City Commission Meeting Summary - April 16, 2008
The City Commission met in regular target issues workshop session and took the following action:
Item 1 - Voted 4-1 (Commissioner Katz abstained) to approve staff comments on the conceptual design for a Florida State University (FSU) biomass plant (the BG&E Biomass Plant) to be incorporated into the FSU 2007 Master Plan Update, and forward the comments to FSU (Option 1 as recommended by Planning)
Commissioner Lightsey suggested that the City Attorney make sure that regulatory restrictions would not allow heavy trucks to access this project through residential neighborhoods.
Item 2 - Received a staff presentation on the carbon footprint update/greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for Tallahassee and the surrounding area, providing a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide (brought forward by Environmental Policy and Energy Resources [EPER])
Suggested that it was important the community understood its contribution to this issue
Item 2.1 - Received a staff presentation on the start-up phase of the City Utilities Smart Metering Project, indicating that a phased approach was being taken to the installations of smart meters that would provide up-to-date consumption and pricing information tools such as Smart Thermostats and on-line energy audits to facilitate energy and water conservation (brought forward by Utility Business & Customer Services [UBCS])
Commissioner Lightsey requested a briefing paper on how citizens handled the purchase and installation of solar power strips on their homes and businesses, and what incentives were available for that purpose.
Item 3 - Received a staff update on the revised preferred Electric Resource Plan (ERP) for the period 2008-2017, consisting of the repowering of Hopkins Unit 2, an aggressive Demand Side Management (DSM) portfolio, green energy purchase agreements with BG&E and Renewable Fuels Tallahassee (RFT), and two new 50 MW gas turbines, one to be placed in service by the summer of 2016, and the second to be in service by the summer of 2017 (brought forward by Electric Utility)
Briefly discussed bringing this issue back with a more comprehensive discussion on capacity needs and options; suggested that consideration be given to developing a strategy aimed at overriding some of the voluntary DSM choices so that portions of the DSM Program could be counted as a supply resource by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC); confirmed the intent to schedule additional in-depth discussions of these issues; and requested another presentation in the fall explaining the issues associated with transmission capacity for import and export of power
Item 4 - Received a staff report on the status of the Gaines Street Corridor Implementation Plan and transfer of facilities from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and a visual recap of the Rick Hall Plan for Gaines Street (presented by Public Works)
Voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution No. 08-R-22 (revised), and authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with FDOT transferring the following roadway segments to the City:
- SR 371 (Gaines Street) from SR 157 (Woodward Avenue) to US 27/SR 61 (Monroe Street)
- SR 366 (St. Augustine Road/W Madison Street) from Railroad Avenue to US 27/SR 61 (Monroe Street)
- SR 366 (W. Pensacola Street/Stadium Drive/W. St. Augustine Street) from Chieftain Way/Champions Way to Railroad Avenue
- SR 371/157 (Lake Bradford Road/Woodward Avenue) from Stadium Drive to Park Avenue
- SR 366 (E. Jefferson Street/ W. Pensacola Street) from SR 61/63 (S. Monroe Street) to W. Jefferson Street/Stadium Drive
Discussed the importance of focusing on completing the Stadium Drive intersection before discussing the re-striping of the Gaines Street lanes; suggested that maximum effort should focus on obtaining right-of-ways to relocate and bury the power lines on an earlier timeline; suggested that the Commission should be prepared to make a decision on the FAMU Way route when staff brought that to the Commission within 90 days and that, in the meantime, some landscaping of Gaines Street be started so that the Commission could see something visually
Item 5 - Received a staff update on the Taylor Energy Center (TEC) assignment, and voted 4-1 (Commissioner Katz opposed) to approve an extension of the end date for the TEC assignment to Southern Power Company to July 15, 2008 (Option 1 as recommended by Electric Utility)
CTC:RM:ecg:04-21-08