Town Board Workshop

lands and I think the presentation is by Montante Solar. Did I did I say that correctly? Montante. Okay. Well, come on up. Hello members of the town board. Um my name is uh Katie SOA. I'm the director of project development representing Monte Solar and my colleague uh Marcus Lathrop represents Xerox Corporation and together we're here as the applicant proposing a 6.63 megawatt solar project to be constructed on Xerox's campus in the town of Webster. We're here today to educate the town board and the community about this project and respectfully request a referral to the town planning board for a sketch plan uh review. I'd like to start by introducing the project basics. Um I'm not sure, sorry. Oh, perfect. Site plan's already up. Um I'd like to start by introducing the project basics. Um this is a 6.63 megawatt solar generation facility across 20 acres of the Xerox campus near the dead end of a Caracus Drive. RG& has already reviewed and approve approved the project. The

project has been strategically located to be cited on an area of Xerox campus where there are two closed landfills, leaving the area with limited redevelopment opportunities. Xerox has deemed solar as the highest and best use for this land. Because of this, the project will be constructed utilizing an above ground ballasted racking system so as not to disturb the ground, particularly those two closed landfills. The system is geob ballasted utilizing rock to weigh down the ballasts allowing for zero penetrations to the actual ground. Sitting up top that racking will be uh just under 11,000 solar panels and the solar panels will be strung together with 18 inverters. The project will be surrounded with an 8ft tall fence in compliance with NEC uh NEC code. This project is in full compliance uh with the town of Webster's zoning code encompassing 20 acres of the larger 120 acre parcel within the uh 20% ground cover ratio allowance. Besides Xerox, TESS zoned industrial is the only direct neighbor to the project. The next neighboring parcels are over 250 ft from the closest edge of the uh closest solar panel. There are no residential sight lines into the project

and the project has uh natural forested vegetation surrounding it that we will keep in place um to protect the screening. Um we already did reach out to the Army Corps of Engineers. Um they confirmed that there are no jurisdictional wetlands on site and we're clear to move forward with the project. Um, Monte will be adding um, three monarch planting stations throughout the array um, to benefit the monarch butterfly mainly compi comprised of milkweed. And New York State DEEC is also already aware of this project and has been in discussions with uh, Monte and the Xerox team from a landfill monitoring perspective. There are some uh, benefits not only to Xerox but to the larger community. So, the project will directly benefit Xerox Corporation, the town of Webster, and those in the greater Rochester area through an inclusive community solar project. Xerox Corporation will be hosting the solar array at its campus and utilizing 60% of the power generated by the solar project. The project will also allocate 40% of the energy to go to eligible subscribers through the community solar program. Those uh eligible subscribers are low to median income or those in a disadvantaged community as identified by NAERTA.

In addition to providing Xerox in the community with reliable, safe, renewable power at a reduced rate, the project will also help Xerox Corporation meet environmental, social, governance goals. At this time, I'd like to pass the mic to my colleague Marcus to talk through uh the project from Xerox's perspective. Thank you. Thank Thank you, Katie. Um, so my name is Marcus Leup. I'm the manager of the assessment, environmental operations for Xerox Corporation. Um, a part of our environmental health, safety, and sustainability, uh, department at Xerox. Um, and so I'm here just to kind of explain why this project is important to us. So, as Xerox Xerox evolves beyond its legacy in print technology to become a broader provider of software and services, we remain deeply committed to our legacy of corporate social responsibility. As part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, we recognize the importance of addressing climate change. Um, this is not only a moral imperative, but also a strategic business decision. Our efforts span the entire value chain focusing on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing circular economy practices, and collaborating with our stakeholders. Um, if you're if you're not aware of it, we have a road map to net zero on our website. You can find our comprehensive plan. Um, I have some some copies here as well if anyone would

like that. Um it outlines our our structured multi-phaseed approach focused on emissions reduction uh innovation and collaboration. Our goal is to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. And so our our approach has four different pillars, energy efficiency and process improvements, circular economy and lowcarbon design of our products as well as carbon compensation and neutralization. Um so this this project here touches on that third item, carbon compensation and neutralization. Um the benefits, the key ones that we see from this project are, you know, zerocarbon electricity generation. It's going to produce clean renewable energy. Um it's also a support um for our state initiatives. The power generated will feed directly into the grid supporting the goals outlined in the 2019 New York State Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Um as a community solar project, this initiative will allow the community to sub subscribe and benefit from the project. uh promoting local involvement and access to renewable energy and then optimal land use. As Katie mentioned, the location is on top of several landfills. Um so this is the most beneficial use of that part of our property moving forward. Um so in conclusion, um you know, we invite the community to join to this endeavor to

create a sustainable future. Um by participating in this community solar project, uh you can contribute to reducing carbon emissions and support statewide climate initiatives. So thank you for your time. Thanks, Marcus. Um, more. Yeah, I'm just I'm here to answer any questions uh that the board has. So, one question I had was and I've had this question. I have a friend that works in this in this industry is and I asked the person this question approximately two weeks ago. Um, what is a disposable disposal process um at the end of life of the panels? Because according to the person I spoke to, that's not cut in stone. And I know that the materials in these panels are extremely hazardous. So, um the some panels um do have chemicals in it that are hazardous. However, the panels that we're using for this project were reviewed and approved by um DEEC and so they are listed on the NAERTA website as a panel that's safe to to use in New York State. So, not uh some panels are are are definitely um more hazardous than others. these panels are are viewed as very safe. Um, in terms of the decommissioning process, there is a decommissioning plan. Town of

Webster does have one, but um, we actually are already uh, working with Xerox on a more robust decommissioning plan um, just as like making sure their campus, you know, goes back to the way it was um, at the end of its useful life. Yeah. I'm not I'm not questioning the decommissioning as far as okay, let's take the panels down, we're done. It's been 20 20 years, we're fine. My question is disposing of the panels themselves. You just you can't just put those in the landfill. You can put them in the landfill. Is my understanding anyways. You can put them in the landfill in New York State. Again, the panels that we're using specifically, you can. However, there are a lot of recycling facilities out there and that's what we plan to do with this project. They'll be part of our decommissioning plan um that we'll submit to the town board. Okay. Yep. Before this goes forward, you will submit that decommissioning plan to the town for review. We'd like to move forward with the sketch plan because that's um just kind of going through the site plan, but we can make that part of our actual formal uh application to the planning board if you like. Um in addition to the town board. Thank you. Yes, absolutely. I have a question about the neighbors because you mentioned Tessy was a neighbor. Yes. And there were also a couple other neighbors. Do you have the owners or do you have

which neighborhood this backs up to? Um it it's hard to see from the pictures. Yeah, if you're able to pull up a map um on the screen, I'll be happy to identify. So um again, this is a 20 acre parcel of a larger 120 acre parcel. So the neighbors um I guess to the east, west, and south are either Xerox on the east and west south. Tassy to the north. Um, just a moment. Bear with me. No, that's okay. So, yeah. Okay. So, um yeah, to the um to kind of the uh northeast there, um that's the closest residential property line. There's a pretty large amount of uh established trees in between. um those are all going to remain intact. Okay. Um and then also to the northwest kind of same thing. There's that residential neighborhood kind of up

there that's even further from 250 ft. But again, there's a lot of mature vegetation that's going to stay in place to protect the views. So, will you have sight lines as part of the the application to the planning board? We can. Yep. That would be um that would be helpful. Sure. No problem. I have a question, but it's more I think for Josh Artuso. Um, I take it our code. Uh, the reason why this is number six resolution tonight at the 7:30 board member to board meeting to refer it on to the planning board is our code has that as the start of the process. Is that correct? Yes. for a energy related project in the industrial district. That is the order. Okay. And then as it goes to the planning board, then they figure out if there's any variances and if it's got to go to zoning board and they do all their stuff, sketch, prelim, final, all that stuff that Jennifer, you know very well about because you were on the planning board. And then it will it'll come back here at the end. That's correct. For a industrial use permit and a special use permit. Okay. And this parcel is all in the town

of Webster. It's not in the village. It's just solely here. Right. That is correct. That's all I got. So I I just have one one more question because I know you had mentioned that the town of Webster and Xerox will will benefit directly. You may have said how the town is going to benefit directly, but could you just reiterate for me? Sure. So, um, we are going to be entering into a a pilot, um, through Monroe County and then we've also agreed to enter into an HCA with, um, Town of Webster as well. Um, in addition, um, if the town is interested in being a subscriber to the community's solar portion of the array and get a 10% discount on that power, they're obviously more than welcome to do that as well. So, you're entering into a Could you elaborate on the pilot you're entering into with uh, Monro County? Monroe County has an established pilot program for renewable energy projects. Um it's available on the Monroe County IDA website. Um so that's the um process that we're going to be utilizing um to move forward with a project or with a pilot there. So how does that benefit your company? How does that benefit my company? Uh a pilot is uh payment in lie of taxes. So um that's just the tax the method of paying taxes on the tax incentive. Correct.

I'm sorry. You're you're getting tax tax breaks on this project, correct? Yep. Through a pilot. Um I asked Josh a question. Donna, we've done a lot on this because this I think is our first solar project in town ever. Really? It's It would be the largest. Oh, well, it's the first one since I've been supervisor. So, I know that we did stuff with the school district and you and the assessor's office and the county because we were trying to figure out that host community agreement. It's kind of what we opted for. Correct. Yeah. Solar, whatever they're getting on tax breaks, we get the host community agreement, we get our taxes. I put you on the spot, Donna. I apologize. I know you helped us with this a couple of months ago. You went to the county assessor. We went and looked. We had attorneys and this and that. I apologize. That's okay. We'll move on. This is the IDA is the part that's going to fine. We'll talk later. It's all good. Anybody else have any other questions? I do not. Could you elaborate on which pilot program it is? I think to Councilman Cahill's question, the benefit to the town, will this result in any increase in jobs within the town as a result of

agreement with Monroe County? Um, so the Monroe County IDA pilot program, I I apologize. I don't have a copy of it uh in front of me or anything, but I'm um happy to uh email it to the town after this meeting. Um, it is called the um renewable energy uh pilot that was established, I believe, in 2021, but don't don't quote me on the year. Yeah. And this this this isn't Kamita. I can't imagine the 20 acres like unless you consider those panels to be employees. Oh yeah, sorry. I don't think it's going to create any employees, but there's going to be construction people. Construction people. Yeah. So, yeah. To just to to the question that Tom had for Donna, you you will be signing up, you will be paying town taxes as part of this or no? uh through so the actual land uh will continue to pay the normal amount of taxes. Land's not being affected by this at all. The asset so the improvement on the land will be pursuing the pilot. Part of the pilot to my understanding is that it'll be divided in three ways. I don't know the percentage allocation, but it is the county, the town, and the school district that would get a percentage. And the HCA is a host community. Yes.

And I didn't mean to put you on it, but the HCA and I remember so in addition to the pilot, we would be also willing to work with Town of Webster to in addition to the pilot doing a host community agreement. My understanding of the host community agreement, which has been in place for several years, um was that it it you're agreeing to make the town whole on whatever taxes you would owe the town. Yeah. I and and we're getting and I once again, Don, I apologize. We Brian Freeman from the school district, you me a couple months ago, I don't know if you were involved, but when we knew this was making its way, there was a bunch of elections, if you want to call it, resolutions done by the school board, by us back in the 1718 range and it had to do when solar comes our way, how we get our money. I can answer that. do you want to please take the uh podium and answer that question so we can we can tie this up? And honestly, I just want to make sure that this is all out there because where I think this is a housekeeping item tonight at 6 7:30 when we refer it on to the planning board, I'd rather have any questions that the town board members have or concerns answered on this as far

as town taxes. So, go ahead, Don. So, I wasn't prepared for the question. And I don't have a timeline, but um back when the real property tax law 487 46 487 um came into effect, municipalities and that would be every level of taxing jurisdiction was allowed to either allow the exemption to go forward as as a mandate or had the option to opt out. Town of Webster opted out. So any project that comes through, for example, the project on State Road that is a community solar but of a much smaller scale, um they are paying town taxes. So what I'm a little bit uh uh behind the eightball on. I would love to hear what the pilot is going to do and how the IDA is involved and what that would do to our wholly taxable status. Sure. The county did um allow the exemption to go through. So the county would be fully exempt. Mhm. And it in that case where you the exemption was approved to go forward, you could enter into a pilot and I don't know if it's that pilot or a separate pilot um that they would pay some portion instead based on the size of the project. So I need to understand more

about okay because we don't need to understand it tonight cuz it's going to make its way back over to the town board in 2 or 3 months after all that stuff. I will get with Kyle as the attorney. Yeah, I will get with you as assessor. I will get with Paul Adams and we will dust off which is only a few months ago to show that our opting out of that exemption which we I might even have you pull the uh the uh resolution from the teens. I think we already did but I have the resolution so you are going to get the HCA because we opted out. We didn't just blindly go along with these. So yeah, I know one pilot would not apply. If she's mentioning a second kind of pilot, then it may apply and we'll put our notes together. Perfect. Thank you. And Donna, I don't know if you leave the podium because we are ready for the next presentation. I have one other one question for this applicant. Sure. Because you mentioned the other 40%. So Xerox was going to utilize 60% of the power generated from this solar array and 40% would go to eligible subscribers. Yeah. would the town actually be considered an eligible subscriber because it's for low to medium income or disadvantaged people in the greater I

don't know Webster or Monroe County community. It's also those um supporting the LMI or disadvantaged community. So there are members I'm sure within town of Webster that are LMI community members and so as a governance supporting those you would be eligible to potentially be an offtaker as well if that was of interest. Okay, good to know. good to well I guess need to do a little homework on that but that would be good. Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you so much. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Especially since I'm trying to say. And so now our second uh presentation tonight uh is by Robert Kazerak. I hope I said that right. Robert and uh actually this is where Donna Kar as our assessor might join in. I'll see. uh presentation from Robert from KW Municipal on the townwide revaluation. So, Robert, take over. Well, I just wanted to take a moment to to introduce um the fact that we're having a townwide reevaluation. If you've received your town Webster um the Webster today, excuse me, Supervisor Flity rebranded it. If you've received the July edition of the Webster today, from the fold on back, you're going to see a lot of information about the project that is coming up. It was contracted in December of 2024

and um we have hired the KW Municipal Inc. group and Robert Kazaric is here today to answer questions for the board and give you a brief discussion and presentation about the project um coming up. Thank you, Donna. Um first um good evening. Thank you for having me here. Um, and most of all, thank you for trusting us to partner with with Donna and the entire town on this um, important project that we're we're beginning to undertake. Just a brief introduction. Um, as you know, my name is Robert Kazaric. I've been an appraiser for um, longer than I care to disclose. Um, but we're KW Municipal is part of a larger organization, KW Appraisal Group. We're a full-ervice real estate appraisal and consulting firm headquartered in Buffalo, New York. We have a um department that does commercial industrial uh only valuations. Uh a residential department and then of course the municipal inc department where we consult with municipalities and assessors throughout New York State on assessment issues whether it's a full-blown reassessment project or we also do like portions. We

might do a portion of a project or just contract out services to do data collection or or things like that. We started the company in or the municipal company in 2004 um to for us to focus on the assessment community and helping assessors. Um I became I involved in in some of this and uh on a computer computer side database um issues and saw a need for additional firms to work with me with with assessors throughout New York State. So we started started this project. We've done numerous projects since um and I'm looking forward to working in this project. Uh, a couple of these slides here, in fact, most of them are from a presentation that we're going to be doing next Tuesday for the community workshop meeting. Um, but I just wanted to give you a little teaser on what's going to what it's going to be about. And um, some of the important points on on the assessment or on a revaluation project. Most important to understand for property owners is that reassessments do not raise taxes. It's a redistribution of taxes based on on new assessed values.

In doing a re revaluation or reassessment, we look at all the information, look at the information that's that's available on every property in the town. We look at market data and we come up with with values based on current updated market data to come up with new assessed values on on properties. The reason why it's important to do reassessments or or can do reassessments on a regular basis is real estate markets are very dynamic. They change constantly. Um that's why Fanny May in in their underwriting guidelines will not allow an appraisal over over um one year old. They also do not wish to have comparables over 6 months because they understand that the real estate markets can change. They can appreciate or depreciate very quickly depending on market conditions and market reactions from the participants. What happens over time is different areas or different part types of properties may appreciate or depreciate at different rates than other properties. And when you don't do a reassessment and keep up with those values, then properties end up getting um not equitably assessed because certain neighborhoods or school districts may appreciate high faster

than others. And when their assessments stay in the state and don't change to reflect that, people end up paying too much in taxes or too little in taxes. So doing a reassessment levels the playing field and brings everybody back to where they should be paying their fair share. So, the revaluation process, a lot of it um goes on be, if you will, behind the scenes where we're looking at market data, what's what's happening. Donna and her staff are constantly reviewing sales that are are coming through um from the county, entering them into the into their database, updating the information um to make sure that what they have is accurate um or what's on file is accurate. We our team stays current on market trends. We do market studies. Um like I said, you know, from residential properties to commercial properties. We're working all over the state um all year long and keep up on on all those trends. It's important to remember that the information that we're looking at and the and the assessments that we are going to be developing are all based on actual data from market participants. what a willing buyer and a willing seller are want to buy a house for.

The process of a revaluation is is really three-fold. There's the data analysis, the valuation production, and then the public interaction. When we do the data analysis, what that means is we're looking at each property um to make sure that the again the information that we have on file is current, is up to date. um when we get into evaluation production now we're looking at sales to see how those sales apply to each property in the in the town and how that affects the assessed value of the of those properties. Probably the most important phase of a reassessment project is the public interaction. So that happens at the very end. Um well actually it happens at the very beginning through the process and at the end we have it as phase three and that's really where our once we have our assess our new assessed numbers developed and finalized then we do an assessment disclosure and then we have we hold what we call informal meetings where property owners can schedule appointments sit down with myself or anybody in my team to ask questions to understand how we came up with that new assessed value on that property. Donna put together a a 30-month timeline

here for um for this project. And probably the most important project part of a project is the public interaction and the public education. So for this project, we've already started the public education. Donna has um and the supervisor have had you've had one, four, five, five, one, two, three, four, five. Okay. Five. Five community office hours um meetings where property owners could come in and and ask questions to them. Next Tuesday, we'll be holding um a community meeting uh with some questions and answers for the public to come and have the full presentation to to understand what the reassessment process is, what to expect, timeline, and things like that. starting in in January of next year pro we we'll start doing more more of our field work more of our data um analysis um getting involved in looking at all the properties throughout the throughout the town which then will cut will the res the result of what we do will affect the tax bills um for

January of 20 January of 27 is that correct and um June of 28 for the village taxes. We've laid out a public education um timeline. Uh as I stated there were there were community office hour meetings. Um this evening's presentation, next week's uh community meeting. Uh Bridgen is going to be launching a new re re-evaluation website where we'll put up um frequently asked questions and we'll also we'll continually post the process and where we are in the pro in the project so the community understands that. And then in September, uh, an exemption workshop is scheduled for, um, the assessor to meet with homeowners so they can understand what exemptions are available for them. Throughout the entire project, we will be holding um, community meetings like the one next week to let the public know where we are in the in the in the phase of the projects. Um, we'd also like to make presentations to the town board if we could at that same time and keep you guys apprised of our progress and where we are in the in the whole reassessment

process. We do have a a more of a detailed project timeline which I um which is which is on this slide, but it's also available on the website in PDF format. Correct. Uh, it will be it will be. Yeah. Okay. So, with that, um, I'd like to answer any of your questions. I don't have a question, but I have a comment. Um, I think this is a very important pro process and I'm the liaison to assess assessing of the assessment office and I'm very happy to be part of this this team. one of the things as far as community engagement because as Robert said that is very important. So, in in addition to the community sessions and the website that's going to be going up, the supervisor and I have been doing some door knocking and actually going doortodoor. And this is one of the things that we're talking about because the engagement of the community is so important as part of this process. and being able to have some of those one-on-one conversations to alleviate

the concerns is is and will continue to be part of this process as we go through over the next I guess two years. Two years. Yeah. to your point, communication is paramount in this process and I think we've seen the reaction of other towns around us um who believe they were communicating and that's why I was very happy to see the Webster today that arrived I think it was yesterday or the day before um had dedicated I believe at least two pages to the rebale process. Seven. Seven. Seven. Okay. Yeah. So that's going to help a great deal. But anything that we can do outside of, you know, Webster today or these community meetings, I don't know, radio ads, um, to get as many people involved and have them be made aware of what is coming, um, I think is is going to help the overall process and the end delivery of the end product. Um, it's going to help a great deal. That's just my opinion though. Yeah. Jenny, anything on this? Well, I know that the country the state

we have to keep up, you know, with all the assessment with other states too and everything. So, this is a requirement that, you know, put forth that we have to do. So, and also as a real estate agent, I understand the market of, you know, properties and everything. Um, they just have to people are uh encouraged. People just have to learn and if you have questions, please ask. That's what we here for. Patty, no. I I would echo what Councilman Wyn said. I I urge the public to take advantage of all of the public sessions and the opportunity for education about this process. Yeah. Yeah. And I I would just say that uh if if anything, if people have gotten to know me over the last 5 and a half years as supervisor, uh one, I'm a stubborn old Irishman, and two, I love my numbers. And I think it's very impressive that Donna Kar's office has kept records uh really well the last 20 years. We thought that when we went out to companies to help us with this revaluation, it was going to cost a million dollars, a million two. We actually were able to pay about $400,000

to KW and we were able to use ARPA money for this. And we were very surprised when that bid came in and and as far as we I said, how can that be? And this isn't really going and uh creating data from from scratch. Donna and her department and Donna is very her reputation with the state assessment uh people and all that uh put us in a position where we were able to do this revaluation after not doing it for 20 years for a price that we were all pleasantly surprised at. Um so that's my numbers thing. As far as the stubborn Irishmen, uh all the other town supervisors that I go to monthly meetings with said, "Flurry, let me just tell you something. you're going to do a reevaluation. They'd mock me cuz we haven't done it in 20 years. We're the longest by far of any town in Monroe County. And there's reasons for that and I won't get into them now. Thank you. And they said, "You are kidding yourself if you think you can get in front of this and uh assuage anxiety because it's going to happen and people are going to storm and they're going to be on Berkeley Breen on the news." Berkeley, I just gave you a call out. my assessment doubled and people freak out because they immediately assume if your assessment doubles then your taxes

double which is not the case at all and I said no I think I've been in business and communications for 40 years if we really put our best foot forward on this and it's a grassroots thing and as Jennifer said we've gone door to door I've gone to 200 doors now in the first uh six weeks of this I plan before I'm done as supervisor going to thousand doors and I have the the the uh the the postcard that we use and I said listen you know I'm here I'm the supervisor and I just you know you have any questions on the do you know about our revaluation and if anybody plays poker and poker faces people's faces and all this anxiety and I said see that's what I don't want for this community I don't want a 2 and 1/2 year anxietyridden thing where they're festering the thoughts that the worst thing is going to happened. So I go over with them the postcard of how it works. And usually within about 3 minutes they're like, "Oh, I didn't know that." And it's like, "Okay, one victory at a time." And Donna's department, we know we got to do that grassroots. Jennifer, I want to thank you for going door todo on this, too. The more we can grassroots

this thing, and I can't stress this enough, we started this in January of 25. This revaluation doesn't start till January of 26. Most people when they start to, as John said, communicate it, which I don't think they do communicate it, they start communicating it when the revaluation starts in January of 26 through the completion in July of 27. We said, "No, no, no. We're we are going to get ahead of this. We are going to start talking to our community in 25, a year ahead of it." Some people say that's leading into a fight with your face. Well, then fine. I'll lead into that fight with my face because I've found that most of the people are very appreciative that we are reaching out and showing him that and allevi alleviating those concerns. And I just hope over the next 5 and 1/2 months until I'm put out to pastor that I can continue to be uh helping with that cause to be uh out in front of that and talk to people face to face. and I'll get off my soap box. Thank you, Bob. I'd like to I'd like to say that um you're 100% correct. Getting people understanding, being transparent ma makes the project go so much better. When people understand what the process

is and how what the what the effect is, people, like you said, people think my assessment goes up, my taxes are going up. That's not the case. people assessments in a lot of projects we worked in their assessments went up significantly and their tax liability actually went down. Yeah. So, you've also seen other communities and and I've noticed this throughout the years because I've I've kind of paid attention to it where you'll do a revail and the property value will go up. All right? Your tax bill, your tax rate will go down, but you're still paying significantly more than you were the preceding year. So that's why you have to take a look at what you paid in taxes the previous year and compare it to what your new tax rate is. Right. And and that I'm sorry. And that goes to like I said where where when different properties are appreciate at different rates. Um that property then you know some pe what ends up happening is some people might be overpaying on their taxes, some people are underpaying, right? So when when when a situation like that happens, that person in the value of that property was not properly affected in the in the previous assessed value. So they weren't they were not paying their fair share.

Um another challenge. Yeah, it is. And Bob, thank you. I got to keep on schedule here. Uh we have pretty I pretty important things tonight to go over in the third workshop presentation tonight is a construction update from Bob Whmer of Navatas on how our sanitary uh sewer plant or should I call it a water treatment recovery facility Rick Canali right uh where we're at in that project and some other things. So I'm going to hand the baton off to Bob Whmer Art Patron and Rick Canali. Have at it, gentlemen. [Music] All right. Okay. Thank you. I'm Bob Whmer with Navdus, uh the project director uh for the uh wastewater uh treatment plant upgrade, and we just wanted to provide uh progress in what's been going on out there. Uh certainly a lot of activity. Um so just to set some

of the project history, uh the first uh study on this project was in July of 21. Uh so it's been going on for a fair bit. Uh the design of the the facility upgrade uh was then in March of uh 22. Uh and then uh the first discussions with Fairlife uh began in November of uh of 22 also. So, um the start of construction was June of 23. Uh so we're going on right now about uh month 25 of construction out there. Uh and uh the anticipated completion of construction is uh July 9th of uh 2026. Uh so about a uh little less than a year from now. And uh one of the the parts of this project has been uh to prepare the facility to accept the wastewater flows that are coming from the new Fairlife facility. Uh and the town uh and NAV is committed to uh getting certain components of the project up and running by August 30th of 2025. Uh so uh coming up uh in about uh about a month and a half uh to get these components ready for the facility. So going to be uh just a bunch of pictures of what's going on out there. Um, so this is the site uh when it uh

originally uh we got out there. This is from uh 2023. Uh so this is an aerial uh flight. You can see over to the left there uh what looks like a UFO. Uh that's a a 50-year-old piece of equipment that had formerly served the village. Um and you'll see out here on the wastewater plant, uh take note to the far left. Uh there's a a lot of green grass out there. Uh and since that time there's been a tremendous amount of work uh that's been done out in the facility. So this is where we were uh at the start of uh project construction. So here this is a uh a flight over the site. Um so coming in and uh you'll see the wastewater plant start to appear here. Uh on the far left, this is the new anorobic digtor. Uh so this is a key component of the facility uh that is up and running right now. Uh and as we come in, uh you'll see one that there's not a lot of grass left. There's been a lot of construction that's happened out there. And two, uh up on the far left is uh this is stop right here. This is the new aation basin. So this is a significant component of the construction to prepare for fair life. Uh so all of this uh has

been constructed and is uh going to be put in service uh actually uh on Monday. And then continue on uh the flight and go to our next slide. This is coming at the this facility from the other direction. You can see this uh fac this is the uh new aeration basin uh that's been constructed and and dug into the hill here. And up on the right is uh the new drier and dewatering facility. Uh so this takes care of the bioolids, the solids component uh of the facility. So lots of activity going on on the site. Um lots of uh new components uh to bring this facility uh up to the modern world. Uh most of the equipment here was 30 to 40 years old. Uh, so there's a lot of old equipment uh that needed to be uh replaced and put into service uh to allow Art Rick and his team uh the ability to uh effectively treat the wastewater. Uh, and up here on the right you can see um the uh new anorobic digtor. Uh and this shows a really good sense of the perspective um of these tanks. So these are the three existing tanks uh that the town has used in the past. And you can see that this tank is about uh 100 100% larger uh than these

three tanks combined. So we about doubled the capacity and the ability to treat waste water at the facility. So uh over the course of the two years there have been a number of new systems that are already in service and online. Um new laboratory uh is in service. Uh so allowing the the plant staff uh to conduct all the analysis that's necessary for treatment of the wastewater and making sure they're in compliance with all of their regulations and permits. Um the grit and screenings facility. So this is the first step in the wastewater treatment plant. So this is where all the large trash uh rocks, debris, gravel, other components of the system are are removed. Flushable wipes. Flushable wipes which are not flushable. I'll take my chance right now to do a PSA. Please do not flush flushable wipes. Um so uh these materials are removed. Um so uh all this equipment is uh in operation. Um also the uh primary clarifiers which is the first uh physical chemical step of removal of waste from the process. So this is a settling step. Uh so these clarifiers are in system along with a new set of sludge pumps. They're down here on the on the lower left. And one uh very important component of the the

facility upgrade uh on the bottom right is uh the uh installation of all new electrical equipment at the system. Uh so the uh existing electrical equipment prior to this upgrade um you could no longer buy spare parts for you could no longer do repairs to it. Uh the equipment was just that old and also in many cases it was a safety hazard. Uh it was no longer up to the electrical code. Uh so anytime the staff had to work on it uh it was a a danger to the staff. So all of the new electrical equipment has has brought the facility uh up to code. Uh the gravity thickeners are part of the solids process. So these are uh these two large circular tanks that that help to thicken uh material and remove water from the process. Uh so these have been uh placed into service uh and are uh working in as part of the the solids process. And then uh the newest system to come online uh just in the in the last month and a half or so is the new uh primary anorobic digtor. Uh so this takes uh the solid component uh that's left over after the treatment of the waste water and it converts it into uh methane or uh digtor gas. Uh so it's methane and then it breaks down the solid material so

that there is less material that has to be disposed of uh in the process. So it's a way of taking advantage of the biology uh and removing material that has to be handled and then producing a uh a valuable gas uh that can be used for uh combustion. So on the bottom right is the new boiler uh that heats the building attached to this and also heats these digesttors. And part of the project is that the uh bio gas or the methane that is produced as part of the process is burned in this boiler. So, this reduces the operating costs of the facility because they no longer have to buy natural gas uh from RG& uh to uh to run the facility. Um, another safety improvement at the facility, all of the gas safety system has been installed. So, at the end of the day, if the uh if the gas cannot be burned in the boiler to heat the building or heat the digtor, it is flared. So, it's combusted. And uh you can see just a little bit of of flame up above here. Uh so this is the safe destruction of this material. Um and then uh the collection of the gas. Um there's a number of safety features that are included in that. Again, this was uh equipment that had gone well past its

useful life uh at the facility and was not functioning. So there were a number of safety issues out there uh that have now been addressed and the facility uh is running very well. Um the next uh system to come online which I said again is is coming online on Monday is the aeration basin. So this is the heart of the treatment process. So this is where air is applied to the wastewater in order to allow the the bacteria to break down any of the waste products. Um so part of uh getting ready for fair life was an expansion of the aeration facility. So that originally there were three aation tanks and a fourth was constructed. And then uh at the bottom of these tanks are what are known as air diffusers. Uh and these are what allow the oxygen uh to be transferred into the water for the bacteria to utilize. Uh the equipment that is installed here is uh the highest efficiency air transfer equipment uh that is manufactured these days. So again, this is in a process of reducing the overall operating cost of the facility by reducing the amount of electricity that's needed in order to treat uh the waste water as it comes into the facility. Um the uh new large building uh that's

been constructed, this is the the dewatering and drying facility. Uh so one of the major drivers of uh the overall project uh was the ability to reduce the dependence on the landfill uh for disposing of the final product from the facility. Uh so instead they will be uh producing a uh a bioolid or a fertilizer product. Um so that is all going into this uh this component. Uh there's a lot of activity out here. And uh wrapped up for Christmas uh for Rick and uh and Dwayne and the rest of the crew is uh a unit that essentially looks like this. It's called a belt filter press. Uh so that is under wraps here. This is an example photo. Uh but that is uh set to be installed uh in the next month. And the installation of this is actually a very critical component uh because the current equipment um these guys are are doing an amazing job of holding it together with bubble gum and duct tape. Uh but it's also had a bunch of repair bills that have come due in order to keep that system operating. So as soon as we can get this uh new belt filter press installed uh it will take away a uh a maintenance nightmare and also a maintenance cost uh for the facility. Um and then uh finally uh we have uh the

next big piece will be uh what's called the high strength organic waste and septage acceptance facility. Um and uh again this is an example. This is a a unit uh that is going to be installed to remove trash uh from material that comes into the facility. Uh but this is another opportunity where uh Webster has taken the ability to uh get a revenue source. Uh so by accepting uh waste that other people can't handle uh but the facility is designed to handle uh they'll pay a tipping fee uh to Webster uh to allow that treatment to occur. So this will help to offset uh the operational costs and the capital costs of the project. So this uh facility will be going in service somewhere in the September October time frame. Uh so just to summarize um uh over the course of the last two years uh the new administration building and lab have been put in a whole new electrical service upgrade uh the influence screens grit removal uh primary clarifiers the new digesttor digesttor boiler and then the flare and the gravity thickener. And again uh in order to accommodate fair life uh there were some commitments made by the town uh to do a new aeration basin, upgraded electric service, the new diffusers and those uh systems will

be online uh by August 30th uh to hit the commitment uh that Webster had made uh to Fairlife. And then the ongoing work as I noted is the dewatering drying building. So the uh installation of the of the fertilizer production facility uh and uh a number of other components uh of the aeration system. So I'll take a quick break for questions on construction and then if time permits we have uh one other uh update to provide and I'll refer to Tom because I don't know if public questions are available at this time. a public aren't but okay but but uh any questions from the board on the first pages? Yeah. Um so your project history and red identifies speak up please. You know we we can only do as much as we can with the microphones. If you're having trouble hearing why don't you come up and sit in the front row. You'll be able to hear much better. And we need to talk like directly into the mics. Yep. So my question is how does that August 30th date align with um federal life commitment date?

Will you be ready to receive their flow and how much flow gallons per day do you envision them sending? So uh yes we will we absolutely will be ready for uh the fair life uh flows to arrive. Um they are still providing uh their updates on their construction schedule, right? Um so they had originally expected to send about 400,000 gallons a day in their first startup runs. Um and we're prepared to handle that flow where they are in terms of their construction schedule. I'm I'm not, you know, in uh very deep into where they are, but we're we're ready for them. If they're ready to go, we're ready to take the important thing. As long as we're ready. We are ready. If they're ready, that's great. Um the second thing I question I have is the septage receiving which is going to be a fantastic source of revenue for the town. Um what other areas, municipalities, communities close to Webster, uh the town of Webster to your knowledge have receptive receiving areas. Uh so Monroe County has a facility of Vanlier. Um uh but they're a little bit limited in the amount of uh capacity that they have. Um and there really are not uh anyone else close by

as far as I unless I'm missing one. Not that I know. And and this you know it's a great question. So this building and infrastructure was built built with the customer service in mind, right? Uh time is money. Time is money to the operators and uh we know that and we want to get them in and out as quick as possible and uh we will track uh the new system actually tracks uh what product is coming in gallonage truck and cost of the driver and so the invoicing they'll receive will be extremely accurate as well. So, I just want to at the end of the day, I just want to compliment all of you on this project and you're forward thinking not only on the subsidies receiving, but also and more importantly the uh the the drying the new state-of-the-art drying building because we are spending as a town currently at least a half a million dollars hauling and that cost will dramatically decrease to almost zero because of the state-of-the-art building that we have invested in. So, thank you very much. Thank you, John. Jenny, any questions on the construction update? Thank you for the presentation. Jennifer, any

No other questions. Okay. And we're ready for fair life. They're ready. Patty. Oh, I have no questions. I'm down there very often as late as Bob Whmer, I uh I got to apologize because it is 7:26 right now. Okay. And for the next section, could I convince you to come back maybe on August 7th? Well, actually, we're not doing a workshop on August 7th. We're doing the the uh second uh budget workshop on August 7th. I hate to do this to you. Could you come back August 21st and present the potential uh new scope to this project that this board and potentially the January board could consider? And I know it's somewhat of a fluid, no pun intended, because uh some of the components of it just got passed in what do they call that thing? The big beautiful bill. So, uh, I do think this board and other future board members because I think it if if anybody's going to consider this new scope over and above what is an $85 million contract right now, um, I I think that the the board in January is going to be configured of at

least two different people than you're sitting here with right now. And that would be the kind of decision that wouldn't happen between a workshop and the next board meeting. I'm sure there would be a lot of discernment on that, but we ran out of time tonight. I don't think you want to short it in three minutes. I think, you know, I would be willing to on the 21st uh because of the uh you know, the aspect of what you're going to present in that uh we we might just put the whole workshop toward that. That's fair. All right. So, I apologize. Um, and I will say this right now it's 7:27. We are going to complete tonight's workshop. The town board meeting, uh, as legal will confirm, you can't start at 7:30 town board meeting early. That's against the law, but you can start it late. So, we're going to take about a 5 to 7 minute break and try to start the town board meeting at 35. So, we're going to close down the cameras. I have a question. We're going to Go ahead, sir. real brief to your point. Bob, you're going to come back and present. If at all possible, if you could send to

the board any information related to what you will be presenting ahead of that that date pages there. It's in the end of your packet. It's at the end of the packet. So, my understanding was you're presenting something different as far as the scope goes. If the scope is the last four pages, so the town will see it. But I bet you on 21st of August