Green Team

Morgantown Municipal Green Team Monthly Meeting, Monday, July 11, 2016 Minutes Present: Joey James, Chelsi Baker, Holly Purpura, Jim Kotcon, Ella Belling, Jenny Selin, Hari Jammulamadaka, Alex Davis, Karen Kalafat, and Jing Zhang I. June minutes were approved. II. Old Business: Progress reports 1. IAC-City Collaboration (Alex Davis, Hari Jammulamadaka, Jim Kotcon) Updates: Have finished all building tours, except ice rink (not open, so icers are not currently operational). Alex needs utility bills before analysis can be done. ACTION: Alex received contact information for Melissa Burch, the Director of BOPARC and will contact her. TIMELINE: Alex does not believe she will be able to finish project by the end of summer; more likely by the end of September. [Note: The September 11th Green Team meeting will include her formal sum-up of her summer internship work to fulfill IAC’s requirement for her to receive credit. She is available for other presentations at the request of the team.] DISCUSSION: Hari believes someone from the city finance department has to call Mon Power to get the bills. Alex needs to know what meter goes where because of disorganized bills; Alex cannot obtain this information because she is not the customer. ACTION: Alex will meet with Damien Davis, City Engineer on this issue. Jim noted that, former city engineer and team liaison Trevor Lloyd had been able to get an Excel spreadsheet from Mon Power; but, you need the correct meter numbers, which have been switched around in the past two years. He also asked Alex and Hari for a subset of data, if they get copies of the bills. ACTION: Alex and Hari will get Jim data for energy usage via kilowatt hours (not necessarily what the city spends). 2. Team input on ongoing City renovations (Karen Kalafat, Chelsi Baker) Karen has not heard anything more from the city, but Chelsi said there was a lot of talk about the work in the spring but this seems to have been postponed until possibly the fall. 3. Recycling: Grant application to state, new intern, etc. (Amanda Stoner, Jim Kotcon)  On the grant application, Amanda had forwarded several bits of info (bids, etc.) to City Manager Jeff Mikorski. Because the city did not hire the grant writer in time, it decided to place the recycling grant application on hold until next year. On a replacement for Amanda to start in the fall, Jim and Amanda have a young man in mind to but are unsure if he is going to follow through. Hari noted that a Manufacturing Extension partnership may be able to help in identifying a replacement intern. 4. Year to Go Green (Holly, Purpura, Chelsi Baker) Jenny provided an update on the Summer Stroll Outreach Event. Holly reported that the Green Business Coalition has been drawing interest after canvassing and reformatting the checklist. In addition, a Solar Co-op partnership with the Green Business Coalition is possible. ACTION: Jenny Selin and Holly plan to meet with Jason Apiscatilla (spelling?) at the Morgantown Chamber of Commerce. 5. Sustainable Morgantown Final Report (Joey James) Downstream Strategies Sustainable Morgantown Final Report is finished and going to print. The team will see a copy at the August 1st meeting, and the electronic version will be available soon. 6. Hydropower dam at Morgantown Locks (Ella Belling). No “dam” news to report. 7. Green Morgantown (Pam Cubberly). This 3-year-old team/City-sponsored Facebook Group should reach 500 members in August! New Business 1. Morgantown Solar Co-op 2 (Joey James) After a successful Morgantown Solar Co-op was completed last fall, the Green Team, Sierra Club, and League of Women Voters, supported by WV Sun have launched a follow-up co-op to reach out a wider area and, it is hoped, reach folks who were not able to join the first co-op. Dubbed the “North Central WV Co-op,” the new co-op will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, July 27, in the Morgantown Public Library basement meeting room and its second on July 28 at Pierpont Technical College in Fairmont. Expected timeline: The first co-op took about 9 months, due to extenuating circumstances. The second co-op is expected to last closer to 3–6 months. WV Sun hopes to have enough people (typical threshold of 25 households) in early September to put out a request for proposals from installers that month. Co-op members can be homeowners, small businesses, and farmers. USDA REAP grants are available for small businesses to install solar panels. The REAP grant program is not often taken advantage of. Home businesses are also eligible for REAP grants.  Marketing plan: Green Team listserv, Facebook ads, and press releases in Dominion Post and other media outlets; spreading the word to surrounding areas through local political leaders. IAC assistance to co-op: IAC has received a grant from USDA to do small business energy assessments in West Virginia. IAC may be interested in collaborating in some way with the Solar Co-op, for instance, doing assessments before installation to provide an additional incentive to join the Co-op. 2. Signs along Foundry Street (Ella Belling) Ella is looking into placing signs for the Rail Trail along Foundry Street. For more information, contact Kelly Kinder. 3. River Life (Ella Belling) River Life is a Pittsburgh-based firm that does feasibility, mock-ups, conceptual plans, and so forth for former brownfields redevelopment and recreation, which could include enhancing the city’s waterfront for economic development . ACTION: Ella will figure out when River Life public meeting will meet so can include a representative from the Green Team. 4. “Try This West Virginia” Meeting (Ella Belling) Meeting will take place Wednesday, July 13, at 11:30am at Evansdale Black Bear. This organization promotes physical activity and healthy eating. What can they do to help other groups do stuff in Morgantown? They are brainstorming how they can fit in to what is already happening. Small community grants may be possible. 5. Ribbon cutting for kayak/canoe launch off of Van Voorhuis (Ella Belling) Ella is doing a dollar for dollar match July 15–July 31. Goal is $4,500. Your Community Trust, the proposed match, has electronic link where people can donate or checks or Paypal is also possible. Collins Ferry links with the Rail Trail. Owned by the Department of Energy, and MRTC has an easement. 6. TIFF district for Falling Run (Jim Kotcon) Issue came before City Council about the TIFF district for Falling Run. City Council voted 6–1 to pass. Established this Tax Increment Financing, a mechanism for banks to sell bonds to develop a property and infrastructure. Housing Authority has proposed a low-income senior housing district near the Organic Farm and using the road that goes directly through the organic farm. Once developed, the Housing Authority would deed the building to the developer. Discussion: Jim would like to know about the timeline. Talking about 150 housing units, when before 15 houses were discussed. When the university granted the right of way, it was also part of the same plan to develop a hiking and biking trail Next meeting: Monday, August 1, 2016, 5:30pm to 7:00pm, City Hall, 389 Spruce Street.