HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-EC-1982-03-18 ENERGY CObMI SSION
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
REGULAR MEETING Thursday, March 18, 1982
PRESENT:
E. Bury, D. Dylla, J. Fudala, J. Howarth, H. Jones, R. Lacey, B. Nichols, B. Wood,
C. Peterson; Council Liaison E. Holman; Department Liaison J. Clynes.
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. by Bob Wood.
MINUTES:
The February minutes were distributed at the meeting. There had been a misunder-
standing about mailing them out ahead of time. Ms. Fudala asked that the policy of
submitting agenda items to go out with the minutes one week in advance of meetings
be changed to two weeks in order to give the Purchasing Department secretary time
to type the minutes and agenda and send them out. There was concensus on this.
Henceforth minutes and agenda will be submitted two weeks in advance of meetings.
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Mr. Wood stated that the work "window quilts" should be stricken from the minutes
(though that had been the term used by the speaker) because it was the name of a
specific product, and substitute "window treatments".
The minutes, on a motion by Ben Nichols and seconded by John Howarth, were approved
unanimously as amended.
AGENDA:
The agenda was expanded to include "Survey" under committee reports and INNS report
at the end.
OLD BUSINESS:
Hydroelectric Commission
The Energy Commission had been allotted two seats on the City's newly formed Hydro-
electric Commission. At the February meeting, before it was known that there would
be two seats, there had been concencus on Ben Nichols as the first choice. Mr. Wood
stated that although the chairpersons of groups had been given the authority to ap-
point people, he wanted concensus on the second person. He himself would then act
as alternate for the two. Ms. Fudala and Mr. Bury both expressed interest and stated
their reasons and perspectives on the issue. A secret ballot was taken by Mr. Wood
who stated he would inform the designated person the following day. There was some
discussion about the fact that clear positions on the hydro facility had been taken
by Mr. Nichols and the others who had expressed interest. Mr. Wood stated that this
was probably the case with all hydro appointees and asked that Energy Comnission rep-
resentatives keep an open mind.
Ms. Fudala expressed dismay that of ten people thus far officially chosen by groups
for the hydro commission, none were women.
Ms. Peterson noted that there were one or two community-at-large positions yet to be
selected, one of which was to be filled by an expert on hydrology.
Mr. Nichols then reported on the first meeting of the hydro commission, which had also
been attended by Mr. Wood and Mr. Fudala. He stated that by Mary 6 the City must take
some kind of stand on the proposed plant or forfeit its right to do so. This could
take the form of written comments on the proposals by Cornell University and Synergics
and/or a non-binding letter of intent by the City to apply for a license to build the
plant itself. Once the City has filed a letter of intent to the Federal Energy Reg-
ulatory Commission it has 120 days to act on it. The hydro commission has broken
down into three committees: one to study the proposals and applicable regulations,
one to study environmental impacts,; and the third. to evaluate the economkds 'of city.
construction of the proposed facility.
Discussion as to the Energy Commission's specific role followed. Mr. Wood stated
that as a commission, we should only look at the plant as it relates to our desig-
nated goals. Evaluating pros and cons is not the Energy Commission's place and he
expressed concern about the time discussing the plant had already taken. There was
general agreement.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Large Users
Randy Lacey reported that the Large User Committee and Jack Clynes had toured two of
the largest electric and gas users in the City, the Construction and Maintenance
Garage on Willow Avenue and the Greater Ithaca Activities Building (GIAC) respect-
ively. The purpose of the tours was to gat a first hand sense of obvious energy
loss areas and to get the ball rolling on having more formal audits done. For the
Construction and Maintenance Garage, the Committee expressed support for DPW dis-
cussion of converting the main part of the building from electric to gas, stated
that it felt the ceiling pipes in the work room should be lowered so that panels
would not have to be opened to heat them, negating much of the effect of the insul-
ation, and that the temperatures in the building, particularly the storage area,
were too high. Building Superintendent Jack Dougherty had demonstrated interest
and cooperation during the tour. The GIAC building needs a major tuning of its
heating system to even out hot and cool areas, operational improvements to elim-
inate waste in heating and lighting, including turning down the hot water heater,
and checking the ventilation system as a possible means of spreading heat more ev-
enly and to be sure heat isn't being discharged to the outside. Both buildings
would, of course, benefit from a professional audit. Both are under the jurisdic-
tion of the Board of Public Works but whereas Construction and Maintenance is oper-
ated directly by DPW making it easier to institute improvements, QAC has a number
of tenants, none of who pay the heating bills out of their budgets.
Mr. Dylla suggested that there be something like graphs in buildings to create
awareness of year to year energy use patterns. Mr. Wood suggested an ongoing en-
ergy "bulletin board".
Questions then centered around whether doing the audits had been going beyond the
scope the Commission had defined for itself and what kind of recommendations should
be given to Common Council in response to Elva Holman's request for Mr. Lacey's re-
port. (Elva Holman had had to .leave the meeting. )
In response to the first concern raised by Ms. Peterson, Mr. Lacey stated that the
audits had been intended primarily to get the ball rolling, and there was no inten-
tion to do more of them.
Concerning the second point, Commission members felt that general suggestions and
policy recommendations should be made to Council and that specifics of particular
buildings should be worked out with superintendents and then taken to the Board of
Public Works. As a start, Mr. Dylla had put together a list of "Strategies for Re-
ducing Energy Consumption in City Buildings" which he distributed.
Ms. Peterson asked Mr. Howarth if he was intending to follow through with what Mr.
Turner had started in the matter of converting the C&M Garage to gas. Mr. Howarth
replied that he would follow up but that the procedure for applying for such a con-
version required a direct request from Mr. Kinsella or Mr. Dougherty to Jerry Bessmet
at NYSE&G for an initial (non-binding) analysis.
Mr. Wood stated that one way to focus on energy use would to be break it down into
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two parts: people-operational and systems-heating system, thermostats, etc.
Mr. Clynes noted that the overall responsibilities of the BPW in dealing with energy
consumption in buildings should not be overlooked and further suggested that specific
findings and recommendations be referred to the BPW and overall policy recommendations
made to Council.
The Big Users Committee will set up a meeting with Jack Dougherty to discuss with him
recommendations to be brought to the Board of Public Works.
Ideas, Incorporated Committee
Mr. Howarth reiterated his suggestion that the Commission sponsor a contest for City
employees to come up with energy saving ideas. Anyone coming up with an idea that
was used would be awarded $50.00. Interdepartmental contests could be set up as well
for such things as which one could reduce miles per gallon the most. Questions were
raised about accommodating such contests in the city budget and gift taxes. Mr. Wood
suggested one possible alternative, and one which would make possible some community
involvement, would be to ask businesses to donate prizes such as was done successfully
for Fall Creek Day.
Accounting Committee
Ms. Peterson reported that she and Mr. Wood had had two meetings with DPW Superinten-
dent Kinsella and Deputy City Controller Dominick Cafferillo. DPW has asked Mr. Clynes
to get bids on "Gas Boy" (trade name)- which keep track of fuel use by vehicle and oper-
ator. Because of this "accountability factor" Gas Boys have resulted in 10% reduction
in gas use in other areas and can go as high as 15% where there is a lot of waste.
In 1980, the City's 162 vehicles used 211,000 gallons so a gas metering device could
save 21,000 gallons. Installation costs would be about $25,000 to $30,000, an amount
which would be repaid in a year.
(NOTE: Again, "Gas Boy" is a trade name -- not specifically endorsed. )
Ms. Peterson stated that Mr. Kinsella had asked for the Commission's help in working
with the fire department on the question of whether or acquire gasoline or diesel
fueled vehicles. Mr. Wood stated that interested Commission members were invited to
a meeting with the Police Commissioners on March 25th set up by Mr. Kinsella to ex-
plore possible energy savings there.
Discussion then turned to street lighting. According to Mr. Kinsella, the last
inventory of street lights was done in 1972. Street lighting is done on contract
with NYSE&G; traffic lights have a separate meter.
Between 1980 and 1981, the cost of street lighting went up $30,000. This was due
largely to a change in depreciation schedules; only 11% had been due to an increase
in power costs.
Mr. Clynes stated that the City had broken down separate energy items for 1981 and
charts are being prepared and posted for 1982.
Ms. Peterson stated that Elva Holman had asked her for a list of accounts which
should be singled out for closer monitoring. She added that the 13 biggest users
she had identified for 1980 had shown a cumulative increase in energy costs of
$55,000. The actual figure is, in fact, higher because the 1980 budget had lumped
water and sewer with electric and gas.
Mr. Wood noted that the City Committee on Target Applications has suggested the same
kind of accounting breakdown be done for gasoline and oil as is done now for electric
and gas. He suggested that the Big User Committee be empowered to select the accounts
to be closely monitored. Mr. Lacey stated that the list should include both some of
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` the largest electric and gas users, and at least one pumping station.
Mr. Wood stated (regarding the memo passed out with the February minutes) that he had
been contacted after the last meeting with requests to purchase energy saving products
for the City. Though endorsing products is not the Commission's role, he had asked
Mr. Clynes to set up occasional product sessions with groups of sellers. He expressed
concern about the fact that the impression had been given that the Commission had en-
dorsed Window Quilts as the window treatment for the No. 9 Fire Station. The purchase
had actually been made independently of any action by the Commission.
The larger issue is whether plans for window treatments in the future will be referred
to the Commission for general suggestions before a specific product is chosen by the
City.
Survey
Harold Jones distributed a summary of the Energy Survey performed by 17 RSVP volunteers.
There had been more problems with the survey than originally anticipated including con-
fusion about some of the questions. However, out of 470 people called there had been
400 completed forms, a 70-75% response rate, which is quite good. Mr. Dylla stated
that the next step would be a cross indexing of questions to determine correlation
between the level of insulation in people's homes with opinions regarding weather-
ization ordinance, among other things.
Ms. Peterson, seconded by Ms. Fudala, moved that the Commission write a letter to the
RSVP thanking them for their efforts in participating in the Survey. Ms. Fudala
will write the letter.
Mr. T. Howarth stated that NYSE&G now offers audits for buildings of 5 to 50 units
for a charge. . From the 10% of landlords directly contacted, response has been good,,
but entirely from landlords who pay the heat themselves.
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NEW BUSINESS:
NYSE&G Consumer Panel/Tompkins County Energy /Hdusing Committee
Ms. Fudala reported briefly on the NYSE&G Consumer Panel and Energy/Housing Committee.
The consumer panel has broken up into an education and a conservation committee. The
education committee is attempting to help NYSE&G improve communication with its cus-
tomers; this had included suggestions onrevising NYSE&G bills to make them more under-
standable. The conservation committee is focusing on methods that NYSE&G can utilize
to encourage conservation efforts by its customers. Committee members are priorit-
izing a list of conservation ideas, which includes several suggestions made by the
Commission at an earlier meeting.
The Energy/Housing Committee is working on reducing residential energy consumption in
the county through conservation and advocating improvements of housing conditions,
especially needed repair work. The Committee is also planning series of solar events
during May including a SUNday fair, probably on May first, tours of homes with various
solar systems, and workshops. The events will focus on raising consciou-sness of
solar's potential, meeting solar dealers, and solar zoning and construction.
Ms. Fudala invited input from the Commission to both the NYSE&G panel and the Energy/
Housing Committee.
Ithaca Neighborhooa -Housing Services
Mr. Dylla passed out a three page report entitled "Warmer Homes and Energy Savings"
a compilation of energy-cost savings resulting from steps ranging from simple
weatherstripping to full scale insulation in INNS neighborhood homes. The results,
comparing 1981 and 1982 were very impressive. INNS is mmnitoring energy savings in
a total of 200 homes. Half of the INNS "Warmer Homes" project is funded by a grant
from NYSE&G .
ADJOURNMENT: On a motion the meeting was adjourned at 10:05 p.m.
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ENERGY COWI SSION
AGENDA
FOR
APRIL 15, 1982 MEETING
7:30 p.m.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
APPROVAL/CORRECTION OF MINUTES
ANNOUNCEMENTS
OLD BUSINESS
Hydro Commission
Committee Reports
1. Large Users
2. Ideas, Inc.
3. Accounting
4. Survey
NEW BUSINESS
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