Green Team

Minutes Morgantown Municipal Green Team April 11, 2017 Meeting Attending: Joey James (Chair), Joseph Kanosky (NETL), Jim Kotcon (Energy Chair), Doug Milbrand, Don Spencer, Jing Zhang, and Pam Cubberly (Secretary) I. Old Business A. IAC Energy Audit Report (Pam). Alex now has all the actual meter data she needs to replace the estimated energy data from her research last summer on seven City buildings. She is now ready to complete the report but, due to her academic work, she may not be able to work on this immediately. The team agreed that we should present the report to City Manager Paul Brake on April 27 in whatever state it is at that point and forward the final report to him when it is ready. Our discussion with Paul should focus on the savings the City will obtain by implementing the IAC report’s recommendations, from the easiest and least expensive to those that require medium to large investments before reaping projected savings. Action: At the meeting with Paul, the team will discuss (1) whether the City would consider a supplemental request for initial funds for implementation of IAC recommendations in 2017 and (2) our preparing for Paul a list of cost items for implementation by this fall to integrate it into the budget process for 2018. Action: Jim Kotcon, as the team’s Energy Chair, is often the chief team contact on such projects, nonetheless said he would take the lead in late summer or early fall to work on this list with key members on the team. It was noted that Dr. Gopala of IAC wants to be involved in City implementation in the coming year in the form of technical advice and that Hari and Alex have stated they would also help to the degree they can. This will probably be the last year that Hari and Alex are available, however. It would probably be important for any team member involved in assisting City implementation to meet regularly with Luis Caceres and occasionally with Damien Davis and Paul Brake as needed in order to press forward with implementation. B. WVU Intern for LED Analysis. Chris Haddox had contacted Dr. Ken Means about having one of his mechanical engineering students take on a City internship to analyze current prospects of the City 1  transitioning to LEDs for existing streetlights owned by First Energy. Dr. Means indicated his interest, and Chris said that the next step was to pass the idea by City Manager Paul Brake before they could proceed. Action: Team members will raise the LED City internship with Paul at the rescheduled April 27 meeting. Don Spencer elaborated on a few points made in Chris Haddox’s initial memo to the team on Morgantown obtaining LED streetlights to save significantly on energy costs, which he had noted to Chris by phone. Chris had then sent a second email to the team to explain a few points. Don said that a ruling by the Public Service Commission (PSC) supporting the City’s transition to LED streetlights would probably be necessary. Action: On April 27, team members will ask Paul for the City Attorney’s assistance in working out legal issues with the PSC. Action: Once Paul’s support is confirmed, Pam will contact Chris, who will work with Dr. Means on a description of the internship for him to use in recruiting the best student. Action: If Paul supports it, the team at its May 1 meeting will also develop questions to pose to the City Attorney. It was noted that appealing to how First Energy might achieve cost savings by helping Morgantown to transition to LED streetlights would go far in getting First Energy’s support. Pam noted that City Communications Director Krista Baker was planning to cover installation of LED streetlights that the City owns on High Street, expected to take place this summer. She noted to Pam that if the team wanted to contact the media around the same time to broaden coverage of this effort to the wider issue of the City transitioning entirely to LEDs at great savings, they should do so. She will keep Pam informed on the planned installation. Action: Pam will check with Green Team Liaison and City Engineer Luis Caceres to ensure that he lets the team know both when the City installs the High Street LED street lights and when city engineers begin to implement the easiest and no-cost recommendations from the IAC report so the team could contact the media on both. C. Possible Internship for Upgrade of Public Service Building to “Sustainable” Status Joe Kanosky noted that, if Dr. Means was open to other opportunities for his students, the team might consider proposing another City internship to come up with a plan on upgrading one City building to at least a “sustainable” level (described in printed materials he supplied at the meeting). Such an effort would require at least one year of data on the building’s energy use. He noted that data on the Public Service Building in the IAC Report could form the basis of such a plan. Action: The team agreed that this related and possibly longer-term project should also be raised with Paul at the April 27 meeting. Action: Joe agreed to call Chris Haddox on the idea and to decide whether to combine the two proposals as a joint effort; otherwise, Joe was willing to contact Dr. Means, with whom he has worked in the past, separately. D. Green Team Chair Replacement. Joey’s two-year term as team Chair will be up in November. He talked with the team on a plan for finding his replacement, as no one currently on the team has been able or willing to take this post. He proposed advertising for the volunteer position on the City’s website as has been done  by other of the City’s boards and commissions. If someone is interested, Joey could begin working with him or her during a kind of “Chair-in-training” starting as soon as possible thereafter. The team agreed on this first step in the search. E. City Application for State Recycling Grant. Jim reported that he was still in the process of reviewing resumes for a new City recycling intern who would work on an application for state funding of public recycling education. The plan would be to get someone on board for the summer and fall. It was not clear if an intern starting now could complete an application by June 30 of this year. Joey then noted that he had been put on a contract with Monongalia County to identify alternative disposal methods to reduce the county’s waste stream. Three possibilities were (1) single-stream recycling, (2) composting facility, and (3) gasification. Part of his work would be to apply for the same state funding. Perhaps, if he had the support of the new City intern, it would be possible for both the City and County to get in applications this year. Joey would supervise the intern and benefit from the extra help. Jim noted that former City Recycling Intern Amanda Stoner had returned from abroad to Morgantown and would probably be willing to help any new intern. She could help bring any new intern up to speed on the application and other issues. F. MMGT Long-Term Strategy Progress. Jing reported that he had integrated comments on long-range planning documents from those attending the last planning subcommittee meeting. The subcommittee will refine these documents further based on the team’s now rescheduled meeting with City Manager Paul Brake on April 27. Jing is now creating a table on Google Docs, organized by proposed goals and objectives, in which team members can insert and brainstorm current and new ideas for activities to fulfill these objectives. This could actually be an ongoing document team members could update as ideas arise. Action: Team members are asked to access this Google Doc when it is ready and contribute ideas for future projects or projects that interested citizens might take on with team supervision. G. Options for GT meeting place with Wi-Fi. Pam expressed concern that a location with good Wi-Fi will be difficult to arrange before she and her husband leave on sabbatical in May. She is hoping to still “attend monthly meetings by Skype. She asked the team to consider trying out Conference Room #2 at the Morgantown Public Library, which she was told had strong Wi-Fi and also has a large wall-hung television on which the team could view presentations (or even herself by Skype!). The library schedules use of its meeting rooms four months at a time. Those attending agreed to change the location of the May 1 meeting to the conference room as well as those in June, July, and August to see if the room works better acoustically and with Skype. Action: Pam will reserve the conference room for first Mondays during the summer months. Jing offered to arrive early at the May 1 monthly meeting in order to help Pam test using Skype to see how well it works. H. Review of Green Team–related webpages on City website (Pam). Krista Baker, City communications director, told Pam that her deadline for changes to existing webpages was May 1. Action: Pam said she would submit changes by the deadline and inform Holly so she could suggest changes relevant to the Green Business Council. VI. New Business No new business was raised by those attending. VII. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:00 pm. The next monthly meeting will take place on Monday, May 1, from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm in Conference Room #2, Morgantown Public Library (second floor in the back of the library on the right).