BROOKLYN COMMUNITY BOARD 6
ECONOMIC/WATERFRONT/COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & HOUSING COMMITTEE
MAY 19, 2014
ATTENDANCE
PRESENT:
R. BASHNER N. BERK-RAUCH A. DEVENING
E. FELDER A. KRASNOW M. LEAR
R. LUFTGLASS S. MATTHEWS D. MAZZUCA
M. SILVERMAN T. TAYLOR
EXCUSED:
V. HERMANIA
ABSENT:
R. CERVONE G. FAETH L. KERSAVAGE
A. KOZYR M. RACIOPPO D. SCOTTO
J. STRABONE
GUESTS:
J. VOGEL – REP. FOR HON. VELMANETTE MONTGOMERY, STATE SENATOR
D. WILEY –REP. FOR HON. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, MEMBER OF CONGRESS
C. SALGUERO J. TAMPAKIS A. ARMSTRONG
J. LIANTONO M. DEVENEY T. TAMPAKIS
A. GENN A. ZARANKO M. PORTO
L. CLAUSE J. STRACHAN L. DOWNING
***MINUTES***
Presentation and discussion with representatives for the New York City Economic Development Corporation on the DockNYC program, NYSolar Smart Solarize program, and other topics of interest related to the district.
Jim Vogel from Senator Montgomery’s office made a statement about efforts being made by the Senator to bring additional New York State Regional Council Development Grants into Brooklyn.
NYSolar Smart Solarize: Lydia Downing: Government & Community Relations at NYC Economic Development Corporation introduced: Luke Clause, Clean Technology and Energy Industry Transformation Team at New York City
EDC
Justin Strachan, New York State Solar Ombudsman, Sustainable CUNY
NYSolar Smart is a coordinated effort by CUNY, EDC and Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning & Sustainability to reduce the overall cost of solar installations through solar bulk purchasing. As the hard costs of solar panels and installation have come down, 64% of an installer’s cost are finding and guiding
a potential customer (recruiting, financing, permitting, O&M) through the process. The pilot program, NYSolar Smart Solarize, is the recipient of a Federal Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy “SunShot Initiative”. Its goals are to lower the barriers to solar business growth by making it easier for people, in this case homeowners, to install solar power: Make it easier to go solar Reduce upfront costs (by pooling resources and creating a group purchasing system) Grow the solar business
Brooklyn Community Board 6 has been targeted as a potential partner to assist in local planning and outreach to help this campaign reach its goals. CB6 is in a NYC Solar Empowerment Zones, identified by CUNY and other city agencies as a location with high potential to help generate energy production and offset needs. Check out CUNY’s NYC Solar Map to see, site by site, how effective solar power can be across the city. The Solarize campaign is seeking to create a better wholesale cost for the solar developer and easier access for homeowners. If CB6 becomes a partner, the local goals will include: Community decisions on how to frame a proposal for solar developers; what does the community want to make solar installation easier. Request proposals from solar developers. Choose solar developer Outreach & Education to the community
Questions: Are there Power Purchase agreements with no up-front cost to the owner? o Third Party financing is a possibility, which has little or no upfront cost. The post- installation rate will be lower, but no ownership, and there will always be a bill. Is there a community solar model – for solar panels in a shared space? o Yes. Virtual Net Metering can be used if solar power is generated off-site and shared. o EDC: Off-site solar is not currently allowed in NY State. CUNY: net metering is allowed, but has a cap that is too low. Can city owned buildings (schools, NYCHA, police) take part in the Solarize campaign? o This pilot program is only for residential and it is geared toward single-owner buildings.
DockNYC: Atlantic Basin Lydia Downing, EDC, introduced DockNYC. EDC operates berthing docks around the city, but has not had the capacity to offer easier access for boats to use the docks. An RFP was put out for a single operator to manage a number of sites. To describe the project, Lydia introduced: Adam Zarenko, VP, Asset Management EDC Michael Porto, Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, Director of Outreach and Planning
Adam Zarenko described EDC’s oversight of NYC waterfront locations that includes docks with varied capacities. Requests were regularly made for use of the docks, but historically EDC was not able to respond or process them in time. EDC decided to bundle the management of the piers, similar to parking garages. DockNYC was created as a partnership between EDC, BillyBey Marina Services and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. The partnership has been in place since May 1, 2014 and is essentially a management program to connect waterborne vessels to property services, and New Yorkers to the waterfront. BillyBey manages the boat docking services, MWA does the outreach, planning and promotion, EDC maintains the piers. The piers have not been upgraded in a while, but with expanded use and new business there may be re-investment potential.
MWA can facilitate meeting with CB6 specifically to talk about options for the Atlantic Basin piers.
Questions: Atlantic Basin is located between the Containerport and the Cruise Terminal. Opening up the pier to more public use could be difficult because of the high security and low level of public access. What kind of activity could Atlantic Basin handle? What are the limitations, and what Would be the plan to get the public to the water at Atlantic Basin? o This has not yet been fully studied. Coordination would be required with adjacent docking services and their schedules. Red Hook Rising Plan included ferry docking sites. Could Atlantic Basin become a ferry stop? o EDC has done a separate city-wide ferry study in which they studied a number of local sites, ferry population density, ease of docking, and local alternative transportation modes. Atlantic Basin may not be the right place for a ferry; the report gives more detail. Could Atlantic Basin be used as a stop for local NYC region tour boats? o Possibly. This has not yet been considered or studied yet by EDC. What is the connection and requirements with the upland portion of the pier? o The pier is under the jurisdiction of the Port Authority. BillyBey works directly with PA on every aspect of the operations related to using the pier buildings. There is a life safety plan in place.
Port Authority representatives are present and answered the previous question, as well as the next question: What is the status of the shore power for the Cruise Terminal? o The below-ground infrastructure has been installed, and the full installation should be completed and operational by Spring 2015
Minutes submitted by Ariel Krasnow.