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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-26-18 Utilities 0�,oUTF[ 4 U C W IWPFACE 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK UTILITIES FEBRUARY 26, 2018 4:18 P.M. Committee Members Present: Dr. David Varner, Oliver Davis, Sharon L. McBride, Regina Williams-Preston Committee Members Absent: None Other Council Present: Tim Scott,John Voorde, Karen White, Gavin Ferlic Other Council Absent: Jo M. Broden Others Present: Bianca Tirado, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer Present: Therese Dorau, Leah Thill Agenda: Update- Solarize Program-Therese Dorau, Director- Office of Sustainability Committee Chair Dr. David Varner called to order the Utilities Committee meeting at 4:18 p.m. He introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to give the floor to the presenters. Update- Solarize Program- Therese Dorau, Director- Office of Sustainability Therese Dorau,Director of the Office of Sustainability with offices on the 13th floor of the County- City Building, stated, Thank you all for your time. We are part of the Public Works Department. I will reintroduce Leah Thill because she has a new job title since the last time she spoke with you all. You may remember why we have Leah here in South Bend and that is because we received a grant from the Department of Energy to help with the SolSmart Program. MACOG hosted her but she provided a lot of content and expertise to the City of South Bend. We are actually very fortunate that MACOG has been able to keep her on as a full-time employee so she is now an environmental planner with MACOG. She is building a regional expertise on solar and electric vehicle infrastructure. Leah is helping us connect to a number of resources regionally that will help us bring in some of those new technologies and also providing a lot of support to my one(1)person office. Leah is going to update you all on the solar bulk-buy program that benefited a number of South Bend homeowners. Leah Thill, Environmental Planner for MACOG with offices on the 11'' floor of the County-City Building, stated, So some may still ask, what is Solarize? It is a made up word but we use it as a model where we organize people, support them through the process, get them the discount as well 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBendIN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.TIRADO JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS as the rebate. There is a competitive bid process with that to make sure there is a fair and transparent price. A large part of it is getting people access to the information they need to make the right decision. We are the peer-to-peer support and we connect people who are all going through the process or have been through it. We also had a volunteer team as well that was part of our technical expertise. She then referenced a presentation (available in the City Clerk's Office). She continued, We also have a wonderful website. Our volunteer team was a tremendous part of the success of the initiative. They also help raise the awareness about the program as well. The seeds were really planted back in 2015 and 2016 when a number of local churches and a mosque went solar.They are the ones that came together to form the volunteer team.There was also support from MACOG and the City of South Bend. One (1) of the significant accomplishments of the program was education and getting people exposed to this information. We had four(4)workshops in South Bend plus a mini workshop at Notre Dame. About two hundred (200) people were educated through that process and three hundred and twenty (320) when we include the Goshen outreach effort. We set a goal of about sixty (60) total projects. Overall we got ninety-seven (97) projects signed up last ye . A little over eighty percent (80%) of those were completed and the rest were scheduled on waitlist for the spring. We've just been waiting for the snow to melt and the flooding to recede. The green dots (referencing the presentation) represent projects actually installed and orange dots are projects scheduled to be installed. This shows the real scope of the program that really covered both Elkhart and St. Joseph Counties. She continued, This image shows South Bend with blue dots representing solar projects that already existed before we started this initiative. You will see the overlay. There were twenty-four (24) projects accounted for in the St. Joseph County area, fourteen (14) of those in the City of South Bend. There are two (2) more yet to be completed. When we started, we had six (6) residential solar projects. We will have nineteen(19) or twenty-two (22)by the time it is all done. The average home requires about six (6) to nine (9) kilowatts, or Kw. The total impact of the program will be just under seven hundred(700)kilowatts(Kw). Most of that is in the Goshen area but a substantial portion is in South Bend. Goshen has received national recognition for their solar power per capita. We had neighborhood meetings at the NNN,the First Unitarian Church and they have solar already. We had one (1) at the Library,Notre Dame, and Olivet. Committeemember Oliver Davis asked, In terms of promotion, what is there to add more to that science? What are your key things you are doing now? Ms. Thill replied, Right now the team has chosen to take a break and see what the market does naturally over the next year or so. If there is demand, there is a website (www.solarizeni.org) and people can sign up if they would like to have an educational session. Committee Chair Dr. Varner asked, The folks who participated in the program, what did it save them? Ms. Thill replied, Approximately ten to fifteen percent (10% - 15%) of the total cost. They then also get the thirty percent(30%) federal tax credit if they have enough income. People are making moderate purchases. And it actually takes close to the same time to install small projects as it does large projects. 2 i Committeemember Davis asked, Are we looking at marketing to our City itself? Ms. Thill replied, Just the Century Center at this point. Ms. Dorau replied, Both of the new fire stations will have solar. I imagine the new Howard Park buildings will also have solar. We are looking at some other installations as well. The procurement process is quite different from any others. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive stated, I am a solar fan. I would like to see a spreadsheet of all the buildings and an analysis of what could go on each of those roofs. That would be a nice thing to see. With no further business, Committee Chair Dr. Varner adjourned the Utilities Committee meeting at 4:33 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, r. David Varner, Committee Chair 3