Town looks to negotiate solar programs and expand water system to school

TOWN OF HOOSICK, N.Y. >> On the April 11 Town of Hoosick board meeting, it was apparent that progress is being made in the areas of solar energy, water contamination and distribution and support for volunteer firefighters.

Solar

Deputy Supervisor Jeff Wysocki revealed that a presentation would not be made from the solar committee due to a wait on a state report about unified zoning. Wysocki said the report was supposed to be unveiled in March. The solar committee was due to present its findings on the benefits of solar energy for April.

“We’re waiting for that [the report] to see where we fit in with all that,” he said. “The committee is still working.”

He added that two preliminary progress reports have been made.

Meeting minutes have not been posted from the past two meetings for the solar committee. The solar committee meets every first Wednesday of the month.

Resident Kevin Allard suggested payment of taxes from the proposed solar PILOT program should be dedicated to a recreation fund for children.

“I’d like to consider doing a PILOT program in which solar farms that have a direct positive impact on the Town of Hoosick,” he said acknowledging Wysocki’s farm that is offsetting the school’s energy costs. The solar farm that’s going up on Route 22, doesn’t have the same impact. Do something like $100 per acre for something like Mr. Wysocki, but for something that doesn’t have a direct impact do like $250 an acre.”

---

Advertisement

---

A motion was made to allow Attorney John Schopf to draft a proposal to enter into negotiations on the town’s behalf to set up a PILOT program for the commercial solar farms in town.

Councilman Eric Sheffer suggested building pilot ideas by utilizing non-vested companies and without using already established applications.

“It’s been brought to my attention both within the town and outside of the town that there’s some pretty big growing pains of these ongoing projects,” Sheffer said. “We should reach out to see where these projects are at before we spend any money trying to negotiate anything.”

On May 3 at 6 p.m., Brighten Energy solar company will visit the Town Hall to discuss community solar and pilot programs.

Water

Supervisor Mark Surdam spoke with Mayor David Borge, the Village Water Department and the Engineering Firm MRB to delve into the idea to expand the Municipal Water & Sewer into the town. This is the result of many conversations about the PFOA contamination.

Hoosick Falls school Superintendent Kenneth Facin suggested having water and sewer coming south to the school, according to Surdam’s report

Further conversation was conducted between Surdam, Mayor Borge and the NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC), the NYS Bureau of Water Supply Protection and Design Engineer Michael Montysko.

Mayor Borge addressed infrastructure issues in the village that were created and discovered during PFOA flushing process.

“There are options for getting some money. Probably, most likely a combination of grants and either low interest or zero interest loans,” Mark Surdam said. “It comes to a point where we vote to spend money to do a study, I imagine that would be reimbursable money.”

“I think this is something good that can happen for us,” Sutton said. “Would it involve theoretically sidewalks down at the school as well? We’re looking into it.”

A motion was approved by the board in order for Dave Sutton to work with the Village of Hoosick Falls and get more information on growing the distribution of the municipal water system into a reasonable distance, i.e. south on Route 22 to the Hoosick Falls Central School.

Fire

On April 23 the North Hoosick Fire Department will host an open house to allow the public to view the apparatus, equipment and facility. There will be 911 reflective signs for sale, 50 smoke detectors will be given away and there will be fire extinguishers available as a door prize.

On the same day, the Village of Hoosick Falls Fire Department will have an open house on Griffin Ave. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

These events are in recognition of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) “Recruit NY 2016” initiative to bring in more volunteers.

The North Hoosick department, like many volunteer facilities, utilize a service reward program. Points are gained by a volunteer for participating in training, drills, fire calls, etc. These points are exchanged into money or retirement benefits. The 2015 points earned form has been completed and was approved by the board.

Additionally, Resolution No. 54, 2016 Protection District was approved to adopt the updated plan document prepared by Penflex Inc. This sets trust in which assets accumulated by the town are held for payment of the Service Reward Program Benefits.

Events

In an effort to recover from the water crisis, the Community Celebration Committee has planned an Earth Day event at Brown’s Brewing Company at the Walloomsac facility (50 Factory Hill Road, Hoosick Falls, N.Y.). The band “Flood Road” will play on April 22 from 7 to 9 p.m.

Admission cost $10 and includes a brewery tour, a pint of beer and samples of new menu items. Proceeds will benefit local watershed protection through the Rensselaer Land Trust. The event is sponsored by “I Heart Hoosick” to kick-off their season of events and recognize and thank all involved in making Hoosick Falls’ water safe again. Free sunflower seeds will be available.

Brown’s is committed to sustainable infrastructure and practices by using solar energy, LED light bulbs, reduced cooling needs due to geography, hydroelectric energy, aerobic water digestion system, by using local and ingredients and also by giving spend grains and yeast to local farmers to be repurposed.

Love Your Village clean up day will happen on May 7 from 9 a.m. to noon in partnership with St. Gobain. More information on this can be found at hayc3.org.

The Town Board meets every second Monday night of the month at 7 p.m. For more information visit townofhoosick.org.

—Makayla-Courtney McGeeney can be reached at (802)-447-7567, ext. 118.

Town looks to negotiate solar programs and expand water system to school

Future looks green as cost of renewables falls

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Costs of renewable energy have fallen by as much as 75 per cent in the last five years, especially for solar and wind energy. “Onshore wind power …

Future looks green as cost of renewables falls

Japan Looks to Increase its Renewable Energy Target

While Australia is looking to scale back its renewable energy efforts, Japan is looking to expand its own quite dramatically.

Japan’s environmental minister Nobuteru Ishihara was quoted as saying 30% of Japan’s energy should come from renewable sources. This is a 10% increase from the target Japan laid out in 2010 of having 20% of all energy be renewable by 2030.

The plan is part of a long-running effort to change the country’s energy profile in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March of 2011. At last year’s UN Summit in Warsaw, Poland, the Japanese government reneged on its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. It argued that to meet its goals would be impossible because of the disaster.

Since then, however, the government has made more attempts to go green, becoming a leader in renewable energy in the Asia-Pacific region. Large clean energy subsidies have driven solar investment in the country as well, making them one of the sunniest in the world.

Beyond the environmental issue, Ishihara believes that driving clean energy production would help foster jobs and economic growth in regions of the country that are severely lacking. Some also believe that the focus could lead to partnerships with other countries in the region, such as Korea and the U.S.

The ramping up of the target could also lead investors leaving Australia as they look to scale back their RET to look toward Japan, as the country looks as it will present strong investing opportunities in the near future. 

Japan Looks to Increase its Renewable Energy Target

EDITORIAL: Forecast for solar power looks sunny

President Jimmy Carter first shined the light on solar panels for many Americans. In 1977, he installed them on the White House and provided incentives for solar energy companies. A year later, solar panels popped up on calculators, prompting legions of children to cover their fingers over the panels to magically turn on and off their electronic abacuses.

At that time, world production of photovoltaic cells exceeded 500 kW, or about enough energy to power a home for several weeks.

Despite the somewhat limited productions, panels started popping up on houses. But the technology didn’t develop fast enough for power-hungry consumers. President Ronald Reagan removed the panels from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. a decade later, and ones that remained on homes baked in the sunlight without producing any noticeable benefits.

Solar technology has come a long way since those days. Its efficiency is light years ahead of where it was 30 years ago. Schools, governments and other businesses are readily embracing it to help power their establishments and warm their water, even as traditional utilities companies are still trying to figure out how to integrate solar into their power grids.

South Carolina appears to be on the verge of moving a bill through that is intended to make the use of solar power more accessible for homeowners, businesses and schools.

The legislation would make it easier for solar companies to lease sun panels to people at what solar backers say will be more affordable prices. Other states have adopted similar measures, as the upfront costs to installing a solar panel system — in the neighborhood of $20,000 per home — has been a deterrent.

In addition, the bill would raise a cap that limits the use of sun panels that are hooked to a utility’s power grid. The cap will rise from 100 kilowatts to 1 megawatt.

South Carolina has been slow to adopt alternative energy sources, in part because the state remains a leader in nuclear power. Roughly half of the state’s electrical power needs are already furnished by the state’s four nuclear plants, including the H.B. Robinson Plant in Hartsville.

We all know that nuclear peril is a very real thing. The human cost from the 1986 Chernobyl event in Belarus is still being calculated. Solar, meanwhile, is safe. It is renewable, unlike the finite amount of coal, oil and natural gas on the planet. It also doesn’t create deadly nuclear waste.

The appeal of solar energy cannot be ignored. But neither should it be overstated. Even with its advances, solar is still a bit in the distance, as are its other green brethren. Even the rosiest projections for wind, solar, geothermal and other more-appealing energy sources do not show them making any appreciable dent in our nation’s growing appetite for energy.

The most efficient solar cells convert approximately 40 percent of sunshine to energy, and many fall below that threshold. And what about when the sun goes down? South Carolinians surely want that air conditioning to continue running through those summer storms.

For the time being, nuclear is still the best alternative to fossil fuels when it comes to power generation. Nuclear is “clean” in terms of point-of-generation pollution, it is relatively cheap and it depends upon a plentiful resource that’s readily available in, or to, the United States.

But we are glad to see South Carolina getting behind solar, and with what appears to be support from utilities, consumer watch agencies and conservation groups. That’s key. The state had garnered a rap of not being friendly to green energy, primarily because of the resistance from power companies and the state’s continued emphasis on nuclear energy.

Solar wasn’t ready for prime time in 1977. But in 2027? It might very well be, so the state needs to be helping its residents and businesses with those transitions now.

Supplementing the nation’s power grid is a very real need, and more efforts to incorporate green, renewable sources are a step in the right direction for South Carolina.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial board members are: Stephen Wade (regional publisher), Don Kausler Jr. (regional editor), Kimberly Brauss (online editor), Matt Tate (news editor) and David Johnson (regional circulation director).

© 2014 SCNow. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

EDITORIAL: Forecast for solar power looks sunny