storage facility near Pinckney Road by
Mission Clean Energy was well-received by the Planning Board. They wanted to
know if the Town would be receptive to this five-year project before the planning
process was started.
Meeting adjourned 6:35 pm
NEXT STEPS/ACTION ITEMS:
1. Evan and Jack to research EV charging stations and maintenance costs for DPW
installation.
2. Jerry will find out if maintenance/directory/networking fees are required if the EV charging
station is not a public station.
3. Jerry to continue work on the Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency Plan as time
permits.
4. Gina to send out document on smart growth policies for Anne and the Conservation
Board members to review.
5. Alice and Gina to prepare and send out overview of climate smart program actions for
task force members to review.
6. Hunter and Sawyer to apply for Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund grant for pollinator
pathway project.
7. Jerry to send out survey for repair cafe volunteer sign-ups.
8. Ann to bring smart growth policies document to Conservation Board for review.
9. Task force members to expect and review climate smart program action areas
document from Alice/Gina for potential deep dive assignments.
APPROVALS:
1) Minutes