Local News Bites

[KarenK 503]

1 hour ago, MsKreed said:

 

 and they promise to clean up when they decommission.         

       - This part right here is what no one in Erin believed thus it was put on hold so new local laws/ordinances could be put in place in the event they vamoosed and left everything.

last I heard, NYSEG wasn’t willing to run the necessary infrastructure here in Catlin, so the idea has been scrapped as far as I know.

     -  Which makes me chuckle because Hochal and Co. are pushing so hard for everything solar.  She has to make the utility companies get on board too.  Why should they really?

 

[MsKreed 1,571]

30 minutes ago, KarenK said:

last I heard, NYSEG wasn’t willing to run the necessary infrastructure here in Catlin, so the idea has been scrapped as far as I know.

     -  Which makes me chuckle because Hochal and Co. are pushing so hard for everything solar.  She has to make the utility companies get on board too.  Why should they really?

I kind of suspect that the math doesn’t work any better than the recycling boondoggle that was pushed a few decades ago....that wasn't worth the cost compared to "new" material. 

For small solar farms that produce a couple of megawatts each....the costs of building infrastructure and maintaining delivery lines to collect and resell relatively small quantities of solar power might not pan out over the 25 year life span of the farm.

[Pvt Snowball 44]

More research is needed 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 22]

5 hours ago, MsKreed said:

I kind of suspect that the math doesn’t work any better than the recycling boondoggle that was pushed a few decades ago....that wasn't worth the cost compared to "new" material. 

For small solar farms that produce a couple of megawatts each....the costs of building infrastructure and maintaining delivery lines to collect and resell relatively small quantities of solar power might not pan out over the 25 year life span of the farm.

The life span of a farm is 25 years? What kind of farm is that?

 

 

[MsKreed 1,571]

32 minutes ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

The life span of a farm is 25 years? What kind of farm is that?

The kind that BlueWave Solar proposed using NYS funding for in this area last year:

 

 

 

[KarenK 503]

49 minutes ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

The life span of a farm is 25 years? What kind of farm is that?

 

 

A Solar Farm.

[Adam 527]

12 hours ago, Ann said:

I would think long and hard about this.  There was a picture of the property on the local news this morning and it looked like farm land.  Can we afford to lose more farm land?

if its not being farmed, better to have SOME use for it....land will be reclaimed after the life-term of the deal anyways.

if the owners cannot make money farming, this is an option for them to do so

[Adam 527]

9 hours ago, MsKreed said:

She also bragged that it’s “community solar” that would make power available to local residents. But the closest she came to offering any specifics was that those who opted in could get some portion of their electric usage at some discounted rate.  She couldn’t say how much the discount might be, just that the 10% a previous company had claimed was an unreasonably high expectation.

if that's the case, they need to speak with another company, if memory serves, its close to, if not 10% for the company in Baldwin.

as to grazing; it is possible. there was a gentleman a few years ago wanted to build a barn/shelter for goats/sheep he planned on working with the solar company to graze his critters on the acreage. unfortunately, the lunacy remained "Baldwin strong" and various parties that shouldnt have, got involved, made it much more difficult than it should have, and the guy basically said screw it....there went a bit of tax revenue for the Town.

so if done right, and actually paid attention to, solar farms can be of benefit, even if its small, to communities in various ways.

 

[Adam 527]

8 hours ago, KarenK said:

and they promise to clean up when they decommission.       

generally true. an amount equaling the CURRENT decommission cost is paid to the municipality to hold onto to cover the cost down the road. for us, i suggested we find a compounding interest account, or some other vehicle to keep up with inflation so as to not get stuck covering the short fall 20+ years down the road...not sure if they ever did.

 

[MsKreed 1,571]

11 hours ago, Adam said:

if that's the case, they need to speak with another company, if memory serves, its close to, if not 10% for the company in Baldwin.

I'm curious if that's a verified amount based on savings that resident have realized, or what the company estimated during presentations beforehand? 

Members of our board did have another company that had given a sales pitch and used that 10% figure in the past.

This woman from the latest pitch was the "science representative" so would not quote any specific numbers on financial questions for her company.  But did note that whatever the discounted cost to consumers for electricity supply from the solar power.....NYSEG would still be billing at their normal rate for all the service and delivery charges.

That non-supply section of the bill is already significantly more that the electricity supply section. The service/delivery charges for our home are about 64% and electricity supply is just under 36% of the bill.  So a 10% saving on that 36% is 3.6% of the monthly bill. 

That's with our split meter that charges at different day/night rates for on/off peak usage. YMMV

 

 

 

Edited September 5 by MsKreed

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 22]

On 9/4/2024 at 9:25 PM, KarenK said:

A Solar Farm.

I get that. My point was that a farm with a 25 year life span is not much of a farm.

Solar panels last longer than 25 years, but with reduced productivity. So, perhaps the "farmers" need to look into a phased in replacement.

 

[Chris 3,211]

2 hours ago, Elizabeth Whitehouse said:

So, perhaps the "farmers" need to look into a phased in replacement.

That would make more sense, wouldn’t it?

The one thing I do agree with that aforementioned Farm Bureau representative about is this: We shouldn’t call these solar “farms.” I think that cheapens what actual farming is and entails.

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 22]

2 hours ago, Chris said:

That would make more sense, wouldn’t it?

The one thing I do agree with that aforementioned Farm Bureau representative about is this: We shouldn’t call these solar “farms.” I think that cheapens what actual farming is and entails.

Yes. We need both, it is not an either/or situation.

[Chris 3,211]

Boy am I glad I found a way to see his page despite Joe blocking me:

[KarenK 503]

Going to be the same uproar that those folks over off Gardner Road made about that new apartment complex.  To the best of my knowledge nothing they complained of ever happened and I know people who live there as well.

All you here from every town and village is "more affordable housing" and yet when they try to put some in, then this.

It was on the news Friday with actual real info involved.       Multi-unit housing buildings could be coming to Big Flats (mytwintiers.com)

[Chris 3,211]

It cracks me up how stuck in the 50’s his mentality is. In his brain, multi-unit housing means those “undesirables” or something.

As if a young family wouldn’t maybe decide to take up residence in an apartment while they save up for that house and white picket fence Joe seems to think should be the only thing allowed.

[Lawana Morse 94]

My opinion:

The emerging house hunting demographic is Gen Z. Millenials are pretty much established in the housing scene but they can be characterized by the following thoughts too. These generations are not really looking for that white picket fence, that ownership responsibility, the stay at a job for 30+ for the sake of loyalty and the retirement at the end where then they will travel and see the world. These generations are looking for someplace affordable to live in an area that calls to them on a different level. It isn't work/live/play as it was in my parents generation and mine to an extent. But it has become play/live/work. They are looking for areas where they can travel to and enjoy life now. They see the fleetingness of life and want to enjoy all there is to offer. They go to work to have money to spend on the fun. Yes, the needs but mainly they work for the weekend. If they find a location that they love to be at for the "play" then they might decide they want to live there and then find a job to go along with it. Rather than basing where they are going to live on the work they do, they base the work on where they decide to live based on loving to be there. 

With this in mind, affordable/market rate housing is what they are looking for as a "starter" home. These "kids" (anyone younger than me is a kid. I've gotten old lately) are also carrying with them some crazy college debt. My generation (I JUST make the Gen X generation category and I'm very happy for that) was one that was greatly pushed into college. That was the only way to go and you were throwing your life away if you didn't go (words spoken to me when I chose not to go to college after highschool but instead got married at 19 and started my family). The millenials to follow me and early into the Gen Z generations greatly continued that trend (thankfully the country is waking up to the great need of skilled trade workers).

The credit worthiness and generational ties to the community that my fellow legislator aspires to have as a benchmark for how we do housing, simply does not speak to those entering the housing market search. They just want someplace they can lay their head that isn't going to cost them the opportunity to travel. They might not be able (nor want) to go to the bank and get that 30 year mortgage because they have the student loans coming along with them. 30 years ago....wait....that was 1994.....50 years ago, a 30 year mortgage was as much as these kids are carrying with them from college. They also are not looking for housing in the community they grew up in. The generational ties are not a driving force for them. I speak from the standpoint of having 2 children head off to college (they had very specific career goals that aligned with getting a college degree) and while I would love to think maybe my eldest will come back in the next couple years, she and her fiancee are looking at locations all over the country. They are looking for the place they WANT to live based on what it has to offer and then going to find the job. The ties of coming back home are not as strong as they use to be. Travel is easy. Keeping in touch with family is easy. There's no reason to simply come back to the ties because of nostalgia. 

We as a community have to rethink our approach. We have to build a community that draws people in and gives young adults and families things to DO. Once they find the area attractive, they then have to be able to find those affordable housing areas and fullfilling jobs. If we want our kids to stay/come back, we have to give them a solid reason. 

Building these affordable housing complexes is not a bad thing. (There are always going to be residents that don't want "X Y or Z in my back yard" no matter what is proposed.)  Affordable housing does not mean crime ridden tenants or scum landlords. It can mean quality community members who are wanting to contribute to the area by being productive laborers and volunteers and board members and promoters. Its all about how WE present the community. If we provide the quality community to live in, we will attract the quality relocating neighbors. 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 22]

Quite irrelevant but very funny, a comment from some time in 2016:

Look on the bright side of life. If either one (Trump or Hillary) should become President it will mark the first time an oligarch moves into public housing vacated by a black family

[Chris 3,211]

Okay, that’s funny!! 😆 

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 22]

Glad you liked it.

[Chris 3,211]

As some of you may know, The Sauce Boss has moved into the former Jean's Beans building on College Ave. And they've decided to give it a classic and classy look:

[Zapp Brannigan 223]

3 minutes ago, Chris said:

As some of you may know, The Sauce Boss has moved into the former Jean's Beans building on College Ave. And they've decided to give it a classic and classy look:

Hopefully it works out for him this time around. His 5.00 spaghetti and meatball special was pretty good and i really liked his garlic bread with cheese. 

[Chris 3,211]

On 9/10/2024 at 10:41 PM, Lawana Morse said:

Post

That entire post is a good perspective and something I hadn't thought of. Perhaps your fellow legislator would do well to pull his head out of the 1950's and listen to someone elses's perspective for a change.

[Elizabeth Whitehouse 22]

 What do you suggest?

[Chris 3,211]

About what?