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| Week of Sept. 26, 2004 |
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NORTH TONAWANDA: NYPA to Help Fund Niagara Greenway— Gov. George
Pataki announced on Sept. 21 that the Power Authority would contribute
$200,000 to aid in the planning and development of the Niagara River
Greenway, envisioned as a series of interconnected parks, river access
points and waterfront trails along the Niagara River from Lake Erie at
Buffalo to Lake Ontario near Fort Niagara. NYPA Chairman Louis Ciminelli
joined state and local officials at Fisherman's Park here, where the
governor signed legislation creating a commission to help develop the
greenway. Ciminelli will serve as one of 14 voting members of the Niagara
River Greenway Commission. Pataki, who first called for the establishment of
the Niagara River Greenway Commission in his 2004 State of the State
Address, said the project would help preserve open space while revitalizing
the Western New York economy. Once the commission produces a draft plan for
the greenway, it will be reviewed at public hearings. The project will be
subject to approval by municipalities within the greenway's boundaries,
which have yet to be determined. Creation of the greenway has been included
in recent stakeholder discussions concerning the relicensing of NYPA's
Niagara Power Project. FAIRPORT: Clean Air Measures Unveiled for Munis, Coops—NYPA President Eugene Zeltmann announced on Sept. 15 two major initiatives to help the state's 51 municipal electric systems and rural cooperatives improve air quality, cut dependence on foreign oil and make more effective use of low-cost NYPA electricity. One program calls for the Power Authority to join with the systems to evaluate potential energy efficiency projects in their service territories. Under the second initiative, a Green Care Clean Air rebate program, NYPA will offer up to $1,000 to each system for the purchase of electric outdoor equipment such as lawnmowers, hedge trimmers and chain saws. "Along with our growing cooperative efforts to strengthen economic development and promote clean transportation in your communities, these programs will make our relationship a model for the nation of what public power can accomplish at its very best," Zeltmann said in a speech at the state Municipal Electric Utilities Association's 74th annual conference. He said both programs are consistent with energy initiatives and environmental quality policies advanced by Gov. George Pataki. SARATOGA SPRINGS: Rights-of-Way Programs Earn Awards— The Power Authority has received two awards for its rights-of-way (ROW) management practices along NYPA's 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines in New York State. At the eighth international Environmental Concerns in Rights-of-Way Management Symposium Sept. 13, NYPA received an award from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for being named a "champion" in EPA's Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program. The award recognized the Power Authority's efforts to minimize risk and protect the environment through selective applications of herbicides on its 16,000 acres of ROW that require vegetation management. In August, the Power Authority's innovative use of Geographic Information System (GIS) digital mapping technology earned a 2004 Special Achievement in GIS Award from the Environmental Systems Research Institute, the GIS software developer. The GIS maps the location of NYPA's transmission facilities, the status of vegetation treatments and growth, sensitive environmental areas and various other key elements in ROW management. MALONE: PV System to Generate Electricity…and Learning— One of the Power Authority's latest renewable energy projects will use the power of the sun to create electricity and enthusiasm at a North Country school. The Malone School District's Franklin Academy will be the first in a new group of public schools to receive a six-kilowatt (kw) solar photovoltaic (PV) system. The project will be paid for with a grant secured by Gov. George Pataki, with state Sen. Elizabeth Little’s assistance, from New York's share of the Petroleum Overcharge Restitution Fund. NYPA will provide the solar panels plus the contract labor to install the $75,000 rooftop system. Besides generating enough electricity to meet the needs of several homes, the panels will produce operational data for a new technology curriculum. Work on the three-month project is expected to begin this fall. The Power Authority previously completed 18 other PV installations at schools and other public facilities. They include a 300-kw project, one of the largest PV systems on the East Coast, atop the Gun Hill Road Bus Depot in the Bronx. QUEENS: NYPA Honors Inventor of Improved Light Bulb— The Power Authority has teamed up with Queens residents, civic organizations and corporate sponsors to create a fund to honor African-American inventor Lewis Latimer, who, in 1881, invented a new, longer-lasting filament for the electric light bulb. Queens Borough President Helen Marshall presided over a Sept. 10 breakfast co-sponsored by the Power Authority to celebrate Latimer's birthday and help support efforts to turn his 1887 wood-frame home in Flushing into a museum. The birthday breakfast at Latimer House also featured a preview of an exhibit on Latimer's life. One of the electrical pioneers who worked with Thomas Edison, Latimer supervised the installation of electric street-lighting in New York City and other cities in the United States, as well as Paris, London and Montreal. In the Community: The City of Niagara Falls received a NYPA electric TH!NK vehicle, the last of eight electric vehicles (EVs) presented by the Power Authority in Western New York communities, Sept. 21. The other EVs went to the Town of Niagara; the Lewiston police department; Kaleida Health and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, both in Buffalo; and the Village of Youngstown….The Power Authority co-sponsored two New York City events: the 16th annual Ecofest, an environment-awareness festival, and the fifth annual celebration of the Revolutionary War Battle of Harlem Heights, Sept. 19…..NYPA electric vehicles were on display at the Yonkers Riverfest, Sept. 18, and the Schoharie County Youth Bureau's Parking Lot Safari at Howe Caverns, Howes Cave, Sept. 15….The Power Authority presented 20 surplus computers to Port Chester High School, Sept. 9. The donation brought to more than 250 the number of computers, each completely refurbished with a new operating system, that NYPA has provided to schools throughout New York State….The Power Authority will permit bowhunting for deer on limited areas of its Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project, North Blenheim, from Oct. 15 through Dec. 19. An exam required for proficiency certification was held on Sept. 7. A total of 100 permits were scheduled to be issued via a lottery drawing on Sept. 24. |