HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-EC-1982-11-18 t
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
ENERGY COMMISSION
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1982
CITY HALL 3rd FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM
PRESENT:
Ernest Bury, Doug Dylla, Lindy Elkins, Jeanne Fudala, Harold Jones, D. Randall Lacey,
Gerard Messmer, Benjamin Nichols, Carolyn Peterson, and Staff Liaison John Clynes.
GUESTS:
Mark Kramer, Professor of Finance, Ithaca College, Robert Pfaff and Tom Giventer, Cor-
nell Graduate Students and Ad Hoc Committee for Buffalo Street Trolley, and Kathy Simp-
son, interested citizen, Fifth Ward.
The meeting was called or order at 7:40 p.m. by Doug Dylla.
CORRECTION/APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Mr. Lacey was present at the October 21 , 1982 meeting; his name was omitted.
Mr. Messmer's first name is GERARD not Gerald.
Page 3, third sentence down should read, sodium FIXTURE, not meter.
Page 3, Last title, Kerosene Lamp Controversy shouT d read, KEROSENE HEATER CONTROVERSY.
The minutes were approved as amended.
AGENDA:
Mr. Dy las changed the agenda to add "Budget Report after "Correspondence
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Jeanne Fudal a announced that she had received two reports--one on loan to the Energy
Commission by Tom Marankowski of Cornell 's Ecology House entitled, Municipal Solar
Utiity: A model for Carbondale, Illinois and a personal copy of the Final State Energy
MasterPlan March 1982. The former wi a available for borrowing from John Clynes
office; the latter can be obtained free by writing to State Energy Office in Albany.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Ms. Fuda a reported on replies to the Municipal Energy Questionnaire from Wichita,
Kansas and Portland, Oregon. Both of which have aggressive energy conservation pro-
grams including an energy office with several full time paid staff members.
BUDGET:
Doug Dylla reported on the Mayor's response to the Commission's budget reguests. A
total of $600 was approved. Regarding the $1 ,000 request for employee incentives, the
Mayor decided it should be funded from the Contingency Account.
John Clynes read a communique from the Mayor addressing training monies for Bill Szabo
and monies for consultants. An amount of $2,000.00 is included in A-1490-407 Public
Works Administration "for training, . . . .for Szabo in part". Another $2,000.00 is in
A-1440-407 Engineer for energy consultants ($1 ,000.00 of this was later put in the
Energy Commission budget).
Discussion ensued as to whether the Commission should ask to keep the $1 ,000 in its
own budget. It was pointed out that the doubling of this money and the planned expend-
itures noted in the Mayor's memo represented a significant increase in total monies
available, Mr. Clynes suggested that the Commission state its concern that the money
may be needed directly by the Commission at a future date.
Mr. Nichols, seconded by J. Fudala, . moved that the Commission request that either
additional money be put in 'its budget for future operations or that it be understood
that the money in the DPW budget can be called back for its own use if needed.
Approval of motion was unanimous.
r
PRESENTATION BY AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR A BUFFALO STREET TROLLEY:
Committee members Robert Pfaff and Tom Giventer showed slides of funicular rail-guided
transit system in the United States and other countries, and distributed a four-page
report to assist in their explanation of how a funicular works, the possible routes for
one in Ithaca, and the benefits to Ithaca of such a system.
A large photo display was also utilized. The presentation covered different types of
track systems, differing locomotion--all gravity or use of some fuel or electricity.
Discussion ensued about how the system would work in Ithaca, the advantages and draw-
backs of various routes and possible alternatives. The major proposals involve a line
between downtown Ithaca and Collegetown via either Buffalo or State Street. Other pos-
sibilities include Seneca Street instead of Buffalo Street, and systems linking downtown
with South Hill and Ithaca College or West Hill . The State Street Route, linking Cornell
and Collegetown with downtown, the site of the former trolley system which was in service
between the 1880's and 1935, is the route the Ad Hoc Committee is now most seriously
phsing.
In response to questions, the speakers replied they had not yet spoken to Ithaca Transit.
However, they had presented the proposal to Common Council and Collegetown groups and
had received favorable response.
Ben Nichols volunteered to act as a liaison for the Commission with the Ad Hoc Committee
to keep the Commission up-to-date on the progress of the proposal . Carolyn Peterson
topped off the discussion by reciting a limerick she had entered in a contest several
years back.
John Clynes distributed copies of a well-designed energy saving incentive poster done
by Lindy Elkins. The poster is being placed around various City buildings.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
TargetApplications
Randall Lacey presented a list of additional candidates for capital projects and another
one of no-cost-quick-fix items including both new and old suggestions. He stated that
of the three capital improvement projects discussed at the October meeting, insulation
of the Tin Can had been shown to have the quickest payback, two to three years. It was
pointed out that if the proposal to close off half the building that had been mentioned
in the Journal proved feasible, the payback period would be increased.
There were also questions regarding how much longer the building would still be in use
by the City; proposals to halt use of it have been made periodically over the past few
years. Mr. Bury questioned whether insulation, especially the inclusion of walls in
the plan should be the biggest priority in terms of cost-effectiveness, and asked if a
serious audit had been done. Mr. Clynes responded that in addition to the Target Com-
mittee's audit, one had also been conducted by the State Energy Office.
Doug Dylla stated that Mr. Clynes had expressed the opinion that the Commission should
endorse a specific project by December 1st so that specifications could be in place by
January 1st in order to get the work underway in time to realize some savings in the
1982-83 heating season (this one).
Randall Lacey, seconded by Harold Jones, moved that the Commission endorse insulation
of the Tin Can as the first capital project with the contingency that this be done only
if the building is to be in use for at least five years in order to ensure savings be-
yond the break-even point. The motion passed: 7 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention.
Randall Lacey proposed that since opinion on this was not unanimous, Bill Szabo should
be invited to come to the December meeting to explain the specifics of the work.
Mr. Clynes stated that there is $125,000 in the budget for capital projects.
Mr. Lacey asked if the Commission had officially supported Bill Szabo's role as staff
energy person, for which the Mayor has committed 30-50% of Mr. Szabo's time. D. Dylla
asked that an informal letter be written to Mayor Shaw with a copy to Don Kinsella sup-
porting this. R. Lacey then asked if it would be appropriate as Szabo is to make a
quarterly progress report to the Commission and/or DPw on the status of energy saving
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improvements. There was general agreement on the desirability of this.
Mr. Clynes stated that Elva Holman had received a letter from Charles Tuckerman pro-
posing an expenditure of $1 ,200 for weatherizing at Central Fire Station and asking for
the Commission's support. He recommended that the Commission address the energy saving
value of the proposal leaving specific monetary expenditures to the discretion of the
Budget and Administration Committee. Mr. Dylla requested and received consensus for a
statement of support for the weatherization work.
Accounting/PASNY/Lighting
Caro y Peterson stated that she, County Planner Frank Liguori, John Clynes, and Doug
Dylla had atteded the conference in Auburn to hear and discuss the options for reallot-
ment of PASNY power. About 100 municipal representatives had been present. She noted
that the hoped for clarification of the whole situation had not been forthcoming. There
was still considerable confusion resulting from conflicting advice, "facts", and propos-
als. There had, in fact, been two new proposals, one by Thomas Frey, former PASNY counsel ,
antic -another proposal by Batelle Labs. Mr. Frey offered a compromise between the Dyson
statewide distribution and turning all the power over to the municipal electric systems
(munis) suggesting that of the 1290 megawatts of PASNY power to be reallocated, 760 be
distributed on an equitable (or 1 person 1 watt basis), 130 mw go to industry, 230 to
the three upstate Investor-Owned Utilities (IOU's) and 200 be used as a specific incen-
tive to create new jobs. This would be administrated by 'a statewide agency. Batelle
proposed to do a study for the regional 26 upstate counties which would be affected by
the reallocation for a fee of $125,000. Ms. Peterson had a copy of the proposal which
she passed around.
Ms. Peterson further reported that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has
ruled in favor of the munis in their suit for more of the PASNY power and that PASNY had
erred in not having set more aside in 1961 in the event of needs greater than anticipated
at the time. PASNY has, however, appealed FERC's decision.
Frank Liguori invited the Commission to send representatives to the next County Planning
Board meeting at which Frank Slatterly of Groton will discuss the issue. Ms. Peterson
and Mr. Dylla will attend. Ms. Peterson is also drawing up a list of questions for PASNY,
the munis and the IOU's. She invited other Commission members to submit questions to
her as well .
Ben Nichols announced that Senator Dale Volker and Assemblyman Oliver Koppell will be
holding public hearings on the Pasny redistribution question. Thus, even though twelve
communities have already passed laws creating municipal "pass-through" agencies, there
is no rush for Tompkins County or the City of Ithaca (preferably, however, the County)
to act.
Street Lighting
Ernest Bury gave a report comparing mercury vapor, high pressure sodium (HPS) and low
pressure sodium (LPS) lighting systems. He stated that LPS, beside being more energy
efficient (drawing less lumens of power per watt output), has the additional advantage
over the other two of maintaining the same lumens per watt overtime, whereas the light-
ing quality of the others tend to deteriorate over time. LPS is thus less expensive
over the life of the luminaires. However, Mr. Bury emphasized that in choosing a light-
ing system, one needs to specify criteria, that is, whether to design for traffic flow
or pedestrian security and safety. This is important because while mercury vapor and
HPS are "point" sources, LPS tends to be distributive, about halfway between the first
two and fluorescent lighting. He added that NYSEG has made a proposal to the City for
conversion of exi.sting mercury vapor luminaires to HPS and questioned whether enough
consideration had been given to changing over to LPS instead. He noted that the City
Post Office used LPS in its parking area.
Discussion ensued about doing a study of LPS in Ithaca. One problem is that the lights
are not metered, thus there is no direct way to compare one group of lights of one sys-
tem with another system. However, Gerard Messmer stated that several municipalities,
including Elmira, have asked NYSEG to experiment with LPS.
Mr. Bury stated that another problem he has with the NYSEG Ithaca proposal is the pro-
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posed conversion of 400 watts of mercury vapor to 250 when 150 watts NPS would provide
an equivalent li_ghti.ng level ,
Doug Dylla proposed to suggest to the City that it test LPS on some of the luminaires
it owns. Mr. Messmer responded by saying that was putting the cart before the horse.
The Commission should wait until it was formally approached. Doug Dylla agreed with
that and suggested that Mr. Bury meet with Chuck Barber and come up with some cost/pay-
back figures. Mr. Bury agreed to do this. Mr. Dylla also suggested the Commission
ask for some specifications from Chuck Barber and Don Kinsella and asked for a motion
on this.
Mr. Nichols, seconded by Mr. Bury, so moved. Motion carried unanimously.
Mr. Messmer had brought an LPS fixture in response to questions brought up at earlier
meetings to demonstrate the affect of LPS luminaires, People commented on the gray
skin tones it produced. It was also noted that people in other cities where they were
in more extensive use complained at first, but generally got used to them.
Incentives Committee
Doug Dylla reportea that an energy workshop had been held earlier that day conducted
by Bruce John of Cornell Ag Engineering and now under contract with the State Energy
Office. Thirteen had attended--two maintenance people from the County, five from the
City, four DPW administrative personnel including Don Kinsella and Jack Dougherty and
two people from the Commission.
The workshop was excellent. It is hoped to have anouther for administrative personnel .
Topics covered included energy billing, buying the most effective equipment, simple ways
of controlling demand and increasing boiler efficiency. Interesting points included the
fact that lighting can account for 40% of all office energy use, initial cost of lumin-
aires is small compared with operation and maintenance, the best way to focus on energy
policy is to have one person aggressively monitor BTU consumption and conduct energy
audits, etc. One participant suggested that heat could be recovered from the compres-
sors reclaimed from washing trucks at Streets and Facilities.
At the workshop Don Kinsella suggested that employees get together once a month with
supervisors to brainstorm energy saving ideas.
There was no separate Task Force Report. However, John Clynes reported that the fuel
management system was in place and operating to expectations; the official "opening"
cermony would be the following Tuesday at noon; Commission members were invited.
Lindy Elkins reported that she and Nancy Potter are still trying to get in touch with
Personnel Administrator Joan Collins,
Secretary's Report
Jeanne Fudala reported that other official advisory organizations handle minutes by
methods ranging from taping the meetings and having staff secretary type them up, as
is the case with the Conservation Advisory Committee, to having paid staff members take
and prepare the minutes as with other City and County groups. She reiterated that she
did not want the responsibility of taking and writing minutes any more.because it
practically precluded participation at the meetings and took too much of her -time
that she would rather have for other work.
Mr. Clynes offered to see what could be arranged with his secretary, who does the final
typing on the minutes Ms. Fudala prepares. Mr. Messmer stated that one method of re-
ducing the work load of whoever did take and write the minutes as well as save meeting
time, was to have committee reports prepared beforehand.
The lateness of the hour was noted. It was suggested that perhaps parliamentary pro-
cedures should be followed more: closely. It was noted that this evening had included
an unusually long presentation.. Possibly committee reports could be shortened when
a major presentation was scheduled.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 p.m.
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NEXT MEETING:
7:30 p. m.
Thursday, December 16, 1982
Council Chambers
AGENDA:
Approval of Minutes
Announcements
Correspondence
Report by Bill Szabo
Old Business
Committee Reports
Target Applications
Accounting/PASNY/Lighting --
Report of Meeting/Discussion with
Barber and Kinsella
Incentives
Energy Task Force
Changes in Committee Reporting?