Board minutes 2021
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Previous Board Minutes: 2020 and prior
HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lx) - 9 February 2021 @ 1800
Virtual Meeting due to Covid-19 Pandemic
Board Members Present: Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa. Others: Joe DeWitt, Olga Anderson, John Organek, Alan Sorensoen, HPU Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Prior Minutes. Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Introductions and Discussion:
· Joe DeWitt – Running for Highland Falls Mayor
· Olga Anderson – Running as Highland Falls Representative
· Alan Sorenson – Orange County Planning Commissioner
· Erik Mitchell - Deputy Garrison Commander (DGC)
Alan Sorenson
· West Point contacted Orange County – Military Installation Resiliency Grant
· Submitted in summer 2020
DGC Erik Mitchell
· Discussed the IGSA process
· IGSAs cannot be with organizations that don’t yet have an existing business relationship with the bidding organization
· Tom discussed GAO, cited animal control as an example of a service
· Request was made for a list of various services WP needs in the near future
Olga Anderson
· Discussed how Community Choice Aggregation works
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lix) - 12 January 2021 @ 1800
Virtual Meeting due to Covid-19 Pandemic
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa. Others: Jim Modlin, Erik Mitchell, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance
2. Adoption of Prior Minutes. A quorum being present, upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Introduction of Guests:
Jim Modlin - Highlands Town Councilman
Erik Mitchell - West Point Deputy Garrison Commander
Call to Order/Pledge @ 6:11 pm
Review and adopt prior minutes: 6:14 pm
Administrative Reports:
John Doyle – State listing being updated
John Willis - Treasurer report: No new funds in or out
Guest: Jim Modlin
· Thank you for your support
· Will be Town Board liaison for West Point
· Outside of the specifics of HPU, Jim looking forward to meeting and gathering ideas from the residents, business owners, and Chamber of Commerce
· We need to bring in more and diverse businesses into the Town of Highlands
· John Dodson: Discussion about Village Street Lights
· Erik: We gave a Verizon tower lease. We can look into easements and leases for any sort of structures needed to put up towers.
· John Dodson: The timing for that would be after Village elections in March.
Guest: Deputy Garrison Commander Erik Mitchell
· The IGSA (intergovernmental Service Agreement) in a two-page PowerPoint form.
· US Army Corp of Engineers were charged with looking at Energy Security at higher level
· West Point considered the appropriate place to test the Principles
· 1-year process in planning and developing modalities, to put out a bid/RFP
· The ERDC Challenge is still feasible to making all this happen using the RFP approach – But we need a new champion at ERDC with Dr. Hansen leaving
- DGC Erik Mitchell is a member of the Grant Committee.
- Considers there to be a lot of opportunity between West Point and Highland Falls
· IGSA allows us to bypass normal bid/contract processes
· E-Scooters are coming into West Point/Highland Falls
· CI Project groundbreaking was the day before the Army/Navy game
· Will report back on other construction at the next meeting
· Parking on base is severely constricted. Running shuttles.
· Define a select group of buildings within Highland Falls to power the Microgrid coming out of West Point.
· Important for us to get on Microsoft Teams for Virtual Meetings. West Point doesn’t allow for Zoom meetings.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned.
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Board minutes 2020
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lviii) - 8 December 2020 @ 1800
Southgate Tavern, Highland falls
Board Members Present: Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Tom Ossa Others: Olga Anderson, Richie Sullivan (Town Board), Jim Modin (Town Board) (remotely), Dr. Hansen (remotely), Cadet Tan (remotely), Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle (remotely)
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted
Treasurer's Report: No new funds in or out
Video by Tom Ossa (draft): Bog Meadow Creek -showing impoundment, dam, and watercourse to create a visual of the system capabilities
- Richie: Beyond Bog Meadow, consider Glycerin Hollow. Dam gear needs repairs.
Town/ Village Report
· Talked with Bob Livesey from the Town. We lost another building inspector.
· Richard Ting: Discussion of disposal of several local real estate parcels owned by WP
Olga: Community Choice Aggregation
Posted information and developed a presentation to answer questions and concerns
Suggested that a peer from another municipality would be helpful. South Nyack.
Strategy: Meet one on one with the Village Board, get buy-in.
You can opt-out at any time.
Roger Heimann: The problem is ‘change’. People don’t like change.
Cadet Tan:
COVID has everyone on lockdown. But game will still happen next week.
John wants to know if the Corps of Engineers can continue to assist.
Nothing going on until after the holidays.
John Dodson prior to Dr. Hansen's arrival
Working on principles-based approach: A 55-page document – with Dr. Hansen
(past 3 months)If West Point has foundations and guidance, there will be much more impetus to build a microgrid
Completion of principles will be the trigger point
ERDC* Challenge – The mechanism by which we will be able to provide service. $400k.
Dr. Hansen:
Principles approach: “Energy cannot be created, nor destroyed”
Some of the Principles are more application than principles
The Principles are good enough to launch the Challenge effort
Follow up will be tomorrow with the Garrison
Washington Report -- John Dodson
Delivered package to White House
Coordinating with Biden Energy team – in preparation for new Administration
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lvii) - 10 November 2020 @ 1800
Southgate Tavern, Highland Falls
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall (remotely), Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann (remotely), Randolph Horner (remotely), Tom Ossa Others: Eric Mitchell, PE. (remotely) (West Point), Colonel Hansen (remotely), Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Treasurer's Report: No new funds in or out
Chair's Report:
Ty King and Jim Modlin on track to be on Town Board
Daily alerts from Town/Village re: water levels. Currently 8 feet down from norm.
Randolph: Currently at 40%. There was also a leak at the school that was draining into the ground. This is a normal rainfall year.
Cell Tower:
Idea is to put it on top of Village Hall. Provider is Homeland Towers.
Depending on tech, we would need several repeaters.
DGC Mitchell: Might be able to work out a land-lease agreement -- Send the info directly
Guest : Eric Mitchell, P.E. - Deputy Garrison Commander:
Glad to be here.
Restructuring the entire DPW
Power Summit 1 and 2 set the stage for documents to be able to go to the right people.
Lt. Gen. Williams and Gen. Gabriel will lay out new service requirements. Grid will be a central component of this set of requirements.
Randolph: Long-duration storage could be added on-post, which would be beneficial to the local area.
There is a lot of opportunity in IGSA – Intergovernmental Service Agreement.
Guest: Dr. Lance Hansen
Resilient and secure electricity – a principle-based approach: Dynamic Grid Resilience
Public/Private partnership framework, which provides incentive for private sector
Would likely affect the local area, possibly further south, such as Rockland County.
In order to move forward we need to pull in some more experts:
MIT
Homeland Security
Center for Security Policy
Initial objective: Get white paper published
Take the thesis to Army (OSD, Installation Transformation, MCom, GNom (sic?))
Three simple principles:
Diversity of generation (adding nuclear, wind, water, solar, etc.)
Essential storage
Redundancy of transmission
Other principles follow. For instance: Because we have deregulated over the past several decades, the technology fell behind. So…
Multi-domain hardening
We need to provision for multiple threat types (Cyber, EMP, nuke, etc.)
Information management systems will be needed for modeling, analysis
Economy of load management
Service provider expansion – which incentivizes additional private investment
95% of critical infrastructure is owned by private investment
Randolph:
Community Choice Aggregation
Makes 100% renewable energy available to a community, without them needing to buy expensive equipment to put on their homes, or purchase from other providers
Would be a good solution for much of the Mid-Hudson
John Dodson's Report:
Concerned that AlphaStruxure will bail if we do not move soon. $250M available.
Great opportunity with the new leadership at the Garrison to get something done
Upon a motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lvi ) - 13 October 2020 @ 1800
Southgate Tavern, Highland Falls
Board Members Present: Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa
Others: Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion duly made , seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Treasurer's Report: No money in, no money out…. $3762.41
Old Business:
Discussion with Roger Heimann & Randolph Horner on work on the Buttermilk Falls Hydro.
Discussion:
Town/ Village Report:
Bill Edsall & Richie Sullivan: (John Dodson reporting on their behalf)
LED is in court.
Olga and Mindy presented the Community Choice Aggregation plan. Town needs to cut $400k more to hit tax limits Ft. Sewer plan on hold until EFC funding is released.
This week: Highland Falls Village is paving the road.
Village Hall is getting antennae on the top of their buildings.
Both Village dams being looked at, by original engineers who built them.
John Dodson's Report:
Virtual Meeting: Colonel Marson got us in a 30-person virtual meeting at EOC. Went very well, thanks to Dr. Lance Hansen. Put us back in the game, after staff was AWOL.Prior: We were led down the path of the utility Unsolicited Proposal – dead end.
Dr. Hansen (Corps. of Eng.) provided insight, using the “ERDC Challenge”
He answered everyone’s concerns, A-Z.
John contacted Steve Pullins about the meeting, & briefed him
Pullins flew in from Tennessee & briefed new Deputy, Erik Mitchell, P.E..
John is concerned we need to keep Steve in the fray of this process, before he loses interest in our project, so small for AlphaStruxure (Carlyle & Schneider).
John met with new Deputy Erik Mitchell at Starbucks on base. Civil Engineer.
West Point has a solution that they sourced locally
John offered with resources that tops IMCOM
Takeaways:
Pullins has been in the BioMed space. And done 75 microgrids.
His assistant is taking his position. Very excited to come to West Point.
The Grid Secure Agenda:
Finished, and was disseminated to the Washington Post, NY Times, and others
Let’s make a presentation.
Randolph Horner:
We defended the license for Buttermilk Falls Hydro three years ago
It would be a cinch to get a renewal, as long as we’re in “process of rebuilding.”
AlphaStruxure has the $$...beneficial >> Steve Pullins
Randolph thinks Biomass is a non-starter. Others do not agree.
We should have a 50-megawatt storage facility. AlphaStruxure would be good for this.
Hydrogen is the replacement for diesel, gasoline, and natural gas (CH4)
Liquid air cryogenic storage
Upon a motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lv) - 15 September 2020 @ 1800
27 Webb Lane, Highland Falls
Board members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa Others: Dr. Lance Hansen, PE, (by phone) (former CERL Director now working on Proposal to Chief of Engineers that will include using WP as model microgrid demo site), Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Treasurer John Willis: No money came in, no money went out.
John Dodson Report:
o Deputy Garrison Commander Mark Greszler is retiring.
o Had lunch meeting with the new Garrison Commander COL Rosel
o Col. Marson gave blessing to our MuniGrid project before stepping down as GC. Superintendent has been briefed.
o Dr. Hansen continues to work on a proposal that includes WP as a model microgrid.
o Most important thing is to get to know the new Garrison Commander , and Dr. Lance Hansen reporting to the Chief of Engineers with his proposal.
CCA (Community Choice Aggregation) — Randolph Horner
o We need to be alert that low income individuals are typically left out of CCAs
o Electric utilities have been “decoupled” from generation since Gov Pataki deregulated the State - O&R is now a reseller of power to ratepayers.
o We want to be careful of “getting in a bear trap” while supplying energy locally at a lower price which is a bargain initially, but might be undercut in a COVID pandemic that so reduces demand that free market wholesale prices drop below the microgrid price that is contracted for. Very unlikely, but clearly has happened in this pandemic, so we would have to advise our CCA members of the risk.
o Randolph, with his strong background in CCAs and invovlement in CCA programs upstate, also issued a firm warning about the CCA activities of Joule Energy and recommended this community avoid getting involved with Joule.
Phone call from Dr. Hansen:
o Absence of “installation doctrine” in West Point, or anywhere in the Army. No doctrine, no principles to guide a new idea for the staff unaccustomed to doing anything new.
o Dr. Hansen’s approach to fix the system is to craft principles, and create a “challenge event,” which is a special procurement technique now being used in DoD for innovative proposals. This can overcome the resistance at WP to tackling something new.
o The principles are where it starts, and then the specifications follow.
o The need to “optimize deregulation” and doing a better job of using the existing tools we have (CCA, for example) is also necessary.
o Incentivize investment in critical infrastructure.
o Dr. Hansen is Speaking with Homeland Security as well.
o Randolph: Kathy Hammock back in 2012 created energy demo sites
§ Only three Army posts were considered eligible for a project like this: West Point was one of them. They did a long study, which is sitting on the shelf somewhere. We have a digital copy of it. The program was called Net Zero.
§ “Non-lithium ion energy storage” – WP can host a 100-megawatt facility
§ Many 10s of billions of dollars are being spent on hydrogen energy. WP can be at the cutting edge if this were included here
LED activity. Chair Edsall, with input from Richard Sullivan of the Town Board, reported on
the efforts local resident Deborah Kopald has taken to spread her concerns about the adverse health effects of electromagnetic frequencies, including from LEDs.
Follow-up Items:
· John Dodson to speak with O&R regarding our help for the Academy
· Bill Edsall to be in touch with Dr. Hansen when needed
· Briefing of COL Rosel by Dr. Hansen needed
· Invitation for Matt Talaber to join us at next meeting
· Randolph Horner to prepare to provide former Net Zero materials to Dr. Hansen & COL Rosel
· Roger Heimann to make some progress on the Buttermilk Falls Hydro site for FERC report
In other news: Congratulations to our recording secretary Tom Ossa for being chosen head of our local Chamber of Commerce once more!
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned.
Next Meeting: 10 / 13 /2020
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (liv) - 11 August 2020 @ 1800
Virtual Meeting due to Covid-19 Pandemi
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa Others: Richard Sullivan (Town Board), Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Treasurer’s Report: No deposits/no withdrawals
Legal matters: None presented
PowerPoint: No response received, but was worked on and will be used for new GC soon
John Dodson Report:
o Aloe property being bought by Scenic Hudson – they may have bought it already, daughter still trying to intervene. Concern in some quarters that community will lose one of its last major sources of taxes from development if it has passed into non-profit hands.
o Roger was at meeting with Colonel Marson, he plans to pass the info in our Power Point to the new GC, Evangeline G. Rosel. He and John Dodson both know COL Rosel.
o Dr. Hansen took the lead in a major virtual meeting at West Point, with over 30 participants nationwide on the line at the Emergency Operation Center. Dr. Hansen explained the benefits and advantages of the HPU approach to energy grid in West Point as a model for the Army Corps of Engineers program he is working on now.
o Procurement technique: ERDC Works Procurement is a new technique that avoids much of the delay that we have observed on most Government programs. Dr. Hansen has the ability to use this process at West Point, if he gets cooperation.
o Bill Edsall was nominated as the liaison from HPU for Dr. Hansen. This may be a big deal, with a group of experts from various National Labs such as Sandia, Idaho National Lab, NREL, and the Lincoln Labs at MIT. It would probably involve other bases besides West Point where this same Resiliency through a military grade microgrid would be used.
o Association of Universities Inc (AUI), in Washington, D.C., is the oldest FFRDC (Federally Funded R&D Center) in the Gov, formed after WWII to set up the Brookhaven Lab and bring peaceful use of nuclear energy to the private sector. They joined with John to form a high-level Panel of prominent experts on securing the Grid last year and are about to publish their work. John recruited most of the Commissioners to man the Panel. This will be finished in August and released to the Press, also sent to the White House and the Democratic Presidential Committee. John will share a copy with our Board. It did not do everything John had asked, but he reported it to be very well written and documented, over 40 pages, that lays out the grid security problem.
o There will be a conference call on Thursday with AlphaStruxure to brief them on the progress at West Point thanks to Dr. Hansen. We do not want to lose their interest, as this is probably the only group powerful enough with financing and expertise to pay for a full study and design for a microgrid without asking the Gov for anything in return. We were most fortunate to be instrumental in getting them to West Point last summer.
Town/Village Business — Bill Edsall and John Dodson
o Richie Sullivan hoped to join meeting, and was on for the last part, but did not speak. Town anticipates drop in revenue, sales taxes. Affects Police.
o The power outage highlights the benefits of Town/Village consolidation
o Apparently some turmoil on the Village Board.
o Per John Willis there is pandemic-inspired real estate activity coming from NYC/Metro area, coming up and looking for places in the Hudson Valley to buy and live. Local market is enjoying a substantial boon.
Randolph Horner Report
o Nita Lowey is member of the appropriations committee who will soon be retiring; we need to engage with her soon
o We need 50 megawatts of storage on West Point to be in step with latest thinking
Tom Ossa — presented power point
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned.
Next Meeting: 09/08/2020
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (lii) - 9 June 2020 @ 1800
Virtual Meeting due to Covid-19 Pandemic
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa. Others: Cadet Paul Tan, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle.
1. Call to Order; Pledge of Allegiance; Adoption of Prior Minutes. A quorum being present, upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Treasurer’s Report: No change.
3. Chairman’s Remarks: Historic shortfall in revenue due to Covid-19 pandemic. Only half of the $750,000 anticipated revenue is expected. Cell tower in limbo. %G system expected to be a big deal.
4. Water Treatment & Supply -- John Dodson (JD) recalled that the RFP the HPU prepared in 2015 yielded a $70 million response from Violia. Now $75 million to rebuild a newer Village wastewater treatment plant. The present West Point project would pay $155 million to put the West Point plant back in the same floodplain position, slightly raised above past floods.
5. Gas Line - - John Dodson described the gas line as coming over Storm King Mountain, greatly increasing service to Highland Falls, with increased pressure. And the road may be repaved when the project is finished.
6. West Point Microgrid -- John Dodson (JD) noted that Col. Marston is stepping down in July, but may stay on temporarily as Deputy Commandant. JD has previously met the incoming Garrison Commander (GC). Dr. Hansen has become our champion for the microgrid. He was director of ERDC in Champaign, Illinois. JD met him last year at a Washington, DC, conference. Perhaps a video of what Col. Marston was thinking, passed along to the new colonel, could help our transition to the new GC.
7. Adjournment: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried unanimously, the meeting was adjourned. Next meeting, also virtual, is expected on July 14, 2020.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (li) - 12 May 2020 @ 1800
Virtual Meeting due to Pandemic
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner. Others: Cadet Paul Tan, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle.
1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance. A quorum being present, upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Treasurer’s Report: No change.
3. Administrative: Attorney Doyle indicated he is continuing to pursue the Board’s compliance with the PARIS reporting system through the Authorities Budget Office. More on that as things develop.
4. Water Supply: Randolph Horner led a discussion of the work done earlier to protect the route of the community water supply from Bog Meadow to the Mountain Avenue water plant. The open water stream runs along highways (w and 218, as well as the West Point golf course. The run-off from these facilities include various contaminants. HPU instigated the original State aid application for several million dollars to encapsulate the flow and protect it from run-off and spills. The application was side tracked. Now Town Trustee Brian Aylward reports to the HPU that the two aging water supply dams in the system are subject to inspection. Tangentially, repair work is being performed on Roe Park restrooms and there is consideration of repairing or replacing some older water plant equipment.
5. Social Media endeavors: Cadet Paul Tan offered to assist the HPU with its public communications through social media. He has video equipment and is website savvy and may be able to help the HPU website layout and introduce new material to better explain the HPU mission and the work HPU has done for the community. Cadet Tan was well received.
6. Town Business: Chair Bill Edsall briefed the Board on a number of items the Town is working on, including the recent hire of a new wastewater operator and consideration of shifting some of the Town volume to the underutilized Village plant. Town Board member Richard Sullivan may be interested in attending a future HPU meeting. Olga Anderson was mentioned again as a welcome helping hand in connection with the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) initiative.
7. West Point Business: John Dodson reviewed the recent energy summit at West Point, describing the contrast between a low-level in-house versus the more expansive microgrid solution to the Point’s energy security and supply problem. The in-house approach will, optimistically, take six years to implement and fall considerably short of being a true microgrid. HPU is boosting a full-scale microgrid utilizing the offer made in July 2019 by AlphaStuxture to invest some $200,000 of their funds to design, in just a few months, a flexible and secure true microgrid.
8. Other Business; The West Point graduation now appears likely to occur on June 13, with First Class cadets returning at the end of May to provide a two-week quarantine period.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried unanimously, the meeting was adjourned. Next meeting, also virtual, is expected on June 9, 2020.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xlvii) - 21 January 2020 @ 1800
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann (speakerphone), Randolph Horner, Tom Ossa (speakerphone). Others: Engineer Steve Pullins of AlphaStruxures, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney Bill Florence, Attorney John Doyle.
1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance. Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Town/Village Business:
· In an all-day marathon devoted to gaining understanding and support for the community participation in and adoption of a Community Choice Aggregatioin (CCA) program, John Dodson had escorted Steve Pullins through meetings with Mark Grizsler, the new Deputy Garrison Commander, a full meeting with Town Supervisor Bob Livsey, and a brief encounter with Mayor Joe D’Onofrio.
3. Steve Pullins Remarks:
· AlphaStruxure is a joint venture between Carlyle & Schneider, that is doing extensive reconstruction of Terminal 1 at JFK airport and is building 5 microgrids, designed by Mr. Pullins, at the airport,.
· If West Point (Army) says “go”, AlphaStruxures can self-fund and design a microgrid in 90 days.
· Unfortunately, West Point has been unable to make a decision so far. The leadership has admitted that there is no financial risk to the Academy, but now questions if the AlphaStruxure proposal is fully qualified as an Unsolicited Proposal. The Garrison DPW staff also questions if they have the bandwidth to oversee such an ambitious project. Steve sees the CCA as a mechanism to not only bring in the community but also to perhaps unite the water, wastewater, gas and thermal contracts under one coordinated umbrella. John has introduced COL Marson to Dr. Lance Hansen at ERDC, the Corps of Engineers research lab, and Dr. Hansen is expected to visit West Point to offer technical assistance in February. Steve discussed several advanced sources of power for the microgrid, beyond the CHP now being pursued, including harvesting biomass from the 16,000 acres of West Point land, and a “deep dive” geothermal that drills two 3,000 meter access wells and horizontal drills 1,000 meters between to create a giant radiator.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned at 7:49.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, 11 Feb 2020
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Board Minutes - 2019
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High-Point Utility LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xlvii) - 8 October 2019
Southgate Tavern, Highland falls, New York
Board Members Present -- Chairman William Edsall, Roger Heimann, Tom Ossa, Randolph Horner (by proxy to John Dodson); Others: Village Trustee Brian Aylward, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Town/Village Business:
o Utilities
§ Debate continues over the mobile wi-fi tower.
§ Power Secure
o Community Choice Aggregation (CCA)
§ A NYSERDA program that allows communities to seek bids for the electrical supply provided within a municipality (village. town and/or city)
§ Bargaining power of the whole community has resulted in cost savings elsewhere.
§ Also allows communities to insist on renewable energy as the supply.
§ Oftentimes a third party administrator is chosen by the community to oversee the CCA. Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance, formed in Ithaca, has been an administrator for other CCAs.
Resolution: Upon a motion made, seconded and unanimously carried, the following resolution was adopted: "Be it resolved that the HPU is open to serving as the administrative third party if a CCA moves forward in the Highland Falls area."
John Dodson’s Report:
o AlphaStruxtures – Joint Venture between Carlyle & Schneider, that is engaged in modernization effort at Terminal 1 at JFK Airport. Carlyle provides the financial wherewithal and know-how; Schneider provides the energy technological expertise.
§ If West Point (Army) says “go”, they believe they could design a microgrid in 90 days.
o Guardian Grid
§ John met with a Pentagon official who had made several visits to WP to propose energy solutions without achieving much success. She came away with the impression that DPW staff members wanted to maintain status quo and merely buy more capacity from O&R, with minor back up power on Post.
o John going back to Washington on Monday 10/14/19
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned.
Next Meeting expected on Tuesday, November 11, 2019.
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High-Point Utility LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xlv) - 13 August 2019
Southgate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chairman Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner (by phone), Tom Ossa; Others: Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Adoption of Minutes: Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
Town/Village Business:
o Village got LED light approval. $9000 grant
o John Dodson: Cell Tower
§ Company appears to prefer working with us, rather than village.
§ Suitable cell tower location found earlier by HPU behind MyTown Market
§ Needs a 20-year lease, guaranteed cash flow. Apparently cell tower technology won’t be made obsolete by 5G?
Treasurer’s Report: No new funds in or out.
John Dodosn’s Report:
o July 16th, 2019
§ John visited the White House to present to Will Happer, PhD, emeritus professor from Princeton
§ President Trump using Dr. Happer to study climate change.
§ Lawyer, Air Force Engineer, CIA Representative in attendance
§ Dr. Happer astute at most technologies except grid. But receptive to John’s PP
§ If we get help from military to validate program, this may bump up to President.
o Carlyle -Schneider (AlphaStruxtures) Group:
§ Large contract to modernize Terminal 1 at JFK Airport.
§ Estimated $1 Trillion worth of microgrids will be built in the next decade
§ Carlyle formed joint venture with Schneider Group to form AlphaStruxtures, now pre-eminent microgrid developer world-wide
§ John had cultivated both entities earlier, met with the senior representative from AlphaStruxtures in NYC, and they appear to agree that West Point project would be at least a high profile job, especially if done right.
§ AS leader said he needs 90 days to study the place in detail.
o July 18th, 2019
§ PP Presentation to Garrison Commander at WP went well
§ Recommended an unsolicited proposal
§ John helped write a proposal for the proposal
§ WP will have a list of questions to send us.
o John read from Executive Summary:
§ Provide an augmented energy services proposal (EAS+), using the Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) national movement framework
§ Microgrid would be able to sell energy to others outside of WP Solar component to the system would be advantageous
§ One unique thing about this proposal is the security aspects
§ Enterprise basis would return monies to Garrison, if done carefully by lawyers
§ WP would also supply energy to local municipalities, on a separate circuit. This is contingent on working it out with O&R Utilities.
§ New DOD regulations require full energy system redundancy. This proposal can.
§ Lawyer said “Don’t call yourself a prototype, will take another year to get through R&D”
§ Cyber Think Tank in West Point might collaborate (Army Cyber Institute)
§ Offers to provide West Point with a single point of contact for all utilities
§ CCA requires that HPU gets the word out to the local community
o Next steps:
§ Get answers to the questions
§ Submit to WP
§ They stop the RFP competition for 90 days
§ AS would have time to do the studying
§ Do we want to add Internet service to this? Spectrum has the monopoly. Fios?
§ Hey…maybe we’ll be the first town in the country with 5G.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned.
Next Meeting expected September 17, 2019
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xliii) -11 June 2019 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: · Chair Bill Edsall, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, & Tom Ossa; Others: Village Liaison Mike Colacicco, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
1. Call to Order; Pledge of Allegiance - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the May meeting were adopted.
2. Treasurer’s Report: All is well; no change.
Discussion:
· Hydro Project: If we take the easy route for a FERC exemption, that’s the way to go. Anything under 10 megawatts, you can get an exemption, but if you get the exemption first, you lose some authorities that are helpful to long term viability of the project, so best route is:
o Relicense first
o Get money
o Then withdraw licensing in favor of exemption if it is still appropriate
o Need to revise the contact sheet, to add Randolph Horner as a POC (This has been done already in the past, but appears to be a new regime in the FERC)
· Condo complex might be going in next to Navy Fed (Rick Menicozzi at Thayer Hotel)
o Parking underneath
o Retail in the front
o 68 units
o There is a question about water rights
Village Business:
o Mayor has been given a new way to work with West Point by COL Marson: An Inter-Governmental Service Agreement (IGSA). Our work force is limited, but intended as a good deal.
o Take some of the work from West Point: Grounds repairs, delivery orders, Army encouraging facilities to partner with local municipalities. It’s more cost effective if the municipalities are part of a contract from Orange County, sharing in a larger contract.
o West Point invited 50 Municipalities. Joe D’Onofrio was the only one that showed up.
o Village would reap benefits for doing this for West Point
John Dodson’s West Point Meeting last week postponed due to June 6th, 2019 truck rollover tragedy
o Officials have indicated that we will need to have coverage from higher-ups for a Microgrid. Earlier ASA Infrastructure (Acting) Jordan Gillis, Jack Suresh, Colonel Hansen
§ Everyone seems to say “It’s a great idea…but it’s above my pay grade.”
o Funding: Carlyle - The same company that is helping finance JFK Airport Redevelopment.
o Carlyle does have interest – for West Point Microgrid to operate as a prototype for the whole Army. West Point is a great, high profile location to do this.
o The problem is they want a single-source funding of the whole thing.
o Solution: Cancel the old comparative process. We’re doing a Microgrid, which is new.
o Lawyers figured out how to structure this deal. Except for one thing: West Point hasn’t asked for a Microgrid, so that the Lawyer can create the deal. He needs Requirement.
o John provided all the information, templates, etc. to write the requirement. The meeting was set, and then the tragedy occurred.
o Need to get that meeting back together ASAP.
o We need a format for requirements: Format is a form DA-4283 (?)
John Dodson’s Washington Trip:
o Help from Spectrum Group – where Generals are recycled into CEO's & Board Members
o Spectrum advised we need someone from the other side of the aisle (Dem)
o Working with MIT – Lincoln Labs, but meeting was hosted by AUI (Ass. of Universities Inc., a highly respected Tech non-profit formed in 1946 to create the Brookhaven Lab, with the CEO PhD from Princeton Dr. Adam Cohen, as well as Dr. George Baker, leading member of the Congressional EMP(Electromagnetic Pulse)Committee, GEN Wes Clark (Dem), and the Kutak Rock law firm experts on pubic private partnership: 18 people.
o Will cost a half a million dollars to build a model of the North American Grid
o ASD Lucian Niemeyer, our DoD sponsor, was looking for $ from the DOD budget. DoD lawyers stopped it. They said that "this is not a DOD thing, this is a DOE thing."
§ “DOD gives money to DOE…but DOE never gives money to DOD”
o Private money. Looking for seed funding.
Briefly Discussed Projects:
· Sewer project
· Pipeline in town
· Advanced clean energy storage (minus CHP)
Action Items:
· Set up JohnDodson on Skype, to connect people faster
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the meeting was adjourned.
Next Meeting: July 9, 2019
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xlii) -14 May 2019 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis and Randolph Horner; Others: Attorney John Doyle, Engineer John Dodson
1. Call to Order; Pledge of Allegiance - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Chairman’s Remarks - Discussion re Village activities; Town with reported $10 M grant opportunity, that Randolph Horner, with knowledge of matter, explained would not be successful with the present weak staff work of the local Governments in the competition for this money.
3. Vote on Board Position for Tom Ossa as new Board Member: Unanimous vote to accept .
4.- Treasurer’s Report - John Willis reports account unchanged w/o Demand Response program (that provides some revenue to the HPU) so far this year.
5. Administrative Items - 2018 Annual Report discussion and adoption. Also, by resolution, authorized Atty Doyle to submit request for Government Information Letter as a non-profit, more direct than a 501(c)(3). procedure.
6. Report on Microgrid Conference - Boston meeting attended by Randolph Horner was a positive experience in microgrid development, Randolph spoke on the essential role now of storage for renewables, which adds extra cost and slow their successful replacement of carbon-based generation based on economics.
7. West Point, Nu Scale & Washington Report - John Dodson reported on returning from trip to Oregon and back to meet with the Nu Scale small nuclear system finishing its seven year approval and design procedure ($800 M) and a potentially attractive component for a security MiliGrid for military bases and high security installations. Also recent success with the noon meeting with microgrid builder Michael Borcherding and the HPU, followed by a successful meeting with the Garrison command at West Point last Monday. Discussion followed on the Government Procurement options that could provide a sole source selection for the West Point MuniGrid the HPU has pursued for its entire existence as a major goal with the community. This is a dynamic, ongoing battle that will have further developments by our next meeting.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting 11 June at South Gate Tavern unless otherwise notified
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xl) -19 March 2019 @ 1800
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner, & John Willis; Others: Tom Ossa, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle,
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the February meeting were adopted.
2. Chairman's Remarks - Treasurer's Report - Chairman welcomed visitor Tom Ossa, an IT, Web Site and Small Business Consultant. Treasurer John Willis reported Bank Account unchanged.
4. Administrative Items - John Doyle explained a simpler path to certification of tax-exempt status as a Government-related body. Resolution will be required.
5. West Point projects - John Dodson reported on latest developments with the West Point Garrison on both the Wastewater Plant and the possible upgrading of the Combined Heat and Power plant (CHP) to a legitimate microgrid, as the HPU has championed for some time. Discussion that follows is drawn from the notes of our visitor Tom Ossa, as he viewed the group's discussions:
Microgrid we are suggesting includes replacing the Substations at both Wilson Gate and Mt. Avenue, which are inadequate and in need of upgrade. Could be combined into one sub-station, with cost sharing by O&R + Army
Central Plant Steam operation (CHP New) would be located at the Delafield substation
Power needed before A/C renovation is complete
Microgrid Project: The one that will likely sell.
Carlyle: "Give us a project." (Only if sole source)
Next conversation on Friday with them.
Village Wastewater Solution:
Proposal has been on back burner since last Spring
This proposal is 1/2 the cost of Target Hill location.
Data center:
Energy hog, but second customer for microgrid
Spectrum Group: Where Generals go after cooling-down period; well connected Washington expediters now helping our microgrid cause at WP
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting 14 May 19 at South Gate Tavern unless otherwise notified
Notes
New promising graphene solar technology could be a breakthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkCmX24PRKE
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxix) -12 February 2019 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner;
Others: Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance - Upon a motion made, secinded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Treasurer's Report - Treasurer John Willis had soccer date, sent copy of unchanged bank account.
3. Administrative Items - In lieu of a 501(c)(3) filing, a simpler option is available for the HPU. The IRS can issue a "Governmental Information Letter" for organizations such as the HPU. John Doyle will check further and we will consider a Resolution at next meeting.
4. Mayor Joe D'Onofrio sent regrets, Village Board had to move meeting to tonight due to Holiday.
5. Village & West Point Report - Excellent discussion followed an update by John Dodson on first the Wastewater project at some length, including the visit by United Water he arranged with the Village and some Board members, then the Microgrid as well. A meeting with the Mayor and the Garrison Commander on the 2002 attempt to transfer land was also discussed. Randolph Horner clarified his understanding of West Point's land give back options, which he would like to take to Nita Lowy's office for support. Bill Edsall had several thoughts on how the local politics could be better brought to support the community side of the land retrieval.
6. General Discussion - An invasion by the Democrat Party of Highland Falls, as this was not the normal HPU meeting night and we overlapped, caused the meeting (upon a motion made, seconded and carried) to be quickly wrapped up at 2000.
Next meeting 12 March at South Gate Tavern unless otherwise notified
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Board Minutes - 2018
HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxvii) -12 December 2018 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chairman Bill Edsall, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner; Others: Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried,
the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Administrative Items - Regarding the 501(c)(3) application, a question was raised by Randolph Horner as to whether it was worth the effort. After a lengthy discussion it was voted to continue working on the 501(c)(3) as originally intended. Randolph then volunteered to help further the effort.
3. West Point Report - John Dodson attended a Washington EMP Conference last week, and a number of high level contacts that may prove useful to our projects were made. Major developments with both the Microgrid (Visit from ASA Energy next Tuesday), and Wastewater Plant were reported. John has been invited to update and detail his two MFR's written earlier for the ASA Installations and have a major meeting in January with Government lawyers and DLA. He requested Board support and participation in those meetings. A meeting with United Water today by John was also covered. Randolph Horner expressed concern about the United Water (Suez) political record. Request for help at the Tuesday meeting from Chairman Edsall and Roger Heimann was made and accepted.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxvi) -20 November 2018 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
(Full Mission Statement at Website, www.high-pointutilities.com)
Board Members Present: President Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Randolph Horner; Others: Visitor Niklas Moran, Attorney John Doyle, Engineer John Dodson
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Review and Adoption of Prior Minutes
3. Chairman's Remarks - Treasurer's Report
4. Administrative Items - John Doyle updated his work on 501(c)(3) application.
5. Update on Water Grants - Randolph Horner reported on the grants that were given. He explained that, in his opinion, the failure of the Village Engineer to fully explain the pollution of the water supply event in requesting funding for the Highland Falls protection diminished the odds for a successful request in the competitive process for State funds.
6. Presentation by Niklas Moran An excellent presentation. Nik had shown up the week earlier when our meeting was canceled and was now able to give the full group a report. Much work has already been done to qualify for the first level of support from the Hudson Valley Regional Council in the way of support for Electric Vehicles and energy efficiency reports on the local government buildings, but follow through is needed. The Board agreed to support these efforts, which Olga Anderson has been working on.
7. Audit Committee Report (John Willis, Randolph Horner, Roger Heimann)
8. West Point Report - John Dodson - Meeting with ASA Jordon Gillis & Garrison Commander, Wastewater, Microgrid input. John was able to make an important meeting with the Asst Sec of the Army for Installations at the Central Plant at West Point, give him a short brief on the work of the HPU, as well as updated versions of the MFR's on both the Wastewater and Microgrid projects. ASA Gillis took the MFR's with him and reportedly read them on his flight home. This meeting is leading to two critical future meetings with Army leadership in these areas at West Point, and an invitation for John to update the MFR's in more detail.
As there was a Democrat Party meeting and another group at this abnormal meeting date, meeting was adjourned early.
Next meeting 11 Dec at South Gate Tavern unless otherwise notified
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HIGH-POINT UTILITIES LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxv) - 11 October 2018 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Treasurer John Willis, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner; Others: Ted Mennite, Attorney John Doyle, Engineer John Dodson.
Treasurer’s Report: John Willis reports no change in account.
Administrative Items: Only two members have not yet participated in ABO training. They hope to do so this month.
Village Report: John Dodson gave update on meeting with Mayor several weeks ago. No further action on HPU projects.
Audit Committee; No change in status.
Water Supply Protection Grant: Randolph Horner reported that a submission for funding was made by the Village Engineer. Randolph gave a thorough report on the sources of funds and the likely outcome for this year’s submittal, which is not positive.
West Point Report: John Dodson reported on a meeting with the Garrison Commander regarding the wastewater treatment project and the microgrid project. He described a path by which the Clean River Combined Plant could go forward on the Village site. This would save about $80 million, but can only be done by the US Government before the $70 million is given to a private contractor. Politically only an arangement involving a land swap is likely to be approved by the Village, which owns the wastewater plant.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting expected on 13 November at South Gate Tavern unless otherwise notified.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxiii) - 14 August 2018 @ 1830
South Gate Tavern, HIghland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: President Bill Edsall, Treasuer John Willis, Mike Colacicco, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner. Others: Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle.
1. Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance. Upon a motion made, seconded and carried the minutes of the prior meeting were adopted.
2. Chairman's Remarks - Treasurer's Report - Treasurer reported the accounts are unchanged from last month - no additions or disbursements. Chairman voiced concern about strong relations with the Village we serve, in light of possible loss of Member Colacicco.
3 Administrative. John Doyle noted progress on State public authority certification requirements. Several Board Members have completed the individual training required by
the State's Authorities Budget Office (ABO). Additional training opportunities are offered
nearly every month.
4. Audit Committees (John Willis, Randolph Horner, Roger Heimann) - No report at this time.
5. Report on Water Supply Protection Grant - This is coming to a head. Randolph Horner was absent, due to a "75' Tree" that fell on his out buildings during the recent storm. The word received was the due date for the new Grant request, based on the paid report done three years earlier that needs to be corrected in one area, is due on September 9th. We reportedly have a good position to receive the $1 M estimated to enclose the Highland Falls Water Supply in a pipe from Bog Meadow Reservoir to protect it from oil spills on Rt 9W and run off from the West Point Golf Course. Two items must be received by the HPU members to assist here and get in the Grant request on time: 1) the old report, now in the hands of Mayor Joe D'Onofrio with our help, and 2) a new Resolution by the Village Board. The Board agreed to endeavor to get a proper Resolution formed for the Village, and speak to the Mayor to get a copy of the earlier report, so it might be correctly updated. Since Mike Colacicco was not presently available to carry this message, another emissary volunteered to do so.
6. West Point Report - John Dodson reported meeting the new Garrison Commander at his Change of Command ceremony, after asking for continuity from COL Andy Hanson, the departing GC. Unfortunately, John has been traveling for most of the last month, and COL Marson has just departed for his GC training course in Texas. We will re-engage upon his return 20 August. The Microgrid project is therefore in suspension. The Wastewater plant however, is moving forward on our side with an updated comprehensive estimate being made in Rochester by the former Engineers who assisted us previously and the contractor who won the recent bid to re-build at West Point. This was revealed to be far in excess of the price previously estimated for the Clean River Combined Plant planned for our Village Site.
7. General Discussion - Of grave concern were two resignations from our Board of highly respected and essential members which have been received.
Maurice Adams has the furthest distance to travel of any of our members, several of whom have an hour's journey or more. He has contributed long hours to the goals of the HPU, is also the originator and keeper of our website, and has a deep and abiding interest in both energy policy and the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to assist the Military Academy in its privatization process. With the HPU help this could be guided to reach more impressive prototype goals in energy and utilities for military bases nationwide than will otherwise ever happen. We agreed to ask if he can at least maintain the Website mission, while we search for anyone qualified to take this critical role, and perhaps re-consider his Membership, even if he has to attend by telephone.
Mike Colacicco is the only Member besides our Engineer who fully understands and has rapport with the Garrison Command, on which much of our work depends. He is a West Point graduate who also has the trust and respect of the present Village leadership, the other critical relationship for our ability to serve the community. He has experience working both at the West Point Garrison in the DPW field, and later for the Village itself for Engineering related tasks.
It is quite clear that both will be sorely missed.
The Board Members are unanimous in the hope that some means of keeping the involvement of these two key individuals can be achieved, and all Members are encouraged to assist in making this clear to both parties. Our ranks are thin, few qualified people are available in this small community, and though years of work have already been done, the fruition of our labors is mostly yet to come.
All agreed our challenges will be much more daunting, without the familiar faces and support of these two Members.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting 11 September at South Gate Tavern unless otherwise notified
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POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxii ) - 10 July 2018 @ 1800
Southgate Tavern, Highland Falls
Board Members Present: Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco, Roger Heimann Others: Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance
2. Attny John Doyle provided update of LDC Certification Requirements - many requirements have now been met, including State sanctioned Member training by several, and information on budgeting and other details were added during the meeting.
3. Governance Committee (Roger Heimann, Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco) was present. A resolution to ensure that business in which the HPU letterhead or commitment was being used would be brought before the Board to keep it informed and committed. All present in agreement. No change from our practice, but good to discuss.
4. West Point related activities were discussed by Engineer John Dodson. With a new Garrison Commander taking Command this week, and the Wastewater Utility Privatization contract being revised, it is imperative that the Village take positive steps if it wishes to take advantage of this once in a lifetime $70 M+ construction and its operation going forward. The Microgrid Project has famously succeeded in having the RFP for repairing the Steam (Central) Plant changed to a true CHP (Combined Heat & Power) requirement, but remains one step short of the microgrid the HPU originally supported. Efforts will continue with the new Colonel.
5. Mike Colacicco discussed Village support for the HPU. These included the Drinking Water Protection project led by Randolph Horner, who has kept Mike informed, and the Wastewater Plant plans that were promised to the Engineer team that worked on the combined proposal three years ago. These Engineers visited our Village Plant in an HPU arranged meeting with the Mayor a month earlier We are still waiting for Wastewater Director John Jones to get the O&R electrician coordinated with his local electrician. A time-of-day meter can be installed and the Village can participate in the Demand Response program the HPU set up for them last year. HPU has done extensive facilitating to get the program underway, worth perhaps $30,000 to the Village this summer.
Upon a motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
Next meeting is scheduled for 14 August at the Southgate Tavern venue.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITIES LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxxi) - 12 June 2018 @ 1800
South Gate Tavern, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chairman Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco; Others: Engineer John Dodson, Senior Attorney Bill Florence, Attorney John Doyle.
Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance: Upon motions made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the April and May meetings were adopted.
Treasurer’s Report: Bank statement was circulated; no change from previous position.
Administrative Items: John Doyle presented a number of organizational documents for review. A motion having been made and seconded, after discussion a Code of Ethics Policy was adopted. A motion having been made and seconded, after discussion a Procurement Policy was adopted. Upon a motion made, seconded and carried a Governance Committee was established with Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco and Roger Heimann as original committee members. Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, an Audit Committee was established with Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner and John Willis as original committee members.
501(c)(3) Status: It was agreed that John Doyle would look into the usefulness of formally applying for 501(c)(3) recognition.
Village Meeting: Mike Colacicco reported on his meeting with Mayor Joe D’Onofrio on Wednesday last. Alyce Terhune, Village attorney, was also present. Matters discussed included the wastewater plant and a Village resolution evincing support for the HPU. Meeting was positive, with the Mayor consenting to HPU meeting with the wastewarer engineers and possible construction contractor on June 13. This is in conjunction with the renewed Army interest in pursuing the joint wastewater option put forth by HPU and the Village in the summer of 2015 (aka the Village Option).
West Point Report: John Dodson brought the Board up to date on the status of Colonel Hanson’s support for the Village Option as a financially attractive solution on the wastewater plant, as compared to bids recently submitted for the Target Hill site. John also briefed the Board on the Microgrid project as an adjunct to the Combined Heat & Power (CHP) project presently being competed. The CHP project is an outgrowth of (a) John’s assistance to the Colonel in substituting in the procurement a CHP project in lieu of the simple steam plant repairs advertised earlier and
(b) the Princeton trip arranged for the Colonel and his staff. Further work is now being done on the IMCOM level on both these projects, with the Colonel hopefully signing letters of support before he departs his command.
All parties realize that both these projects are extremely large, larger than anything ever built in the community and as large as the largest projects at the Academy. It is equally realized that the chances of success are small in such complex endeavors. Yet this is what the HPU was formed to champion — better utility performance in the greater community, blending the extensive resources of the Federal system at West Point with the complimenting assets of the local community. And so the effort needs to be made, whether successful or not. John reminded the Board that the HPU has already had a number of not inconsequential successes. It earned over $50,000 for the Academy through the Demand Response program. It also warned the community and then assisted in the quick reaction from West Point after the 1,600 gallon oil spill occurred. Earlier it organized, wrote the RFQ’s and then interviews and participated in selecting the winners for vendors to build both a joint microgrid with West Point and a joint wastewater plant in the Village. All of this has been done with unpaid volunteers and a minimal to zero budget.
This background has made possible the new effort to bring about a joint wastewater plant six times the value of the one the Village has now, good for 30 years into the future, and with a $200,000 a year rebate to the ratepayers of the Village. In addition, the joint plant may provide a means to have land returned to the Village, in exchange for Village land under the plant, thereby providing potential new rateables to spread and ease the Village tax burden.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxx) - 8 May 2018 @ 1800
Southgate Tavern, Highland Falls
Board Members Present: Chair Bill Edsall, Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco, Roger Heimann, Others: Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance
2. Update on Non-Profit Requirements - Some Board members have signed up for the training and the duration and content were discussed. John Doyle added days in which the future classes will be taught. Mission Statement, By Laws, Budget, and other requirements were enumerated.
3. Steve Wilhelm, Manager for CLP, new owner of the WP electrical system could not be with us, but the role of the successful bidder was discussed. John Dodson has had a lengthy meeting with them and it is hoped they will meet with us in the future.
4. Mike Colacicco brought the group up to date on his contact with Mayor Joe D'Onofio, and a future meeting to take place the week of 4 June, in which both the Wastewater Project and the Drinking Water transmission line will be discussed.
5. John Dodson gave an update on the status of the two large endeavors with West Point Utilities with which the HPU has been assisting - both the Wastewater Project, which has now been resurrected from the dead issue pile by virtue of the bids recently received to re-build it back at Target Hill, and the WP Microgrid project, based on the CHP solution which our group was successful in getting into the solution mix for the utility privatization process now in progress.
6. Old Business:
A. Maurice Adams on Web Site
B. Randolph Horner on Hydro Update
C. John Dodson on WP CHP
D. Roger Heimann delivered excellent weather this time.
Upon a motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
Next Planned Meeting Date: 5 or 12 June 2018 @ 1800
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HIGH-POINT UTILITIES LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxix) - 10 April 2018 @ 1800
Town Hall, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members Present: Chairman Bill Edsall, Mike Colacicco, Roger Heimann, and Maurice Adams by telephone. Others: Engineer John Dodson, Senior Attorney Bill Florence, and Attorney John Doyle.
1. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance — Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the March 20 meeting were adopted.
2. Wide Range of Issues was discussed.*The latest developments with COL Hanson and the effort to form a task force approach that could replace the current difficult procurement process under Title 10, Sec 2688 at West Point was reviewed, and the proposed Special Purpose Entity members were identified.Senior Atty William Florence, present from a long absence due to health and personal demands on his time, expressed the opinion that the stature of the HPU deserved to be elevated and recognized for the substantial efforts that have been made and are receiving ongoing attention today.These include not only the very large West Point CHP project which has emerged from the efforts of the HPU and its Engineer, but the Demand Response program that delivered a $50,000 check to the USMA treasury that was applied to its electric utility bill, and assisting the critical Garrison support during the oil spill into the Village water supply that had been predicted by the HPU only a month earlier in a public meeting. These are substantial accomplishments for an all-volunteer organization.
3. Discussion of the School in Pennsylvania. Highly promising relationship with a related institution run by a former WP Graduate and Professor.
4. Discussion on Cell Tower progress - next step for them to meet with Mayor Joe D'Onofrio, hopefully before month's end, who has intervened in the current negotiations to site the Tower on My Market property, requiring a meeting to re-visit possible location on Village land. This was explored extensively by the last Mayor, and determined to be a non-starter for the Village, same end result is expected. JD in touch with Cell Tower company and Mayor, and will monitor.
5. Main order of business - Admin items required by NY Non-Profits - Atty John Doyle. John has done an extensive search of all non-profit legal requirements, which were increased in 2009 & 2013 to an extended list of mandates. The Mission Statement, now expanded into a more detailed form, received minor corrections and was adopted. Bylaws, with some small corrections, were also adopted. A Conflict of Interest policy was discussed in detail.
The Board addressed a number of organizational matters to make further progress in coming into compliance with requirements overseen by the NYS Authorities Budget Office. A revised Mission Statement, updated By-Laws, and a new Conflict of Interest Policy were all adopted, upon motions made, seconded and carried unanimously. Atty Doyle has also informed the Board of a 2-hour block of instruction with on-line training each Member needs to sign up to receive. HIGH-POINT UTILITY LDC - MEETING XXVIII - 8 May 2018 @ 1800 - South Gate Tavern
"A Non-Profit Development Corporation for the Benefit of the Highlands Communities" (Village of Highland Falls, Town of Highlands, West Point Garrison, the County of Orange)
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HIGH-POINT UTILITIES LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxviii) — 29 March 2018 @ 1800
Town Hall, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members present: Chariman Bill Edsall, Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco,
Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner; Others: Village Trustee Brian Aylward, Engineer John Dodson, Attorney John Doyle.
Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance - Review and approval of February meeting minutes.
Demand Response (DR) efforts - With support now from Mayor Joe D’Onofrio for Village participation, Brian Aylward brought the name of the correct School Engineer to attend new DR meeting proposed next week, either Tuesday or Thursday being floated with NuEnergen. HPU fee for arranging the West Point $50,000 DR contribution has been deposited. Trustee Aylward reports that broken meter at wastewater plant preventing interval meter installation is being attended to. John Dodson will follow up with school system personnel and NuEnergen.
Cell Tower progress - Next step is for cell tower company to meet with Mayor D’Onofrio, hopefully before month’s end. Current negotiations have focused on My Market property, while the Mayor appears to have an interest in siting on Village land. This siting was explored extensively by the previous mayor and determined to be a non-starter for the Village. Same end result is expected. John Dodson in touch with cell tower company and Mayor and will monitor.
Administrative Items required by NYS - Attorney John Doyle has researched items now required of ‘public authorities’ operating in New York. HPU, as a non-profit local development corporation, falls under these requirements, which were codified in 2009 and further extended in 2013. The HPU Mission Statement, now expanded into a more detailed form, received minor corrections and was adopted. The HPU By-Laws, also with some small adjustments, were adopted. A Conflict of Interest Policy was discussed in detail and adoption of the policy will follow further work. The Board was also informed of a two hour block of instruction offered through the Authorities Budget Office (ABO) that each Board Member is required to complete.
Hydro Project - Further actions proposed for the repair of the hydro facility were discussed.
With bad weather expected, further discussion of other items, including the West Point project, were delayed until the next meeting. Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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Board Meeting Minutes (xxvii) — 13 February 2018 @ 1800
Highland Falls Library, Highland Falls, New York3 Chairman Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Mike Colacicco, Randolph Horner; Others: Attorney John Doyle, Engineer John Dodson
1. Call to Order - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the January meeting were adopted.2. Treasurer’s Report and Administrative Items - John Willis reported that the deposit of the Demand Response funds had not yet posted; expected by the end of February. John Doyle reported he was not yet done preparing recommendations for By-Laws revisions.
3. Village Resolution of Support - The Mayor continues to promised a resolution, but it is not done yet. Mike Colacicco and John Dodson continue to engage him. Resolution is expected to help the Village with efforts like the drinking water safety project.
4. Hydro Project - Randolph Horner provided update. He would like as formal a delineation of the easement for a potential penstock route off the disputed lands of the neighbor as possible. John Dodson agreed to assist to get this done.
5. West Point CHP project - Many moving parts. Garrison Commander continues to be supportive, as does the Deputy. The present Utility Privitization process is due to reach another milestone soon, when the submissions are due by competing parties for the Thermal or now CHP project which the HPU work has assisted in becoming the upgrade from a steam repair. This has been moved from the end of January to the end of February. The ongoing effort to preempt this flawed process, that has evolved from awarding the electrical contract and attempting to award the gas distribution contract prior to the CHP, which may itself cause major changes in both these distribution systems, must be presented to the Department of the Army in some way before that time, if it is to be successful. Otherwise this process will be perhaps seven years before the improper sequencing of contracts is sorted out and the systems are built.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.
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HIGH_POINT UTILITIES LDC
Board Meeting Minutes (xxvi) — 9 January 2018 @ 1800
Highland Falls Library, Highland Falls, New York
Board Members present: Chairman Bill Edsall, Treasurer John Willis, Maurice Adams, Mike Colacicco, Roger Heimann, Randolph Horner; Others: Attorney John Doyle, Engineer John Dodson
Call to Order for Annual Meeting - Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the minutes of the December 2017 meeting were adopted.
Treasurer;’s Report and Administrative Items - John Willis reported no changes in account as of now, but a deposit from the Demand Response program at West Point, arranged by HPU, is expected soon. John Doyle will review By-Laws and make recommendations regarding revisions.
Village Resolution of Support - Further meeting with Mayor D’Onofrio was positive. Mike Colacicco with continue.
Princeton University inspection trip - Further positive discussion with Deputy Commander Tom Cowan regarding the third visit to the Princeton University facility. Maurice Adams has prepared an excellent report and requests a follow-up with West Point on their plans for a microgrid similar to the Princeton model. COL is supportive and stars seem aligned if Army Procurement process for Utility Privatization could be somehow modified.
Hydro project - Randolph reports that he needs a higher grade of map for the path of new penstock for the hydro facility. John Dodson will assist.
Village Water Supply Protection - HPU has advocated enclosing exposed village water supply to protect against (another) spill. Mayor D’Onofrio now appears to support this approach, as funds allow.
West Point CHP - John Dodson reported that the project is quite complicated at present with many players, but HPU is deeply involved and hope remains for a positive development.
Upon a motion made, seconded and carried, the meeting was adjourned.