Altieri email requesting info on PC at pool - 2

A few hours later, I responded to Councilman Altieri. Here is the text of my response to his Sept 6 email:

"At this point I have some information that relates to the topic"

That's great to hear. But for information specifically related to performance contracting and pools, see here:

http://timwhitelistens.blogspot.com/2007/09/esco-solutions.html

And as I mentioned to you a few months ago, I'm confident you could google a few key words and find lots more information on pools and performance contracting.

Tim

I'll continue the email chain tomorrow... perhaps with images of the emails. But it's late tonight, so a cut'n'paste is all I'm doing.

Tim White

Pool closing

Just released from the town hall...

The Community Pool will be closing on Sunday, February 11, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. for scheduled maintenance, which includes completely draining and refilling the pool. This maintenance, which is critical for water stability, was originally planned for the spring during the removal of the bubble. However, staff determined that this procedure must be completed now to insure a high level of water quality. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The pool will re-open on Friday, February 16, 2007 at 6:00 a.m.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Pool consultant starts

The pool consultant has begun its work (Herald, by Leslie Hutchison).

We've already spent the money on this. So at this point, I'm just curious to see their report. I'll be sure to try to post it here when we get it.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Pet projects

For all the talk of "state money," from artificial turf to the linear pork... I was reading this from an old post...

And if you're curious about what other projects may be eligible for this grant, I think this link to pork barrel funding (scroll down to see "special act grants") may be the place to visit. Items "such as improvements made to a high school track, or the installation of lights at a football field" appear to be covered by this program.

I believe Mary Fritz got funding for Sheehan High for "High school track improvements." Maybe we could get installation of energy-efficient lights at a football field? Maybe tack on a generator? Maybe tack on a windmill as a generator? A windmill that could power all the electricity for CHS?

By my (uneducated) estimate, a windmill to power CHS would cost about $600,000... maybe $700,000 - $800,000 for a windmill to power CHS and the pool... and maybe the Harmon J. Leonard Youth Center and Yellow House too? By another one of my (uneducated) estimates, under good conditions we might reduce electric costs at CHS by $200-300k/yr and the pool by $30-40k/yr.

Anyone game? (I hear crickets.)

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Pool consultant: $19,500

I missed the meeting. I didn't get there until 9pm and everyone was on the way out the door. But before they all left, I think I got the scoop.

The Parks & Rec commission voted this evening to recommend a consultant to the Council. The consultant is (and forgive me if I get this wrong... again, I wasn't there) Aquatica. And the proposed fee is $19,500. (I believe the other proposal, from Lutra Aquatics, was for $35,000 or so.)

Both are too rich for my blood. I'm hoping the fuel cells may save us enough dollars to keep the pool afloat. Or, perhaps, even better... my idea that I posted a few days ago about using Sun Edison and Avalence to virtually eliminate the energy costs of the pool.

And the other potential benefits of using Avalence and Sun Edison:

1) it moves us to real renewable energy (not just "renewable," as defined by the Legislature... seriously, how does one define natural gas as "renewable?")
2) it increases the public awareness about "the hydrogen economy." And that benefit would be priceless... because at some point our elected officials will wake up and recognize that we've run out of middle east oil.

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission liaison

Project 100 green light

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund's Project 100 has been given the green light. Hopefully Cheshire will get back word on the pool's UTC fuel cell proposal in the near future.

Tim White
State Rep candidate
Bethany, Cheshire & Prospect
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Pool consultant

The idea of hiring a consultant for the pool (Waterbury Rep-Am, by Lauresha Xhihani) is moving along. The estimated price tag is around $20,000. My comments mentioned in the article will likely come as no surprise to anyone who follows this stuff... I'm not going to vote to spend any more money on the pool, including for this consultant.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Pool Appropriation

On June 13th, the Cheshire Town Council will be holding a public hearing. The topic of discussion will be a special appropriation for the pool operating budget. There have been headlines everywhere on this topic... from the Cheshire Herald (by Kristen Malinowsi) to the Waterbury Republican American (by Lauresha Xhihani). And I think the Herald hit the nail on the head with the editorial today. The pool's "need for an Olympic-sized subsidy from the town has generated anger of enormous depth among many taxpayers." (Cheshire Herald, The Editor) This isn't the only thing I hear about when I'm talking to people around town, but it is the most mentioned.

My main hope is that we can reduce the $416,000 taxpayer subsidy.

As for a previous post in which I suggested the possibility of not appropriating this money, but rather paying this year's bills with next year's money (I was thinking we could just not put the bubble back up and save on next year's heating bill), I've been told that would be illegal. (I had no idea... I never think in terms of my household budget like that.) So that's a non-starter, but I really don't want to appropriate anymore money for the pool.

Do any bloggers have any suggestions? I'd love to see some people turn out at the public hearing.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Open Forum 5/10

Last night's Council meeting focused on the Energy Commission's recommendation to use fuel cells at the pool to reduce energy costs. Peabody Museum uses one that you can see in this photo. I also found the explanation on why fuel cells are "clean energy" (if not renewable energy) to be easy to understand. (Btw, the "Tim White" on that website is not me.) Here's the Herald's take.

Cheshire’s own Registrar of Voters, Richard Abbate, is running for Secretary of the State. I know we live in a blue state, but from what I understand there is some real dissatisfaction with the Secretary’s performance. And by that I mean professional dissatisfaction, not partisan dissatisfaction.

May 16th is the date for House Republican conventions statewide. The 89th is going to be held in Prospect Town Hall... I'll definitely be there. Wish me luck! Or, better yet, feel free to attend (although you may have to be a registered Republican)... The 103rd (Al Adinolfi) will be held in Cheshire Town Hall. I'm not sure on the times for either one yet, but am guessing they'll start at 7pm or 7:30pm.

Despite worthwhile efforts to avoid increasing traffic on Rte 10, particularly near the interchange zone, that most famous of French retail stores may soon be exacerbating traffic congestion in the northend of town. Apparently, Target is going to be opening a store next to the new Home Depot on the Meriden/Wtby Turnpike.

Tim White
State Representative candidate (89th)
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Energy/Pool: A Solution?

As I've said before, the Pool costs too much money... particularly in relation to energy. As well, America needs to begin finding alternative forms of energy... and we must begin to ween ourselves off of foreign oil/energy. And at a special meeting of the Energy Commission (6:45am) this morning, the EC took one step and began to address both questions.

Officially, the purpose of their meeting was to decide whether to recommend to the Council that the Town should grant 1/8 acre of land (adjacent to the pool) to a private company (UTC Technologies). The purpose of providing the land would be to provide UTC Technologies with land for them to install (free of charge to Cheshire property taxpayers) fuel cells. The purpose of the fuel cells would be to reduce the cost of energy at the pool. (I believe a second purpose would be to help grow the fuel cell industry... not exactly "clean" energy, but it's something I would call an "alternative" form of energy. Effectively, it's mini-power plant right there at the pool.)

The crux of the meeting was fairly simple. I believe the EC agrees on the first two points (costs at the pool & finding alternative forms of energy). So agreement on the first point is fairly easy... we need to try to reduce costs. But the second point is less clear. What exactly is an "alternative form of energy?"

Well, in my opinion, there are many alternative forms of energy. All of which have one common theme... they're all "emerging technologies." Some examples include:

1) photovoltaic arrays / solar panels
2) wind turbines
3) biomass (woodchips, I think)
4) methane (from garbage dumps)
5) hydro (ok... i know this isn't new, but I think there are new, less "intrusive" technologies)
6) microturbines
7) fuel cells...

to name a few. Some of these are considered "clean." Some may not be considered clean... but are probably less dirty than most forms that are commonly used today.

So that gets the EC to their next question of "what form do we choose?" And that was the main purpose of today's meeting.

Previously, the EC had ventured down the path of microturbines and fuel cells. And this meeting was intended to provide the Council with a recommendation for a way for the town to reduce costs at the pool. (Although I believe the formal recommendation deals with giving land to UTC... although it's basically the same thing.) And so the EC discussed the costs & benefits of microturbines and fuel cells.

The discussion compared an actual fuel cell proposal to a theoretical "industry-standard" microturbine. The discussion seemed good to me, but in the end... the discussion was still based on a hypothetical microturbine. And there was very appropriate concern about not getting "hard" numbers for such an important project. But the schools' facilities' manager joined the conversation at this point.

Over the past year, the schools have been investigating microturbines. And while the EC's discussion did not compare two actual proposals, the schools had already performed their due diligence on the contractor that had proposed installing microturbines at the schools. And the results were not good. That particular contractor (although more than one company sells microturbines) had left clients with headaches. Based on those comments, I concluded that microturbines were not the best option (at least with that contractor). And that the fuel cell proposal makes sense as a way to reduce the pool's costs.

The EC voted 6-1 to recommend the Council get involved with this fuel cell project in order to reduce costs at the pool.

A few add'l comments (and I'm dead tired and am about to hit the sack... I'm still fighting the tail end of a cold):

1) the cost to the town was described as "nominal." The premise here is that there are numerous gov't-sponsored incentives (i.e. - we already paid the taxes) and other reasons for people, other than Cheshire property taxpayers, to support this project. One such reason is that this is an emerging technology.

2) this project may include not only the pool, but the high school as well... so the BOE may get involved.

3) there is a deadline to make this project happen (May 31, I think). If we pass the deadline, then we miss the opportunity.

4) town staff who have responsibilities for energy are receptive, and even highly supportive, of this project.

That's it for now. I'm going to sleep. But I thought this was worth posting. I think this will be on the Council agenda next Tuesday, May 9, 7:30pm in Town Hall or you can check out the meeting on the Henry Chase channel on Cox 14!

Tim White
Town Council, liaison to the Energy Commission
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Energy Commission 4/24

Emerging Energy Technologies & The Pool

The usual stuff was on the agenda, but the big topic of the evening was The Pool and its energy costs. The main concern is finding ways to reduce the energy bills. And there were many ways mentioned, including fundamental changes to the pool facility. However, the discussion focused on saving money without making any fundamental changes to the facility.

So what are the variety of options available to the town to reduce costs? Photovoltaic arrays (solar panels), microturbines, fuel cells... and the list could continue. But one way to describe all of these options would be as "emerging technologies."

So what's the difference between an emerging technology, such as a "fuel cell" or a "microturbine" and, old technology, such as a boiler? Well... I think this is one way to put it (but please correct me, if I'm wrong... I'm not an expert on this stuff... I just try to listen at the meetings and then give a recap here)...

- boilers generate excess heat and lose it to the air;
- microturbines generate excess heat, but capture it and could use that heat to warm the pool water; and
- fuel cells not only generate excess heat, but also generate electricity and can capture both... and use both.

So how can the Town move forward on such projects? Well, with the new technologies on the market and with grant funding available for some of these technologies, a discussion should happen... not only with the Energy Commission, but with the Council and the voters.

We could probably all stand to learn a bit more about these emerging technologies... the field is vast. Just today, I heard this story about "clean coal" on NPR. And I think NPR said it'll be having a story everyday for a few weeks on a new type of emerging technology in clean energy. (Again... that's only clean energy... not new technologies that make old, dirty energy more efficient.) So my point is simple... if you're concerned about $3 gas, there are people actively engaged in finding alternatives. And if you have the time, then you may want to research this stuff a bit. Tell a friend. Heck... I bet that at least a few people are going to make a LOT of money off these new technologies. I'm sure that alone could get some people interested enough to begin researching this stuff... Anyway... enough commentary from me.

Energy Star

The Energy Commission discussed and recommended that the Council participate in a nationwide program called "Energy Star." And if you've bought appliances lately, you probably know something of this program already. The idea is basically to get people conserving energy.

When all was said and done, the EC recommended the Town join this nationwide program which is intended to get the Town to be more energy-conscious and conserve when possible. However, before voting, I pointed out an article that was in a recent edition of SmartMoney magazine. The article highlighted significant flaws with the Energy Star rating program. Nonetheless, I do think this program is worthwhile and hope that the Council gets involved with it.

Here is the main webpage describing government involvement with Energy Star.

20% by 2010

Clean Energy signup form ... 'nuff said. Sign up! OR

perhaps you'd like to save some money on your electric bill by clicking here.

If you're curious about the cost differential... one way to look at this is by comparing each rate against the "TSO" rate that you'll find on your CL&P bill. The Levco rate should be below the TSO rate and the clean energy rate will be a premium ($0.011/kWh) on top of the TSO rate. Add up the difference, then multiply by the typical number of kWh that you use.

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission Liaison
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Budget 3/27 (incl Pool)

Tonight's budget meeting was probably the most interesting so far. But it wasn't because of The Pool or because of proposed increases in spending (again, most depts are status quo + wage & fuel cost increases). Rather it was because of Mixville. But that's not where the meeting started....

Youth & Social Services asked for about 400hrs/yr for a Dodd-aged social worker (or something along those lines). I believe the cost on that was $8,000. Senior Services asked for another 5hr/wk to be added to their program coordinator (I think that's the title). One reason for the increased hours is to ensure staff coverage of the Senior Center at all times. I believe that can be difficult to do at certain times. Park & Rec asked for $10,000 for an adaptive program called Camp Nerden. This is not a request for an increase in services. Rather, this is a request to fund a program that has been in use for the past ten years. Thing is, normally towns donate to the Camp, but this hasn't been happening in Cheshire's case.

Then the big draw for the evening... Mixville. The primary concern was the lack of lifeguards, but there were other concerns... public safety, geese (& their droppings) and a general feeling that the park is neglected. I know that much of this sentiment is set against a backdrop of the pool (which with a proposed subsidy of $416,000, is difficult for many people to accept that lifeguards at Mixville are too expensive). It seems to me that we ought to be able to get some lifeguards at Mixville at least on the weekends. If a lifeguard costs $10/hr and is there 5 hrs/day on Sat & Sun for 12 weeks... just as an example... the cost would be $1,200. Anyway... that's something that I think the Council needs to consider. I'm not sure how we can stop the geese though from leaving their mark all over the beach.

The Pool went pretty smoothly. Not many people showed up for it. What interested me the most was the total number of "pool user days." (I think that's the number of people who have entered the pool on a given day... so some people could be counted up to 365 times.) I believe the year on year comparison was 21,000 user days thru Feb '05 for last year, compared to 36,000 user days thru Feb '06 for this year. It was a nice number to hear. But ya know what??... $416,000. It's still too much money. And it's going in the wrong direction... with energy costs on the rise, it's growing, not shrinking. A possible increase in fees was discussed. And I think P&R recommended an increase be put into effect immediately.

We rounded out the night with the Town Council, Town Manager and Town Attorney budget. I got a chuckle when the comment was made that the Town Council was the only department with no "key performance indicators." ha. The only item that caught my attention in this whole thing was a modest increase within the Council budget (~$40,000). It was related to televising meetings. And as far as I'm concerned, every penny we spend on this is well worth it. I can't imagine a better way for everyone in town to know exactly what is going on in town. And the truth is... a lot of people really do watch channel 14.

Anyway... that's it for now.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Pool/Turf Update

THE POOL: This evening the Council requested our Park & Rec Commission to draft a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a pool consultant. Basically, the consultant is supposed to evaluate and analyze various aspects of the pool... infrastructure, revenues, expenses, etc. I supported the motion because the proposed pool budget subsidy ($416,000) for 06/07 is too high. (Doing an RFP is not authorization to spend money.) I said that all options should be on the table, including, but not limited to:

1) outright closing of the pool (at times such as January and February when a large portion of the pool's expenses are incurred due to sky-high heating costs);
2) offering someone a long-term lease (for something simple, such as $1/year with the agreement that they would keep all profits or incur all losses); and
3) some other options that may help reduce the operating subsidy.

My point is simple: there are a lot of other great ways that the $416,000 operating subsidy could benefit the townspeople and we need to consider all options.

And for some recent articles on the pool, visit: http://www.cheshireherald.com/NC/0/308.html and http://www.record-journal.com/articles/2006/03/15/news/news05.txt and an editorial http://www.record-journal.com/articles/2006/03/24/opinion/1sun2.txt

And on the topic of saving money... thinking in terms of energy... how about the schools adjust their schedules? Move the April vacation to January (make Christmas vacation two weeks, instead of one). Or even expand Christmas vacation to several weeks? Then basically close the schools and turn down the heat during some of the most expensive heating weeks of the year. Knowing that the BOE is averse to such concepts as reducing spending, perhaps the Board would at least consider focusing taxpayer dollars on teachers and textbooks, rather than exorbinant heating bills?

THE TURF: I'm not positive about this, but my understanding is that this has gone through the committee process in Hartford and is now proposed as a school construction grant. If this is true, then the grant would pay for 38% (or so) of the total cost. So for discussion purposes, if we stick with the $850,000 cost that has been bandied-about (although I've heard numbers both higher and lower), then someone (besides the CT taxpayer) would still need to come up with over $500,000. I wonder who would foot that bill?

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Energy (incl The Pool)

Energy continues to be in the headlines. It made the front page of two newspapers today. First, it was in the Herald in relation to the pool bubble (http://www.cheshireherald.com/NC/0/303.html).

The town’s Energy Commission, Parks & Rec Commission, members of the Town Council and a State Representative are talking about the pool… and it’s sky high energy costs. But what I find most interesting in this article is not indicated in the headline. It’s farther into the article where it is noted that Town Manager Michael “Milone said a consultant will help answer questions the Council has about what is the best route to take with the pool.” (Cheshire Herald, Kristen Malinowski, March 9, 2006). VERY interesting.

For anyone who catches this, I bet they’ll be talking about it in the barber shops and coffee shops around town this weekend. And if you’re interested in learning more, both P&R (including Mixville) and the Pool will be discussed at the March 27 (6pm) budget workshop.

Like many people, whenever I hear the word “consultant” I cringe (although, like those same people, I also cringe when I hear the word “politician” LOL), but in all seriousness with the recommended pool budget subsidy north of $400,000, I think we have to consider all options. Comments from any bloggers on this?

Then there’s today’s Waterbury paper discussing both “alternative fuels” and “energy conservation” (http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=3934). (Obviously, I liked this article. Thanks Mike.) But what I think is really important is increasing awareness of our options. Only yesterday I learned that there may soon be federal grant money made available directly to towns (no state pass thru) for “alternative fuel” station construction costs. Coupling this with grant money for new school buses and, to me, the writing is on the wall (see http://timwhitelistens.blogspot.com/2006/02/alternative-fuel-station.html). We need to investigate the possibilities. Cheshire could move away from its dependence on dirty, fossil fuels and toward a new day in which America is clean and energy independent (not caught up in any Middle Eastern“entangling alliances”).

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission Liaison
TimWhite98@yahoo.com

Energy Comm Feb 06

The Energy Commission met this past Monday. The usual host of items were on the agenda: energy management (such as turbines at CHS and the pool), clean energy and increasing public awareness of both. (Btw, there's a really good article in the Herald this week about the Energy Commission's hard efforts over the past couple of years to save both energy and money. Definitely check this out: LINK DISCONTINUED)

Specific items discussed at the meeting:

1) There was a bit more discussion about the Bethany/Cheshire clean energy competition. So that is still moving forward. The current idea is "the winning town is the first town with 3% of households using clean energy." Cheshire has 9500 housholds or so. Bethany has about 2300.

2) (If you're a parent, you may already know...) Our schools are having some serious heating problems... both Norton and the CHS library have had serious problems recently. But considering that proper fixes cost mucho dinero and take time to implement, hopefully with winter's official end in less than three weeks, we'll soon have warmer weather at hand and have the summer to address these problems appropriately.

3) The pool was an item of discussion. State Rep. Mary Fritz recently suggested to the Council that it put a hardtop (a building) over the pool. She indicated that she may be able to get some state funding... for recreational purposes... similar to the possible funding for the artificial turf. (http://www.cga.ct.gov/2002/olrdata/env/rpt/2002-R-0198.htm see "special act grants") The Commission's concern was primarily the energy bills related to the pool. And if you hadn't heard this one... the analogy I heard was that the bubble is the equivalent of a one-pane window. Could you imagine your home heating bill if your house was entirely made of a one-pane window? The most interesting thing here though was that this discussion led to a broad discussion on "how do we improve the pool?" And part of the answer was a dialogue with Park & Rec. And from what I understand... Park & Rec was talking about the pool last night. So the Energy Commission is talking about it, the P&R Commission is talking about it... I'm wondering... could there be something afoot here??

Well... if there is, I think it's good. We've got to do something. We need to try to move the pool closer to being self-sustaining... and it's nowhere near there now.

4) The town joining the "Energy Star" program was another topic. The basic ideas are to save money & energy and to increase awareness of energy-saving opportunities. (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=government.bus_government)

Other notes:

The Energy Commission normally meets the last Monday of every month at 7pm in Town Hall. For more information on the Energy Commission, see: http://www.cheshirect.org/energy/default.html

For details on various federal tax credits that may be available to you, see: http://www.doe.gov/taxbreaks.htm

For details on the state sales tax holiday that applies to certain home weatherization products, see: http://www.ct.gov/drs/cwp/view.asp?A=1514&Q=307396

To sign up for clean energy, go to:
www.cl-p.com/clpcommon/pdfs/companyinfo/publications/new_choice_clp.pdf

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission Liaison
TimWhite98@yahoo.com