Tag Archives: Fairbanks North Star Borough

Fairbanks school district experiments with solar power

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Sunday, June 27, 2010:

Eighty narrow strips of solar cells in the pattern of a giant xylophone blinked in the bright Fairbanks sunshine this week. The first solar laminate wall in Alaska covers the south side of the school district’s facility building downtown.

Larry Morris pointed to a dip in a graph showing the solar array’s electricity generation over time.

“Here we had a little cloud come through at about 3 o’clock,” said Morris, projects manager for the school district.

Rather than typical solar panels that are mounted on rooftops, these thin films of silicon were applied directly to the wall panels.

“It’s literally like a sticker, a decal, with a backing on it,” said Fred Reardon, solar operations manager for Whirlwind Steel, which manufactures metal roof panels with solar laminates. “You have a thick bonding material like a black tar goop.”

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District is experimenting with this system, called building-integrated photovoltaics, to test its energy efficiency and its potential for other buildings.

Retired Fairbanks veterinarian leads recycling commission

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Monday, June 28, 2010:

Fairbanks puts almost all its paper, glass and plastic in the trash. Karl Monetti dares you to come up alternatives — convince him and six other commissioners that you can recycle at a sustained level, and public managers might give you the green light. Help local government cut waste-management costs in the process, and you could get paid. 

The seven — comprising Fairbanks’ six-month-old public Recycling Commission — have been meeting every few weeks downtown. But the group has heard only two proposals, and members are ready to get to work. 

The group has plenty to do — public education curricula to draft, perhaps, and a budget to address for sure. 

But Monetti said his big hope is to see one successful commercial recycling project within the year. Maybe someone could open a business shredding paper to make insulation, as is done in Anchorage, or crush glass for use in construction materials. Just one success story could spark something bigger, said Monetti, the commission’s chairman. 

Wind farm could produce cheaper power, GVEA says

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Wednesday, June 23, 2010:

A wind farm near Healy would likely produce cheaper power than the wholesale prices Golden Valley Electric Association pays, Kate Lamal, a vice president for the utility, said Tuesday. 

Lamal said that if projections hold true, that would prevent customer rates from increasing if the utility finishes the $93 million project. 

Golden Valley is readying Eva Creek following an early June change to borrowing rules. The wind farm, near Healy, would be the largest in the state. 

The farm could produce power for a full cent less than Golden Valley’s current wholesale price, which is about 10.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, Lamal said at a presentation on wind energy Tuesday night. She compared that to projections of 14 cent power that preceded a recent change to reimbursement plans under a federal clean energy subsidy program. 

Lamal said the change means Eva Creek — which based on wind patterns at the site is projected to deliver 9 megawatts of power, a fraction of Golden Valley’s portfolio — won’t increase customer’s bills. 

“We think we’ve found a very elegant solution” to the diverging interests between members willing to pay extra for green power and those more interested in lowering rates, Lamal said. “That was the biggest factor, the (interest rate) that we can get to build this project.” 

Lamal said the utility is addressing the project’s other big variables: Years of data on wind patterns are strong enough to secure loans and a $2 million renewable-energy grant from the state has paid for studies of road access, bird migration patterns and integration with Golden Valley’s existing energy portfolio. She said the utility plans to solicit bids to present to the board of directors this fall. A supportive nod from directors would let engineering advance this winter, road and foundation construction occur next summer and turbine installation in 2012, she said. 

Opposition prepares ballot measure against new woodstove rules

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Sunday, June 13, 2010:

A group trying to overturn new wood stove regulations has until June 24 to gather 2,379 qualified signatures to put a question before the Fairbanks North Star Borough voters on Oct. 5.

“We are well under way,” said Rick VanderKolk, treasurer of the North Star Landowners, the group formed to promote the ballot measure. “There’s been a light signature gathering effort by various sponsors of the petition since April.”

The Borough Assembly on Thursday adopted new wood and coal stove restrictions along with chimney smoke emissions standards to combat a harmful pollutant known as PM 2.5.

VanderKolk said he’s already noticed heightened interest in the initiative since the assembly adopted the ordinance.

Supporters of the new regulations hope they help improve air quality, but opponents think they’re too restrictive.

1 million pounds of recyclables have been collected at Fairbanks Rescue Mission

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Sunday, June 13, 2010:

Car after car pulled up to a line of bins sitting in a parking lot at a local homeless shelter. Some bins held paper. Some cardboard. Others aluminum.

It was Saturday, the busiest day of the week at the Fairbanks Rescue Mission Recycling Center. But it wasn’t just any Saturday. It was a day the 10-month-old recycling center hit a milestone.

The program collected its millionth pound of recyclables.

Soon, a forklift operator drove out of the warehouse carrying a bale of newspapers wrapped in plastic and topped with a big red bow.

Rodney Gaskins, executive director of the rescue mission, and seven others gathered around the bale and said a prayer.

Recycling isn’t the only work done at the center. The operation provides a place for rescue mission clients to sharpen their job skills and learn new skills, including forklift driving.

Fairbanks Borough Assembly adopts stricter rules on chimney smoke

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Friday, June 11, 2010:

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly adopted new chimney smoke regulations early Friday in an effort to crack down on air pollution, although the rules are looser than those sought by Mayor Luke Hopkins.

The panel approved the ordinance in a 5-3 vote shortly after midnight after listening to three hours of public testimony and making multiple changes to the mayor’s plan.

One of the changes was to reduce the fines tenfold. In another change, the assembly relaxed chimney smoke emissions standards.

“I think we ended up with a good ordinance that protects the health of the people,” said Assemblywoman Nadine Winters, who supported the measure.

Borough needs nuisance standard, fines to protect health, property values

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Thursday, June 10, 2010:

One of the questions put to borough officials during a forum on wood smoke pollution was this:

“Isn’t there enough existing laws on the books to take care of neighbors with outdoor boilers being rude to their neighbors and not burning the proper material? Don’t you already have that without having to go through all this?”

The long and the short answer is no.

That’s why there has been no action taken against people who have smoked out their neighborhoods on numerous occasions during the past few winters. The borough had about 150 complaints last winter and could do nothing about them except make a record of who called and when.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – entry Borough needs nuisance standard fines to protect health property values

Fairbanks Borough Assembly to review pollution proposal

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Sunday, May 30, 2010:

Proposed wood burning regulations — fining polluters up to $500 — return before the Borough Assembly in the coming weeks.

If approved, the regulations set limits on chimney smoke opacity and restrict the burning of certain materials, including trash, tires, animal carcasses and manure.

The assembly also will decide whether to launch a government-subsidized wood stove repair and replacement program.

The measure, Ordinance 2010-28, is subject to public testimony and a vote at a regular assembly meeting June 10. Before that, the assembly reviews the measure at a work session Thursday.

Click here to read the full story.

Air quality open houses planned for this week

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:

The Fairbanks North Star Borough is hosting two air quality open houses this week to discuss a proposal to curb air pollution, a borough announcement said.

The first open house takes place today at West Valley High School Performing Arts Center. The second open house is Wednesday in the Weller Elementary School gym. Both start at 5 p.m.

The announcement said experts will be available to discuss air quality issues, such as PM 2.5, and answer questions about a range of issues, including regulatory deadlines, the proposed wood stove exchange program and recommended wood burning practices.

The borough air quality testing trailer will be on display.

For more information, contact the Fairbanks North Star Borough, visit the new Fairbanks air quality website at www.AQfairbanks.com or call Information Insights at 450-2450.