HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS CEC 2023-10-10Climate Smart/Clean Energy Community Task Force
Minutes of the Tuesday Oct. 10 2023 Meeting Via Zoom
Attendance Task Force Members: Marie McRae, John Kiefer, Hunter Barlow, Christina Dravis, Ray
Burger, Alice Walsh Green (Chair); CCE energy coordinators: Jerry Sheng (Climate Smart Community)
and Chris Skawski (Clean Energy Community); guests: Susan Ashdown and Bob Beck (Dryden Rail Trail),
Dillon Shults, Dryden Planner, Jack Wright, Dryden Village resident. Absent: Mckenna Crocker, Joe
Wilson, and Nancy Munkenbeck
Call to Order at 5:03 pm
Dryden High School Report -Hunter
Dryden District Superintendent Josh Bacigalupi met with members of the Sustainability Club
earlier in the day and said that the district had authorized release of its recent utility bills for analysis by
Casey Mastro, local representative of the New York Power Authority (NYPA). Hunter said this is the first
step towards getting recommendations for how the district might purchase energy that may be cheaper.
Marie asked if the goal is to buy 100% renewable energy. Hunter said yes. John Kiefer said he would be
willing to share his research on other options for buying renewable energy, including possibly buying
from community solar. He noted that individuals and institutions that have solar panels on site can’t
take advantage of lower prices from solar farms. Alice reminded that the Dryden schools may still have
productive solar panels. She suggested that it would be good to ask if the level of energy production
from the high school solar panels would preclude the district from contracting with a solar farm.
October Minutes: Approval was moved by Marie, seconded by John. Approved unanimously.
No Additions to the Agenda
Clean Energy Community Actions Review
Potential New Action: Installation of E-bike charging station(s) on Dryden Rail Trail -Chris
Chris suggested that this might be a good time to start a planning process to enable e-bike
charging station installation along the trail. He said this is an emergent need and equipment is now
available. Right now, there’s no state money attached to building out this infrastructure. But NYC has
recently started on a system of public e-bike chargers. He noted that the units there cost roughly $1500
for a block of four charging ports. He believes the price will come down. There are also adapters that
can turn an EV charging station into a bike charger. Marie wondered about who is gathering data about
e-bike use in Tompkins County. She and Alice recently heard a presentation about Ithaca Bike Share
user statistics. Chris said a Dryden collaboration with Ithaca Bike Share could be a natural. And the
Town could get out in front of where charging stations would be placed, say to supplement the offerings
at businesses, like restaurants along the trail. Bob said the DRT TF’s primary role is to complete the trail.
He believes this will be an important amenity and there is likely to be funding for bike racks and e-bike
charging stations in the future.
Brainstorm topic: What would an intermunicipal sharing session for Clean Energy and Climate
Smart groups around our area look like? -Chris, Jerry
There’s a real need and desire from several communities to share information about how to
navigate these two programs, according to Chris and Jerry. They’re exploring some options for sharing
including TCOG or other intermunicipal groups. The goal would be to get into the nitty gritty details
about how to navigate these sometime difficult state processes. One model would be a regularly
scheduled forum. Chris said that in addition to mutual help, municipal reps could also an collaborate to
give feedback to NYSERDA and the DEC about structural barriers that make it more difficult for them to
accomplish Clean Energy and Climate Smart program actions. An example is the lack of renewable
energy sources. Jack suggested a list serve group to link climate smart committees around the county.
Alice was thinking of one initial sharing session, where folks could put faces to names, to
facilitate individual communication. Christ and Jerry are the first go-to’s for towns looking for help with
these climate actions. Marie said maybe Jerry or Chris could provide a contact info for committee
members who are willing to consult in other municipal reps.
Ray said there isn’t a central coordinating group for environmental work under the auspices of
the County Planning Department. The Tompkins County Organization of Governments (TCOG) or the
Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative (TCCPI) are two potential groups for a for information
sharing about local municipalities’ work and challenges in these programs.
DPW Office Building Upgrade Project Update- John, Marie, Alice
NYSERDA has approved a combined contract for the weatherization and heat pumps, now listing the
total $96,600 available for the project. Stamped drawings are expected from Gary Bush. John said the
project has two parts: one is the mechanical piece, the installation of air source heat pumps, for which
the town has selected a contractor, ACE of Groton. The second part is sealing the envelope of the
building. The town COE says this portion needs stamped drawings, which shouldn’t be complicated.
However, after Gary agreed to produce them, he hasn’t delivered. He has the energy model for the
building, but he’s very busy. Marie said she may know of an architect/engineer who could stamp the
drawings. Christina suggested asking Brad Will and also wondered if Cornell architects might help. John
said he does have some other potential contractors. Taitem Engineering suggested Noah Demarest from
Stream Collaborative. Once the drawings are received and accepted, an RFP could go out over the
winter and a contractor hired before spring construction season. NYSERDA has given the town until the
end of 2024 to complete the whole project.
Climate Smart Community Actions Review
Dryden Climate Change and Resilience Plan (CCARP) - Jerry
Dryden Critical Assets Questionnaire responses and draft of the plan. Jerry said he was excited
to report that 101 responses have been received to the survey. Alice noted that number was boosted
because our student reps arranged to have the questionnaire posted on school district social media.
One most frequently received responses was about the need for emergency disaster response
planning. There were a lot of questions about it. Other issues: utility infrastructure, and road
transportation in the event of an emergency. Jerry is still sifting through the responses. Next steps will
be determining who he should talk to about current emergency planning preparation, including anything
in place with NYSEG. Christina said there is a Dryden municipal emergency plan that’s 15 years old. It
could be updated and revised, and she will get it to Jerry. He said that after it’s updated, some outreach
will be necessary to let residents know where about it.
John pointed to the fact that NYSEG has changed considerably in the last 15 years since the
town plan was written. Most of its maintenance functions, like line work, are contracted out. We
should keep in mind that it will be different for NYSEG to muster forces in time of emergency. Alice said
she wanted to add another type of hazard: ice jams that could destroy bridges anywhere in the town.
Christina mentioned that she set up the original Swift 911. Now it’s SIREN and the Town has signed up
for it. Ray said it’s not clear who in the town of Dryden has authorized to post emergencies to the SIREN
system. Christina will follow up to see who’s authorized and make sure staff know the procedure.
Jerry said he hopes that a draft CCARP will be in place before the end of December, maybe even by the
next task force meeting. He’s getting some help from folks in the Town of Hector who are working on
the same plan. Alice suggested that if the plan is ready before the Nov. 14 task force meeting, it would
be great for members to receive it a week or so in advance, to enable better discussion.
Updates on other Town and Inter-municipal Efforts
Report from Affordable Housing Task Force – Ray
Last week’s affordable housing task force meeting focused again on mobile home parks, specifically the
the statutes and local law (number 183) affecting MHP’s. The next meeting will likely continue that
focus. The goal is to see what the locality can do to support MHP’s as affordable housing and how to
encourage energy efficiency improvements.
Town Hall property wetlands delineation
Ray also reported that since the DEC can’t do the delineation of the wetland on town’s property
behind the town hall, about 87 acres, a private contractor will be hired to do it. John asked if there
could be difficulties with the DEC approving a plan by a private contractor. Ray said the DEC staff has
been diverted to work on a much larger project this fall, but they would review the private contractor’s
wetland delineation. Once that is complete, the planning department and planning board can begin
exploring options for using this large tract.
Adjournment at 6:25 pm
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