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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-0203 Documents Submitted at Meeting \ (1/28/2009) Barbara christensen- con:tment to C~uncil reo Siskiyou Safety Committeerecc's Page 1 I From: To: Date: Subject: steve ryan <resolutionvideo@yahoo.com> <christeb@ashland . or. us> 1/27/2009 11 :53 AM comment to Council reo Siskiyou Safety Committee recc's Hello, I want to comment on the Siskiyou Blvd. Safety Ad Hoc Committee's recommendation for the Garfield Street crosswalk remodel, for whenever that comes on the agenda, being: As a committee member, I support the Garfield-Siskiyou crosswalk recommendations of the Siskiyou Safety Ad Hoc Committee. The time it took us to reach the decision was perhaps longer than we wanted, and we would like to be able to fix the intersection as soon as is physically possible, but the process was open, there was public comment (wish there had been more), I thought we were thorough and inclusive and built our recommendation on factual evidence, and the limitations were those arising from due diligence. I agree with the idea that the easiest short-term fix, would be to hire a crossing guard to flag the pedestrians and stop traffic for them during the busiest times, as resources allow, or assign that as community service perhaps. Partnering with SOU might turn up a work-study student candidate. Then fix the intersection as soon as physical constraints allow. Thanks to Staff and his honor Mayor Morrison for allowing me to serve my community. Stephen D. Ryan Siskiyou Safety Ad Hoc Committee citizen at large member ~lluJftcJ 2(?1or Polk. ~ February 3,2009 Mayor and City Council City Hall, 20 E. Main Street Ashland, OR 97520 RE: ASHLAND GUN CLUB LEASE AGREEMENT Honorable Mayor and Council: As I am sure most of you know, we the City of Ashland owns land on Emigrant Creek Road that is leased to the Ashland Gun Club (AGC). The current lease expires on May 1,2009. While the City and AGC have been working on a new lease document for approximately 2 years, the lease agreement signed by Mayor Morrison on August 8, 2008, was changed significantly by members of the Council during the public hearing process, without any discussion or negotiation with AGC pertaining to the impact of those amendments. AGC had the revised lease reviewed by their attorney, and it was his opinion that the lease agreement, as revised, is not favorable for the club and that the club should not sign that document. Subsequently, we met with Staff, and believe staff and the AGC can jointly address the issues noted by the attorney, with the result being a lease that is amenable to both parties. With that in mind, we would respectfully request that the Council take the following action: 1. Authorize the extension of the current lease agreement past the May 1, 2009 date, on a month-to-month basis, pending approval of the new lease agreement; and, 2. Authorize staff to work with AGC to deal with the various issues extant and bring the document back to the council. We understand that a public hearing may be necessary to address the changes made to the agreement, but that the hearing would be limited only to those changes made. Sincerely, 0Cl,9c~ ASHLAND GUN CLUB Chuck Parlier, President arold Edwards says the time was finally right for the Limoneira Co. to be powered by the sun. "That all falls nicely into the concept of sustainability:' says Edwards, CEO and president of Limoneira, a corpo- rate farm of about 7,000 acres headquartered in Santa Paula, Calif. It also falls into the con- cept of doing the right thing for sharehold- ers, because the $8 million solar project has secured a low electricity rate for the compa- ny for at least the next couple of decades. Edwards explains that the sofar project, which came online late in summer of 2008, is a I-megawatt installation of solar panels that ties into the existing Southern California Edison grid. It will supply about a third of the power used annually at Limoneira's 200,000- square-foot facility in Santa Paula. which boasts enough cold storage for about 500 rail cars of fruit and features a large packing- house for lemons. That amount of eleCtricity could power 200 single-family homes for a year, so the farm is saving that amount of electricity for the community. As Edwards points out, the company has answered one of the "great unknowns" of the modern farm: the question of how high J nomic feas;. A 1-megawatt array of solar panels is providing a third of the power required for Limoneira's citrus packing and cold storage facility in Santa Paula, Calif. AIO · GROWING · JANUARY 2009 *Free info! Circle # on card or go to www.growingmagazlne.com/freeinfo III . I II. rising electricity prices will go. Its investment has solidified electricity prices for that section of the farm at 9 cents per kilo- watt over a period. of~O, years, and 7 cents per kil~w:ittif the - project lasts tor 30 years. "Today, we're paying 13 cents per kilowatt:' Edwards says pf his Edison charges, and the utility is talking about price increases. The solar array not only lowers his prices, it takes away the uncer- tainty to some degree. He says that the company had talked ; about the possibility of a solar installation several times in the six years he has been the CEO, but costs were not advantageous until recently. Increased incentives and tax breaks made the project not only feasible, but imperative. "The key part - of the making-' sense part is that it had to be eco- nomically viable:' Edwards says, and there were several elemen.ts' that made it work. First, it required no capital outlay from Limoneira. The $8 million was borrowed from Farm Credit Systems in a special alternative energy lending program, where Farm Credit actually owns the system for the first 10 years, with Limoneira leasing it. In year 11, Limoneira could buy the sys~m: for $1 million, with a IS-m,01111tili1i payback on the solar system. Edwards estimates that 'tk€ arranaement will cut $2S0,OOma b _ year from the company's eleG1iFiw.. bill for the first 10 years, _ ' $750,000 a year from year 11 on. Mark Palamountain, CEO of Perpetual Power, the San Francisco company that built the Limoneira sy.stem, says the incentives right now are tremen- dous, both from the federal government and the state of California.' Other states have similar, and even better, programs. The IRS allows a one- time, up-front, federal t~ credit of 30 percent on this type of investment, and that credit has just been renewed and is in place for the next eight years. California offers a rebate program funded by ratepayers and paid through local utilitie~ Continued on page A l~, ' Solar Farms Continued from page An through -its California Solar'lIlitiative. _The rebate. is a tiered system for every kilowatt produced through solar, and for Limoneira it means the company is paid 26 _ cents per kilowatt for every kilowatt produced tip to 1;;" megawatt for the first five years. In addition, the company sells back every kilowatt it does;. n't usetotheutility, realized as a credit on itsbilt. Edwirds notes that the company could have built more solar generation, but didn't because - of the 1 megawatt limit per site. In addition, a company can only sell- back to Edison the amount of energy that it uses, which makes the size of the generation pla,.n;tGrucial to its economics. Some states ct~~~B~ - have this limitation, and there is a m.9-vement to have it changed in California. ,.-;E~oneira -has another orchard -in the S~<J~aquin Valley where it is building -~,pil.~r 1-:megawattsolar array, which also I ~q~alify for both state and federal p~o- grams. That site will feature a different kind of4~ap:~1~~rangement, and will power four :el~~tr~~,pumps for .irrigettion .:Plltposes, ~~\v~(,i]s$C:lYs. That San JQ~qaim Vale., farm An obserVe.tion'deckwa~~oU~abovethe' array to educate visitors to the farm on the subject of'soli:l:r po"V~ri ' grows nard orang~s-and speci,alty citrus varieties.\He . saysithatb.ased on current projectiOlls,the co:rnpany's 2-megawatts of generati6n, make it the largest - solar power producer in the state, th.?~gh that could change quickly as oth~J_ entities take r a(j:yaIltage of incentives. ":Palamountain says that the physical pla~ttare preuy,:standard,. with this technology being well-known. for decades. Limoneira's Santa Paula site has 6,400 solar panelsIIl()unted o~.fixed.platformswitllan a,<ljll~tmc:~t,tPilt~~R~vs.w.e_[,()p~r~!or _.~() ..'. rnanu~y;!'-~._ - ".-cp;le~.;"t9f!~'~t~~'-0l1~_' sttmm~r'$~tt' "t"lmproves' 'the u;gle to - : "'Free info! Circle # on card or go to ~.g'DwingmagBzin8.cDm/frBBin'D ~=-------'----'--- -." - -- .----. -.,- , ! ", 11~';" ':; . jthesun.The San Joaquin Valley site will also : 'feature...;6,400.,panels, but WIll be on an .ailtomatic trCicking system. The - Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA poly-silicon photovoltaic panels ar~ industri~-grade'and withstand I-inch hall and 120 mph winds, Palamountain says. Limoneiraput its.panels on the ground , 'rather than on the roof of its packinghouse because of the age of the roof. The panels are tied into the utility grid in a new building where two sOO-kilowatt inverters \ change it from DC to AC. It then goes to a i. transformer that will boost or reduce power I according to the facility's needs. What isn't I! used goes into the grid for a credit. "The expected life is 30 to 40 years," . I Palamountain says of the solar system (the I silicon is projected to degrade about .5 per- cent annually). Since payback through the incentive program is. much earlier than that, the company should have really cheap electricity for a long time. "With the ince~- tives and financial mechanisms out there, It makes sense to do it." Perpetual Power has a contract to maintain the Limoneira system for 10 years, Palamountain says. The inverters are "'ooi warranted for 10 years, and the transformer Continued on page C8 Solar Farms With its commitment to community interaction, Limoneira added an observa- tion room with'a deck above the solar array so that visitors could tour the installation. It has a restroom and a weather station, and the building has LEED Gold certification- reportedly, the only solar installation in the world with that standard for environmental construction. "The point is that as we begin to be known as a solar producer we will be able to distinguish ourselves in the marketplace;' Edwards says, nd ultimately there may be a way to garner premium prices for fruit packed in a solar facility. It isn't a stretch to foresee fruit labeling that notes a farm's "green)) credentials, especially for Limoneira's organic produce, he says. Continued from page A 12 is on the utility's side (though Limoneira had to pay for it). Maintenance of the panels consists of setting them to winter and sum- mer settings, as well as monitoring output and washing dust and grime off the panels three times a year. Native vegetation was planted close to the panels to reduce dust. Edwards notes that the company's mission statement is all about "stewardship of resource," and the company aims to achieve sustainability in all of its operations. As the nation's largest grower of avocados and North America's largest grower of lemons, the company wants to maintain a green image both for goodwill in the community and marketing leverage in the global marketplace. The 6,400 solar panelS tak,e up 55 acres alia are adjustable to winter and sumrr,er semngs Edwards notes that farms are a natural sit- uation for solar generation because they have the land and often have high-use electric needs. This investment does not pal' off as well if the farm has only low-use facilities. He notes that the San Joaquin Valley, with its hundreds of electric pumps and processing facilities, could turn out to be the most solar-intensive region of the world if the farmers there catch on to the incentive programs. Palamoun-tain has calculations to determine whether a facility could use solar to its advantage, and~canbeoon~~dilirou~ the company's \Veb site at www.p2solarsolutiolIs.coill. The final selling point Tor Edwards was the security aspect. In an era when there are period- ic electrical outages, it lowers a company's risk to have its own solar facility always producing power. He says that Santa Paula and this entire valley are a natu- ral for solar power, and he is working with n1unicipal officials to look at alternative energy resources that vwuld make the entire area energy independent. To check out the compa.rx's extensive operations, and its commitment to sustainabilit)', visit its 'Neb site at \\",\\\, limof1eira.co/11. For a look at some of the equipment used in constructing a solar arra:.-. go to www.mitsuLJisllidectric solar.com, which also offers a solar calculator to roughly deter- mine whether solar will work for specitlc situations. "I think we all need to be pd::- ing attention to this field," Edwards says. .. 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