Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community. © Copyright 2013 Co-op City Times
Riverbay Power Plant completes 100-day challenge to improve reliability Vol. 48 No. 42
BY ROZAAN BOONE Having completed a 100-day challenge during the summer months which saw the Riverbay Power Plant operating at a reliability rate of 94%, the staff is now preparing for a 120day winter challenge.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
export power to the grid during the heat wave in early July when temperatures inside the Power Plant soared to a scorching 128 degrees. “During the 100-day run, Riverbay was ninety-four percent reliable with just 6 days of minor glitches,” said Brian
Riverbay Power Plant staff were joined by General Manager Vernon Cooper, Power Plant consultant Bill May and business representative of Local 94 John Kramer at a recognition luncheon to express appreciation for a job well done. Photo by Jim Roberts
The 100-day summer challenge was a self-imposed reliability test aimed at challenging the Power Plant staff to shore up the dependability of the plant during the summer months. The challenge period included the week-long demand response from Con Ed to
Reardon, Director of the Riverbay Power Plant. “Ninety four percent is considered within national standard for a CHP [Combined Heat and Power] plant such as ours.” (Continued on page 2)
Plans moving ahead for Bartow elevator BY ROZAAN BOONE Plans to install an elevator in the Bartow Community Center are moving ahead as meetings were held this week with the elevator consultants and Riverbay’s architect to solidify plans and specifications for the project. According to Riverbay’s Ombudsman Joe Boiko, who also oversees the community’s elevator program, the basic design for the elevator is complete, but exactly where the elevator will be situated and the construction of the supporting structure are still being discussed. The project itself will involve not only elevator consultants, but also structural consultants as it moves forward. “With our aging population, we understand the necessity of making the Bartow Community Center, which houses the administrative offices, accessible to our senior population, as well as those who are disabled,” said Boiko. “When the Bartow Center was first constructed, building code at that time did
not require there being an elevator within the community center. Times have changed and we now find that there is great need for an elevator within the community center. I believe that Riverbay Management, MSI Realty and the Riverbay Board all agree that we must make this elevator a reality, and the sooner the better for all.” It is expected that the Bartow elevator project will get underway by late Spring. Meanwhile, the upgrade of the 2 highrise elevators in Building 14 which were not included in the development-wide elevator modernization program several years ago is also forging ahead. Boiko reported that the specifications for the restoration are complete and the necessary documents are being prepared to be sent to the state Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) for approval to go out to bid the project. Once approval is received, Riverbay will being soliciting bids for the modernization of the Building 14 elevators.
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Contract awarded for installation of cogen plant water treatment system BY JIM ROBERTS Work should begin soon to install the water treatment equipment used to purify the water used in Co-op City’s cogeneration plant. Riverbay’s high-tech cogeneration plant, which now produces the community’s electricity, eliminating the need to purchase power from Con Edison, uses “ultra pure” water that must go through a filtration system to remove any impurities. Water comes into the Riverbay Power Plant through the New York City municipal water system and is heated by high pressure boilers and turned into steam. The steam drives the turbines that produce electricity and then that steam is condensed back into water. Both the original city water and the condensed water are purified by the water treatment system to scrub out any impurities and protect the plant’s equipment from being damaged. “The water we use in the cogen plant starts as city water and then goes through this purification system that makes it into ultra pure water,” said Brian Reardon, Riverbay’s Power Plant Director. “City water measures impurities in the water by parts per million and it typically has 60 to 70 parts per million. Through this ultra pure water system, we are down below 10 parts per billion. That’s the difference,” Reardon said. “The water must be treated for the waste-heat boilers off the gas turbines that require ultra pure water because, with stainless steel tubes, any contaminants in the water can start to deposit on the tubes and rupture them early in their life cycle,” said Reardon. Currently, the water treatment equipment is housed in trailers at the Power Plant through a contract with GE Mobile Systems. By moving the equipment into the Power Plant permanently, Riverbay will save between $250,000 to $300,000 per year, according to Reardon. The Riverbay Board of Directors approved Resolution #13-85 at its Oct. 9th meeting to award the water treatment
installation contract to Maric Mechanical, Inc. as the lowest responsible bidder. Sixteen bids were received for the project, which will cost $4.95 million. The Board vote to approve the contract was 12-1 in favor with two members absent. Once Riverbay receives the necessary approvals for the work from the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) and the federal Housing and Urban Development department (HUD), work should take between seven and nine months to complete, Reardon said. The contractor will install piping, electrical equipment and instrument control connections with the water treatment equipment in the plant where Boiler #4 was previously located and the installation will climb two levels high. Cooperators should not be effected during the installation work. When the final connections are made at the end of the work, there may be one or two nights when the steam will be shut down, Reardon said. “There will be no real disruption of services for cooperators,” he said. Money to pay for the installation work will come from the capital project reserve funds that were created when Co-op City completed its historic refinancing of its $621 million mortgage with Wells Fargo last November that was guaranteed by HUD. That loan is providing the community with annual savings of $10 million a year in debt service expenses for the next 15 years and a very low, equivalent interest rate of 2.9% for the next 35 years that will not go up. The new refinancing also provides additional funds to finish ongoing capital work, including roof replacements, façade repairs, paving and site repairs, power plant enhancements and to begin new projects, such as new lobby doors and the installation of the new safety equipment in each apartment as required by HUD regulations under the terms of the new guaranteed loan.
Much needed facelift... Buildings and Ground maintenance crews have been going building to building plastering and painting as is necessary. In photo above, Walter Kiernan, a Buildings and Grounds maintenance crew member is shown working on the area outside of the Riverbay Administrative offices at 2049 Bartow Avenue, Bronx, NY where he has been plastering, priming and painting the walls for a much needed facelift. Riverbay Management asks shareholders to please be cautious as the maintenance crews work in the public hallways of their respective residential buildings, and apologize for any inconveniences caused as the crews work diligently to complete their assignments.