IN OFFICE
ISSUE NO. 5
Topics and Trends for Municipal Leaders
Meeting minutes
Testing & Treatment - for PFAS
6
A Success Story in the Other Public Health Crisis New York’s Renewable Energy Projects Accelerate Under New Legislation
3
Strategizing for Stimulus: Get Shovel-Ready
4
GIS in Emergency Management Response and Beyond
8
Live, from NY: It’s Online Public Engagement Strategies
11
2
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
LaBella’s Enhanced Quality Program Set to Roll Out in June We know that our clients rely on us for quality, consistent, and timely project deliverables. LaBella has always had a culture of service and accountability - when we make mistakes, we’re quick to own them and correct them. No firm is perfect, but consistent quality is essential to who we are.
THE “NEW NORMAL” As we said in the first issue of In Office, our goal was to bring LaBella’s team of experts into your office, as partners in stewardship of our public finances, safety, education, and infrastructure. Regardless of your tenure working in municipal government, the circumstances of today are unprecedented. As CEO Steve Metzger said in his first communication to our clients during this crisis, by nature of our profession, LaBella employees have experience in and aptitude for natural reason and problem solving. We have done our part in the next few pages to present a few topics where we can draw calm out of confusion. We hope these articles give you helpful information at hand. Our team, working remotely, is well equipped to assist you with your responsibilities in whatever form they are currently taking. We’re also happy to be a familiar voice on the phone, just to talk shop. Until we can be in your office again, be well. With each issue of In Office we present our experience, our expertise, and our forecasting on the topics and trends that affect municipal projects. Let us know if there’s a topic we can explore for you by contacting us at inoffice@labellapc.com.
Our firm has spent the last several months re-writing our quality program. We sought to make it more robust, without sacrificing the timeliness of deliverables. We provide a lot of different services, so we have developed a process that is broad in scope, and specific where it needs to be. We call the program Quality GPS (Guiding Project Success) and, like a GPS navigation system, it defines the LaBella way. It includes not only the final product, but the process you experience getting there. In the remote work environment, clearly defined roles and responsibilities, checks and balances, and technical reviews have never been more important. Our teams are training on these new processes, and have responded to working from home with intelligence and adaptability. We know we can’t just tell you about our new quality program. Its effects have to be experienced. We welcome your feedback about the LaBella service you receive during COVID-19 and after. Contact Client Experience Manager Brittany McFee anytime at bmcfee@labellapc.com, or our leadership team.
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
3
Your community’s success in maintaining a local voice in large-scale renewable energy projects hinges on having robust and up-t0-date local laws.
Permitting & Ordinances
Adios Article 10? New York’s Renewable Energy Projects Accelerate Under New Legislation In early April 2020, NYS Legislature passed a budget bill which included an amendment meant to dramatically speed up the permitting of renewable energy projects in New York State. The new amendment – referred to as Section 94c of the Executive Law– stems from and maintaines many aspects of Governor Cuomo’s “Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act” proposed earlier this year. The proposed changes have already gone into effect and include: the establishment of an Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES), a Clean Energy Resource Development and Incentives Plan, Grid Planning and Energy Delivery Constraint Relief, and Local Community and Participation Benefits. So what do these changes mean for your municipality? LaBella’s Renewable Energy team has
been dissecting the law to grasp some of the major impacts. Here’s what you need to know. You may be familiar with the current approval process for large-scale renewable energy projects referred to as “Article 10.” The Article 10 review and approval process came into play in 2012 and replaced the typical SEQR/site plan review and approval processes most familiar to municipalities. Under Article 10, the final decision to approve a large scale solar or wind project rested with the State instead of local government. Now, Article 10 is being replaced for almost all large-scale projects with a new process intended to streamline approvals. State regulations for the new Section 94c are currently under preparation. It appears that intervenor funds will still be available to local municipalities to support their participation in
the Section 94c process ($1,000/ Megawatt), but since the process will be streamlined, the total amount of intervenor funding will be decreased. Projects approved under 94c will need to demonstrate “compliance with local laws.” This appears to be one of the few avenues local governments will have to shape approval conditions for utilityscale wind or solar projects. Does your municipal code have up-to-date solar and wind laws? Are your current solar and wind laws stringent enough to protect your community’s priorities? Success at maintaining a local voice in these projects hinges on having robust and up-to-date local laws. LaBella’s Renewable Energy team recommends municipalities act now by reviewing their current laws. Although the State has one year to develop detailed regulations, project applications can now be submitted under 94c and approvals will move very quickly (one year or less). Therefore, updating solar and wind laws by adding the provisions you will need to protect your priorities is crucial to ensuring your community has a voice when the next large scale project comes to town.
4
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
Water and wastewater, bridge and highway, and community health are a few project types that currently have bipartisan support.
Funding
Preparing for Anticipated CARES Act Phase 4 Infrastructure Stimulus Funding Over the past several months the U.S. Congress and White House have passed several Coronavirus Relief Act (CARES) stimulus funding bills to address the financial hardships faced by individuals, businesses, and institutions as a result of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. While these bills addressed serious short-term needs, Congress and the White House have also been discussing the need to provide infrastructure funding under a fourth CARES Act bill to stimulate long-term economic recovery and support job creation.
if and when the infrastructure funding is announced. The recent rapid depletion of funds from the CARES Act phase three small business funding illustrates the need to be prepared.
Currently there is debate in Washington on what to include in the phase four response package, whether it is needed, and the timing of when funds should be made available. While this debate continues with lawmakers, it provides time for communities to be prepared
While there is debate on what to include in the infrastructure funding, the potential funding categories that both sides of Congress currently support are: •
Clean drinking water and wastewater programs
•
Highways, including improvements to roads & bridges
•
Broadband expansion in rural, suburban, and urban areas
•
Community health centers
•
Energy infrastructure
Other areas that may be considered include brownfield funding and public safety funding.
Our grant writers will draw on ample experience helping clients with past stimulus funding programs including the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. LaBella assisted clients with identifying potential competitive projects, preparing grant applications, and administering the funded projects. The most important lesson learned from the 2009 ARRA funding program that may be relevant for anticipated CARES Act infrastructure funding is that “shovel-ready” projects were given preference so the job creation and economic impacts would be felt sooner. Shovel-ready refers to projects that are designed, have permits/approvals, and just need funding to proceed. ARRA funding fell into these shovel-ready categories: •
Eligible projects not funded through previous grant programs – if a project was submitted for grant funding, but not funded (state or federal funding) those projects were revived as they had design and engineering, environmental
In Office LaBella Associates |
reviews, income surveys, and other supporting documentation already done. •
Projects that had design plans, environmental reviews, and other permits completed
•
Maintenance projects (i.e. road repaving) that eliminated many of the environmental review requirements.
ARRA funding was administered through state agencies primarily but also federal agencies like the United States Department of Agriculture. Now is the time for municipalities and other organizations to identify shovel-ready projects for when funding is available. Similarly, if projects were placed on hold prior to plans or environmental reviews being completed, this may be a good time to complete those tasks. LaBella’s multi-disciplinary team can assist clients with identifying shovel-ready projects and complete design and environmental requirements. LaBella will continue to monitor these programs and provide updates as the programs become more defined. Please feel free to contact us at any time for a preliminary discussion on how we can assist you with potential stimulus projects.
Issue No. 5
5
Funding
Are you ready for the New York State Regional Economic Development Council’s Round 10 Consolidated Funding Application for Grant Funding? Although the announcement has been delayed, New York State is anticipated to open the 10th round of the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) soon. The CFA provides more than $750 million in grant funding for multiple community and economic programs available to municipalities, businesses and non-profit organizations. LaBella’s grant writers are ready to help you with the CFA and developing eligible, competitive projects for funding. Please contact our Director of Planning, Edward Flynn, at 585-295-6285 or eflynn@labellapc.com if you have questions or need assistance with the CFA or a project your organization is considering for funding. CFA applications are typically due three months after their availability is announced.
Being savvy about funding sources is going to be very important for municipal leaders grappling with sales tax deficits.
Now is the time for municipalities and other organizations to identify shovel-ready projects for when funding is available. If projects were placed on hold prior to plans or environmental reviews being completed, this may be a good time to complete those tasks.
6
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
Feature
How a NY Town Rid its Drinking Water of Forever Chemicals in Four Months LaBella’s Aztech Environmental team designed, procured, and installed a PFAS treatment system quickly and cost-effectively. Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a group of over 4,700 compounds used in the manufacturing of non-stick and waterproof coatings, personal products, and fire suppression foams commonly found in airports or air force bases. These long molecular chain fluoride and carbon chemicals are resilient and exposure has been linked to many health risks. Federal oversight with clearly defined “safe” and “unsafe” thresholds has been absent, leading many states to set their own standards. For local government officials and decision makers, recent media coverage of the issue has created a need for some high school chemistry: parts per trillion,
compounds, molecular chains, AD-sorption and AB-sorption are all commonly used terms. As films like Dark Waters or Erin Brockovich remind us, no one wants to get this stuff wrong. Unfortunately, PFAS chemicals – also known as “forever chemicals”–are still considered an “emerging contaminant.” That means regulatory consensus remains elusive. While many means and methods for treatment are being discussed, it’s hard to know what’s proven to work. Because of these factors, our recent experience with the Town of New Windsor, NY is of interest to many grappling with this issue. Our team designed, procured, and installed a PFAS
PFAS chemicals are still considered an “emerging contaminant”. Cities and Towns located near potential PFAS sources should be testing for contamination regularly and proactively.
In Office LaBella Associates |
treatment system for the Town of New Windsor in only four months. The Town of New Windsor utilizes three ground water wells for water supply (the largest yielding wells in the State of NY). The well water is treated by a 2-year-old water filtration plant called Butterhill Wells, which was averaging 3 million gallons/day to service 27,000 customers. In May 2019, the water tested positive for PFAS, and soon thereafter, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) stepped in and the Town was forced to turn to an alternate water supply, the Catskill Aqueduct. Officials quickly realized they were on the clock when it came to solutions for the Butterhill plant. A planned maintenance closure of the Catskill Aquifer was scheduled for November 2019, and the aquifer had just become the Town’s primary water source. LaBella’s Aztech Environmental team was retained by the NYSDEC to develop an effective solution to the contamination. Our team turned to one of the most reliable treatment technologies available: carbon. Granular Activated Carbon, or GAC, has long been used in water treatment because of its ability to adsorb (bind to the outside of the carbon, not be absorbed by it) most chemical compounds, while allowing clean water to pass through. In New Windsor,
our system consisted of 10-foot diameter, 20,000-pound carbon units, which allowed Butterhill to produce 1,500 treated gallons per minute, for 2.16 million gallons/day (the balance of the supply was provided by smaller, uncontaminated supply wells). Following site mobilization, construction, testing, and backwashing, the GAC treatment system was brought online in November 2019. In December, we added a tensioned fabric building, propane tanks, and heaters to keep the system operational throughout the winter months. All in, the Butterhill Treatment Plant was back online, producing water with undetectable PFAS contamination in only four months. Given the need for an emergency treatment facility, our team turned to carbon, which is readily available and easy to procure. Other methods of treatment include using Ion Exchange Resin, which offers some advantages and tradeoffs. Whereas carbon will adsorb most organics, Ion exchange can be tailored to adsorb only certain compounds. This tailoring of treatment can extend the life of the treatment system and reduce media change outs. Resin vessels can also have a smaller footprint due to the lower residence time than carbon. Resin is, however, more costly than carbon and some resins cannot be regenerated and will require thermal destruction. Every water
Issue No. 5
7
stream has its own constraints and all of the factors, including budget, need to be taken into account when choosing a treatment method and designing the plant. Regardless of whether a carbon or resin treatment is selected, it is possible to treat your PFAScontaminated water supply at the plant with a system like Butterhill’s. LaBella’s Aztech Environmental group was able to design, build, and test that system utilizing our in-house services. In other instances, Aztech has collaborated with town consultants and engineers to design and construct treatment systems. Available funding may depend on the source of contamination; in New Windsor, contamination culpability questions continue while the State of New York currently funds the project. Cost recovery will commence after the responsible party is determined. Cities and Towns located near potential PFAS sources should be testing for contamination regularly and proactively. Depending on your treatment plant and contamination levels, some cities and towns may elect to seek uncontaminated water sources elsewhere. However, cost-effective treatment is possible, and will likely become more refined with each community that tackles this challenge.
This article was featured in the April issue of American City & County Magazine. For more technical content, look for articles about our PFAS treatment system in upcoming issues of Water & Wastes Digest, Treatment Plant Operator, and WaterWorld.
8
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
Technology
Mapping Your Municipality: Get Lasting Leverage of GIS Data How to make GIS (geographic information systems) implementations sustainable using a “Project Delivery Model”. Over the past year, LaBella’s Data Intelligence Group (DIG) has assisted our clients in developing innovative technology and improving the utilization of their data. One of our specialties is helping our municipal sector clients with GIS. As we know, there are many applications of GIS in a municipal setting. Just a few examples of these uses are:
Field Data Collection: GIS, in conjunction with mobile technology, can be used to easily capture assets in the field. This can be done using high accuracy GPS/GNSS receivers, for utility data such as storm sewers, but it could also be photographs of code violations, notable trees, or other landmarks – just about anything of interest in the community that is spatial! (Hint: just about everything in our world has a geographic or spatial component!)
Environmental Assessments: Use GIS to assess the environmental health of your municipality. There are many datasets available to the public that map factors such as wetlands, floodplains, water bodies, sensitive habitats, and more. This data can be combined with your own data (field or desktop created) to produce a picture of your community’s environmental status.
Land-Use Management: Use existing datasets such as National Land Cover data (NLCD), in combination with real-property data collected from assessors to derive a picture of land-use patterns in your municipality. You can also use this GIS data to develop “what-if” scenarios to model future land use and zoning changes.
Town of Boston Supervisor Jason Keding was very pleased with the outcome of the zoning map update and noted “The Town of Boston Zoning Board and Planning Board are pleased with the forward progress the Town has made with GIS tools.”
Asset Management: Being a spatial platform, GIS is ideal to map the location of your municipal assets, such as hydrants, manholes, light poles, sewer and water lines, etc. The attributes behind a GIS dataset also allow us to track more than just the location of the asset, but additional features such as year installed, condition, depreciation information, etc.. Software such as ArcGIS can be easily linked and integrated into other asset management tools, such as CityWorks for example, as well as financial and accounting software, provided each asset feature can be uniquely identified throughout the system databases.
Emergency Planning and Response: This application for GIS is very timely, given the current COVID-19 global pandemic. GIS
has been used globally to map and track COVID-19 cases. One such example is the Esri ArcGIS Online COVID-19 dashboard (the Johns Hopkins map so many of us have seen). These tools are being used on a local level as well. Counties across the United States have taken advantage of these “out of the box” dashboard tools to map cases in their own community. In addition, GIS is also being used to track resources and emergency responses. Examples include tracking hospital capacity, mapping closed facilities, locations of testing centers, and more. Emergency response GIS is not limited to pandemics, but is also often used in response to natural disasters. Some examples of how GIS is used in this case include mapping power outage areas, road closures, supply distribution centers, etc. In one specific example, in 2012, after Hurricane Sandy, communities
In Office LaBella Associates |
in NY & NJ very effectively used a combination of GIS field data collection apps and social media to quickly catalog locations of damage (i.e. tweeting photos of damage, with the phones location services turned on) All of these applications for GIS require resources. First and foremost on this list of requirements are software, followed by data, and, for online solutions, hosting capacity. While all of the above uses for GIS can be very beneficial to a municipality, it can be difficult to get started, Many AEC Firms (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) will share data with municipal clients during a project using its own ArcGIS Online infrastructure. But where does that go after the project is complete? In this model, it’s
Issue No. 5
9
difficult to build a sustainable GIS. Online sites may get shut down once the specific task order is complete, without the municipality having its own online capabilities. To address these situations and provide a framework for better building these projects into long lasting, sustainable GIS implementations, Esri’s AEC team has introduced the “Project Delivery Model”. This approach allows a firm to work with their client to produce online content during an active project, but then provides the option for the municipality to continue to use the resource after the project ends by acquiring the ArcGIS Online accounts and credits needed to continue updating the map.
... continued on Page 10
Did you know?
The Origins of GIS are Rooted in Public Health With most of the world focused on COVID-19, we’re seeing GIS tools being used to measure and analyze this pandemic. From tracking cases, supplies, and the extent that people are staying home, GIS tools are essential to our modern response. What many don’t realize is that one of the first applications of GIS was also related to a public health crisis. In the mid 19th century cholera outbreaks were terrifying, deadly, and not well understood. The prevailing scientific theory at the time was that “miasma”, or “bad air” caused the spread. There was no established science about germs, microscopic particles, or water-borne disease. Dr. John Snow, an English physician, would have a scientific breakthrough
The Johns Hopkins COVID map. and physician John Snow (inset)
when he turned to a map of London to analyze an outbreak impacting London’s Soho neighborhood in August 1854. When he did, he noticed that most of the deaths were clustered around a water pump on Broad Street. To further pinpoint the Broad Street well (as opposed to the air around the well), he studied a prominent brewery in close proximity to the well. This brewery had its own source of water. Like many people would, its employees were choosing
beer over water for their choice of beverage! Snow found no cholera cases among brewery staff, and his theory was solidified. Snow presented this information to the City, and convinced them to close the Broad Street well. The outbreak subsided soon afterwards. Beyond stopping the Soho outbreak, Snow’s spatial analysis also contributed to the emerging field of epidemiology, and encourage a spatial focus on tracking the spread of disease.
10
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
Lasting GIS Leverage, continued from page 9 The benefits of working with this approach are several: Project management. We can work with you more efficiently throughout the project life cycle by providing an online mapping tool to provide updates, and even collaboratively manage and edit data. Providing a data source of record. This online spatial data repository provides a single location for project data that can easy be seen and managed by both the vendor and the client. This improves efficiency by reducing the need to continually transfer files and improves accuracy by reducing the risk of looking at out-of-date data. Scalability. ArcGIS Online and the AEC Project Delivery Model are a great way to build upon the work of a single mapping project. Esri’s ArcGIS Online platform works
very well for small to modestly sized implementations, but also can be scaled to larger solutions by using their vast collection of Online Apps, ArcGIS Enterprise, etc. Ownership. The AEC Project Delivery model allows the municipality to acquire ownership of the creator license, and credits needed to continue with the online mapping site. This empowers the municipality to continue to move forward, even when there may not be budget to continue to engage outside assistance. If you’re interested in learning more about using this new Esri Project Delivery approach to build/grow your GIS presence, contact us today!
Under Construction
City of Hornell Water Treatment Upgrades LaBella’s civil team is currently working with the City of Hornell on a $5.8 million upgrade project to their drinking water treatment plant. Construction began Fall 2019 and is expected to be completed by Spring 2021.
Using pre-stressed concrete panels is faster than traditional concrete construction. The first panel is moved into position by a crane in the photo here.
One major component of the project is the replacement of one existing 2.5 million gallon (MG) steel storage tank with two new concrete storage tanks. The image shows the erection of the wall panels for the first tank to
be built. A unique aspect of the tank construction is the concrete panels are being poured and formed on-site. The two new storage tanks will be 2.5 MG and 0.83 MG, respectively. After the first tank is built, the existing 2.5 MG steel storage tank will be taken offline, demolished, and replaced with a new 2.5 MG concrete storage tank in the same location. The project is sequenced in a way that allows the treatment plant to continue operation throughout construction and the flow of water to continue to the City’s distribution system.
In Office LaBella Associates |
Issue No. 5
11
Technology
Live, from New York! Safely Broadcasting Your Next Public Information Meeting As the public adjusted to video calls and web meetings, so too did hackers. As you may have seen in the news, many organizations have suffered from “zoom bombs”, where their public or private forums have been hijacked by spammers. Just like public buildings, online spaces must be open to the public, but protected from vandalism or other criminal activity.
The key to a successful online public meeting is teamwork: a host to manage the technology, and a presenter to handle the content.
Just like public buildings, online spaces must be open and accessible to the public, but protected from vandalism or other criminal activity.
There are many different strategies that can be employed to prevent malicious activity in your online outreach. For meeting platforms like Zoom, utilize builtin features like Waiting Rooms. Advertise your public meeting as you normally would, but require pre-registration (name, email address and/or physical address) in order to be provided the link to the meeting. Then, monitor the waiting room and only allow pre-registered attendees into the actual meeting. It helps to have a dedicated meeting host that is separate from the presenter. You can also configure your Zoom meeting to ensure that only the host can share screens (preventing profane imagery from a participant) and you can lock the meeting to others once all necessary participants have joined. Additionally, the host can eject a meeting participant and they won’t be able to rejoin the meeting without the host’s permission. You can see that the host has a lot of responsibilities - that’s why it’s so important to have a colleague in the role if you are presenting.
Apart from Zoom, there are some effective public engagement tools built into social media sites like Facebook and YouTube that offer secure, out of the box solutions for public meetings. You can use a Facebook page or YouTube channel to post prerecorded technical presentations, and use standard comments, likes and shares for public engagement. Remember to monitor the comments section and post responses to comments and questions. These platforms have built in Spam management and one-click options for reporting abuse. Pre-recorded videos allow you to publish your best, most final version of a public presentation without worrying about live participants or technology hiccups. They should be posted with closed captioning and a published transcript to make sure the content is accessible to citizens with disabilities. If you have an enthusiastic social media team, Facebook Live and YouTube Live are great options for additional public dialogue. There are no limits to the number of people who can view your broadcast, and audience members can comment real time, which makes for a very dynamic Q&A option. All live sessions can be recorded and viewed indefinitely after the live session is over.
In Hornell, NY, new concrete water storage tanks are being erected using pre-stressed concrete panels. A crane will position each panel around the form, which will then be wrapped with wire. The wire will then be covered with shotcrete, resulting in a robust tank in a reduced construction schedule. For more, see page 10.
LEARN MORE: visit our website for more information
ph. (877) 626-6606
www.labellapc.com/municipal
inoffice@labellapc.com